"Over the years, haven't we released quite a few servants from our household? Two of them later went to work for the Qi household. During their casual conversations, the servants talked about some private matters between their masters and expressed their gratitude for the previous kindness of our General's Mansion. These two felt that the two pieces of news they had heard might be of benefit to our General's Mansion, so they asked someone to pass them on."

Seeing the two people's curious expressions, Song Xia slowly spoke again: "I heard that the current matriarch of the Qi family had a son before she married the head of the Qi family. The age of that son is exactly the same as that of Prince Xun, Si Hengnian."

"So that's how it is!" Feng Shao and Zhou Qing were both surprised. "This explains why the Qi family only started to rise to prominence in the last ten years. If you calculate the time, it just happens to be the year that the Prince Xun first made his military achievements."

"Since there are two pieces of news, what about the other one?"

"I think the other one is a bit far-fetched, but since Madam Qi was capable of abandoning her own child before, it's not impossible that the matter of switching daughters is true."

"Switching daughters?"

"Before the Qi family prospered, Madam Qi worked as a wet nurse in the Prime Minister's residence. Some people say that Madam Qi often used the excuse of repaying a debt of gratitude to send Miss Xu a lot of expensive fabrics and jewelry. She treated Xu Huixin better than Miss Qi. In recent years, Madam Qi has often had nightmares, calling out Xu Huixin's name in the middle of the night and saying things like she is sorry."

Feng Shao and Zhou Qing both swallowed hard. If this were true, wouldn't Si Hengnian and Xu Huixin be siblings?

"So as long as we pay attention to Madam Qi's behavior during this period, we will know whether she has switched the two. If the two are together, Madam Qi should be the most anxious."

Zhou Qing said with an amused expression, "I'll go and have someone keep an eye on things right away, but before things come to a head, it would be best if Shao Di and Xu Huixin's engagement were called off."

Song Xia nodded: "I have already sent a letter of invitation to the palace, and I will go to the palace tomorrow to plead with the Imperial Concubine."

“Consort Chen has given birth to the eldest prince, who is the most promising heir to the throne. She certainly does not want the Prince Xun and the Prime Minister’s family to marry, nor does she want the two families to become too powerful. Therefore, she is very likely to help our family to break off the engagement and make both families suffer.”

Feng Shao was still somewhat worried: "What if Madam Qi is afraid that the Qi family will be punished for switching her daughters, and doesn't reveal the true identities of Xu Huixin and Qi Jiejing? Under the rumors, wouldn't Prince Xun and Xu Huixin have to get married? And then the two sides' forces would still be combined?"

“She will tell,” Song Xia said confidently. “She already feels guilty towards her two children and wouldn’t ruin their lives. I reckon Miss Qi must know something about it, which is why she helped us spread the rumors this time.”

"Then tomorrow I will trouble Mother to persuade Consort Chen."

"With no empress in the palace, Consort Chen wields power and is effectively a deputy empress. Consort Chen will also side with us for the sake of the eldest prince. After all, the previous three princes tried to win over Prince Xun, but he coldly refused. So no matter which prince succeeds to the throne in the future, they do not want to see Prince Xun continue to grow powerful. Destroying Prince Xun's reputation is the first step, and then they will gradually reduce his military power."

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's residence was silent, with the Prime Minister staring at Xu Huixin with a gloomy expression.

"Are you aware that you are engaged to Feng Shao? To openly commit such a shameless act with Prince Xun, and to be seen by so many people, have you considered the reputation of the Prime Minister's residence?"

Xu Huixin knelt with her head down: "Father, I know I was wrong to meet with another man in secret, but the marriage was arranged when I was a child. Have you considered how I feel now that I'm grown up? My love for Prince Xun and I are truly in love!"

"Slap!" Prime Minister Xu reached out and slapped him across the face.

The Prime Minister's wife quickly stepped in front of Xu Huixin: "My lord, must you be so heartless? Huixin is right. The marriage is unfair to her. Besides, after Feng Shao returns to the capital to report on his duties, he will definitely head to the border again. He is not like the invincible Prince Xun. Why is the General's Mansion sending gifts to urge the marriage? Isn't it just to have our daughter marry into their family and leave an heir? What will happen to our daughter if something happens to Feng Shao in the future?"

"Then she can't meet with a man in private! Especially not Prince Xun!"

"What's wrong with Prince Xun? I think Prince Xun is a million times better than Feng Shao!"

"What do you know, you woman? Prince Xun is the head of the military officials, and I am the head of the civil officials. If our two families were to be related by marriage, what would His Majesty think?"

"It's just to fulfill the wishes of two children. Does Your Majesty worry that our two families will rebel?" the Prime Minister's wife said indifferently, while Prime Minister Xu was so angry that he almost fell backward.

"You already knew about this, didn't you? If that's the case, why did you accept the lavish gift from the General's Mansion?"

"They brought it voluntarily, so I can't just return it on the spot. If I did, wouldn't I be the one losing face?"

"Hasn't this damaged the General's Mansion's reputation? Not only their reputation, but our Prime Minister's Mansion has also been completely disgraced, and we've even earned a reputation for being greedy!"

"Greedy for money? If I were greedy for money, I would have found an excuse to cancel the engagement long ago. Isn't Prince Xun much richer than their General's Mansion?"

"You..." Prime Minister Xu gritted his teeth, "You're going to drive me crazy! It's because of your ignorant mother that Huixin is so unscrupulous!"

"After the engagement is called off, all the gifts and formalities will naturally be returned. What are you worried about, sir? With Prince Xun as your son-in-law, your position as prime minister will be more secure. Otherwise, if we insist on marrying our daughter to Feng Shao, we will truly be on the opposite side of Prince Xun. Is it better to offend Prince Xun or the General's Mansion? Think it through, sir."

Prime Minister Xu was speechless after hearing his wife's words. Although the words were rough, the reasoning was sound.

The next day, Song Xia went to the palace to complain to Consort Chen. It seemed that the palace had already made a decision, and the matter proceeded very smoothly. In the end, His Majesty personally issued an edict to dissolve the engagement and, on the grounds that Prime Minister Xu had not properly disciplined his daughter and was unfit to be prime minister, ordered the affairs of the court to be temporarily handled by the Six Ministries and ordered Prime Minister Xu to close his residence and reflect on his mistakes.

He also verbally criticized Prince Xun Siheng for damaging the reputation of Miss Xu of the Prime Minister's residence and fined her one month's salary.

When the imperial edict was issued, Prime Minister Xu felt as if the sky had fallen. Although he was not directly stripped of his position as prime minister, he was effectively deprived of his power as prime minister. Once power is lost, it is difficult to regain. Moreover, the reputation of the prime minister's mansion plummeted. Would Prince Xun still acknowledge it?

For Prince Xun, a month's salary deduction may not be a big deal, but it would severely damage his reputation. This is exactly the effect the royal family wanted. Moreover, with such a significant impact, the fact that he was only fined for a month makes everyone say that His Majesty is benevolent and has great favor towards him.

The imperial edict was issued in the morning, and in the afternoon Feng Shao personally took the marriage certificate to the Prime Minister's residence to annul the engagement. This matter should be handled sooner rather than later, and it should be completed before Madam Xu reveals the truth, so as to retrieve the generous gifts that the General's Mansion had sent to the Prime Minister's Mansion over the years.

The Prime Minister's wife spoke so casually about returning the gifts that day, but when Feng Shao actually produced the list of gifts from previous years, her face darkened. She hadn't expected there to be so many!