"Hey, what are you talking about?" Outside the Ritual Minister’s Mansion, Nanny Li of Ningyun Hall did not have any fear in the face of the beautiful yet vicious young woman.

Holding her chest out, she shook her handkerchief at the young woman aggressively and sneered, "Well, you are his wife, right?"

The young woman brushed her handkerchief off and looked disgusted, "Take it away. It smells disgusting. I’m telling you I am the dignified Mrs. Shi. I told the landlord to take back the b*tch’s house, and I cut off her monthly allowance. Doesn't she know who she is? She got the b*st*rd from nowhere, and is trying to blackmail our family!"

Her words were so harsh that the woman named Jinghong was full of shame and anger, and she burst into tears while holding the child. Several girls in Ningyun Hall were mad and refuted.

"Watch your tongue!"

"The child born by Jinghong is Lord Shi's."

"We can all testify. If there is any doubt, you can ask Zhen'er and Lord Shi to have a blood test."

“Yes, have a blood test!”

"That's right!"

"That's right! We are all willing to testify. Let’s have a blood test!"

The voices of the onlookers were getting louder and louder. They were ordinary people with humble identities, and they detested the bullying of the government. At the moment, one side was the unarmed woman and a child while the other was the son of the Counselor-in-chief. Thus, these people naturally defended the weak.

When Mrs. Shi saw it, she felt even more annoyed. She turned around and shouted into the doorway, "What are you still waiting for? Come out and drive them all away!"

A team of guards rushed out with sticks and brutally drove away the crowd. Nanny Li was by no means a pushover. She lowered her head, pressed her head against the belly of a guard, and screamed hysterically, "Oh, what have I done wrong? It's not easy for me to cultivate a girl in Ningyun Hall. I’ve spent a lot of time and money hiring teachers to teach her all kinds of skills. I thought she was really lucky to be liked by an official, but he didn't admit it when she gave birth to his child. Oh, my poor girl! At last, she relies on me to live! I am even not her relative! I brought people over to reason with him, and they are going to beat me to death! Come on. Hit me! Just beat me to death!"

The seven or eight girls also followed Nanny Li's example, screaming and shouting while wrestling with the guards, "They are beating people! How could an official in the imperial court beat people?"

Many of the onlookers were young and strong men. They couldn’t sit by or watch the young girls of Ningyun Hall being bullied by wicked people, not to mention that they hated the government themselves.

Soon, these young men joined the battle one after another and fought with the guards of Shi’s Mansion. The scene suddenly became chaotic. Shi Shu'an was angry and immediately vented his anger on his wife. He pointed at the young woman with his mustache trembling, "You ignorant woman. Look at what you’ve done!"

That woman was the lineal granddaughter of Lord Zhang, the second assistant in the cabinet. She had been used to being pampered before she was married. How could she bear it? She screamed and grabbed Shi Shu'an's sleeve, chasing after him and beating him. She gritted her teeth and cursed, "Well, how dare you blame me? You slept around and asked me to clean up your mess. Now how dare you scold me?"

On the third floor of the tea house across the street, Gu Di was sitting in the private room with a wide view and sarcastically watching the farce in front of Shi’s Mansion through the window screen. Shaking his head and chuckling, he said to himself, "She’s really good. Yunxi is much more cunning than my ninth brother."

...

It was past eleven o’clock in the morning. The hot sun shone on the square in front of the Chengtai Hall of the Palace, and it was dazzling. The Ritual Minister Shi Shu'an was still nowhere to be seen at the Meridian Gate, and he was about to miss the auspicious time to welcome the envoy, and Emperor Huanan Xin was furious.

His man who was sent to the Ritual Minister’s Mansion to inquire returned and truthfully reported that Shi Shu’an was in a court case against the brothel, and now the streets outside his mansion were already in chaos. He probably wouldn't be here in time for the ceremony.

The Emperor was furious on the spot and severely punished this man. All the officials were horrified and trembling. Huanan He, dressed in a red dragon robe, peeked at the Counselor-in-chief Shi Ling and his daughter Noble Concubine Hui on the stairs.

They both went pale. They were so frightened that they almost fainted. Huanan He lowered his handsome face and smiled wickedly. No wonder his nephew was so crazy at this moment.

The previous assassinations of the Eastern Depot and the rumored corpse-destroying evil drug corrosion powder had brought Huanan Xin and his dynasty to the forefront.

