You little wretch

"Your Majesty, His Highness Prince Yu has arrived-"

The moment Dequan finished speaking, the voices in the Imperial Study fell silent.

Emperor Jinyuan raised his eyes slightly and looked toward the door.

Ignoring the sharp gaze ahead of him, Xiao Yu strolled in calmly. "Greetings, Elder Imperial Brother."

Emperor Jinyuan gave a cold snort and looked away.

"So you still remembered to come back!" he said sarcastically.

...He was finally back.

The Marquis of Pingxi had nagged him so much that he had almost wanted to throw up his hands and quit.

"Explain to the Marquis of Pingxi what you've been doing all afternoon!"

Only then did Xiao Yu notice the man beside him. "Oh, the old marquis is here."

He stepped forward. "My respects, sir."

"Is your heir doing well?"

Not only had Xiao Yu ignored the Marquis of Pingxi, he even dared to mention his beloved grandson.

Furious, the marquis stood and pointed at him. "You little wretch! You little wretch!"

Yet the next instant, Xiao Yu turned to Emperor Jinyuan and complained, "Elder Imperial Brother, he insulted me!"

The Marquis of Pingxi: "..."

Emperor Jinyuan: "..."

He had seen people complain right in front of the accused, but never with such righteous confidence.

For a moment, he had no idea what to do.

Seeing that the Marquis of Pingxi was too angry to speak, he intervened.

He cleared his throat softly.

"Marquis of Pingxi, calm yourself. Qi'an was merely asking after him. He meant nothing else," he soothed.

His protective intent could hardly have been more obvious.

Hearing that, the Marquis of Pingxi grew even angrier.

He was the emperor's uncle! It was bad enough that the emperor would not help him, but he was actually defending an outsider like Xiao Yu.

"Does Your Majesty intend to openly shield this little wretch?" he demanded angrily.

Hearing him call Xiao Yu a little wretch over and over, Emperor Jinyuan frowned slightly.

"The circumstances have yet to be established. Please mind your words, Marquis of Pingxi," he replied.

He turned to Xiao Yu, his tone tinged with exasperation. "Qi'an, hurry up and give us a detailed account of what you saw and heard today. Don't let the marquis misunderstand you!"

"It's actually quite simple," Xiao Yu replied. "Heir Xie took a fancy to a woman, and I took a fancy to him-"

"Outrageous!"

Emperor Jinyuan spoke before the Marquis of Pingxi could explode. "Absolutely outrageous!"

"Of all the people you could fancy, you had to choose the Heir of the Marquis of Pingxi... You-you'll be the death of me!"

He had not expected Xiao Yu to become increasingly reckless over the years.

It was his fault.

He had given him far too much freedom.

Xiao Yu pouted.

"Elder Imperial Brother," he said aggrievedly, "so the Heir of the Marquis of Pingxi is allowed to abduct an innocent woman in broad daylight, but I'm not allowed to abduct him?"

He looked at Emperor Jinyuan reproachfully. "Elder Imperial Brother, you're playing favorites!"

Emperor Jinyuan: "..."

You ungrateful little brat.

Yes, I am playing favorites.

But can't you see whom I'm favoring?

Having heard Qi'an's account, he now had a rough understanding of the situation and felt more assured.

He looked at the Marquis of Pingxi, his gaze cooling and his tone imposing. "Marquis of Pingxi, is this true?"

The Marquis of Pingxi stiffened slightly, unable to answer.

After all, no one knew his beloved grandson's character better than he did.

He wanted to deny it.

But if His Majesty ordered a thorough investigation, the origins of the women in his beloved grandson's back courtyard would not stand up to scrutiny.

The crime of abducting common women could be treated as either serious or minor. Ordinarily, it might have been overlooked.

The problem was that His Majesty had spent the past few years reforming the court and working tirelessly to govern well.

He would certainly not tolerate the oppression of his people now.

Especially when Prince Yu was involved.

He had been rash.

He should not have rushed to seek justice for his beloved grandson the moment he saw that the boy had suffered.

Over the years, countless people had tried to bring Prince Yu down. Had any of them succeeded?

Instead, Prince Yu's reputation had only grown, proof of how firmly entrenched he was in His Majesty's heart.

But Prince Yu had bullied his beloved grandson. If he did not seek justice for the boy, he simply could not swallow his anger.

[The Marquis of Pingxi dotes on Xie Guifan so much, yet he has no idea that in a few years, the boy will ruin his entire household.]

[And he spends all day with a pack of disreputable friends, growing more and more defiant under their influence.]

[At their urging, he even poisons the Marquis of Pingxi into paralysis, then refuses to feed him, leaving him bedridden to fend for himself...]

[In the end, the Marquis of Pingxi dies of sheer rage!]

