Chapter 242: Prosperity and Disaster

Chen Yian didn't expect that his sister-in-law would come just after his brother left.

Ever since Princess Taiping married my eldest brother, they have gotten along pretty well.

So, Chen Yian took his sister-in-law in his arms and talked to her for a long time.

Yan Shishu patted the back of her hand and asked her if everything was okay in the palace.

Chen Yian nodded: "Don't worry, sister-in-law. The Queen is my cousin. She will never be harsh on me even if she treats others harshly. I have the best food, clothing and other necessities in the palace, and there are so many palace servants to serve me. How can I not live well?"

Yan Shishu smiled and said, "In that case, I feel relieved."

She was about to speak, but quickly became serious.

She first sent all the palace people out, then clapped her hands, and four secret guards landed beside her.

Yan Shishu ordered, "Stay guard all around and don't let anyone get close. I want to have a private conversation with my sister."

The four secret guards slipped out and stayed at their posts.

The other men in black hiding in the dark were afraid of alerting the four men and being discovered, so they didn't dare to get too close for a while, so they didn't hear what Princess Taiping and Chen Zhaoyi were saying inside this time.

Inside the palace, Yan Shishu deliberately lowered her voice and asked, "My dear sister, I heard that you have been in the palace for several months, but you have not yet served me in bed?"

When she asked this, Chen Yian lowered her head sadly.

"Sister-in-law, the emperor doesn't like me."

Yan Shishu sighed and said, "He doesn't like you, can't you find a way to make him like you?"

Chen Yian's eyes lit up instantly: "Sister-in-law, do you have any ideas?"

Yan Shishu looked around vigilantly again before whispering something in her ear.

Chen Yian's expression changed instantly.

She shook her head like a rattle: "Sister-in-law, I don't dare."

"Why not?" Yan Shishu asked.

"Since you have entered the harem, you are the emperor's woman. Since we are all the emperor's women, how can we let Wen Lier monopolize the emperor's possession?"

Seeing Chen Yian still shaking her head, she continued:

"You and the Queen are cousins, so we share the same fate."

"She is now disliked by the Emperor. If she wants to turn things around, she can only rely on you."

"You are so stunningly beautiful, and with the right little tricks, what man would be so ignorant of the importance of pity and cherish you and hold on to you?"

"As long as you are favored and give birth to a prince, you will surely soar to the sky. When that time comes, you and the queen will support each other, one of you will be favored and the other will sit firmly on the throne. No one in the harem will be able to shake your status."

Chen Yian was moved by what he said, but he still remembered his brother's words clearly.

She shook her head firmly and said, "Sister-in-law, this is not a harmless little trick. If I did that, my brother would definitely beat me to death!"

"If he knew that this was my sister-in-law's idea, he might even dislike her."

"I know my sister-in-law is thinking about my happiness, but I don't want to win favor in this way. I want the emperor to like me wholeheartedly, appreciate me, and treat me well."

The corners of Yan Shishu's mouth twitched slightly when she heard this.

After being together for so many years, she knew that her sister-in-law was naive, but she didn't expect her to be so naive.

If the emperor could appreciate her, wouldn't he have appreciated her long ago after so many months?

But after hearing what her sister-in-law said, Yan Shishu found that she was indeed impatient.

How can we let our own family members do this?

Don't be afraid of ten thousand things, just be prepared for the worst.

If the matter was exposed, even if the sister-in-law's life was saved, she would have to spend the rest of her life in the cold palace.

By then, wouldn't the prince consort hate her to death?

Princess Taiping did not continue the topic, and casually told Chen Yian a few words to support the queen, and then left.

The next day, the Queen Mother summoned Princess Taiping into the palace again.

The mother and daughter talked a lot in private. After Princess Taiping left Fengxiang Palace, she went to Fengyi Palace.

The queen was a little excited when she saw her.

She really wanted to ask whether her good sister had already helped her think of a way to deal with Wen Li'er.

But she held back and didn't show any eagerness.

The two of them admired the flowers, painted, and practiced calligraphy for an afternoon.

But the secret guard hiding in the shadows discovered that the two of them were chatting casually.

When talking about important things, they would write them down on pieces of paper and hand them to each other, then burn them.

