Chapter 762: Don't Believe Me

Zhou Shuren poured himself another glass of wine, and while drinking from the glass, he glanced at the prince. The emperor had ignored the prince today. During the entire celebration banquet, the emperor only spoke a few words to the prince. He then retracted his gaze and glanced at the ministers at the banquet. Many of the ministers looked at the emperor and the prince inquiringly.

Zhou Shuren drank the wine in his glass. This meant that the external threat was gone, so he began to clean up the internal situation. The Emperor had given the Crown Prince the cold shoulder during the morning court yesterday, so this most noble father and son pair were setting a trap.

Qiu Yan lowered his voice, "Are you familiar with Prince Yao?"

Zhou Shuren explained, "When I was the prefect of Jinzhou, Prince Yao was also in Jinzhou, and we had some interactions."

Qiu Yan was relieved. It was good that they were not familiar with each other. He did not want to associate with Zhou Shuren and involve Prince Yao. "It is better to have less contact in the future. The Yaohou Mansion is very chaotic. You will see. When Prince Yao returns, the Yaohou Mansion will not be peaceful. You have just arrived in the capital, so you better be careful and cautious."

Zhou Shuren sensed the disdain in Lord Qiu's tone when he mentioned Yaohou Mansion, and paused before saying, "Okay, I'll make a note of that."

Qiu Yan didn't say much. He really looked down on Yao Hou Mansion. The infighting in the backyard had become known to everyone. They had no shame at all. He felt it was disgusting to hear about it.

Soon the emperor and the prince left one after another, and the celebration banquet was over after a while.

Zhou Shuren and Qiu Yan walked out of the palace together. Neither of them drank much, and they were not drunk at all in the cool breeze. They walked slowly. Zhou Shuren stopped when he heard Yao Zheyu calling him.

Qiu Yan frowned and said, "I'll go ahead."

Zhou Shuren, "Okay."

Qiu Yan twitched the corner of his mouth but finally said nothing. He had already reminded her once, so he turned around and left quickly.

Yao Zheyu left in a hurry, "Master Zhou, long time no see, how have you been lately?"

Zhou Shuren, "...Didn't the prince see everything?"

Still asking him? If he is not well, can he enter Beijing?

Yao Zheyu paused. He was just asking politely, and smiled dryly, "I'm asking unnecessary questions."

Zhou Shuren coughed and said, "I haven't congratulated the prince on the birth of his son yet, so I'm congratulating him here."

Yao Zheyu's heart softened when he thought of his son whom he had just seen briefly. He didn't have a good father, and he hoped that he could be a good father. "I would also like to congratulate you on your promotion."

"Congratulations, Prince, for taking up the post at the Ministry of War."

Yao Zheyu didn't feel very happy. He was assigned to the Ministry of War just because the emperor kept him in the capital. He had gathered some influence from the Yao family. Within a month, the emperor would definitely send someone to take over. He was the knife in the emperor's hand. He smiled dryly and said, "Congratulations."

Zhou Shuren sensed the depression in Yao Zheyu's tone. He knew clearly in his heart that Yao Zheyu was only a fifth-rank doctor. It was still unclear whether he would inherit the title in the future. It would be difficult for him to get promoted to a higher position.

They soon left the palace and Zhou Shuren got into the carriage. There was a full moon tonight, so one could see people clearly without a lantern. After Zhou Shuren sat down, he lowered the carriage curtains.

Jianyan was stunned, "Sir, do you need a candle?"

"No, I'll take a break. Call me when you get home."

"yes."

Zhou Shuren closed his eyes, recalling what happened at today's celebration banquet. The emperor and the prince broke the peace, just like a meat grinder that had been powered on, just waiting for people to enter the net. He could already smell the blood, and this cleanup would definitely implicate many people.

The next day at Zhou's residence, Zhulan woke up early, and Zhou Shuren also sat up, "Is it time to go to court?"

