Han was furious: "He actually believed such absurd words!"

If the Yun family were to actually do such a thing, how many people would they kill? Who could they possibly hide it from? Their mortal enemies would have already exposed them completely.

Xiao Qingyin sighed.

"The emperor also promised him that he would be given a prominent position after the matter was accomplished. That's what made him interested."

The fact that his parents were murdered by the Yun family was just an excuse for him to do it with a clear conscience.

"You dog emperor!" Han cursed angrily. "What grudge do we Yun family have against him that he would try to kill us like this!"

Xiao Qingyin felt that Yun Shen might have known some secret of Emperor Chengtai, which was why he was killed to silence him.

He then asked Madam Han, "Grandmother, what happened to the book that Grandfather left for you before he left?"

Han replied, "I put the book on the bookshelf after I finished reading it. I didn't notice it for several days. I only found it was missing when I was tidying up the bookshelf. Everyone in the house said they hadn't touched it."

“Then someone else made the move,” Xiao Qingyin said with certainty. “Perhaps the emperor has been keeping an eye on the Yun family, trying to find out what clues your grandfather left for you, and sent someone to take them away.”

You have a point.

Han replied.

"But I didn't see anything."

"Didn't you say that book is still available in bookstores?" Xiao Qingyin said. "Let's buy another copy."

Han hesitated: "What if the clue isn't in the book's content, but on the pages? What's the point of buying something else?"

"We should at least give it a try."

Xiao Qingyin smiled.

Her suggestion was mainly to distract Han.

Otherwise, the Han family would probably be grieving over the tragic deaths of the Yun family army every day.

The old man's body can't withstand such torment.

Han agreed: "That's true, it's never a bad thing to give it a try."

After buying the book, she began to read it diligently.

Xiao Qingyin felt much more at ease.

But Baibaozhai suddenly ran into trouble.

The heir of the Marquis of Xuanyi has come to cause trouble.

Xiao Qingyin was not in the shop when the incident occurred; Yun Shu relayed the information to her.

“That scoundrel sent someone to our shop to buy ten pills for seven times a night,” Yun Shu said. “After taking them, they had no effect, and he accused us of selling fake medicine. He came to our shop demanding 10,000 taels of silver, threatening to smash our shop if we didn’t pay.”

"I got furious as soon as I heard that. Was smashing it once not enough? Did they want to smash it twice? I immediately beat them up and threw them into the street."

"Well done."

Xiao Qingyin smiled.

Are you alright?

"No." Yun Shu shook her head. "Those few small fry are no match for me, but I'm a little worried that he'll continue to use tricks."

"Don't worry," Xiao Qingyin comforted her. "We'll deal with whatever comes our way. At worst, we can just have the Marquis of Xuanyi's mansion find another heir."

Yun Shu laughed loudly: "Sister Yin is so domineering!"

As it turned out, Yun Shu's concerns were justified.

The day after the beating, a eunuch came to the Yun residence.

"Miss Xiao, Her Highness the Imperial Concubine requests your presence in the palace."

The eunuch spoke with utmost respect.

Xiao Qingyin assumed that the Imperial Concubine was going to support the heir of the Marquis of Xuanyi, so she didn't ask any further questions and followed the eunuch into the palace.

As soon as she stepped into the main hall of Yikun Palace, she smelled a sweet and cloying fragrance.

After recognizing what it was, she raised an eyebrow and looked at the Imperial Concubine.

The imperial concubine leaned against the daybed, her eyelids drooping, her eyes slightly unfocused, looking weary.

Xiao Qingyin was about to bow to her when she waved her hand.

"No need for such formalities."

As soon as she finished speaking, she straightened up a little and smiled, "I hope the sudden summons to the palace didn't frighten you?"

Xiao Qingyin smiled and said, "I am overjoyed that Your Majesty has summoned me. How could I be frightened?"

"I knew you were a good girl," the Imperial Concubine said with a smile. "I called you here today because I heard that my good-for-nothing nephew caused you trouble, and I wanted him to apologize to you."

The good-for-nothing nephew she was talking about was standing listlessly by the daybed.

After hearing the Imperial Concubine's words, he glanced at Xiao Qingyin.

The imperial concubine urged, "Yuan Hao, why aren't you apologizing yet?"

“I’m sorry, Miss Xiao,” the heir of the Marquis of Xuanyi said sincerely, “I shouldn’t have caused trouble at your shop. Please forgive me.”

Having said that, he waved to the palace servants behind him.

The palace maid walked up to Xiao Qingyin, opened the sandalwood box she was holding, revealing a large box of bright orange gold bars.

A rough estimate is five thousand taels.

The heir of the Marquis of Xuanyi smiled and said, "This is compensation for your esteemed establishment."

Xiao Qingyin never thought she had too much gold, so she immediately took the box and said with a smile, "Thank you, Your Highness. Welcome to visit again."

The heir of the Marquis of Xuanyi: "..."

If you lose a lot of money the first time, who would want to go a second time!

When the Imperial Concubine saw that Xiao Qingyin had accepted the gold, she breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Xiao Qingyin was willing to let bygones be bygones.

He then laughed and said, "They say it's better to resolve conflicts than to create them, and it's always better to have more friends than more enemies, don't you think?"

Xiao Qingyin smiled and said, "Your Majesty is right."

"Now that you've made peace," the Imperial Concubine tentatively asked, "could you take a look at Yuan Hao's health? He hasn't been feeling well lately."

Xiao Qingyin nodded: "Of course."

He then turned to the heir of the Marquis of Xuanyi and said, "Please, Your Highness, extend your hand to take my pulse."

As the heir of the Marquis of Xuanyi extended his hand, he sneered inwardly, "Pretentious."

How could she not know what illness he had?

Ever since he returned from Hanshan Temple that day, he couldn't get an erection. Even taking the "Seven Times a Night Pill" from Baibaozhai didn't work. He knew with his toes that this woman had drugged him.

He went to pick a fight with Baibaozhai in an attempt to force her to cure him of the poison, but when the Imperial Concubine found out, she actually made him apologize.

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