The banquet dispersed, and Xue Shizi had something to discuss with Zhong Sunqian, so he had Shi Qing send Xue Huayu back to the Jin Ning Hou Fu's separate courtyard. It seemed that everyone was staying home to celebrate the holiday, and as the night deepened, there were few pedestrians on the streets, especially in the residential areas of the nobles. On the vast bluestone pavement, only the occasional shadow of the moon playing with the clouds could be seen.

  Shi Qing and Mo Ran accompanied her to the Jin Ning Hou Fu's detached courtyard, standing in front of the solemn vermilion lacquered door with gold trim. He rhythmically knocked on the tightly closed door, while the little servant inside quickly opened the large gate. The colorful Kongming lanterns floated up into the air in the front yard, and Xue Huiyu looked at the big characters written on the lanterns in disbelief - "Please marry me".

  The bright colors illuminated the entire night sky, but Xue Huiyu's eyes gradually became blurry with water vapor.

  Shi Qing looked at her intently and said, "Xue Si, I'm not good with words, but I really like you. From the moment I saw you, I wanted to marry you and take care of you for the rest of my life. Maybe I'm not the best one in your heart, but I'm willing to be the closest one to being the best. Whether time flies or passes slowly, I just want you to stay by my side."

  His ink-like eyes were the only place where she could see his sincerity, and she remembered that when she was a child, someone had looked at her in the same way, foolishly saying that she was truly beautiful. But now that person had long since turned to dust, and tears fell as she choked out, "I... I may never be able to drive away the person in my heart, maybe for my whole life you can only be second place in my heart..."

  "It doesn't matter either way." Shi Qing said calmly, "As long as you're willing to let me stay by your side, in the name of being your husband."

  Xue Hui's calm heart, which had been still for many years, was like a lake that had been thrown into turmoil by a large stone. Her thoughts churned and tears flowed freely down her face. He gently wiped them away with the back of his hand and said, "You are so good to me, I don't deserve it... but thinking about you wasting your youth being pointed at and ridiculed, I just can't bear it..."

  **

  In a certain eaves of the annex of the Houfu in Jin Ning, He Le'an smiled and looked at the sky full of Kongming lanterns, saying: "General Shuai's mouth is stupid, but his actions are quite good, really beautiful."

  "Jianguo raised an eyebrow and said, 'Do you like it this way?'"

  "I'm a woman, after all. Although I don't particularly like to be doted on, if someone were to put in this much thought for me, I'd definitely be delighted." He Lian pointed at the Kongming lanterns and said, "Look, those words were written by General Shi himself, one by one. This kind of heart is just like a display."

  "It's just coaxing and deceiving a simple and ignorant girl."

  "Blissful ignorance of a simple girl."

  "Zhang Sun Yue pinched her cheek and said, 'You can't return me now even if you're dissatisfied, I'm not a product that can be returned.'"

  "I won't let you return, can't let you go harm other people's daughters." He Lian said, "It's just that I envy others."

  "Since today is their day, I won't steal the spotlight from them. In the future, I'll fill the entire city with lanterns for you, making the dark night as bright as daytime, and the stars will become colorful, making everyone envy you."

  He Le'an couldn't help but smile and said, "I was just joking, don't take it seriously. With lanterns all over the city, it's easy to start a fire. If you don't want any accidents, you'll have to send people to collect the lanterns, or else it will lead to disaster and people will gossip."

  **

  The next day, Princess Jianqin, as a senior, stepped forward and betrothed Xue Huiyu to Shi Qinghe. The entire capital was in an uproar, with everyone sighing that the eldest miss of the Jin Ning Marquis's manor either wouldn't marry, or if she did, would snatch up a young and promising general, making people envy to death at the same time, also teaching those unsuspecting girls to shatter their little hearts into pieces.

  At the banquet, people were talking about it and said, "I don't know what General Shi Da is thinking. He doesn't want my family's young and beautiful sister, but instead wants Xue Si, that old girl. Even if now the King of Qianqin is favored, the main family of Jun Ning Hou is still in the countryside, their son has achieved nothing, they don't want any official position, they just want to let the King of Yueming bring up children."

