At morning court the next day.
Emperor Jinyuan pressed his fingers to his brow. His eyelid would not stop twitching.
"Your Majesty, someone saw Prince Yu entering a private room at Fortune House last night with his arms around a man.
"About four hours later, he entered Spring Drunk House with another man..."
Advising Grandee Ma Shang stepped forward to remonstrate. "As a prince of our dynasty and Minister of Revenue, his conduct is an affront to decency and utterly disgraceful."
"I believe he should be removed from his ministerial post and ordered to reflect at home, lest he lead others astray!"
Previously, with the treasury running empty year after year, no one had been willing to take on the Ministry of Revenue as an additional responsibility, leaving the minister's post vacant for years.
Since Xiao Yu had become Minister of Revenue, the treasury had been well stocked every year.
Quite a few people at court had begun eyeing this lucrative post, constantly looking for a chance to bring Xiao Yu down.
Xiao Yu yawned, pretending he had seen nothing.
Su Yan glanced at him. When he noticed the wound at the corner of his mouth, his expression shifted slightly.
"What happened to your mouth?" he asked quietly.
Xiao Yu stiffened slightly at the question.
He looked up at Su Yan, his gaze briefly wavering. "I got up during the night and couldn't see where I was going. I fell and knocked it."
Uncle doesn't think I did something shameful, does he?
I'm innocent! That little mutt just bit me by accident. I really wasn't fooling around!
Su Yan fell silent.
He asked no more questions.
Censor Lu glanced at Xiao Yu and stepped forward. "I, too, believe Prince Yu's conduct is improper. He ought to reflect on it!"
A