Only after being reborn did I realize that I was the white moonlight of a powerful minister.

Peng's body was finally found three days later.

The mass grave, with disheveled hair, even the Xie family dared not say that they found him in the mass grave. They could only say that he died suddenly from illness, otherwise, if word got out, people would not know what to say.

But within the Xie family, everyone was guessing who did it.

“It must be Xie Bohuai. There can’t be anyone else but him!” Xie Boming said to the old man, his eyes red. “Only he could kidnap Mother in the middle of the night.”

Xie Zhongyuan was pale; he hadn't expected things to turn out this way. "How dare you lie to him?"

A lump formed in Xie Zhongyuan's throat, and he couldn't vent it for a long time. They could only suffer in silence; no one could tell them.

"Mother told me to find any skeleton, how could I tell if it was a man or a woman? Who would have thought Xie Bohuai would be so ruthless? Father, you have to think of something, we can't let Xie Bohuai continue to be so rampant, my elder brother is still in jail." At this point, Xie Boming no longer wanted to fight with his elder brother, because he knew that his enemy was Xie Bohuai. If he didn't kill Xie Bohuai, even if he got all the family property, he wouldn't have the fortune to enjoy it.

"What can I do?" Xie Zhongyuan sighed. "If he can do something like this, what else is there to be afraid of? You give the order: from now on, everyone should keep a low profile and no one should go out. Just endure it. The Emperor's health is getting worse and worse, and nobody knows how many days he has left."

Xie Boming understood his father's meaning, "That's true. Once the new emperor ascends the throne, who can tolerate such an arrogant minister as Xie Bohuai?"

But Xie Boming was afraid he wouldn't live to see that day. While he and his son were talking, an imperial decree arrived: Xie Boyuan was guilty of corruption and was to be exiled to Gansu. The Xie family was also ordered to make up for the money, or the local officials would come and confiscate their property.

Xie Bohuai took action against the Xie family as soon as he became regent, letting the people of the capital know that there was no possibility of reconciliation between Xie Bohuai and the Xie family.

Furthermore, Xie Bohuai acted very quickly; the day after the imperial decree arrived at the Xie residence, Xie Boyuan was exiled.

Princess Cheng suddenly became the daughter of a disgraced official, making her life in the Prince Cheng's residence even more difficult.

King Cheng now deeply regrets his actions. He used to think that the Xie family was of high social standing, and with Xie Bohuai as his ally, he would surely ascend the throne if he married a Xie family daughter. But he never imagined that Xie Bohuai would hate the entire Xie family to the core.

“People in the capital are saying that Xie Bohuai is cold-blooded and ruthless, and that he’s about to take action against the rest of the Xie family. Lingxian, we’ve been married for years, can’t you understand me?” Prince Cheng came to see him.

Xie Lingxian's face froze. Did Prince Cheng really want to divorce her?

"I... Your Highness and I are betrothed by the Emperor," Xie Lingxian said softly.

With her father becoming a disgraced official, the Xie family was on the verge of collapse, and Xie Lingxian was genuinely afraid that Prince Cheng would want a divorce.

Once divorced, Xie Lingxian will only have one way out: death.

After her father's accident, the Xie family approached her several times, hoping that Prince Cheng would intervene and rescue her father. She did indeed approach Prince Cheng, and he tried to help, but in the end, he almost got himself arrested.

"Don't overthink it. We've been married for many years." Even if Prince Cheng wanted a divorce, he wouldn't do it now, as it would damage his reputation. "It's because Minister Yang of the Ministry of War has a daughter, and I want to marry her as a concubine."

Upon hearing this, Xie Lingxian breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it was unreasonable, she could marry as many concubines as she wanted.

"When would Your Highness like to hold the wedding?" Xie Lingxian asked.

"Three days from now, the sooner the better." King Cheng urgently needs people, so it must be done quickly.

“It’s so rushed. Even if we go to the palace to ask for permission, it will take time. Your Highness, please don’t misunderstand. I would like to have another sister to serve you, but it’s really impossible to do it within three days. We also have to give the Yang family some face, don’t you think?” Xie Lingxian carefully observed Prince Cheng’s expression.

When the King of Cheng heard the Yang family mentioned at the end, he finally relented, "Then let's wait a few more days, the sooner the better. I trust you to handle things, Lingxian. This matter cannot be delayed, you know what will happen if it's dragged on. When I succeed, you will be the most honored woman."

Faced with King Cheng's promise, Xie Lingxian could not feel happy. Given her current situation, she really didn't know if she could become empress after King Cheng ascended the throne.

But who wouldn't want to be empress?

Xie Lingxian also wanted to get her revenge. Anyway, Prince Cheng would have many women. Whether there were one or two more, it didn't matter to her, as long as she was the princess.

After Prince Cheng left, Xie Lingxian sent someone to the palace to deliver a letter. Taking a concubine required being recorded in the ancestral register and could not be done casually; she still had to request an imperial decree from the palace.

As soon as the old nanny left, another maid came in and said that Madam Xie had politely declined her invitation.

The Third Madam Xie mentioned by the maid is Ye Wanning. Xie Lingxian had previously taken the initiative to befriend Ye Wanning for her father's sake.

"Those two are really alike. Just wait and see, I don't believe Xie Bohuai can keep his power forever!" She shouldn't wait until Xie Bohuai and Ye Wanning are in trouble, otherwise she'll be the first to kick them while they're down!

On the other hand, Ye Wanning not only rejected Xie Lingxian's invitation, but also declined invitations from others.

After marrying Xie Bohuai, Ye Wanning received a constant stream of invitations, but Xie Bohuai said that it was not a good time for socializing, as someone might try to kill them at some banquet. Therefore, Ye Wanning declined all invitations, citing poor health.

Ye Wanning didn't want to attend those boring banquets anyway, where you had to juggle social niceties and deal with a bunch of insincere people—it was all so pointless. She'd rather stay home and help Le Ge'er with his studies, which would give her more free time.

"Don't let Le-ge eat too many pastries today, otherwise he won't be able to eat dinner," Ye Wanning instructed Yunzhi.

"Don't worry, I've already spoken to Chunxi." Yunzhi glanced out the window. "It's a nice day, and not so cold anymore. Would you like to go for a walk, Madam?"

Ye Wanning agreed, but as soon as she got up, she heard the death knell toll.

At this point, there was only one possibility—the emperor had passed away.