The lights at the Marquis of Jinxiang’s estate burned all through the night. Han Yueheng clutched Young Lady Fan’s waist, her head leaning against her shoulder, trembling all over. Tears involuntarily covered her face. “I have to marry far away, and now brother has ended up like this. What will mother do in the future…”

During this time, she had finally seen clearly Young Lady Fan’s predicament. Every time Grand Lady Fan sent palace servants to announce rewards, their faces carried arrogance, and the words they spoke were never pleasant. Every single sentence mentioned her going to the Eastern Seas, as if hoping Young Lady Fan would vomit blood on the spot.

The annual gifts that grandfather and grandmother sent to the capital had seemed fine in previous years—all good quality items. But when this year’s annual gifts were presented, she keenly sensed something was wrong. Because she was about to marry, she had already begun learning how to manage her dowry and marriage funds. One look at the list and she knew the significance of what was there. Although Grand Lady Fan’s status was more prestigious, grandfather and grandmother’s favoritism was expressed far too obviously. Compared to what was sent to the Crown Prince’s residence, the things sent here seemed so insignificant, and the few brief lines in the letter also seemed extremely perfunctory.

She finally understood why mother didn’t like grandfather and grandmother’s family, and finally understood why mother had never been close to her aunt. With natal family members like these, how could one possibly be close to them?

But just as she had finally understood this, she was about to marry far away in the blink of an eye, completely unable to help mother with anything. And now brother had gotten into such trouble. She raised her head to look at Young Lady Fan. “I’ll write a letter to father… and ask father to think of some solution.”

Otherwise, with mother left alone in the capital, who knew how much ridicule and hardship she would have to endure from aunt in the future.

Qiuju watched with stinging eyes. Just as she was about to speak, the door outside was knocked on. She quickly walked out and led Qiulian in together.

Qiulian clasped both hands in front of her, deliberately keeping her voice very, very low. “Madam, Miss, Guan Hai has returned.”

Young Lady Fan immediately stood up. “Bring him to the front flower hall. I have something to ask him!”

Guan Hai paced back and forth in the flower hall in a distracted state, not even noticing when Young Lady Fan led people through the door. It wasn’t until Qiuju beside Young Lady Fan coughed that he suddenly snapped back to attention. Opening his mouth, he immediately reached out to Young Lady Fan asking for money. “Madam, quickly, quickly prepare some banknotes for me!”

Young Lady Fan only felt her heart pounding violently. While immediately instructing Qiuju to go fetch banknotes and cash silver, she asked him, “What on earth happened? Why would the Imperial Guard come to arrest the heir out of the blue?”

Guan Hai didn’t have time to say anything else. Lowering his voice, he said the gambling den incident had been exposed, then told Young Lady Fan, “The heir told you not to beg Lady Liangdi or His Highness the Prince, and also asked you to write a letter to tell the Marquis about what’s happened in the capital.”

The gambling den incident had been exposed?! The gambling den had been open for so many years without ever having problems. How could it suddenly be exposed out of nowhere? Even if it was exposed, weren’t there nominal handlers in front to shield them? With all these layers upon layers of connections, how did the investigation suddenly reach Han Zhi?

Han Zhi even told her not to beg Grand Lady Fan and Zhou Weiqi—meaning he knew Grand Lady Fan and Zhou Weiqi would absolutely not be implicated and would not help either.

The gambling den’s true owner was clearly Zhou Weiqi. The lion’s share of the annual income was all sent to the Crown Prince’s residence. Yet now, when things had come to this, her son had to be the scapegoat taking the fall. First it was Han Yueheng, and now it was finally Han Zhi’s turn.

Grand Lady Fan was roasting her over the fire, making her unable to live or die.

Hatred surged in her heart, but her expression became even calmer instead. Over all these years, maintaining a stern face had long become her habit—even if she wanted to change now, she couldn’t. After a long while, she nodded with an odd expression and calmly instructed Guan Hai, “Tell your heir that I understand, and tell him to rest assured. If he’s going to leave, he should go far, far away. As for matters here, I will handle them.”

Guan Hai didn’t take Young Lady Fan’s words seriously. Handle them? After all these years, Young Lady Fan had been like a clay Buddha statue—looking impressive but useless. What could a woman of the inner quarters possibly handle?

Besides, this involved Grand Lady Fan and the Prince of Dongping. He still wanted to say more when Qiuju had already entered carrying a bundle and reported to Grand Lady Fan, “I’ve packed some valuables and banknotes, along with some loose silver.”

Young Lady Fan lowered her eyes and had her hand the items to Guan Hai, instructing him to slip out through the back door. “The Imperial Guard just came to our door. Right now they’re probably watching our household’s every move from the surroundings. Once you go out, you’ll be discovered. I’ll send more people out, and you can slip away in the chaos. If you can reach your heir, tell him for me to never come back again.”

What was the point of coming back to be a puppet with nothing? It was better to assume a false name and find some random place, which would be better than facing these relatives in the capital who were worse than beasts.

Guan Hai was somewhat surprised that his Marquis’s wife actually had some brains. Not only did she handle what the heir had instructed, but her thinking was quite thorough and far-sighted. She knew that Lady Liangdi couldn’t be relied upon in this matter. But by now he didn’t dare delay any longer. He nodded randomly, clutched the bundle, and followed Qiulian out the door. Han Zhi was still waiting for him—he had to hurry back.

Han Yueheng paced back and forth in the room, unable to stop for even a moment. When she finally heard the door, she rushed forward and grabbed her mother. “How was it? What did Guan Hai say? How is brother?”

Young Lady Fan shook her head, stroking Han Yueheng’s hair. The expression on her face was so calm it didn’t seem human. “He probably won’t be coming back in the future.”

From now on, the Marquis of Jinxiang’s estate would no longer have an heir.

Han Yueheng’s heart ached. She turned and hugged her mother. “If the Marquis’s estate gets implicated… what will father and mother do? At that time…”

Grandfather and grandmother were already so cold to Young Lady Fan now. If the Marquis of Jinxiang’s estate fell into difficulty, it would only be worse. How could they possibly be counted on to help?

A strange curve appeared at the corner of Young Lady Fan’s mouth. Her throat made rough gasping sounds, and after quite a while she finally laughed. “Silly girl, how could the Marquis’s estate be implicated? Don’t worry, the Marquis’s estate will be fine.”

As long as Han Zhengqing and Grand Lady Fan were still there, the Marquis of Jinxiang’s estate would not fall.

From beginning to end, Grand Lady Fan only wanted her dead. As for Han Zhengqing, this Marquis of Jinxiang, this dog who was loyal and devoted to her—how could she bear to touch him?

Because Guan Hai had come urgently and was speaking of matters concerning Han Zhi, the servants in the household were rushing about busily, busy cleaning up the mess left behind by the Imperial Guard. For the moment, no one had time to pay attention. Han Yueheng had forgotten to put on her cloak. Standing in the corridor watching the household servants ceaselessly shuttling back and forth organizing things, then looking at the chaotic courtyard, she suddenly shivered.