Did he notice someone was watching him?

The secret guard went to report the matter to the emperor.

After hearing this, Yan Shixu frowned slightly.

It shouldn't be that the secret guards sent to the princess's mansion were discovered by her.

How could the secret guards of my father compare to those trained by my uncle Wu?

It must be because his imperial sister has a big thing to do and is worried that something might go wrong, so she is being extra cautious.

After all, she single-handedly fought against Yang Guifei for more than ten years, which shows that her ability should not be underestimated.

Yan Shixu lowered his eyes in thought, tapping the table lightly with his bent knuckles.

After a while, he finally gave the order: "Keep a closer watch on the Queen's place, and don't let your guard down in the other concubines' palaces either. Princess Taiping's personality makes her unlikely to do it herself, so using someone else's knife to kill her is the best strategy."

Zhang Siming immediately took the man in black downstairs.

In the following days, after the concubines paid their respects to the Queen, the Queen would keep a few concubines to talk to her privately.

However, Wansuihuan, the daughter of Zuo Pushe Wanshoucheng, and Liao Mingzhu, the daughter of Minister of Revenue Liao Jinyuan, were separated and left behind every time.

Among the new concubines who entered the palace, Wan Suihuan and Liao Mingzhu were the three most restless.

There was also a concubine named Wang, who was jealous of Chen Yian's beauty and worried that she would be favored by the emperor, so she made her fall into a lotus pond in an attempt to kill her.

After the truth was revealed, Concubine Wang was banished to the cold palace, and because of her evil deeds in the palace, her father was charged with the crime of lax discipline.

He was originally only demoted, but soon the Censorate found a bunch of evidence to accuse the Wang family.

Lord Wang was eventually dismissed from office, and his entire family was exiled to the northern cold land.

Wan Suihuan and Liao Mingzhu had become enemies because of their family in-laws. They had been at odds with each other for several months since entering the palace. They had only had minor quarrels, but they had never reached the imperial court.

Now, the queen kept them separately every day, and the two of them became more active. They were afraid that the other would slander themselves and their families in front of the queen, so they took the initiative to slander the other.

The Queen is in the same camp with Wan Suihuan today and in the same camp with Liao Mingzhu tomorrow, and she easily wins over the two of them.

After listening to the secret guard's report, Yan Shixu guessed that the Queen and Princess Taiping must be using these two people to harm Wen Li'er.

Since they have already set up the stage, he might as well borrow it.

It would be best if Wan Shoucheng and Liao Jinyuan could be brought down at the same time.

He sent a message to Wen Wanqin, asking her to be extra vigilant and to add fuel to the fire in this matter while also protecting Wen Lier in places where he was not paying attention.

However, Yan Shixu knew that Wen Wanqin was a powerful person, but he didn't know how powerful she was.

Soon, Wen Wanqin will give him an unexpected surprise.

That night, Yan Shixu came to the Bixi Palace.

After he had some lovemaking with Wen Li'er, he told her a lot of things.

Wen Li'er was confused. She couldn't understand what she heard after hearing so many things at once.

For example, the new concubines in the harem are all daughters of corrupt officials.

The families behind them have done some extraordinary things to a greater or lesser extent, and the emperor wants to bring them down and replace them with talented officials who truly work for the people.

For example, the Queen and Princess Taiping planned to harm her, so she must be extremely careful in her actions.

Wen Li'er opened her big, innocent eyes and stared at the man on her.

The eyes blinked and spoke: They want to harm me, what should I do?

Yan Shixu leaned over and left a tooth mark on her upturned nose, asking her to remember two points.

One: Don't let others sow discord because of Wen Wanqin's favor; she can be trusted;

2: No matter where you go or what you do, you must take Hua Zhan and Qiu Ying with you.

Wen Li'er nodded repeatedly.

She also cherishes her life very much. Hua Zhan and Qiu Ying are both very skilled in martial arts, so it will never be wrong to take them with her.

Seeing that she was so well-behaved and obedient, and did not bring up Wen Wanqin's matter of not believing him, Yan Shixu felt relieved and happy at the same time.

He held her lips again and they began a new round of lovemaking.

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