Baby, don't be afraid, I'll accompany you to the heavens and the seas!

"How did the Zhang family raise such a useless bum? Their IQ is pathetic!!!" Lin Litian pounded on the wooden table in front of him, his face grim.

"Reporting to the General, if it weren't for Consort Zhang's skill in charming the Emperor and the fact that she bore him a daughter!!"

"Just because Zhang Jinyan came from a background as a courtesan, her Zhang family should have been wiped out and expelled from the capital long ago!!"

"The Zhang brothers and Zhang Jinyan are hardly family. They're both filthy women from brothels, yet they dare to dream of rising in rank!" Lin Chong said, gesturing with his hands clasped, mocking the Zhang family's brothel origins.

"Hmph, Zhang Jinyan! I truly underestimated this whore who has been ridden by a thousand men and slept with by ten thousand!"

"Go, have our informants in Beijing keep a close eye on the Zhang family's every move these days, and make sure they find out who's behind it all!" Lin Litian crushed a teacup filled with hot tea, gritting his teeth.

"Yes, I'll take care of it right away!" Lin Chong bowed and quickly left the study.

General Lin's grim expression was hidden in the rising and falling incense smoke. After calming his mind for a moment, he picked up his pen and wrote a reply to his younger sister who was far away in the capital.

Reading this letter brings comfort:

Do not worry, everything is fine on the far frontier!

Spring chill has returned, so we must add layers to ward off the cold. Don't indulge in momentary pampering of your skin, lest you harm your precious body. How is my young nephew, A-Yu? A-Yu is young and playful, so he needs careful guidance and discipline. He must not be allowed to be spoiled, lest he neglect his studies and chill the heart of the Emperor.

May you stay healthy and well, and avoid injury or anxiety!

Lin Litian stamped the inkpad, then released the eagle carrying the family letter, finally relaxing his furrowed brows before leaving the study.

Zhang Mu, who was hiding in the filthy pool outside the study, poked his head out of the icy water, glanced at the departing General Lin, held his breath, and dived back into the cold pool, swimming towards the underground passage leading to Zhang Xiao's master bedroom.

Wow! ! !

"How about it?!"

Zhang Xiao, his chest bare, was embracing a group of courtesans who had just been brought into the official residence. When he saw Mu Erlang, dressed in black night clothes, emerging from the spring pool in the master bedroom, he waved away the women on the bed and got up to greet Zhang Mu.

"It's too far, I didn't hear any useful news!" Zhang Mu tore off his wet clothes, put on the dry clothes Zhang Xiao threw over, and replied with a frown.

"Jin Yan has sent a letter, revealing that our Emperor intends to establish an Eastern Palace Crown Prince ahead of schedule and has written a will to pass the throne to the eldest son of the Qingting clan!!!"

"This news is fucking outdated. How could we possibly know this? All the major families in the capital have probably already spread the word and are trying to get close to the Lin family!" Zhang Mu swung his legs, plopped down on the bed, and started chugging a jug of wine.

Zhang Xiao pondered Zhang Mu's casual words: "Let Jin Yan give the Emperor some tonics, and perhaps she could conceive another imperial heir? Or perhaps, perhaps, use a donor to have a child???!!"

"What? Zhang Xiao?! Are you crazy?! This is outrageous!!!" Upon hearing these outrageous words, Zhang Mu coughed up his drink!

"Outrageous?! Hahaha, Mu Erlang, don't forget that if we lose, our fate will be a hundred times, a thousand times more tragic than that of the Qian clan, which was annihilated!"

"Don't forget you have a wife and daughter at home. If you don't think about yourself, you should at least think about Kexin and Bai'er!" Zhang Xiao said with a grin, fanning himself with the bone fan he had bought for a fortune.

"Don't you dare try to trap me!!" Upon hearing Kexin's name, Mu Erlang was filled with rage. He left the master bedroom barefoot.

"Hahaha, just kidding!!!" Seeing Zhang Mu storm out of the room in a huff, Zhang Xiao stood up and burst into laughter.

