Su Zhen smiled through her tears: “Then I won’t refuse such kindness. Are you no longer angry with Lian Yu?”

Huo Chang’an also smiled upon hearing this: “I’m truly grateful to Lian Yu. My uncle is old, and the one who can assist him is me. He knew that giving Wu Yan a place of shelter would anger me, but he still did it. This breadth of mind already exceeds what an emperor should possess. You will be happy.”

“I did truly hate Lian Yu, hated him intensely, but never planned to rebel against him. Between family and country, I can distinguish clearly. Li Huaisu, take care.”

He looked at her deeply, released his hands, bowed to the Court of Judicial Review officials with clasped fists, and finally, several steps away from Lian Yu, he knelt down, declaring loudly: “Your Majesty take care, this subject takes his leave first. Until we meet again.”

Lian Yu reached out to help him up, firmly patting his shoulder: “Marquis Huo take care, I await you in the capital.”

Just these few words, nothing more, yet both men’s eyes shone brightly, all communication exchanged in their smiles. Huo Chang’an leaped onto his horse, encircling Wu Yan in his arms. Wu Yan waved farewell to the Court of Judicial Review officials, then suddenly raised her voice: “The kindness of old friends, I have no way to repay. In this life, Wu Yan remembers it in her heart. Please take great care.”

These words were… Su Zhen found them slightly strange. Huo Chang’an patted Wu Yan’s shoulder, pulled the reins, and Chang Ying, Qiang, and Ji’er also turned their horses around. With the sound of neighing horses, the group rode away.

Soon, the figures and hoofbeats condensed into a black dot, and in a moment, disappeared from sight. In the distance, only the bustling crowd remained unchanged, still coming and going in streams.

Lian Yu placed his arm around Su Zhen’s shoulder as she still stood at the street corner, saying gently: “Let’s go. They’ll return. If they don’t return, then you can cry.”

“Is that how you comfort people?” Su Zhen smiled through her tears, and looking up, she met Lian Yu’s smiling eyes that were both deep and bright, her mood gradually becoming more cheerful.

Lian Yu’s gaze looked into the distance as he said: “Seventh Brother, come out.”

They turned around to see a white figure slowly emerge from behind a corner, his face gloomy—it was Lian Jie.

Su Zhen immediately understood—Wu Yan had guessed Lian Jie would come, and indeed he had.

She bowed to him and said to Lian Yu: “I’ll go back first with the Court of Judicial Review people. You walk with Seventh Master. See you later.”

Before Lian Yu could respond, she had already called over the Court of Judicial Review officials and fled quickly.

Lian Jie’s face remained dark, but Lian Qin couldn’t help speaking: “Seventh Brother, for Sixth Brother’s sake, please forgive Li Huaisu. Otherwise, every time she sees you, she acts like a mouse seeing a cat.”

Lian Jie lowered his eyes without speaking. At this time, someone approached and said quietly: “Seventh Master, there’s something this servant wants to tell you.”

He looked up and saw it was Xiao Zhou—this person hadn’t left after all.

“You servant, you concocted a good potion. Are you here to show off?” Lian Jie sneered coldly, speaking without courtesy.

Xiao Zhou lowered his head, clasping his hands: “Seventh Master, please forgive me. It’s just that Li Huaisu and this servant actually didn’t use any aphrodisiac. What we put in the wine was only a potion similar to an aphrodisiac. After half an hour, the drug effect naturally disappeared. In the end, it was only obsession. Some things they never let go of. This servant has finished speaking and takes his leave.”

Lian Jie had been looking at her coldly, but upon hearing these words, his whole body suddenly trembled. Lian Yu patted his shoulder: “Seventh Brother, think it over yourself. Whether to make peace with that little rascal or continue disliking her, I won’t force you, because you’re my brother. But I don’t want you to use A Luo’s matter to hurt her. This won’t happen again!”

“Sixth Brother…” Lian Jie frowned tightly, but saw Lian Yu’s face was incredibly calm, with an unyielding strength in his eyes.

Lian Jie smiled self-mockingly, and after a long while said: “This subject understands. This subject also takes his leave first. Lian Jie wants to visit Imperial Sister.”

“Go ahead, you should go. I can’t spare time for Mother Consort’s matter. After investigating it clearly, I will visit Princess Imperial at Huguo Temple. Give my regards to Noble Consort Ai for me.”

“Yes. This subject will return quickly to assist Sixth Brother in investigating the case,” Lian Jie said slowly before leaving.

Huguo Temple.

“Mother, when I sent people to the mausoleum, half was for my own plans, half was for Lian Jie. Even if he truly disappointed me completely, I never expected I would trap myself in the process.”

Lian Yue had gone mad.

Noble Consort Ai was furious and had people bring her to Huguo Temple. This was a widely circulated story in the imperial city recently.

However, this speech, though the voice was extremely hoarse, was quite clear in its logic, showing the speaker wasn’t deranged. Indeed, this was precisely Lian Yue speaking.

She wore no makeup, her face pale and extremely haggard, sitting on a chair below Noble Consort Ai.

Noble Consort Ai glanced at her daughter, still fuming with anger: “You were only thinking of yourself, wanting to use assassins to stop Li Huaisu’s investigation, deliberately miscarrying, and inevitably getting injured while saving that Wei Wu Yan, hoping to make Huo Chang’an devoted to you. Who knew that little wretch from the Wei family would turn passive into active, with completely opposite results.”

“Don’t make excuses about your brother. Now that you’ve ruined yourself, you claim you were working for your brother. You’re seeking credit because you hope this war will start quickly so Huo Chang’an will return to the capital to serve the king loyally. I don’t have a daughter like you—it would be better if you really went mad!”

Lian Yue gritted her teeth: “I can’t go mad. I still have to wait for him to return to the capital. He will come back, he will come back!”

“Since he was willing to die once for that Wei family wench, there will be a second time.” Noble Consort Ai sneered coldly, harshly throwing these words at her daughter.

Lian Yue turned her head without speaking. Someone else smiled and smoothed things over: “Your Ladyship, please don’t be angry. Regardless of Princess Imperial’s motives, Princess Imperial spoke correctly and acted correctly in this matter. This minister was surprised when I first heard the news—what kind of people had the Court of Judicial Review provoked? Now it’s good. When Seventh Master comes later, Your Ladyship can use this matter to persuade him to comply.”

Another person continued: “Since Seventh Master has feelings for Noble Consort Wei, this is also a good opportunity to create a rift between him and Lian Yu.”

Only then did Noble Consort Ai’s face clear slightly, a trace of smile returning to her eyes: “Minister Quan and Minister Li speak reasonably.”

“Your Ladyship, Seventh Master has come to visit and is outside the temple gates,” she had just spoken when someone outside quietly announced.

“Have him brought in,” Noble Consort Ai said with a faint smile.