Poet Immortal, Poet Sage, Duke of the State!

The hall was completely silent.

All the officials originally thought that Chen Wenyuan's promotion to Minister of Personnel was a done deal, but unexpectedly, Wu Guojiu appeared out of nowhere.

Although Wu Guojiu was not a court official and did not wield much real power, he had the authority to oversee all officials.

Chen Wenyuan stood there, his face pale and sweat beading on his forehead.

To his utter surprise, Wu Guojiu used Chen Chang'an as a reason to prevent him from being promoted to Minister of Personnel.

Had he known this would happen, he would never have listened to Zhao and driven Chen Chang'an out of the house...

What surprised him even more was that the trouble caused by Chen Chang'an had nothing to do with him. In order to settle the matter, he even paid Wu Guojiu five thousand taels of silver. Why was he still going against him?

Wu Guojiu glanced at Chen Wenyuan. Chen Wenyuan's son had cut off his source of income, and he still wanted to get promoted? He was dreaming!

Emperor Da Ning sat on the dragon throne, his gaze sweeping over Chen Wenyuan and Wu Guojiu, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

He didn't want Chen Wenyuan to be promoted to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, but he couldn't find a suitable reason.

Wu Guojiu stepped forward at the crucial moment, giving him a way out.

He pondered for a moment, then said, "The position of Minister of Personnel is of paramount importance and cannot be decided lightly. Since there is opposition, let's discuss it again later. Court adjourned..."

After the court session ended, the officials walked out of the main hall one after another.

Having lost the position of Minister that was within his grasp, Chen Wenyuan walked aimlessly through the crowd. As Wu Guojiu passed by him, he sneered and said, "Lord Chen, your son is truly capable. He's doing business very well, to the point that my Ruyi Tower is almost going out of business. Very well indeed..."

After saying a few sarcastic words, he turned and left.

Chen Wenyuan was shocked. Only then did he realize that the reason why Wu Guojiu was targeting him was simply because Chen Chang'an had squeezed out his business.

Was his path to promotion blocked because of Chen Chang'an?

Chen Wenyuan had no desire to return to the government office. Dejected, he walked out of the palace gates, boarded the carriage, and said in a low voice, "Go home!"

Before long, the carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the Chen residence.

Chen Wenyuan let out a long sigh of relief, composed himself, and walked into the house. Just as he was about to head to the study, Chen Fu suddenly came up to him and said mysteriously, "Master, I have something to report."

Chen Wenyuan paused, then asked, "What is it?"

Chen Fu swallowed hard, then lowered his voice and said, "Reporting to Master, I've learned that the renowned scholar Shen An who has made a name for himself in the capital these past few days is none other than Chen Chang'an..."

Chen Wenyuan froze, then abruptly turned his head, staring intently at Chen Fu, and asked, "What did you say?"

Chen Fu also looked incredulous and said, "That talented scholar who wrote 'Clouds remind me of her clothes, flowers remind me of her face,' and was invited upstairs by the most beautiful courtesan, Gu Qingcheng, is Chen Chang'an..."

Chen Wenyuan stood there, feeling a sudden dizziness.

He dreamed of having a promising son, and from childhood to adulthood, he poured countless resources into Chen Changxuan...

In the end, he completely lost face in the imperial court, in front of His Majesty and all the officials...

On the contrary, his eldest son, whom he had looked down upon since childhood and who had been kicked out of the house, actually became a talented scholar praised by everyone in the capital.

He had just secured the position of Minister, and he was already seething with anger. Upon hearing this news, he couldn't catch his breath, and his vision went black. He fell straight backward...

"Master, master!"

Chen Fu reacted quickly, catching him and hurriedly saying, "Someone, quick, someone! The master has fainted!"

The entire Chen residence was in chaos. Maids and servants rushed in from all directions, some pinching the philtrum, some lifting the arms, some supporting the legs, and others hurriedly going to fetch a doctor...

When Chen Wenyuan woke up, Madam Zhao was holding his hand and asked with concern, "Master, what's wrong?"

Standing behind Zhao Shi, Chen Changxuan asked with equal concern, "Father, are you feeling better?"

Upon seeing Chen Changxuan, Chen Wenyuan was reminded of Chen Chang'an.

They were all his sons, a boy who was neglected from childhood but became a renowned scholar in the capital.

He was carefully taught from a young age, but only embarrassed him on important occasions.

They all have the same father, so could it be that the problem lies with their mother?

That should be it. Shen was well-versed in literature from a young age and was gentle and refined, while Zhao, although the daughter of the Grand Tutor, was unruly and shrewish and didn't like reading much. Her son was just like her...

Chen Wenyuan was furious. He pointed at Chen Changxuan and gritted his teeth, saying, "Get out of here! I don't want to see you right now..."

Chen Changxuan was stunned for a moment. Although he felt wronged, he still obediently ran out.

Madam Zhao frowned and said with displeasure, "Master, you're having trouble in your career, why are you taking it out on the child?"

Speaking of his career, Chen Wenyuan could no longer suppress his anger. He shook off her hand and said angrily, "It's all your fault! If you hadn't insisted on driving Chang'an out, would Wu Guojiu have been able to find fault with me? If you hadn't driven Chang'an out, he wouldn't have started that perfume business, and he wouldn't have offended Wu Guojiu. There wouldn't be any of this happening in court today!"

Zhao was also displeased after hearing this. She put her hands on her hips and said coldly, "Now you're blaming me? Don't you think about it? Without my father, would you have gotten the position of Minister of Personnel? Forget Minister of Personnel, you wouldn't even be a Vice Minister of Personnel. You'd probably still be a county magistrate in some poor, remote place..."

Outside the door, the servants of the Chen family listened to the argument between the master and mistress, so frightened that they dared not utter a sound.

Meanwhile, inside Qing Shuang Fang, the atmosphere was relaxed.

Princess Zhaoyue looked at Chen Chang'an and said softly, "Today in court, Minister Xu of the Ministry of Personnel retired to his hometown. Many officials proposed that Vice Minister Chen Wenyuan succeed him as the new Minister of Personnel, but this was strongly opposed by Wu Guojiu, and the matter was ultimately dropped..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Chang'an almost burst out laughing.

Since Qing Shuang Fang cut off Wu Guojiu's source of income, he vented all his resentment on Chen Wenyuan, which was exactly what Chen Chang'an wanted to see.

At the same time, he was very glad that he had brought Qing Shuang along to work together from the very beginning.

If it weren't for the background of the Zhenyuan General's Mansion, Wu Guojiu would probably have taken revenge not on Chen Wenyuan, but on him.

However, Chen Chang'an quickly realized something and looked at Princess Zhaoyue, asking in surprise, "Strange, how did you know about what happened in court this morning, Miss Gongyue?"

Princess Zhaoyue was slightly taken aback. She had been listening to this from behind the palace when it happened.

But of course she couldn't tell Chen Chang'an the truth. She smiled and said, "I heard it from Qing Shuang. It must have been General Zhenyuan who told her, right?"

Princess Zhaoyue looked at Qingshuang, and Qingshuang met her gaze, nodding repeatedly, and said, "Yes, yes, my father told me when he came back from court, and I told my cousin. Chen Wenyuan brought this on himself. If he hadn't kicked you out, none of this would have happened..."