The Prodigal Son

That evening, the Xu siblings had dinner at their home.

Qin Yu was "injured" and couldn't even eat properly. He kept thinking about how to teach Nan Que'er and Xu Wan a good lesson.

Xu Wan was so embarrassed that she almost didn't dare to look at Qin Yu.

Qin Fumeng assumed Xu Wan was just shy and didn't pay much attention to it.

Seeing that these younger generations were all becoming successful, Qin Fumeng was overjoyed and unconsciously pulled everyone to drink a few more cups.

Afterwards, Qin Fumeng let the Xu siblings stay at his residence.

After hesitating for a moment, the brother and sister agreed.

In the middle of the night, Qin Fumeng came to Qin Yu's courtyard and knocked on Qin Yu's door.

Qin Yu, who had just fallen asleep, was woken up and looked at Qin Fumeng at the door with a speechless expression: "Hey old man, how little do you trust me? You're even using this 'room check-in' tactic?"

"You're asking for a beating again, aren't you?"

Qin Fumeng made a gesture as if to strike, but ultimately did not. He stepped into the house and closed the door behind him.

"What's up?"

Qin Yu was suspicious.

"nonsense!"

Qin Fu glared at him, then pulled an already opened letter from his sleeve and handed it to him. "Take a look!"

Qin Yu quickly took the letter, examined it, and then smiled.

Someone will try to assassinate him in the next two days!

Make him prepare!

"The show is about to begin!"

Qin Yu raised his head and lit the letter on the oil lamp.

"I don't care what kind of show you put on, good or bad, you'd better take it easy!"

Qin Fu glared at him, then said with extreme seriousness, "And remember this well: a ruler's heart is unfathomable!"

"Are you worried that His Majesty is suspicious of the Qin family?"

Qin Yu instantly understood what he meant.

"It's always good to be cautious about some things!"

Qin Fumeng didn't deny it, "If you're really that capable, go and sleep with His Majesty and bring him back as my granddaughter-in-law!"

"What the heck?"

Faced with this sudden turn of events, Qin Yu felt as if thunder had struck his mind, and he was speechless for a long time.

This old man, do you think I'm Qin Ritian?

Is it so easy to fall asleep to a female demon?

Be careful, or you might not get to sleep with the female demon and end up being thrown into some mass grave to sleep in!

"Bullshit!"

Qin Fumeng gently slapped him on the head. "This is the simplest and most direct way!"

Hearing the old man's words, Qin Yu's face immediately darkened.

Simple and straightforward?

That's pretty direct!

One shot, and you're dead!

But how can this be associated with the word "simple"?

I just left the beginner village and you're telling me to fight the final boss?

……

At noon the next day.

Qin Yu sent someone to find out that Zhao Yan, Lu Yong, and others were admiring orchids at the Orchid House, so he immediately took Qi Dachui and Nan Que'er and headed there.

If you want someone to assassinate you, you have to go out eventually, right?

Lanshe, as the name suggests, is a place to appreciate orchids.

Plum blossoms, orchids, chrysanthemums, and bamboo have always been hailed as the Four Gentlemen of Flowers.

Lanshe was also a place where literati and poets often gathered.

However, Lu Yong and his group did not come to Lanshe to admire the orchids.

"Have you heard? Qin Yu gave those students at the Confucian Temple and Academy a severe beating yesterday; many of them were injured!"

"How could I not have heard of this! This treacherous villain, relying on His Majesty's favor, has committed countless evil deeds! He truly deserves to die!"

"Why are Tongzhou, Longzhou, and Juzhou experiencing drought? It's because His Majesty favors Qin Yu, angering Heaven!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Isn't it obvious? Why is there no drought in other places, but only in these three? It's because Qin Yu passed through these three places when he went to Chenzhou!"

"That's right. When Qin Yu went to Chenzhou, chaos broke out there. Droughts also occurred in the places he passed through. Now the capital is in complete disarray. It seems that nowhere he has been has fared well..."

"This traitor is truly a scourge to the country and its people..."

Inspired by Lu Yong and his group, the people of Lanshe stopped appreciating orchids and began to verbally and in writing criticize Qin Yu.

