Li Qitian wore a brown brocade court robe, his hair bound high and secured with a hairnet. He strode in with his hands clasped behind his back.

“Greetings to Imperial Brother.” Li Helan bowed somewhat flustered.

Li Qitian didn’t even look at her, cupping his hands toward the Empress Dowager: “Mother.”

The Empress Dowager paid no mind to Li Qitian’s perfunctory bow. In fact, ever since the poisoned bird’s nest incident, Li Qitian had grown increasingly distant from her. Even the respect due to an Empress Dowager, he seemed unwilling to give.

This made the Empress Dowager, who greatly valued status and power, extremely anxious.

“The Emperor has arrived. Please sit down. It’s starting to get stuffy outside, yet the Emperor still visits so diligently – this pains my heart so much.” The Empress Dowager intimately took Li Qitian’s hand and patted it.

Li Qitian smiled slightly and imperceptibly withdrew his hand, accepting the hot tea offered by a palace maid. He said casually: “What’s this? Is Lan’er feeling sorry for the Prince Consort?”

Li Helan’s tear stains were still fresh. Her heart was filled with both unwillingness and anxiety. After deliberating in her mind for a moment, she said coquettishly: “Imperial Brother, Lan’er isn’t just feeling sorry for the Prince Consort. Lan’er is also thinking of Imperial Brother. The Prince Consort, he…”

Li Qitian raised his hand, interrupting Li Helan’s words: “I heard everything you said outside just now. You’re saying that Ji Zeyu can lead troops, and I might need him in the future?”

“Yes, yes.”

“But didn’t Mother just say that whenever I need to reinstate him in the future, I can do so then? Could Ji Zeyu really disobey imperial orders?” Li Qitian squinted his eyes and leaned forward slightly toward Li Helan. “Did the Prince Consort say something to you? Does he harbor dissatisfaction?”

Li Helan’s heart pounded violently as she shook her head repeatedly: “No, no, nothing of the sort! Your subject sister acted on her own initiative. I haven’t even seen the Prince Consort’s face yet. Moreover, the Prince Consort is like a wooden block – he’s simply not the type to have so many scheming thoughts. When Imperial Brother gives orders, the Prince Consort will certainly obey. It’s just that I want to be close to the Prince Consort, but he’s always ignored me…”

By the last sentence, Li Helan’s voice was already mixed with infinite grievance.

The Empress Dowager immediately asked: “The Prince Consort ignores you? He still refuses to see you?”

“Indeed so.” Li Helan sobbed: “Your daughter has someone invite him every other day, but he always says he’s busy with official duties or claims he’s not at the mansion. Your daughter can’t always have people invite him – otherwise the old nannies would say your daughter is too eager, as if I’m desperate…”

Li Helan was truly aggrieved. Stamping her feet and twisting her waist, she said: “He’s just a dead wooden block! Would it kill him to show me a pleasant face? He’s always so cold and indifferent – what am I supposed to do!”

The Empress Dowager felt sorry for her daughter. Thinking of Ji Zeyu’s unparalleled handsome appearance yet cold-as-frost demeanor made her both love and angry: “That Ji Zeyu really is something. Emperor, you should at least speak to him on your sister’s behalf. What overnight grudges can there be between husband and wife? Why has Ji Zeyu made up his mind not to be good to our Lan’er?”

Li Qitian set down his tea bowl and chuckled lightly: “Ordinary couples naturally have no overnight grudges. But what has Lan’er done?”

Li Helan’s face immediately flushed red.

The Empress Dowager recalled the group of male favorites Li Helan had kept, and her expression became somewhat awkward.

This time Li Qitian didn’t intend to save Li Helan’s face, speaking bluntly: “Ji Zeyu isn’t like those spineless men you kept who would wag their tails at you for small favors. This is Ji Zeyu we’re talking about – his mind is still relatively clear. If it were that lawless Pang Zhixi, if someone dared to cuckold him like this and found a group to share such pleasures, Pang Zhixi would kill you – do you believe it?”

Li Helan’s face burned even more as she mumbled: “Lan’er has dismissed all of them.”

“Heh.”

Li Qitian merely snorted through his nose, then said seriously: “How you want to please the Prince Consort is your business – what you do behind closed doors is your boudoir pleasure. But both of you remember this: whom I use and whom I don’t use is entirely my decision. You are women, so remember the consequences of harem interference in politics. Do you still want to use your relative status to influence my personnel decisions?”

Li Helan’s face turned deathly pale with fright.

The Empress Dowager, however, was stabbed in the heart by that phrase “relative status.”

“I am your mother!”

“Yes.” Li Qitian’s lips curved lazily upward. “A mother who would poison my legitimate son.”

Li Helan suddenly looked up at the Empress Dowager, then at Li Qitian, momentarily unsure how to mediate.

The Empress Dowager, however, was like a puppet whose strings had been cut, slumping dejectedly against the large pillow behind her.

At this moment, she clearly realized she had lost the ability to compete with the Empress. Her greatest support had always been the Emperor’s filial piety. But now, she had finally lost it.

The Empress Dowager’s tears flowed instantly, every wrinkle on her face filled with regret. If she hadn’t been so overconfident, how could things have turned out this way?

In the end, nothing was accomplished. She hadn’t dealt with the Qin family, hadn’t gained the upper hand over the Empress, yet had lost both the Emperor’s respect and filial devotion.

Li Qitian, impatient with the tear tactics from the Empress Dowager and Li Helan, stood up: “I still have memorials to review.” After a perfunctory bow, Li Qitian strode out of Ci’an Palace.