  "If you say that the General of Shizhang has a strange gaze, it's not as good as saying that the King of Yuexiong, he doesn't want any of the many talented women in the city, but instead marries a lowly born concubine as his main wife. For so many years, he hasn't even taken in a single concubine, I don't know what kind of magic potion He Liu and Xue Si gave them to eat, making them dizzy and confused."

  "I heard that when she was in Fengzhou City, He Liu already had the reputation of a demonic woman and had harmed many people. The one most deeply implicated was the Zhuo Yi Bo Fu, as everyone knew her birth mother came from the Zhuo Yi Bo Fu, but later it was confirmed by her uncle that her birth mother was not the biological child of Old Zhuo Yi Bo and his wife, who knows where this wild seed was picked up?"

  "Eleventh sister, you're going too far with that remark." The girl sitting next to He Lejuan frowned in disapproval.

  He Le snorted coldly, "You little kid, what do you know? Don't you see how many people He Liu killed in Fengzhou City? When she returned victorious from the border, did her crimes just disappear? I don't know about Old Zhuo Yibo, but everyone in Fengzhou City knows that He Shi and Shao Yingxiu were both killed by her. It was just a fight, but she ruthlessly wanted to put people to death!"

  "Since you've sent someone to Fenzhou City to investigate, why didn't you tell everyone that Shao Yingxiu has repeatedly tried to harm me?" He Le'an stepped out of the courtyard slowly and calmly, looking at He Lejuan indifferently. "Or do you think it's okay for a legitimate daughter like her to bully a concubine-born daughter like me, but when I fight back, it's a huge mistake?"

  "She was a young lady from a noble family, first colluding with her mother to frame me, then deliberately ruining my reputation in public, and even trying to take my life in the pavilion. I merely handed her over to the law for punishment, and the verdict was made by the various officials according to our dynasty's rules. Is Miss He now saying that all those officials misjudged this case?"

  Just as He Le Juan was about to retort loudly, a young woman standing on the other side hastily said: "The Princess of Yue is misunderstanding—"

  "What a misunderstanding!" He Lian interrupted, "She kept criticizing me, and when I questioned her, it became my misunderstanding. You've already said everything good or bad about me, what's the point of having me come to court? Why don't you just go ahead and be the judges yourselves?"

  "You don't have to deliberately put the blame on me. You know what you've done yourself!" He Lejuan coldly snorted.

  He Le'an smiled, "Yes, I'm heartless and ruthless, what's wrong with that? They never let me have a good time, why should I be kind to them again and again? He Le'ou, if you don't control that mouth of yours that loves to spread rumors, don't blame me for not caring about our thin familial relationship and handing you over to the law."

  He Lejuan was about to say something, when the young woman hastily came over and grabbed her arm, pressing down on her neck, asking her to apologize. She also said: "Princess of Yuanguo, don't be angry. The eleventh is just being deceived by petty people, listening to rumors and speaking out of turn. Please give her another chance, we will go back and teach her a lesson, not letting her speak nonsense again!"

  He Le'an glanced at the young woman, "Then please ask Ling Er to remember what was said today. In my place, things don't go beyond three times. She has already done this for the third time, targeting me. When I have to carry out punishment in the future, I will trouble everyone present to bear witness. I am indeed ruthless and merciless, but I won't wrong or punish anyone without reason."

  She turned around, wanting to go elsewhere, only to see that at some point, Rui Qin Wang and several young masters were standing at the gate of the courtyard. Beside them were Xue Huiyu, Xue Shizi, Shi Qinghe, and Rui Qin Wang was smiling at her: "I am willing to be a witness for my brother's wife. There is no rule in the world that if someone is bullied, they cannot fight back. What does it matter whether one is legitimate or illegitimate? If one is wrong, then one is wrong."

  "That's right, being of humble origin is nothing to be ashamed of. Those who cling to others' origins and won't let go are just unwilling to believe in others' success, and can only be jealous and resentful, useless trash themselves." Shī Qīng said calmly, "Nobility lies not in birth, but in the ability to change one's fate through hard work and stand unshakeable. The path is created by people walking it, so don't pay too much attention to those empty words from people who have no actual achievements for our country, Princess of Yuè Jùn."

