The Prodigal Son

Overnight, the grandfather and grandson visited dozens of homes.

Qin Fumeng was quite particular.

When he encountered someone of high rank and power, he would appear alongside them, while the lesser Kalami, in his eyes, were left to Qin Yu and Qi Dachui.

After a night of this, Qin Fumeng was also very disappointed.

Not a single one dared to jump up and bare their teeth!

The following day was Empress Dowager Guo's 60th birthday.

Two days ago, Zhao Luan announced that court would be suspended today to celebrate the Empress Dowager's birthday.

However, the well-informed ministers had already received the news, and the Imperial Household Department made no preparations whatsoever.

Zhao Luan also played coy with his ministers, only saying that all ministers should gather outside Fengtian Gate, without saying anything else.

Nobody knows how to organize the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet this year.

While awaiting further instructions from Zhao Luan, the courtiers chatted idly.

Many people secretly suspected that the Empress Dowager wanted to use the birthday banquet to ruin Zhao Luan's reputation, while Zhao Luan also wanted to use the birthday banquet to embarrass the Empress Dowager.

Knowing full well that the grand birthday banquet was impossible to hold, she simply let Qin Yu do as he pleased.

The Empress Dowager's 60th birthday banquet was not as good as the banquets in previous years, and it may even have been a complete mess!

Wouldn't the Empress Dowager lose face in this way?

The key point is that this has nothing to do with Zhao Luan; it can all be blamed on Qin Yu!

This is consistent with Zhao Luan's usual personality!

As they chatted, the two officials came up with the topic of Qin Yu asking them to borrow money.

"What? He borrowed it from you too?"

"Lord Wu, from what you're saying, Qin Yu also asked you to borrow money?"

"Qin Yu also borrowed 20,000 taels of silver from me!"

"I was also forced to lend him over 30,000 taels of silver!"

"He didn't borrow from every single official in the court, did he?"

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

The officials, who had been gathered in small groups, suddenly huddled together.

Upon inquiry, it was learned that the Qin family grandfather and grandson had not actually borrowed money from all the ministers.

However, almost all civil officials of the fourth rank and above were borrowed.

They specifically target civil officials!

Only Prime Minister Song Zhuo and a few civil officials who had good relations with the Qin family escaped their clutches.

The largest amount was 80,000 taels of silver that had to be borrowed.

The smallest amount borrowed was 15,000 taels.

Moreover, Qin Yu was quite particular, and wrote IOUs for each family, all using the Duke of Wei's mansion as collateral.

The problem is, even if you dug up and sold all the foundation stones of the Duke of Wei's mansion, you still wouldn't be able to pay back all that money!

This immediately threw the courtiers into a panic.

Looking at these unfortunate souls before him, a fifth-rank official felt both relieved and puzzled: "My lords," he said, "Qin Yu is acting recklessly with the imperial gold token. Why didn't you send someone to report to His Majesty? Were you just letting him run rampant like this?"

"A curfew! Where are we supposed to report to His Majesty?"

An official who had been lent 30,000 taels of silver roared with grief and indignation.

"Exactly, with that old scoundrel Qin Fumeng guarding there, who would dare to make a move?"

Another official echoed this sentiment, looking aggrieved.

The fifth-rank official paused slightly, then retreated to the side, secretly relieved once again.

Luckily, I'm not high enough level!

Otherwise, I'm afraid I wouldn't have escaped the clutches of this grandfather and grandson either.

"I understand!"

Lu Chunqiu, his face dark with rage, gritted his teeth and said, "They want to owe us all money. So, if we don't want our money to go down the drain when Qin Yu is executed, we'll have to plead for him!"

"Yes, that must be it!"

Another official also realized what was happening.

"That shameless scoundrel, he's certainly got a good plan!"

"This must have been that despicable idea of ​​that old bastard from the Qin family!"

"We'd rather forgo the money than plead for him!"

"How can this be? That's all my savings!"

"Let's go to His Majesty and settle this! We absolutely cannot let this scoundrel get away with this!"

"Yes, yes, that gold medal was bestowed by His Majesty. Let's go find His Majesty and seek justice..."

Immediately, the crowd was agitated and clamored to go and seek justice from Zhao Luan.

After all, Qin Yu had the gold medal to borrow money, so who would dare refuse? This gave Qin Fumeng an excuse to cause trouble.

His Majesty must give them an explanation!

If the Qin family cannot repay the debt, then His Majesty should compensate them!

We can't let their hard-earned savings go down the drain, can we?

Even martial arts masters need to eat, let alone them!

All the money has been borrowed; are they supposed to starve?

"Everyone, please calm down!"

Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Prime Minister Song Zhuo quickly raised his hand to stop everyone: "Today's Empress Dowager's birthday banquet is bound to cause a lot of trouble! Let's not let the foreign envoys laugh at us. Whatever it is, let's wait until the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet is over!"

Song Zhuo was not only the prime minister and Minister of Personnel, but also Zhao Luan's mentor, and the late emperor's trusted minister. He also had a high talent for martial arts.

If his dantian hadn't been destroyed in his early years, he would be at least an expert in the eighth or ninth realm by now.

However, it was because his dantian was destroyed that he gave up martial arts and chose another path, which led to his achievements today.

Under Song Zhuo's persuasion, the officials gradually calmed down.

Yes!

Today's birthday banquet for the Empress Dowager is destined to be a laughing stock for envoys from various countries.

It's easy to imagine that neither the Empress nor the Empress Dowager would be in a good mood.

Bringing up this matter again at this point, and allowing foreign envoys to laugh at us, would only be asking for trouble.

Soon, everyone reached a consensus.

Let's leave that matter aside for now!

Tomorrow at the court assembly, let the Empress uphold justice for them!

However, although everyone reached a consensus, their feelings were still quite different.

Many people are pondering a question.

What if Qin Yu hides or spends all those silver notes, and His Majesty refuses to compensate them?

Should we go and collect a debt from that old bastard Qin Fumeng?

But they can't beat Qin Fumeng in a fight, and they can't win an argument with him either. What should they do?

Or is he really pleading for Qin Yu?

They all wished they could chop Qin Yu up and feed him to the dogs, yet they were pleading for him.

Isn't this just disgusting yourself?

Just as everyone was getting impatient, the Empress and Empress Dowager's imperial carriages slowly appeared.

Upon seeing this, everyone quickly bowed in respect.

Shangguan Youyi stepped forward and announced loudly, "His Majesty has decreed that all of you lords must accompany His Majesty and the Empress Dowager's imperial carriage to a banquet outside the city!"

"Your Majesty, we obey!"

Everyone spoke up in unison, but then cast questioning glances at Song Zhuo.

What's going on?

Are we going to a banquet outside the city?

Are they too lazy to even hold a simple birthday banquet for the Empress Dowager in the palace?

Is His Majesty determined to humiliate the Empress Dowager?

And what about the envoys who came to congratulate the Empress Dowager on her birthday?

Just because you're afraid the envoys will laugh at you, do you just ignore it?

This isn't quite right, is it?

Facing the gazes of the crowd, Song Zhuo could only manage a wry smile.

He had already asked Emperor Zhao Luan about the birthday banquet and even gave him some suggestions.

But Zhao Luan told him he didn't need to worry about the birthday banquet.

Now, he was just as bewildered as the other officials!

Filled with doubt, the crowd followed behind Emperor Zhao Luan and Empress Dowager's imperial carriage.

Once outside the palace gates, the courtiers followed on horseback.

Meanwhile, Liang Jin, the interpreter of Sifangguan, had already set off with the envoys from various countries who had settled in Sifangguan.

But soon, the envoys from various countries realized that something was wrong.

Xiao Hu lowered the carriage curtain and turned to look at his father: "Father, what do you think the Empress of Ning is really up to?"

"It doesn't matter."

Xiao Baoju smiled nonchalantly, "I only hope that the conflict between Empress Dowager Guo and Zhao Luan will deepen, preferably to the point of armed conflict!"

They knew before they arrived that Empress Dowager Guo's birthday banquet was definitely not going to happen!

Empress Dowager Guo set a trap for Zhao Luan, and Zhao Luan's counterattack will inevitably deepen their conflict.

If Zhao Luan doesn't retaliate, even with Qin Yu as a scapegoat, she will still harbor resentment towards Empress Dowager Guo!

For Bei Qi, the more fiercely these two most powerful women in Ningguo fought, the better!

If Ningguo falls into chaos again, and if the Empress of Ningguo refuses to hand over the Nine Dragon Pendant, they can raise an army to force the Empress of Ningguo to hand over the fragments of the Nine Dragon Pendant!

"That's true!"

Xiao Hu nodded slightly, a hint of anticipation appearing in his eyes: "I just wonder when Qin Yu will die!"

He couldn't wait to see Qin Yu be executed.

"Have you no backbone? What's there to care about someone who's going to die anyway?"

Xiao Baoju glared at his son, annoyed. "Instead of wasting time on this, you should study Ningguo's national conditions and policies, summarize its experiences and lessons, and use them for our own benefit!"

Emperor Xiaowen of Ningguo left behind many valuable treasures for Ningguo!

These are all things they should learn from and emulate!

Meeting his father's gaze, Xiao Hu couldn't help but shrink back and nod slightly.

However, he still wanted to see Qin Yu executed with his own eyes!

Only in this way can the hatred in his heart be quelled...