The eldest princess was still kneeling on the ground holding the imperial edict when she suddenly burst into tears.

I thought the man had sobered up and regretted it, and had left early in the morning. I never expected that he had gone to the palace to ask for an imperial decree.

When Aunt Jinxiu came in, she quickly helped her mistress up. Then, seeing Wuwang carrying the excited Xuan Ge'er in, she took Xuan Ge'er away so that the two could have a proper chat.

Seeing that no one was around, Wuwang dared to step forward and gently take her hands in his, "Wuyou, Wuyou..."

The princess suddenly raised her head, her vision already blurred by tears.

Wu Wang's heart skipped a beat, and he frantically searched for the handkerchief in his sleeve. "Wu You, you...you don't want to remarry? It's my fault. I didn't ask you before going to the palace to request the decree. If you don't want to, I'll go to the palace again and ask His Majesty to cancel it...Don't cry..."

Seeing him frantically wiping away her tears, the princess immediately threw herself into his arms and burst into tears.

Wu Wang felt a mix of emotions. He had thought she was willing last night and was overjoyed. When he woke up this morning, he didn't even bother to go back to the Imperial Preceptor's residence to change his clothes. He went straight to the palace to wait for the Emperor to finish his court session and then came over.

Unexpectedly, she was unwilling.

He sighed, "Wuyou, it was my fault. I shouldn't have gone to ask for permission without even asking you. I thought... I thought you were willing last night... But remarriage is a big deal, I should have discussed it with you. It was my fault, I'll go to the palace in a moment to plead with the Emperor to rescind his decree..."

"No..." The princess sobbed uncontrollably. After finally stopping crying, she snuggled closer to him after hearing such a long string of words and shook her head vigorously.

She had actually thought it through last night; if he was willing to marry her, she was naturally willing to marry him too.

Unexpectedly, things took many twists and turns.

"Huh?" Wu Wang didn't understand whether she meant she was unwilling, or didn't want to cancel.

The princess took a deep breath before raising her wet eyes. "Wu Wang, you said last night that you had long been in love with me. Is that true?"

Wu Wang nodded, but with a deep sense of guilt. "Of course it's true. I was saved by you and the Prince Consort when I was young, and I've always been grateful. I shouldn't have had feelings for you. I'm sorry to my sister, and I'm sorry to the Prince Consort. I always... But I never imagined that the Prince Consort... Back then, I really wanted to be by your side. But how could I, a commoner, be worthy of you? How could I possibly stay with you forever? So, I returned to Guigu Mountain, studied with all my might, and even recommended myself to the Emperor, thus obtaining the title of Imperial Preceptor. Only then did I dare... But I was also reckless last night. I'm sorry."

After hearing such a long confession, the princess felt tears welling up again. She hugged him tightly to calm herself down, then raised her head and smiled through her tears, "I'm willing, I'm willing to marry you."

Wu Wang felt a bang in his mind, like countless fireworks exploding.

Hahaha... He happily hugged the princess and danced with her like a little girl.

The next day, news of the princess's betrothal to the imperial tutor spread throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Su Youran was also very happy, she never expected that things would actually work out.

In the afternoon, the guard who had been stationed at Princess Qingping's residence returned to the Princess's residence with a look of terror on his face.

"Your Highness, Old Ma is dead..."

The eldest princess asked in surprise, "Didn't you say yesterday that Princess Qingping treated him very well?"

The guard nodded. "Yes, I've been guarding outside the courtyard. The princess... she also suddenly died!"

"What?" Yueyue, who was standing next to her, was also surprised. "Tell me the details quickly."

The guard nodded. "Today, an old woman spread the news that the Imperial Preceptor had been betrothed, and Princess Qingping suddenly went mad. She grabbed a guard's knife and stabbed Old Ma to death. I was outside the courtyard and couldn't save him in time, so I had to go and collect his body. A little while later, the princess suddenly started bleeding from all seven orifices and died on the spot."

The princess remained silent for a moment, then waved her hand, "You may leave now. Give Old Ma a proper burial, and ask him if he has any family members. If so, give him a generous compensation."

"yes."

Yueyue understood the key point in an instant.

Seeing her knowing look, the eldest princess asked, "What do you know?"

Yueyue then recounted what Su Youran had told her about Princess Qingping using the Heart-Connecting Gu: "Presumably, she killed Old Ma in a fit of anger, and the Gu worm sensed it and killed her as well."

At the Rong Prince's Mansion, the Rong Prince's wife was devastated upon learning of her daughter's death.

Prince Rong angrily rebuked, "If your good daughter hadn't been so outrageous, how could she have become the laughingstock of the entire capital?! How dare you even cry?"

Princess Rong cried, "Who told you to take a fancy to the Jiang family back then? You let her steal Jiang Mingxin as her husband, and he's such a good-for-nothing! If it weren't for that, how could she have become a divorced woman, doing so many absurd things and ruining her reputation?"

Prince Rong retorted angrily, "So you're blaming me now? If it weren't for those idiots from the Jiang family provoking the Su and Yun families, how could my years of hard work in the Ministry of Revenue have gone to waste?!"

Over the years, whenever he thought about how his hidden agents in the Six Ministries were slowly being removed, he would vomit blood.

And that iron mine in Dingzhou... his heart was bleeding!

Prince Rong said in a deep voice, "Qingping is dead. As his elder brother, Yinghuan should return to the capital to attend the funeral."

Princess Rong exclaimed in surprise, "Your Highness, what do you mean?"

"It's time for Prince Ying Huan to return to the capital."

After so many years of planning, it's time to make some progress.

...

On the other side, after learning that Shi Wenxia had successfully placed the brain-devouring Gu on Wu Xinxin, Zhou Qingqian began to plot against Shi Wenxia.

Originally, Shi Wenxia had urged her to lock Wu Xinxin up in the manor, but she saw that Wu Xinxin was always accompanied by a large number of servants and guards, so she couldn't do it.

But Shi Wenxia didn't have any! She only had one personal maid!

Moreover, her family is gone; she has simply disappeared. Apart from the Yun family, no one from her family has come looking for her!

The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Once she made up her mind, she went to invite him, without mentioning the estate, only saying that she wanted to go to Guangxiao Temple to pray for blessings.

With the autumn imperial examinations just around the corner next month, she said she wanted to ask for a peace charm for her second brother, hoping he would pass the exams smoothly. At the same time, Yun Tianbai was on a mission to suppress bandits, and she said her grandfather was worried about her cousin, the young master, and also wanted to ask for a peace charm for him. So she invited her two cousins-in-law to go with her to pray for her cousin's safety.

Since Yun Tianbai's birth mother is no longer alive, it's understandable that his maternal grandparents would take better care of him.

Moreover, Zhou Qingqian spoke of the history of the dynasty and asked Xia Kuang with a wink.

Shi Wenxia immediately understood that she had taken her advice from last time and was going to make a move against Wu Xinxin.

So she agreed and urged Wu Xinxin to go along.