The Emperor, with more men than women, made me his mistress.

After agreeing to set off together tomorrow, Shao Qi, seeing that Yue Li also liked trying new things, asked, "Yue Li, are you planning to go to the night market tonight? How about we go together?"

Shao Qi's words made Yue Li pause in her play with the water glass.

She planned to go to the night market tonight, but not just for fun; she wanted to find out about Yuan Xinyi's current situation.

Given the high regard people have for women in this world, if Yuan Xinyi and her group were to return to Qingyuan Prefecture injured, it would definitely become the talk of the town.

Moreover, Yuan Xinyi, being a woman, was in a state of severe injury and unconsciousness.

After Yuan Xinyi returned to Qingyuan Mansion, she would definitely need to seek medical treatment, right?

Without a doubt, there will be plenty of rumors about Yuan Xinyi's injury tonight in the bustling night market.

She wanted to find out more about the aftermath of Yuan Xinyi's injury at the night market.

With current medical technology, without the help of a highly skilled specialist, Yuan Xinyi's broken lumbar vertebrae are definitely incurable. Even the most skilled doctor can only alleviate the pain that will leave Yuan Xinyi bedridden for the rest of her life.

What she wanted to hear was that Yuan Xinyi's family had searched for renowned doctors but still couldn't cure her.

It's a bit of a shame that we can't see Yuan Xinyi's repeated hopes and disappointments.

But thinking about how Yuan Xinyi used to be so arrogant in front of me, thinking she could control everything about me, and now she can only lie in bed in pain and collapse, it still feels very satisfying.

This is why she didn't kill Yuan Xinyi this time. Given the situation, if she wanted to kill Yuan Xinyi, she only needed to slightly shift Yuan Xinyi's body when she used her spiritual power to support her, so that the broken wooden stick would be aimed at Yuan Xinyi's neck instead of her lumbar spine.

When that broken wooden stick actually pierced Yuan Xinyi's neck, she probably wouldn't even be able to let out a scream before she was completely dead.

However, she wanted to see Yuan Xinyi suffer a fate worse than death, living a miserable and wretched life, rather than dying cleanly and decisively.

This is also retribution for Yuan Xinyi's attempt to marry her off to the six brothers of the Shang family in Liupu Village, hoping to see her suffer a life worse than death.

Yue Li paused for less than two seconds before smiling and nodding in agreement, "Okay! It'll be more fun if everyone goes together."

Anyway, she was just going to gather information, not to investigate, so it didn't matter whether there were other people around her.

After answering Shao Qi's question, she turned to Jin Chenyuan sitting next to her and asked, "Brother Chenyuan, would you like to come along?"

Jin Chenyuan: ...

Given his status and the purpose of their visit, it was inconvenient for him to frequently appear in front of outsiders.

Even though they had all disguised themselves, who knew that someone who knew them well in Kyoto might happen to be here and recognize them?

However, he didn't want to miss the opportunity to spend time with Yue Li. After all, in his 32 years of life, she was the first woman he had ever felt a liking for and didn't dislike.

"Fortunately, nothing happened that night, so I went with everyone."

................................................

At the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), it was already dark, with only the bright moonlight hanging in the sky. Candles had been lit in the inn, and lanterns were hung on the streets for illumination.

Yue Li and her group strolled through the bustling night market of Qingyuan Prefecture.

At this moment, Yue Li was carrying a fox-shaped lantern and walking between Shao Qi and Jin Chenyuan.

This was the only fox-shaped lantern she saw when she passed by a lantern stall.

Seeing that the lantern had a unique and novel design, Yue Li bought it.

"This is the first time I've ever seen someone make a lantern shaped like a fox. And I must say, it's really beautiful." Yue Li picked up the fox-shaped lantern in her hand, looking at it from left to right, clearly admiring it.

Seeing that Yue Li really liked the lantern, Shao Qi said, "If Yue Li likes to look at lanterns, when you go to Kyoto, during the Lantern Festival on the 15th of July, several streets will be hung with lanterns of novel designs. Not to mention lanterns shaped like foxes, there are also lanterns shaped like rabbits, lotuses, peacocks... In recent years, Kyoto has also seen a rise in the production of large lanterns. The largest lantern is as tall as a two-story building when it is hung up."

"Two stories high? Will it look good hanging there?"

After hearing Shao Qi's words, Yue Li suddenly felt that the lantern in her hand was no longer appealing.

In fact, what kind of lanterns hadn't she seen in modern times?

However, because he had spent too long in the cultivation world, his memories of the modern world had become somewhat blurred, which is why he found it rather novel to see such lanterns today.

Even if her memory was hazy, she knew that she had never seen a lantern that was two stories high in modern times.

"They're beautiful, of course they're very beautiful, but those large lanterns are specially made by various shops to attract customers. Some have paintings on the lantern surface, mostly landscapes. Others are made by stringing together small lanterns to form a large lantern, and these lanterns are also very popular..." Shao Qi introduced Yue Li to the lively atmosphere of the Kyoto Lantern Festival on July 15th and the special features of the lanterns.

Jin Chenyuan watched as Shao Qi piqued Yue Li's curiosity about the Kyoto Lantern Festival on July 15th. He smiled and didn't correct Shao Qi, saying that the large lanterns were only for people to admire and not suitable for people to take home.

After all, he hoped that Yue Li could stay in Kyoto for a longer period of time after arriving there.

Moreover, people can only develop feelings for each other by spending more time together. Otherwise, after Yue Li leaves Kyoto, he doesn't know when he will be able to see her again.

As Yue Li listened to Shao Qi's description of the lively Kyoto Lantern Festival on July 15th, she suddenly heard the voices of several men discussing something at a stall.

Of course, what caught Yue Li's attention was the person they were talking about, and the person Yue Li was going to find out about tonight: Madam Yuan, Yuan Xinyi.

Yue Li knew that the Madam Yuan they were talking about was Yuan Xinyi.

What she found out last night was that Yuan Xinyi's four husbands were all from Qingyuan Prefecture and were all merchants. Among them, the richest and most powerful husband was named Zhong Qishuo.

Zhong Qishuo's family was considered quite prominent in Qingyuan Prefecture. They were not only well-known wealthy merchants, but Zhong Qishuo himself also had influence in the prefectural government.

As for why others refer to Yuan Xinyi as Mrs. Yuan?

In this world, where a woman can marry multiple husbands, people address a married woman as "Madam," and they also add her surname before "Madam."