Upon hearing the tragic news, the Empress granted Consort Xie permission to come to the residence to offer her condolences.

Upon seeing the head with half its face gnawed off by maggots, Cai Lan and Cai Wei screamed in surprise and quickly helped her up.

"Send the concubine back to her residence!" Xie Anfeng immediately sent someone to escort her back to the Crown Prince's residence.

Do not allow any mishap to happen to the children in the house, and do not interfere in the funeral arrangements.

As for the Xu family, Xie An ordered Xie Yu to personally deliver the news of the death. His uncle, Xu Huanzhang, received him. On the same day, Xu's biological aunt also "unfortunately passed away" due to grief for her daughter.

Although Xu was a second wife, because she was Xie Anfeng's wife, the funeral rites and etiquette were not violated at all.

The Empress sent Jingge to offer condolences. After attending the funeral rites and viewing the remains, Jingge suppressed her nausea and fear and confirmed that the deceased was indeed Lady Xu.

After being "thrown" and fed with maggots, Jin Ge saw Xu Shi's remains, left the Xie residence, and vomited up all the food from the previous year while leaning against the wall!

The Empress suspected that Lady Xu had failed to kill Xie Anfeng and was silenced, but there was no evidence.

It was too hot, so the coffin was kept in the mansion for two days, and the funeral was to be held on the third day.

Xie Anfeng immediately mobilized 500 Xuanyi Guards to monitor the area around Xie Mansion and every corner of the mansion.

In the dead of night, Xu's remains were placed in a small, thin coffin and handed over to the Black-Clad Guards to carry her out of the city.

In a remote, secluded mountain valley, they dug a pit and buried Xu.

Before burying them, a Taoist priest was asked to perform a spell on the remains, invoking a curse and nailing a soul nail into them.

There was no mound at the grave; instead, a soul-suppressing stone and talisman were buried beside the coffin.

The Taoist priest was a highly skilled person, and his incantation techniques were extremely advanced.

Xu's soul was suppressed, and after forty-nine days, it will be completely scattered and disappear forever.

Reincarnation? Time travel and rebirth? Neither is possible.

"In my tomb, there is only Yan'er!" Xie Anfeng gazed at the setting moonlight, for no one could replace Xu Zhiyan.

Inside the original coffin in the mourning hall, a stone was placed instead, and the coffin was wrapped in Xu's usual clothes. Old Qin led people to nail the coffin shut.

No one doubted that the coffin contained Xu Yingrong's remains, nor did anyone know that she had been eternally imprisoned in the desolate wilderness.

Xu Yingrong is no more.

After dealing with Xu Yingrong, Xie Anfeng ordered someone to bring up Aunt Qu.

Aunt Qu was beaten to the point of near death.

Xiao Wu's accident was Xu's scheme. Xie Anfeng repeatedly reminded Aunt Qu and promised to look for Xiao Wu, but Aunt Qu couldn't wait.

In the end, she listened to Xu's words and drugged him.

That bowl of lotus seed soup also ended all her chances of survival.

"Mrs. Qu, even if the child was tricked away, the culprit should be held accountable. You should settle accounts with Mrs. Xu. Why are you so focused on targeting the princess?"

There's no other reason than that you resent Yu'er and Zhaozhao, and you hope they will be punished and destroyed.

Last year, when Xiao Wu got into trouble, you knew that Xie Tingting and Xie Xiangxiang were the ones who harmed Xiao Wu, but you didn't settle scores with them. Instead, you hated Zhao Zhao.

This time it's even worse; they're single-mindedly trying to drag innocent people down with them, even poisoning me, becoming accomplices in the Xu family's destruction of the entire clan!

Xie Anfeng said coldly, "Aunt Qu, your parents begged me to protect you for life before they died. I wanted to treat you well, and I also wanted to raise Xiao Wu well and treat him the same as the other legitimate sons. It's just a pity that you are like Xu Shi, greedy and heartless!"

They were jealous of Xie Yu and Xie Zhaozhao.

"Who do you think you are, to be jealous of my Yu'er and Zhao Zhao? They may not have a mother, but they have a father."

Aunt Qu started to cry.

She came from a humble family, and what caught Xie Anfeng's eye, besides her parents' pleas, was her beauty.

