The death of the empress.

The Lin Family Martial Arts Training Ground.

This is the only place in the Lin family's home that wasn't decorated with lanterns and streamers.

Lin Huaiyin and Lin Zhenlie each held a bow, standing four hundred paces away, drawing their bows, nocking arrows, and gazing intently at the target.

With a flick of her finger, the arrow left the bowstring, the bowstring vibrated, and the arrow struck the bullseye. Lin Huaiyin turned and took an arrow from the quiver, confessing in a low voice, "Young Master Xie is imprisoned in the Imperial Prison and cannot get out."

"Smack!"

Lin Zhenlie's arrow fell to the ground and landed on the instep of his foot.

"You did this?"

Lin Zhenlie spoke in an upward-rising tone.

Lin Huaiyin turned her head in response and met her father's face, which was flushed and his eyes were piercing. He even winked at her for the first time.

"Did you really do this? You hate him that much?" Lin Zhenlie's tone rose sharply, his eyes widened, his lips curled up, and the wrinkles on his face smoothed out, making him look ten years younger.

Lin Huaiyin couldn't understand Lin Zhenlie at all—her father seemed very happy, but what was he happy about?

"It wasn't me, it was—" Lin Huaiyin licked her lips and changed her words: "It was His Highness the Crown Prince."

"Oh? The Crown Prince?" Lin Zhenlie's eyelids twitched, his joy suddenly dimmed, and he snorted, clearly dissatisfied.

He had always thought his daughter was capable enough to easily deal with any man she disliked… He so desperately wanted Lin Huaiyin to nod and say, “Yes, Father, I hate him, I’ve dumped him, you can find me a better one to practice on…”

What a pity.

Lin Zhenlie shook his head and sighed, unable to hide his regret. He was looking forward to seeing who would prevail and who would tame between Lin Huaiyin and Xie Xincun. He was waiting to watch the show.

However, the Crown Prince's intervention was somewhat expected.

He then recalled Xie Xincun's murderous intent towards the Crown Prince. Xie Xincun wanted to make a move, and the Crown Prince, sensing the threat, could not sit idly by and wait to die, especially since it concerned her precious daughter.

The Crown Prince of the Empire and a powerful figure from the continent were fighting for his daughter. The fighting was swift and fierce. Thinking of the sparks flying at the scene, Lin Zhenlie's sorrowful fatherly thoughts suddenly became intense and uplifting.

Well, at least my daughter didn't have the chance to cause trouble or test the Crown Prince's methods. The result was so-so, but I'm still satisfied.

At least, the crown prince of the Daxing Dynasty was not outshone by the young master of Hu Shoulin. As a father, he was somewhat disappointed, but as a subject, Lin Zhenlie looked towards the Eastern Palace of the Imperial City and nodded in approval.

As expected of the Crown Prince who I've watched grow up, he didn't disappoint. It was worth it for him to suppress the Emperor's poisoning and to fulfill his high expectations over the years.

However, Xie Xincun could not be imprisoned like this. Hu Shoulin would never let it go. Lin Zhenlie picked up an arrow, thinking about going to the East Palace to demand the person, and then using his old face to appease Xie Xincun and take Lin Huaiyin away.

Let's assign the position of Grand General of the Imperial Guards to someone else.

Lin Huaiyin must leave; there is no room for discussion.

Lin Zhenlie wanted her to break free from the old ways of Daxing, go out and guard the forest, travel the world, and after gaining experience, return to inherit his position and take charge of the Lin family.

Two hundred years into the imperial reign, Daxing has clung to its old ways, and the royal family is suffering from chronic illnesses. Little did they know that talented people are emerging in various countries, and there are many outstanding young talents. The Lin family's vision and power cannot be confined to a corner of Daxing. Otherwise, with the world in turmoil, Daxing will be stretched thin and its future uncertain.

Lin Zhenlie decided to take this opportunity to have a frank and clear talk with Lin Huaiyin.

He released the bowstring, set aside the arrows, and stood before a wall of weapon racks, responding to Lin Huaiyin's question amidst the interplay of light and shadow from axes and spears.

"Third son, do you want to know the story of the Crown Prince's birth mother, the late Empress Zhao?"

After saying this, Lin Zhenlie looked up at the sky and sighed, "She was truly a wise and virtuous empress."

Lin Huaiyin instinctively gripped the bow with her right hand.

Xiao Zhian's maternal clan—Lin Huaiyin's blind spots in memory and intellect.

