The queen is sober in the world, and she is winning every step of the palace fight.

If you are not allowed to eat at the appointed time, isn’t that neglect?

Xiang Yi was about to refute Yu Wangbei, but Fei Wan raised her hand to stop her.

He smiled and said, "Since Master Yu is determined not to do so, then it would be fine for me to wait for Master Yu."

Yu Wangbei immediately retorted: "My Lady Zhao, please don't misunderstand me. I didn't stop you from eating. I just wanted to wait for my father to serve the meal as a sign of respect. After all..."

Fei Wan interrupted, "I truly feel your respect, young master, so there's no need to say more. While I'm waiting for Master Yu, I have some free time, so I just happened to need your help with something."

Who wants to listen to your nonsense and talk nonsense with you? It’s more important to do things for me!

Yu Wangbei was alert: "I wonder what orders does Miss Zhao have?"

Fei Wan pointed at the maid Lan'er beside her.

Let the Yu family take out Lan'er's slave contract, cancel it at the government office, and release her as a civilian.

"Thanks to this young lady's righteous words, this master was able to wash away the sins of slandering the imperial concubines and deceiving the world. The Yu family was also able to get rid of the cancer of their adopted daughter and preserve the family's reputation. Doesn't such a loyal servant deserve the Yu family's grace and be freed from her slavery?"

Yu Wangbei stared at Lan'er and planned to deal with this evil slave who had betrayed him later.

"My Lady Zhao, you may not know this, but my father has already decided to reward this maid generously, and my mother has personally promised to find her a good marriage. She will enjoy the honor of being a noble servant in the Yu Mansion, and will have no worries about food and clothing, and will not have to leave her official position."

Fei Wan only asked Lan Er: "Do you want to renounce your citizenship and leave, or stay and listen to their arrangements?"

Lan Er stepped forward, bowed, and said loudly, "To have children with a servant, and to be slaves for generations, is that a good marriage? 'Noble servant,' no matter how noble, is still a servant, and no matter how noble, he must kneel. I am willing to leave my slavery and become a good citizen. I am afraid I dare not accept the wealth and honor that the Yu Mansion offers."

Yu Wangbei was furious and secretly cursed the maid for being ungrateful.

This maidservant is usually very well-behaved and sweet-spoken, but who would have thought that she is actually a lurking poisonous snake!

"Forgive me for speaking frankly. Lady Zhao asked her to be deported. She is alone and has no relatives, and she has no skills. How will she make a living outside the Yu Mansion? Lady Zhao, please think twice before trying to help someone and end up hurting them."

Lan'er didn't even need Fei Wan to say anything, she refuted him directly.

I shouted loudly in front of everyone, "Whether I can make a living outside is not something you need to worry about. Even if I freeze to death or starve to death outside, it is better than being retaliated against and dying in obscurity here. If you don't let me go today, I will die headfirst here, rather than serve as a slave to such a corrupt and evil family!"

Yu Wangbei's face turned pale: "You cunning slave, you slander the master, how shameless!"

Lan Er asked, "Is it slanderous that I revealed that Yu Gengyi pushed Zhao Ronghua down the mountain? Didn't the eldest son personally verify the truth of the matter? Didn't the master personally remove Yu Gengyi's name from the family tree?"

"Then tell me, who in the Yu family would avenge you and make you die in such an unclear way? The Yu family is a clean and kind family, so how could they be so corrupt and evil?"

"I'm not the only one who knows about Mei'er being sold to a brothel and suffering a tragic death. Besides, justice is in the hearts of the people. Just listen to what outsiders say about your family. I don't even know of any honest and kind family that would sell their slave to a brothel."

"You wicked slave..."

When the two were arguing, Fei Wan smiled as if it had nothing to do with her, and said to a senior elder of the Yu family sitting there:

"I've returned home to visit my parents today, and I've really broadened my horizons. I never knew the gentle and refined Master Yu was quite adept at quarreling. When I return to the palace to see His Majesty and the other concubines, I'll tell them about it. It'll be quite interesting."

The elder of the clan came to participate in the ceremony of recognizing his ancestors, thinking it was a great honor, but today he found out many dark secrets of Minister Yu's mansion.

If it weren't for the fact that his visit to his parents was not over yet and that Yu Zhong had contributed to the great victory that came not long ago, he would have wanted to just leave.

At this moment, Fei Wan was in a hurry to say to Yu Wangbei, "Since this girl wants to be freed from slavery, and Zhao Ronghua is the one who decided it, why bother to stop her? Just go find her slave status and have it cancelled by the government. Is it worth fussing over such a trivial matter?"