  He Lejuan was repeatedly slapped in the face by them, and it was even more embarrassing, especially when the onlookers who were afraid of the strong and the weak, saw that people with higher status were standing on He Lian's side, they turned to that side. At this moment, the surrounding whispers started, all pointing at her, and what made her extremely angry was that at this time, Chu Mo Ran and Yin Yi Shan came.

  Her face quickly turned bright red, and hatred poured out from the bottom of her heart. He Ling stood beside her and hastily grabbed her hand, lowering his voice to persuade, "Eleven, don't be reckless again, do you really want to become the next Meng Duo Jiao?! The House of Duke Jianing will not tolerate your repeated recklessness! Don't you think about yourself, or your mother!"

  He Le glared at He Le'an, who was talking to the Crown Prince, her eyes full of hatred. She gritted her teeth and said, "Fourth sister, it's her fault that big sister is in trouble, you know..."

  "I know even more clearly that it was your elder sister who designed to harm others, and ended up losing herself. She became the princess of Yueguo, but that's her own ability. You're envious, then you can try to become someone else's princess too, what's the point of targeting her?" He Ling said calmly.

  "Repeating yourself will only make you look inferior, ugly and laughable!" He Ling said, "Her current honor, do you think it's really something she won by herself? It's all thanks to the King of Yue, you're against the King of Yue, against the entire Qin Palace, have you thought about what kind of danger you'll put the Jianing Hou Mansion in?"

  "Your mother has doted on you since childhood, not to teach you to push the House of Jianing to the gallows! Think thrice before acting!" He Ling said, "Don't be provoked by your sister's nonsense again, and don't think deeply about it. If she hadn't harmed others first, how could others have turned the tables on her? Besides, there is no evidence to prove that He Liu retaliated against her. In the end, it was she who brought this upon herself!"

  He Lejuan looked at He Ling in disbelief, "Fourth sister, how can you say such a thing about eldest sister? Her happiness was ruined by He Le'an, she was...she was defiled by a scoundrel, and it happened right before everyone's eyes. What grudge or grievance do we have? We're sisters after all!"

  "She herself admitted that it was she who bribed the maid to harm He Liu. How can you not put yourself in her shoes? If He Liu's reputation were ruined in public, wouldn't you feel a little sorry for her? It's just because of your own unwillingness to let go and your jealousy in your heart. If you still don't listen to advice, then don't blame me when I ask my mother to send you out of the city to avoid trouble!"

  "He Linger said, 'I don't want to see you being flogged under the city wall one day!'"

  **

  In the kitchen of Qianqin Wangfu's Zhutouyuan, He Le'an was busy preparing breakfast. Zhong Sunyu appeared in a bright red dress and said: "Today is the first day of the month, let's prepare food and take it to Mother."

  "Good." He Le'an divided the meal into two portions, one because he was afraid there wouldn't be enough to eat, and two, even if it went to waste, it didn't matter. So according to his usual serving size, he carefully arranged the food on exquisite plates and placed them on a tray, which Zhong Sunyue personally carried up.

  When they arrived at the Buddhist hall, Zhong Sun-yu was already there, chatting with Queen Jing in a casual conversation. He Lu-an and Zhong Sun-yu paid their respects after which Zhong Sun-yu placed the food on a small tea table, handed the chopsticks to her mother and said: "Mother shouldn't always stay indoors, when the weather is fine, it's not bad to take a walk in the courtyard, the early autumn season has just begun, the breeze is refreshing."

  "Mother knows, you don't have to worry about Mother. I didn't like noise from the beginning, and now I prefer quietness." Princess Jianqin said, taking over the chopsticks and tasting a few bites. She also said to them:

  "If you have some free time, take Huiyu and General Shi to the villa in the suburbs, pick some seasonal fruits and vegetables, stay for a few days, relax properly, don't always frown -" Before she finished speaking, Princess Jian suddenly clutched her chest in pain, spitting out a mouthful of black blood, and before she could even let out a painful moan, she had already fallen to the ground!