"You unfilial beast!"

As soon as the Marquis of Pingxi spoke, blood surged to his head, and he fainted.

Xiao Yu: "..."

He hadn't even said anything yet.

Was the Marquis of Pingxi trying to frame him?

He raised his head and looked at Emperor Jinyuan.

His thin lips parted. "Elder Imperial Brother, you frightened him."

Emperor Jinyuan: "..."

If I ever become a tyrant, you'll certainly deserve some of the 'credit.'

He immediately ordered, "Dequan, hurry and take the Marquis of Pingxi to the Imperial Medical Bureau. Make sure their physicians revive him!"

Otherwise, no amount of explanation would ever clear his name.

Seeing this, Xiao Yu stepped forward. "Elder Imperial Brother, if there's nothing else, may I take my leave?"

"Stop right there!"

Seeing that he intended to slip away, Emperor Jinyuan immediately called him back.

But looking at him made his head start buzzing again.

"Qi'an, can't you stay out of trouble for once?"

A trace of indignation and helplessness flashed through his eyes.

He pointed at a stack of memorials on the desk. "Look for yourself! Every one of these is calling for your impeachment!"

Like a child who had misbehaved, Xiao Yu stood obediently to one side and listened to the scolding.

He still made sure to reply, "Elder Imperial Brother, I can control myself, but I can't control the ministers' desire to impeach me."

Censor Lu and Superintendent Yin were particularly relentless. Ever since he had exposed the truth behind their supposedly harmonious marriages, they had watched him like hawks.

Even the slightest mistake he made would be magnified several times over.

He had it so hard.

Emperor Jinyuan was momentarily speechless.

He paused.

"So you think you're in the right?" he replied.

"Look for yourself."

Emperor Jinyuan pulled a memorial from the stack and tossed it to him. "Even your father has heard about the foolish things you've done. He sent an urgent secret memorial asking me to keep you firmly in line."

"Otherwise, he'll come here and discipline you himself."

The more he spoke, the more indignant he became. "Your father is even starting to suspect that I deliberately had people lead you astray!"

Xiao Yu caught it and read it.

It really was from Father.

The sharp strokes of his handwriting alone showed how furious he had been while writing it.

Before leaving for the capital, Xiao Yu had sworn before the ancestors of the Xiao Family that he would exercise strict self-discipline, conduct himself honorably, and never tarnish the reputation of the Prince of Zhennan's Residence.

He was done for.

The next time they met, Father would chase him around and beat him.

"Your father no longer trusts me at all."

Emperor Jinyuan saw that he still looked utterly unconcerned.

That only made him angrier. "From now on, you are not to leave the palace without my decree. Stay in the Eastern Palace and reflect on your behavior, so no more rumors about you get out."

"You may have no shame, but I do!"

"Elder Imperial Brother..." Xiao Yu pleaded pitifully.

Emperor Jinyuan said, "Even calling me Father won't help!"

Xiao Yu: "..."

[Tch! What a foolish emperor!]

Emperor Jinyuan: "..."

He turned his back. "Get out!"

He truly did not want to see him anymore.

If he looked at him again, he feared he might lose control and have the little wretch beheaded.

"Certainly! I'll take my leave right away!"

Unlike Emperor Jinyuan, who was seething, Xiao Yu was delighted to receive permission to leave at last.

Little did he know that far away in the Southern Border, someone else was unhappy because of him.

Southern Zhao Kingdom

Diligent Governance Hall

Qi Yunheng was diligently reviewing memorials.

Although he was only acting as king and had yet to formally ascend the throne,

the memorials still had to be reviewed.

Even if most of them were denouncing him.

A quarter of an hour later,

he suddenly looked up.

"Uncle Fu, has... anything happened recently?" he asked, as though casually.

Uncle Fu stepped forward and replied, "Master, since the Grand Tutor's arrest, opposition at court to your accession has been growing."

"But the chancellor, the General Who Assists the State, and the others have suppressed it. I believe the opposition will disappear before long."

"Mm."

"What else?" Qi Yunheng asked blandly.

Uncle Fu paused.

Suddenly, he seemed to remember something.

"Oh, yes, Master. News from the front says that the Jin Kingdom's Southern Border Army seems to have been stirred up by something lately."

"They've been itching for action all day, rather worked up, and somewhat indignant."

Qi Yunheng: "..."

"Get to the point," he said through gritted teeth.

"Apparently, the heir of their Prince of Zhennan's Residence-Prince Yu-took a fancy to a man on the streets of Capital City. When his love went unrequited, he simply abducted him-"

Crash!

Uncle Fu flinched in fright.

He looked up to find the desk shattered into pieces and memorials scattered all over the floor.