Chapter 175 Returning to the Earl's Mansion

Qiu Heng watched Xue Han ride away into the distance, then rubbed her slightly cool fingers together.

Will Xue Han be angry?

But for her, she would never reveal all her cards to someone else unless she was absolutely certain.

Even if this person is Xue Han.

"Qiu Liu!" A sharp shout came, and Fang Rui pushed aside the people blocking her way and rushed to Qiu Heng's side.

"What did you say to Xue Han?" the pale-faced girl asked breathlessly.

I asked him what had happened.

What did he say?

Qiu Heng smiled and said, "He said not to ask any more questions."

"You're still laughing!" Fang Rui found Qiu Heng's smile extremely irritating. "Have you been hoping for the Prime Minister's residence to suffer misfortune all along?"

Fang Rui, who grew up pampered and spoiled, had never seen the Prime Minister's residence in such chaos. The Imperial City Guards forcibly breaking into the Prime Minister's residence and searching her grandfather's study was no small matter!

Fang Rui always seemed impulsive when facing Qiu Heng, which was due to her brother's early death and her mother's abnormal behavior. In fact, she was more perceptive than most noble ladies.

Even now, many people in the Prime Minister's residence still felt that once the Prime Minister found out, he would definitely teach the Imperial City Guard a lesson, since the Prime Minister was the head of all officials, second only to the Emperor. But Fang Rui felt panicked, intuitively sensing that disaster was imminent, which made her completely unable to tolerate Qiu Heng's indifferent smile.

"I wish for the Prime Minister's mansion to fall into misfortune?" Qiu Heng was first shocked, then aggrieved, her eyes immediately reddening. "I know Miss Fang dislikes me, is wary of me, and thinks I'm using any means to curry favor with Madam Yang. In that case, I'll go home now and won't be in Miss Fang's way anymore..."

Qiu Heng felt more and more aggrieved as she spoke, and covered her face as she ran into the street.

Fang Rui stared blankly at the girl running away, a familiar feeling welling up in her heart.

She, she, she—ran away again!

Qiu Heng ran back to the Yongqing Marquis's residence in one breath, startling the gatekeepers.

"What's wrong with Sixth Miss?"

As the disciple spoke, he subconsciously glanced outside.

Everyone in the Earl's household knew that the Sixth Miss had gone to stay at the Prime Minister's residence for a while, and they were all very curious. Now that the Sixth Miss had run back crying, had she caused trouble at the Prime Minister's residence?

"It's alright, just guard the gate well." Qiu Heng took a few golden peanuts from her purse and stuffed them into the gatekeeper's hand before walking inside.

With the Prime Minister's residence in complete disarray, they certainly wouldn't have time to chase after her. Qiu Heng's rewarding of the servants was merely a casual gesture. Anyway, she wasn't short of money, and cultivating good relationships with the servants couldn't be a bad thing.

The disciples misunderstood.

Golden peanut!

Several golden peanuts!

Good heavens, what kind of trouble has the Sixth Miss gotten into to be so generous?

Then his disciples showed expressions of resignation to their fate.

He would rather die than let anyone in!

There was no way around it; the Sixth Sister had given just too much!

Upon seeing Qiu Heng, the maid in Qian Song Tang, who was in charge of delivering messages, exclaimed with undisguised joy, "Sixth Miss is back!"

The room fell silent in cheers, but the old lady felt a sudden unease.

Sixth Sister went to the Prime Minister's residence early this morning, how come she's back already?

When the old lady saw that Qiu Heng's hair was slightly disheveled and her eyes were red, she felt something was wrong: "What happened?"

"Many people from the Imperial City Guard came to the Prime Minister's residence, causing chaos. That's when my granddaughter returned."

The old lady's expression changed several times.

Although she was a woman confined to the inner quarters, she knew how formidable and enormous the Prime Minister's residence was. The Imperial City Guard had actually gone directly to the Prime Minister's residence.

Is this about to cause a huge upheaval?

The old lady was startled and waved for the servants to leave. She stared intently at Qiu Heng and asked, "Do you know why the Imperial City Guard went to the Prime Minister's residence?"

Qiu Heng didn't intend to hide it from the old lady: "The Imperial City Guard said they were going to capture the spies."

