Chapter 65: Shen Tengfeng Gets Impeached Again

As the civil and military officials heard this, many showed disappointed expressions. They thought it would be some major issue, but it turned out to be another impeachment of this great wastrel.

Shen Tengfeng getting impeached had become almost a daily occurrence, and they had long lost their enthusiasm for it.

Shen Yian’s expression changed slightly, curious about what kind of mischief Shen Tengfeng had gotten into recently.

After listening to the censor’s impeachment, both Emperor Wu and Shen Yian frowned simultaneously.

The matter of impeachment was none other than Shen Tengfeng’s work at the pawnshop.

As it happened, this censor had gone to the pawnshop intending to pawn some useless items, and Shen Tengfeng was coincidentally the one who greeted him.

Pawning items naturally results in a loss, and in the end, he lost nearly a third of the money before pawning them off. After returning home, the more the censor thought about it, the angrier he became. He immediately decided to impeach Shen Tengfeng at court the next day.

For a prince to become a shop clerk was simply disgraceful to the royal family’s face.

Shen Yian was helpless. 

You impeach Shen Tengfeng, I won’t say anything, but if you’re going after my pawnshop, then we need to have a good talk.

The censor went all out, not only impeaching Shen Tengfeng but also furiously berating Shen Yian’s pawnshop. He hoped Emperor Wu would thoroughly investigate and shut it down, arresting all related personnel.

“This bastard.” 

Emperor Wu was slightly angry.

“Father Emperor! Your son has something to say.”

Shen Yian stepped forward.

If he didn’t speak up at this moment, his pawnshop might not survive.

“Speak,” the Emperor said.

“Your son believes…”

The gist of it was: Shen Tengfeng already had a bad reputation, but now he had finally found a job. Although it was beneath his status, it showed he had a desire to improve himself and was no longer just idling about and causing trouble everywhere like before. This desire for self-improvement was rare and precious. Father Emperor shouldn’t excessively criticize Shen Tengfeng, as too harsh a punishment might cause Shen Tengfeng to fall completely into degeneration.

Emperor Wu nodded slightly, seemingly accepting Shen Yian’s argument. He had already guessed that Shen Tengfeng’s presence in the pawnshop must have something to do with Shen Yian.

The civil and military officials were very surprised. Someone defending Shen Tengfeng was unprecedented, and the one doing so was the King of Chu!

They recalled the scene of Shen Yian and Shen Jingyu’s cordial exchange earlier that morning.

Hiss!

They feared they must not have woken up properly today!

Seeing this, the censor didn’t say anything further. It wasn’t worth offending a prince over a wastrel.

In the end, the punishment for Shen Tengfeng was light, merely a fine of two months’ salary.

(Shen Tengfeng: Two months’ salary? Isn’t this asking for my life?)

As for the pawnshop, Emperor Wu didn’t even mention it. Who would want to upset their own source of income?

“Court dismissed!”

Outside, the light rain had stopped, and with no other matters to discuss, the court session finally ended.

Walking out of the Imperial Hall, Shen Yian swore that he wouldn’t come tomorrow even if it killed him. Listening to all this had made his head spin.

“Sixth Brother, I’ll go ahead,” Shen Jingyu, who had been walking beside him, said with a light smile as they were about to exit the palace, looking at the approaching father and son of the Ye family.

“Take care, Fourth Brother.”

“Greetings to His Highness, the King of Chu!” Ye Tiance led Ye Feng forward to pay their respects.

“Duke Ye, General Ye, no need for such formalities,” Shen Yian said with a gentle smile.

The closer Ye Feng got to Shen Yian, the more he felt like he had seen him somewhere before, but he couldn’t quite place it. It wasn’t from childhood; the young Shen Yian didn’t have this kind of bearing.

After exchanging pleasantries, Shen Yian actively sought topics of conversation, starting from childhood and moving to the present, then to the northern frontier. The content seemed endless, and the three of them walked and talked happily.

Ye Feng’s eyes lit up. No wonder his old man had praised this King of Chu so much on the way to court. He indeed suited both father and son’s tastes.

However, when he thought that Ye Liyan was about to marry Shen Yian, Ye Fen felt an inexplicable fire rising in his heart.

The flower he had nurtured for so many years was about to be taken away, pot and all, by this brat. How infuriating!

What was even more frustrating was that the other party was of noble birth, so he couldn’t even beat him up.

As they chatted, the group arrived at a teahouse. Ye Tiance patted Ye Feng’s shoulder and recommended the morning tea there.

After finishing their tea and chatting for a while longer, the three parted ways and returned to their respective homes.

