The eldest daughter's scheming, the crown prince's exclusive favor to the venomous concubi

Bai Jianan smiled wryly, but still answered her seriously: "How long is your reaction time? This matter ended the moment I captured Heli Hong. Murong Yu died, on his delusional dragon bed, along with the emperor, devoured by Murong Chuan's Gu worms."

However, Murong Chuan's patricide and usurpation of the throne are a foregone conclusion. Furthermore, those vile Gu worms have rendered him ineligible for the throne; he is currently wanted nationwide and his whereabouts are unknown. As for the throne, the palace has suffered heavy losses, and the Prime Minister is bedridden due to his daughter being defiled by Murong Yu. There is no pillar of support in the court except for the Third Prince, Murong Fang.

"Murong Fang?" Jian Yue frowned, something flashing through her mind. Bai Jianan asked, "What's wrong? Do you know him?"

Jian Yue shook her head and said, "When the Qilin Pavilion was in trouble, Sister Hua and I went to find you. Unfortunately, when the Qilin Pavilion caught fire, we saw Murong Fang outside. However, Heli Hong suddenly appeared to assassinate me, which made me forget about this matter."

Upon hearing this, Bai Jianan felt a pang of guilt and put his arm around Jian Yue's shoulder, saying, "I'm sorry that you almost got into trouble because of my mistake. I deserve to die. From now on, I will never let this happen again."

Jian Yue shook her head and said, "It's all in the past. Anyway, I'm lucky and nothing happened to me. Heli Hong is dead. Do you think there's anyone else who would be at odds with me? But that Murong Fang, is there really nothing to investigate?"

Bai Jianan looked at her and asked, "You want to investigate him?"

Jian Yue nodded: "I always felt that he was a bit strange. He seemed to be unrelated to anything, but why was he at the scene of the fire at Qilin Pavilion? Think about it, he usually lives a secluded life, never forms cliques with any officials, and doesn't have any grudges with any princes, nor does he deliberately strike up conversations with them."

Why would someone so inconspicuous that one would almost forget about be interested in the fire at Qilin Pavilion? I don't believe he just happened to be passing by; after all, there were quite a few people with him that day, as if they were specifically looking for something.

Bai Jianan considered it carefully and felt that Jian Yue's words were indeed correct, so he said, "In that case, I will have someone investigate. After all, it's better to investigate a thousand wrongly than to let one go unpunished. But my wife, do you want to seriously consider what I just said?"

Jian Yue looked up, blinked, and asked in confusion, "What were you talking about just now? What was it? Did you say anything?"

Bai Jianan: "..."

Seeing Bai Jianan remain silent, Jian Yue chuckled, shoved him aside, and walked forward, saying, "If you want me to agree, then retrieve the dowry from under the Hongmeng Bridge and place it all in front of me. Otherwise, forget it."

"Retrieving the dowry?"

How to salvage it? Bai Jianan was immediately puzzled. When he looked up again, Jian Yue had already disappeared from his sight.

The full moon hung in the sky on the fifteenth of the lunar month. That night, the whole village was filled with laughter and joy, a stark contrast to the New Year celebrations.

Bai Xiaowan excitedly dragged Cheng Guyuan and Bai Haitang to distribute Yuanxiao (sweet rice balls) to everyone in the village, calling out every now and then: "Line up, line up, what are you doing? Xiao Wu, didn't you finish getting yours? Why are you at the back of the line again?"

"Go away, get out of here! Don't think I won't remember just because there are so many people. Your little Maruko sister's eyes are bigger than the moon, they're crystal clear. You can't fool me. Hurry up, or I'll beat you up if you delay any longer!"

"Hey! You there, we're out of glutinous rice balls. Hurry up and get another one from the kitchen. Don't waste time. You're working too slowly. How can you be worthy of our beautiful Chengcheng like this!"

Bai Haitang was ordered to jump around wildly, but she had to swallow her anger because of the other party's strength. With an angry face, she carried the wooden basin full of Yuanxiao (sweet rice balls) from the kitchen to the center of the character "尊" (zun) again and again. She was so tired that she was about to kneel on the ground and stick out her tongue.

Cheng Guyuan was also busy. Although she was not a member of the royal family, she was a young lady from a wealthy family and had never done anything like this before, nor had she ever celebrated such a lively festival.

Now, with Bai Xiaowan by her side, she is even more lively than before. Her little face is rosy from beginning to end. Because of Bai Xiaowan's teasing of Bai Haitang, her cheeks are even redder, more so than a red apple.

Seeing Cheng Guyuan's ever-present smile and her diligent work, Bai Haitang suddenly laughed. Bai Jianan walked to his side and said, "Don't you feel that the little girl you've been protecting your whole life is finally truly happy?"

Bai Haitang was taken aback, then smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, I never thought she would smile like that. She always smiles before, but never as beautifully as this time. I hope she smiles like this from now on, so that I can live up to Uncle Cheng's family's expectations."

Bai Jianan laughed and said, "Yes, the people here are worth her smile. Haven't you already bought land and are planning to settle here?"

