I'll be pleasantly surprised for you.

Upon hearing this, Shi Yan closed her eyes, feeling utterly hopeless, and the last tear slowly fell.

Shi Hui slowly retreated while holding her hostage. Just as everyone's hearts were in their throats after Shi Hui had already left the room, a cold glint flashed by.

A dagger was held to Shi Hui's neck, followed by a woman's voice, "How could you forget me in this situation?"

Everyone looked over and saw that it was Tao Yuran!

Qi Xuan exclaimed in shock, "Miss Tao! It's you?! How do you know martial arts?!"

Tao Yuran stood behind Shi Hui and looked at him, saying, "I already knew how to do it, you didn't ask."

Qi Xuan thought for a moment and said, "That seems to be true."

Shi Hui glanced at the dagger at her neck, pulled Shi Yan even tighter, and said, "Take it away! Otherwise, I'll kill her!"

Upon hearing this, Shi Yan opened her eyes in confusion and saw that she was being held hostage by Shi Hui, while Shi Hui was being held hostage by Tao Yuran.

I really don't know what to say.

Tao Yuran smiled, tightened her grip on Shi Hui's shoulder, and said, "You can try and see whose knife is faster."

After saying that, he placed the daggers even closer, with both daggers pressed tightly against his neck, as if if he exerted any more force, his neck would be slashed open.

Looking at the three people in front of him, pressed tightly together, Qi Xuan couldn't help but say, "This situation seems like it allows for 'hitting a cow from behind a mountain,' right?"

Everyone looked at him.

What kind of thought process is that?

Tao Yuran was speechless, and said to Shi Hui, "Hey, do you want the emperor to have lost his mind?"

Shi Hui subconsciously said, "We didn't give him power, we just made him produce offspring."

After she finished speaking, Shi Hui realized that she hadn't said anything wrong, so she remained silent.

Tao Yuran didn't mind and said, "Then, can the Empress Dowager release the person?"

Shi Hui felt the dagger getting closer to her neck, so she had no choice but to let go, and the dagger fell to the ground with a "crack" sound.

Shi Yan lost her balance and fell forward. Li Yanzhang immediately stepped forward and caught her, saying, "Be careful."

The Imperial Guards quickly stepped forward and tied up Shi Hui.

Shi Yan felt that Li Yanzhang's chest was broad and strong, which made her feel particularly safe. She wanted to hug him a little longer, just a little while.

With his hands bound, Shi Hui burst into laughter upon seeing this scene: "Hahahaha! Qi Dou, Qi Dou! While you're out there fighting on the battlefield, the Li family member you trust most is having an affair with your woman!"

Upon hearing this, Qi Xuan glanced at Tao Yuran, his heart pounding with panic. "Oh no! I met Tao Yuran in the Northeast Village, and we're so close now. What if my brother thinks we're having an affair?!"

Li Yanzhang felt a little flustered. Although he knew his feelings were clear, he hadn't actually done anything with Shi Yan. He angrily said, "Shi Hui! Watch your mouth!"

Shi Hui said, "What? You have the guts to do it but not the guts to admit it?"

Just as Li Yanzhang was about to speak, he heard Shi Hui laugh and say, "Li Yanzhang, why bother arguing with me about these things? You should be fighting with Qi, after all, Yan'er is..."

"She's served you in bed!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yanzhang felt as if a huge stone had been placed on his heart, and he was completely stunned.

Upon hearing this, Shi Yan remembered that she was still the Consort Duan of Qi Dou, and felt that she was not worthy to be with Li Yanzhang. Even though she was still a virgin, how could a concubine have a relationship with a man outside the marriage? In the end, she would only be lonely for the rest of her life.

She stepped away from Li Yanzhang's embrace, looked at him with sadness and pain in her eyes, and mustered her courage to say, "I'm sorry, I lost my balance."

These words caused Li Yanzhang a pang of heartache. He knew that Shi Yan wanted to explain herself and draw a clear line between them.

Li Yanzhang looked at Shi Yan sadly, and neither of them spoke, as if there was a vast distance between them, like the Milky Way.

Seeing this, Qi Xuan immediately said to Shi Hui, "Did you hear that? You just lost your balance, what are you babbling about?"

Shi Hui sneered, "Heh, I'd like to see how Qi Dou handles this when he gets back."

Ji Xi stepped forward and couldn't help but ask, "Why are you doing this?"

