Physician Cai set the teacup down on the desk with what sounded like deliberate force, eliciting a sharp clink.

"My Lord, I fear the situation is dire. I don't know what connections that Old Doctor An has managed to pull..." Dong Lin hurried to say.

"What connections can a crippled man possibly pull? If the Emperor hadn't intervened back then, King Julu Sima’s clan would have taken his life," Physician Cai stated coolly. "It’s nothing more than leaning on that Fang fellow for some small favor, just to spare Zhou Maochun the hardship of prison. If he truly had any capability, he’d have that Fang character petition the Emperor to release him. If that Fang dared utter a single word, I'll kowtow to him."

That Fang fellow wouldn't dare utter a single word to the Emperor even if he were beaten to death... Dong Lin couldn't suppress a smile.

"Enough," Physician Cai said, stroking the teacup. "It’s only been two days. Just wait. In one more day at most, Zhou Maochun won't be able to escape." "The memorials from the Mobei Military Commandery should also be arriving by now."

At this moment, within the grand hall of the Imperial Palace, the Emperor was presiding over a meeting.

Aside from the attending eunuchs, seven or eight other officials stood silently with their heads bowed.

The room was dead quiet.

On the Dragon Throne, the Emperor picked up a memorial. He only looked at the cover before placing it back on the desk, causing a sharp pa sound.

Gradually, the sound of pa became more frequent, causing the hearts of the ministers standing below to involuntarily skip a beat.

"Are these all memorials sent from the Mobei Military Commandery?" the Emperor inquired.

A red-robed official, nearly sixty years old, bowed and confirmed.

"Can one man, Zhou Maochun, possibly warrant this many memorials? Is he that formidable? Or are the officials of the Mobei Military Commandery all useless?" the Emperor asked slowly.

The red-robed official bent his waist even lower.

"I am guilty," he whispered, trembling.

"Fang Shujun," the Emperor called out.

A minister standing nearby promptly stepped forward with a bow.

"Is your father dead yet?" the Emperor asked.

Lord Fang's body trembled slightly.

"Thank Your Majesty, my father is not yet..." he began to say, but was interrupted as a memorial struck him squarely.

"If he isn't dead, tell Zhou Maochun to get his ass over here!" the Emperor roared.

Lord Fang acknowledged and turned to leave, his face betraying deep worry.

It seemed things had gone awry this time. He had intended to let the Emperor's anger simmer down for a few days before Zhou Maochun made his plea. He never expected that after only two days in the capital, the Emperor would summon him, and summon him for a public interrogation among so many ministers, rather than a private reprimand first. This clearly indicated the Emperor intended to show absolutely no mercy.

While Zhou Maochun was being hurriedly summoned to the hall, Qi Yue had arrived home and seen Lady Chen.

"Aunt, I must enter the palace to see His Majesty," she announced.

Lady Chen paused, startled.

"I must explain to the Emperor what we did in Mobei," Qi Yue said, kneeling before Lady Chen and grasping her hands.

Lady Chen pulled her up.

"What matter is that?" she said dismissively, then smiled faintly. "Don't worry. I already spoke with His Majesty, and he agreed. No matter how grave the situation, you will be safe."

Agreed? Qi Yue was momentarily stunned. When she had seen Lady Chen emerge from the Emperor's presence that day, her expression hadn't been entirely joyful, leading her to believe the discussion hadn't gone well.

Lady Chen, holding her hand, also drifted into a brief reverie.

Although he had agreed to look after things, a personal meeting was still necessary... It was infuriating that this impish girl, knowing she needed a formal introduction, wouldn't budge on the matter.

"Lord Zhou insists on taking all the blame, but I must face the Emperor to explain," Qi Yue pleaded, gently tugging Lady Chen's hand. "I know this puts you in a difficult position, Aunt, but I don't know anyone else who can secure me an audience with the Emperor this quickly."

