First annul the engagement, then sever ties with the empress; the empress reigns supreme.

"Of course we need to." Gu Junxi didn't stand on ceremony. She was tied to her mother and Uncle Qin. If something happened to her, her mother and Uncle Qin would not get away with it, and even the Prime Minister's mansion would not escape.

Gu Junxi revealed that she and Mu Lingye were planning a rebellion.

"Emperor Sheng is becoming increasingly absurd, indulging in alchemy and women all day long. He is especially harsh on A-Ling. If she doesn't resist, she will die anyway, so why not take the initiative? A-Ling's departure from the capital this time is not only to find her master to remove the curse, but also to secretly gather troops, preparing to break through the capital and the palace at any time."

"Xixi, you've grown up. Your mother supports you." Ning Hanshuang remained calm after hearing Gu Junxi's words and patted Gu Junxi's shoulder with satisfaction.

"You don't object? There are risks involved. Besides, our Ningyuan Marquis's family has always upheld loyalty and filial piety as its family tradition." Gu Junxi didn't expect Ning Hanshuang to agree to her decision so quickly.

Ning Hanshuang clenched her fist and slammed it on the table: "I have wanted to rebel against this kind of court for a long time. The loyalty of our Ningyuan Marquis family is to the people of Shengguo, not to the incompetent emperor."

Recently, many people have offered advice to Qingyanzi about raising the Five Poisons. The Emperor ignored them all and even reprimanded him severely. Afterwards, he allowed Qingyanzi to arbitrarily suppress those ministers who offered advice.

In retaliation, Qingyanzi kidnapped several daughters of officials and brought them into his mansion, ostensibly for alchemy, but in reality to keep them for himself.

What nonsense about being a sage! Qingyanzi has already given up and stopped trying to hide his true colors, revealing all his ugliness to others.

The court officials were filled with apprehension, and no one dared to criticize Qingyanzi anymore.

Some people even offered their daughters to Qingyanzi in order to curry favor with him.

Or they might try to send their daughter into the palace and present her to the emperor.

Gu Junxi was pleased that her mother had such awareness. Loyalty and filial piety were important, but they should not be blind. She turned to look at Zuo Chengfeng and Mu Qingfu.

"Brother-in-law, go back and talk to the Left Prime Minister. Do you want to come along? Cousin, Uncle is a wealthy and idle man. Whether the dynasty changes or not, it won't affect your Prince Su's mansion. Just pretend you didn't hear anything you just heard."

Zuo Chengfeng nodded solemnly.

Mu Qingfu rolled her eyes: "Gu Xiaoxi, what do you take our Prince Su's mansion for? You all want to rebel, how can we possibly protect ourselves? Enough nonsense, I will go back and discuss this with my father and mother."

"Let's go." Mu Qingfu hurriedly pulled Zuo Chengfeng away.

Gu Junxi stayed at the Ningyuan Marquis's residence. To put on an act, everyone in the Ningyuan Marquis's mansion wore a gloomy face, appearing as if shrouded in an eerie atmosphere.

Gu Junxi never showed herself, creating the illusion that she was immersed in the pain of losing her child. In reality, she secretly studied Gu techniques behind closed doors every day and had people closely monitor the outside world.

Long Yao injured her leg during the horsemanship competition among the four nations. Fortunately, the worst outcome did not occur. After she regained consciousness, she examined the wound again.

Although the injury was indeed serious, with careful care, the patient is now able to get out of bed and move around, and will surely recover fully in time.

After learning that Gu Junxi had lost her child, Long Yao came to Gu Junxi's house several times to look for her, but Gu Junxi refused to see her. But Long Yao was stubborn; if Gu Junxi refused to see her, she would come to her house every day.

Judging from her posture, if Gu Junxi doesn't show up, she'll keep coming.

Gu Junxi eventually gave in and allowed Long Yao to enter.

Gu Junxi, dressed in a plain-colored dress, stood on the steps of the garden pavilion waiting.

Unexpectedly, only Long Yao was reported when the gatekeeper entered the mansion, but Feng Wu was added afterward.

Long Yao and Feng Wu walked side by side, neither giving way to the other.

