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

Qin Wanyou hesitated for a moment, then looked at Murong Xiao, "Have the participants for the competition starting next month been decided?"

Murong Xiao raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly, surprised that she would ask such a question. "What? You want to participate?"

Qin Wanyou shifted her gaze to the tea in her hand. "Unexpectedly, there have been more and more unfamiliar faces outside lately, foreigners. I'm just asking around."

Is that so? Murong Xiao had a slight doubt, but, "The list of candidates for the competition has already been recommended, but the final list of participants is currently unknown."

Qin Wanyou looked at Murong Xiao in surprise, "You didn't know?"

Seeing Qin Wanyou's surprised look, Murong Xiao smiled and said, "I am not the main person in charge of this competition, so I naturally do not know the final list of participants. Moreover, the Emperor entrusted some of the competition events to the Liu family, who are affiliated with the Empress Dowager, so they naturally would not let us know in advance."

Hearing Murong Xiao say this, Qin Wanyou was a little confused. This didn't make sense. In her previous life, wasn't it the Crown Prince and several princes who were in charge? Could she have remembered wrong?

Seeing that Qin Wanyou remained silent, Murong Xiao asked, "Have you discovered anything wrong?"

"Of course there's a problem, but I can't tell you," Qin Wanyou thought to herself, but on the surface she analyzed, "The people from the other two countries must be quite extraordinary. Their countries have experienced such severe disasters before, so the people who came must have done their best to win first place and take away the prize money."

The prize money for the annual competition is prepared by the organizers, with different prizes set according to the difficulty and popularity of the competition. Among them, the competitions in medical skills and martial arts attract the most attention, and almost every competition is very intense. Therefore, the first prize money set for the first place in these two categories is also the highest.

Murong Xiao agreed with Qin Wanyou's point of view, but said, "Every time there is a competition, some people will resort to underhanded tactics, but our people are not to be trifled with, and everyone is prepared in advance."

Since she was prepared, Qin Wanyou ignored it and said, "If you can't find suitable people for some projects that don't receive much attention, I can recommend a few talents to you."

Murong Xiao agreed, "Alright, I'll take a look first and test the waters of the people they've prepared. If it doesn't work out, I'll ask the Princess for help."

Having achieved her goal, Qin Wanyou asked again, "How is the situation in Qingshan Village going? If it goes to court, Shuangling is willing to be a witness. That bully Huang killed Shuangling's family; you absolutely cannot let him get away with it."

Murong Xiao told Qin Wanyou what he knew so far.

"A formation? What would they need so many children for?" Qin Wanyou asked, puzzled.

Murong Xiao didn't know either.

"If you can't figure it out, then don't think about it for now," Qin Wanyou said. "I went to the Right Prime Minister's residence to investigate. That old man is indeed not there, but they found out that someone went to the East Courtyard. They might suspect you, so be careful recently."

Murong Xiao nodded, though he was actually quite puzzled.

Before Qin Wanyou left, she asked, "Was the serious injury you suffered before caused by that old man?"

Qin Wanyou was stunned, recalling which injury he was referring to.

Seeing that she didn't answer, Murong Xiao took it as a tacit agreement and asked, "Why did they treat you like that?"

On the day of Qin Xiang's wedding banquet, I discovered that everyone in the Right Prime Minister's residence seemed to harbor hostility towards Qin Wanyou.

After a moment of silence, Qin Wanyou gave a cold laugh. "I also want to ask them why they are so ruthless?"

Seeing Qin Wanyou's self-deprecating expression, Murong Xiao regretted asking the question and said with heartache, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Qin Wanyou chuckled lightly, "It's alright, I no longer care how they treat me." Then she changed the subject, "Your Highness must be tired today, please go and rest."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards his own yard.

Murong Xiao only walked towards the study after Qin Wanyou's figure had disappeared from sight.

When Qin Wanyou returned to her room, she thought carefully about what Murong Xiao had said about Qingshan Village, and at the same time, she did not hide it from Shuangling.

After learning the situation, Shuangling sobbed and said, "I know that bully must have someone protecting him, otherwise how could he dare to bully men and women so arrogantly? I have reported it to the authorities before, but it always ended up being ignored."

Qin Wanyou didn't know how to comfort Shuangling, "The Huang family probably can't escape this time. If they do, our Ghost Pavilion will just come knocking on their door."

Shuangling was deeply moved after hearing this. "Thank you, Miss. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't be Shuangling today."

Qin Wanyou said, "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Go out and have Jinling investigate what exactly happened in Qingshan Village. I have a feeling that things aren't simple."

"Yes, Miss." After hearing the order, Shuangling found an excuse to leave the palace.

The second prince, summoned to the palace by the emperor, thought he had done something wrong. However, considering that he hadn't made any mistakes recently and even had some good news, he wasn't worried at all.

But after hearing what the emperor said, he was indignant. How could there be such a heartless and insane person?

Then I heard the Emperor entrust this matter to me, and I was a little confused. Usually, it was entrusted to the Crown Prince or the First Prince. Why was it entrusted to me this time?

The Emperor knew his son's temperament well, "The Crown Prince is preparing for his wedding soon, so you should help him with some of the work. As for your elder brother, let him take care of his household affairs first."

The Second Prince solemnly accepted the task and went to Consort Liang's palace to pay his respects before leaving the palace.

Consort Liang, seeing her son return to the palace so soon, assumed he had caused some trouble. Somewhat worried, she asked, "Jing'er, why did you suddenly come to the palace? Did you anger your father?"

Murong Jing reassured her, "Mother, no. Father Emperor gave me a task to handle."

When Consort Liang heard that it wasn't her foolish son who was in trouble, she breathed a sigh of relief. "What did your father send you to do?"

The second prince briefly described the case: "It's about dealing with a case of buying and selling children and infants into the mountains."

Consort Liang was slightly worried after learning about it. "Well, then go and come back quickly, and be careful."

Murong Jing replied, "Yes, I came to tell you that Yu Xi is pregnant. I will be leaving the city with the people from the Dali Temple in a few days, and I won't have time to go back and tell her. Could you please send someone to my residence to take care of and comfort her?"

Consort Liang became excited upon hearing the word "pregnant," exclaiming, "Really pregnant?"

Murong Jing nodded, "Yu Xi said that her pregnancy is still in its early stages, so we shouldn't make a fuss about it yet. Please take care of her for me these next few days."

Consort Liang readily agreed, "Alright, alright, go in peace, I will take good care of him."

Murong Jing sensed something was off about what he was hearing, but seeing his attendants urging him on, he said something to Consort Liang and hurriedly left.

By the time Consort Liang emerged from her joy, her son had already walked far away.

Consort Liang then thought, "Wait a minute, isn't dealing with child trafficking usually the responsibility of the government? Why are the Dali Temple and the prince handling it? Unless there's some big secret behind this."

Consort Liang became worried again, as her son was not particularly outstanding in martial arts or spiritual power, and his mind was sometimes sharp and sometimes dull.

After some thought, Consort Liang sent her head maid to investigate the case, while also instructing her personal maid, Lin, to inform the Second Prince's wife that the Second Prince had gone on business and would return in a few days, so there was no need to worry. She also asked Lin to stay at the Second Prince's residence to take care of the Second Prince's wife.

A short while later, Xiangyu, the head maid of Consort Liang, returned with a solemn expression.