I only wished to take up my fiefdom, but my elder brother forced me to rebel.

At the entrance of Qianyuan Hall, half a head peeked in.

Lu Yuan glanced around the hall with a shifty look in his eyes, and his gaze met Lu Cangqiong's dark face.

Eyes facing each other.

Without saying a word, Lu Cangqiong grabbed a memorial from the imperial desk and threw it at the emperor.

The commemorative document flew out of the door frame with a whoosh. Lu Yuan ducked his head, and the document grazed his hair before landing with a thud on the steps.

"Get in here!"

Lu Yuan shrank his neck, chuckled, and shuffled into the hall.

But instead of walking towards the imperial desk, he took a detour and slipped directly behind Lu Cangqiong, placing his hands on the emperor's shoulders and starting to massage them.

The pressure was quite strong, causing Lu Cangqiong's head to tilt back involuntarily.

"Father, who are you talking to? Why are you so angry?"

Lu Yuan asked with concern, "Who upset you? Tell me, and I'll get revenge for you. Burn down his house, stuff his sacks, throw excrement at his doorstep—take your pick."

Lu Cangqiong didn't say anything, but the muscles in his shoulders tensed even more.

Lu Yuan's eyes darted around, and he turned to look at Zhou Fu, who was standing to the side.

"Eunuch Zhou, what's wrong with Father Emperor? Who did this? Please tell me the details so I can prescribe the right remedy."

Zhou Fu was in his forties, with a fair complexion and no beard, and wore an indigo eunuch's robe.

Seeing Lu Yuan ask him a question, he shook his head, both amused and exasperated.

Of all the officials, only the Ninth Prince dared to enter the hall without bowing and even went so far as to massage His Majesty's shoulders.

If it were any other prince, he would have been dragged out and forced to kneel at the Meridian Gate long ago.

He winked at Lu Yuan, implying that you didn't know you were the one who did it.

Lu Yuan pretended not to understand, increased the pressure on his hand, and continued to mutter to himself.

"Father, your shoulders and neck are terribly stiff. Have you been writing official documents for too long? Let me give you a massage..."

"Squeeze my ass!"

Lu Cangqiong slammed his hand on the armrest and stood up from the dragon throne.

As soon as he stood there, Lu Yuan's hand missed its target.

Lu Cangqiong turned around, staring down at Lu Yuan with a haughty glare. His chest heaved violently several times before he managed to squeeze out a word through gritted teeth.

"Lu Yuan! Do you even know what you've done?"

"Son... I don't know."

Lu Yuan took half a step back, his face showing innocence.

"Indecent treatment of the emperor's wife!"

Lu Cangqiong's voice boomed in the Qianyuan Hall, shaking the gauze curtains at the corners of the hall.

"Your second brother's fiancée arranged your marriage, and you, instead, defiled your sister-in-law! Do you have no regard for the law? No regard for human ethics? What is your crime?"

Lu Yuan jumped back in fright.

"Father, I am more wronged than Dou E, whose fate was sealed by the snow in June!"

He waved his hands in front of his chest like palm-leaf fans, "What makes you say that? Do you think your son is that kind of person? Think about it, in the past ten years, all he's done is walk his birds and fish. When has he ever even given a second glance to any girl?"

"Why are Su Yuling's clothes so disheveled? And what's with all the mess in your room?"

Lu Yuan's playful expression vanished.

He adopted a serious demeanor, took half a step forward, and lowered his voice, saying, "Father, this was a scheme set up by Lu Cheng."

Lu Cangqiong frowned.

Lu Yuan continued, "He sent Su Yuling to find me a woman, the daughter of the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Father Emperor knows better than I who the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review is on his side, doesn't he?"

Lu Cangqiong's expression shifted, but he didn't budge: "Go on."

"The tea has been drugged."

Lu Yuan spread his hands, "My son and Miss Su shared the same tea. My son is fine, but Miss Su was affected. This medicine was targeted at Miss Su, not me."

"What do you mean?"

"Lu Cheng wants to ruin Su Yuling's reputation."

Lu Yuan looked directly into Lu Cangqiong's eyes and said, word by word, "Su Yuling is a daughter of a military family, but she lacks the gentleness and courtesy of a proper lady. He had wanted to break off the engagement for a long time, but he didn't want to offend the Earl of Yongning, who holds military power."

"So he used me to ruin Su Yuling. That way, he could both break off the engagement and smear his son's reputation, killing two birds with one stone."

Lu Cangqiong remained silent for a few moments.

"absurd."

He said coldly, "The marriage between Lu Cheng and Su Yuling was bestowed by me. Whether he breaks off the engagement or not is none of his business to have such wicked thoughts. Besides..."

