These memorials…

The ministers in the great hall were somewhat puzzled, and the Emperor also frowned, looking at the somewhat frenzied Zhou Maochun.

How did Zhou Maochun become so excited after reading these, as if he’d gone into heat?

Were these memorials not impeachments but praise?

Even so, there was no need to be so excited.

Zhou Maochun wasn’t finished after pushing these memorials forward—he turned around to pick up the scattered memorials on the ground.

“Keep them all, I’ll keep them all properly. Nobody rush—let’s settle accounts one by one!” he muttered as he collected them.

The ministers in the great hall all darkened their faces.

The night was deep when a eunuch carefully brought over a palace lantern and placed it on the desk.

There were already four lamps on the desk, illuminating the surroundings as bright as day.

The Emperor leaned against the dragon bed reading a notebook and suddenly laughed.

“Look at this one—this person is actually called Wu Gaizi.” He pointed to the notebook in his hand.

A nearby eunuch hurriedly played up to him, though of course he didn’t dare actually look, just going through the motions.

“Wu Gaizi? ‘I deserve it’—he really dares to call himself that.” The eunuch laughed in his thin voice.

The Emperor continued reading with a smile, laughing occasionally and frowning from time to time. This time, unlike when he usually read memorials quickly, he was reading very slowly.

A eunuch glanced at the mere four or five notebooks on the desk, then at the wooden box still full of them.

What were these things that had His Majesty so absorbed?

Light footsteps sounded outside, and a red-robed eunuch walked in.

“Your Majesty, it’s getting quite late.” Cai Zhong said with a low laugh.

The Emperor’s gaze didn’t leave the notebook as he waved his hand.

“Always sleeping on schedule is really boring. Staying up late once in a while is also good.” He said.

Even sleeping had become boring…

Cai Zhong was both amused and exasperated.

The lights in the great hall stayed on until dawn broke in the east.

The Emperor put down a yellowed notebook. A nearby eunuch hurriedly handed him a hot towel. After wiping his face, the Emperor rubbed his eyes.

“Your Majesty, please rest a while. You can’t go on like this.” Cai Zhong said with deep concern.

The Emperor hummed in response, glancing at the box still with a bottom full of notebooks.

“I’ll look at these after noon.” He said.

Still going to read more? What were these things that had the Emperor reading with such keen interest?

The eunuchs were very surprised.

Zhou Maochun had been jumping up and down in the great hall, crying and making a scene about wanting to fight a lawsuit and confront those who impeached him, but was driven out by the Emperor.

Could these be evidence of crimes by those who impeached him, obtained by Zhou Maochun?

“Where’s Zhou Maochun? Did he really go to the Ministry of Justice prison?” The Emperor asked, wiping his face with the hot towel and remembering something.

Speaking of this, Cai Zhong was somewhat helpless.

“Yes. No amount of persuasion worked—he’s stubbornly staying in the prison and won’t leave.” He said.

The Emperor laughed and threw down the hot towel.

“If he likes staying there, let him stay. Why stop him?” He said, then got up and headed inside.

Cai Zhong’s mind went through several turns.

What the Emperor most feared and resented was being threatened by others.

If this Zhou Maochun really had dirt on others, the smart thing to do would be to cry about his own injustice and make this big matter small and the small matter disappear. How could he make such a fuss instead?

This wasn’t just saying those people had wronged him, but that the Emperor had wronged him.

For a minister, never mind if the Emperor hadn’t wronged you—so what if he really had wronged you?

“Thunder and rain, dew and frost—all are imperial grace.” Were these just empty words?

Zhou Maochun clearly had a chance to turn things around but insisted on courting death.

Cai Zhong shook his head.

It seemed this matter would end like this.

Keeping his life would be the best outcome.

As he was thinking with his head down, the Emperor, who had walked to the curtain, suddenly stopped.

“Tell the duty officers not to touch these memorials. Put the newly delivered ones aside for now.” He said.

Cai Zhong responded with a yes.

But the Emperor thought of something else and waved his hand.

“No need to say anything—Li Tong knows.” He said.

Cai Zhong’s heart jumped violently.

Li Tong?

“Your Majesty, Li Tong is following Your Majesty’s orders to guard the city gate…” He said hesitantly with a forced smile.

