The abandoned concubine who transmigrated woke up shouting "Long live the widow!"

Ye Muchen sneered, "Imperial Censor Li is truly a loyal minister of the country! I have heard that all those who commit suicide are those whom the King of Hell has not accepted. Since they have not accepted them, the underworld will not take them. And those who commit suicide cannot return to the mortal world, so they have no choice but to repeat the process of suicide every seven days. Imperial Censor Li, have you thought this through?"

Most of the ministers believed Ye Muchen's words and looked at Li Wenqing in unison.

At this moment, Li Wenqing was in a dilemma. "I am doing this for Beiye. If something is against etiquette, someone should impeach it. It is my duty."

Ye Muchen stretched out his arm. "Alright, Imperial Censor Li, please! No one will stop you."

"Your humble servant, your humble servant..." Li Wenqing was just bluffing; he had no intention of actually banging his head against the pillar. Civil officials had used this method before, and it always worked. Why didn't it work on him today?

The Emperor at the head of the table spoke up, “Alright! All of you are doing this for the good of the court. The Ministry of Revenue has been negotiating for many days without any results, and the Cangbei delegation’s visit is a rare opportunity. I also want to resolve this matter as soon as possible and finalize the border trade agreement so that both sides can benefit from it.”

"Furthermore, the matter of Jing Zhiyuan has been settled. No one is allowed to mention it again. Otherwise, I will severely punish them."

Since the Emperor has said so, who would dare to object?

However, not opposing it on the surface does not mean that they agree in private. After court, when they returned to the Ministry of Revenue, An Wenguang was the first to stand up and speak: "Minister, if we just let that Princess Zhan ride on our heads, how can we be blamed for the lack of progress in negotiations?"

Hu Yucheng sighed, "If it were a man, it would be fine, but for a woman to lead us is a disgrace to our ancestors. Shouldn't I retire and go back to my hometown?"

“My lord, you can’t just give up like this. If you compromise, how will our Ministry of Revenue ever face anyone again?” An Wenguang said anxiously.

"Then what else do you suggest we do? Are we supposed to undermine Princess Zhan in front of the Cangbei delegation?"

"Even without undermining him, no one could negotiate down the prices of those goods set by the Emperor!" An Wenguang said angrily.

Hu Yucheng was actually the most resentful. The Emperor was slapping him in the face! So many people in the Ministry of Revenue had worked so hard for so many days, only to have their achievements stolen from them. Who could feel good about that?

Even Qin Jing, the heir apparent of the Duke of Anguo, who traveled all over the country managing the salt industry in Beiye, was helpless.

Does the arrival of the Princess Consort mean that Cangbei will give in? That would be like throwing money away. The second prince of Cangbei was stunned, but the Grand Preceptor and the seventh prince were not stupid.

He didn't believe it; he really didn't believe Jingxue had that ability.

Hu Yucheng gritted his teeth and said, "Then let's wait and see!"

After court, Ye Muchen hurriedly left with Gao Chi and Li Guangxiang, as he had something to attend to.

In the two days since returning from the hunting grounds, he has figured out the true identity of the masked man.

This man is the son of Ning Hai, the chief eunuch who served Consort Xian. Ning Hai entered the palace as a eunuch after getting married and having a child.

His wife contracted postpartum wind during her confinement period and died before the confinement period was over, leaving him with a crying son.

In the midst of war and chaos, seeing that his child and mother were about to starve to death, he gritted his teeth and castrated himself to enter the palace.

A few years later, he gained the favor of the then-Consort Xian and became the chief eunuch in her palace.

At that time, taking advantage of the Emperor Emeritus's absence while he was away on a military campaign, Consort Xian bullied other concubines in the palace. Ning Hai was her strategist, giving her many bad ideas. Some of her actions were so meticulous that even the Empress couldn't find out the truth.

On one occasion, Consort Xian caught Ye Musi's mother, who was secretly visiting her son in the Imperial Garden, and ordered Ning Hai to slap her for violating palace rules.

Ye Musi was only five or six years old at the time, and she was so scared that she cried loudly. Just then, Ye Muchen happened to see this and went up and kicked Ning Hai.

Ye Muchen was practicing martial arts with Baili Shenyi at the time, and in his youthful impetuosity, he didn't know his own strength. This kick actually caused Ning Hai internal injuries, which were difficult to heal and he died half a year later.

The masked man, Ning Yushu, was only about thirteen or fourteen years old at the time. Ning Hai entrusted the two of them, grandfather and grandson, to Consort Xian. Before dying, he told Ning Hai that it was the Third Prince, Ye Muchen, who had injured him, and asked him to avenge Ning Hai when he grew up.

Consort Xian arranged for Ning Yushu and his grandmother to stay at a manor outside the city. However, not long after, a fire broke out at the manor, which killed his grandmother and disfigured his face.

Ning Yushu blamed all of this on Ye Muchen. If his father were still alive, he and his grandmother would not have come to the manor, he would not have been disfigured by the fire, and his grandmother would not have died.

He was intelligent and studious from a young age, and his teacher said he would definitely be successful in the future, but his face was disfigured and his future was ruined.

After Consort Xian learned of this, she arranged for him to stay in the residence of the Second Prince Ye Musen, who had just left the palace to establish his own residence. Although he was just a servant doing odd jobs, Ye Musen treated him quite well.

Ning Yushu often sought knowledge from the strategists in the mansion, and little by little, his knowledge became quite good. Later, he finally gained Ye Musen's approval and was promoted to be his strategist.

However, Ning Yushu never forgot who his father's killer was.

When Ye Mu Chen learned all this, he didn't regret kicking Ning Hai too hard back then. Ning Hai had really done a lot of bad things and deserved to die.

Ye Muchen did not have any solid evidence against Ning Yushu. If he had, he would have sent Ning Yushu directly to the Jingzhao Prefecture. Even if Prince Duan came looking for him, he would not be afraid of breaking ties with Prince Duan.

But now we can't let this persistent ghost continue to harm people behind our backs. What if it hurts Jingxue and the children one day?

Therefore, he had already sent men to secretly arrest the masked man, Ning Yushu, last night.

Upon arriving at the camp on the outskirts of the capital, the mansion's secret guards stood watch at the entrance of a barracks.

"Your Highness!" the guard bowed.

"Hmm! How is it? Did he confess anything?" Ye Muchen asked.

The guard shook his head. "No! He said he would only tell you after seeing you."

Ye Muchen snorted coldly, and Gao Chi lifted the curtain for him.

Upon entering the barracks, one finds a charcoal fire burning inside, and a person tied to the only wooden frame in the room.

This was a windowless tent. The light from outside was brought in by the lifting of the curtain. The man slowly raised his head. His messy hair, mixed with blood, clung to his face, and the hideous scars made him look even more gruesome.

Upon seeing Ye Muchen, Ning Yushu gritted his teeth, "Ye Muchen, how come you're still alive?"

"Hmph! You'll be disappointed! I'm still alive and well." Ye Muchen grabbed the edges of his cloak with both hands and threw it behind him, standing with his hands behind his back.

"Didn't you say you'd only talk if you saw me? Speak! Who ordered you to poison me?" Although he knew this guy probably wouldn't confess, Ye Muchen couldn't help but ask.