My wife wants a divorce; if she ruins my life, I'll leave.

Song Chang found Madam Ma's words reasonable, so he put aside his doubts and casually said, "Didn't you already start preparing Tian'er's dowry? Just add some fashionable clothes and jewelry, wouldn't that be enough?"

Mrs. Ma said irritably, "I'm the one who handles all the arrangements, you just talk the talk!"

"Of course you should be in charge of this!" Song Chang glared at her; this was what the head of the household should do.

When Ma called Song Chang over, it wasn't just to talk about the wedding. She had to suppress her anger and try to calm herself down, saying, "Although the wedding date hasn't been set yet, we need to prepare everything. The money in the account is definitely not enough. How can we make it without money?"

When the family divided the property, the second branch of the family took Jinxiu Cloth Shop, which provided for their monthly expenses. However, in order to prevent Madam Ma from embezzling, Song Chang only gave the household three hundred taels of silver, which was just enough. He pocketed the rest.

"I'll have the steward send you a thousand taels in a bit, that should be enough, right?"

“A thousand taels?” Ma scoffed. “What can a thousand taels do? The wine alone will cost more than a thousand taels.”

Song Chang bluntly exposed his thoughts: "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Right now, the Wang family is just interested in getting married. The date hasn't been set yet, the betrothal gifts haven't been sent, and there's no rush to prepare anything."

Madam Ma nodded and shut up, lest she lose the thousand taels.

Upon hearing this, Song Tian wondered how much the Wang family would give as betrothal gifts and how much her family would provide as dowry. She excitedly opened her storeroom and began organizing her stored items.

Upon taking stock, it was discovered that she didn't have much jewelry. She had acquired a few sets of headdresses in the past year or two, and a few sets were taken from the storeroom. The rest were mostly single hairpins and ornaments, none of which were particularly valuable.

She was instantly terrified. If she wore these old pieces of jewelry, the Wang family would definitely laugh at her!

No, we need to buy some more!

Without saying a word, Song Tian immediately ran to Rongxi Courtyard, clamoring for Madam Ma to take her to buy new jewelry. Madam Ma, unable to bear the nagging any longer, had no choice but to take her to Cuilu Pavilion.

The thousand taels of silver were gone in less than a day, barely warmed up, and Madam Ma kept grumbling about it the whole way.

Song Tian bought two sets of the latest headdresses from the capital, but she was still not satisfied. She pouted and said, "I only bought two sets of headdresses, and even with what I had before, I don't have ten sets."

"Aren't ten sets enough? How many headscarves do you need to wear with just one head?"

Song Tian dodged Madam Ma's fingers and said irritably, "With a family like the Wang family, they inevitably have to attend banquets often. I can't wear the same thing every time!"

That's quite true. The Wang family has been around for hundreds of years, and there are countless branches. Add to that relatives and friends, weddings, funerals, banquets, and outings, and the activities one can participate in are probably too numerous to count.

Madam Ma rolled her eyes and hesitated, saying, "There's no need to buy so much. There's also the betrothal gift and the dowry for our relatives."

That's right, the Wang family's betrothal gifts certainly wouldn't be lacking in headwear.

Song Tian then shut her mouth and began to admire the hairpin in her hand.

Madam Ma gasped in distress; the money she had just received was almost gone!

Song Tian said nonchalantly, "You can just ask your father for some more money."

"I barely managed to get this out, and you want more? Your father definitely won't give it to me!" Madam Ma cursed angrily, "Besides giving it to that slut, it's just for buying some worthless calligraphy and paintings!"

Upon hearing this, Song Tian immediately had an idea.

My mother may not like those paintings and calligraphy, but the Wang family might. I can ask my father for a few genuine pieces and add them to my dowry to make the Wang family think more highly of me.

Two days after the Mid-Autumn Festival, news spread from the palace that the Emperor had caught a cold.

A cold is not a serious illness. If it were an ordinary person, a few doses of herbal medicine to induce sweating would be enough. But His Majesty is of noble birth, so it cannot be taken lightly.

The head and judges of the Imperial Medical Academy were all stationed in the Qianqing Palace, not daring to be careless in the slightest.

Every hour, the Imperial Physician, the Chief Physician, and the Imperial Physician who was an expert in typhoid fever would take turns to examine the Emperor's pulse. Even so, the Emperor remained in a daze and slept for two days.

The Empress tried to block the news and forbade the princes from entering the palace to visit, but while she could stop people from leaving, she couldn't stop the news from spreading.

Just two days later, news spread that the emperor was seriously ill and had died.

The princes outside the palace each had their own thoughts, and they pulled aside their chief secretaries and advisors to discuss countermeasures, some even starting to make arrangements.

King Qi was no exception. He summoned his troops to prepare and secretly sent people to make contacts, eager to seek more help.

His Majesty's illness came on suddenly and fiercely; even though the palace tried to keep it a secret, the news eventually got out.

In the capital, the families of officials and nobles all lived behind closed doors, canceling all banquets that could be canceled. However, some families were even more lively in front of their doors, with carriages and horses coming and going in an endless stream.

Yu Yan sat calmly in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, handling messages sent from various places every day. He seemed relaxed, but in reality, he was very nervous.

If anything were to happen to His Majesty, I fear a bloodbath would erupt in the capital!

Looking at the messages sent up by his servants, he felt that even after the emperor recovered, he might fall ill from anger.

Qi Sheng clicked his tongue twice, "This is even more exciting than a play on stage."

Yu Yan glanced at him sideways, and he immediately fell silent.

Just as the officials were filled with anxiety, the emperor's illness gradually improved. After regaining consciousness, he resumed attending court after only two days of rest.

When he saw the information that Yu Yan had collected, he felt his head throbbing even more.

The Imperial Study was extremely quiet. Although there were dozens of eunuchs attending to him, it was so quiet that not a single breath could be heard.

After a long while, the Emperor finally closed the letters.

Although there was not a sound, everyone in the hall secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

When the emperor is angry, corpses will float for thousands of miles.

The princes, who had been quite active due to the emperor's serious illness, were not as relaxed as the eunuchs.

The Emperor was unconscious for two days, and everyone thought he wouldn't wake up. But he woke up and started handling state affairs just two days later, so fast that some people didn't have time to clean up his mess.

King Qi was one of them.

He mobilized all the soldiers in the prefecture and contacted Chen Bojin of Donglin Guard, just in case.

But His Majesty has always been healthy, so this time there should be nothing serious. King Qi prayed this in his heart, not because he wanted His Majesty to live a long life, but because he currently had no military power. If anything unexpected happened, he would become a fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of others.

He had been fighting with the Crown Prince for many years, and it had become a life-or-death struggle. In order to survive, he had to make some careful plans.

The Crown Prince commands 30,000 soldiers of the Yinghe Guard, while he has no soldiers at all, and he cannot fully trust Chen Bojin of the Donglin Guard.

He desperately needed military power, but the garrisons near the capital could not be easily moved because they were too close to the capital and would be easily detected by the authorities. That left only the armies in the south and on the border.

He has already bribed two generals in Lanzhou. If he brings down Meng Xin and installs his own people in power, he will have hundreds of thousands of troops under his command. At that point, he could not only control the crown prince, but even the emperor himself…

King Qi was still plotting, completely unaware that his thoughts had already been guessed.