As for Xie Jingyan, after seeing Yun Qi off, he returned to Moyuxuan.

Just as he reached the door and was about to enter the house, a guard appeared and reported, "Sir, the Ministry of Revenue just sent a lot of things to the Yan residence."

Xie Jingyan asked, "Did you return them all?"

The guard said, "Not everything was returned, but the Ministry of Revenue sent more than it should have."

Xie Jingyan only gave three days. The Ministry of Revenue had prepared to send the items to the Yan residence a few days ago, but Consort Chen was moved from Changchun Palace to the funeral palace, and Yan Zheng and Yan Qing'er also went to the palace to keep vigil. Since there was no master in the Yan residence, the Ministry of Revenue did not send the items.

Yesterday, Consort Chen was buried, and the Yan family was no longer busy. The Ministry of Revenue dared not delay any longer and quickly moved the items sent to the Ministry of Revenue by various families to the Yan family.

Yes, it wasn't just Duke Mao who kept the confiscated items from the Yan family mansion; there were others as well.

However, the Duke of Maoguo kept the most.

The Empress Dowager avoided Xie Jingyan's sharp edge, not even allowing the eldest prince to compete for the position of crown prince, let alone those things. That evening, she sent Granny Zhao to deliver a message to Duke Mao, instructing him to send everything to the Ministry of Revenue without missing a single item.

Duke Mao was furious, but helpless. Xie Jingyan had a token given to him by the Emperor, which allowed him to mobilize the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate to investigate the case. Xie Jingyan insisted that the Yan family's belongings were related to Consort Chen's case. If he really wanted to use the investigation of Consort Chen's case to search Duke Mao's mansion, even the Empress Dowager couldn't stop him.

Moreover, since the Empress Dowager sent Zhao Mama to deliver a message so late at night, the Duke of Maoguo dared not disregard her words.

When the Yan family was raided, he seized several large boxes of items, the most valuable of which were the calligraphy and paintings treasured by the late Grand Tutor Yan. However, in recent years, in order to help the Crown Prince win over court officials, most of them had been given away. Once they were given away, it would be difficult to get them back, and it was probably impossible to get them back.

After returning home, Granny Zhao relayed Mao Guogong's words to the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager knew that Mao Guogong was telling the truth; he was completely devoted to his nephew, the First Prince.

But if Prince Ling is determined to take things seriously, and even deliberately causes trouble for the Duke of Mao's mansion, no one can stop him.

To prevent such a thing from happening, the Empress Dowager instructed the Duke of Mao to use other calligraphy and paintings as substitutes if possible, and to convert any that could not be replaced into silver.

Everything belonging to the Yan family that was still in the hands of Duke Maoguo had been sent to the Ministry of Revenue, along with the calligraphy and paintings sent to various mansions. Duke Maoguo hadn't sent anyone to retrieve them. Now that Consort Chen's case had been overturned and Prince Ling had a chance to seize the throne, Duke Maoguo wanted to support the eldest prince. Winning over those ministers wasn't enough. If he went to retrieve them now, it would just give those ministers an excuse to defect.

Duke Maoguo would not do such a foolish thing.

The Duke of Maoguo could only do as the Empress Dowager instructed, using calligraphy and paintings where possible, and converting those that could not be replaced with calligraphy and paintings into silver notes.

The Duke of Maoguo was heartbroken from the pain.

When the Duke of Maoguo returned the Yan family's belongings, which he had kept during the confiscation, to the Ministry of Revenue, the ministers who possessed Yan family's property became restless.

Even the Duke of Maoguo spat out what he had eaten; those who couldn't spit it out made up for it with other things. Others, daring not to return what they had borrowed from heaven, all sent their food to the Ministry of Revenue.

Not only were items belonging to the Yan family sent to the Ministry of Revenue, but some items that had already passed through their hands were also sent. After all, it wasn't worth offending Prince Ling over one or two items, so they considered it a way to avoid trouble. They followed the example of Duke Mao and made up for it with other things. Back then, no one expected that Consort Chen could overturn the case, and the Emperor even wiped the Yan family's name clean and returned the confiscated items to the Yan family.

It's normal to receive something and then give it away again.

