Wines

Following the Emperor's instructions, Huai En personally led Xie Sili and the imperial edict to the Prime Minister's residence.

Upon arriving at the Prime Minister's residence, he was led to the front hall by a servant. Before he even got close, he heard Xie Ling and Xie Zhun arguing.

Xie Ling had just returned to the manor ahead of them, saying that he was settling matters within the manor.

Seeing the young eunuchs beside him trying to step forward, Huai En shook his head, signaling them not to speak, and simply stood there enjoying Xie Ling's reprimand and dissatisfaction with Xie Zhun.

"Eunuch Liang, what are you doing standing here?"

Xie Sinan, Xie Siyu, and Xie Siyao, who had just returned home after their break from school, all turned their attention to Huai En. It was Xie Siyu who spoke first.

The moment Xie Sili arrived at the mansion, he was taken back to Liju by Mei, Lan, Zhu, Ju and others, who said that he should take good care of himself.

Huai En glanced at Xie Siyu but didn't say anything. He simply greeted Xie Sinan, saying, "Greetings, Second Young Master Xie."

"You're too kind, Eunuch Liang. May I ask what brings you here?" Xie Sinan asked in a low voice. "Why are you standing here instead of going inside?"

Following the direction Huai En pointed, Xie Sinan saw Xie Ling scolding Xie Zhun. The two were arguing heatedly, and the focus of their argument seemed to be Xie Sili.

Thinking of the worries he had been having these past few days, he turned his gaze to Huai'en. "Eunuch Liang, if I may ask, what has happened to my sister?"

"Does the Second Young Master know about the grievance drum?"

After receiving a nod from Xie Sinan, Huai En continued, "Miss Xie is one of the victims. The Fang and Zhao families tortured her into confessing, damaging her internal organs. She will only live for two or three years at most." As he spoke, he shook his head with regret, but his eyes were always fixed on Xie Sinan.

"How could this happen! What on earth happened?" Xie Sinan's words revealed her sincere concern for Xie Sili.

Huai En glanced at Xie Sinan and smiled without saying a word, but only glanced at Xie Siyu and Xie Siyao standing beside him.

He looked Xie Siyao up and down before looking away.

Xie Ling and Xie Zhun finally noticed Huai En's presence. Just as Xie Ling was about to speak, he heard Xie Zhun's voice, "I was unaware that you, sir, had failed to greet me properly. Please forgive me."

"Greetings, Lord Xie." Huai En bowed respectfully to Xie Ling. "I am ordered to escort Miss Xie back to the Prime Minister's residence and also to deliver an imperial decree."

"Thank you for your trouble, Father-in-law." Xie Ling said, taking a piece of silver from his pocket and placing it in Huai En's hand. "This is a small token of my appreciation for you, Father-in-law."

"You're too kind, Lord." Huai En didn't accept the money. He turned his gaze to Xie Zhun. "Prime Minister Xie, please inform everyone in the manor except Miss Xie to come and receive the imperial decree." Huai En, taking advantage of his height, glanced at Xie Zhun.

Noticing the emotion in Xie Zhun's eyes, Huai En sneered, "Prime Minister Xie, you don't need to look down on me. Although I am a eunuch, I serve by His Majesty's side. Which concubine in the harem doesn't want to bribe me? How come you are so despicable in front of Prime Minister Xie?"

He didn't give Xie Ling a chance to speak, and continued, "Prime Minister Xie, are you looking down on our family, or on His Majesty?"

"I am terrified." Xie Zhun said, breaking out in a cold sweat. He had clearly not expected Huai En to be so petty. "What are you saying, Eunuch Liang? How could I possibly look down on you?"

"How does Prime Minister Xie view our family?" Huai En said, flicking his whisk and letting out a cold snort.

After everyone from the Prime Minister's residence had arrived, Huai En read out the imperial edict.