After hearing this, Shi Hui looked at him and said, "I thought you all knew very well."

"I did all this for Min'er." Her eyes softened when she spoke of Qi Min.

"Qi Dou has failed to grant Min'er the respect she deserves, and has even repeatedly provoked me for the sake of that woman, Li Xingyi! How can I tolerate him?!"

She got angry as she spoke.

Ji Xi couldn't bear to watch Shi Hui bite people indiscriminately, and retorted, "If you hadn't been making things difficult for the Empress, why would His Majesty have acted this way? Besides, His Majesty never intended to really harm Min'er!"

Upon hearing this, Shi Hui felt as if her truth had been exposed. She immediately rushed forward and grabbed Ji Xi like a madwoman, saying, "What do you know?! They all favor the Li family! All of them! They don't like me at all! Not even my Min'er!"

Ji Xi frowned at the person in front of him and said, "Are you crazy?!"

Shi Hui's mind was in turmoil, and she laughed loudly: "Mad?! Hahahaha! Qi Lie, that two-faced man, is the one who's insane! He's obsessed with that slut Liang Qu! But he dotes on that whore Li Hehua! He even killed my father for Li Hehua! And imprisoned me for Li Yanzhang!"

She became more and more agitated as she spoke, "If it weren't for Liang Qu! How could I have schemed to climb into Qi Lie's bed?! If it weren't for Li Hehua! How could my father and family have ended up like this?! If it weren't for Li Xingyi! How could I have ended up like this?! If it weren't for the Li family! How could I have ended up like this?!"

Shi Hui's mind was filled with these kinds of things.

It's all their fault! It's all their fault! If it weren't for them, how could I have betrayed the country and colluded with the enemy?! How could things have turned out like this?!

Thinking of this, Shi Hui gripped even tighter, causing Ji Xi to wince in pain.

This sound brought Shi Hui back to her senses. She looked at the person in front of her in confusion, remembering that he was Qi Min's husband. She couldn't hurt him, and she couldn't let Min'er hate her.

Shi Hui released her hand, her tone somewhat humble, and said, "I didn't mean it, please don't tell Min'er, okay?"

Tao Yuran whispered to Qi Xuan, "Has she gone mad?"

Qi Xuan shrugged and said, "Who knows?"

Ji Xi looked at Shi Hui and paused for a moment before saying, "I'm fine."

Shi Hui was relieved and regained her usual composure, saying, "I did all these things myself. It has nothing to do with Qi Min. I am willing to take full responsibility, as long as Qi Min is not implicated."

Upon hearing this, everyone expressed their opinions in unison.

He really only cares about Qi Min.

Ji Xi said, "I understand. I will tell His Majesty when he returns."

After hearing this, Shi Hui obediently followed the Imperial Guards. After she left, Ji Xi looked at everyone and bowed, saying, "Could you all please keep this a secret for me? Don't tell Min'er yet?"

Ji Xi was afraid that Qi Min would be upset if she found out, so he had no choice but to resort to this drastic measure.

Everyone watched him silently. Li Yanzhang stepped forward, placed his left hand on Ji Xi's left shoulder, and said first, "Of course."

Tao Yuran said nonchalantly, "Sure."

Qi Xuan nodded and said, "I agree."

Liu Linye said, "Okay."

Asahi said, "Mm."

Li Fengtan looked at Hu Cun's corpse and sighed, "Hmm."

Ji Shao looked at Ji Xi and said, "Of course I agree."

Shi Yan left with only the words, "I won't tell," and Li Yanzhang looked downcast as he watched her retreating figure.

The remaining officials all nodded in understanding.

Ji Xi was extremely grateful and said, "Ji Xi thanks you all very much."

A few days later, Qi Dou led his army to attack the capital of the Eastern Kingdom, forcing the emperor of the Eastern Kingdom to submit to Qi and make Qi Yan his empress. The crown prince could only be born to Qi Yan. In order to save his life, the emperor of the Eastern Kingdom had no choice but to agree.

A few days later, Qi Dou and his party attacked the capital of the Western Kingdom, and the emperor of the Western Kingdom agreed to their request.

Qi Dou looked at the Western Emperor and said, "You're smart to know what's good for you."

The Western Emperor quickly smiled apologetically and said, "You are wise and powerful, how could I possibly oppose you?"

Qi Dou laughed and said, "The entire Western Kingdom seems to have a silver tongue."

The Western Emperor echoed, "Of course, of course."

