Before long, the officer who had been sent to find Chu Feng rushed in hurriedly. Just as he was about to kneel down to report, he caught sight of Bai Yinan sitting on one side, glaring at him menacingly. He rolled his eyes, then stood up and walked over to Qin Mu, intending to whisper in his ear.
"Whatever the important matter is, report it from below the dais," the advisor interrupted sharply.
Hearing this, Qin Mu glanced at Bai Yinan, who looked rather unfriendly, and then nodded. "Go back."
The officer hesitated for a moment but had no choice but to return below the dais and kneel on one knee. "Reporting to Your Honor, Young Master Chu is not in the Prime Minister's Mansion at the moment. Prime Minister Chu said that Young Master Chu didn't return all night. He must have been abducted by the Bai Mansion, and now they are the ones crying 'stop thief'. He even wants to sue the Bai Mansion..."
"Absurd!" Bai Yinan's face turned ashen with anger. Unable to suppress his fury any longer, he said loudly, "In that case, I don't mind suing Prime Minister Chu as well. He failed to educate his son properly, indulged his son in committing violence, disrupted the imperial - bestowed marriage, and harbored the fugitive Chu Feng!"
"Thud!"
Qin Mu slumped back in his chair.
"Your Honor!" The advisor rushed forward quickly, fanning Qin Mu. Taking the opportunity, he whispered, "Your Honor, calm down. Everyone's eyes are probably on you at this moment."
Hearing this, Qin Mu trembled. "Then what should I do?"
It was one thing to arrest Chu Feng, but now they were talking about arresting the Prime Minister? He didn't have enough lives to deal with these people.
The advisor said in a low voice, "Your Honor just needs to handle the matter according to the law. As long as you treat Prime Minister Chu with courtesy, in full view of the public, Prime Minister Chu won't do anything to you. Moreover, since two court officials are now involved, it's time for Your Honor to report this to His Majesty."
"Report to His Majesty? Good!" Qin Mu perked up like a drowning man who had grabbed a life - saving straw. "Someone, go and invite Prime Minister Chu!"
Bai Yinan snorted and then sat down.
As the sun gradually rose to the zenith, Bai Yinan had drunk three bowls of tea. After the onlookers at the door had thickened by more than a dozen layers, Prime Minister Chu finally strolled into the gate leisurely.
The moment Bai Yinan saw Prime Minister Chu, the habitual awe replaced his previous cold and aloof demeanor, and he felt a bit intimidated for a moment. But thinking of what the person sent by Bai Zheng had told him, he took a deep breath, rose to his feet as if nothing had happened, and bowed. "Greetings, Prime Minister Chu."
Qin Mu quickly stepped forward and said with a smile, "Sorry to trouble Your Excellency to come here. Someone, quickly prepare a seat for the Prime Minister."
Prime Minister Chu simply ignored Bai Yinan's greeting and nodded to Qin Mu. "It's your duty, Lord Qin. I understand. But I have to trouble you regarding my son's matter."
"Your Excellency, please rest assured. As the Prefect of the Capital, I will do my best," Qin Mu said justly.
"In that case, please rescue my son as soon as possible! I don't know where my son has been taken by the Bai Mansion. He didn't return all night. I'm really worried..."
"Your Excellency is wrong. Everyone saw with their own eyes yesterday that Young Master Chu Feng abducted my daughter in the street, causing her to be missing all night. Why are you crying 'stop thief' here now!" Bai Yinan retorted without showing any weakness.
Prime Minister Chu finally glanced at Bai Yinan and snorted. "Abduct Miss Bai? Has Minister Bai lost his memory? Do I need to remind you that it was my son who looked down on Miss Bai and annulled the engagement with your Bai family. My son always avoided Miss Bai when he saw her. Do you think he would abduct her? That's wishful thinking!"
Angered by Prime Minister Chu's sarcastic attitude, Bai Yinan replied without thinking, "Your Excellency must have remembered wrongly! It was my daughter who insisted on annulling the engagement back then. We slapped our palms three times in front of the General's Mansion. How could Your Excellency forget so soon!"
"You..." Prime Minister Chu was so angry that his beard stood on end. He flung his sleeve and scolded sharply, "A mere third - rank minister dares to talk to me like this. Do you look down on me or my Chu family?"
Bai Yinan was initially shaken by Prime Minister Chu's scolding. But thinking of the heart - wrenching and helpless feeling he had when Bai Zheng was abducted yesterday, his anger welled up. He stuck out his neck and said, "I wonder where Young Master Chu Feng put the law when he dared to break into a third - rank official's mansion and abduct the future wife bestowed by His Majesty to the Marquis of Dingyuan. Is it that the law of our Great Zhou can't control the Chu family, or does the Chu family look down on His Majesty?"
"Presumptuous!"
Just as Prime Minister Chu was about to curse, a loud shout came from outside the hall.
The onlookers were quickly driven aside to make a path. Prime Minister Chu looked in the direction of the sound and saw two handsome young men in brocade robes and mink furs walking towards them.
The moment Prime Minister Chu saw the unfriendly - looking young man in the front, all his anger vanished. He said happily, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince..."
When Qin Mu saw the visitors, he felt as if he had come back to life. He wiped the sweat on his forehead like rain and heaved a heavy sigh of relief. Then he knelt down with the others and saluted respectfully. "Your humble official greets Your Highness, the Crown Prince, and Your Highness, the Third Prince!"
Feng Jingxuan followed Feng Jingye into the door, not bothering to hide his eagerness to watch the show. His eyes sparkled with amusement when they fell on Bai Yinan.
Feng Jingye half - squinted his narrow eyes and stared at Bai Yinan, who was kneeling on the ground. "Minister Bai has quite a big mouth, imposing such a heinous crime on the Chu family. What, now that you're going to be the father - in - law of the Marquis of Dingyuan, you can act so arrogantly?"
Actually, when Feng Jingye first heard the news that Chu Feng had abducted Bai Zheng, he was so angry that he wanted to kill Chu Feng. But after listening to the analysis of his advisor, he realized that this might not be a bad thing.
For a woman like Bai Zheng who could be useful, the best way to completely bring her under his control was to make her a woman of the Chu family. Although there was an imperial edict for the marriage now and there seemed to be no room for change, if Chu Feng forced himself on Bai Zheng and the deed was done, the Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion would surely not want this marriage anymore.
As for the Emperor, since Chu Feng and Bai Zheng had an old relationship, even if something really happened between them, the Emperor would probably just scold them a few times and not punish them severely.
As for whether Bai Zheng was willing or not, there was no need to worry about that.
For a woman, once her virginity was taken, her heart would gradually be tied to Chu Feng. It would be even better if she could get pregnant and have a child or two. Then she would surely be more devoted.
He just hoped that after this night, Chu Feng had been man enough to do what he should have done.
"Your Highness..." Bai Yinan was sweating profusely, but he still endured the habitual fear in his heart and said painfully, "Young Master Chu abducted my daughter in the street yesterday. All the onlookers can testify. Now my daughter is missing. Please Your Highness make a fair judgment and give my Bai Mansion justice."
"Abducted by force?" Feng Jingye sneered. "But what I heard is that Miss Bai couldn't forget her old feelings for Young Master Chu and invited him to tour the Xianglian Lake with her?"
Bai Yinan suddenly raised his head and stared at Feng Jingye with wide - open eyes. "Your Highness!"
"Does Minister Bai really not know that his own daughter is so amorous?" Feng Jingye feigned surprise. "It shouldn't be. Miss Bai's affection for Young Master Chu back then wasn't just witnessed by the onlookers. The whole Yongding knew about it, right?"