But in a large family, beauty is never in short supply.

Even Madam Xu admired her because her aunt was stunningly beautiful and had the best appearance.

A concubine is just a frivolous thing; the romantic tales of a beautiful woman adding fragrance to one's sleeves only exist in picture books.

She must have been blinded by greed to poison Xie Anfeng.

"This servant knows that I have committed a grave sin. I only beg you, my lord, to allow me to see Xiao Wu one more time. He is still young and needs me! I swear, I will never have any other thoughts."

She had been locked in a dark cell for the past few days and learned that Xiao Wu was still alive. The day "Granny Wu" took the child out of the princess's courtyard, she was "invited" away by Xie Yu's men.

Granny Wu is a complete fabrication, so let's just forget about her!

Xiao Wu was taken to the Xie family's villa. Xie Anfeng wanted to see whether Aunt Qu would believe him or Xu Shi would take the opportunity to kill the whole family.

Disappointingly, Aunt Qu chose to poison him.

The poison was a slow-acting poison, so naturally it wouldn't cause bleeding from all seven orifices. But Xie Anfeng was too lazy to play along with them, so he simply "died suddenly" to see if they really went to steal the letter.

Jealousy truly makes people ruthless and without limits.

Want to see your child? Want to raise your child?

"You don't need to see him, and he shouldn't have a mother like you." Xie Anfeng didn't say much to Aunt Qu, but told Old Qin, "Take care of it!"

Aunt Qu struggled and cried out, but Old Qin covered her mouth, dragged her to a side courtyard, and strangled her to death.

Old Qin found a mat, rolled up Aunt Qu, pasted on a talisman to ward off evil spirits, dug a hole, and buried her.

When Xu died and was buried, no one informed Xie Xiangxiang. The capital was bustling with many events, both big and small, happening every day. One Xu woman couldn't cause much of a stir.

The east and west sides of the city are far apart, and Xie Xiangxiang is unaware that her mother has died.

After Xu's funeral, it was already early July, and there were still about half a month before Yin Jin'an and the others set off for the north.

Xiao Xin ran over again and told Xie Zhaozhao that Xie Xiangxiang had been invited by people from Princess Roudan's mansion, supposedly to enjoy the moonlit lotus pond and relax.

That same night, Bei Chen also received news: "Reporting to Master, Princess Yu Rong has hosted a banquet for Xie Xiangxiang tonight."

Xie Zhaozhao said, "I almost forgot, Xie Xiangxiang and Princess Yurong have always been on good terms. What did they say?"

When Xie Xiangxiang heard that Xu was dead, she cried bitterly and insisted that Xie Anfeng was the one who killed her. She vowed to wipe out the Xie family mansion, the Prince Jing's mansion, and Qingpu Garden all at once.

Princess Yurong said that the Earl's family had poisoned the Crown Prince, and she would report this to the Empress, ordering the entire Earl's family to be executed, including the Grand Secretary and his wife.

Ha, what a pair of poisonous creatures!

Xie Zhaozhao said to Bei Chen, "Go and inform your brother immediately to bring the Xuanyi Guards into the manor. I suspect someone will try to steal the letter from inside."

Even if Princess Meatball is not favored, she is still royalty. She must plan carefully and not risk her own life.

If possible, try "divine punishment".

*

The next morning, Yin Jin'an excitedly arrived at Qingpu Garden and happily said to Xie Zhaozhao, "Quick, come with me, it's done!"

What's done?

They left the mansion in a two-horse carriage and traveled a long way with Yin Jin'an, arriving at a mountain valley more than a hundred miles outside the capital.

There was no one around, and the area was guarded by Yin Jin'an's men to ensure that no one could enter.

Chu Keqin and Chu Kejian were so excited that they pulled them to sit down on chairs without saying a word, and carried the baskets of "weapons" to a pile of large rocks in the distance.

Chu Zhongtian said proudly, "Grand Madam, Second Master, watch closely."

Chu Keqin took out several small earthenware pots from the basket, lit the fuse, and with a "boom," the stones were blasted into pieces, flying several meters high and far away. The soil on the ground was also blown up, and smoke and dust filled the sky.

Xie Zhaozhao stood up, her eyebrows curving into a smile. A powerful weapon had been created!