  "Mother!" Zhong Sun-qian and Zhong Sun-yue hastily stepped forward to support her, while He Le-an instructed the maid to call for Doctor Xuan. But when Zhong Sun-qian checked Empress Dowager Jian's breath, she let out a heart-wrenching cry, "MOTHER!!"

  Even Zhong Sun-yue couldn't believe his eyes as he stared at the Concubine of Qian, who had fallen into his arms. He trembled as he stretched out his hand to check the Concubine's breath, but suddenly turned to He Le-an and shouted: "He Le-an, what did you feed my mother? How could she die after eating your food?"

  He Lian was stunned and shook his head, "No, no, they're all ordinary things. I, I——"

  "Zhong Sunqian! Have you gone mad? How could it possibly be An'er!" Zhong Sunqian's face turned cold, "You can suspect anyone, but not my wife!"

  "YOU!" Zhong Sun Qian pointed at Zhong Sun Yao's nose, incredulous. "Zhong Sun Yao, do you still have any humanity?! The Bamboo Pavilion is your place, and the servants of the Wang Fu that I manage can't be bought off either! The food was cooked by her, it's not her problem, could it be that you, as her own son, would still help her?!"

  Zhang Sun said, "I've heard others say it before. She and Rui Wang are always exchanging flirtatious glances, who knows..."

  "Shut up!" Zhong Sun Yue frowned, "I'm also sad about Mother's accident, but An Er would never betray me, let alone harm our mother. If you speak ill of her again, don't blame me..."

  "How could you, you still want to kill me, your own brother, for her sake!?" Zhong Sun Yan was furious.

  "Be calm!" said Zhong Sunyu.

  "My mother was killed by her, how can I remain calm!" Zhong Sunqian drew out the soft sword from his waist and pointed it at He Le'an fiercely. "We treated you with sincerity, never expecting that you would..."

  "Zhong Sunyan!!" Zhong Sunyan also got angry, "Don't point your sword at her!!" He carefully put down the gradually cold Qianqin Wangfei and grabbed the blade of the sword, "Before the imperial physician arrives and before things are clear, I won't let you suspect her!" Fresh blood dripped down from the tip of the sword.

  "Yè Míng!" He Lè anxiously grabbed his arm, standing up straight to meet Zhōng Sūn's indifferent gaze. "I am Yè Míng's wife, his brother is my brother, and his mother is also my mother. How could I possibly harm her? You can suspect me, but before there's evidence proving it was me, can't you please calm down?"

  The imperial physician came in a state of extreme anxiety and trepidation, took the pulse of Princess Jianqin, then knelt down with a look of horror on his face. "Princess Jianqin... she's been poisoned, already..." After speaking, he trembled all over like a sieve.

  Zhang Sun Yan coldly commanded, "You go check what's wrong with those dishes!"

  The imperial physician stood up with a tremble, and after a careful examination, he found that the problem was with the chopsticks. As soon as he finished speaking, Zhong Sun-yue's sword, stained with Zhong Sun-xi's blood, pointed at He Le-an, "Still saying it wasn't you!"

  He Le'an said calmly, "That chopstick was indeed made by someone I ordered to make it, but the material is agarwood, which was bestowed upon me by Your Majesty. How could it possibly..."

  "You still want to quibble!" Zhong Sunqian said, and had already rushed towards He Le'an with a stab, while Zhong Sun'er pushed him open with one palm:

  "There must be some misunderstanding here, stop being unreasonable and let go of An!"

  Zhong Sun-yue angrily said, "Zhong Sun-xue, she plotted against our mother! I don't know why you trust her so much, but my spies say that several times she has been exchanging flirtatious glances with Prince Rui, and at the previous banquet in the Prime Minister's residence, Prince Rui was even embracing her in a corner!"

  "I won't let you slander An'er!" Zhong Sun Yue raised her hand and swung a palm at Zhong Sun Yan's shoulder, but was dodged. The two siblings started fighting, and He Le'an, who didn't know martial arts, tried to intervene but couldn't stop them. The imperial physician was so frightened that he fainted on the spot. She could only say:

  "Aomori, stop them quickly!"

