Madam Zhai's expression changed rapidly. She took a few deep breaths and sat down.

"Your Highness, what do you want the Zhai family to do? Our Zhai family has always been law-abiding, loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and would never do anything rebellious."

After speaking, she met Song Yaozhu's teasing gaze. Madam Zhai, thinking of what her daughter had done, couldn't help but choke.

Well... her daughter did something much bigger.

"I never intended to use this matter to blackmail the Zhai family. Everyone has their own unavoidable circumstances. Your daughter did what she did simply to survive. As a woman myself, I can understand."

Madam Zhai awaited her response.

"As you can see, my lord has endured so many years of hardship to finally have a chance to enter officialdom. The reason I invited you here today is simply to hope that our two families can become friends, so that in the future, Grand Secretary Zhai can help my lord in the court."

Madam Zhai looked at Song Yaozhu in disbelief. She had such a big handle on the Zhai family, how could she possibly do it for such a small matter?

If they wanted to promote Xie Liwei, they should have gone to the Ministry of Personnel!

All this trouble, just to get the Zhai family to promote Xie Liwei? Isn't that using a sledgehammer to crack a nut?

Madam Zhai sat there for a long time, and after the banquet ended, she hurriedly returned home to tell her husband about the matter.

Zhai Xianjin also looked solemn. He had served as an official for many years, relying on his solid achievements and loyalty to the Emperor. The Emperor had vomited blood because of the Prince of Yong's affair, demonstrating the significant blow it dealt him.

If the Emperor were to find out that it was their daughter who did what Prince Yong did, the entire family would probably lose their lives.

"The princess only told me to promote the prince?"

Madam Zhai nodded anxiously, her heart filled with worry. Her poor, unfortunate daughter!

"It will be some time before you leave Yin. If the princess summons you again, then go."

Despite her deep concern, Madam Zhai couldn't help but write a letter to her daughter.

Princess Yong received the letter. She lowered her gaze and looked at the strategist who had given her the advice.

“Lord Yu, Princess Xiaoyao has now spoken to my mother about this matter.”

Yu Gong calmly put down his chopsticks. "It's alright, it's alright. Just tell your father to listen to you, and everything will be fine soon."

He wiped his mouth and sighed. Life under King Xuan's command was tough. The soldiers spent their days catching and eating insects all over the mountains and fields. Just watching them made him feel like insects were biting him all over. He couldn't understand how they could bring themselves to eat them.

I finally made it to Xuzhou to do a mission, but hey, these guys are holed up in the hills all day and complain that the bugs here aren't as plump as the ones they catch in the southern border!

When it comes to food, he wouldn't eat from the same pot as them.

"Alright, I've finished eating, I'll be leaving now. Your Highness, please take good care of yourself." After saying that, she added, "To avoid any unforeseen complications, I'll leave you something."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a porcelain bottle.

"This medicine can cause someone to die from a stroke."

Zhai Gewen picked up the medicine bottle, still shocked. She had never intended to harm anyone.

"Take care, sir."

After Yu Gong left, she called over the nanny and said, "Take this medicine and destroy it."

The old woman hesitated for a moment, then said, "Your Highness, the gentleman is right. Keeping the prince around will only give you more leverage against him, and will bring you no benefit whatsoever."

Zhai Gewen sighed softly, "I don't want to kill anyone. I don't want to spend the rest of my life living in guilt, self-blame, and fear."

The old woman looked at the medicine bottle in her hand, sighed helplessly, and took it to destroy.

Madam Zhai waited at home for her daughter's letter, her days filled with anxiety, fearing that the Prince Xiaoyao's Mansion would send someone to find her again. She had absolutely no desire to see anyone from the Prince Xiaoyao's Mansion.

But she can't refuse to see him, nor can she refuse to see him.

"Madam, someone from the Prince Xiaoyao's residence has arrived!" The maidservant came to inform the madam immediately upon receiving the news. After all, the madam had instructed the gatekeeper beforehand that if someone from the Prince Xiaoyao's residence arrived, she must be informed immediately.

In addition, the mistress's anxiety has made everyone in the household work in a state of constant fear.

"Please come in quickly!"

After speaking, Madam Zhai took a few deep breaths. She knew it wouldn't be Song Yaozhu, since Song Yaozhu was far along in her pregnancy and wouldn't go out easily.

The one who entered was Qin Yu, Xie Liwei's steward. He could be considered a promising young man. Even though he was dressed as a servant, he was still very energetic and stood in front of her with neither servility nor arrogance, displaying a remarkable demeanor.

"Madam, the Princess has asked me to deliver a letter to you."

Madam Zhai sat in the main seat and gestured to her maid, who then took the letter and handed it to her.

Upon receiving the letter, Madam Zhai's heart skipped a beat. It was written to her by Zhai Gewen! But the letter destined for the Zhai family was delivered by someone from the Xiaoyao Prince's Mansion. Song Yaozhu's intentions were self-evident.

She hurriedly opened the letter, fearing it contained her daughter's pleas for mercy after being held hostage. Fortunately, the letter only stated that she was safe and sound recently. Although the prince was paralyzed in bed, everyone in the palace obeyed her orders and no mistakes were made.

She spread rumors that the prince, paralyzed and bedridden, had undergone a drastic personality change, constantly verbally abusing the servants, but she remained devoted to him, personally caring for him with three meals a day, displaying the qualities of a virtuous wife. She also claimed that one of her concubines was pregnant, and that after three months she would write a memorial to the emperor to elevate her to the rank of concubine.

Manxin's life was full of ordinary daily routines, as if she had never experienced those thrilling events. The sudden change in the Yongwang Mansion was just a minor incident caused by bad luck, which she could handle in a very ordinary way.

Madam Zhai held the letter to her chest, her face filled with sorrow. She only had this one daughter, and her marriage to the prince was already enough to worry her, but then she was sent so far away to Xuzhou, far from her family.

Now, her husband is still paralyzed in bed, and she, a frail woman, still has to run the household.

Men are a woman's heaven and earth; she couldn't imagine how her daughter would survive if the heaven and earth collapsed.

Madam Zhai turned her back and wiped the tears from her face with a handkerchief, choking back sobs as she said, "Wait a moment, allow me to freshen up, and then I'll go with you to the Prince Xiaoyao's residence to see the Princess."

Qin Yu readily complied and obediently waited to the side.

Madam Zhai entered the courtyard and said to the nanny, "Go and call the eldest son's wife here, and have her come with me."

Madam Zhai took a deep breath, and after she dressed herself up again, she looked as if she had put on armor.

"Mother!" The eldest daughter-in-law rushed over upon receiving the news. She did not show her panic on her face, but her eyes were full of worry.

Although she didn't know what her younger sister had done, she was still very worried about her sister's sudden misfortune. She prepared many things to send to her, but the roads were blocked by snow. Letters were okay, but large items were really difficult to transport.

"Come with me to the Prince Xiaoyao's residence. Tell everyone that the Princess Xiaoyao asked me for advice on how to raise children."

The eldest daughter-in-law nodded and stepped forward to support her mother-in-law, the two of them looking as if they were going to their deaths on the battlefield.

What Princess Xiaoyao wanted was simply the attitude of the Zhai family.