Fei Pin Ying Qiang

Chapter 63.2

The next day, when Li Chen was about to leave for morning court, he told Qi Yunruo he would be attending the banquet at a restaurant in the evening, and that he would return home late. That he didn't have to wait for him.

Qi Yunruo intended to tidy up the inner courtyard. He did not want any type of news from the prince estate to reach the outside. Those who could come in and out of the estate were the stewards with status. As such, he could not be too excessive with his words, and merely repeated that if anyone dared to leak news from the prince estate, he would not let them off. 　　

Three days later, Prince Qing and Prince Yong left the capital. This resembled a signal for all the powers in the capital to target Li Chen. Therefore, Qi Yunruo's hard work had all been in vain. The civil officials of the Imperial Censorate and Hanlin Academy seemed to be having a field day, censuring Li Chen for having a disorderly inner courtyard, for favoring the crafty and the fawning. They accused him of all sorts of things, that they were furious of how much of a philanderer he was. After Princess Consort Chun had argued with him, he slapped her on the face. They also said that since the start, Prince Chun favored his concubines and disrespected his main consort. Still others said it was actually Qi Yunruo and the princess consort who had fought, and Prince Chun defended Qi Yunruo. He did not allow the princess consort to approach Qi Yunruo, and even placed her on house arrest...　　

The moment Qi Yunruo learned of this, he received a message from a palace eunuch: he was summoned to the imperial palace.　　

The prince was not around, so Qi Yunruo didn't know what to do. He was so anxious, he kept pacing around the room. Seeing this, Su Ge said, "Right now, His Highness is still in the palace, so Sir shouldn't be afraid. Sir just needs to enter the palace."　　

"However... His Majesty. That is the emperor..." Qi Yunruo felt alarmed and helpless. He sat down and asked, "What if His Majesty actually believes their words?"　　

Su Ge said, "But your honored self mustn't defy an imperial decree..."　　

With a bitter expression, Qi Yunruo went to change into his official robes. Then he followed the messenger eunuch to the palace. Before they left, Su Ge gave the messenger a bulging pouch of money. A smile on his face, he asked, "What's the reason for the summon?"　　

"We only serve on the outside, and do not know the emperor's intention."　　　　

Qi Yunruo followed the two to a sedan and sat on it. In a perturbed state of mind, a sixth-rank official of an imperial prince like him did not have the privilege to enter the court. As such, Qi Yunruo had thought he would not have the opportunity to see the emperor. Who would have expected that he would enter the palace today with a fully blackened name?

Qi Yunruo disembarked from his sedan at the gates of the palace. The path ahead required him to walk on his own feet. At present, the emperor was situated at Martial Hero Hall... He didn't know where the prince was.

On the way there, he did not encounter many people. However, in front of Martial Hero Hall, he saw Great Scholar Wen just as he was exiting. Great Scholar Wen glanced at him in contempt. Made a sound of annoyance.　　

Qi Yunruo furrowed his brows, extremely unwilling to deal with this old fool. However, Great Scholar Wen approached him with his hands clasped behind his back. Took his time to say, "Since ancient times, using flattery for favor would never bring forth a good outcome. Prince Chun originally could have been a wise ruler who had skill in governing a country. What a pity, what a pity..."　　

"This time, is Great Scholar Wen fully displaying your capabilities?" asked Qi Yunruo.　　

Great Scholar Wen threw his sleeve. "I dare to criticize directly. It's originally the duty of us officials."