The Emperor didn’t turn around, lifting the curtain with one hand.

“I sent him to receive people, and the people have been received. What’s he still doing there? Either he’s blind or he wants to stay there for life?” He said lightly.

The curtain fell and footsteps faded away.

Cai Zhong let out a breath.

Understood!

What twists and turns, back and forth—this Emperor’s thoughts were truly hard to guess!

“Grandpa, let this humble one serve you to rest…” A eunuch about thirty years old bowed and scraped with a fawning smile.

Cai Zhong gave him a kick.

“Serve what? Who are you serving? Instead of sharing His Majesty’s burdens, what are you fussing about?” He scolded irritably, “Hurry up and invite Li Tong back. There’s so much to do here—can you handle it all?”

The eunuch was scolded into confusion but didn’t dare delay, scrambling out.

At this time, the city gate had just opened.

As the weather warmed, more and more people entered the city earlier and earlier.

A horse carriage came charging up first, and the driver casually cracked his whip irritably.

“You dog-spawned bastard, dawdling around—when will you open the gate! If you delay my master’s important business, can you bear the responsibility?” He cursed.

Li Tong couldn’t dodge in time and was struck on the shoulder.

“How dare you! Where did this madman come from? This is our Lord Li…” A small soldier couldn’t stand it and shouted angrily.

But the driver wasn’t afraid at all and even spat.

“Lord Li? I’m hitting you! Never mind you, a Lord Li who guards city gates—even if Lord Huo of your Five-City Military Commissioner’s Office saw my master’s carriage, he’d have to yield three points!” The driver cursed.

Before his words finished, something came flying at his face. The driver couldn’t dodge and was hit right in the face, immediately reeking terribly.

It was a clump of horse manure.

“Fuck your grandmother.” Someone cursed at the same time, “Get down and kowtow to Lord Li!”

The driver was both angry and startled, wiping his face messily with his sleeve before seeing several people charging over, led by a young master in brocade robes with four servants behind him, one still holding horse manure.

“Rebellion! Rebellion! Don’t you see whose carriage this is…” The driver shrieked.

Before he finished, the servant raised his hand again.

The driver crouched to dodge, and with a splat, the manure hit the carriage.

Seeing the crowd was numerous and aggressive, the driver—a man who could bend and stretch, sizing up the situation—cracked his whip and charged through.

“Grandsons, you just wait!” He left this parting shot as man and carriage disappeared.

Fan Yilin hadn’t expected the fellow to run so fast and angrily wanted to chase after him, but Li Tong quickly stopped him.

“Why get angry with a driver?” He laughed.

“Yes, yes, that’s the carriage of Censor-in-Chief Wu’s family.” A small soldier said worriedly.

“Relying on others’ power—I just can’t stand this.” Fan Yilin cursed.

Haven’t you always been like this too?

Everyone around thought this but didn’t dare say it.

Fan Yilin sat down huffily in a nearby shelter.

Li Tong calmly poured him tea.

“You’re not angry?” Fan Yilin asked angrily.

“I’m not angry. I made a mistake, and His Majesty is punishing me.” Li Tong said.

Meaning: His Majesty sent me here to be mistreated. This was all expected.

Fan Yilin sighed.

“Don’t worry. Lady Qi is back, and those troublemakers will soon quiet down. His Majesty will definitely…” He said.

Before he could finish, hurried footsteps sounded from the street.

Seven or eight men in official uniforms gathered around, glaring fiercely.

“Who is Li Tong?” The leader, a dark-faced man, shouted, shaking chains that clanged loudly.

More trouble?

The small soldiers immediately stepped aside.

“I am.” Li Tong said.

“Take him away!” The man waved his hand.

Seven or eight people immediately surrounded them. Fan Yilin jumped up.

“What are you doing? How dare you…” He shouted.

“Young master, someone has accused City Guard Li Tong of unauthorized searches and demanding money. We’re ordered to take him back for questioning. You’d better not obstruct our duties.” The leader shouted.

Before Fan Yilin could explode, someone else spoke nearby.

“I say, Fan Yilin, why are you so eager to jump out and speak? What’s your purpose?”

Fan Yilin and the others looked over to see a young gentleman swaggering over with seven or eight household servants behind him.