Lady Chen snapped back to attention and pondered for a moment.

This was, perhaps, a good opportunity for a plea of guilt and repentance...

"Fine, we'll go then. I was planning on visiting the Empress Dowager anyway," she said.

Qi Yue thanked her profusely, overjoyed.

"It's alright, don't worry. Even if someone else gets into trouble, you will be fine," Lady Chen said kindly, stroking Qi Yue’s temple.

Qi Yue offered a wry smile. She would rather everyone else be fine, even if she herself suffered the consequences.

As Lady Chen escorted Qi Yue through the palace gates, Zhou Maochun was already standing before the Emperor.

Seeing Zhou Maochun looking rosy-cheeked and having put on weight, the Emperor let out two cold laughs.

"Lord Zhou, you appear to be in excellent spirits," he inquired with a smile.

"Thanks to His Majesty's great fortune, I am well enough," Zhou Maochun replied after bowing.

Before he finished speaking, a memorial was hurled down, hitting him squarely on the head.

"But I am in a terrible mood!"

The Emperor's furious voice crashed down simultaneously.

Everyone was accustomed to the Emperor’s unpredictable moods, knowing this signaled the explosion of his rage.

The hall instantly filled with cries of "I am guilty," but this did not stop the Emperor's furious tirade.

"...A mere thousand rebel slaves, twenty days, looting three passes and nine prefectures—this is what you call the supposedly ironclad Nine-Layered Fortress!"

"...What ironclad fortress? It's clearly that the rebel forces were severely weakened in previous years..."

"...Now that they have recovered, they slap me in the face with their first move..."

"...All your constant boasting about how well I rule, how strong my armies are—this is all due to the glory inherited from the Founding Emperor!"

The more the Emperor spoke, the angrier he became, eventually resorting to outright cursing. No one could imagine where this Emperor, educated by the finest Confucian scholars within the palace since childhood, had learned such a torrent of vulgarities. It must be true that he often slipped out of the palace in disguise; such unimaginable, foul curses were usually only heard in the common markets.

The ministers standing below couldn't help but let their minds wander, but they were quickly brought back to attention by memorials the Emperor, not yet satisfied with his rant, flung down.

The kneeling eunuchs and ministers were all covered in dust, yet no one dared to dodge, merely kneeling, bowing, and sobbing their confessions.

When the Emperor was tired of scolding and sweating, he flung his sleeve back and sat down on the Dragon Throne, staring darkly at the figures below.

"Zhou Maochun, what do you have to say? Take advantage of my bad mood and speak quickly," he commanded.

Zhou Maochun stood up, and the memorial on his shoulder fell away.

"Your Majesty, what is wrong with this subject?" he asked, blinking with an air of innocence.

The anger the Emperor had just managed to suppress flared up anew. Having no memorial left to throw, and weary from scolding, he simply lifted his foot and kicked the Dragon Desk, startling the nearby eunuchs into scrambling forward to steady it.

"Did I just say all that for nothing?" the Emperor raged.

The other kneeling ministers couldn't help but inwardly scream: This detestable old man is annoying enough at other times, but why must he be so provocative now!

"A battle was lost, what does that have to do with me?" Zhou Maochun retorted, refusing to back down.

The ministers lowered their heads again; this man was courting death...

"Are you suggesting that I am making senseless accusations, venting my anger after a defeat, and wrongly implicating you?" the Emperor said menacingly.

"This subject never said that," Zhou Maochun quickly replied.

The Emperor laughed in sheer exasperation, pointing at the memorials on the floor.

"Pick one up and read it," he instructed.

Zhou Maochun obediently picked one up. He saw it stated that Xiong Dashan, the Commander-in-Chief of Gansu, impeached Zhou Maochun for delaying military affairs. He glanced over it.

"Is this something you did?" the Emperor asked.

Zhou Maochun nodded.

"Read the next one," the Emperor commanded.

