The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 447

So Mao Ji still had to come up with a reason, but he wasn't worried at all.

Jiajing was not surprised by Mao Ji's reaction. In fact, Jiajing just wanted to change the subject. Otherwise, if these officials impeaching Zhou Chu went on and on, there would be no point in discussing anything at the court meeting.

Moreover, Jiajing had another purpose in bringing this up.

Jiajing looked at Mao Ji, a cold smile in his heart, but remained outwardly calm.

"Mao Weizhi, what is your opinion on the faction formation among officials in the imperial court?"

Jiajing asked.

"Your Majesty, there are no so-called factions in the court. They are just colleagues exchanging information. As for me, when I was young, I studied and took the imperial examinations. I had many classmates and fellow students, and we had very good relationships. Does being an official in the court mean that I have to cut off all contact with these classmates and fellow students until the end?"

Mao Ji completely ignored Jiajing's words, denied the existence of factions, and directly implied that the issue of factions was Jiajing's lack of empathy.

Mao Ji was able to become a cabinet member, so he must have been extremely skilled with words. He certainly wouldn't be led by the nose by Jiajing.

"Isn't what you're saying a bit of a digression, Lord Mao? A faction is a faction, why be so coy about it? It's rather ridiculous."

Yang Shen looked at Mao Ji and said sarcastically.

Emperor Jiajing might not be able to out-argue Mao Ji, but Yang Shen was different. Yang Shen was the most formidable critic in the entire court, without exception. Yang Shen knew very well that it was not the emperor's job to confront Mao Ji, but his own.

Sure enough, Mao Ji felt a headache when he saw Yang Shen step forward. Whether it was sophistry or verbal sparring, he was no match for Yang Shen. He really couldn't understand why he and Yang Tinghe were originally on the same side, both from the Jiangnan faction. When Yang Tinghe was in power, Mao Ji had spared no effort in standing by his side.

Who could have imagined that Yang Tinghe, who had served in the government, would produce such a despicable son as Yang Shen?

They couldn't afford to offend him, after all, Yang Shen was the leading figure in the literary world of the Ming Dynasty. Offending him was equivalent to offending the entire literary world of the Ming Dynasty, something Mao Ji dared not do.

They couldn't win the argument.

Even so, since Yang Shen had already taken the initiative to attack him, Mao Ji naturally couldn't back down. Otherwise, he couldn't even imagine what those officials who had curried favor with him would think.

While Mao Ji and Yang Shen were arguing in the imperial court, Zhou Chu was sunbathing at home, looking at Lu Wei's helpless expression.

"You mean you suddenly realized that you don't actually like Yang Ran that much anymore?"

Zhou Chu looked at Lu Wei and said.

"Yes, actually I've never seriously thought about what kind of woman I should like. My parents made the arrangements, so I just listened to them. But lately I've been realizing more and more that I don't really like Yang Ran."

Lu Wei said with a constipated expression.

"Have you met any women lately? Or do you frequent brothels and become infatuated with some courtesan?"

Zhou Chu immediately saw the problem and looked at Lu Wei, scrutinizing him.

Hearing this, Lu Wei looked guilty.

"That's not true. How could I be that kind of person?"

"You know I'm the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. If I wanted to, I could find out how many times you get up at night. Investigating this kind of thing would be effortless for me."

Zhou Chu looked at Lu Wei and said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Lu Wei suddenly regretted saying those words to Zhou Chu, but it was too late now.

"I really like Miss Sisi from Yichun Pavilion."

When Lu Wei said this, his whole face turned red. In fact, he was just beginning to experience romantic feelings, and he didn't really have that much affection for Yang Ran.

"Oiran?"

Zhou Chu looked at Lu Wei and asked in confusion.

Lu Wei nodded somewhat awkwardly.

What do you like about her?

Zhou Chu continued to ask.

"It's hard to explain. Miss Sisi is completely different from these daughters of officials and young ladies from scholarly families like Yang Ran. She is more lively and has more ideas. When I'm with her, I have a feeling I've never had before."

Lu Wei said with a lovesick look on his face.

"After your wedding, you can redeem her from her servitude and bring her into your household, wouldn't that be enough? Yang Ran doesn't seem like a jealous person."

Zhou Chu continued patiently.

"But I want her to be my legal wife."

Lu Wei said in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chu's patience finally wore thin.

Zhou Chu was far more tolerant of Lu Wei than of others. Generally, as long as it wasn't a matter of principle, Zhou Chu wouldn't bother asking about Lu Wei taking a concubine after marriage.

But if Lu Wei loses his mind and abandons Yang Ran for a prostitute, or even breaks off the engagement, Zhou Chu would never tolerate it.

First of all, Master Yang was, after all, the teacher of Zhou Chu and Lu Wei. Although there had been some disagreements, they had long been put aside. After all, Master Yang was a cousin of the Yang family and a member of their maternal family, and Yang Ran was the niece of the Yang family.

Lu Wei's abrupt annulment of the engagement was a huge blow to Yang Ran, making it very difficult for her to find a suitable marriage partner in the future.

Secondly, even disregarding all that, just looking at Lu Wei, he is clearly bewitched by a vixen from a brothel. It's inevitable for young people to make mistakes, and what Zhou Chu needs to do is to make him realize this in time.

If Lu Wei doesn't come to his senses in time, Zhou Chu wouldn't mind beating him until he does.

Have your skills fallen behind in the past six months?

Zhou Chu looked at Lu Wei and gave an irrelevant answer.

Lu Wei was somewhat puzzled by Zhou Chu's question, wondering why Zhou Chu suddenly asked this.

"I do practice every day, but I'm definitely far behind you and Yun Jin."

Lu Wei answered truthfully.

"I don't think they're necessarily worse than me. Come and test your skills against me."

Zhou Chu stood up and waved to Lu Wei.

Hearing this, Lu Wei was puzzled, but he didn't refuse. He felt that even if he couldn't beat Zhou Chu, it wouldn't be a big deal to have a go at it.

As soon as the two made contact, Zhou Chu kicked Lu Wei away. Lu Wei felt as if his body was falling apart and was in pain, grimacing in agony.

Why did you hit so hard?

Lu Wei said with some dissatisfaction.

"Is this too heavy? I'm going to beat you awake today."

As Zhou Chu spoke, he didn't give Lu Wei any time to react and continued to beat Lu Wei.