Long Yao walked in front of Feng Wu for a while, and was pushed to the back by Feng Wu for a while.

Gu Junxi glanced at Xi'er.

Xi'er understood that Gu Junxi was asking why Feng Wu had appeared.

She quickly stepped forward and whispered in Gu Junxi's ear, "When I went out, the Sixth Prince's Consort came to see me. She was very sharp-tongued, and I couldn't argue with her, so I had to let her come in with me."

Gu Junxi nodded almost imperceptibly, indicating that she understood.

Xi'er retreated to one side.

In order to make the performance more realistic, Gu Junxi specially adjusted her makeup to make herself look pale, as if she was seriously ill, when she had Xi'er lure people away.

Long Yao's eyes lit up when she saw Gu Junxi. She quickly walked a few steps to Gu Junxi and, as always, affectionately took Gu Junxi's arm: "Sister Xi, I've finally seen you. Why is your face so pale... the child..."

Long Yao glanced at Gu Junxi's belly, about to ask if the baby was really gone. Before he could finish speaking, Feng Wu grabbed his arm.

Long Yao looked at Feng Wu with a puzzled expression.

Feng Wu pushed Long Yao behind her, only glancing briefly at Gu Junxi's stomach before her gaze fell on Gu Junxi's pale face.

She said with concern, "I heard that the Crown Princess was not feeling well, so I came to visit her. Everything has its own destiny, so the Crown Princess should not be too sad."

Gu Junxi almost doubted that she was seeing things; she actually saw genuine concern in Feng Wu's eyes.

Feng Wu tried to scheme against her several times, but unexpectedly, when she was truly down on her luck, she actually developed some genuine feelings for her.

Although it was genuine, Gu Junxi could tell.

Feng Wu's visit today was probably also to test her.

Gu Junxi clenched her fist and pressed it against her mouth, feigning a weak cough, her voice soft: "Thank you for your concern, Sixth Prince's Consort. I'm fine, I can manage... cough cough..."

Looking like this, it's not like she can hold on.

Feng Wu's eyes darkened, and her smile became somewhat forced; her former cleverness was no longer useful.

She pondered the words for a while, racking her brains to persuade Gu Jun in the same way.

"As long as you can hold on, there's still a long road ahead. Sometimes you don't need to be too stubborn. A short pain is worse than a long one. It's not a bad thing to realize this now."

Feng Wu was talking to Gu Junxi, and Long Yao tried to interrupt several times but had no chance.

After a brief chat, Gu Junxi deliberately feigned fatigue.

Feng Wu dragged Long Yao, who still wanted to stay, away, saying, "Your Highness, please rest well. We won't disturb you any longer. His Highness the Crown Prince is not in the capital right now. If you want to find someone to chat with or relax, you can send someone to the Sixth Prince's residence to find me."

Gu Junxi nodded and asked Xi'er to see them out.

After leaving the Ningyuan Marquis's residence, Long Yao finally broke free from Feng Wu's grasp.

Long Yao glared angrily at Feng Wu: "Why are you holding onto me like this? Didn't you see that I still have something to say to Sister Xi? Also, you keep interrupting me. Do you know how impolite that is?"

The wind rustled through the prince's and princess's robes, her posture elegant and dignified, every gesture flawless. She coldly glanced at Long Yao, as if trying to see through his very soul.

"In my life, I despise two kinds of people the most. The first kind is those who take advantage of their stupidity to speak recklessly and trample on other people's wounds. The second kind is those who are scheming and intelligent but love to play the fool. Princess Long Yao, so no matter which kind you are, I don't like you."

"What do you mean?" Long Yao blinked, not understanding.

Feng Wu glanced at her with disdain and pointed out, "Knowing that the Crown Princess just had a miscarriage, you insist on bringing up the child repeatedly. Isn't that just rubbing salt into the Crown Princess's wounds?"

"The reason I am hostile to the Crown Princess is because we have different stances. But ever since she saved me, I have decided that I will never scheme against her again. Even if we are to fight, it will be an open and aboveboard fight. Anyone who wants to harm her is my enemy. Do you understand?"

Feng Wu left a string of words behind, lifted her skirt, and got into the carriage parked to the side.