“Trouble—this is the son of Left Vice Minister Han of the Ministry of Justice, who Lord Li stopped and searched a few days ago.” The small soldiers recognized him, their faces darkening again as they retreated further.

This was killing them. Whether Li Tong was naturally unlucky or people were deliberately making trouble for him, these short days guarding the city gate had fully proven the saying about beating a dog in the water. The subordinate soldiers didn’t respect him, and those causing trouble at the gate appeared daily.

“Speak! Are you two in collusion? Is my ancestral jade pendant that Li Tong seized also your doing?” Young Master Han shouted loudly.

Fan Yilin spat.

“Han, what kind of character are you? Ancestral jade pendant? You’d be lucky to have a stone to wear!” He cursed.

Young Master Han’s face darkened at the insult. In normal times, he would yield three points to this Fan Yilin, but today was different!

Young Master Han spat back without courtesy.

“Men, take them away. Whether it’s true or not, we’ll know after a trip to the yamen for questioning.” He waved his hand.

The scene immediately became chaotic. Though Fan Yilin had fewer servants, they followed their master’s nature of not fearing trouble, desperately surrounding Fan Yilin and Li Tong and scuffling with the seven or eight constables.

These constables were still constables and knew what kind of people Fan Yilin and Li Tong were. Not looking at the monk’s face but the Buddha’s—they shouted fiercely but didn’t dare really use force. The situation became somewhat stalemated, and the area around the city gate was already packed three layers deep with peddlers and vendors gathering around.

Seeing so many people still couldn’t take down one Li Tong, Young Master Han became anxious.

“Little bastard, I see you won’t drink the toast so you’ll drink the penalty wine…” He cursed, rolling up his sleeves to personally charge forward. Just then, urgent hoofbeats accompanied by the crack of whips clearing the way burst in with seven or eight people.

Seeing this scene, the mounted man didn’t wait for his horse to stop before jumping down, striding over to grab Young Master Han’s shoulder, then smoothly threw him down.

Young Master Han was caught off guard and thrown flat on his back.

Immediately, pained cries and curses drowned out all other noise.

“You little bastard! You’ve got the heart of a bear and the gall of a leopard! Daring to cause trouble at the city gate!”

An even more shrill voice of rage rang out.

This voice made Young Master Han’s curses stop. He looked up dizzily from the ground at the person before him.

“Big brother! You came just in time.” He hurriedly called out pitifully. “This Li bastard detained…”

Before he could finish, the man in front of him stepped on his face, blocking his words.

The scene fell momentarily quiet.

The constables also stopped, looking at this man.

This man was none other than the Han family’s eldest son!

Young Master Han’s back was already soaked with sweat—despite rushing desperately, he was still a step too late!

Last night he had been on duty at the Ministry of Justice and been troubled by Zhou Maochun all night. When he saw Zhou Maochun insisting on staying in prison, sweat broke out on his forehead.

Prison was not a place just anyone could enter if they wanted to!

Originally, Zhou Maochun coming wouldn’t be surprising—they had prepared for this these days—but Zhou Maochun coming like this meant he shouldn’t come, which paradoxically meant he wouldn’t come.

This string of coming and not coming circled in his mind, but Young Master Han wasn’t confused—he was instantly clear!

Trouble—the seemingly certain impeachment of Zhou Maochun had changed!

He immediately rushed home and indeed learned from his father what had happened in the great hall. Though inquiries to the military circuit about the sent memorials also yielded confusion about their contents, this didn’t prevent everyone from quickly judging the situation.

Zhou Maochun couldn’t be touched…

So naturally, those connected to Zhou Maochun’s incident also couldn’t be touched…

The Han father and son were glad they hadn’t submitted memorials this time. After analysis, they had just settled down to sleep when dawn broke. Just as he lay down, Young Master Han remembered a small matter—his worthless younger brother had borrowed some constables to handle something.

For Young Master Han, this was truly a trivial matter, but when he remembered who the person involved was, he lost all sleepiness and rushed out without even changing clothes.

Zhou Maochun was making his own fuss about going to prison—could Li Tong’s return to the palace to serve before the Emperor be far off?

If he couldn’t see through this situation, he might as well leave the capital early.

Young Master Han was completely stunned at being publicly stepped on. What stunned him more was that his big brother, whose expression looked like he wanted to swallow him whole, was actually striding quickly toward Li Tong, and in a flash put on an enthusiastic smile.