"There are spies in the Prime Minister's residence?" The old lady rose and sat down again, turning the Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist. "They dared to force their way in just because there were spies? There must be something even more serious going on—"

Suddenly remembering something, the old lady's face turned deathly pale, and she grabbed Qiu Heng, asking urgently, "Who is the leader of the Imperial City Guard?"

"Of course it's Xue Han, isn't he the Imperial Envoy?" Qiu Heng's gaze fell on the old lady's wrist. "Grandmother, you've changed your Buddhist prayer beads?"

Didn't you mean a wide, large gold bracelet before?

The old lady's face turned from white to black.

That brat still has the nerve to ask, making her live in constant fear. She has to wear Buddhist prayer beads to put her mind at ease.

"You still have the mind to notice what I'm wearing!" The old lady reached out and poked Qiu Heng's forehead. "Xue Han led people to search the Prime Minister's residence, which will surely offend Prime Minister Fang severely, and he might even get himself into trouble. Aren't you worried?"

"Grandmother, don't worry. Don't always think the worst. Maybe the Prime Minister's mansion is doomed."

"You're quite open-minded—" The old lady suddenly stopped talking and stared blankly at Qiu Heng.

How could she forget how wicked this girl was?

The previous Commander Han, his son harmed Liu Yatou's adoptive father and even acted arrogantly, and as a result, he died.

Later, that guy surnamed Yuan—oh, it's said that the people outside call him Yuan the Thief—used his favor to approach the old man and have Sixth Sister make incense for his concubine.

Yes, he's dead too.

The Prime Minister's residence wasn't any better; they forced Sixth Sister to change the medicine for his servants and even forced her to stay.

Hiss—in that case, it's a bit strange that Fang Xiang isn't dead.

The old lady never considered that Qiu Heng was the one who killed the person; instead, she became convinced of one thing: it was all because of Liu Yatou's bad luck.

"Then how did you get back? Did Madam Yang let you go?" The old lady moved her bottom a little further away, suppressing her disgust, and felt inexplicably at ease.

“Miss Fang scolded me, and I couldn’t bear the humiliation, so I came back crying.”

The old lady's lips curled up as she listened, but she quickly suppressed it: "Well, that's the kind of backbone one should have."

At this time, Xue Han had already arrived at the capital and headed straight for the council hall.

The morning court session had ended, but several ministers, including Fang Xiang, remained behind, still debating the matter of General Huang Lin.

"Since General Huang was stationed in Baicheng, the Northern Qi has not gained any advantage there. Prime Minister Fang wants to transfer General Huang based solely on some rumors. Has he considered who can replace him? And what will happen to the people there?" Censor-in-Chief Lü Yan asked in a deep voice.

Fang Xiang wielded immense power, and among all the officials, only Lü Zhongcheng could somewhat check and balance him.

Fang Xiang smiled and said, "Your Majesty, doesn't what Vice Minister Lü said just prove that Huang Lin's prestige in the North is unparalleled?"

Emperor Jingping nodded.

A good general is important, and the people's well-being is important, but neither is as important as him. Huang Lin has only been in Baicheng for a few years, yet the people there only recognize him. Will this continue to fuel his ambition?

Emperor Jingping's wavering has taken a turn in the past two days.

Seeing Emperor Jingping nod, Lü Yan said urgently, "Your Majesty, please reconsider! The border of Baicheng is rarely peaceful, and it is absolutely inappropriate to change generals so easily!"

Emperor Jingping's expression darkened slightly: "I think—"

At this moment, a palace attendant reported: "Your Majesty, Imperial City Envoy Xue Han has urgent business to discuss with you."

Emperor Jingping raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Requesting an audience at this time? It must be something extremely important.

"Bring him in."

As Emperor Jingping spoke, Lü Zhongcheng loosened his clenched fist.

The Emperor was just about to listen to Fang Yuanzhi's words, but this interruption might offer a chance for a turnaround.

Despite thinking this way, Lü Zhongcheng felt that the chances were slim and sighed deeply in his heart.

Soon Xue Han entered: "Your humble servant Xue Han, Imperial City Envoy, greets Your Majesty."

"What business does Xue Huangcheng have?" Emperor Jingping asked casually.

(End of this chapter)