Zhou Ming slowly withdrew the Divine Sense that had been probing the Imperial Garden, picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip of the cold tea, and leaned back in his chair to ponder.

He saw Emperor Yongchang's intentions clearly.

This young emperor had hit a wall in front of Empress Su Mingyue.

He had also hit a wall in front of him, Zhou Ming.

The officials of the entire court wouldn't listen to him, and he couldn't even command the eunuchs and maids, leaving him full of rage with nowhere to vent.

Pulling Su Mingli out was, on the surface, dangling a carrot before his playboy cousin, but at its core, it was a test.

He wanted to see whether the officials of the court were leaning towards Zhou Ming, the outsider, or towards the direct descendant of the Marquis's estate.

Regardless of who they leaned towards, Emperor Yongchang would not lose: if the officials sided with Su Mingli, he could use Su Mingli's hand to slowly pry at Empress Su Mingyue's Foundation.

If the officials still leaned towards Zhou Ming, he wouldn't lose anything either; it would just be one more Su Mingli being roasted over the fire.

However, Zhou Ming did not intend to give him the chance to test this.

If Su Mingli wanted to be an official, then let him be one.

The position of Commandery Governor was originally just placed on Zhou Ming temporarily to facilitate the scheduling of military and political affairs in Yuyang Commandery.

Now that the operations of Yuyang Commandery were on the right track, with the old official, Department Head Chen, keeping an eye on things, there wouldn't be any major trouble in daily administration.

Furthermore, his Divine Sense could now cover a radius of forty kilometers.

The entire Yuyang Commandery city and the surrounding towns were within his perception.

If any leaks really occurred, he could remedy them at any time.

As for guarding the imperial palace.

This young master should forget about it; with his limited brain capacity, he would probably still be counting the money for Emperor Yongchang even after being sold by him.

Let him be a Commandery Governor and find him some real work to do, so he wouldn't be huddled together with Emperor Yongchang fighting crickets all day.

If this went on for too long, and Emperor Yongchang really tricked him into causing some disaster, it would still be him, Zhou Ming, cleaning up the mess in the end.

However, he couldn't let Emperor Yongchang off so easily.

These past few days, he had been smashing things and conspiring to seize power, causing quite a stir; he needed to be taught a lesson so he would know who really owned the sky in this Imperial Palace.

After pondering for a while, Zhou Ming's eyes turned, and he had an idea.

He waved over a few Imperial Guard captains and whispered in their ears.

After listening, the captains looked at each other with expressions of "Is this really going to work?", but no one dared to ask more, so they clasped their fists in acknowledgment and retreated.

Early the next morning, the Taihe Hall, which had been silent for several days, became lively again.

Emperor Yongchang unexpectedly took the initiative to issue an edict to hold a morning court session.

Having not held court for days, he seemed to have regained some interest, changed into a brand-new bright yellow imperial robe, polished the beads on his crown until they shone, and sat on the Dragon Throne early.

The civil and military officials in the hall stood in two rows, performing the rituals.

Su Mingli also unexpectedly stood in the front row of the military officials.

Dressed in a brand-new military official's court uniform with a newly fitted jade belt around his waist, his chin slightly raised, he looked like someone who was saying, "This young master is starting to attend court properly today."

Emperor Yongchang sat on the Dragon Throne, his hands resting on the armrests, his gaze sweeping across the mass of officials below, his mouth curling up slightly.

He was ready to speak.

He was prepared to announce before all the civil and military officials that he would appoint Su Mingli as the Governor of Yuyang Commandery and Commander of the Imperial Palace Guards.

Once this appointment was spoken, the reaction of the officials would allow him to see many things clearly.

However, before he could open his mouth, Zhou Ming, who was standing at the very back of the civil officials, stepped forward first, clasped his hands, and said in a loud voice:

"Your Majesty, a batch of Ferghana horses was sent from outside the palace yesterday."

"In this subject's opinion, their appearance—red as blood, with snow-white hooves—is a rare find in a century, and they would perfectly match Your Majesty."

"This subject has already ordered them to be led outside the hall. Would Your Majesty like to see their majesty?"

Emperor Yongchang was blocked for a moment by this sudden topic, and his brows furrowed imperceptibly.

He scrutinized Zhou Ming's face, wanting to see something from this daring servant's face.

But there were no extra expressions on Zhou Ming's sharp-featured face, only a respectful look waiting for a reply.

Emperor Yongchang thought for a moment and felt that looking at a horse wouldn't take much time, so he said:

"Then have them brought up. Let me take a good look at this Ferghana horse you speak of, which is a rare find in a century."

Zhou Ming turned and waved to the Imperial Guards outside the hall, then turned his head and glanced extremely quickly in Emperor Yongchang's direction.

There was no respect in that glance, only a kind of banter, as if watching a good show.

Unfortunately, Emperor Yongchang was sitting too far away to see it clearly.

A moment later, an Imperial Guard walked in from outside the hall, leading a deer.

The deer was an adult stag with a pair of forked antlers on its head, grey-brown fur, and long, thin legs, its hooves clattering on the polished gold bricks of the Taihe Hall.

It was so frightened by the dense crowd of officials and eunuchs on both sides of the hall that it was trembling all over, its eyes darting left and right, its tail tucked tightly between its legs.

The Imperial Guard leading the deer was expressionless, leading it all the way to the center of the hall, standing in the focus of all the civil and military officials, knelt on one knee, clasped his fists, and said in a loud voice:

"Your Majesty, the Ferghana horse has been brought."

There was a deathly silence in the Taihe Hall, and then someone took a sharp breath very lightly and quickly, which stopped abruptly as if they had been strangled.

Several officials standing in the back row lowered their heads until they were almost buried in their chests, their shoulders trembling slightly.

The civil and military officials looked at each other; some older officials wiped their eyes with their sleeves and looked again, and after confirming they hadn't seen wrong, the expressions on their faces became extremely colorful.

Emperor Yongchang's face turned black instantly.

Not a metaphor, it was visibly sinking layer by layer, going from a normal skin tone to iron-blue in just a few short breaths.

His fingers resting on the armrests of the Dragon Throne tightened suddenly, his knuckles turning pale, and the Dragon robe on his chest heaved violently twice.

He roared, shaking the carved dome of the Taihe Hall, his gaze fixed on Zhou Ming:

"This is clearly a deer! Where is this Ferghana horse that is a rare find in a century? You are clearly deceiving me, you... this is deceiving the Emperor!"

The civil and military officials were as silent as cicadas in winter; everyone lowered their heads, and no one dared to make any sound at this time.

After hearing Emperor Yongchang's roar, Zhou Ming did not show any Life Qi; he didn't even move an eyebrow.

He folded his hands in front of him and slowly turned to face Emperor Yongchang on the Dragon Throne.

He took another slow look at the still-trembling deer, then turned his gaze back to Emperor Yongchang.

His tone was unhurried, as if reasoning with a temperamental junior:

"Your Majesty, have you been overworked these past few days, causing your vision to blur? How is this a deer? Look carefully."

"With this reddish fur, these agile hooves, this is clearly a Ferghana horse."

Emperor Yongchang stood up abruptly from the Dragon Throne, his sleeves flapping loudly, his voice cracking with anger:

"Do you take me for blind, unable to tell a deer from a horse?"

The finger he pointed at Zhou Ming was shaking violently, and veins were bulging one by one on the back of his hand.