Zhou Maochun picked up another. It read that Wen Ding, the Censor of the Censorate, impeached Zhou Maochun for outrageous and disloyal conduct.

"Did you do these things?" the Emperor asked again.

Zhou Maochun nodded once more.

"I did," he answered truthfully.

The Emperor lifted his foot and kicked the desk again with a loud peng, causing everyone in the room to tremble violently three times. He stood up, leaned over the desk, and pointed at the floor.

"These are all impeachments against you! And you still ask me what's wrong with you! What's wrong with you! To live long without merit is to be a scoundrel!" he roared in anger.

Zhou Maochun’s expression remained unchanged.

"But, these matters, they aren't truly wrong, Your Majesty. This subject was merely attending to the duties of diagnosing and treating injuries..." he began.

Before he could finish, the Emperor snatched the vermilion brush from the desk and flung it, striking Zhou Maochun squarely on the forehead, leaving a crimson gash.

"You dare trifle with my military and political affairs, you dare play games with my soldiers—what else do you not dare to do? Next, will you try to play with My Head?" he bellowed.

These words were serious. The kneeling ministers could no longer feign ignorance; they began kowtowing, and some stood up to berate Zhou Maochun. It seemed Zhou Maochun intended today to thoroughly provoke the Emperor and seek punishment.

The ministers sighed inwardly.

At that moment, a young eunuch entered, hesitating by the wall. The head eunuch near the Emperor noticed him, rushed over, leaned in to hear what the young eunuch whispered, and his expression instantly became one of shock. He shook his head, and the young eunuch shook his head too. After exchanging glances for a moment, the Emperor's personal attendant ultimately could not turn back to report.

"Speak," the Emperor snapped impatiently.

The ministers below were startled, about to speak, when the attendant leaned in close to the Emperor and whispered something.

"Begone," the Emperor said flatly.

The ministers below were startled again, watching the attendant immediately roll away.

"She won't see me?" Lady Chen looked slightly anxious.

"My Lady, His Majesty is currently in a terrible rage; it sounds like they are about to come to blows in that hall," the fat eunuch whispered low. "Heed my advice, quickly return home. Don't invite disaster."

Lady Chen hesitated. They were about to fight...

Qi Yue clenched her fist.

"Eunuch," she stepped forward and said, "Please announce me again. Say that Qi Yue Niang of the Qianjin Hall requests an audience."

Lady Chen quickly reached out to stop her.

"Yue Niang, don't be foolish! His Majesty will not grant an audience," she said. Even the directive for free movement granted by the Founding Emperor couldn't sway the current Emperor—how could her mere words succeed?

The fat eunuch also offered a bitter smile.

"Eunuch is put in a difficult spot, but this is Yue Niang's heart's desire," Qi Yue said, handing him a silver note.

The eunuch was startled.

"My Lady, this is like slapping my face," he quickly said.

Lady Chen, however, was unwilling to let Qi Yue lose face. Since they had come this far, they might as well try.

"Little Huang, you are indeed put in a difficult position," she said.

The fat eunuch looked at her, sighed, and reached out to take the note.

"Very well, I shall go in one more time," he said, turning away.

When he reached the entrance of the grand hall, the fat eunuch casually glanced at the silver note tucked in his sleeve and gasped in shock.

Five thousand taels! Heavens! This young mistress was extremely generous!

The eunuchs in the hall exchanged another round of expressions, and finally, one of them approached the Emperor.

The Emperor turned his gaze toward him. The eunuch immediately broke out in a cold sweat, eventually collapsing to his knees with a plop.

"Your Majesty, the Qi... Qi..." During the low exchange just now, he hadn't heard the name clearly, and under the Emperor's terrifying gaze, the eunuch couldn't recall the correct title, stammering.

If she was a woman, addressing her as 'Niangzi' was always safe.

"Qianjin Hall's Qi Niangzi pays her respects," he kowtowed and announced.