Minister Liu and Murong Yao showed an expression of finally discovering something, and their tone softened a little. Minister Liu advised gently, "Then there's no need to marry a maid and get angry with her. Although you can divorce her later, it will always leave you with a bad reputation. You are the Minister of Justice, and divorcing your wife will affect your career."

"Father, you don't need to persuade me."

Liu Zhang retorted coldly, explaining, "As a son, how can I not support my father's great cause? Those who achieve great things are not particular about trivial matters, so we should let go of those sentimental things."

Minister Liu looked at him in shock, and after a long while he finally said, "Well, it's rare that Zhang'er is so filial, but your father will only allow you to bring her in as a concubine. If a lowly maid wants to become my legitimate daughter-in-law, forget it!"

Liu Zhang insisted, "Take her as a concubine? Master Shen will never agree. To achieve great things, one must make choices. If I say I want to marry her, then she must be my wife."

"Father disagrees. It's not your turn to sacrifice for our great cause. You know she's just a maid. You can just give her gifts and a few perfunctory words. Why should you marry her?"

"Father, I must marry her." Liu Zhang raised his voice and said loudly, "Only in this way can we invite Prince Shen and the Crown Prince to come to the Liu Mansion on the day of the wedding."

Murong Yao immediately reacted and said, "Cousin, don't tell me you want to!"

"No, if you start a fight at the Liu Mansion, are you going to destroy our Liu family?" Minister Liu retorted. "Besides, the Marquis' Mansion might not agree!"

Murong Yao felt that this was a perfect opportunity, so he advised, "Uncle, I think if we take advantage of my cousin's marriage, if something goes wrong, we won't be suspected."

"Nonsense! How can you do such a thing at the cost of Zhang'er's career and family?" Minister Liu was very determined on this matter and refused to agree no matter what.

"Uncle, Murong Yan is too cunning. Opportunities to severely injure him are few and far between. Now that we have this opportunity, we must take advantage of it. Besides, Prince Shen is not unimportant in the Southern Territory. We can use my cousin's marriage to kill two birds with one stone."

Liu Zhang listened to the two arguing in silence, and after a while he spoke up: "Your Highness the Third Prince wants to kidnap Prince Shen and severely injure the Crown Prince, but there is no need to wait until the wedding to act."

"What do you think, cousin?"

Liu Zhang told the two of them the detailed plan. Minister Liu looked very surprised and said in amazement, "Zhang'er, you even figured this out."

"Nothing, just inferred."

"You are worthy of being my cousin. I believe that with your help, our cause will be greatly strengthened." Murong Yao looked at him with admiration.

Liu Zhang looked at Murong Yao indifferently and asked, "Since Xu Yushi supports the Crown Prince, then why did the Third Prince protect Miss Xu and absolve her of the crime of murdering the guard?"

Murong Yao glanced at Minister Liu and replied, "Although Xu Yushi supports the Crown Prince, this Miss Xu is different. It seems that she holds many secrets and may become a great help in our efforts to overthrow the Crown Prince."

Liu Zhang did not ask any further questions and continued to get back to the point. "Father, I married Miss Jiang to deal with the Southern Territory. I hope you will put the overall situation first."

Murong Yao immediately persuaded him, "Yes, when we have accomplished our great cause, let my cousin divorce this maid and marry anyone he wants."

Minister Liu weighed the pros and cons for a moment before reluctantly nodding.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Liu Zhang said goodbye and walked out of the house.

On the other side, Fu Yi sent Ye Wanqing back to the Marquis' Mansion and said reluctantly, "Xu'er, I have to go back to the southern border for a while. I will come back to see you after a while."

"Ah, brother, are you busy with something?" Upon hearing this, Ye Wanqing felt a little disappointed.

"Well, there are still many businesses to deal with at home. When I am not in the capital, you must take good care of yourself. If you have anything, you can write to me and tell me."

"Then take care of yourself, big brother." Ye Wanqing felt warm in her heart as if it were spring, and waved goodbye to Fu Yi towards the carriage.

Fu Yi turned and got into the carriage, the sound of horse hooves gradually fading away.

"Brother Chen Xu is so warm-hearted." She held the bank's nameplate in her hand and expressed her sincere admiration at the receding shadow of the carriage.

Although they had only been together for a few short days, Fu Yi's thoughtfulness warmed her heart.

She originally thought that if she told her eldest brother that she wanted to be with Murong Yan, she would be met with irrefutable opposition. Unexpectedly, her eldest brother not only did not object, but also helped her to find out what her parents were thinking and gave her so much money.

One hundred thousand taels of silver. When she was in the general's mansion, she never dared to imagine that she could have so much money and have such a rich brother!

She couldn't help but think of her own brother, who went to Dongyi to join the army for more than one hundred taels of military expenses every year.

Although there is no war in Dongyi now, and my father said that going to Dongyi is just for training, life in the military camp cannot compare to that in the capital after all. We often have to sleep in the open air, which must be very hard.

The last time I saw him was during the Chinese New Year. He was much darker than before and must have suffered a lot. I don’t know when I will see him again.

Ye Wanqing thought about it and couldn't help but lower her head and sigh.

Just as he was sitting at the door in a daze, Murong Yan got off the carriage with a bag in his hand.

Seeing her sitting alone on the doorstep with her chin in her hand, her pensive and solemn face immediately changed into a smile. He walked over and called her softly, "Qingqing, why are you sitting alone at the door in a daze? What are you thinking about?"

Ye Wanqing came back to her senses, stood up from the threshold, and smiled sweetly, "Your Highness, it smells so good, what is it?"

"Candied haws from Yunlai Restaurant." Murong Yan held the paper bag in his hand and shook it in front of her.

When Ye Wanqing heard it was candied haws, she was a little disappointed.

She didn't like candied haws, and there were no other snacks when she was a child, so her second mother often withheld her and her brother's pocket money.

Her brother often saved money to buy her candied haws.

Every time she eats candied haws, she would think of the hardships she and her brother had suffered at the hands of Er Niang. Even the candied haws tasted bitter.

"This is hard to buy. It's inedible when it gets cold. Try it while it's hot." Seeing that she was unmoved, Murong Yan urged her to open the paper package.

"What's this candied haws? Why is it still hot?"

"This is the signature dish of Yunlai Restaurant. No ordinary chef can make it like this."

Ye Wanqing curiously opened the paper bag and saw a bunch of light yellow balls rolling into the bag. "This is not a candied haws, it's just fried glutinous rice balls, right?"

"Try it."

Seeing Murong Yan looking at her expectantly, Ye Wanqing picked one up and put it in her mouth.

"What is this? It's so delicious!" Ye Wanqing covered her mouth. She had never eaten anything so delicious.

As soon as your lips and teeth touch the thin and crispy outer layer of the meatball, it melts in your mouth. It is smooth and dense without any residue. The sugar water explodes in your mouth with the mellow flavor of osmanthus. The melt-in-your-mouth texture with a rich fragrance is very memorable.

"Candied haws." Seeing her enjoying herself, Murong Yan smiled dotingly.

Sure enough, no girl would refuse the sweet candied haws from Yunlai Restaurant.