"No, you can sleep a little longer."

Zhou Shuren estimated the time and decided not to go to sleep. "I'll get up too and go to the morning court early."

Zhulan waited for Zhou Shuren to get up, and asked the maid to bring in some water. Then she said, "I went to bed early yesterday, and I didn't wake up even though you came back late. I received a lot of invitations in the past two days, including one from Shen Houfu."

Zhou Shuren washed his face, dried it and sat on a chair. "Shen Houfu, no one from Shen Houfu participated in this expedition. To be honest, Shen Houfu and Yao Houfu had a fight because of the mayor of Shen County. They have been keeping a low profile for the past six months."

Zhulan took the comb and combed her husband's hair. "We must go to the Shenhou Mansion. This is the invitation for the full moon. It's the eldest grandson of the second branch of the Shenhou Mansion."

Zhou Shuren said, "That's right."

Zhu Lan smiled and said, "Who knows, maybe we can even meet County Master Shen and his children."

It's a pity that when the two marquises' mansions were in turmoil, the Zhou family did not come to the capital. It is said that the turmoil was particularly fierce. In the end, County Shen had a miscarriage. The imperial physician said that she could not be moved, and the Empress said it was over.

Zhou Shuren narrowed his eyes and said, "Yao Zheyu is back. This time he has no reason to live in the Shen family. I estimate that he will move back in the next two days."

Zhu Lan felt sorry for him and patted Zhou Shuren on the shoulder. "It's done. Go change your clothes and have breakfast later."

"good."

An hour later, in the court, Zhou Shuren was very energetic. Something must have happened today. Sure enough, before long, an official submitted a memorial to impeach the prince.

Zhou Shuren took a look. He had been attending court for several days and basically remembered all the officials who attended the court. Right Deputy Chief of Staff, third rank, Lord Qi, this was the first person who came up as the Right Deputy Chief of Staff.

The emperor flipped through the letter that was handed to him. He really put a lot of effort into testing him. He was the one who reported the case to the prince. He really knew how to catch someone. He threw the letter to the prince and said in a much lower voice than before, "Take a good look at it."

The prince took the letter, opened it and saw the name and was somewhat silent. No wonder his father was angry. This person was his father's man. Although he was registered under his name, he was still his father's man. Now that he was caught and the evidence was brought to the court, his father was not only angry with Lord Sun, but also with him. "Your son was not aware of it. Your son apologizes."

The emperor was indeed angry. He had handed the people over to the prince, but the prince ignored them just because they were his people.

Zhou Shuren lowered his head and moved his ears. The emperor was really angry. The tone of his voice changed and he was not pretending. The whole court fell silent. Even the right deputy governor did not dare to say a word and was as quiet as a background board.

The morning court session ended soon. Zhou Shuren stroked his beard. The prince was really punished and he had to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors.

Xiao Qing frowned. Having been by the emperor's side for many years, he could tell when the emperor was really angry or pretending to be angry. He sighed quietly and hoped that there would be no conflict between the prince and the emperor. "Let's go."

Zhou Shuren looked at the ministers who were leaving in groups of two or three. Some of them were excited, while others were worried.

In the Zhengdian Hall of the Imperial Palace, the Emperor looked at the kneeling Crown Prince and asked, "Do you know that you are wrong?"

The prince lowered his head and said, "I know I was wrong."

The emperor clenched his fists, wanting to give the prince a couple of slaps, "You don't believe me, huh?"

The prince was a little dumbfounded after hearing this. He was so anxious that sweat broke out on his forehead. He hurriedly said, "Father, I didn't pay much attention to it because I trusted you. It was because you gave it to me that I trusted you. If I really didn't trust you, you wouldn't have the guts to take bribes."

The emperor's anger dissipated. Indeed, the prince had always valued Sun Liao, but Sun Liao had betrayed their father and son's trust. "You get up."

There is one more chapter, you can read it tomorrow morning

(End of this chapter)