After getting married, she spent every night alone in her room; when she asked for a divorce, he kne

The emperor's eyes were fixed on Xiao Jinghan, but Xiao Jinghan did not react. He kept his head down and stood in the ranks of civil officials, holding his tablet.

Yan Ji, who was standing to his side, turned around and winked at him. Feng Liangcai, who was standing next to him, even gave him a light kick, signaling him to step out of line.

Li Zhaoxi took in all their subtle actions, but he wasn't angry. He raised his voice, "Where is Minister Xiao?"

Xiao Jinghan had been playing Pai Gow all night and was feeling sleepy when Li Zhaoxi suddenly called his name. He had no choice but to step out from the crowd, bow to Li Zhaoxi, and say, "Your Majesty, I am here."

Li Zhaoxi said, "I intend to hand Lu Wei over to you for interrogation. Are you confident in your abilities?"

"Hand Lu Wei over to me?" Xiao Jinghan shook his head. "I have no confidence at all. Your Majesty would be better off withdrawing your order."

Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officials fell silent.

Looking across the entire court, besides Prince Ming, Li Chun, only Xiao Jinghan dared to speak to Li Zhaoxi like that.

Xiao Jinghan's mother, Guan Haitang, was the Empress Dowager's cousin, and the two had a very close relationship. As a child, Xiao Jinghan often moved around in the palace and grew up under the Empress Dowager's watchful eye.

His older sister, Xiao Ruowei, was Li Zhaoxi's Noble Consort, enjoying the highest favor in the palace. In private, he even dared to call Li Zhaoxi his brother-in-law.

He was not a prince, yet he enjoyed the treatment of one. If it weren't for the Duke of Zhenguo's refusal, he would have already been enfeoffed as a marquis by Li Zhaoxi. How could he be relegated to the lowest ranks of civil officials?

Li Zhaoxi had always doted on him, and didn't take his mild offense to heart at all. He simply said to Xiao Jinghan in a gentle tone, "But your father-in-law thinks highly of you and recommended you to investigate this case. Do you want to disappoint your father-in-law and me?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jinghan went to look at Liu Jingyuan.

Perhaps noticing Xiao Jinghan's gaze, Liu Jingyuan chuckled twice and said, "Didn't Lord Xiao just finish handling the Yutong Academy case a while ago? Lu Wei's case is closely related to the Yutong Academy case. Entrusting it to the experienced Lord Xiao will surely make things much easier."

Yan Ji and the other two looked at each other frantically, trying to signal to Xiao Jinghan not to take on this hot potato.

Xiao Jinghan stared at Liu Jingyuan's retreating figure with a cold smile, about to righteously refuse, when Li Zhaoxi suddenly ordered: "Alright, this case will be handed over to Minister Xiao for trial. Give me an answer as soon as possible."

A hammer is fixed.

Xiao Jinghan could only obey the order, "Your subject obeys the decree."

After the court session ended, Yan Ji and the other two surrounded Xiao Jinghan, vying to make things difficult for him.

Yan Ji: "Brother Xiao, your father-in-law is deliberately causing you trouble! You need to be on your guard!"

Liang Yuheng: "Even Jin Gongzheng can't do anything about Lu Wei! How can Brother Xiao possibly get him to talk?"

Feng Liangcai: "Why don't you kowtow to your father-in-law and ask him to let you go?"

The three of them chattered around Xiao Jinghan, making him sleepy.

He covered his face and yawned, and was about to leave when Jin Gongzheng walked over.

"Lord Xiao."

"Oh? Lord Jin," Xiao Jinghan said with a smile, "What advice does Lord Jin have?"

"How could I possibly instruct Lord Xiao? I was merely reminding you to come to the Ministry of Justice to retrieve the person."

"Yes, I almost forgot about this matter if Lord Jin hadn't mentioned it." Xiao Jinghan cupped his hands in greeting to Jin Gongzheng. "Then I will trouble Lord Jin to help transfer the criminal to the Censorate."

Jin Gongzheng smiled wryly and said, "Of course, of course."

-

Morning light shines on the beautiful pavilion, and dawn colors fill the carved courtyard.

Inside the Agarwood Courtyard, the servants had already cleaned the courtyard thoroughly. Liu Yuansheng held Yan'er in her arms, basking in the sun in front of the rose wall, hesitating whether or not to go and pay her respects to Madam Yuan.

Logically speaking, she should have gone, since she was the daughter-in-law of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, and Madam Yuan was the mistress of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

But after what happened yesterday, she and the Yuan family broke off relations overnight. Even if she were a hollow wooden person, she couldn't bring herself to go to someone's door with a smile and pay her respects after being thoroughly betrayed.

Go? Or not?

Just as Liu Yuansheng was hesitating, Granny Tian, ​​who was by the old lady's side, came and told Liu Yuansheng that from now on she no longer needed to go to Yuewu Courtyard to pay her respects.

