Ruyi and her companion were speechless. Yes, even Yang Guang was dead – what could they rely on? In fact, even when Yang Guang was alive, he had never treated their princess well.

At this moment, Yunyi’s face suddenly changed as she asked urgently: “What about Mother Empress? How is she?”

“When I came out just now, she was still in Chengxiang Hall. As for how she is now, I wouldn’t know.” Cuiji answered casually and extended his hand: “Alright, come here.”

Yunyi bit her silver teeth lightly and flicked her sleeve: “I will not follow you. Give up this idea.”

Cuiji’s expression turned cold as he said coldly: “Today, whether you’re willing or not, you must come with me!”

Yunyi remained silent. Just when the latter thought her resolve was weakening, Yunyi stepped back and said: “I said I won’t go with you. If you insist on taking me, then take my corpse!”

Her words made Cuiji’s cheek twitch, his expression turning sinister: “Don’t refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!”

Yunyi ignored him. Cuiji was despicable, shameless, and petty-minded. Rather than submit to such a person, it would be cleaner to die.

Seeing that she truly ignored him, Cuiji became greatly annoyed. He stepped forward, pushed aside Ruyi and her companion, grasped Yunyi’s hand tightly, and shouted sternly: “Come!”

“Let go of me!” Just as the two were struggling, an imperial guard rushed in from outside and bowed to Cuiji: “Young Master Cui, by order of the Prime Minister, please leave Feixiang Hall immediately and go to Chengxiang Hall to see him.”

Upon hearing this, Cuiji immediately frowned tightly. Yuwen Huaji had never interfered in their affairs – why this time…

Seeing that he showed no movement for a long time, the imperial guard said again: “The Prime Minister has ordered that Young Master Cui must go quickly without delay.”

Although Cuiji was unwilling to let Yunyi go like this, he dared not ignore Yuwen Huaji’s command. After all, the latter was their leader, and moreover, he had a younger brother, Yuwen Zhiji, who was one of the main instigators of this uprising. Otherwise, how could they have chosen such a timid and fearful person as their leader?

He reluctantly released Yunyi and said to the imperial guards behind him: “Watch her carefully. If you let her escape or if she suffers any harm, bring your heads to see me!”

After the imperial guards agreed, he followed the messenger to Chengxiang Hall. By now, Yang Guang’s corpse outside the hall had been cleared away, and Pei Qiantong and the others were nowhere to be seen. Only Yuwen Huaji sat on the dragon throne. At first glance, this Yuwen Huaji, who originally had no real ability, actually had quite an imposing presence.

Cuiji bowed: “The Prime Minister summoned this humble official – what important matter is there?”

Yuwen Huaji said: “In successfully killing that tyrant Yang Guang this time, the Cui family contributed greatly, especially you, worthy nephew. After Jiangdu stabilizes, this Prime Minister will certainly reward according to merit and will never shortchange any meritorious minister.”

“Thank you, Prime Minister.” After Cuiji bowed, Yuwen Huaji stroked his long beard: “This Prime Minister knows that General Pei once made an agreement with the Cui family, one part of which concerned Princess Jinyang.”

Cuiji sensed there was more to Yuwen Huaji’s words, so he didn’t respond, waiting for him to continue. Sure enough, after pausing for a moment, the latter said: “Worthy nephew is not an outsider, so this Prime Minister will speak plainly. This Prime Minister hopes worthy nephew will do a favor and stop making things difficult for Princess Jinyang.”

Cuiji never expected Yuwen Huaji would make such a request. What he found most unexpected was that he would actually protect Princess Jinyang – he had never heard of any relationship between Princess Jinyang and Yuwen Huaji.

Cuiji bowed: “May I ask the Prime Minister why you make this request?”

“This Prime Minister is also acting on someone’s behalf. Moreover, according to this Prime Minister’s knowledge, the matter between you and Princess Jinyang isn’t really such a great grievance.” After saying this, he continued: “How about it? Would worthy nephew be willing to do this favor for this Prime Minister?”

To this, Cuiji was naturally ten thousand times unwilling, but Yuwen Huaji was the Prime Minister and nominally their leader. If he didn’t do this favor, he feared it would cause the latter to hold a grudge, and in the future, both he and the Cui family would face difficulties at every step.

Agree? Or not agree?

Cuiji’s heart was undecided. After expending so much effort, just when Jinyang was about to become his, he was being asked to give up – it was truly… infuriating.

Cuiji was an extremely patient person. Otherwise, back then, even while clearly hating Zheng Yang for taking away his position as Prince Consort, he wouldn’t have continued calling him brother for so long. Therefore, this time, he also chose to endure!

He bowed: “Since the Prime Minister has spoken, this humble official naturally obeys. From today on, this humble official and Princess Jinyang will go our separate ways with no further entanglement.”

Cuiji’s tactfulness pleased Yuwen Huaji greatly. He smiled: “It’s good that worthy nephew thinks this way! Excellent!”

Cuiji came out of Chengxiang Hall with a belly full of suppressed anger. While passing through a palace gate, he saw Pei Qiantong sternly berating several imperial guards with both voice and expression. He had known Pei Qiantong for quite some time, and the latter had always kept his emotions hidden. This was the first time Cuiji had seen him like this – he wondered what had happened.

After Pei Qiantong left, Cuiji went over and asked: “What great mistake did you make to anger General Pei so much?”

Upon hearing this, one of the imperial guard attendants immediately said aggrievedly: “We didn’t make any great mistake – we were just slightly late during the shift change. Who knew that when General Pei saw this, he would give us a thorough scolding, saying we were lax and didn’t follow rules.”

Another imperial guard attendant said quietly: “I’ve followed General Pei for many years. Even when I was occasionally late before, General Pei would at most say a few words. I’ve never seen him get so angry.” After pausing, he added: “Actually, General Pei’s expression was already very unpleasant when he first came over. I wonder if something happened in Chengxiang Hall.”

“Alright, you watch the palace gate carefully and don’t let any unrelated people in or out.” After saying this, he quickly left and soon caught up with Pei Qiantong, who hadn’t gone far. When the latter saw him, he said in surprise: “Didn’t you go to Feixiang Hall? How did you come out again?”

“I’ll explain my affairs slowly, but General, why did you get so angry just now?” Upon hearing this, Pei Qiantong’s expression, which had just somewhat eased, immediately darkened again as he said coldly: “You saw all that?”

Cuiji nodded: “The General was scolding so loudly, it would be hard not to see. What exactly happened?”

Pei Qiantong gritted his teeth and said coldly: “Xiao Shi was taken away by Yuwen Huaji.”

Upon hearing this, Cuiji immediately understood where Pei Qiantong’s anger came from: “The Prime Minister also took a fancy to Xiao Shi?” Ever since finding Xiao Shi in the rear palace, Pei Qiantong had often stared at her – clearly he had taken a fancy to Xiao Shi.

Pei Qiantong snorted coldly: “If it weren’t for my secret planning and keeping Yang Guang stabilized during this uprising, how could it have gone so smoothly? What has Yuwen Huaji done? If it weren’t for Yuwen Zhiji’s sake, I wouldn’t have agreed to let him be Prime Minister. But look what he’s done – he took away Xiao Shi without so much as a word. It’s truly infuriating.”