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

Han Cuiyin was speechless. Why would these palace concubines target her? Those princesses enjoyed the benefits brought by the power of the Great Ye Dynasty, so they should naturally bear the responsibilities.

"It's Consort Rui. She's due to give birth in the next few days. I estimate that for good luck, she'll give birth tomorrow. If she gives birth to a prince, I'm afraid the Emperor will grant any request she makes."

"So it was her, a member of the Lu family. The people from the Kaiming Marquis's mansion really don't learn their lesson." Han Cuiyin suddenly realized.

She only had a grudge against Lu Cheng.

This Consort Rui is Lu Cheng's younger sister. She has a princess who is still young, only eleven years old, so there's no need to worry about her being married off; it certainly won't be the fifth princess. The one she's carrying now is very likely a prince, which explains why she dared to instigate Emperor Chu Yuan.

Han Cuiyin's displeasure did not escape the notice of Grand Princess Jinghe. "What grudge do you have against Lu Cheng? Logically speaking, you should have no connection. Why did he instigate Consort Rui to deal with you?"

Lu Cheng and Lu Rui are siblings born of the same mother, so their relationship is naturally better than that of other siblings.

When she was young, Lu Cheng took good care of Lu Rui, and she loved her own brother the most.

Lu Cheng went to the palace and embellished the story of what happened after Chang Le County.

Lu Rui dared not make a move against Han Zhen, after all, he was a favorite of Emperor Chu Yuan and had even entered the palace, but he had no qualms about dealing with young women.

Furthermore, since this child might be Emperor Chu Yuan's last offspring, his affection for her was naturally different from that for the other concubines.

While he wouldn't grant every request, if a child occasionally threw a tantrum, Emperor Chuyuan would usually appease him out of consideration for the child.

Princess Jinghe knew something about the Kaiming Marquis's mansion, but she still looked down on the Kaiming Marquis.

He's just a freeloader, relying on his wife to keep the Marquis's mansion afloat.

Although Han Zhen also relied on his wife, she was truly talented and paved her own way to the top in her official career. The Xu Prince's Mansion didn't offer much help later on; it was good enough that they didn't hinder him.

Han Cuiyin's face was not covered with charcoal powder at this moment, revealing her original appearance. Princess Jinghe could see it clearly, and in this girl's eyes, Lu Cheng was truly not a good person.

"This Lu Cheng was originally the governor of Chang Le County. Back then, for his own selfish desires... a few days ago, Li Rou was discovered by him, so she followed him to Qing Shuang Mountain to avoid his entanglement."

Han Cuiyin avoided mentioning her threatening Lu Cheng and witnessing Lu Cheng causing trouble at the Han residence, but told the rest of the story truthfully.

Upon hearing that Lu Cheng was secretly committing crimes and bullying men and women in Chang Le County, Grand Princess Jinghe's face darkened. "No wonder his eldest son is a fool; it's all retribution. This Lu Cheng needs to be taught a lesson! He still wants to be an official, so I'll grant his wish."

With the Grand Princess's intervention, Han Cuiyin breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Rou can't always hide in Xiajing'ao; her future apprentice needs to experience more and broaden her horizons.

Princess Jinghe instructed Han Cuiyin to accompany her the next day, and then told her to go back and rest later.

"Agu, have someone release Lu Cheng from the capital as soon as possible and send him to a remote place to serve as a county magistrate. Take advantage of Consort Rui's pregnancy and her inability to attend to other matters, and arrange for him to take up his post quickly."

After Granny Gu entered the room, she began to remove the hairpins and jewelry from Princess Jinghe. "You should go to bed early tonight, because we don't know when you'll be able to get some rest tomorrow."

If Consort Rui gives birth at the exact time, the Grand Princess will have a hard time extricating herself tomorrow.

The fifteenth of August is indeed an auspicious day.

After Han Cuiyin returned, Granny Chu and Gao Xiaolan had not yet rested. Her clothes and jewelry were laid out on the couch, and the two of them were excitedly matching them.

"The girl looks best in light green and light white. Your godmother has such good taste; all these clothes are beautiful." Gao Xiaolan picked out these two colors and added some headwear. "Godmother, what do you think of this combination?"

These two dresses were made by Granny Chu herself, and they were her favorites. "These two are indeed the most beautiful, ethereal and fairy-like. Wearing them makes you look like a fairy from the moon palace. If you don't wear such a dark face tomorrow, all the young ladies in the capital will pale in comparison. However, the headdress could be simpler, which would enhance the fairy-like aura."

Han Cuiyin's ethereal and otherworldly aura far surpassed that of other young ladies; adding elaborate jewelry only made her seem vulgar.

Having seen countless people, Granny Chu naturally knew how to dress to look her best.

Back then, Princess Jinghe loved the clothes she made and the hairstyle she styled the most.

"I don't want any of these. Tomorrow I'm going to make a name for myself, and I'll go for whatever's vulgar I can be!" Han Cuiyin's words were like a wake-up call, leaving the mother and daughter stunned on the spot.

“Young lady, you’re about to come of age, so you should be careful to avoid making things difficult for your future husband’s family,” Granny Chu advised. Now that she was Han Cuiyin’s woman, she naturally had to consider her feelings, and Luo Jingqian was only one of the alternatives.

"Why must I get married? What's wrong with not getting married? My mother, Princess Changyun, Li Rou... and so many other women, why must they suffer the hardships of marriage? I'm perfectly fine on my own. I don't have to serve my in-laws, bear children, manage the household, or help my husband take concubines and continue the family line. I can do whatever I want!"

She had pondered Han Cuiyin's words for a long time, drawing on her experiences in the world of immortality.

This life will surely be different from the previous ones.

"Not getting married?" Both Granny Chu and Gao Xiaolan were taken aback. "I'm afraid even the Princess Consort wouldn't agree. After all, there are many good men in the world, not everyone is like Lord Han, Duke Dingguo, or Lu Cheng."

The mother and daughter were completely taken aback when the girl had this idea; they had never considered what the girl was saying.

Isn't a woman's life all about getting married and having children? That's how it's been for so many years. Even the female generals who made their mark in history ended up getting married too.

Granny Chu was uncertain, but the royal family had the confidence, and even Princess Jinghe dared not say she wouldn't marry. So she could only choose to marry someone she liked.

"You may all leave! Pack all these things up. Take that pale yellow dress, and the jewelry set with jewels. I need to make a good impression on the Emperor tomorrow." So that he won't want me to go and marry someone else.

Han Cuiyin wanted to dress up like a nouveau riche.

The emperor of Yun Kingdom prefers women with a heroic spirit, but her attire is anything but heroic; it's downright vulgar.

The two could only do as instructed, quickly tidying up the place so she could rest early.

Han Cuiyin rested her arm on the table, her right hand supporting her right cheek. "Sigh, when will we hear anything from Qingyun?"

The moonlight filtering through the window curtains added a touch of hazy beauty to her.

Luo Jingqian was immediately struck by Han Cuiyin's beauty upon entering the courtyard and couldn't help but call out, "Cueyin."

"Why are you here so late?" Han Cuiyin greeted her.

After this ordeal, the two felt more comfortable with each other than before.

"Your letter! It came from Ping'an Lane." As soon as Luo Jingqian finished speaking, Han Cuiyin appeared beside him and snatched the letter away.

Seeing this, Luo Jingqian's eyes darkened. "Who wrote this? It's enough to excite you so much!"