Qingying has been in the palace for several days now.

Wei Huaixu would come over every day to have dinner with her, then go to the side hall to handle government affairs. He would stay in Baoyi Palace at night to sleep in the same bed with her, but he never forced her to serve him in bed.

She was actually quite happy to be at ease.

The people for Baoyi Palace had already been chosen, so Qingying planned to make some arrangements, adding more flowers and plants to the courtyard. She specially ordered someone to transplant a paulownia tree from the villa in Quzhou and plant it in the courtyard, and also planted many peach trees.

"Once all these peach trees are in full bloom, the scenery here in the entire palace will be the most pleasant."

Qingying sat lazily on the veranda, fanning herself with a round fan, and looked at the busy people in the courtyard with a smile, saying, "I mainly want to eat peaches."

Tongxia said, "I passed by the Imperial Garden yesterday and saw that the lotus flowers were in full bloom. Why don't we pick some and put them in a vase to admire them?"

Do you have lotus pods?

"Yes, but the lotus seeds aren't ripe yet."

"Let's keep them for now. Pick a few of the prettiest lotus flowers, and also pick a few lotus leaves, so Yu Yue can make steamed chicken with lotus leaves."

"Okay."

Tong Xia went there in a flurry of activity.

Qingying only sat in the courtyard for a short while before going to the side hall.

To facilitate her handling of government affairs, Wei Huaixu simply converted a side hall of Baoyi Palace into a study, and even set aside a corner for her to write and paint in her spare time with a pear wood table and a bookcase.

Her desk was diagonally opposite Wei Huaixu's office; he could see her with just a slight glance from where he was sitting.

Qingying felt that this person was a bit too...clingy?

"Yu Yue, grind the ink."

"yes."

Yu Yue stood by the table grinding ink, bowed slightly, and whispered, "I heard that the Emperor has dismissed Lord Chu from his post. I'm afraid the Chu family won't have an easy time in the future."

Since the incident involving Prince Xuan, Princess Chu Lingyu has almost never appeared in public. Although Prince Xuan survived the assassination attempt by a man with a narrow escape, he was ultimately saved. However, while his life was saved, his legs were crippled, and he even needed help to use the toilet.

It's not surprising that Wei Huaixu had reservations about the Chu family, given their past close ties with Prince An.

"Wasn't he on good terms with General Chu when he went to conquer the northern border? How can he now show no regard for their past friendship?"

Yu Yue shook her head. "This servant truly cannot discern Your Majesty's thoughts."

Qingying pursed her lips and sighed, "Never mind, it's not good for me to interfere in politics in the inner palace. It would be easy for people to gossip about me. Let Jinheng handle these matters."

She picked up a brush, dipped it in ink, and poured it onto the paper.

After a long pause, he suddenly said, "The Pan family must be living a very comfortable life right now, right?"

"Of course, her husband and son are both officials in the court, and her two daughters occupy the harem. If it weren't for the old lady above her keeping her in check, she probably would have been granted an imperial title as well."

"She still wants to be granted an imperial title? Ha~ I'm not taking action against her now, just to let her enjoy her glory for a few more days. The higher you stand, the harder you fall."

...

At this moment, a figure on horseback galloped from the gate of Pandu City, heading straight into the city.

He was covered in dust and grime, his face no longer showing his former vigor. Dark stubble covered his chin, his eyes were dark and slightly sunken, showing how tired he had been on his journey.

They arrived at their destination without stopping, only to find that the original vermilion gate of the General's Mansion had been replaced with the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion.

The gatekeeper saw him from afar and went inside the mansion, closing the gate and refusing to come out.

"Open the door! Open the door now! I need to see the Third Sister!" he shouted with difficulty, pounding on the door.

After a long while, someone finally came and opened the door.

Lady Pan, dressed in luxurious attire, emerged surrounded by maids and servants. Upon seeing him, she gave a slight bow, saying, "This humble woman greets Prince Yu's Crown Prince."

Their attitude and tone were clearly perfunctory.

Wei Dongchen frowned slightly, trying his best to be friendly and polite: "Greetings, Madam. I've come to see Miss Liu from your household. I would appreciate it if you could make an exception for me."

"Oh, Your Highness is joking. There is no such thing as Miss Liu San these days. You should address her as Imperial Concubine."

"Your...Your Highness, the Imperial Concubine?"

Seeing his blank expression, Madam Pan felt a rare pang of sympathy. She blinked and said, "Young Master, you went to the Western Frontier and just returned to the capital before rushing here, right? Perhaps you are out of touch with the outside world and do not know the truth. Let me explain to you clearly that our Third Miss has now entered the palace and become the Imperial Concubine of our Eastern Lin Kingdom."

“How could this be… It’s impossible… She clearly promised to wait for me…” Wei Dongchen shook his head repeatedly, his face full of unwillingness to accept it.

“I don’t believe you didn’t hear this news on your way here. Perhaps someone told you back in the Western Region? You just didn’t want to believe it, so you rushed back day and night. Because you were so eager to confirm, you didn’t even go home.”

"I..." He looked very aggrieved, his eyelids drooping and his hands clenched into fists.

After a moment, as if he had suddenly realized something, he raised his eyes and glared at Madam Pan, gritting his teeth and angrily saying, "It must be you, you forced her, didn't you? We were already engaged, why did you have to be so vicious as to break us up?"

Madam Pan laughed in anger, "Hehehe... Your Highness, you are really wronging me. It was your Princess Consort Yu who personally came to break off the engagement. If you still think I lied to you, you can go out and ask anyone here to find out whether I broke you up or not."

Wei Dongchen was shocked. "My mother broke off the engagement?"

"Yes, I tried everything to persuade her, I almost knelt down and begged her, but she was adamant, and we couldn't force her. The main problem is that we feel sorry for our Ying'er. She's been rejected twice, and I'm afraid no one in the whole capital will dare to marry her anymore. It's really worrying her father and me."

What she said was true.

Qingying agreed to enter the palace on the condition that Princess Yu personally visit to annul the engagement, making the matter known throughout the city. At that time, the entire Liu family was really anxious, fearing that her actions would affect the prosperity of the whole family.

"Your Highness, your mother never thought highly of our third daughter back then, thinking that our Liu family was marrying above our station with your Prince Yu's family. But when things went wrong, she came to us for help, making a move to sacrifice a pawn to save the king. She really played a good hand! Fortunately, His Majesty is a man of old friendship and invited her into the palace. Otherwise, how would our Ying'er live in this Pandu City? If she were a girl from an ordinary family, she would probably have been drowned in spittle long ago."

Wei Dongchen opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything for a moment.

He never imagined that his life of fighting on the battlefield, with the sole purpose of marrying the woman he loved, would end up like this.

She became her brother's wife, a noble empress, yet she herself could do nothing...