The imperial edict meant that Xie Siyao was betrothed to the Third Prince Jun Qiyou, and the two would be married on a chosen date.

During the reading of the imperial edict, Huai En kept a close eye on Xie Chun's condition. After he finished reading the edict, he immediately noticed that Xie Chun did not stand up to accept it.

"Prime Minister Xie, what do you mean by this? Are you dissatisfied with His Majesty's arrangements?" Huai En's voice rose involuntarily. "Or is it that your Xie Siyao wants to marry His Highness the Prince of Yan?"

Noticing the couple's gaze, Huai En stood there looking down at them, "Unfortunately, His Highness Prince Yan has high standards. He said that with Miss Xie's beauty and talent preceding him, he doesn't think much of Xie Siyao."

He caught a glimpse of Huang's expression out of the corner of his eye, and Huai En continued without any restraint, "Although Lady Lu, the wife of Prime Minister Xie, is of unknown origin, she is praised by everyone in Chang'an as the most beautiful woman. Her daughter is naturally also a beauty that could topple kingdoms. As for Xie Siyao, she is far inferior. Her talent and character are far inferior to Miss Xie."

Seeing Xie Siyao trying to stand up, Huai En sneered, "Xie Siyao, are you dissatisfied with our family's reputation?"

"Please don't hold it against my daughter, Eunuch Liang. She's just an ignorant child," Madam Huang quickly said.

"You mere second wife dares to speak to us?" Huai En's words were laced with sarcasm. "The Earl and Prime Minister Xie haven't even spoken yet, so who gave you the right to speak?"

Huai En flicked his whisk and glanced at the group of people kneeling below. "Prime Minister Xie, His Majesty has instructed you to take good care of Miss Xie. If anything happens to Miss Xie, he will make sure to take revenge on Xie Siyao."

Xie Siyao finally couldn't hold back any longer and burst out, "You're just a eunuch, how dare you speak like that!" As she spoke, she rushed out, and Huai En took a step back and fell directly onto the stool behind him, his head immediately hitting the ground and bleeding.

"Eunuch Liang..." Xie Zhun wanted to step forward to help Huai En up, but was pushed away.

Huai En stood up and glanced at Xie Siyao. "Good, very good, excellent! The family tradition of Prime Minister Xie is truly admirable. It's fortunate that you have a daughter like Miss Xie." Huai En stood up and dusted off his clothes. "Prime Minister Xie, rest assured, I will definitely report everything that happened today to His Majesty truthfully."

He didn't give Xie Zhun a chance to speak and turned to leave.

When Xie Zhun saw Huai En turn to leave, he slapped Xie Siyao across the face, even though blood was trickling from her lips.

"Master, what are you doing! Yao'er is only doing this for you!" Madam Huang said, pulling Xie Siyao into her arms with a look of heartache. "He's just a eunuch, relying on being the emperor's close attendant to act so arrogantly. He's just a fox borrowing the tiger's power!" Madam Huang said indignantly. "Master is the prime minister, second only to the emperor. Why bother with that eunuch?" She looked at Xie Siyao with a hint of complaint and heartache.

Xie Ling glanced at Huang Shi, then turned his gaze to Xie Zhun, snorted coldly, and turned to leave.

“What a fine daughter you’ve raised.” Xie Zhun glanced at Huang Shi and said in a low voice, “Ignorant woman!” After saying that, he turned and left with a flick of his sleeve.

Xie Sinan wanted to offer some words of comfort, but after glancing at Huang, he turned and left.

He is currently at odds with Xie Sili on the surface and cannot openly visit her. He can only sneak into her courtyard at night to check on her situation.

"Mother, was I wrong?" Xie Siyao covered her face and looked at Madam Huang. "I just wanted to speak up for Father, why is he so angry?" Her words were tinged with incomprehension. "And why does she want to take it back from me? What right does Xie Sili have!"