Seeing this, Li Xingyi said, "Let's go."

Qi Dou turned around and said, "Okay."

Just then, a flash of cold light appeared, and Li Xingyi immediately noticed it. He quickly pushed Qi Dou away, but was scratched on the back. "Ouch!"

"Star Shift!" Qi Dou shouted.

Qingyi said worriedly, "Your Majesty!"

Li You stepped forward and kicked the assassinating Western Emperor to the ground. The Western Emperor hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy, saying, "Spare me! Spare me! I was bewitched! I didn't mean to!"

Without uttering a word, Li You slashed him with her sword, saying viciously, "You're asking for death!"

Qi Dou rushed forward to catch Li Xingyi. At this moment, the white clothes on Li Xingyi's back were stained red with blood, which was a large wound.

Li Xingyi leaned against Qi Dou's chest, feeling dizzy and weak all over. She whispered, "...A Dou, it's good that you're...alright..."

After saying that, she fainted. Upon seeing this, Qi Dou immediately picked up Li Xingyi and headed for the door, shouting, "Qi Wenzhe! Come quick and save her!"

At night, Li Xingyi woke up in a palace in the Western Kingdom and found that his wounds had been bandaged and that everyone was watching over him.

Li You sat to one side with a face full of resentment, while Qi Dou gently held her hand and looked at Li Xingyi with worried eyes.

Li Xingyi comforted him, saying, "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Qi Dou breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, but looked at Li Xingyi, who hesitated and didn't know how to speak.

After Li Xingyi noticed, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Just as Qi Dou was about to speak, he heard Li You's unhappy voice: "What could be wrong? You're pregnant, and he doesn't know how to tell you."

Li Xingyi was a little confused when she heard this. She pulled her hand away and took her own pulse, which confirmed that she was indeed pregnant.

She was speechless for a moment, gently touched her lower abdomen, and asked Qi Dou, "A Dou, are you happy?"

Qi Dou immediately replied, "Of course I'm happy."

Qingyi smiled and said, "Your Majesty, it's been almost two months already, how come you didn't notice?"

Li Xingyi has been quite busy lately, so he hasn't been paying much attention to this matter.

Li Xingyi calculated the time and blurted out, "Was it the time in Jiangnan?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Dou's face flushed red. Qi Qing, sitting in his chair, chuckled and said, "Oh?"

Qi Wenzhe held Qi Qing's hand and said gently with a smile, "Qing'er, are we moving a little too slowly?"

Qi Qing said frankly, "Then good luck."

Qi Wenzhe's face also turned slightly red. Qingyi looked at them and then at Li Xingyi and the others, and said, "Your Majesty, you really do need to relax a bit."

She was never pregnant before, but got pregnant after a trip to Jiangnan. It's clear that you really need to relax and unwind when it comes to these things.

Li You poured tea for herself and said, "Tch, when I get back, I'll have a child too, so you won't be left behind."

Although Li You was unhappy that Li Xingyi was pregnant with Qi Dou's child, it was normal for them to be a married couple. In order not to keep thinking about this, she still needed to have her own child.

Qi Xuangui coughed and said, "Your Majesty, the Western Kingdom must have a monarch. What do you think?"

Qi Dou straightened his expression and said, "Let Yan'er choose one she likes."

Qi Yan chose a seemingly honest and unmarried prince and successfully became empress. The new emperor was quite sensible and promised to follow Qi's lead.

After parting ways with Li You, Qi Dou and the others headed to the imperial city. On the way, Qi Dou paid extra attention to Li Xingyi's health, personally changing his dressings and taking great care of his every need, fearing that something might happen to him.

Sitting in the carriage, Li Xingyi sighed and said, "A Dou, I'm not that delicate, you don't need to be like this."

After listening, Qi Dou said seriously, "You have injuries and are pregnant, so you have to be careful no matter what, otherwise how can I be at ease?"

Li Xingyi looked into his eyes and, seeing his unwavering resolve, relented, "Alright."

Qi Dou gently hugged her and said, "Xing Yi, don't take the blow for me next time."

Li Xingyi lowered his eyes slightly and said, "I'm sorry, I can't bear to see you get hurt in front of me."

Qi Dou said, "But I can't bear to see you get hurt."

Li Xingyi rested his head on his shoulder and said, "Then, if A Dou becomes even stronger, I won't have to worry about him anymore, and neither of us will get hurt."

Qi Dou replied, "Okay."