“Get lost!” Upon hearing this word, the two men felt as if they’d received a great pardon and rolled and crawled out of Qingxu Winery. What Du Ruhui and the others didn’t expect was that after them, Cuiji also rushed out. The two men hurriedly chased after him, not even having time to pay for their wine. Cuiji ran all the way to the Jinshui River where Zheng Yang had met his accident before finally stopping.

Pei Qiancheng caught his breath and said, “You… why did you run here for no reason?”

Cuiji said sorrowfully and angrily, “Brother Zheng had his accident right here. When he died, aside from Uncle Zheng and the others, the Princess was the most heartbroken. Yet she still has to endure such vile rumors. Those people… they’re simply trying to drive the Princess to her death!”

Du Ruhui sighed, “There’s nothing we can do about it. As long as we believe it has nothing to do with the Princess, that’s enough.”

Cuiji shook his head, “That’s not enough. It’s useless for only us to believe it. Those people will keep… keep talking until they drive the Princess to death!” After pausing for a moment, he said firmly, “I will never let them harm the Princess!”

“But their mouths are their own. What can we do about it?” Facing Pei Qiancheng’s words, Cuiji took a deep breath, as if making some determination. “I’ve made up my mind. Tomorrow I’ll ask mother to enter the palace to see Her Majesty the Empress and beg her to bestow the Princess’s hand in marriage to me.”

The two men never expected him to suddenly say such a thing, especially Pei Qiancheng, who thought he was hearing things. “What did you say?”

“I want to ask Her Majesty the Empress to bestow the Princess’s hand in marriage to me.” After Cuiji repeated this sentence once more, Pei Qiancheng finally confirmed he hadn’t been hearing things and said in surprise, “You… how did you suddenly think of marrying the Princess?”

“I won’t hide it from Brother Pei. Ever since I saw the Princess at Linbo Pavilion that time, I’ve liked her. But the Princess ultimately chose Brother Zheng, so I could only suppress this affection in my heart. Now that the Princess is being slandered, if I marry her, I can prove that the curse is completely false and restore the Princess’s reputation.”

Although Cuiji had never spoken these words before, Du Ruhui had somewhat sensed it, especially after discovering Zheng Yang’s body that day when he asked him to enter the palace to visit Yunyi. Indeed, Cuiji was a good choice. Whether in character or family background, he was comparable to Zheng Yang. If Yunyi could be married to him, she would surely be happy.

Thinking of this, Du Ruhui said, “Regarding the Princess’s cursed fate, are you truly not afraid at all?”

His words made Cuiji’s face suddenly darken. “Does even Brother Du, like those common people, believe such nonsense?”

Du Ruhui shook his head, “It’s not that I believe it, but have you truly thought this through?”

Meeting his gaze, Cuiji nodded firmly, “Yes, I’ve thought it through. I want to marry the Princess. I want to protect her and not let her suffer any harm!”

Du Ruhui pondered for a moment and said, “Since your heart is sincere, I’ll do my best to speak well of you before the Princess and help bring about this marriage!”

His words made Cuiji overjoyed, “Brother Du, will you truly help me?”

Du Ruhui smiled, “Since I’ve already said it, how could it be false? But you must promise me that for your entire life, you’ll treat the Princess well and never be unfaithful.”

Cuiji nodded repeatedly, “I swear I will use my very life to love and protect the Princess!”

His answer satisfied Du Ruhui, “Good, then I’ll do my best to try. But whether the Princess will agree or not, I can’t guarantee.”

Pei Qiancheng said from the side, “Right, how could I forget? Now that Brother Zheng is gone, the Princess will have to choose a new consort. How about… I also have my brother speak to His Majesty and ask him to marry the Princess to me?”

Cuiji was startled and said with slight panic, “Brother Pei, you… do you also like the Princess?”

Pei Qiancheng said seriously, “Didn’t Brother Du say the Princess’s beauty rivals Her Majesty the Empress? Such a heavenly beauty—aside from the odd one like Brother Du, who wouldn’t like her?”

“Then… then…” Cuiji wanted to speak but seemed not to know what to say, only nervously wringing his hands. Seeing him like this, Pei Qiancheng couldn’t keep a straight face and laughed, “Alright, alright, I won’t tease you anymore. I know my place. Even without Brother Zheng, the Princess wouldn’t take a fancy to me. I’ll leave this good fortune to you.”

His words made Cuiji breathe a sigh of relief. He bowed deeply to Pei Qiancheng and said gratefully, “Thank you, Brother Pei, for your generosity!”

“Think nothing of it.” After helping Cuiji up, Pei Qiancheng said, “But there’s one thing I must remind you of. Marrying the Princess… will Uncle Cui and the others agree? They only have you as their son, and they probably won’t let you take such a risk.”

Cuiji understood his meaning. Although they didn’t believe the rumors, that didn’t mean their family members wouldn’t believe them either. After a long silence, he gritted his teeth and said, “I’ll convince them. Even if I can’t… I must marry the Princess!”

“Good!” Pei Qiancheng gave him a thumbs up, “As your brother, I’ll definitely support you fully. Whatever you need, just tell me and Brother Du!”

“Thank you,” Cuiji said gratefully, “To have you two as brothers in this life is truly a blessing I’ve cultivated over several lifetimes!”

“Alright, enough of these words that make people’s teeth ache. You should quickly return home and discuss this with Uncle and Aunt. We’ll wait for your good news.”

As for Empress Xiao, since Zheng Yang’s death, she had been troubled by heavy thoughts. Although she lived in the deep palace, she was not ignorant of outside affairs. She truly couldn’t understand how such hurtful rumors could arise. How would Yunyi marry in the future? Alas.

These past few days, she had also summoned several noble ladies into the palace. Their sons had all performed well half a year ago. Upon probing, she discovered that none of them particularly wanted their sons to marry Yunyi. Although she could use her power as Empress to forcibly suppress this, or have Yang Guang directly issue an imperial edict for the marriage, such a marriage would be filled with coercion and unwillingness from the start. While she was still around, it would be fine, but if she were gone, Yunyi’s days would likely be very difficult.

After flipping through a register for a while, Lady Xiao said, “Go invite Lady Qi, Lady Zhao, and Lady Qian to the palace. They all have unmarried sons of suitable age in their households.”

Hong Li responded, then hesitated and said, “Your Majesty, this servant remembers that Lady Qian’s husband is only a fourth-rank official and not of noble birth. Wouldn’t this family background be… too low?”

Lady Xiao shook her head, “Being lower doesn’t matter. What’s important is that they don’t believe the rumors and are willing to sincerely accept Yunyi.”

Hong Li thought this made sense and was about to leave when a palace attendant came in and said, “Your Majesty, Lady Cui is outside the palace requesting an audience.”

Lady Xiao said in surprise, “The Qinghe Cui clan?”

“Indeed.” Facing the palace attendant’s answer, Lady Xiao said, “Go invite Lady Cui in.”

After the palace attendant left, Hong Li said puzzledly, “The Qinghe Cui clan has no deep relationship with Your Majesty, and they’ve never been seen entering the palace to pay respects before. Why would they come today?”