Help! The cunning and treacherous minister and I were reborn together!

"Xue Yao?"

Madam Wei paced back and forth, saying, "What do I need her for! She's just a maid, what good can she do?"

Yuan Zhi took a small sip of tea. "Don't yell at me! My ability is only enough to save Wei Xueyao. If you don't want her, I'll have Xiao Zong send her back to prison."

She exposed her identity in front of everyone and was tricked by Xiao Zong. She was furious but had nowhere to vent her anger, so her stepmother started complaining first!

"Wait a minute, let me think about it some more."

After Wei left, Xu Muxin came out of the private room, holding a round fan, which she waved in the cold weather, making people feel cold just looking at her.

"She will agree."

Yuan Zhi pondered for a moment and said, "With the selection of concubines imminent, if she sends Wei Xueyao into the palace, she may have a chance to defy fate."

“That’s only part of the reason.” Xu Muxin covered half her face with a fan. “I received a secret report that your father found a virgin in a brothel and kept her at the estate, where a matron teaches her every day.”

Yuan Zhi's hand trembled, and she almost dropped the cup.

"He wants to send prostitutes to participate in the imperial concubine selection?"

"Hey, you can't say that. This is your own sister."

Yuan Zhi exclaimed in disbelief. In her past life, she had only believed that the emperor's decree was unavoidable, and that her father had no choice but to let her enter the palace in place of Yuan Ying. Now, it seemed that he was a hypocrite, a sanctimonious scoundrel who would stop at nothing to advance his own career!

"Once my sixth sister gains favor, Father will have no chance to rescue Yuan Ying. My stepmother will have no choice but to pin her hopes on Wei Xueyao. This time, we're not the ones in a hurry. We'll just wait and see what happens!"

Xu Muxin moved the fan aside. "Actually, there is another possibility."

Yuan Zhi shook her head, "As long as Wei Xueyao is still alive, there is still hope for the Wei family. Reporting her father will do her no good; she's not that stupid!"

"It has to be family, someone you know well." Xu Muxin smiled. "Let's not talk about her anymore. Do you like the gift I gave you?"

"What gift?" Yuan Zhi looked at her innocently.

Xu Muxin slapped her on the head with a fan, "You only have eyes for Xiao Yanwang, can't you see anyone else?"

Lord Feng was worried that Prince Wu would make things difficult for you, so he sent someone to invite officials from the prefectural government to uphold justice for you. Before leaving, he even submitted a memorial impeaching Prince Wu to His Majesty, who summoned him to the palace late at night and gave him a thorough scolding. Didn't you hear any of this?"

Yuan Zhiyu took the fan from her with her delicate hands, fanned herself a couple of times, and tried to calm her down.

“I am a married woman, and the county princess keeps instigating me to have affairs. If my commander finds out, he won’t dare to touch you, but he’ll teach me a lesson I won’t forget! I see that the county princess’s harem is empty, so why not take him in as a son-in-law? Then we’ll have someone in the court!”

Are you teasing me?

Yuan Zhi presented a round fan, saying, "From the bottom of my heart."

*

That evening, Xiao Zong asked Yuan Zhi whether Wei had returned her mother's belongings.

Yuan Zhi, with her back to him, said, "How dare you ask? Is Wei Xueyao comparable to Marquis Yingchuan? How could my stepmother possibly give me her things?"

"Since Wei Xueyao is useless, why not return her to me?"

Yuan Zhi rolled over. "You seem to care about her a lot, so you don't mean you've fallen for her, do you?"

Xiao Zong slapped her through the blanket, "If you keep talking nonsense, I won't be polite!"

"Then why..." She paused, her breath catching in her throat, "...did you also want to send Wei Xueyao to the palace?"

"The word 'also' is used well; you and I, husband and wife, are of the same mind."

"Stop trying to glorify yourself; this was a joint plan between the county magistrate and me!"

