The Prodigal Son

That evening, Zhao Yan, along with Lü Si, Lu Yong, and others, enjoyed a hearty drink at a restaurant.

"The young master is truly amazing; with just a few simple tricks, he ruined Qin Yu's reputation..."

Lu Yong sipped his wine while flattering Zhao Yan, feeling extremely pleased with himself.

That's called being carried away by success!

Wasn't Qin Yu very pleased with himself?

Isn't that underestimating him?

What utter nonsense about the God of Literature descending to earth!

With this commotion at the Confucian Temple and Academy today, Qin Yu will surely be despised by scholars all over the world!

The civil officials in the court will certainly not let Qin Yu off the hook!

Zhao Yan used a simple trick to put Qin Yu on the opposite side of the civil official group.

That was a brilliant move!

"Yes, Qin Yu used to be so arrogant. So many of us couldn't do anything to him, but the young master only needed to make a slight move to bring him crashing down to earth!"

"To be honest, Your Highness, I've disliked Qin Yu for a long time, but I've just had a lack of opportunity to teach him a lesson!"

"Qin Yu is just a petty person who has gotten his way. He can only show off in front of us. When he meets the Crown Prince, he immediately loses his arrogance!"

"The young master is truly remarkable..."

The others also fawned over Zhao Yan with obsequious expressions, which made Lü Si curse these sycophants in his heart.

Why don't I see them flattering themselves like this?

However, Lü Si was also very happy.

Let those two grandsons, Zhao Yan and Qin Yu, fight it out!

Regardless of who wins or loses, I'm happy!

Fight!

Fight with all your might!

Ideally, the two should have a duel, resulting in both being severely injured and crippled!

If that were the case, he would be laughing in his sleep.

Zhao Yan was quite pleased with the flattery from the crowd, but he still maintained a calm and composed expression on his face.

"It's not that I'm amazing, it's just that Qin Yu is too stupid!"

Zhao Yan smiled calmly, then turned his gaze to Lü Si. "Speaking of which, I have to thank you! If you hadn't successfully gotten Qin Yu to participate in the Confucian Temple debate, I really wouldn't have had this opportunity to teach Qin Yu a lesson!"

"Your Highness is too kind!"

Lu Si took a sip of wine and laughed heartily, "I am sworn enemies with Qin Yu! I will stand up for anything that involves Qin Yu!"

"Excellent!" Zhao Yan exclaimed repeatedly, then raised his wine cup again: "Come, let me toast you!"

"No, no, I respect the Crown Prince!"

Lu Si picked up his wine cup, grinned, and said, "I must thank the young master for giving me a good venting of my anger!"

Clang...

The two men's glasses clinked together.

Afterwards, Lu Yong and the others took turns toasting Zhao Yan.

Lu Yong put down his wine cup and tentatively asked, "Your Highness, shouldn't we strike while the iron is hot and add fuel to the fire?"

Zhao Yan actually had a plan in mind all along.

However, upon hearing Lu Yong's words, he still feigned a troubled expression, "Adding fuel to the fire? That might be a bit difficult!"

Lu Yong frowned. "With the young master making a move, it should be quite simple, right?"

"This isn't a question of who intervened! It's a question of His Majesty's attitude!"

Zhao Yan picked up the wine cup and downed the wine in one gulp. "I have no idea what kind of bewitching potion Qin Yu gave His Majesty! You may not know, but just a couple of days ago, His Majesty was bewitched by Qin Yu and had a huge argument with the Empress Dowager in the Peony Garden. The Empress Dowager was so angry that she almost vomited blood..."

As she spoke, Zhao Yan embellished the story of that day.

He didn't say anything bad about Zhao Luan either.

Anyway, it was all Qin Yu's doing!

"Isn't this better?"

Lu Yong said with great enthusiasm, "Now that Qin Yu has offended all the scholars in the world, we should expose this matter and let everyone know that Qin Yu is a disloyal and treacherous villain who instigated the relationship between His Majesty and the Empress Dowager!"

"Yes! Lu Yong is right!"

Lu Yong's opinion was immediately echoed by many people.

Zhao Yan chuckled inwardly.

This is exactly the result he wanted!

In this way, you can extricate yourself from the situation!

"Will this... work?"

Zhao Yan frowned. "This is, after all, a matter concerning the Empress Dowager and His Majesty, mother and daughter. If it gets out, I'm afraid..."

