She mistakenly got into the bridal sedan chair and married a sickly but powerful minister, becoming

Shen Qingtan knew this man was asking a question he already knew the answer to, so she pursed her red lips and said, "Help me arrange a backer for the Earl's mansion?"

After a pause, she added, "The Earl's family has done a lot for the Marquis's family, so they should have some leverage over the Marquis's family. When the time comes, we'll give the Earl's family a little something to sweeten things up first, and then make them show some sincerity."

She couldn't personally deliver the patron to the Earl's mansion; instead, she wanted Liu Ruojiao to "accidentally" learn of this opportunity and then pass it on to the Earl of Yongyi's ears.

Zhao Yi understood; Shen Qingtan wanted the Earl's Mansion to use the Marquis's Mansion's weaknesses to gain benefits.

He was about to reply when he noticed her staring intently at him, her dark pupils filled with his image, as if she could see no one else but him.

As Zhao Yi thought of this, her heart felt as if it had been gently bumped, her Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and she turned her gaze away.

The next moment, his sleeve was gently tugged.

"Second Master?"

A soft, delicate sound rang in my ears.

Zhao Yi tilted her head slightly, her gaze fixed on the sleeve.

He was wearing wide sleeves today, the light sleeves draped over her skirt, the cool blue and the passionate red intertwined, surprisingly harmonious.

She stretched out her index finger and started picking at his sleeve, one finger at a time.

"Erlang?"

She called out softly again, as if trying to coax him into responding.

Zhao Yi's fingers tightened in his sleeve. He had never encountered such a situation before, and he felt somewhat at a loss... or rather, overwhelmed. For a moment, he lost his usual composure.

He turned his head away awkwardly and gave a soft "hmm".

Shen Qingtan noticed that he was facing away from her, always looking towards the car window, and seemed unable to get used to her calling him "Erlang".

This was the first time she had called him Erlang. She had found it difficult to say it before, but seeing his reaction, she felt more comfortable doing so.

A sly glint flashed in Shen Qingtan's eyes, as if she had him completely under her control.

Because she had won back a point with Zhao Yi, she was in a bright mood the whole way.

Zhao Yi, who was standing to the side, was also infected by her good mood and reached out to straighten her crooked hairpin.

Shen Qingtan reached out and touched the hairpin at her temple, giving him a sweet smile.

Zhao Yi felt that the atmosphere was wonderful, so wonderful that he inexplicably wished he could stay with her a little longer.

-

When the couple returned to Lanxue Garden, Tingxue and Liuyue were already there.

Liu Yue gave her the princess's invitation.

Shen Qingtan rubbed her temples, finally remembering that she had forgotten to say something to Zhao Yi.

She jogged into the inner room and saw Zhao Yi taking off his outer robe and changing into casual clothes.

"Second Master." Shen Qingtan handed the invitation to Zhao Yi and casually tied his belt. "The Princess gave me an invitation today, inviting me to the Princess's residence tomorrow."

"Now that you mention this, I also have something to tell you." Zhao Yi had originally intended to say this in the carriage, but was distracted by her little movements and forgot about it for a moment: "The play performed by the opera troupe today did indeed inadvertently reveal a secret of the royal family. The reason why the late emperor was able to inherit the throne was because he married Empress Xiao'en."

Shen Qingtan was stunned.

"The late emperor's mother was of low status; she was originally a concubine who entered the harem through a selection process from the local area. He was the least favored prince."

Zhao Yi slowly said, "The mothers of the late emperor's two elder brothers were very favored, and their families held real power. Compared with them, the late emperor had no chance of winning the succession struggle."

Shen Qingtan asked, "And then?"

"At that time, the Duke of Zhuguo held a large army and had only one daughter, Empress Xiaoen. Unlike other noble ladies, Empress Xiaoen was well-versed in military strategy and possessed superb martial arts skills. The late emperor was very ambitious and deliberately approached Empress Xiaoen, eventually achieving his wish by marrying her into the family."

Zhao Yi slowly said, "After that, Empress Xiao'en followed the late emperor on his campaigns to conquer the world, helped him ascend the throne, eliminated treacherous officials, and reclaimed imperial power. Her methods were ruthless and decisive, surpassing even those of men. Everyone praised her as a tiger daughter of a military family."