They had completely forgotten how they had praised Qin Yu not long ago.

"Why don't we write a petition to the court? It's simply not enough to appease public anger if we don't execute this traitor Qin Yu!"

At this point, some people started offering suggestions.

"Yes, write a letter to the people!"

"I refuse to believe that His Majesty would disregard the will of the people and continue to favor this treacherous Qin Yu!"

"As long as the traitor Qin is not dead, the Great Ning will never be at peace!"

"Yes, as long as the traitor Qin is not dead, Great Ning will never be at peace..."

In an instant, everyone shouted.

Everyone's eyes were filled with rage towards Qin Yu, this treacherous villain.

Zhao Yan saw all of this and was secretly pleased.

The goal is to make these people want to kill Qin Yu!

The more people harbor murderous intent towards Qin Yu, the more difficult it will be for the court to investigate after Qin Yu's "assassination attempt"!

Once Qin Yu dies, it will be useless for Zhao Luan to protect him no matter how much she wants to!

At that time, in order to guard against Qin Fumeng's rebellious intentions, Zhao Luan will inevitably try to win over his father!

The only way for her to win over her father was to marry him!

It must be said that the Empress Dowager's move was quite brilliant!

It's much simpler than the methods of framing and slander I had thought of, and it's definitely simpler than Lü Chunqiu's ambiguous "purging the emperor's inner circle" strategy!

But the result was the same!

"Who wants to kill me?"

Just as the crowd was getting excited, a lazy yet high-pitched voice suddenly rang out.

Upon hearing this sound, everyone instinctively looked towards the entrance of the Orchid House.

As Qin Yu strolled in leisurely, a hint of amusement flashed in Zhao Yan's eyes.

Does Qin Yu still dare to show his face at this time?

Did he really think Zhao Luan would do anything to protect him?

As Qin Yu approached, a hot-headed scholar roared, "You dog Qin Yu, how dare you show your face here?"

"Wow, you've got some nerve!"

Qin Yu narrowed his eyes and immediately ordered Qi Dachui, "He who insults an official of the imperial court, go and slap him!"

"yes!"

Qi Dachui faithfully carried out Qin Yu's order, quickly stepped forward, pulled the scholar out of the crowd, and slapped him twice across the face.

Although Qin Yu had told him to take it easy, Qi Dachui, enraged by their insults towards Qin Yu, still struck hard.

Two slaps later, the scholar saw stars and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

When Qi Dachui released him, he immediately fell to the ground, dizzy and disoriented.

Faced with Qi Dachui's powerful intimidation, the crowd immediately dared not curse anymore, but their gazes toward Qin Yu became even more furious.

Ignoring the angry stares of the crowd, Qin Yu pointed at Lu Yong in the crowd and said, "Drag this grandson Lu Yong out and hand him over to the Imperial Mirror Bureau for trial!"

"On what grounds?"

Lu Yong's expression changed drastically. "Lord Qin, I haven't done anything wrong, and you have no right to arrest me!"

"Spreading rumors and slandering His Majesty, and you call that not committing a crime?"

Qin Yu raised an eyebrow and smiled: "As the Grand Chamberlain of the Palace and concurrently the Director of the Six Ministries, do you think I don't have the authority to arrest you? If you have something to say, go and talk it out in the prison of the Imperial Mirror Bureau!"

After saying that, Qin Yuchong gave Qi Dachui a wink.

Qi Dachui understood and immediately grabbed Lu Yong.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

Lu Yong struggled desperately but to no avail, and quickly looked to Zhao Yan for help.

That's the Baojing Division's prison!

If you actually get inside, you'll be lucky to escape with your life!

Stop looking!

Qin Yu glared coldly at Lu Yong. "I told you long ago, Zhao Yan is a hypocrite! If anything happens, he can't protect you!"

Upon hearing Qin Yu's words, Zhao Yan's expression immediately changed.

However, before he could speak, Qin Yu looked over again, "Your Highness, I'm straightforward and don't have as many tricks up my sleeve as you. I speak my mind directly, so please don't take it to heart!"