I stared at Xie Yuancheng, but before I could even see him clearly, he snatched the book from my hand.

"All show and no substance? You're the one who's all glitter and no fluff!"

"Yes, that's just who I am. Isn't it a little late for Ying'er to realize this? Anyway, you can only stay by my side. Otherwise, you're not allowed to go anywhere else."

Xie Yuancheng grinned smugly, and I started to think about how to get back at him. He can be a bit annoying sometimes; he'd prop himself up on his hand and watch me, just waiting for my counterattack!

“Xiao Chengcheng, didn’t you say that you would take me out to see the world after this is over? When it’s going to snow, we can see the snow scenery.”

I started to back down, blinking and looking at Xie Yuancheng, refusing to believe he wouldn't agree. I hadn't said where we were going, and we could still see Bai Xue in the manor.

"Ying'er~" Xie Yuancheng blushed slightly: "You just like to run out and play. Xizhi and the others are still young. As their mother, you don't care about them at all."

"Go away! Who's always carrying them around, putting them in the yard, and not letting me see them? They even have to go play at the same time every day!"

“It’s me, but they are different from other people’s children. They shouldn’t be raised in a simple way. If something happens in the future, they can stand on their own and won’t become useless.”

"Well, I... I agree." I had no room to object to that. I decided to let him go and do his thing, but I missed my eldest son. I wondered how Yu'er was doing in the capital.

My parents doted on the children even more than I did. I would hold them a couple of times if I felt like it, and if I didn't, I would leave them with Xie Yuancheng. My parents were very attentive; they were very particular about what the little ones did and what they played with.

"Okay, I promise you, I'll definitely take you out to see the world when the winter solstice comes."

"Winter Solstice!" I calculated the time; it's over twenty days. I was about to refuse, but seeing his expression—exhausted and pleading—I reluctantly agreed.

"I knew Ying'er was the best to me." Xie Yuancheng leaned against me to rest. I wanted to push him away, but remembering how I always wronged the people around me in the past, I decided to hold back.

"Go lie down over there and don't disturb me while I'm reading." I held the book the shopkeeper had given me and read it. Nothing had changed in the past few days. Xie Yuancheng rested his head on my shoulder and followed along, but he didn't say a word.

"Nothing has changed, Ying'er. You've been seen through. You haven't even finished exploring the entire mansion, and you still want to go out!"

“I need to go to the manor. Of course I can’t go if you don’t let me. Otherwise, if you get angry, I won’t even know what I did wrong, and I’ll have to watch your expression.”

I closed the book and deliberately looked at Xie Yuancheng with teary eyes. Sure enough, he agreed. Humph! If I hadn't humbled myself, he wouldn't have let me leave.

"You've been guarding the yard too well lately; the little ones can't come in, and I can't go out either~"

I put the book away carefully. I need to keep it with me at all times, as I don't know if something might suddenly happen. I can't control this book yet. I wanted to learn the technique of reading books remotely from a distance from the Qimen Dunjia divination arts, but he disagreed, so I can only think about it.

“The weather is getting cooler, and you’re just feeling better, yet you’re already thinking about going out. Of course, I won’t agree to that.”

“You’re being too cautious. Even though it’s late autumn, there are houses all over the manor. If we wear thick clothes, we’ll start sweating just walking around.”

“You have to be careful when you’re sick. You’re not the same as before. According to my research, women who have given birth age more easily. I’ve been trying to get you to think about happy things, but you keep looking out the window and shedding tears. Every time, I have to wake up in the middle of the night to check if you’ve soaked your pillow!”

"I... I didn't mean to, or maybe it was just the wind!" He would know about such a small thing, but I don't care.

"Yes, you always make excuses. Okay, we should go out now. If you lose another eyeball, don't even think about me taking you out again!"

"I know, you're so good at managing things, you take care of everything so well. I won't dare to make any mistakes in the future, or you'll hold a grudge against me."

I took Xie Yuancheng's arm and we walked. As soon as we left the courtyard, a cold wind blew in. However, the wind in Linyang was not very strong. The mansion had been renovated, and the paintings that used to hang there had been thrown away.

I was a little scared at the time. If people from the capital came again, I wondered if Xie Yuancheng's true colors would be discovered. But he said it so casually. The old emperor was no pushover. He knew that the pills he had taken, which were fake, had been taught Taoism by the people arranged by the Hua family, but he just didn't say it.

He feigned illness for five years, eliminating most of those who threatened his throne and installing new ones. Later, the Hua clan felt the time was ripe and began their counterattack. Little did they know, the old emperor had laid a trap for them, waiting to ensnare the Hua clan once again.

The old emperor originally thought that the Hua family had produced a good ally, considering that the Hua family had made significant contributions to the Great Zhao Dynasty three generations ago. However, as they rose to high positions and gained power, their ambitions grew and could no longer be concealed, leading to their downfall.

The old emperor gave the Hua family a chance, but I think he made better use of it. He used the wealth created by the Hua family and, through very reasonable means, transformed it into silver in the national treasury. With a full treasury, the people of the country could live more comfortably and wouldn't have to face the ravages of war.

However, Lady Hua wanted too much. The old emperor had already exploited her greatly, and later, in alliance with those around her, he turned the tables on her. It was thought that if Lady Hua could handle it, she might be given a chance. Unfortunately, apart from her silver tongue, the glory and wealth she gained were largely due to the people around her.

The old emperor originally intended to cultivate talent, but the other party was just a rat in fancy clothes pretending to be a powerful figure, so of course he couldn't keep him. The Hua family, the Grand Tutor's family, and everyone around them were all eradicated.

The court thought the old emperor was senile and senile, but little did they know that he was doing just as much behind the scenes, and many people were acting in self-defense, which led to some further trouble.

This tactic of using someone else to do the dirty work was cleverly employed. However, the old emperor wanted to rid himself of some suspicions, so he distributed the chaos to other fiefdoms. Linyang was not originally among his choices, but it was used by someone with ulterior motives and was also targeted in their scheme.

Fortunately, the shopkeeper secretly helped us, otherwise we would have been implicated and it would probably have taken several years to find out, by which time Linyang would have been on the verge of collapse.

These people are shrewd; they only know how to exploit one another. At the time, I thought it would be very disadvantageous for my father not to become a general, but now it seems that handing over military power at the height of his power was a wise choice.

"Ying'er, what are you thinking about again?" Xie Yuancheng waved his hand in front of my eyes, and I blinked a few times.

"No, I was just thinking about what happened a while ago. Some things were so earth-shattering that I got completely absorbed in them."