Unfortunately, Empress Xiao'en was too outstanding, overshadowing the late emperor. Some even secretly spread rumors that Empress Xiao'en was the true power behind the throne, and the late emperor was merely a puppet. The late emperor felt this was a loss of masculine dignity and developed a fear of the Duke of Zhuguo's mansion. He orchestrated the Duke of Zhuguo's defeat, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of soldiers on the battlefield. He then accused the Duke of Zhuguo of treason and forced the empress to drink a cup of poisoned wine.

Shen Qingtan frowned, feeling that the late emperor was too heartless and ungrateful.

Zhao Yi said indifferently, "In the same year, the Great Zhou Kingdom was to exchange hostages with the Northern Qi Kingdom. The court officials wanted to send the prince born to Consort De to the Northern Qi Kingdom, but the late emperor overruled the objections and sent Emperor Jing'an to the Northern Qi Kingdom instead."

“Even people of our status have their share of sordid affairs within their families,” Shen Qingtan said, suppressing her shock. “Let alone the imperial family.”

"Hmm." Zhao Yi said gently, "Now that you know the inside story, you'll be better able to deal with the Princess tomorrow."

"Oh." Shen Qingtan took the invitation from his hand, waved it at him, and smiled, "Thank you for the advice, Erlang."

Zhao Yi: "..."

-

Second room, Mingde Hall.

The second wife held a pair of fake luminous pearls that Shen Mingzhu had bought. After examining them closely, she realized they were made of jade and coated with something to make them emit a slight fluorescence.

Shen Mingzhu lowered her head, numbly waiting for the second madam to scold her.

To everyone's surprise, the second wife not only didn't scold her, but instead asked, "Where did you buy it?"

Shen Mingzhu answered truthfully: "I bought it at the ghost market."

The second wife frowned. If it was bought in the ghost market, then the seller would be nowhere to be found.

Just then, a maid announced from outside, "Second Madam, the shopkeeper has arrived."

Upon hearing this, the second madam dismissed Shen Mingzhu and had a maid invite the manager in.

Shen Mingzhu left with Ye Mingzhu.

A moment later, the shopkeeper tiptoed in, his toes pointing outwards, and bowed to the second madam: "Madam, I have brought you the account books."

The second wife took the account book, casually flipped through a couple of pages, and seeing the substantial income, her expression softened as she said, "Wang San, do you know who's selling luminous pearls in the ghost market?"

“Yesterday I sold a pair of luminous pearls at the ghost market. I initially offered three thousand taels of silver for a pair, but the lady of the house thought it was too expensive and refused to buy them.”

Wang San smiled smugly: "I saw through this lady's vanity at a glance, so I had one of the shills standing by insult her with a few words about being poor and pretentious, pretending to ask for silver notes to buy the luminous pearl. Sure enough, she felt insulted and started bidding against our men, eventually buying it for ten thousand taels of silver."

The second wife was stunned. Her people had tricked her daughter-in-law.

It even made her lose face.

She said unhappily, "When did you make fake luminous pearls? How come I didn't know?"

Wang San said, "The craftsmen your brother hired at a high price made a pair of luminous pearls to test the waters. If they can be sold, I'll introduce them to you for your opinion."

The second wife was so angry that her chest ached. She wanted to curse a few times to vent her anger, but then she thought that it was better for Shen Mingzhu to be betrayed by her own people than by outsiders.

"Alright." The second madam said coldly, "These are turbulent times in the manor. Don't come looking for me here. If I need anything, I'll come back to the Luo manor to find you."

Having received the order, Wang San took his leave.

-

The next day, Shen Qingtan took Liuyue to the Princess's residence.

The female official was waiting at the side gate and led Shen Qingtan to the second courtyard.

Shen Qingtan saw several grander and more magnificent halls ahead, which were even larger than the main hall. Then she heard a female official say, "This is where His Highness receives guests."

"Thank you for your trouble, Auntie," Shen Qingtan said politely.

The lady-in-waiting smiled and said, "This is my duty, Madam Zhao, you don't need to be so polite."

Shen Qingtan nodded slightly and followed the female official into the main hall. She immediately saw the elegant and noble princess sitting in the main seat, looking at her.

She withdrew her gaze and greeted him, "May Your Highness enjoy boundless blessings."

Just as the princess was about to speak, someone came to report from outside the door: "Your Highness, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has sent a message, saying that they have pried a lot of information out of the opera troupe leader."