Inside Pengxian Pavilion, Su Meixian and Steward Du had finally quieted down, both sinking into a deep sleep.
Prime Minister Yun arrived in the courtyard and kicked open the door of the room. The wooden door clattered to the ground, but even the loud noise failed to wake the two still soundly asleep on the bed.
When he clearly saw the two disheveled figures on the bed, with the man on the inner side being Steward Du, his fury erupted instantly.
He roared, "Guards! Pour water on this adulterous pair and wake them up!"
Before long, a guard arrived carrying a bucket of water and splashed it directly onto the faces of the two on the bed.
"Ah…"
Su Meixian was jolted awake by the icy water, scrambling to sit up in a panic and wiping the water from her face.
"Who dares pour water on my face? Are you tired of living?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Prime Minister Yun's enraged face came into view. She instinctively rubbed her eyes, trembling with fear.
"M-Master…"
Without a word, Prime Minister Yun stepped forward and slapped Su Meixian four times across the face—"Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!"
"You shameless woman! I'm not dead yet, and you're already so eager to find someone behind my back?"
By then, Steward Du on the inner side of the bed had also slowly awakened. Seeing the people in the room, his mind went completely blank.
After a moment of stunned silence, he hastily climbed out of bed, disregarding his disheveled state, and knelt on the floor.
"Master, spare my life! Master, spare my life…"
Prime Minister Yun drew the sword from the guard's waist beside him and pointed the tip directly at Steward Du's neck.
"You adulterous pair! After all the kindness I've shown you both over the years, you dare to carry on like this right under my nose…"
Prime Minister Yun spoke these words through gritted teeth.
"Master, it wasn't me… It was him! He drugged me! Master, I'm the victim here…"
Su Meixian’s eyes darted around a few times before she pointed at Steward Du kneeling on the floor, shifting all the blame onto him.
Hearing this, Steward Du stared at Su Meixian in stunned disbelief, then said, "Master, that's not true! It was the mistress who seduced me first! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have dared to drug her even if you gave me the courage. I was blinded for a moment, Master! I was wrong! Please, for all the years I’ve served you faithfully, spare my life…"
As he spoke, Steward Du kowtowed repeatedly on the floor.
Prime Minister Yun watched as this adulterous pair threw mud at each other.
"Spare your life? You’ve made me the laughingstock of the entire capital! Did you ever consider my dignity when you were doing this? You deserve to die! You’re right—over the years, you have served me diligently. For that, I’ll grant you a quick death!"
With that, he plunged the sword directly into Steward Du’s chest. Blood seeped out, pooling on the floor as Steward Du collapsed, his eyes wide open in death.
Prime Minister Yun gestured to the guards behind him. "Take him away and throw him into the Mass Grave!"
"Yes!"
Su Meixian, watching Steward Du’s corpse on the floor, trembled in terror, scrambling backward.
Once the guards had carried Steward Du’s body away, only Prime Minister Yun and Su Meixian remained in the room.
Prime Minister Yun walked up to Su Meixian, his gaze dark and menacing. Su Meixian trembled uncontrollably as he suddenly grabbed her chin. "You shameless, wanton woman! Am I not enough for you?"
Su Meixian shook her head frantically. "M-Master…"
Prime Minister Yun gave her no chance to speak, tightening his grip as if he wished to strangle her then and there.
"Rest assured, you have made this Prime Minister the laughingstock of the entire capital, and I will have you killed. But don’t think for a moment that I will let you die as easily as Steward Du did!
From today onward, you will stay confined to Pengxian Pavilion! You are not to take a single step outside your room!"
Su Meixian’s face was bruised purple from being choked, and she gasped for breath in ragged heaves.
"Guards!"
"Your Excellency, I am here."
"Execute all the maids and matrons serving the Madam! Starting today, the Madam is forbidden from leaving Pengxian Pavilion, and no one is allowed to visit her—including the eldest young lady! If anyone fails to enforce this strictly, they will be executed immediately!"
"Yes! I obey!"
Prime Minister Yun finished speaking, flicked his sleeves, and strode out of the room. As he walked out of the courtyard, he saw the commoners gathered outside the Prime Minister's Residence, craning their necks to watch the spectacle. The corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably. He took a few deep breaths and approached the courtyard wall.
Bending at the waist, he clasped his hands in a salute to the crowd. "It is my failure to maintain proper discipline. I have not handled this family matter well, and I have made a fool of myself before all of you. I ask that you, in consideration of my humble reputation, please disperse…"
The onlookers perched on the wall whispered among themselves.
"The Prime Minister truly has it hard—cuckolded by his own wife, and now he has to clean up her mess… Ah… I almost feel sorry for him."
"The man carried out of that courtyard earlier must have been the one the Prime Minister’s wife was having an affair with… Poor Prime Minister. To think his wife would cuckold him right under his own roof—what man in the world could bear such humiliation?"
"Could it be that the Prime Minister is… incapable? Otherwise, why would his wife dare to carry on an affair right inside the Prime Minister’s Residence?"
"Ah, as a fellow man, I truly find the Prime Minister pitiable."
Right in front of Prime Minister Yun, they chattered away, one after another.
Every word they spoke reached the Prime Minister’s ears. By now, his face had turned a shade uglier than liver, and his hands inside his sleeves were clenched into fists.
He couldn’t help but cough a few times. "Ahem… I ask that you grant Yun, this humble man, some face. Please, everyone, disperse…"
Though reluctant, out of pity for the Prime Minister, the crowd gradually dispersed, casting sympathetic glances his way.
Once all the onlookers had scattered, Prime Minister Yun made his way toward Fangfei Ge.
He had already sent someone to the palace earlier to inform the Emperor of a family emergency, so he did not need to attend the morning court session. In such circumstances, he truly had no face to appear before the court—likely every minister already knew by now, given how many commoners had witnessed the scene.
At this thought, a question arose in his mind: Why did so many commoners know about this? He recalled that they seemed to have learned of it even earlier than he did…
Could there be some conspiracy behind this? Perhaps it was aimed at his Prime Minister’s Residence?
With this suspicion in mind, he headed toward Fangfei Ge. Su Meixian had cost him nothing but his reputation, and dealing with her was only a matter of time. The words he had spoken earlier in front of the onlookers might even help him appear closer to the people, earning their sympathy. Since the matter had already occurred, his priority now was to protect Yun Ran.
Yun Ran was still unmarried, and it would not be good for her reputation if the commoners had witnessed such a scandal firsthand. That was why he had first gone to Pengxian Pavilion to deal with Steward Du—having the body carried out served as an explanation to the curious crowd, directing their attention toward Su Meixian and allowing them to overlook Yun Ran.
He was utterly disappointed. What kind of mother raises what kind of daughter! Both mother and daughter were cut from the same cloth—each of them causing nothing but trouble for him!
Upon arriving at Fangfei Ge, he did not barge in directly. After all, it was a young lady's residence. He had the matron open the door, woke Yun Ran, and then dismissed all the guards and maids in the courtyard.