He really didn't understand why Yu Wangbei targeted Fei Wan.

Since you have removed the adopted daughter from the list, just get along well with your biological daughter. What else are you doing?

Yu Wangbei swallowed his anger and bowed: "Uncle, you don't know, this maid Lan'er..."

Fei Wan interrupted again and said with a smile, "By the way, have you dealt with the groom who pushed me down the mountain earlier?"

Yu Wangbei was speechless.

The elder's face turned grim. "I think you were too busy today and didn't pay attention? If you send him away quickly, you'll really alert the authorities to investigate. If there's a big commotion, it will bring shame to our entire clan."

"Great Uncle..."

"I am a little late, my lord, please forgive me!"

Yu Zhong arrived at the main hall in time and rescued his eldest son.

"Third Uncle, please take a seat! Wangbei, quickly go and tell the outsiders to serve the meal, so that the young master won't go hungry.

My Lady Zhao, please forgive me for being late on official business! It is truly the news of the great victory in the Northwest that has shaken the entire capital. As the Minister of War and the Head of the Northwest Military Supply Department, I have been so busy that I have been late in serving you, my Lady.

I will drink a cup of tea instead of wine as a punishment. I hope you will not be offended!"

Yu Zhong made all the arrangements in high spirits, picked up the teacup and drank it all, then bowed to Fei Wan with a flushed face.

He drank a cup of light tea as if he were drinking wine from a jar.

It can be seen how proud he was of the great victory in Lemon City.

It was as if all the frustration that Fei Wan had suppressed for most of the day had disappeared.

"Don't be polite, Lord Yu. Business is more important."

Fei Wan calmly accepted Yu Zhong's insincere apology, and smiled as she raised the tea in front of her: "I haven't congratulated Lord Yu on his reward yet, so I'll offer my congratulations with tea instead of wine!"

Yu Zhong smiled and declined modestly: "I dare not, congratulations!"

Finished the second cup of tea.

He felt that Fei Wan was overwhelmed by his aura and had to bow her head after realizing the situation.

But Fei Wan's hand twisted and the whole cup of tea spilled onto the ground.

"This cup is to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to achieve the great victory of Ningcheng."

He poured a second cup and spilled it on the ground: "This cup is for the 200,000 heroic souls of Daliang who defended Ningcheng to the death and won glory despite the defeat!"

The third cup, Fei Wan raises the head to the sky to pay tribute.

"This cup is a toast to the blessings of successive emperors since our Great Liang Emperor, and to the wisdom and might of the current emperor! It is only through the grace of heaven that we have achieved the great victory of reclaiming Ning City! Long live His Majesty!"

She put down her wine glass, walked directly to the steps in front of the hall, and knelt down and kowtowed in the direction of the imperial palace.

Yu Zhong: “…”

You have to kneel and worship with them.

I secretly cursed Fei Wan for being so cunning!

Three cups of tea brought out the loyal souls of heroes and emperors of all dynasties, easily overshadowing his military achievements that he intended to show off.

Indeed, compared to those, no matter how great his contribution to the logistics and military supplies was, he couldn't compare...

Fei Wan even praised the current emperor before him.

With so many palace attendants watching, the emperor will definitely hear about this...

This time, he lost!

"Master Yu, thank you for your hospitality. Shall we take our place?"

Seeing Fei Wan walking back to the main seat with a smile on her face, the frustration that Yu Zhong had just let out came back to him.

"The Holy Lord's oral order—"

Before he could launch the second round of offensive to make Fei Wan "know her mind", the eunuch's announcement suddenly came from outside.

Everyone hurriedly left their seats and knelt in the courtyard to welcome the imperial edict.

Yu Zhong was overjoyed and thought to himself, I wonder what reward the emperor will give me this time?

The great victory in Ningcheng, the recovery of lost territory, is cause for national celebration. It's only natural that His Majesty is handing out rewards one after another!

The eunuch in front of the emperor flicked his whisk and announced loudly:

"Your Majesty has decreed that Minister Yu has rendered meritorious service to the state. Since Zhao Ronghua is the daughter of the Yu family, she should celebrate with her father and share in the emperor's grace. Zhao Ronghua is specially granted a pair of colorful phoenix jade pendants, two pieces of palace brocade, ten taels of gold, and a meal from the emperor. She is promoted to the rank of Third Rank Noble Consort and will serve as assistant consort to the harem alongside Consort Xian!"

"Empress Zhao Guipin, why are you still standing there? Please express your gratitude."

Seeing Fei Wan's surprised expression as if she was dumbfounded, the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict smiled and reminded her.