"Get out!!!" After shouting this, Mu Erlang completely disappeared from Zhang Xiao's sight.

In the Yang family study, however, the letter was displayed with a relaxed expression.

"Father, how is elder sister?" Yang Chenqing asked after taking a few sips of the hot tea handed to him by the maid.

"Yes! Your mother has been experiencing frequent vomiting due to her pregnancy lately, but fortunately, His Majesty has granted her the privilege of entering the palace to keep him company!!"

"Our Emperor has also bestowed many blessings upon me, often staying by A-Zhang's side, without sorrow or joy!!" Yang Chenfeng stroked his white beard as he replied to his family in the capital.

"That's wonderful! Father, the Emperor favors my elder sister, and she can finally suffer less!!"

"Hmph!! This time I'll show that arrogant and jealous woman that my elder sister can also be favored and bear the emperor's child!" Yang Chenqing, with the temperament of this age, waved her hand, imagining Consort Zhang as air, and struck her fiercely.

General Yang glanced helplessly at his childish son, then smiled indulgently and wrote a reply.

"Okay! Okay, okay, okay!!"

"They're all bullying me! They're all bullying me because no one writes me letters home!!"

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk ≈ Is this considered ancient bullying?!"

After finishing her dinner, Qianqian sat curled up on the bed, reflecting on the scenes that might occur at this time of day, and felt that her place was truly desolate.

An even more terrifying and tragic end was lurking behind her. The thought of going to the capital soon to deal with the two emperors of Qingting gave her a headache.

One is the emperor who has already reached the pinnacle of power, and the other is the eldest son of the Crown Prince who has loved to do some weird things since childhood.

Qianqian felt a headache coming on just thinking about it.

One big pervert, one little pervert.

Hey! Guess what? Turns out the Qingting royal family specializes in producing perverts?!

After silently grumbling for a moment, Qianqian, whose head was throbbing, rubbed her aching temples, forced herself to close her eyes, and went to sleep to rest.

The struggles on the distant frontier were quietly concealed by the fierce winds blowing in the northwest!

The struggles in the capital, amidst the warmth, fragrance, and smooth skin, were nothing short of bloody and deadly!

In Jin Yan Palace, all the maids held their breath and bowed their heads, not daring to breathe or tremble.

Consort Zhang, dressed in a thin shirt, was sitting on a fox fur, gold-inlaid jade, and sunken wood rug chair, nestled delicately in the large rug chair.

The concubine's eyes were filled with affection, and the pink makeup tinged with the scent of wine adorned her beautiful face, making her even more charming.

"Hahahaha!!! You bastards!! You're all bastards!!!"

The drunken Consort Zhang, wearing a silk robe and barefoot, got up and drunkenly pointed and cursed at a group of maids with her brightly colored nail polish.

"Your Highness, be careful! The jade slippers are cold, don't catch a cold!" The personal maid, Hua'er, knelt down with heartache and used her rough, cracked hands to put soft gold embroidered shoes on the concubine who had gone mad again.

"Hahahahahaha!!! Why is it that only Hua'er in Jinyan Palace cares about my catching a cold?" Zhang Jinyan, sword in hand, gasped and cursed madly.

Upon hearing the Consort's rebuke, the maids in the hall all knelt down and begged for forgiveness: "We dare not! We know our sins! Please forgive us, Consort!"

"Hahaha!! You wretch!!" Consort Zhang drew her sword and, mistaking the unknown maid for Yang Huizhang, stabbed her to death!

As soon as the eunuch Xiao Fuzi entered the room, he saw this scene and immediately signaled to his subordinates.

"Take her away! This lowly servant has offended a noble person and deserves to die! And now she dares to dirty your hands!!! Disgraceful!!!"

"Yes, Eunuch Fu!"

The maids who had miraculously survived were numb and indifferent as they stepped forward to lift the body off the ground and knelt down to wash the blood-splattered floor with water.