Back at the kings’s mansion, Mendu came up and asked, “Your Highness, do we need to prepare more gifts?”

The news of Ye Feng’s return to Tianwu City had spread quickly after the court session. He was, after all, His Highness’s father-in-law-to-be, so a visit was certainly necessary.

“Mm, prepare a bit more.”

“Your Highness, shall we ready the carriage now?”

Shen Yian shook his head with a light smile. “Not yet. We’ll discuss it a bit later.” 

The father and daughter had rarely seen each other, and he didn’t want to disturb them too much.

“I’ll go back to my room to rest for a while.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

At the Duke of State’s mansion.

“Grandfather, you’re back.”

“Liyan, look who’s come back!” Ye Tiance said with a kind face, stepping aside to reveal Ye Feng behind him.

Ye Feng looked at the graceful young woman before him awkwardly, carefully calling out, “Liyan?”

The year he left Tianwu City, Ye Liyan was only this tall. In the blink of an eye, she had grown into a young lady. He could hardly believe he had been away for so long.

“Fa…ther… Father!” Ye Liyan’s eyes trembled slightly, her feet moving forward uncontrollably.

“Father, Liyan missed you so much!”

Ye Feng’s heart ached as he hugged his daughter, his voice trembling, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry daughter… I’ve been an unworthy father…”

The scene of father and daughter reuniting after a long separation even caused Ye Tiance, the fierce old general, to have reddened eyes. It was good that the family was finally together again.

The sky cleared, and sunlight filtered through the clouds, casting a golden glow on the blue bricks and stone tiles.

As time passed, the Duke of State’s mansion gradually became lively, with many officials and Ye Tiance’s old friends visiting with gifts.

Du Dunming had a significant psychological shadow regarding Ye Feng and refused to come no matter what. In the end, he was beaten and forcibly carried to the Duke of State’s mansion by Du Fang.

At the King of Chu’s mansion.

“Your Highness, the Fifth Prince requests an audience,” Mendu reported, running to the training ground.

After lunch, Shen Yian had concentrated on forming [Sword] in his room before coming to the training ground to practice swordsmanship.

“Bring him to see me.”

Shen Yian waved his hand casually, and the steel sword in his hand flew back to the weapon rack.

“Sixth Brother! Wuwuwu!”

You can hear the voice before you see the person, and you can hear Shen Tengfeng’s crying from far away.

“Sixth Brother, Father Emperor is too cruel! He deducted two whole months of my salary! That’s two whole months of salary!”

Shen Tengfeng hugged Shen Yian and wailed.

“Fifth Brother, don’t be sad. At least you kept your job at the pawnshop, right?” Shen Yian sighed lightly and comforted him.

“Yes, yes, yes, Sixth Brother, I’m so grateful to you! If it weren’t for this job, I might have had to beg on the streets this month!” Talking about the pawnshop, Shen Tengfeng became even more excited, almost bursting into tears and snot.

In just these few days, he had taken in several pawned items and quickly sold them all, successfully earning over a hundred taels of silver as his share.

Experiencing the feeling of earning money honestly for the first time, Shen Tengfeng almost instantly fell in love with this feeling.

It was completely different from his previous experiences of scamming others for money, borrowing money, or gambling!

He felt that he had achieved self-transcendence!

He vowed to work even harder at the pawnshop, earn more money, accumulate more experience, and eventually, one day, have a pawnshop that belonged solely to him, Shen Tengfeng!

Seeing his employee with such high work enthusiasm, Shen Yian, as the boss, felt very gratified.

Fifth Brother, Sixth Brother believes in you!

Not long after Shen Tengfeng left, the steward of the Duke’s mansion, Ah Fu, hurriedly came to the prince’s mansion to invite Shen Yian to a dinner party.

“A dinner party? I understand.”

“Your Highness, then this old servant will take his leave!”

Shen Yian came back to his senses and looked at Mendu: “How are the gifts prepared?”

“In response to Your Highness, everything has been prepared.”

“Good, ready the carriage!”

As evening approached, the guests at the Duke of State’s mansion had already dispersed.

When Shen Yian arrived, he was somewhat surprised. He thought there would be many people at tonight’s dinner, but there was only one additional person: Ye Feng.

Ye Tiance seemed to notice Shen Yian’s confusion and briefly explained. Today had been too chaotic with people coming and going. Invitations had already been sent out, and tomorrow there would be another banquet at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion to properly entertain guests from all directions.

Shen Yian sat between Ye Feng and Ye Tiance, his gaze sweeping over the dozen or so jars of wine on the ground. He immediately had a bad feeling.

Ye Liyan, please bless me.