  Then. Zhong Sunyu's hidden guard had not yet appeared, and Zhong Sunqian's guard rushed over, pinning her down. Zhong Sunyu turned around and slapped the guard with a palm, so she was stabbed by Zhong Sunqian with a sword on the left abdomen. He Le'an and Zhong Sunyu both looked at Zhong Sunqian in shock.

  "Night is clear!" He Le'an suddenly cried out, struggling to break free from the restraints and charge at him, but she saw a strange smile flash across Zhong Sun's lips. She only saw that he had stabbed his sword into Zhong Sun's left abdomen, and with another forceful thrust, a jet of dark red blood spurted out. Soon, Zhong Sun fell to the ground in a pool of blood. "You, Zhong Sun, it was your plan, why?!"

  "Bring in the guards! Take this wicked woman who plotted against the gentle princess away!"

  "Night is clear! Night is clear!" He Le'an stared fixedly at Zhong Sunyue, who was motionless in the pool of blood, fearing that he too had lost his breath like the humble king's consort. No matter how hard she struggled with all her might, she couldn't struggle free from the brutal strength of the guards, and she was finally dragged away, locked in a dark dungeon. Before she could even react, she was bound to a wooden frame and mercilessly flogged by the guards!

  They interrogated her sentence by sentence, asking why she had harmed the King's concubine, but no matter how much pain she was in, she didn't say a word. Just as she was about to faint from the pain, a familiar voice said, "Stop!"

  She struggled to open her tear-blurred eyes, and her trembling gaze saw Xue Shizong push away the executioner guards, walking towards her to untie her restraints. Just then, Zhong Sunqian appeared, saying indifferently: "Xue Zileng, what do you think you're doing? She's a prisoner who poisoned my mother, causing the young aunt who loved you since childhood to pass away!"

  "It can't be her." Xue Zili said coldly and decisively, "It's absolutely not He Le'an."

  Zhang Sun sneered coldly, "I really don't know what kind of intoxicating drug you and A Ruo have taken. One is like this, two are also like this. A Ruo witnessed her mother's death with her own eyes, yet she still doesn't believe that it was her who harmed her mother. And you, knowing nothing at all, actually believe her too!"

  "But it's no use, I've already presented her crimes to Your Majesty. She will be executed at the gate soon."

  Xue Zileng stared at Zhong Sunqian for a moment without blinking and said, "You are no longer the Zhong Sunqian I knew."

  Zhangsun Wuji said, "I have no father now, and I also have no mother. My younger brother's life or death is still unknown. Why don't you teach me how to be as calm as before?"

  "I'll take her away." Xue Zili replied indifferently.

  "Even if it affects the Duke of Jun Ning's mansion, you still insist on doing so?" Zhong Sun Xun's eyes flashed with a hint of complexity, and he saw that the man in front of him was no longer frivolous.

  "Before I came here, I had already written a letter of severance and given it to Huaiyu. I am no longer a person of the Jin Ning Hou Mansion." Xue Zilian said, "I want to take her away, only because I believe in her, I will clear her name of this injustice."

  "She is your cousin's wife!"

  "It's precisely because she is my nephew's important wife that I couldn't let her die." Xue Zilian used his internal energy to suck up the sword at the waist of the fallen guard, easily cutting open the hemp rope binding He Le'an, and embracing the person who was almost about to fall to the ground.

  "Zhangsun said, 'You want to take her away from here? First, you'll have to kill me—'"

  Interlocking, Xue Zileng's sword left a little room for maneuver, but Zhong Sunqian was determined to take his life. Suddenly, several smoke bombs exploded, blocking the view with thick smoke. Someone replaced Xue Zileng and blocked Zhong Sunqian in the cell. Taking advantage of Xue Zileng's departure, before the smoke had cleared, they quickly escaped from the scene.

  "Whatever it takes, for Ah Ru's sake, for Ji Ji and Chun Juan's sake, you must hold on." Xue Zi Leng hugged He Le An, who had already lost consciousness and was covered in blood, and sprinted across the rooftops with his lightness skill, rushing towards the outskirts of the city. The icy person in his arms gradually warmed up.