In the years of famine, I led a comfortable life with my husband

Xie Chengjin stared at the porcelain bottle for a long time, then reached out and took it. He then kowtowed towards the inner hall, stood up and left the Yangxin Palace.

On the way to the palace gate, Xie Chengjin felt his mind was in a mess. In fact, the emperor summoned him into the palace tonight and gave him only two choices. If he wanted to keep his current career, he had to execute Su Zhizhi. Although this was very cruel to Xie Chengjin, to some extent, it was also a good thing for Xie Chengjin's future. If it were before, Xie Chengjin would definitely choose this method.

However, as he continued to spend time with Su Zhizhi, Xie Chengjin felt that Su Zhizhi had changed a lot and was no longer the same as before. Xie Chengjin even began to fall in love with the current Su Zhizhi. In this case, Xie Chengjin certainly did not want Su Zhizhi to die in front of him.

It's not that Xie Chengjin has not thought about rebelling, but at the moment he is not yet fully grown. Even if he really attacks the emperor, there is a great possibility that he will be killed by the Yulin Guards around the emperor. This approach is not feasible.

In this way, there is only one obvious way for Xie Chengjin, which is to be willing to give up everything he has now, bear the infamy together with Su Zhizhi, be driven out of the capital, and never be allowed to enter the capital again.

Thinking of this, Xie Chengjin's eyes flickered. He had already climbed this far, how could he give up? The purpose of his coming to the capital this time had not been achieved yet, how could he give up halfway?

Xie Chengjin thought about it for a long time but still couldn't find a way to break the deadlock. But at this moment, Xie Chengjin sensed a hint of unusual aura. He pretended to turn around casually and found that the grass behind him was moving slightly without any wind.

Xie Chengjin immediately held his breath and became increasingly dissatisfied with the emperor. The person who was following Xie Chengjin was very clear that he was the emperor's confidant. Xie Chengjin did not expect that even so, the emperor was still wary of him. In order to prevent him from colluding with Su Zhizhi, he even secretly hired someone to keep an eye on him.

Xie Chengjin didn't dare to think about it. If he really didn't notice it and told Su Zhizhi all this, he was afraid that both he and Su Zhizhi would be killed on the spot.

The emperor's move had pushed Xie Chengjin into a desperate situation.

An idea flashed through Xie Chengjin's mind, and then he pretended that he hadn't noticed anything, and walked towards the mansion with worry and determination.

When they returned home, it was already very late. Su Zhizhi was still weak, so she went to bed early without waiting for Xie Chengjin to return home.

Xie Chengjin came to the bedroom and looked at Su Zhizhi's sleeping face. Her eyes were slightly closed, making it impossible to see her thoughts. He sat by the bed for a whole hour until dawn broke outside. Xie Chengjin suddenly came back to his senses, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Su Zhizhi became more and more complicated.

After this incident, Xie Chengjin no longer had the heart to go to court, and simply stayed at home to accompany Su Zhizhi.

When Su Zhizhi woke up, she saw Xie Chengjin sitting beside her. She felt a little strange and asked, "Don't you need to attend the morning court today?"

Hearing Su Zhizhi's voice, Xie Chengjin suddenly came back to his senses. He pretended nothing had happened and smiled at Su Zhizhi, "I asked for leave from His Majesty today and will stay home with you."

Su Zhizhi felt that Xie Chengjin's behavior was a little strange, but when she met Xie Chengjin's meaningful gaze, Su Zhizhi somehow didn't say anything.

Su Zhizhi continued to do her own things as usual, washing, eating, taking medicine... until a sharp and rapid bird call came from outside the window, and Xie Chengjin's expression suddenly became serious.

Su Zhizhi also put down what she was holding and looked at Xie Chengjin expressionlessly.

"What happened?" Su Zhizhi sat opposite Xie Chengjin, staring at him intently.

Xie Chengjin sighed and said, "The emperor now knows that you are Su Mingcheng's daughter."

This sentence made Su Zhizhi freeze in place. Her face, which had finally regained its rosy complexion, gradually turned pale.

"What did you say? How did he know? Could it be Xu Wanqing?..." Su Zhizhi couldn't figure it out. The only one who knew her identity should be Xu Wanqing, but Xu Wanqing had already fled the capital before she spread the news. Besides, if it was really Xu Wanqing's work, Su Zhizhi would not have been unaware of it.

Speaking of this, Xie Chengjin's expression turned even uglier. "To be precise, the emperor found out about this news himself, but it was Su Peizhi who reminded him of Su Mingcheng."

"Peizhi?! Impossible. Peizhi is so obedient, how could that be possible?" Su Zhizhi denied it without even thinking.

Xie Chengjin quickly comforted him, "Don't worry, listen to me. Peizhi won't tell anyone, but what if someone deliberately tries to trick him? After all, Peizhi is just a child."

Su Zhizhi calmed down and she figured it out. Yes, Su Peizhi was just a child. No matter how tight-lipped he was, he couldn't withstand repeated questioning.

"Is Peizhi involved at this time?" Su Zhizhi thought of something and asked hurriedly.

"No, Peizhi's official identity is just the housekeeper's child, so Your Majesty has not yet placed suspicion on Peizhi." Xie Chengjin comforted.

"That's good. So, when the emperor summoned you to the palace yesterday, did he have anything else to say?" Su Zhizhi finally freed up her thoughts.

Xie Chengjin nodded and told Su Zhizhi everything the emperor had said yesterday, and placed the porcelain bottle in front of Su Zhizhi.

"So, I have to die?" Su Zhizhi looked at Xie Chengjin in disbelief, as if blaming him for his betrayal. "Xie Chengjin, you don't really want me to die, do you?"

Xie Chengjin glared at Su Zhizhi with a look of frustration. "Can you think of something better? I spent the whole night thinking about it, and there's a way to break this situation. As long as you fake your death and get away, I can deceive the emperor, and this should be possible."

Su Zhizhi fell silent. It was not that she had not thought about it, but it was not an easy thing to do. Xie Chengjin had just said that the emperor had also sent secret guards to follow her, which made it quite difficult for her to fake her death.

Suddenly, Su Zhizhi seemed to have thought of something and looked at Xie Chengjin excitedly, "I have an idea. Wait for me."

After saying that, Su Zhizhi hid aside and began to rummage through the capsule. Not long after, Su Zhizhi sat opposite Xie Chengjin holding a small box.

"What is this?" Xie Chengjin was a little curious.

"This thing is called Turtle Breath Pills, a drug that makes me fake my death. As long as I take it, I can look as if I'm dead. Then you can send me out of the city under the pretext of a funeral, and then I can disguise myself and sneak back in. How about that?"