After returning to the Xuan Prince's residence, the couple disembarked from their carriage. Princess Xuan looked at the gate, reluctant to enter.

I cried twice today, and I have to cry in front of my daughter later. I'm just... a little too tired to cry anymore.

She sniffed, and Prince Xuan said, "Your Highness, if you want to cry, go inside first. It's so cold outside, your tears will turn into ice crystals."

Princess Consort Xuan: "......"

The underground fire was burning brightly inside the house, and Yongle weakly asked a maid to stuff dried meat into her through the crack in the window.

She couldn't stand her mother controlling everything she did, so she had a fight with her and, in a moment of anger, said, "I'm going on a hunger strike in protest." As a result, her mother really stopped letting the kitchen send her food!

Having been hungry for a whole day and night, her vision was now blurry. She felt that she would marry anyone her mother wanted, as long as she could have something to eat.

"Princess, the Princess Consort has arrived!" The little maid outside the window said, then quickly withdrew the half-stuffed jerky and disappeared without a trace.

Yongle: "..."

Her dried meat!

Yongle pouted and lay back on the bed. A moment later, the sound of chains rattling came from outside the door. Soon the door was pushed open, and Princess Xuan went in and had the door locked again.

She listened to Song Yaozhu and entered the room without saying a word, silently shedding tears.

Sure enough, after a while, Yongle, who was lying in bed, noticed that something was wrong with her mother. In the past, Princess Xuan would always be inconsiderate and give her orders from the start, and then Yongle would not be able to stand her suffocating control, and the two of them would start arguing.

But today, there's been absolutely no movement, which is highly unusual.

Yongle froze for a moment, then got out of bed to look at Princess Xuan, only to find his mother silently weeping. Yongle was startled and quickly jumped out of bed, running to his mother.

"Mother! What happened? Don't frighten your daughter!"

Princess Xuan turned her face away, feigning silence, and took out a handkerchief to wipe her tears. The more she did this, the more anxious Yongle became.

"Mother, please say something! Has something happened at home?"

Princess Xuan sniffed and said, "Nothing has happened at home."

It means something bad might happen in the future.

“You are my only child, and a mother always hopes for the best for you. That’s why I went to the palace today to ask the Emperor to grant you and Cui Yan a marriage. With the Emperor’s decree, we no longer need to worry about the Lu family.”

The Lu family was the family to which Cui Yan was betrothed.

Yongle was stunned. She never expected that her mother would go to the palace to ask the emperor for a marriage for her. She only wanted to use Cui Yan to resist her mother's dictatorship. She never thought she would actually marry him!

She had a good plan. Cui Yan dared to seduce her even though he had a fiancée, which showed he had no morals. Once she had used this man to get rid of her mother's control, she would dump him and leave him with nothing!

But now my mother has actually requested an imperial decree to grant us a marriage, and an imperial decree cannot be easily dissolved!

Yongle felt like he had tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead. He pouted and burst into tears, crying his heart out, regretting his actions and wanting to die.

She was crying and hiccuping at the same time.

"My dear, what's wrong with you!" Princess Xuan patted her back, extremely worried.

"Ugh! Hungry..." Yongle said, burping.

Princess Xuan couldn't understand at all, thinking she was just hiccuping, and suddenly slapped her on the back, making Yongle almost vomit up the bile in her stomach.

"I'm hungry!!!" Yongle roared, startling Princess Xuan, who then stood up angrily.

That brat is so heartless! She works so hard for this family, and all she says is that she's hungry!

Sigh, I don't know if I'm old enough to have another child.

"I can't count on it anymore, I can't count on it!" Princess Xuan looked up at the sky, thinking that she would have to meet with the Cui family later.

However, she didn't attend the meeting first; Xie Liwei met Cui Yan first.

There were many dinner invitations before the New Year, and Xie Liwei declined quite a few, but there were some he still had to attend out of courtesy. This time, it was an invitation from the Beijing Book Society and Chamber of Commerce. As a leisurely man with considerable talent in poetry and prose, he was essentially a figurehead here. After all, every circle needs a few people to keep things in order.

Furthermore, he needed to cultivate good relationships with the publishing house in order to promote Mr. Guangji's books throughout the country.

This gathering included many merchants and quite a few renowned scholars, among whom was Cui Yan.

After a round of drinks, everyone was slightly tipsy and began to move around, toasting each other with cups in one hand and wine jugs in the other. It was at this moment that Cui Yan walked up to Xie Liwei and asked with a smile, "My name is Cui Yan. Would Your Highness do me the honor of having a chat?"

Upon hearing his name, Xie Liwei pondered for a moment, then went with him to find a secluded place.

Xie Liwei stood in the courtyard, his hands behind his back, looking at the flowers in the flowerbed. He thought to himself that he hadn't taken good care of the flowers in his garden since he met Song Yaozhu.

The main problem was that Song Yaozhu was ruthless in destroying the flowers, always cutting them off and putting them in vases when they were at their most beautiful.

This habit remains unchanged.

Thinking of this, he almost laughed.

With two wine glasses between his left hands, Cui Yan smiled and said, "I thought Your Highness wouldn't be attending this year's gathering, after all, Your Highness is currently in the spotlight."

Xie Liwei's gaze shifted from the flowerbed to his ordinary face, utterly bewildered by how Yongle's aesthetic standards had plummeted so drastically. He then jumped from him to Cui Yan.

"Is that so? I really didn't know. Thank you for reminding me."

Without wasting words, Cui Yan went straight to the point, saying, "Your Highness, let the Xie family and the Cui family join forces!"

Xie Liwei was not surprised at all by his words. Or rather, when he heard from Song Yaozhu that he had contacted Yongle, he had already imagined that today's meeting would happen.

"You've already seen the fate of the Xie and Gao families who assisted the Yuwen family. Yuwen Wuji eliminated all the Xie family's power in the court and the country, and the Gao family is now like a dog that has been cooked. If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold, and the Xie family's fate will not be good either!"

"So what?" Xie Liwei looked at him indifferently. "The world will only be peaceful for a decade or so. Does your Cui family want to plunge the world into chaos for the sake of your own power?"

Cui Yan's face turned pale, but the darkness concealed it.

"The Yuwen family's rule will not last long. I am merely advising Your Highness to lead the Xie family to make the right choice."

"What would be the right choice? The Prince of Yan?"

Xie Liwei's gaze was so oppressive that Cui Yan couldn't help but shrink back.

"Your Highness, what are you saying? Your Highness is a man of great literary talent and must have the ability to govern a country. The Xie family once assisted an emperor. Why can't that person be you?"

Xie Liwei sneered inwardly, wondering what the Cui family was up to.

Cui Yan pressed on, saying, "Your Highness is no ordinary man. If Your Highness is willing, my Cui family is willing to serve you faithfully and assist you in ascending the throne!"

Xie Liwei sneered and mocked, "The Cui family can barely protect itself, and in recent years its talent pool has dwindled. How dare you speak so arrogantly in front of me!"

After saying that, he turned and left.

Cui Yan held the wine pot, watching his retreating figure with a somber expression.

At least you didn't say you were going to report me, did you?