78 Apologize

Granny Xiuyan was old and a light sleeper. She woke almost as soon as there was any movement outside.

By the time she had dressed and hurried out, the Prince of Lang had already left.

She did not know what had happened, but anything that could make Duke Lang appear in the middle of the night was definitely not a small matter.

She was no longer sleepy. She paced worriedly.

After waiting for a long time, Duke Lang returned.

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Granny Xiu Yan hurried forward and was stunned to see the young girl following Duke Lang.

“Miss Yu?”

Yu Niaoniao was wrapped in a black cloak. Because the cloak was too long, the ends dragged on the ground.

She said shyly.

“I have nowhere to go for the time being. I can only come to your house for the night.”

Granny Xiu Yan did not understand why a rich young lady like her would come to Langjun Imperial Palace instead of staying at home in the middle of the night.

However, from her expression, she knew that she must have something to hide.

Granny Xiu Yan was considerate enough not to ask further. She said warmly, “Don’t stand on ceremony. You can come anytime you want.”

Xiao Juan said calmly, “Arrange a guest room for her.”

“There.”

Granny Xiu Yan led Yu Niaoniao and Dang Gui away.

Xiao Juan looked at Yu Niaoniao’s departing figure. Her words seemed to still be lingering in his ears.

“As long as you don’t despise me, what does it matter what others think of me?”

She looked at him unblinkingly when she said that.

It was as if he was her entire world.

It was a look he had never seen before, and a feeling he had never come into contact with.

It was not until her figure completely disappeared into the night that Xiao Juan looked away.

He glanced at the sky.

It was not long before morning court.

He decided not to sleep anymore. He changed into his official uniform and left Langjun Imperial Palace in the hazy night. He got on his horse and went straight to the palace.

When the first rays of dawn pierced the clouds, the morning court session officially began.

The civil and military officials stood on either side. The elderly emperor sat high in his seat.

Xiao Juan took a step forward and walked out of the crowd. He presented the memorial with both hands.

“I have a request.”

Everyone in the royal court instantly held their breaths and stared at the memorial in Xiao Juan’s hand.

They secretly wondered who was going to be unlucky this time.

Three of them looked frightened.

They were the fathers of Yang Xianrong, Ji Wenjing, and Wan Jiatong.

Yesterday, the three women were sent back to their respective homes by the Eagle Guards. It caused a huge commotion, so it was impossible for their families not to know.

The eunuch-in-waiting took the memorandum with both hands and then forwarded it to the emperor.

The emperor opened the memorial and read it.

“Minister Ji, Yang Zhenyan, and Minister Wan.”

The three people named trembled, their expressions becoming even more terrified.

Trembling, they stepped out of line and bowed to the emperor.

The emperor asked unhurriedly, “Yesterday, the daughters of the three of you gathered in the Joyous Imperial Tea House to cause trouble and injured Assistant Minister Yu’s youngest daughter. Is this true?”

The three of them hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.

“It’s my fault for not teaching my daughter well. Please punish me, Your Majesty.”

If it were any other time, the emperor would have just reprimanded them for such a small matter.

But things were different now.

The emperor had been paying a lot of attention to the anti-government poetry case recently and planned to investigate it thoroughly. There were constantly people in the court who were involved in the case. Seeing that the matter was getting out of hand, many people in the court could not sit still anymore and stood up to dissuade the emperor from investigating further.

Even the cabinet felt that the emperor should know when to stop. They nagged all day, like a group of flies that could not be chased away no matter what, making the emperor very irritable.

Coincidentally, Assistant Minister Ji, Yang Zhenyan, and Minister Wan had all dissuaded the emperor.

The emperor immediately treated the three of them as punching bags. With a wave of his hand, he fined them for half a year and ordered them to go to the Yu family to apologize to the victim, Yu Pingping.