Xiao Zhian had never mentioned it, nor had she ever thought of it. The world was even more silent, as if that maternal clan had never existed. So why did her father suddenly bring it up now?

Lin Zhenlie's gaze pierced through the clouds, illuminating the vast expanse, his voice calm and composed as he began to speak.

"Twenty-five years ago, His Majesty ascended the throne."

The concubines of the Eastern Palace then entered the inner palace. These concubines came from noble families, and their maternal families had each made contributions in the struggle for the throne.

Therefore, the father-in-law who had rendered meritorious service was arrogant and complacent in the previous dynasty, while their daughters competed for favor and the throne in the harem.

The emperor was bothered by this and unwilling to be controlled by others. However, he cherished his reputation and did not want to be known as someone who favored others and then turned against them. So, during his western tour, he fell in love with an orphaned girl from the common people.

A beautiful, orphaned girl from a fallen family, struggling to make ends meet, yet fiercely protective of her reputation, ekes out a living by copying books at a bookstore.

At this point, Lin Zhenlie's eyes shone brightly, as if he were back twenty-five years ago when he first met the late Empress, and a smile appeared on his face.

Lin Huaiyin's hand holding the bow trembled involuntarily—she finally understood the hidden reason why Xiao Zhian built Zenghua Bookstore to support book sellers and provide relief to the poor—he missed his deceased mother and never forgot where he came from.

"His Majesty was deeply in love with the late Empress. Despite the opposition of the court officials and concubines, and despite the late Empress's wishes, he insisted on bringing her back to the capital."

When she first entered the palace, the late empress couldn't even speak Mandarin. The palace servants, under the orders of the other concubines, would often pretend not to listen to her, causing her great suffering.

The Emperor did support her, killing batch after batch of palace servants for her sake, which terrified the concubines in the harem. After that, he made her Empress. The court and the harem hated her to the core, but the Emperor only favored her and acted willfully.

After taking control of the Phoenix Seal, the Emperor poured out his grievances to the late Empress, complaining about both the court and the harem. He said he felt stifled and cried that he wanted to be a wise ruler, but was hindered and restricted at every turn, unable to realize his grand ambitions.

The late empress was protected and favored by him, and respected his ambition to be a wise ruler. Naturally, she worried about him and worked hard for him, hoping to achieve a harmonious relationship between the emperor and empress.

With no maternal clan to rely on, the late empress had no worries about the future, and when she acted, she was swift and decisive, with an overwhelming momentum.

The previous dynasty was intertwined with the harem. The late empress punished the concubines from within the harem, while the emperor was in the previous dynasty, taking the opportunity to suppress the concubines' maternal families.

The late empress believed herself to be wise, and the emperor admired her wisdom. Using her wisdom, he uprooted all the former officials from the prince's residence.

The power struggles in the imperial harem have always been characterized by sordid methods. After outlasting all the concubines, the late empress fell seriously ill and remained bedridden.

But she was truly a virtuous empress. She eliminated all internal and external troubles, and although her health deteriorated day by day, she still adhered to her duties as empress. She kept in mind that the emperor wanted to be a wise and virtuous ruler. Even when she was on her deathbed, she still restrained and reminded him, never forgetting the unity of the emperor and empress and the will to bring peace and stability to the world.

Little did the emperor know that whenever he heard the late empress's sickly admonitions, he only felt annoyed.

What annoyed the Emperor even more was that the virtuous Empress, whom he had supported through thick and thin for ten years, was implementing sweeping reforms in the harem, winning praise from the court and placing the Emperor in the position of a wise ruler, making it impossible for him to step down. Day by day, the Emperor only wished for her death, so that he could, in the name of losing his beloved, loosen the tight rein on his head.

Lin Zhenlie's narration was calm and uneventful.

As for the Emperor's act of forcibly having sex with a palace maid in the mourning hall after the late Empress's death, celebrating the liberation of power in the most humiliating way for his deceased wife, Lin Zhenlie felt it was too evil and remained silent, unwilling to recount it.

After all, Princess Pingyang and the Crown Prince, who witnessed that scene, were both shrouded in a shadow that would haunt them for the rest of their lives, and the empire was devastated and on the verge of collapse, almost dragged into an abyss of no return.

Lin Zhenlie stopped speaking, but his voice and those words were like pebbles, one by one, solid and tangible, hitting Lin Huaiyin's heart and stirring up a thousand waves.

This moment is just like that moment back then.

Her reign was marked by both internal and external troubles, and she also aspired to be a wise ruler.

