The cannon fodder heiress trembled with fear after being recognized as a member of her family.

After the court officials left, those who were uneasy gradually gathered together.

"Lord Lin, is your Lin family aware of what your niece has done?"

Lin Xu was walking ahead with a gloomy expression when someone suddenly caught up with him. Before he could change his expression, he was caught red-handed.

That man was a member of a collateral branch of the Chen Prince's Mansion. Lin Jiabao had done something foolish that implicated the Chen Prince's Mansion, and he couldn't hold back any longer, so he took the initiative to confront Lin Xu.

Lin Xu replied irritably, "What does it matter if I know or not? The matter has already happened. Now let's think about how to resolve it."

The man gave an embarrassed smile, dared not say anything more, and slunk away.

The Chen Prince's Mansion is a non-royal prince's mansion, and its power is not what it used to be. Now it is only slightly stronger than the Lin family.

After that person was driven away, Lin Xu's face became even more gloomy than before.

Lin Xu is Lin Jiabao's second uncle and currently serves as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Han Zhen was previously the Minister of Personnel, but the position became vacant after he joined the cabinet.

He had been trying to curry favor with Han Zhen for some time, and finally got Han Zhen's recommendation, but now he's stuck with Emperor Chu Yuan.

Emperor Chu Yuan did not appoint him directly, but only made him concurrently serve as Minister of Personnel.

Lin Xu has already received news that he will be promoted to Minister of Personnel after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and Emperor Chu Yuan's test of him will come to an end.

This incident happened halfway through his career, and the position of Minister of Personnel that he was about to obtain slipped away.

Lin Xu returned to the yamen, feeling even more displeased.

His colleagues in the Ministry of Personnel would gather together to discuss official business, but they would also carefully avoid him, for fear of being implicated.

Besides his own unsettled state of mind, things weren't peaceful at Prince Chen's residence either.

When news of Lin Jiabao and Prince Chen's impeachment reached the Prince's residence, the old prince immediately sent someone to the Lin residence to tell Princess Jialuo to return to her parents' home as soon as possible.

"Father, this matter doesn't seem like something the Lin family did on their own; it seems more like Lin Jiabao created this trouble herself. What should we do now?" Prince Chen was a sinecurer, so he had more free time. After court, he returned to his palace.

The old prince sat at the head of the table without saying a word, his face ashen. "You still have the nerve to blame your niece? Didn't I tell you before that our royal family shouldn't easily take sides? Why did you choose the eldest prince? Jiabao's reckless actions this time are also related to you!"

King Chen was indignant, "How can you blame me for the stupid thing she did?"

“If you hadn’t wanted her to go through a political marriage, she wouldn’t have been so desperate as to cling to the First Prince as her lifeline. Now that her reputation is ruined, she doesn’t have to go through the political marriage, but she also has no chance of marrying into a good family. Now she can only pray that the First Prince will marry her, otherwise her life is over. You must immediately sever ties with the First Prince, and our Prince Chen’s Mansion will not gamble on him in advance.”

Princess Jialuo was unaware of what had happened in the court; she only saw her husband hurriedly leave the mansion and disappear without a trace.

While she was still wondering, she received a message from her family asking her to return to the Prince's Palace.

Puzzled all the way, she had just entered the study when a book flew towards her, nearly hitting her.

"Father, what happened? Why did you hit me so hard?" Princess Jialuo felt wronged after being hit by her father as soon as she returned home.

"What a good daughter you have!"

"What's wrong with Jiabao? What happened?" Princess Jialuo was at a loss. What trouble could her daughter have caused on the estate?

Prince Chen recounted the events, then said, "Jiabao is far too stubborn. I merely made a suggestion, yet she insists on dragging the Prince Chen's mansion into utter ruin."

Princess Jialuo's face darkened after learning the whole story. "Brother, you know perfectly well that Princess Mingxia and I don't get along, and that Jiabao often clashes with those two Han girls. Why did you do this? Are you going to compete with the Han family for a princess who is to be married off?"

Lin Jiabao's foolishness was, in her opinion, understandable.

"What do we do now? The Emperor is bound to suspect—"

"What can we do? Just be open and honest with the princes. What fault can they find? As long as the eldest prince doesn't have any dirt on you, who can say anything? Besides, there's my husband... and my husband's elder brother."

