The plump auntie snorted and said with considerable confidence.

"Ha! Ha... If you want them to worship you, five thousand taels of silver probably won't be enough."

Cen Xi smirked, her tone laced with undisguised sarcasm.

"Then ten thousand taels, ten... ten thousand taels should be enough for them to treat me like royalty."

No sooner had Cen Xi finished speaking than the plump auntie added another five thousand taels, but as soon as she finished speaking, an embarrassed look appeared on her face.

Such absurd words made it difficult for Cen Xi to maintain her smile. She touched the teacup lid in her hand, thinking that she was lucky she hadn't drunk any tea, otherwise she would have spat it out.

It seems that her feelings of guilt were ultimately misplaced.

Some people should just stand by and watch the show; don't have any sympathy for them.

After calming down her complicated emotions, Cen Xi waved to Qingyi.

"Qingyi, give her ten thousand taels of silver, then send her out of the mansion. After that, this person has nothing to do with us."

"yes!"

The woman in green gave the short-sighted, fat woman in front of her a strange look, bowed, and went inside. Soon she came out with a large stack of silver notes and stuffed them into her hands.

"Remember your words, once you've taken this money, you'll have nothing to do with my princess's residence anymore. As for the weight loss thing, that was just my wishful thinking, and it won't happen again. I wish you all your dreams come true."

After saying these words, Cen Xi went inside.

At the same time, Qingyi didn't hold back and directly mocked:

"Please come in, ma'am!"

"Have I really offended the princess? Will she never protect me again?"

The plump aunt Gu Chunhua held the silver notes in her hand and looked around blankly.

"Please leave! If you don't leave now, the princess will get angry. If she gets angry, you'll probably have a hard time."

The man in blue coldly chased people away.

"Nianniang?"

The plump aunt was at a loss, looking at Su Nianniang who had come here with her from Lijia Village, wanting to ask for help.

“I can’t help you. Take the silver and go. Ten thousand taels of silver is more than enough. When you return to Li Family Village, not only the Li family, but I’m afraid the village chief’s family will treat you well. You should be happy that you got what you wanted.”

Su Nianniang glanced at the plump aunt with an ambiguous expression, then turned and left.

Some people are just stupid; they always end up doing things that are short-sighted and lose long-sighted. Luckily, even though her family was poor, her father still made sure she got an education.

At least she knows how to play the long game.

"I…"

The plump woman watched as everyone left and wondered if she had done something wrong.

"Don't stand here. If you don't leave, the princess will get angry. I don't want to have to kick you out."

The plump aunt's coy manner was so disgusting that Qingyi couldn't help but feel disgusted. So, without thinking, she raised her voice.

“I… I will not leave the capital. With money, I can live in the capital, and my son and husband will… will both be nobles.”

The plump aunt Gu Chunhua stiffened her neck, forced herself to muster some courage, and left on her own without asking the maid in green to chase her away.

Cen Xi, who was inside the house, laughed loudly upon hearing this and used his inner strength to give an order to Qingyi:

"Go and inform the gatekeeper that if this woman ever sets foot in my residence again, she should be beaten out with sticks! The entire princess's residence should pretend that she never knew her."

"Yes! Qingyi will go and give the order right away."

The woman in green smiled and agreed, walking even faster than Gu Chunhua. She went straight to the gatehouse and relayed Cen Xi's words in detail.

Although Cen Xi's voice had already covered the entire mansion, the things that needed to be done still had to be done, right?

"I love being an old lady, so if you don't want to come, then don't come."

The plump aunt, who hadn't even left yet, was somewhat embarrassed after being publicly humiliated by Cen Xi, but she still stubbornly clapped her teeth and cursed to save face.

During lunch, Cen Xihe had little appetite because of the farce that had happened that day.

During the meal, before Xiaoyu and Jiuyi had even eaten a few bites, Su Nianniang, with great tact, led her children away.

Watching Su Nianniang and Xiaoyu Jiuyi's retreating figures, her resentment towards the fat woman lessened considerably, and she even felt a little envious of Su Nianniang for having both a son and a daughter.

My child, how wonderful it is to have your own child.

It's a pity that I can't have sex with this crippled body.

Unable to conceive? Cen Xi suddenly remembered that this was only Shen Jinchen's side of the story, and she hadn't actually confirmed it.

Perhaps Shen Jinchen made a mistake in his diagnosis?

So, is there still hope for them?

With this thought in mind, Cen Xi was ultimately unwilling to accept this ambiguous situation. So, in the middle of the night the following day, she secretly sneaked into the residences of all the renowned imperial physicians in the capital.

She needed to determine one thing: whether she could still get pregnant.

But reality slapped her in the face. Shen Jinchen understood her and knew that she must not tell her about her inability to get pregnant, otherwise their relationship would come to an end.

Unfortunately, she eventually found out.

The severe blow caused her to never leave the house again after that night, and she lost all interest in everything.

She missed Shen Jinchen, she missed him so much…

But she knew she could never have a child with him in her life, so she had to keep this longing to herself. She hoped to suppress the growing desire to have a child, but the longer it went on, the more she wanted to see him.

But reason told her that there was absolutely no possibility for them, absolutely no possibility.

...

In the imperial palace's council hall, Emperor Yan Zhao had long since become a figurehead. Shen Jinchen was in charge of all affairs of the court, and he was only one step away from the throne.

The court officials originally thought that Shen Jinchen would ascend the throne soon, but they waited and waited, and no news came out.

This made these court officials very anxious.

They all knew that a country cannot be without a ruler for a day, and that the court must ultimately have a legitimate ruler so that they could act in accordance with the sage's will.

It's really going to be a long shot to keep dragging things out like this, so in recent days, many ministers have submitted memorials urging the current emperor to abdicate and give way to a more worthy successor.

However, Shen Jinchen kept all these memorials untouched, and none of the civil and military officials in the court knew what he was thinking.

Therefore, many people turned their attention to the Prime Minister's Chief Secretary, hoping that he could find out what was going on.

Wen Qiheng obviously also wanted to know what Shen Jinchen was thinking.

On April 26th, after the court assembly, they cornered Shen Jinchen in the Imperial Study.

"What are you thinking? The overall situation is now settled, and the wars on all sides have been quelled. The court needs a legitimate ruler to take charge of all affairs. Why don't you choose an auspicious day to ascend the throne?"

"What I think is unimportant. Isn't the political situation quite stable right now? Why are you so worried?"

Shen Jinchen reviewed other memorials, his tone indifferent.

"How can I not worry? Shen Jinchen, you are the last bloodline of the Great Qi. Our ancestors have devoted their lives to restoring the country. Now that the opportunity is in front of us, you have to give this country a legitimate status, and the people who follow you also need you to give them a proper name."

"If you don't ascend the throne soon, I'm afraid you'll break their hearts."

After Wen Qiheng finished his rambling, he looked at him with exasperation, thinking, "What a great situation! What is he dawdling about?"