If the county princess wants to replace the princess, she not only needs to develop her influence in the court, but also needs someone in the harem who can influence her husband.

Yuan Zhi initially only wanted to use Wei Xueyao to obtain the secret. When she heard that her father wanted to send prostitutes into the palace, she had an epiphany: since the palace was bound to have another favored concubine, why couldn't they be the ones to create one?

She pulled the blanket over her head, then pulled it back up after a moment. "No, didn't you already plan to send Wei Xueyao to the palace, and deliberately kept the Marquis of Yingchuan and his son from leaving just to control her?"

Xiao Zong lay down beside her, his eyes filled with sadness.

“My child, I am not omnipotent. The position of commander may seem prestigious, but the true power behind the Leopard Guard is His Majesty. He imprisoned the Wei family to make an example of them and deter corrupt officials from forming cliques.”

Wei Xueyao is a woman confined to the inner quarters, uninvolved in court politics; releasing her is fine. But the Marquis of Yingchuan and his son cannot be released. Do you understand the reasoning behind this?

A pang of guilt rose in Yuan Zhi's heart. Why did she suddenly start acting pitiful?

"If you had explained it to me earlier, would I have misunderstood you?"

He placed a kiss on her forehead, saying, "I do not seek to repay kindness with favors."

"Then what do you want?"

"You know."

*

The following afternoon, Madam Wei rushed into Wei Yan Tower, asking, "Is your manager here?"

The waiter had seen her before and, fearing she might offend the guests, took her to a private room upstairs for a short while.

When Yuan Zhi arrived, Madam Wei had drunk so much tea that it had lost its color. She sat down opposite her stepmother and stared at her with a leisurely air.

"Have you figured it out?"

Where is Wei Xueyao?

Yuan Zhi leaned back and said, "Tell me my mother's secret first."

Wei took a sip of tea guiltily; she had no idea about Aunt Su's secret.

After the Wei family's incident, she suddenly remembered the news that the servants had reported before, saying that on the day Yuanzhi returned to her parents' home, there were some buckwheat husks that had inexplicably appeared by Aunt Su's bedside.

The servants examined the pillow and found that the thread had indeed been newly sewn on, leading them to suspect that Aunt Su had hidden silver inside.

She dismissed it, thinking that if it were truly silver, Aunt Su should have told Yuanzhi before she died, instead of leaving it until now to be opened. Yuanzhi's various actions indicated that she hadn't known there was something hidden inside before.

She used this to fabricate a lie and fooled Yuan Zhi. Now, facing Yuan Zhi's interrogation, she broke out in a cold sweat and didn't know how to answer.

Madam Wei held her teacup. What exactly was Aunt Su hiding that she couldn't even tell her daughter?

She glanced at Yuan Zhi, whose face was even more beautiful than Aunt Su's, making her feel dazed for a moment.

Yes, these two people are like golden phoenixes flying out of a grass nest in the Yuan family. What virtue or ability does Yuan Pu have to have such beautiful concubines and children?

"You are not Yuan Pu's biological daughter!"

Seeing that she had paused for so long, Yuan Zhi thought she was lying to him and was about to ridicule her, but she didn't expect her to say something so surprising.

"This joke is not funny at all."

"You think I'm lying to you? Look in the mirror and see how much you resemble Yuan Pu?"

Yuan Zhi knew her face all too well and didn't need to look in a mirror.

Of all the sisters, only the second sister resembled their father. I've never heard of any of the others not being born to their father, so the stepmother's claims are unfounded.

"The dragon has nine sons, each different from the other. If you want me to believe you, show me the evidence!"

Wei was only speculating; where was the evidence? Seeing how calm she was, he could only slump down and await the final judgment.

"No evidence? Then I can only assume you're harassing Hu Qin and Wei Xueyao. I can't give it to you!"

She thought she was wary enough, but she was still deceived by her stepmother. People really can't have a weakness, or they'll be doomed!