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

At the Qi residence, three joyous occasions have arrived today.

First, the engagement was successfully dissolved; second, the Emperor bestowed a marriage upon them; and third, Qi Da was promoted.

The family enjoyed a harmonious meal together, completely disregarding the rule of not talking while eating.

After thinking for a long time, Madam Qi finally spoke, "Jiaojiao, let me tell you, you should keep this jade pendant away from now on and not let the Fourth Prince see it."

"Mother, why? How can we find our savior if we don't reveal him? When I fainted that day, that young man was dressed very richly; he wasn't an ordinary person." Qi Yuejiao only wanted to thank her benefactor and didn't want to develop any feelings for him.

“Yesterday, in front of the Fourth Prince, the First Prince denied the jade pendant. If it belonged to someone else, and you still want that person, wouldn’t that embarrass the Fourth Prince?” Madam Qi earnestly advised, “Give it to your mother, I will keep it for you.”

Qi Yuejiao had no choice but to comply, muttering to herself, "The Fourth Prince doesn't even look at me, so why would he care about these things? As long as I do my duty in the future, I won't care how many women he marries."

Having experienced the Huangzhuang incident and witnessed life and death, Qi Yuejiao now takes everything lightly and only wants to be a good daughter to her parents from now on.

Qi Yuejiao put down her chopsticks and said solemnly, "Father, Mother, if I marry into the royal family, I will definitely not let my son inherit the Qi family bloodline. Why don't you have another child? I will love either a younger brother or a younger sister."

Zidane didn't seem to mind, but Madam Zidane blushed. "You silly girl, how dare you say such things in front of your parents? You have no shame!"

“Mother, I’m not joking with you! If you adopt a son, he might not be able to raise him properly since there’s no blood relation. Even if our family line ends, we can’t just hand over our huge fortune. If we have a younger brother, all our troubles will be gone. If we have a younger sister, we can find her a husband, and all her children will have the surname Qi. If my sister-in-law is a bad person and only wants to live off the family line, we can just find an excuse to divorce her.”

As soon as Qi Yuejiao finished speaking, she was met with astonished looks from her parents.

"You had this idea before?"

"Ever since I embarrassed the Crown Prince at the Imperial Estate, I've been thinking about your future. If I really have to marry far away, you will have no choice but to do the same, so that your life's work won't be wasted by those with bad intentions."

Qi Yuejiao told the truth.

Madam Qi glanced at Qi Da, signaling him to speak.

"Jiaojiao, since you've even thought about the future, once you marry into the royal family, you'll have to plan three steps ahead for every one you take. The Fourth Prince is of noble birth, naturally giving him an advantage over the other princes. We're all sons of the emperor and grandsons of the phoenix; who would willingly be inferior? The Emperor seems healthy now, but what if…?"

Qi Yuejiao understood what Qi Da meant but didn't finish his sentence.

"I understand. From now on, my daughter will be more careful in her actions."

"Being cautious is not enough! Your father is now also in the spotlight. Starting tomorrow, I will talk to you about court affairs every day, so that you will have a better understanding of how to act in the future."

Zidane was promoted to Minister of Personnel, but he snatched the position halfway through. Lin Xu, the Vice Minister of Personnel, doesn't know what kind of trouble he'll cause in the future.

Adding to Lin Jiabao's underhanded tactics at the Imperial Estate, the two of them are bound to clash.

The feud between the two families will not end there.

The next day.

Lin Jiabao returned to the Lin family and received the imperial decree of marriage that afternoon, beaming with joy.

When Lin Xu returned in the evening, he snorted coldly and pretended not to see his niece.

"Mother, what's wrong with Second Uncle? Why is he treating me like this?" Lin Jiabao stood there, stunned and at a loss.

She was the legitimate daughter of the third branch of the Lin family and had been pampered by her family since childhood. Her second uncle had never humiliated her like this before.

The surrounding maids dared not breathe, lowered their heads and quickly retreated.

Only the masters of the second and third branches of the Lin family ate dinner at Madam Lin's place; the members of the first branch were not in the capital and were serving as officials elsewhere.

Only Lin Jiabao enjoyed the meal.

The atmosphere at the table wasn't very pleasant.

After dinner, on their way back to the courtyard, Lin Jiabao asked the question that had been bothering her: "Mother, what exactly happened? Why did the people from the second branch of the family treat me so differently, as if they were strangers?"

Princess Jialuo held her daughter's hand and said, "Bao'er, the glory you receive after marriage comes from your husband. But the glory you receive before marriage comes from the hard work of your elders. Your second uncle had been humbled before Han Zhen and finally got his recommendation. He was supposed to be promoted to acting minister in less than a month. But because of your outburst the other day, the person who got promoted is now Qi Da."

"What? This is true? Why didn't Father say anything?" Lin Jiabao's voice suddenly rose. "Why Qi Yuejiao's father of all people?"

"Keep your voice down, do you want to attract the whole manor?" Princess Jialuo covered her mouth. "You've really been foolish this time! If you wanted to take action, you shouldn't have given anyone a handle to use against you. You shouldn't have brought this up in front of the First Prince and exposed the relationship between the manor and the First Prince."

"I was just having a conversation with the Crown Prince, how did that expose me? If it weren't for my uncle wanting me to marry into a foreign land, why would I... why would I have made such a hasty move at the Imperial Estate?"

Lin Jiabao suddenly felt wronged.

The eldest prince was wise and brave, and she had liked him even before she came of age. She finally endured until the eldest prince's wife passed away, but Qi Yuejiao beat her to it.

To say I'm not angry would be a lie.

However, since the arranged marriage, Qi Yuejiao has rarely attended any banquets and has had no opportunity to make a move.

If given more time, she will surely be able to handle things perfectly.

“If it weren’t for the interference of the Han sisters, no one would have found out. I was just telling the First Prince what happened at the Lake Pavilion. How could anyone have so easily discovered the relationship between the Chen Prince’s Mansion and the First Prince?”

Lin Jiabao spoke with righteous indignation, showing no sign of feeling that she had done anything wrong.

After hearing her daughter recount what happened that day, Princess Jialuo didn't think she had done anything wrong. On the contrary, she thought her daughter was brave and resourceful, and that the blame lay with the Han family's daughter.

"Mother, I heard that the Han family made quite a commotion at night a few days ago. Could it be... could it be that Han Yueshi is possessed by something unclean? Ever since she came that day, she's been acting strangely. Her eyes seem to see right through people, and she laughs for no reason. It's quite creepy."

Lin Jiabao felt something was off when she thought about Han Yueshi that day.

"Alright, the matter is settled. Don't think about it anymore. If you want to take action in the future, be careful. Don't give others any leverage against you! I wonder what the Emperor is planning with this marriage between you and the First Prince. Be very careful."

Princess Jialuo couldn't help but give a word of advice.

Lin Jiabao nodded, but he didn't think much of it.

When the eldest prince learned of this news, he smashed several valuable cups.

"Why can't Father grant my wish? Why won't Grand Secretary Han's second daughter be given to me?"

Upon learning this, Princess Wenmin thought to herself, "These two should stay together. Aunt Qi deserves better."

The matter at the Imperial Estate that day has been dealt with, and the dust has been settled.

Upon learning that Han Cuiyin had gone into seclusion, Luo Jingqian was deeply troubled. "Could it be that Miss Han is avoiding me?"

He stood by the cold pool, gazing in the direction where Han Cuiyin had gone into seclusion, hesitant and undecided.