That was close! I almost blurted it out. My husband's identity is still a secret.

Princess Jialuo almost let something slip, so she quickly changed the subject.

"Several daughters of the Han family have won the favor of the royal family, and my Jiabao is no less so. But we'll talk about the specifics when Jiabao comes back."

Princess Jialuo still hasn't forgotten Mingxia's two legitimate daughters and the dark-faced girl who just returned.

The dispute at Prince Chen's residence thus came to an end.

After Zidane was summoned away by Emperor Chu Yuan, what happened there caused him to switch between surprise and joy repeatedly.

"Your Majesty, are you saying that you want me to become the Minister of Personnel, and that my daughter should break off her engagement with the First Prince and marry the Fourth Prince?"

Zidane tugged at his ears twice, thinking he had misheard.

"What, my dear minister, are you still not satisfied?" Emperor Chu Yuan's voice was deep. "How about... forget it, just go back to your residence and wait for the imperial decree. You don't need to be on duty today."

After Zidane came out of the royal study, he felt lightheaded and his legs were a little unsteady.

The Emperor not only did not pursue the matter of Jiao Jiao breaking off the engagement, but also arranged a new marriage for the Fourth Prince, who was the legitimate son of the Empress and had a higher status than the First Prince.

After everyone left, Emperor Chuyuan clapped his hands, and a masked man in black suddenly appeared.

"Since the fourth prince is destined to marry the Qi family girl, let him marry her as his principal wife. Have someone inform him to return to the capital as soon as possible."

"Yes!" The masked man in black accepted the order and disappeared from the imperial study.

Emperor Chu Yuan held two pieces of paper, his brows slightly furrowed.

Aside from the fourth son, I didn't expect that the other sons each had their own agendas.

The second son, in particular, actually took a fancy to Han Aiqing's second daughter.

This second daughter has already been put forward by Minister Han for a political marriage. She is quite skilled and is a suitable candidate.

If the people sent out earlier fail to retrieve the item from Yun Kingdom, they will have no choice but to marry a girl with exceptional skills to her.

Emperor Chu Yuan was somewhat flustered, so he went to Consort Rui's place in the inner palace.

Consort Rui is less than a month away from giving birth, and she takes a walk in the courtyard every day.

"Your Majesty, why have you come now?" Consort Rui was in her thirties and was pregnant with her second child; her first was a princess.

The imperial physician diagnosed this pregnancy as that of a prince.

When Consort Rui learned of this, she took it very seriously and was extremely careful in everything she did, fearing that the little prince might develop health problems in the womb.

"Come and see you two." Emperor Chuyuan was not in a good mood and just watched Consort Rui stroll in the courtyard.

After completing today's quota, Consort Rui came to Emperor Chu Yuan's side and gently stroked his brow. "Why is Your Majesty worried? Can A-Rui share your burdens?"

"The only worry is choosing a bride for the political marriage," Emperor Chu Yuan sighed. "Ever since Sheng Mian disappeared, many young ladies have made quite a few foolish mistakes trying to avoid being sent on such a marriage..."

In Emperor Chuyuan's memory, Consort Rui never participated in these disputes, lived aloof from the world, and was extremely comfortable to be around.

After listening to Emperor Chu Yuan's troubles, Consort Rui's eyes flickered slightly, and she said:

"I do have an idea. The young lady who was recently recognized by the Han family is a good candidate."

Han Cuiyin had no idea that disaster would strike from the sky. She was currently in Xiajing'ao talking to Yan Shunhua.

Yan Shunhua was somewhat reluctant to part with her. "Cuiyin, if you go into seclusion, how long will it take? Like Feilan, will it take a year and a half?"

"This time it will take about a month." Han Cuiyin made a special trip to visit her mother before going into seclusion, just in case her mother returned to the other courtyard and found it empty.

"I should attend fewer banquets in the future to avoid getting scammed."

"Mother, have you heard about the matter at the Imperial Estate? It's the girl from the Qi family next door to the Han family that's involved. I wonder how she's doing. She's insisting on breaking off the engagement. If she can't, she won't have a good life in the future."

The mother and daughter casually started talking about Qi Yuejiao.

Qi Yuejiao stared at the gifts in the courtyard, speechless. "Are you saying that the Emperor not only agreed to dissolve the engagement, but also that the things in these boxes were a gift to me?"