The old lady had taken away Yuan's power of managing the household and handed it over to her eldest grandson's wife, Xie Qinghe. Yuan was confined to the Buddhist hall by the old lady to reflect on her actions.

Liu Yuansheng understood that the old lady was punishing Yuan Shi.

For her and Yan'er, and even more so for Xiao Jinghan.

Thinking of Xiao Jinghan, Liu Yuansheng couldn't help but ask Ying'er, "Shouldn't the young master be leaving court by now?"

"According to the time, it should be time for the court to end," Ying'er said. "Does Miss need to speak with the Young Master?"

Liu Yuansheng shook her head. "It's nothing."

She handed Yan'er to the wet nurse, Li, and said, "Take the child back."

The wet nurse took Yan'er from Liu Yuansheng, her face full of guilt, and said, "Third Young Madam, it was all my fault yesterday. I didn't explain things clearly to the young master! It was clearly my idea to take the young master to Yuewu Courtyard; it had nothing to do with you!"

"You don't need to apologize. I was indeed responsible for what happened yesterday," Liu Yuansheng comforted Granny Li. "Alright, let's just take good care of Yan'er from now on and not dwell on the past."

"Oh!" Li, the wet nurse, curtsied to Liu Yuansheng. When she thought about how Xiao Jinghan had scolded Liu Yuansheng for this matter and hadn't returned home all night, she felt especially sorry for Liu Yuansheng.

Liu Yuansheng didn't think much of it. She went inside to change her clothes and planned to go to Baicaotang.

Since the incident, she hasn't been to Baicaotang and doesn't know how Doctor Xue and the others are doing. She still has many questions to ask them.

A carriage was waiting outside. Liu Yuansheng and Ying'er walked out of the gate of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion one after the other. Just as they were about to leave, a blue-curtained carriage stopped in front of her. "Yuansheng."

Liu Yuansheng was stunned, his eyes fixed on the blue-curtained carriage, when he saw Liu Yunheng lift the curtain and step down.

"Young Master?" Ying'er exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing here, Young Master?"

Liu Yuansheng was equally surprised. She stared intently at Liu Yunheng and asked, "Big brother, what brings you here?"

Liu Yunheng sighed and said, "Yuansheng, how have you been lately?"

Liu Yuansheng's lips twitched, and he was speechless for a moment.

Of all the people in the Prime Minister's residence, only Liu Yunheng treated her with any kindness.

Therefore, she was willing to call Liu Yunheng "elder brother".

But when Liu Yunheng asked her how she was doing, she really couldn't answer. After all, she had just been harassed by her mother-in-law yesterday, and a few days ago, she had almost been raped by two servants sent by Liu Yunze.

Such days are hardly good.

She didn't answer, so she changed the subject and asked Liu Yunze, "Brother, what are you doing outside the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion?"

"I came here specifically to find you," Liu Yunze said. "Since we've run into each other here, let's get straight to the point."

"What does Big Brother want to say?" Liu Yuansheng asked.

Liu Yunheng frowned as he looked at Liu Yuansheng and said, "Yuansheng, I came here because I want you to persuade the young master not to make things difficult for his father anymore."

Liu Yuansheng was stunned, while Liu Yunheng continued in one breath, "Because of Yunze's matter, Father was furious and said he would avenge Yunze no matter what. Therefore, today in court, Father proposed that the Crown Prince investigate Lu Wei's case."

"Lu Wei's case is extremely thorny. If the Crown Prince handles it improperly, he may be punished by His Majesty. Moreover, Lu Wei specifically requested those few banned books from the previous dynasty, saying he would not say anything if he couldn't see them. But the Ministry of Justice destroyed those banned books long ago. Where can we find them again?"

"Banned books?" Liu Yuansheng thought hard. "Are they the ones that appeared in our house?"

"Yes," Liu Yunheng said. "Father did this probably to make the young master bow down to him. After all, only he has seen the contents of that forbidden book, and he knows them."

Liu Yuansheng blinked, seemingly understanding but not quite.

"Yuansheng, since the young master is willing to stand up for you, he must like you. Go and persuade him not to make things difficult for the Prime Minister's Mansion after this matter. When will this cycle of revenge end? Besides, our two families are related by marriage. Why ruin our relationship and make ourselves a laughingstock?"

Liu Yunheng tried to persuade Liu Yuansheng, but Liu Yuansheng was preoccupied with the matter of the forbidden book and pondered what Liu Jingyuan wanted to do to Xiao Jinghan.

"Yuan Sheng? Did you even listen to what I said?"

Seeing Liu Yuansheng standing there blankly without speaking, Liu Yunheng clicked his tongue and said, "Look at you, you're married now, why are you still so dull?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Yuansheng came to her senses and was about to reply when a carriage with a pearl-topped canopy slowly stopped in front of her. The carriage door opened, and Xiao Jinghan, dressed in a red official robe, stepped out of the carriage.