Lu Cangqiong stared at Lu Yuan, his gaze sharp.

"Who would use their fiancée's innocence to frame someone else? Do you think I would believe such nonsense?"

Lu Yuan sighed, with an expression that said, "I knew you wouldn't believe me."

"Father, during the Jingyan era of the previous dynasty, Crown Prince Wu Ling poisoned his own three-year-old son and framed the third prince in order to seize the throne."

"The imperial family is the most ruthless of all; they can even kill their own sons. What is a fiancée compared to that?"

Lu Cangqiong's eyes froze.

"Don't try to fool me with stories from the previous dynasty."

After a moment of silence, Lu Cangqiong suddenly became calm and serious.

"You brat, do you know that once your reputation is ruined, you'll be completely out of the running for this position?"

"If my son truly wanted that position, why would he be burdened by his reputation?"

Sooner or later, we'll be led by the nose by those ministers.

Lu Yuan's two sentences immediately made Lu Cangqiong so angry that his nose almost twisted out of shape.

"Speaking nonsense will ruin one's reputation and alienate the people. How can the country continue to exist?"

"To conquer a country, one must rely on the hearts of the people; to defend a country, one must rely on absolute military force." Lu Yuan was also getting a little carried away. "Besides, most common people don't care about your reputation. They don't even know the emperor's name. What they care about is whether the emperor can provide them with enough to eat and wear, whether they can get justice if they have a grievance, and whether they can get medical treatment if they are sick. What they care about is whether their hard work will be fruitless."

"As for the emperor's reputation, what is that anyway?"

"If the emperor could do those things, even if he embarked on a massive construction project, they would voluntarily send him bricks and tiles. Even if he levied exorbitant taxes, they would only think that the emperor was in trouble and would willingly hand over their money and grain."

Reputation? What's that?

Li Er imprisoned his father, killed his brother and seized his brother's wife, but that didn't stop him from becoming one of the greatest emperors in history!

Upon hearing this, Zhou Fu's heart skipped a beat.

Little darling, you'd better shut up!

This is going to cause trouble!

Lu Yuan's words stunned Lu Cangqiong.

His lips moved as if he wanted to refute, but in the end he found himself speechless.

Seeing this, Zhou Fu quickly steered the conversation back to the main topic, "Your Majesty, if the Second Prince has truly been wronged, he must be eager to come and complain. Why not summon him here for a face-to-face confrontation, so as to give the Second Prince justice?"

That's a well-chosen statement.

On the surface, it was in favor of Lu Cheng, but in reality, it gave Lu Cangqiong a way out.

Lu Cangqiong thought for a moment with a serious face, then nodded.

"Go to the Imperial Hospital and bring the Second Prince to me."

A young eunuch received the decree and dashed out.

The hall fell silent.

Lu Cangqiong sat back on the dragon throne, flipping through the memorials, looking like he didn't want to pay any attention to Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan didn't leave either; he stood in the hall, his eyes darting around.

After a moment, Lu Yuan spoke again.

"Father, there is something else I need to tell you."

Lu Cangqiong didn't even look up: "Speak."

"My son has come to request permission."

Lu Cangqiong raised his eyelids and looked at him.

"You still want to request an imperial decree? Do you want a get-out-of-jail-free card?"

Lu Yuan took a deep breath: "Your son requests permission to marry Su Yuling, the legitimate daughter of the Yongning Marquis's family."

"What did you say?"

Lu Cangqiong's eyes widened in anger, and the memorial in his hand was slightly deformed from his grip.

Upon seeing this, Zhou Fu quickly stepped forward.

Be ready to intervene at any time.

"My son wants to marry Su Yuling."

Lu Yuan repeated it again, his tone calm.

"absurd!"

Lu Cangqiong slammed his hand on the table. "Su Yuling is the second prince's fiancée! You slept with the emperor's sister-in-law and still want to marry her? If word gets out, what will the world think of my royal family?"

"Father, please listen to me first..."

"I won't listen!"

Lu Cangqiong raised his hand to interrupt him, about to start cursing again.

A series of noisy footsteps and intermittent groans came from the entrance of the palace.

The next second, several eunuchs carried a stretcher into the palace gate, with a person lying on it.

The person was completely wrapped in white gauze.

The person looked like a mummy, with only their eyes, nostrils, and mouth showing.

Lu Cangqiong was stunned when he saw the "thing" on the stretcher.

"This is……"

Lu Yuan also tilted his head to take a look, then exaggeratedly took a step back, his face showing a shocked expression.

"Whoa! What is this thing?"

"Why bring a mummy here?"