After being reborn, I locked up all the scumbags and bitches in one nest.

Qin Xiang ignored Li's resentment, and after finishing speaking, said he had other matters to attend to and left.

Old Granny Qin must be tired from cursing and needs to rest. She should tell everyone to leave and not get in her way.

After leaving Changqing Courtyard, Qin Wanyou went straight to her own Qingzhu Courtyard.

Li is currently heartbroken and furious that her power as the head of the household has been taken away. She originally wanted to give Qin Wanyou a warning, but now she has no mind to pay attention to Qin Wanyou.

Qin Mingzhu was being supported by her newly promoted head maid, Xia Yan, and followed behind Li Shi. She was a little dazed. How did things turn out like this? Not only did her father not help her, but he also took away her mother's power to manage the household. Now she was confined to her quarters and could not even leave the Prime Minister's residence to ask the Consort Xian for help. And that good-for-nothing Wu Qing had been searching for so long but still couldn't find her.

What Qin Mingzhu didn't know was that Consort Xian was now in dire straits herself. Because of the eldest prince's affair, the emperor had accused her of failing to properly educate her son, which had damaged the royal family's reputation and confined her to her own palace.

At this moment, she was also angry with Qin Mingzhu for her incompetence, which had harmed the eldest prince and even implicated Jingyu from her maternal family. Thinking of Qin Wanyou's performance that night, she vaguely regretted agreeing to let her sister and Qin Mingzhu dissolve their engagement in that way. Now, she had brought trouble upon herself and made a mess of things for everyone.

Qin Wanyou didn't care whether they regretted it or not. After returning to Qingzhu Courtyard, she took out paper and started writing and drawing in her room, thinking about the passionate and crazy scenes that the wandering souls had seen.

Imperial Palace, Imperial Study

The emperor also took up his pen and wrote on the memorial.

After finishing grading one book, she looked up at the handsome man in front of her and asked, "Are you really not willing to get married soon?"

The Emperor didn't believe a word of what the Imperial Astronomical Bureau said about how none of the auspicious days this year were suitable for the Crown Prince's marriage.

Murong Xiao bowed to the Emperor and said, "Your Majesty, as you know, I am not currently in a suitable position to marry."

The Emperor's inner thoughts: I didn't see you refuse when I bestowed this marriage upon you! I just wanted you to have an heir, otherwise you would have no face to face your Regent Uncle after you die.

She sighed. "Did Granny Wang return to Chu Yue with any news?"

Murong Xiao shook his head, not wanting to discuss this topic. "Your Majesty, I suggest that you send someone to thoroughly investigate the harvest situation of Prince Li's fiefdom over the years?"

The Emperor knew he was changing the subject, but he still stared at him with some surprise. "What information have you found out?"

Murong Xiao replied, "I am merely speculating. The fiefdom of Prince Li, Xinan, is one of the richest places in Great Yan. In recent years, Great Yan has not experienced any major natural disasters or cholera outbreaks, and the harvests in various places have been quite good. Of course, this is mainly due to the wise decisions made by His Majesty. Even the barren hilly areas pay more taxes than Xinan."

The emperor stroked his beard thoughtfully.

Murong Xiao continued,

"I have also discovered that the assassination attempt on the Prince's residence a month ago was carried out by assassins trained by the Empress Dowager and Prince Li, and that the Yanling Army was among them. Given the Empress Dowager's wealth, it is already a struggle to maintain the Yanling Army under her command, yet she is now able to train a large number of assassins. The cost of training these assassins is self-evident."

It's not entirely the emperor's fault for not noticing. In the years since the war, the emperor has been working diligently to govern the country, focusing on state affairs, encouraging agriculture, and developing various undertakings to ensure that the people have enough to eat and don't starve to death. He forgot that there was a wolf lurking nearby.

Upon hearing Murong Xiao's words, the Emperor was filled with rage and slammed his fist on the table. "I never expected that their ambitions would remain unchanged, and that they would dare to be so arrogant!"

Then the emperor complained in his heart about the late emperor. Since he had decided to pass the throne to him, why did he give the Yanling Army to the Empress Dowager and grant such a rich land to the Prince of Li as his fief? Wasn't this just deliberately making things difficult for him and making things difficult for the Great Yan?

"I will have someone investigate this matter thoroughly, and I will never allow anyone to wreak havoc on my Great Yan."

"Your Majesty need not worry too much. Even if they intend to rebel, we have the strength to fight back. Our Yanling Army is not to be trifled with, and the people will not support them," Murong Xiao reassured him.

The Emperor nodded, of course he was not afraid of the Empress Dowager, but after a while the conversation circled back to the topic, "You really don't want to get married this year?"

