Yu Ning and Xie Yu Hua were followed by a maid. Although the two maids felt it inappropriate for their young ladies to drink outside, they couldn’t dissuade them, so they could only follow.

As dusk fell, the carriages of the Yongning Hou Mansion returned.

The atmosphere in the main hall of Yongning Hou Mansion was tense and stagnant.

Two fourteen or fifteen-year-old young masters knelt side by side in the hall, their heads bowed, their expressions timid.

“Speak, whose idea was it?” Shen Tuo’s tone was calm, and he didn’t seem angry, but everyone in the hall knew that the Emperor was already furious.

The two kneeling youths were the young prince Shen Ying and Xie Yu Ke, the legitimate son of the second branch of the Yongning Hou Mansion.

Both studied at the Ji Xian Academy, and they were both dandy sons who were scolded by their masters every day, so they got together to play.

In short, they were a bunch of mischievous friends.

Today, the two of them skipped school to play and were caught red-handed by Wu Ying, the commander of the Imperial Guard, and escorted to the Yongning Hou Mansion.

Skipping school was not a big deal; they would just be scolded. The key was that they went to the most famous brothel in the east city.

According to Wu Ying, if he had arrived a little later, those courtesans would have “taken care” of these two tender young masters.

The Great Ye Dynasty did not allow officials to visit brothels, and Shen Tuo was extremely disgusted with it, not allowing the young prince Shen Ying to be involved in such things. When Shen Tuo learned about it, he was in the Ministry of Revenue, which was not far from the Yongning Hou Mansion, so he came directly to the Yongning Hou Mansion.

Xie Yu Ke and Shen Ying looked at each other, then pointed at each other and said in unison, “His idea!”

Everyone: “…”

There weren’t many female members of the Xie family present, only Mrs. Huo, Mrs. Lin, the eldest daughter of the Hou Mansion, Xie Wan Yu, and the fifth daughter of the second branch, Xie Ying Chun.

Mrs. Huo remained silent, while Mrs. Lin felt deeply ashamed and wanted to immediately stuff her son back into her womb and remake him.

Just as the atmosphere was becoming tense, a woman’s laughter suddenly came from a distance.

Everyone looked up and saw that the third daughter, Yu Ning, and the fourth daughter, Xie Yu Hua, were both drunk. The two were swaying unsteadily as they walked into the courtyard, supported by their maids.

They were talking and laughing, pushing each other playfully, walking towards them.

“Zui Xian Brew is truly divine brew! Next time, we… we’ll go again, hahaha…”

Xie Yu Hua, who was drunk, was speaking incoherently. She and Yu Ning helped each other into the main courtyard, both staggering.

Yu Ning put her arm around Xie Yu Hua’s shoulder, speaking in a boisterous tone, “Good! Sister has money, I’ll treat you next time!”

Xie Yu Hua was too drunk to maintain the dignified demeanor of a noble lady. Leaning on Yu Ning’s shoulder, she was filled with emotion, “Oh, elder sister, you’re so kind! You’re even better to me than Mother!”

As the two sisters rambled on about their sworn sisterhood and walked into the main hall, everyone felt as if a thick layer of dark clouds had covered the Yongning Hou Mansion, and a thunderbolt was about to strike them down.

For the imperial presence to arrive and find the female members of the family in this state, it would be an understatement to say it was disrespectful.

No one dared to look at the Emperor’s face.

At this moment, Mrs. Huo and Mrs. Lin no longer cared about being angry at Xie Yu Ke and the young prince for going to the brothel. They felt as if struck by lightning and were overwhelmed with shame.

Yu Ning and Xie Yu Hua’s laughter echoed in the ears of the two ladies, like a demonic sound lingering endlessly.

This was truly… a double whammy.

At this moment, the Emperor sitting at the head of the hall chuckled lightly and said, neither lightly nor heavily, “The two young ladies are quite interesting.”

“Your Majesty, forgive us, we have failed to properly discipline them.”

Mrs. Huo and Mrs. Lin quickly pleaded guilty and urged the maids and servants to quickly take the two young ladies away.

But Yu Ning seemed to have seen something amazing. Ignoring the maids and servants’ pulling, she insisted on walking towards them. The servants dared not pull the young lady, and the maids couldn’t hold back the strong Yu Ning.  Yu Ning broke free and ran out.

Yu Ning ran into the hall and, under everyone’s shocked gaze, rushed straight towards the head of the hall.

“Ning’er!” Mrs. Huo, with her weak strength, tugged at her daughter’s sleeve but couldn’t hold her.

She watched helplessly as her daughter stood before the Emperor, giggling foolishly, then threw herself into the Emperor’s arms, excitedly calling out, “Husband! Did you come to find me?”

“Great, you finally came to find me. You’re so good. It was my fault before, I shouldn’t have treated you that way, I even hit you… Wuwu, I shouldn’t have hit you, I’m sorry…”

Yu Ning’s face was flushed, and she mumbled a lot of words, hugging her husband tightly, afraid that he would run away.

The Xie family members present: “…”

Oh dear, oh dear, this is the end.

What was the crime of offending the Emperor? It shouldn’t implicate nine generations, right? But the Emperor and the Empress Dowager are not in harmony, and if the Emperor uses this as an excuse to punish the Yongning Hou Mansion, it’s not impossible.

If it weren’t for Mrs. Lin supporting her, Mrs. Huo might have fainted on the spot.

Yu Ning clung to Shen Tuo’s shoulder, looking up at him, reaching out to touch the man’s chin.

“Husband, why aren’t you talking to me? Are you still holding a grudge?”

Shen Tuo narrowed his eyes, seizing the small hand that was groping his face, tightening his grip, and pinching it secretly. “Miss Xie San, behave yourself.”

The Emperor didn’t order the Imperial Guard to pull away the person clinging to him, so no one dared to pull Yu Ning away, only watching anxiously.

“No, no, you’re my husband, you’re mine.”

“Hahaha, I’ve caught you, see if you can run away! You can only stay by my side, you can’t go anywhere! You can’t leave!”

Yu Ning hugged Shen Tuo’s neck tightly, afraid that he would run away, sometimes gently calling him “husband,” sometimes fiercely warning him not to be foolish and try to run away.

The Hou Mansion’s people were terrified, secretly thinking that being drunk had caused trouble, what should they do? If the Emperor blamed them, they would inevitably face punishment.

Seeing Yu Ning talking nonsense, Mrs. Huo was anxious, fearing that her daughter would be punished by the Emperor.