This time, only a small portion of the items sent back to the Yan family by the Ministry of Revenue were actually from the Yan family; the majority were replacements.

Xie Jingyan didn't say anything.

He was powerless to save the lives of everyone in the Yan family. As for other things, he would not allow the Yan family to suffer any loss.

The guards withdrew, and Xie Jingyan entered the room.

He had just entered the room, walked to the bedside, and sat down when he heard the voice of the Prince of Yanping calling from outside, "Brother Jingyan..."

The sound has extremely strong penetrating power.

Xie Jingyan looked at Shen Wan helplessly.

It was rare for Shen Wan to act coquettishly and ask him to stay with her. She had just returned from seeing Yun Qi off when the Prince of Yanping and his entourage arrived again.

Shen Wan said, "They must have something to tell you. You should go quickly."

Xie Jingyan then got up and left.

As soon as he stepped outside, he saw a scene that made him frown: Prince Yanping and Tang Ze were each supporting one of Du Cheng'an, standing in the courtyard.

Du Cheng'an's face turned red as he struggled to leave, but the Prince of Yanping and Tang Ze supported him, so it was no wonder he couldn't walk.

Xie Jingyan saw this and said, "Why are you all holding him up for no reason?"

The Crown Prince of Yanping sighed, "We don't want to put him in a difficult position either, but he's too shy. He wants to ask you for help, but he doesn't dare to ask."

As the Prince of Yanping spoke, Du Cheng'an struggled even more fiercely, his face turning even redder than a monkey's bottom.

Although he had spent several months hanging out with Prince Yanping and Tang Ze, and his skin had grown thicker, it wasn't thick enough to be this thick-skinned. With maids and servants peeking at him from all around, Du Cheng'an felt like disappearing into the ground.

He knew that Prince Yanping and Tang Ze were helpful, but he couldn't just force them to do it like this. Couldn't he give them a few more days?

Xie Jingyan asked, "What kind of help do you need that's hard to ask?"

Du Cheng'an stammered and couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

Tang Ze, being impatient, spoke up for him directly, "It's all about his proposal to marry the Yan family's daughter. Princess Huyang and the eldest son-in-law felt it wasn't appropriate for them to talk to Young Master Yan about this, so they sent him to you, Brother Jingyan, to ask you to help propose to the Yan family."

Princess Huyang and her husband were extremely worried about their son's marriage.

They first went to the Wang family to propose marriage, and then to the Ministry of Justice Minister's residence, but neither went well, because neither of the people they approached were capable of making decisions about Yan Qing'er's lifelong happiness.

Young Master Yan is Yan Qing'er's biological elder brother, and he can make all the decisions regarding Yan Qing'er's marriage. However, there is no one in the Yan family who is of the same generation as Princess Huyang and her husband. When they come to visit, it always feels like they are abusing their power. Princess Huyang wants to ask the Minister of Justice to help her propose marriage, but the husband thinks that Xie Jingyan is more suitable.

Xie Jingyan can make half the decisions regarding the Yan family's affairs. If he agrees to help propose marriage, the marriage will be a sure thing.

Xie Jingyan hadn't expected Du Cheng'an to want his help with this. He looked at Du Cheng'an and said, "Are you hiding something from me?"

Du Cheng'an shook his head quickly, "No, no..."

"Why is it so hard for you to ask me?" Xie Jingyan said.

"..."

Prince Yanping and Tang Ze looked at Du Cheng'an and asked, "You're not really hiding something from Brother Jingyan, are you?"

“I remember now, when he was pursuing the Yan family’s daughter, he was punched by the eldest young master Yan,” Tang Ze said.

"..."

Du Cheng'an felt like dying.

Are they helping him or making things worse?

He was already afraid that the fact that he had accidentally kissed Yan Qing'er would be found out by the Prince of Ling, and that Tang Ze would expose it.

Prince Bie Ling refused to help him propose marriage and even punched him.

He was most afraid that Xu Chuan and Yan Qing'er had a relationship, and what he feared most came true. They not only had a relationship, but they were the closest of relatives in the world; they were siblings.

He not only has two cousins, Xu Ji and Ling Wang, but also several godbrothers from the Wang family, and his own brother-in-law, Yan Zheng.

The wind blew into his neck, and Du Cheng'an felt a chill run through him.