Murong Xiao said helplessly, "Your Majesty, I am not in a hurry. Besides, Miss Qin is still young. We should focus on the Crown Prince's marriage first."

The Emperor picked up his teacup. “The Empress is taking care of the Crown Prince’s affairs. You don’t have any elders in your family to make arrangements. I’m just concerned about you.”

Murong Xiao: Thank you for your concern.

"Your Majesty need not worry about me. I have my own arrangements. If Your Majesty has nothing else to do, I will not disturb you."

Seeing his insistence, the emperor didn't make things difficult for him. He waved his hand and told him to leave quickly, as they were all such a handful.

Time marches on relentlessly, flowers fade, rice stalks turn golden, fruits ripen with fragrance, and summer quietly arrives.

Qin Wanyou went to the old woman's courtyard to pay her respects as usual at dawn that day.

Unfortunately, today, after paying my respects, I ran into Qin Mingzhu and Qin Shuyu. "Sister, it's been a long time."

"Second sister," Qin Shuyu called out from behind.

Seeing that Qin Mingzhu had regained some of her health, it seemed she had been doing well over the past month. "Long time no see, sister!"

Qin Mingzhu reverted to her jealous self, unable to bear seeing Qin Wanyou succeed. "I heard that my sister has been diligently studying music, chess, calligraphy, and painting lately. Now that she can no longer cultivate spiritual arts, she plans to become a talented woman. Indeed, the Crown Prince's consort cannot be ignorant of everything."

Qin Wanyou didn't want to pay them any more attention and simply walked away. But since they insisted on bumping into her,

"I heard that your brother-in-law has already given betrothal gifts to Sister Shuyu and set an auspicious date. He's just waiting to come and fetch her. Congratulations, sister!"

Qin Shuyu's expression immediately changed upon hearing this. This was a disgrace to her; the daughter of a high-ranking official was marrying a commoner.

That man is no longer a guard; he's just an ordinary citizen now.

Qin Wanyou seemed to remember something else, "Oh, right, I heard that my sister will soon be carried into the First Prince's residence as well, congratulations!"

After saying that, Qin Wanyou left straight away, leaving behind only her back.

Upon hearing this, Qin Mingzhu immediately became furious, pointing her finger at Qin Wanyou, "You..."

However, she couldn't refute it afterward because what she said was true.

Although she was finally with the First Prince, she could only be a concubine. She couldn't wear a phoenix coronet and wedding robes, and she couldn't wear bright red on her wedding day. The First Prince didn't have to come to her door to fetch her; she was carried directly to his residence.

Qin Wanyou, I will definitely avenge this! You just wait!

Qin Shuyu also stared intently at Qin Wanyou's retreating figure. Although there was no evidence to prove that Qin Wanyou was responsible for what happened at the Dragon Boat Festival banquet, she was definitely involved.

Next time, I definitely won't let you escape!

"Sister, the time is almost up, let's go inside first!" Qin Shuyu reminded Qin Mingzhu.

Qin Mingzhu glared at Qin Shuyu, snorted, waved her hand, and turned to walk into Changqing Courtyard.

Qin Shuyu followed behind with her head down.

Qin Wanyou returned to Qingzhu Courtyard, had breakfast, and then began cultivating in her room as usual.

After this period of time, Qin Wanyou discovered that her jade pendant had a certain healing effect. Now her injuries have healed to about 70-80%, and her body has basically recovered.

I must improve my martial arts and spiritual power as soon as possible and find an opportunity to kill that old bastard.

Qin Wanyou was cultivating on the couch, while Shuangling sat at the table by the window, imitating Qin Wanyou as she wrote and drew. Although the two did not look alike, the window was only slightly open because of the beaded curtain.

Without a close look, you wouldn't be able to tell that the person sitting by the window isn't Qin Wanyou.

Meanwhile, Shuangling's medical skills also improved by leaps and bounds during this period.

However, her practice didn't go smoothly today. Not long after, Granny Li came over and said that Madam had something to tell her. Qin Wanyou had no choice but to stop practicing. Shuangling took out the drawing she had made before and lightly traced it with a brush. It looked as if it had just been drawn.

Upon meeting Qin Wanyou, Granny Li relayed Li Shi's instructions.

In a few days it will be the birthday of the old lady of the Minister's Mansion. The Prime Minister's Mansion will definitely go to offer their congratulations. Since Qin Mingzhu and Qin Shuyu's confinement period has not yet ended, they asked Granny Li to give Qin Wanyou five taels of silver to go out and buy some jewelry, clothes and other items.

Qin Wanyou looked at the five taels of silver on the table and thought, "Hmph, Qin Mingzhu's undergarment probably costs more than five taels!"

However, if there's a legitimate reason to go out, why stay in the mansion?