Remarrying Chun Yuan

A wisp of smoke rose from the incense burner in Cixi Palace.

But as soon as Emperor Qi Xiao finished speaking, the smoke and dust suddenly stopped for a moment, and for some unknown reason, it simply vanished.

But the palace maids and nannies were outside, so no one would come in to stir up trouble.

The Empress Dowager sat on the bed coughing incessantly. "It's just that Your Majesty wants to deal with the maternal relatives, don't bring me into this."

"Rectify? Ha! If we don't rectify this, I won't even know who will be on the throne anymore. Although the Empress Dowager abdicated ten years ago, they haven't. Now, I need their approval to do anything I want, and they even interfere with the imperial examinations. Don't I have the right to do anything about this?!"

Emperor Qi Xiao's voice rose as he spoke the last two sentences.

A hint of regret flickered in the Empress Dowager's cloudy eyes. It was unclear whether she regretted elevating her maternal relatives or relinquishing power to Emperor Qi Xiao.

"You are now the emperor of the Great Qi. I can't control what you want to do, but you can't acknowledge that beast, absolutely not!" The Empress Dowager coughed up blood again as she said the last few words.

But Emperor Qi Xiao remained unmoved, only looking at the wisp of smoke slowly rising and saying, "Do you think you can still interfere?"

"This is not the time to be stubborn. You need to understand that if his birth mother's identity is exposed, your throne will be in jeopardy!"

"Why should I reveal who his birth mother is? What's wrong with just saying he was born to a female slave?" Emperor Qi Xiao sighed again and again. "I also can't understand why you've been so fixated on this matter all these years. He is my son, a member of the royal bloodline of Great Qi. Does it really matter who that woman is?"

"Who do you think you can fool with your identity as a female slave? Once her identity is exposed, she will be the center of attention. Not even a hundred female slaves could cover up your lie, let alone one!"

"You'd rather exchange my uncle's life for this than compromise?"

Emperor Qi Xiao presented her with an extremely difficult choice, and the Empress Dowager visibly trembled on the bed. She spoke slowly, her eyes closed as she spoke, "He is, after all, your uncle..."

The dust finally gave way to the pillar and collapsed inside the incense burner.

Emperor Qi Xiao walked to the door and summoned the palace maids to come in, and then ordered the imperial physician to continue feeding the medicine.

Tomorrow is the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, and everyone is on edge, determined to get through tomorrow...

While the Empress Dowager was busy inside the palace, people outside were still discussing Zhang Zhitong's dismissal from office.

Ordinary people thought it was his slip-up that finally exposed his ugly side, but officials knew that this was a storm that the court was about to unleash, targeting the Empress Dowager's maternal clan.

But tomorrow is the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet. Even if Emperor Qi Xiao is unfilial, he will not take down his maternal relatives at this time. He will definitely wait until after the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet.

But the court officials disagreed.

Impeachment memorials poured in like snowflakes. Supporters of both Qin Mushuo and Qin Muyan swarmed in, eager to seize the power that the Empress Dowager had once held.

But Liu Yuechu didn't care about any of that; she only cared whether Lin Mengyu's marriage had fallen through.

Only after Lin Mengjun was brought in and specifically told about this did she breathe a sigh of relief and feel at ease.

"Fortunately, Madam Lin isn't completely senile; she still wants to marry her daughter off to him."

"My aunt's family is truly finished this time." Although Lin Mengjun felt it was a case of karmic retribution, she also felt regret.

"It's her own fault, otherwise Yu-jie would have been tormented to death if she married into such a family. As her brother, you should support your sister, otherwise you're just a good-for-nothing!" Liu Yuechu cursed without restraint.

Liu Musheng was sipping tea when he heard this and was taken aback.

Although Liu Yuechu didn't directly scold him, why did his face still feel like it was being slapped by the air?

"So tomorrow is the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, and our family still hasn't received an invitation?"

Liu Musheng, who currently holds a sinecure of the sixth rank, takes this matter very seriously. "Don't you know people in the palace? Why don't you go and ask the Imperial Household Department?"

"Why ask? If you ask and are told you're not qualified to participate, won't you feel ashamed?" Liu Yuechu glared at him, telling him to stay home and relax. "Besides, there are undercurrents in the court. Going there now might just be suicide. It's more comfortable to stay home."

“Moon Lady is right, let’s celebrate the Empress Dowager at home.” Yuan Cuo was very happy to receive the money for the door. “Tomorrow we will also set up two tables at home and celebrate with the palace.”

Liu Musheng still wanted to go, but he had to settle for second best.

While the group was chatting, Song Liu'er suddenly sent a servant running over, "Masters, something's happened! Our fur shop is being blocked! They say someone was killed while being transported, and that person's relatives are holding a funeral procession in front of the door, demanding an explanation!"

"Manager Yao wanted to step forward and negotiate compensation, but the other party beat him up without saying a word. Manager Song was holding on, but he sensed something was wrong, so I rushed here to inform my master!"

Liu Yuechu asked in surprise, "The goods are arriving at this time?"

“It wasn’t transported to the city, it was sent to a warehouse in the suburbs of Beijing.” Yuan Cuo also felt something was amiss. “A laborer was indeed injured before, but it was only a minor injury. Chen Cheng mentioned to me that the laborer should stay at home to recover, so he definitely didn’t die.”

“That means someone deliberately tried to embarrass us before the Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet…” Liu Yuechu said with great certainty. “Let’s pack up and go take a look.”

“I’ll go. These are things the men should handle,” Yuan Cuo said, glancing at Liu Musheng.

Liu Musheng wanted to pretend he was deaf, but Yuan Cuo's stare forced him to stand up. "I can't just deliberately cause trouble. I have to go and see too!"

"Alright, you stay home." Liu Yuechu was worried about him going out; even if there was nothing wrong, it would turn into something.

“I have to go too. I can’t always let you take the blame for the disaster.” Without saying another word, Liu Yuechu immediately went back into the house to change her clothes.

Lin Mengjun never expected to encounter such a thing, and hesitated, unsure whether she should stay.

"Brother Lin, go back first. Don't worry about things here. It's alright." Yuan Cuo wasn't in the mood to entertain him.

If Pei Chun and his fellow playboys were here, they might have been of some use, but Lin Mengjun's gentlemanly demeanor was a hindrance at this time.

Lin Mengjun was also very understanding. "Alright, then I'll go home and wait for Brother Yuan's news. You don't need to worry about Mengyu."

After exchanging a few polite words, Lin Mengjun left immediately.

After changing her clothes, Liu Yuechu hurriedly left with Yuan Cuo.

At this moment, in the teahouse opposite the fur shop, Bai Shuncai sat in a wheelchair, his face full of sinister intent.

He was nearly killed because of Liu Yuechu last time, and was forced to hand over all his affairs to his son.

He swallowed his anger and became a useless old man at home.

He couldn't sleep day and night, and even in his dreams he wanted to kill Liu Yuechu and Yuan Cuo, that despicable couple!