Regent, please maintain your aloof image.

Youlan Courtyard

The next day, Su Qianrou was having lunch.

Juxia came in and said, "Miss, General Liu has passed away."

Upon hearing this, Su Qianrou paused, "When did this happen?"

"One hour ago."

Su Qianrou felt only regret. General Liu was a good man, but his life was not good. He lost his son in his early years, his wife in middle age, and in his old age, he had to bury his son. It was truly unfortunate.

But the root cause is his failure to properly educate his son; otherwise, the Liu family would not have fallen to this state.

Regent's House

When Zhang Taohong arrived at Yanxi Palace, she was overjoyed to see the vast palace, and her smile was completely undisguised.

Zhu Xin was sweeping the floor when she saw her coming. She immediately stepped forward and said, "Greetings, Aunt Zhang. May I ask what brings you here, Aunt Zhang?"

"It's none of your business. Just do your own thing," he said, and then walked inside.

Zhu Xin hurriedly stopped her, "Aunt Zhang, please wait. The Prince said that no one is allowed to enter Yanxi Palace without his permission."

"Get out of the way," Zhang Taohong said sternly.

Zhu Xin stood firmly in front of her, showing no fear whatsoever.

Zhang Taohong didn't hold back and pushed her away.

Zhu Xin staggered a couple of steps, but thankfully didn't fall.

Zhang Taohong ignored her and walked straight inside.

Zhu Xin quickly caught up and blocked her way again, saying, "Aunt Zhang, you can't go in."

Zhang Taohong could no longer contain her anger and pushed her to the ground, yelling, "Get out of my way, you idiot!" Then she walked past her and strode into the house.

Ignoring the pain, Zhu Xin quickly got up from the ground and followed.

Inside the room, Zhang Taohong noticed that many of the furnishings were missing and angrily said, "Where are all these things in this room? How come so many things are missing?" Just then, Zhu Xin walked in and said, "Did you steal them? How dare you steal things from the Prince's mansion?"

"We don't."

"No, then where did everything in this room go? Don't think I don't know. There's a vase over there, and a screen over there. You say you didn't steal it, then tell me, where did everything go?"

"The princess has been taken away."

"What? What right does she have to take it? She's already divorced from the prince. What right does she have to take anything from the prince's mansion?"

"That was the princess's dowry, so naturally she had to take it with her."

"You said those things were her dowry."

"right".

"How is that possible? Those things don't look cheap at all. How could they be her dowry?"

"Leaving aside the fact that the princess's father is the Minister of Revenue, the princess herself is also a princess. Not to mention that the princess's dowry was a full 120 loads. Those things are simply insignificant to the princess."

"One hundred and twenty loads," Zhang Taohong was greatly shocked, thinking to herself, how rich must they be to have such a large dowry.

He then walked around and said, "If the people of Zhangjia Village knew that I live in such a big palace, they would be so envious." As he spoke, he walked to the chessboard and picked up a chess piece at random.

Zhu Xin hurriedly said, "Aunt Zhang, the Prince said that the things in Yanxi Palace cannot be moved and must be kept as they are."

"From now on, this Yanxi Palace will be my place. I can do whatever I want with it. What, you have a problem with that?"

Zhu Xin was puzzled as to why the Prince had given Yanxi Palace to Consort Zhang, given Consort Zhang's status.

Chunlan was helpless. When she learned that Zhang Taohong wanted to move into Yanxi Palace, she was very surprised. Everyone knew that with her status, it was impossible for her to live here. But she didn't know that, and to make matters worse, she wouldn't listen to advice. She said that she was now the only woman of the prince and that as long as she asked, the prince would definitely agree.

Chunlan was speechless, wondering where she got the nerve to be so confident.

Zhang Taohong didn't care what they were thinking and casually threw the chess pieces onto the chessboard, thus disrupting the original game.

Seeing this, Zhu Xin panicked, thinking, "It's over."

Just then, Mu Jinchen walked in. Seeing them there, he said unhappily, "What are you doing here?"

"Greetings, Your Highness."

Mu Jinchen walked over, saw that the chess pieces had been moved, and angrily said, "Who did this?"

Zhu Xin hurriedly knelt down to beg for forgiveness, "Your Highness, please forgive me, it was this servant who failed to stop Aunt Zhang."

Mu Jinchen looked at Zhang Taohong and questioned, "Why are you here? And who gave you permission to move these chess pieces?"

The imposing aura emanating from him was already chilling, and his dark expression only intensified the fear. Therefore, Zhang Taohong timidly said, "I...I was just looking around."

"Just looking around, is this a place you can come to? You even dare to touch things here without permission, who gave you the guts?"

Zhang Taohong was terrified because she hadn't expected him to be so angry.

Regardless of what she was doing there, Mu Jinchen said bluntly, "This is not a place for you. You are not allowed to come here again."

Although Zhang Taohong was afraid, she couldn't help but say, "Your Highness, now that you and the Princess are divorced, this Yanxi Palace is just sitting empty. Why don't you let me stay here? My Yunluo Courtyard is not only small but also far away, which is really inconvenient."

Mu Jinchen never expected that she would set her sights on Yanxi Palace, and he was furious. "What kind of identity do you have that you dare to live in Yanxi Palace?"

Hearing this, Zhang Taohong was heartbroken and felt wronged. "Your Highness, how can you say such a thing to me? My status is indeed low, but it's not my fault. Besides, I am now your woman. Are you not even willing to give me a place to live?"

“What Aunt Zhang said makes no sense. You are living in Yunluo Courtyard now, and as for Yanxi Palace, it is the residence of the Princess Consort. How could you possibly live there?” Yingfeng said.

"Now that the princess has left, why can't I?"

Yingfeng really wanted to roll her eyes at her; how could she not understand human language?

Mu Jinchen was too lazy to waste any more words with her. "Forget about Yanxi Palace. Also, you are not allowed to step into Yanxi Palace again. If you feel that you are not comfortable living in Yunluo Courtyard, you are free to go back to Zhangjia Village. I will not stop you."

"Your Highness," Zhang Taohong wanted to say something more.

Mu Jinchen didn't give her a chance at all, and said sternly, "Get out."

Zhang Taohong was still unwilling to give up, but Chunlan hurriedly pulled her out, saying, "Auntie, let's go back first."

Mu Jinchen looked at Zhu Xin and said calmly, "Get up. If there is a next time, you will no longer need to serve in Yanxi Palace."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Then, Mu Jinchen looked at the chessboard and placed the pieces back in their original positions.

Zhu Xin looked at Yue Mei, and the two exchanged glances, understanding each other without saying a word.

The two were originally palace maids, but were later selected by the Empress Dowager and sent to the Regent's Palace. There were three others with them: Yun Cui, Bi Yue, and Hui Xiang. However, the three of them had already been dealt with because of their impure intentions.

As for the two women, they had no ill intentions and thus remained obedient, which is why they were able to stay.

Just now, when Yuemei saw Zhang Taohong trying to break into Yanxi Palace, she secretly went to invite Mu Jinchen, thus averting danger.