“Lord Li, are you alright?” He asked with worry, panic, and concern.

Young Master Han and all the surrounding constables stared in amazement.

Even facing his own father, Young Master Han wasn’t so servile, was he?

Had this fellow taken the wrong medicine?

Fan Yilin and Li Tong were also momentarily stunned.

As people the world saw as disappointing sons, these legitimate eldest sons of great families wouldn’t even deign to look at them much, let alone associate with them.

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.

How could this young master from the higher class, with whom they’d never interacted, suddenly be so… polite to them from the lower class?

While they were stunned, more hoofbeats sounded, accompanied by the swish of whips. The watching crowd skillfully opened a path.

“Lord Li!” A soft, shrill voice called out.

This was the unique tone of eunuchs, and everyone saw that the four or five mounted men were indeed palace eunuchs. They hurriedly dismounted, spotted Li Tong, and came over with smiles and outstretched hands.

“Oh my Lord Li, you’ve been hard to find.” The eunuch smiled, speaking while taking Li Tong’s hand. “Quick, quick, they’re waiting for you to take over duties. We mustn’t delay.”

When these words were spoken, everyone’s minds exploded with understanding!

Young Master Han was sweating even more profusely.

He had guessed about returning to the palace but hadn’t expected it to be so soon!

He felt another wave of fear—fortunately he’d come quickly, otherwise if this Li Tong had really been taken to prison by his brother, how would that have ended!

Thinking of this, he glared fiercely at his brother still lying on the ground.

“See how I deal with you!” He said through gritted teeth, then turned to Li Tong with an even more respectful and amiable expression. “My lord, you handle your business first. Don’t worry about this matter—I’ll definitely give you a proper explanation…”

“Explanation?” The nearby eunuch heard this and, sensing something was wrong, immediately raised his eyebrows and asked coldly, “What explanation? What happened?”

Young Master Han’s sweat immediately dripped down as he looked at Li Tong, his heart in his throat.

Just then, more commotion came from outside.

“It’s here, it’s here, that Li fellow…”

Another seven or eight people rushed in, led by the driver from earlier, followed by a young master in brocade robes, equally arrogant.

“Li Tong, you dared to block my family’s carriage, you…” The young master in brocade came in shouting loudly, scanning the scene as he spoke, then suddenly froze.

He saw Li Tong and Fan Yilin, saw the eunuch standing before Li Tong—that was the godgrandson of Grand Eunuch Cai Zhong, saw Young Master Han of the Ministry of Justice who was about to be promoted to Minister, saw Young Master Han lying on the ground with a clear footprint on his face, and most importantly, saw the expressions of the eunuch and Young Master Han.

That humble, fawning, timid, worried, agitated, fearful look…

“Young Master Wu, what am I ‘good’ at?” Li Tong asked, looking at this charging young master.

Young Master Wu didn’t hesitate, immediately kicking down the aggressive driver in front of him.

“You’re too good to give face! Such a treacherous slave, and you’re still so polite—he should have been beaten to death on the spot!” He shouted angrily.

All the onlookers, including Fan Yilin who was most skilled at reading the wind and speaking lies without blinking, dropped their jaws.

Good—truly worthy of being the Censor-in-Chief’s son. Look at this speed of observing in all directions, listening everywhere, reading expressions, bending and stretching, and speaking black as white with such adaptability. Everyone admitted inferiority.

What was really going on?

Even a fool could see these people had come aggressively to trouble this Lord Li, so how had they all changed like this in an instant?

Li Tong hurriedly left with the eunuchs. Though Li Tong said nothing, the cold, sinister look from Cai Zhong’s godgrandson before leaving still chilled the hearts of Young Master Han, Young Master Wu, and the others.

Fan Yilin also mounted his horse and, copying the eunuch’s manner, swept his gaze over these people.

“I told you long ago, but you wouldn’t believe…” He said slowly, then snorted and said nothing more before spurring his horse away.

This snort from Fan Yilin, who was usually verbose and would make trouble even without reason, chilled everyone’s hearts again.

They could see Li Tong was honest and even-tempered, so offending him should be easy to smooth over, but Fan Yilin was different—he was one to seek revenge for the smallest slight and create trouble from nothing!