Li Helan and the Empress Dowager looked at each other speechlessly, both lowering their heads in dejection.

Qin Mansion.

Sun Shi cried herself into collapse, finally succumbing to exhaustion and fainting, then developing a high fever. Qin Yining hurriedly had her settled in the inner residence and asked Bingtang to examine her.

“Princess, this servant sees that Madam’s condition is quite dangerous. Madam has a high fever but no sweating, refusing both medicine and food. This situation is truly bad. Looking at Madam’s state, I fear she has the will to die.”

Qin Yining was frightened into a cold sweat, her hands turning cold: “What should we do?”

She stared blankly at Sun Shi lying face up with deathly pale lips, her mind in chaos, at a loss.

“Father has already met with misfortune. If Mother also…”

“Princess, don’t worry. This servant will do everything possible – Madam will be fine.”

Bingtang somewhat regretted telling Qin Yining this. The injuries Qin Yining suffered in the palace still hadn’t fully healed. Though the swelling on her knees had subsided, it had left lasting effects. Combined with starving for so many days in Ci’an Palace, she was now so thin she was like skin and bones – even thinner than when they first met, as if a gust of wind could blow her away. If she fell ill from worry over this matter, wouldn’t this family be completely finished?

Bingtang gritted her teeth and said earnestly: “Princess, don’t be afraid. I’ll consult carefully with the physician – Madam’s illness will be fine.”

Qin Yining nodded, saying only after a long while: “Good.”

Leaving Bingtang to treat Sun Shi, Qin Yining went to the front hall to see Old Madam Ma.

Old Madam Ma was currently wearing a white waist sash, crouching and burning paper money. With tear stains still fresh on her face and new tears added, she muttered: “Sinful, so sinful.”

“Grandmother.” Qin Yining crouched beside Old Madam Ma. “You suffered hardship rushing back all this way. Did you encounter any dangers on the road?”

“Yining, dear child.” Old Madam Ma threw the last few papers into the fire basin, wiped her hands on her skirt, then took Qin Yining’s hands and led her to a corner. “Tell Grandmother, why wasn’t a mourning pavilion set up at the Prince’s mansion? This residence doesn’t look very large – isn’t it crowded with the whole family living here? Is it that confused daughter-in-law of yours bullying you again?”

Old Madam Ma’s eyes were full of worry and anxiety. From the moment she entered the city and was led here by two servants instead of returning to the Prince’s mansion, she had already guessed.

She knew her own family’s situation. Having lived with the Yao father and daughter for most of her life, how could she not guess their intentions?

Qin Yining shook her head and smiled: “Grandmother, you’re overthinking. I had Steward Zhong look for a suitable residence long ago. We found the right one and moved out. The Qin family is a large household – it wouldn’t be appropriate to keep living at the Prince’s mansion.”

“Why wouldn’t it be appropriate? With the family living together, it would be so much more convenient for you and Dafu to manage things. Now that you’re separated, even the servants have to be divided, weakening your forces. These aren’t peaceful times – with one incident after another, you’re a smart child. If you weren’t bullied severely, why would you move out at this time?”

Old Madam Ma’s calloused hands shook Qin Yining’s slightly cool, slender hands, then lovingly touched Qin Yining’s cheek: “Look how thin you’ve become, like a paper cutout. You must have suffered hardships and grievances. That black-hearted daughter-in-law of yours – never mind, Grandmother will properly deal with her when we get back!”

Qin Yining had been wronged for so many days. The matters with her mother-in-law weren’t suitable to discuss with family members, and she didn’t want to act like a resentful wife throwing tantrums at Pang Xiao who was thousands of miles away, so she could only keep it bottled up. All sorts of worries pressed on her heart. In the deep of night when she thought of these trivial matters, her heart always felt blocked.

Now that Old Madam Ma had returned and said these words, the pent-up feelings in Qin Yining’s heart were released. When no one showed care and understanding, when no one could support her, Qin Yining could grit her teeth and be strong. But now, her eyes moistened.

After a long while, Qin Yining finally held back her tears: “Grandmother, don’t say that. Mother-in-law hasn’t done anything wrong. Besides, the Qin family should indeed establish its own household and set up the mourning pavilion. It truly wasn’t appropriate at the Prince’s mansion.”

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Ma immediately understood.

“I see, Yining. Your mother-in-law was wrong in this matter. We’re one family – what in-laws, what Pang family? Since you and Dafu married, our two families are bound together. To put it bluntly, if enemies target us, can they deal with us separately?”

Qin Yining was about to persuade further when Old Madam Ma waved her hand, signaling she needn’t say more.

The two held hands looking toward the empty coffin in the memorial hall. Old Madam Ma sighed and wiped away tears: “Yining, I’ll go back to the Prince’s mansion first.”

“Yes, I’ll arrange for people to escort you back.”

Old Madam Ma nodded in agreement. Looking at Qin Yining’s palm-sized thin face and frail body, the fire in her heart blazed upward. She had only been away for a while, yet that father and daughter pair had forgotten even basic human decency!

Qin Yining saw Old Madam Ma off at the mansion gate and into the carriage. Just as she was about to turn back, she noticed a tall figure standing at the street corner, wearing a light gray scholar’s robe that truly made him look like a scholar.

“Young Master Mu?”

Mu Jinghu smiled and nodded, pointing toward the alley on the side of the mansion.

Understanding his meaning, Qin Yining returned to the mansion and waited in that direction.