Was her father bringing up the past to warn her that Xiao Zhian was not a good man?

However, before the trial of Zhi An, as Lin Huaiyin gazed at her tall and profound father and listened to his sighs and regrets, her heart trembled inexplicably. A strange intuition pushed her to ask, "Then Father, what did you do? Did our Lin family just watch things happen?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhenlie's melancholy vanished, replaced by an overwhelming joy. This question was astonishing; his daughter was not trapped by the tragedy of the late empress, nor was she immersed in the sorrow of love and loss. Instead, she first considered and questioned the matter from the perspective of a member of the Lin family.

Excellent!

Excellent!

My daughter has already shown the potential and qualities of an heir.

Lin Zhenlie was overjoyed and replied, "When I discovered the truth, it was too late, so I could only choose not to save His Majesty and secretly support the Crown Prince."

"So that's why you didn't ask Young Master Xie to save the Emperor?" Lin Huaiyin blurted out, finally understanding her father's choice.

"That's only one of the reasons."

Lin Zhenlie earnestly explained to his successor: "If it were just an ordinary physician named Hu Shoulin, it would be because I, your father, do not wish to save His Majesty. But Xie Xincun is a different story. This man is unruly and has no taboos. If an imperial monarch falls into his hands, and he suddenly decides to use a few needles, our emperor might become a walking corpse, a puppet in his hands."

Upon hearing this, Lin Huaiyin was speechless and hurriedly leaned closer to complain: "Young Master Xie is really terrifying. Father, how could you bear to push me into a fire pit?"

"Because you don't honestly get married."

Lin Zhenlie's lips curled up, a proud look on his face, as if he had picked up a silly rabbit for free. He said, "If you were living an ordinary life, or if you had run home and cried after discovering Shen Congyun's conspiracy, I would have raised you and protected you for life. But your little claws are sharp and clever, and you are incredibly audacious. Keeping you at home would be a waste of your talents. Go out and explore, make friends with heroes from all over the world, find out the true strength of Hu Shoulin, and plan for the future of Daxing and the Lin family. This is the path you chose."

"What do you mean I chose this path myself?" Lin Huaiyin stubbornly refused, jumping up and making a scene. "Change it! Change it! Is Young Master Xie really no good? I'm afraid of him, and besides, he's currently being held captive by Zhi'an—"

"Locked up in—" Realizing her slip of the tongue, Lin Huaiyin swallowed awkwardly, pretending nothing had happened—" "Locked up in the imperial prison, in case—"

"Wait a minute." Lin Zhenlie was startled by the intimate address she blurted out.

He can accept the Crown Prince's admiration and infatuation with his daughter; his precious daughter is worthy!

But his precious daughter must not follow the old path of the late empress, and moreover, there is the ancestral rule against intermarriage, so the Lin family will never become an in-law!

Lin Zhenlie couldn't ignore it, so he turned his head, raised his chin, and sneered at Lin Huaiyin: "What's going on?"

"What? What happened?" Lin Huaiyin feigned ignorance. "I just feel that when Young Master Xie returns, he will definitely take revenge. He might strangle me, or at least I'll be badly injured—"

"Heh." Lin Zhenlie chuckled dryly. "Aren't you from Donggongguan? Why are you being pinched? Are you an accomplice? Who taught you to help outsiders harm your own fiancé?"

Upon hearing the word "help," Lin Huaiyin instantly recalled the scene of confronting Xiao Zhian, and the light in her eyes vanished in an instant.

She truly helped Zhi'an, and helped him immensely. If he asked, she would do her best to help him.

However, the truth is that Zhi'an used her directly without requesting it.

In Zhi'an's hands, she was reduced to an object.

Lin Huaiyin couldn't quite figure out whether this manipulation was any different from the emperor waiting to die in the palace.

Seeing her like this, Lin Zhenlie narrowed his tiger eyes dangerously, and suddenly realized something—if the premise was that his daughter and the Crown Prince were in love with each other, worked together to deal with Xie Xincun, and successfully imprisoned him, then his daughter would now be praising the Crown Prince with great enthusiasm and trying every means to persuade him to accept the Crown Prince.

But it was obvious to the naked eye that the daughter was unhappy.

Lin Zhenlie immediately concluded that the Crown Prince had used a method that displeased his daughter in order to successfully deal with Xie Xincun.

Oh.

Like father, like son; the Crown Prince has learned to bully his daughter.

Lin Zhenlie patted Lin Huaiyin on the shoulder and said, "Keep practicing archery. I'll be right back."