“It’s all because of you, bastard!” Young Master Han kicked out.

Young Master Han, who had just stood up and was rubbing his face, immediately fell down again, his hand hitting his own nose, causing blood to flow as he let out a dry wail.

Young Master Wu wasn’t to be outdone, viciously kicking the pale, trembling driver.

“Tie up this wicked slave and make him kneel before this city gate for three days and nights!” He shouted.

As people left the city gate area and the spectators dispersed, those small soldiers were still in a daze.

“What, what, what happened?” One asked stupidly.

“What else could it be? Lord Li has been restored to his position.” Another, more clever one said.

When this was said, everyone felt mixed emotions.

Restored to his position?

Back to being a close imperial attendant?

“Then we probably won’t see him anymore, will we?” One murmured.

“Obviously not.” Someone replied.

Such close ministers were worlds apart from these small soldiers in status. Being able to meet once in this lifetime would be difficult, let alone forming connections!

Thinking of this, everyone felt even more bitter.

Actually, they had originally had the chance to form connections. If they had treated Lord Li well while he was here, surely he would have remembered them. Having such a great man remember you and mentioning your name when the opportunity arose—wouldn’t that mean a bright future?

It was just a pity that not only had they not formed connections or shown goodwill, but they had treated him with cold indifference, harsh words, and mockery…

The several men looked at the now-empty street, regretting until their guts turned green.

How could they not have thought of it?

How could they not have treated him well?

But how could they have thought of it? How would they have dared?

For a fallen person, who would think about whether he might rise again? For a fallen person, to curry favor with certain others, what everyone had to do was compete to step on him. Who would risk offending those not yet fallen for the sake of someone who had fallen?

Seeing the long term was perhaps life’s most difficult thing.

More hoofbeats approached—this time it was someone familiar.

The small soldiers stood at attention, looking at their direct superior.

The man in official robes swept his cold gaze over them.

“Why are there only you few?” The man asked. “Where are the other four?”

Their people had never been complete. Each time only three came, and then Li Tong had to cover for one person. In all their time at the city gate, except when absolutely necessary to return for changing clothes and washing, Li Tong had basically never left.

These matters were surely known by those above. Otherwise, how would they dare act this way without tacit approval and backing from above? But now it was only them who would take the blame and suffer…

“Tell them they don’t need to come anymore!”

Sure enough, the man didn’t wait for an answer, threw down this sentence, and spurred his horse away.

Only then did the small soldiers dare raise their heads, looking at each other.

How had everything changed overnight?

It felt like all the officials and government offices in the capital had become busy.

What had really happened?

At this time, Qi Yue was also grabbing Chang Yuncheng and asking this same question.

“What’s really going on? Why are you all hiding this from me?” She shouted.

They were sitting in a room outside the Ministry of Justice prison. Yesterday the Emperor had driven everyone from the great hall, but worried the Emperor might want to question someone, Zhou Maochun had stubbornly insisted on going to prison despite attempts to stop him. The eunuchs had no choice but to keep Qi Yue waiting outside the hall until dawn, when they learned the Emperor was sleeping and had no questions, so she could finally leave the palace.

Chang Yuncheng had been waiting outside the palace gate since he hadn’t seen Qi Yue come out. After meeting, when Qi Yue learned Zhou Maochun insisted on staying in prison, she wanted to follow Chang Yuncheng to the prison.

“It wasn’t that we necessarily wanted to hide it from you, just that we didn’t know if it would work or how long it would take, so we didn’t tell you.” Chang Yuncheng said with a smile.

After all, the follow-up effects on the wounded soldiers were uncertain. If effective, that would be best, but if ineffective or if effects couldn’t be seen yet…

“So adoptive father was responsible for taking the blame first, you handled these matters, and only I knew nothing, being well-protected at home by aunt, worrying about this and that?” Qi Yue said displeasedly.

Chang Yuncheng smiled again.

“Not at all—we were just about to tell you when you met His Majesty.” He said.

Qi Yue snorted.

Two minor officials on duty at the palace gate came in.

“Prince, you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? Everything’s prepared here.” They said respectfully.

Chang Yuncheng stood up.

“No need—we’re going to the Ministry of Justice prison, so we won’t eat here.” He said, looking at Qi Yue. “I’ll take you to try some good breakfast food in the capital on the way.”