Transmigrated into a cunning princess, she sets her sights on a celibate royal uncle.

Su Huanqing choked up for a moment and continued, "If you really want it, sir, five hundred taels of silver will do. Let me pay off my debts and start anew!"

"Five hundred taels? That's incredibly cheap!"

"Yes, yes, last time I bought a painting by Mr. Sun for more than that!"

"They're so poor they're selling off even the things passed down from their ancestors!"

"Sigh, as the old saying goes, nine out of ten gamblers lose. You just shouldn't touch this stuff!"

The people around him were all offering their opinions.

Xie Qingshan listened to the voices around him and looked at Su Huanqing's reluctant and helpless expression.

Thinking that five hundred taels wasn't much, if he could buy the genuine article and coax Xue Hewan into becoming his concubine, it wouldn't be a bad deal.

So he waved his hand generously and said, "Alright, I'll take this painting from you. I'm only doing this because I feel sorry for you. Just turn over a new leaf!"

As he spoke, he took out a five-hundred-tael silver note from his pocket and handed it to Su Huanqing.

Su Huanqing accepted it and thanked him repeatedly, "Thank you so much, Second Young Master! Thank you so much, Second Young Master!"

Then they went out happily.

As soon as Su Huanqing left, Xie Qingshan was surrounded by voices praising him.

Amidst the compliments, Xie Qingshan took the painting and went into the private room.

The waiter came over to serve tea, and Xie Qingshan asked, "When will your Lady Xue be back?"

The waiter replied tremblingly, "It's hard to say. Madam Xue said she'd be back once the matter was settled!"

After saying that, he poured the tea and left.

While wondering to himself what Xue Hewan had gone out of the city to do, Xie Qingshan unfolded the scroll to admire it.

"Xiao Quanzi, do you think if I give this painting to Madam Xue, she will be grateful to me?"

Xiao Quanzi was Xie Qingshan's servant. He scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "Second Master, I'm ignorant, but if this painting is genuine, Madam Xue will definitely be happy!"

Xiao Quanzi's words were like a wake-up call. Xie Qingshan began to think, "This painting is so cheap, what if it's fake? If it's presented to Xue Hewan, she'll see through it at a glance."

It would make me look uneducated and insincere, and I might end up losing more than I gain!

"Yeah, what if this painting is fake?" Xie Qingshan muttered to himself.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Quanzi realized that even the Second Master was unsure whether the painting was real or fake.

"Second Master, if you're unsure, you might as well take this painting back and ask Third Master. Third Master works at the Imperial Academy and has seen many famous paintings and ancient books; he'll definitely know!"

Xiao Quanzi made the suggestion.

After thinking it over, Xie Qingshan decided that since Xue Hewan might not be coming back today anyway, he might as well listen to Xiao Quanzi and go back to ask the third brother.

"walk!"

With that thought in mind, he immediately picked up the scroll, got up, and left.

Meanwhile, at the largest restaurant in the capital, Jidi Lou, people were chatting idly while eating.

"I heard that Imperial Censor Xiao is seriously ill, so I'm afraid the position of Imperial Censor will have to be handed over to the Second Master Xie!"

"I think so too. If the second master of the Xie family becomes the Imperial Censor, then he will most likely take over the Xie family in the future!"

"Yes, yes, he is Xie Zhuguo's legitimate son, the position of Xie family head is rightfully his!"

These sounds reached the private room, where Yang Xuerou, who was drinking and listening to intelligence, heard them. A crack appeared on Yang Xuerou's serene and beautiful face.

The man Yang Xuerou chose could never be someone else's foil.

The position of head of the Xie family belongs to none other than Xie Qinglin, the third master of the Xie family!

That night, Su Huanqing, having completed his mission, reported to Jiang Xi.

"The painting has been sold!"

At that moment, Jiang Xi was playing chess against herself. Upon hearing this, she looked up at Su Huanqing and asked curiously, "Xie Qingshan didn't realize it was fake?"

Su Huanqing smiled gently: "That painting was so realistic that it could easily be mistaken for the real thing. He was so focused on winning someone's heart that he didn't even look at it closely!"

"Heh, since it's all to win someone's heart, he'll definitely need to have someone verify its authenticity. Who do you think he'll ask?"

Jiang Xi asked while playing chess.

Su Huanqing hesitated for a moment, thought for a moment, and asked uncertainly, "Xie Qinglin?"

Jiang Xi smiled without saying a word. At that moment, Lu Ye announced from outside the door, "The Regent has arrived!"

Huo Jingxuan?

What is he doing here at this time? Does he really think this is his own home?

Without a second thought, Jiang Xi threw down her chess piece, disrupting the entire game: "I'm not going to see you!"

Lu Ye, standing outside the door, looked troubled, as if to say that it wasn't up to him whether he saw her or not, since she had already come in.

Jiang Xi looked up and saw Huo Jingxuan's tall figure already at the door.

Jiang Xi initially looked disgusted, but the moment she saw him, she immediately put on a forced, insincere smile.

"Uncle, you're really quite carefree. It's so late at night, yet you can still come and go as you please in my Shen Garden. You really don't treat me like an outsider and aren't afraid of what others will say!"

Huo Jingxuan glanced at Su Huanqing standing in the room, and his eyes twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Stop being sarcastic in front of me. It's so late, and you're still busy in this room, aren't you?"

As he spoke, he strode in and sat down opposite Jiang Xi.

Jinling came over to serve tea, and Huo Jingxuan glanced at Su Huanqing, who was still not leaving, and asked, "What? Are you afraid that I will harm the princess?"

Su Huanqing bowed expressionlessly: "I wouldn't dare!"

"If you dare not, then step back?" Huo Jingxuan asked coldly.

Su Huanqing remained unmoved, only glancing indifferently at Jiang Xi.

Jiang Xi could tell that Huo Jingxuan was not in a good mood today, and feared that, given his temper, he might chop off Su Huanqing's head.

So he waved to Su Huanqing and said, "Huanqing, you can go now. My uncle won't make things difficult for me!"

Su Huanqing bowed respectfully to Jiang Xi again: "Yes!"

Only then did they obediently leave.

After Jinling finished serving the tea, she closed the door behind her as she left.

Jiang Xi watched Jin Ling's action without saying much, but silently made a mental note of it.

I'm afraid Jin Ling has been bribed by Huo Jingxuan and sent back to his side to monitor me.

Huo Jingxuan rearranged the chess pieces on the board and said to Jiang Xi, "Play a game with me!"

Jiang Xi couldn't help but glance at Huo Jingxuan: "Uncle, you came to see me in the middle of the night just to have me play chess with you?"

Huo Jingxuan remained silent, so Jiang Xi threw down the chess piece in her hand and yawned: "Excuse me, Imperial Uncle, I'm sleepy, please go back!"

With that, he got up to leave.

But before he could take two steps, Huo Jingxuan grabbed his wrist and pulled him forcefully.

Jiang Xi felt dizzy and her body slid uncontrollably towards Huo Jingxuan, who was sitting cross-legged.

Huo Jingxuan reached out and grabbed Jiang Xi's waist, pulling her down onto his lap.

Jiang Xi was startled and tried to stand up, but Huo Jingxuan pressed her shoulders down to prevent her from moving.

"I am now Princess Yong'an, engaged to the Emperor's uncle. How dare you be so unruly? Aren't you afraid I'll expose you?"

Huo Jingxuan raised an eyebrow: "Expose me? With whom? Jiang Gu?"

Jiang Xi choked for a moment, then remembered that Huo Jingxuan had already reached a cooperation agreement with her, and Jiang Gu would be pushed off the stage by him sooner or later.