In the eyes of the common people, the halo above the head of this Emperor Renxian was already dim, and he had become a tyrannical and temperamental devil who liked to kill innocent people. Now, the great event of welcoming the envoy of Ying State into Jing City had once again gone wrong. The incident of the Ritual Minister and a brothel woman having an illegitimate child would soon be talked about all over the city.

People could joke about matters about the Royal Family. However, if the auspicious time to welcome the envoy was missed, it would greatly affect the diplomatic relations between Da Yi and Ying State. Huanan He and Gu Di knew very well that Gu Yunxi was the driving force behind the delay. She had spread the news of assassinations of Eastern Depot and arranged the girls in Ningyun Hall to make a scene at the Ritual Minister’s Mansion.

The purpose of her arrangement could not be more obvious. From the outside to the inside, she was going to gradually replace the cabinet with her men. In the court of Da Yi, the cabinet was the central heart while the Eastern Depot was the skin. Once these two were replaced, it could naturally overthrow Huanan Xin and control the entire Royal Family.

Time ticked by.

Huanan He smiled faintly and bowed, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. The most urgent task at the moment is to send ceremonial honor guards to Luyuan Garden immediately to welcome the envoy to make up for it."

Ying State was a small island country. Although it was ruled by a hereditary Emperor who was only a puppet Emperor, the real power was controlled by three generals. Due to the cowardice of the Emperor, the three generals were domineering and arrogant.

The person who visited Da Yi as the envoy this time was General Yuancang, one of the three main generals of Ying State.

Legend had it that he was short-tempered and a very difficult character. He had come all the way across the ocean. If officials of Da Yi failed to meet him on time and left him in the sun for a long time, he certainly would not be happy.

Huanan He's hint made Huanan Xin calm down a bit, and he pondered, "It’s late now. Whoever goes will inevitably be given a hard time by General Yuancang."

The Counselor-in-chief Shi Ling bowed on the ground and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, I’m willing to go if you don’t detest me."

"Shut up. I'm upset when I see you. As the head of the cabinet, you are not strict in governing your family. How could I entrust you with such an important task? Go take your son home. He could step down as the Ritual Minister!" Huanan Xin said loudly and waved his hands in disgust.

Shi Ling kept kowtowing and wept, "It’s my fault as his father. I’m willing to be punished."

Seeing that Counselor-in-chief Shi was in danger, Yue Xilou looked at other officials on the left and right, thought for a moment, and then said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Ying State is just a small country. Their visit to our Jing City seems to worship, but in fact, they are competing with our great country. Even if we’re late in welcoming them, it might as well be considered a warning to them. It would be overly important to ask the head of the cabinet to greet them in person."

Huanan He saw the opportunity and raised his eyebrows, "Well, Lord Yue, are you going to recommend someone to His Majesty?"

Yue Xilou looked at him with an indignant expression. Huanan He pretended to be insane and laughed, "Oh, I forgot the rules again. Well, I’ll shut up." Huanan Xin glanced at him coldly and sighed.

His Ninth Uncle had had no scruples since he went crazy. Now that the situation was serious, he had no time to argue with him, "Yue Xilou, do you have someone in mind?"

Since the Emperor asked, Yue Xilou didn’t dare to delay it and his eyes swept across the queue of civil officials, "I think Wang Can, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, could take up the task." Wang Can was talented and discreet.

Most importantly, he always had a clear line with Shi Ling’s party, which was exactly the power that Yue Xilou wanted to win over. After all, the enemy of an enemy was a friend.

Huanan Xin's eyes lit up and he smiled happily, "If you didn't tell me, I almost forgot. Xingzhi is proficient in six languages, so he can naturally take up this task. Wang Xingzhi, you will be the Ritual Minister from now on. Hurry up and lead the honor guards out of the Palace to welcome the envoy."

Wang Can was near forty, and he looked elegant in his official robe. It was a godsend and big promotion for him. But he looked calm as usual as if he had seen the world.

Stepping out of the queue of civil officials, he lifted his robe, knelt down, and raised his voice a bit, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Long live, Your Majesty!"

"Okay, get up and go to work."

Huanan Xin was really worried and eagerly sent him away. Beside the Emperor, the Noble Concubine Shi Yuanqing looked sullen. She looked at Yue Xilou with hatred.

Standing in the queue of the concubines, Gu Yunxi smiled slightly when she met the eyes of Huanan He under the stairs. He winked at her with a smile. There was affection in his eyes.

However, she hadn’t gotten over their previous dispute and just gave him a cold look with arrogance on her face. But Huanan He found her cold look cute.