Bai Haitang's gaze froze slightly, and she turned to look at Bai Jianan, saying, "Young Master, I..."

Bai Jianan reached out to stop him from continuing, glanced at Jian Yue who had already joined the crowd of people sharing the Lantern Festival, and smiled: "The heir of Qingyan Marquis is dead, and the new heir has not yet entered the capital. Now I am just a poor man like you, so don't call me by the wrong name in the future."

Bai Haitang understood and raised an eyebrow, saying, "You've decided? There's no fine clothes or sumptuous food here, nor a golden throne."

Bai Jianan slapped him across the face and said, "But here we have you, a golden piece of filth that has been overwhelmed by the stench of money. I think it's enough to exploit you here. It's much more comfortable than that golden position."

Bai Haitang immediately said with a mournful tone, "Young Master Bai, you can't do this. Don't think that just because you share the same surname as me, the character 'Bai' isn't the same as the character 'white'. You can't take the fruits of my hard work for yourself. I'm saving them to get married."

Bai Jianan said, "It's alright, I'll leave you enough for what you need. The rest is for my wedding. I also want to tell you that the character 'Bai' has five strokes and can't be written with a sixth. So, the two of us share the same surname, and our fates are intertwined. For the rest of your life, you can't escape my enslavement. Accept your fate!"

Bai Haitang stiffened instantly, then recovered and retorted, "No, you've already given me away. My boss now is Miss Shangguan Jianyue, and the house and land deeds are all signed, stamped, and sealed."

As she spoke, Bai Haitang seemed to remember something, and hurriedly pushed away Bai Jianan's hand. She didn't know where the strength came from, but in an instant she ran to Jian Yue's side, raised Jian Yue's hand and slapped it on her own face.

Immediately, Jian Yue and the other two were stunned on the spot, while Bai Haitang, with a white handprint on her face, said triumphantly to Bai Jianan, "Now I've stamped it too, so you can forget about continuing to enslave me."

Bai Jianan only gave him one word: "Stupid".

Bai Haitang was confused. Turning her head, she saw that Jian Yue and the other two had already turned away, too lazy to look at her. Cheng Guyuan, in particular, had her head down and didn't say anything. Beside her, Bai Xiaowan whispered to her, "Chengcheng, are you sure you want to marry this guy surnamed Bai? Although we share the same surname, this guy's probably not very bright. I think you're really making a mistake marrying him. Why don't you reconsider? I'll find you someone better."

Cheng Guyuan lowered her head and said, "This isn't right! He's been pretty good to me. We were betrothed since we were children, and he still has the marriage certificate in his hand."

Bai Xiaowan pouted: "It's good, but if you're not smart, how will you live together in the future? The marriage certificate is simple. You can use your beauty to trick me into giving you the marriage certificate, and then tear it up, right?"

Cheng Guyuan chuckled, pretending not to understand, scratched her head, and continued distributing Yuanxiao (sweet rice balls), while behind her, Bai Haitang silently gazed at the sky.

When discussing conspiracies, could you please step back a bit? How can someone so blatantly advise another man's wife to leave him, and even plot to steal a marriage certificate? Whose brain is really failing them?

The night was filled with laughter and joy. Watching the smiling old people and playing children, Jian Yue's empty heart was gradually filled. Even when the night was over and everyone had left, she was still reluctant to leave. She sat on the threshold and quietly looked at the bright moon in the sky.

Just as the moon waxes and wanes, so too do people experience joys and sorrows, partings and reunions—this is the essence of a person's life.

However, although the person is gone, the memory remains deep in the heart, like the black wind, like a mother.

Mother, are you doing well in heaven? Are you much freer than when you were alive? Don't worry, I'm doing well too, and I will always be doing well. I know that's what you would have wanted.

"It's cold, it's better to stay indoors."

Behind her, a heavy fur coat was draped over her shoulders. Jian Yue turned around and smiled, saying, "It's alright, I'm used to it. Back when I lived in the Qiu family's cellar, I never had any clothes to cover myself. Even in the dead of winter, a thin coat was enough to keep me from freezing to death."

Back then, I kept thinking, when will I be able to leave there? Why am I locked up there? But as time went by, I started to stop caring about those things. I became a complete madman, spending my days yelling at the mother in another cage and fighting with people outside, always ending up covered in blood.

At this point, Jian Yue suddenly smiled, her eyes sparkling. She said, "You don't know, do you? Before I was ten years old, I couldn't speak at all. All I could do was curse. I learned that from the people watching us there, because all they did inside was curse."

I don't even know what living is, what the meaning of living is. And my mother, we're locked in a cage, suffering inhuman treatment every day, why do we insist on living? Wouldn't death end it all?

Jian Yue smiled, her eyes moist but filled with a dazzling starlight. Bai Jianan pulled her into his arms and said, "Thank you for living."

Jian Yue shook her head and continued, "Do you know how I learned to speak and how I learned to live?"

Bai Jianan shook his head. At this moment, Jian Yue solemnly held Bai Jianan's face, looked into his eyes, and said very seriously, word by word, "Because I have died once."