"Don't worry, Your Highness, leave this to me!"

Lu Yong patted his chest and made a grand promise.

Not only can it please Zhao Yan, but it can also deal a heavy blow to Qin Yu. Why not do it?

"Alright! I'll leave it to you then!"

Zhao Yan agreed, then said, "Qin Yu has insulted the Sage of Literature and slandered all the scholars in the world! He will surely be impeached in court tomorrow! We can add fuel to the fire..."

As he spoke, Zhao Yan began to give instructions to the others.

……

The next day, at the imperial court.

Although Qin Yu was not present in the imperial court, the turmoil within the court revolved around him.

"Qin Yu, relying on His Majesty's favor, has slandered the Sage of Literature. We implore Your Majesty to severely punish Qin Yu!"

"Although our dynasty was founded on military strength, it prospered through civil administration. Qin Yu's poem insulted the Sage of Literature and negated all scholars in the land; his heart is despicable!"

"Even the late emperor praised the Sage of Literature highly, calling him a model for all scholars and revering him as a teacher for all ages. Qin Yu's insult to the Sage of Literature and his denial of all scholars is absolutely unforgivable!"

"If Your Majesty does not severely punish Qin Yu, it will surely discourage the scholars of the land..."

Today, Minister of Rites Su Yu took leave due to poor health, and Lü Chunqiu and Vice Minister of Rites Lu Cheng took the lead in impeaching Qin Yu.

Under their guidance, many civil officials in the imperial court followed suit and offered their advice.

The officials in the Ministry of Rites, in particular, were all indignant, as if Qin Yu had killed his mother.

However, Song Zhuo and the other bigwigs remained silent for a long time, it was unclear whether they were thinking about something or not in a hurry to speak.

Zhao Luan's expression did not seem good as he listened to the ministers' advice.

But she was secretly pleased.

Make a fuss, make a fuss!

The bigger the commotion, the better!

After a long while, Zhao Luan finally raised her hand to stop the crowd, then turned to Song Zhuo: "Prime Minister Song, what do you think of this matter?"

Song Zhuo stepped forward, bowed, and said, "This humble subject believes that the reactions of you gentlemen are somewhat excessive! It's just a poem; what can it prove? In any case, this humble subject does not see where Qin Yu insulted the Sage of Literature!"

What a bunch of idiots!

Didn't you see that Su Yu is "sick"?

Even Su Yu, the top scholar of the Great Ning Dynasty, didn't jump, so why are they jumping?

"that is!"

Xue Chengdao chimed in, "If you want to impeach and suppress Qin Yu, at least come up with a decent excuse! You're just making up a poem and using it as a pretext; I think you're all the ones with truly despicable intentions!"

"Lord Xue, you are mistaken!"

Lü Chunqiu angrily retorted: "If Qin Yu were merely a spoiled brat, it would be perfectly acceptable for him to compose poems insulting scholars throughout the land!"

"But Qin Yu is His Majesty's close advisor and an official appointed by the court; he should be careful with his words and actions!"

"May I ask, Lord Xue, if Qin Yu were to compose a poem criticizing all the military generals of our dynasty as useless, what would you think?"

"If Your Majesty does not severely punish Qin Yu, you are condoning such disrespectful remarks towards scholars throughout the land!"

"If things continue like this, won't it discourage scholars from pursuing their ideals?"

"If there are no scholars to serve the court in the future, are you military men going to govern the country?"

Lu Chunqiu unleashed his full power, fiercely attacking Xue Chengdao.

Lü Chunqiu's words were immediately echoed by many ministers.

Qin Yu insulted the Sage of Literature, pointing his finger at all the scholars in the world and cursing them. How could he tolerate this?

Does he really think that just because His Majesty favors him, he can act with impunity?

We need to teach this arrogant scoundrel a lesson on how to behave!

Xue Chengdao was about to retort when Zhao Luan raised her hand to stop him, while coldly glancing at Lü Chunqiu, "Lü Da is the Minister of Justice. What do you think I should do with Qin Yu?"

Lu Chunqiu bowed and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I request that you dismiss Qin Yu from all his official posts and award him fifty strokes of the cane as a warning to others!"

Upon hearing Lü Chunqiu's words, a sharp glint flashed in Zhao Luan's eyes.

"Well said!"

Zhao Luan's expression suddenly turned cold: "Guards, drag Lü Chunqiu away and give him fifty lashes!"