"As long as you don't marry Jun Qiyu, this is a good thing." Thinking of the arranged marriage, Madam Huang breathed a sigh of relief. "The Third Prince is also quite good. You have the 'Phoenix Fate,' so perhaps you can bring good luck to the Third Prince. You will be the future Empress." Madam Huang held Xie Siyao's hand.

"Xie Sili is just a sickly person. Don't take her seriously, and she's not worth your concern." She gently comforted Xie Siyao's emotions. "Ayao, you're going to be the Crown Princess and Empress in the future. You don't need to care about those people."

Hearing Huang's words, Xie Siyao nodded shyly, "I understand."

"I'll take you back to see them." Huang said, pulling Xie Siyao away without paying any attention to Xie Sinan and Xie Siyu.

Xie Sinan has been raising Lian'er by her side all these years, but she doesn't have many years left to live, and Xie Sili is even less worthy of her attention.

Even the Lu family back then were no match for her, so how could her two children possibly be a match for her?

She climbed up by stepping on Lu's corpse, and her two children climbed up by stepping on Lu's children; only then could she achieve her true goal.

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Huang's lips.

After Mei Lanzhu Ju took the person from Huai En, she took Xie Sili back to Li Ju directly.

The Li family residence has been properly secured, and no one except their own people can break in. Occasionally, they will use the secret passage to go to the Si Garden and meet up with the Green Bamboo there.

I also learned a lot from Green Bamboo about plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums, especially about Xie Sili's illness.

Having received advance notice, they are now gathered around Xie Sili's bedside.

Madam Yang, accompanied by Xie Sichuan and Xie Sichu, came with the old lady and Xie Ling.

Looking at Xie Sili lying on the bed, Madam Yang asked worriedly, "Father, what happened? Why did he suddenly..." Her eyes were red, and she didn't finish her sentence.

"To save lives." Xie Ling's words were filled with self-reproach. "I shouldn't have let her go back to Chang'an in the first place. If she hadn't gone back to Chang'an, this wouldn't have happened." He finished speaking and clenched his hands hanging by his sides. "I never imagined that the eldest brother would treat his own daughter like this."

He pounded the table beside him, saying, "Over the years, he hasn't even done as well as the second son."

“Father, my husband has always treated Li’er as his own daughter all these years.” Madam Yang said with red eyes. “It’s a pity that Li’er has suffered in Chang’an.” She sighed and then looked at Xie Sili.

"What did the imperial physicians in the palace say?"

"He won't live for many more years," Xie Ling said, shaking his head. "And he can never get pregnant. If he does, it will bring disaster and kill both him and his unborn child."

As soon as Xie Ling spoke, Madam Yang and Madam Qin, who was standing next to her, covered their mouths at the same time.

“Sister Li…” Madam Yang was so shocked she could hardly speak. “How could this be? She’s only twenty years old.”

"Is it possible that Sister Li will never marry?" Madam Qin's eyes reddened as she spoke. "Why is Heaven always so unfair to our Sister Li? Is it just because she doesn't have a mother's love?" As she spoke, a tear rolled down her cheek. "My Sister Li..."

"Does it really matter whether I get married or not?" Xie Ling sneered. "If I marry someone like the second son, I might still have a perfect relationship. But if I marry the eldest son, wouldn't I be driven to my death by my husband one day?"

Xie Ling didn't give them a chance to speak, "If that's the case, then why can't we take care of Ali for the rest of our lives?"

Qin Shi listened to Xie Ling's words, then turned her gaze to Xie Sili, and exchanged a glance with Yang Shi beside her.

Yang's voice was hoarse. "Father and Mother are right. Even if our Ali never marries, we can still support her. Besides, Ali is already married. Back then, Father listened to the witch doctor's words and found Ali a husband. They had two children, A-Che and Yan-Yan. Ali probably never wanted to get married again."

Yang quietly grasped Xie Sili's hand, "In Ali's heart, Ache and Yan Yan are already her own children."