Emperor Yongqing flipped through the memorials in his hand, but in his mind he was carefully considering the current situation.

The crown prince has been deposed. The third prince is impetuous and may be good at fighting, but he is not suitable to be emperor. The fifth prince is too soft-hearted and cannot control his ministers. The sixth prince has too much family background and his maternal relatives are too powerful. The eldest prince and the seventh prince are fighting too fiercely and are too cunning. After thinking it over, the fourth prince is his favorite candidate.

He was able to control the court officials, and he wasn't that ruthless. Moreover, his background wasn't that important to his businesses and abilities.

However, this forged dagger seems to have a weakness.

He won't allow that to happen, so fourth brother, don't let him down.

Emperor Yongqing's handsome and majestic face flickered in the dim candlelight.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

General Zhou's Mansion.

Zhou Chengyan looked at his younger brother, who was restless in the room with a book in his hand, as if he had fleas on him. His lips twitched slightly, and he accurately hit his younger brother on the head with the book in his hand.

"Stay home and read books."

"You've really gone too far this time, daring to provoke the Fourth Prince's savior. Luckily, that Miss Lin didn't have much ill intentions towards you, otherwise you could have waited for your father to come back and give you a beating."

Zhou Shiwei touched his nose, recalling his father's slap that was bigger than a palm-leaf fan, and his back was already aching slightly.

Despite his stubborn pride, Zhou Shiwei retorted defiantly, "Anyway, he doesn't care about me, his youngest son. He's always praising his older brother. Let him beat me to death then."

"Zhou Shiwei!"

The man's handsome face darkened, his imposing aura radiating power without anger.

Knowing that his words had angered his elder brother, Zhou Shiwei's courage, which had been emboldened, deflated as if it had been punctured.

"I was wrong." Zhou Shiwei lowered his similarly handsome face with a bitter expression, no longer as arrogant and unrestrained as usual, but looking rather pitiful.

Zhou Chengyan felt a pang of sympathy, but he knew that this was entirely Zhou Shiwei's fault, and also his fault. He had spoiled this kid so much that he had become lawless and bullied others. This time, even though the Fourth Prince was protecting him, he still dared to bully him. What about those without a background next time? Should he just let this kid bully them?

Zhou Chengyan is not a person with supreme morality, but he is not a powerful person who condones people bullying the weak. His Zhou family is already on the verge of collapse because of their military power, which makes the Emperor wary of them. But Zhou Shiwei has not yet realized his family's situation and is causing trouble everywhere. Sooner or later, the fire will spread from him to the entire Zhou family.

Thinking of this, the strong and handsome Zhou Chengyan finally hardened his heart and decided to teach his younger brother a lesson.

“This month, Zhou Shiwei’s allowance has been confiscated, Xiao Anzi.”

"exist."

"Keep a close eye on your young master. If anyone lets him out, I will personally break their legs."

Xiao Anzi said tremblingly, "Yes."

Terrified, Xiao Anzi looked pleadingly at his master.

The meaning in their eyes was clear: they were begging their master to behave and stay in the manor.

Zhou Shiwei was annoyed. His elder brother's words weren't directed at Xiao Anzi, but clearly at him. Seeing Xiao Anzi trembling, he knew he wasn't truly indifferent to this little servant. Was he really going to just stand by and watch his elder brother break his legs?

Zhou Shiwei glared at Xiao Anzi, who was dragging him down, with annoyance.

Seeing the look in his young master's eyes, Xiao Anzi felt a little relieved.

He understood what his young master was thinking; once he had agreed, he wouldn't go back on his word.

Zhou Chengyan ignored the little tricks of the master and servant.

He doesn't care about the process, as long as the result is good.

Forced to stay in the Zhou residence, Zhou Shiwei could only think about Qingyin every day.

...

While shopping with Jiang Lingya, Qingyin "coincidentally" ran into the Fifth Princess. The three of them went shopping together, and with Qingyin's matchmaking, the process was quite pleasant.

On the way, they happened to run into a human trafficker who, seeing that the group had good figures, wanted to kidnap them. Chen Che quietly dragged them into an alley to deal with the situation.

Duan Heng, who was dealing with the events leading up to his disappearance, heard the news. His chilling aura intensified, and before the imperial physician could remove the acupuncture needles, he took them off himself and strode outside.

When the steward of the Prince's mansion rushed to the gate, he only saw a figure quickly dismounting from the horse.

"Where's Ahua?"

"Miss Lin is in the garden, and also..."

"The Fifth Princess has arrived as well." Watching his master's retreating figure, the steward silently uttered the last few words.

If it were in the past, he would never have believed it if someone had told him that his usually calm and strategic master could be so gentle.

But now, Butler Wang calmly straightened the few strands of hair that had been scattered by the wind stirred up by his master.

The butler Wang who saw Miss Lin's beauty was no longer the same butler Wang he used to be.

...

Qingyin couldn't understand why the two girls, who both had good personalities, had to argue like they were cross-eyed.

For example, right now, Qingyin is sitting in a chair, looking at the plates of fruit brought to her from both sides, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

Jiang Lingya defiantly raised the plate in her hand and said to Duan Qinxue with a show of her pride, "Little sister Ahua, eat mine first. I've tasted these grapes and they're very sweet."

Duan Qinxue was angry, but she was not to be outdone, so she put the orange pieces she had cut into various sizes in front of Qingyin.

"Sister Ahua, oranges are good for cooling down. It's hot now, so they're perfect for relieving the heat and reducing internal fire."

"The grapes she peeled were so rough and ugly, they can't go into Ahua's mouth."

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