The Ye family.

Li Chenghai instructed Xiao Zuo, "Whether you can stay in the capital depends on this."

Xiao Zuo's face turned pale, and he nodded hurriedly, "Thank you for helping me, cousin. I will definitely not mess it up."

He was castrated and imprisoned. The doctor only gave him a cursory treatment to keep him alive.

His grandfather feared the crown prince and dared not look after him much. According to the law, he would eventually be sentenced to exile three thousand miles away.

But his current physical condition is not good enough to reach the place of exile. Even if he managed to get there, he would only face certain death in that harsh and cold place.

It was his cousin who pulled some strings and secretly got him out of jail.

Today, he is determined to confirm his relationship with Ye Zhen. If he and Ye Zhen are indeed in that kind of relationship, then his previous slander and rumors will not be considered false; on the contrary, he can accuse Ye Zhen of abandoning him after seducing him.

As for how he was able to get out of prison, we can just pin the blame on Ye Zhen when the time comes.

Ye Zhen was unwilling to marry him because of his status and abandoned him, but she still had feelings for him. So she took advantage of her visit to the Ye family to meet him in secret.

When the world sees Ye Zhen lying naked beside him, even though he has lost his manhood, Ye Zhen will have no choice but to marry him.

Thinking of Ye Zhen, his eyes filled with hatred, and his fists clenched tightly.

Seeing his reaction, Li Chenghai nodded and handed him a packet of powder. "Take this. Ye Zhen is skilled; use as much as you can."

This is both an aphrodisiac and a deadly poison. Overuse will cause blood stasis, internal organs to burst, and death.

Xie Jinyao said that Ye Zhen was bad luck for him, and if Ye Zhen was not dealt with, it would affect his future fortune.

He didn't completely believe Xie Jinyao's words; rather, he had always wanted to kill Ye Zhen.

Xiao Zuo is already an abandoned son of the Xiao family, so it's just right to use him.

Thinking that Ye Zhen would later die from lust, Li Chenghai curled his lips into a smile.

A widow's reputation is of paramount importance; only by causing Ye Zhen to die in this way can his hatred be somewhat appeased.

He gave Xiao Zuo a few more instructions and then went to Ye Zhengqing's room.

Ye Zhengqing lay slumped on the couch, his face pale and his eyes gloomy. Although the scars on his face had not faded, in Li Chenghai's eyes, he looked even more like that person.

This made him more patient with Ye Zhengqing. He picked up the medicine bowl next to him and handed it to Ye Zhengqing, saying, "Drink the medicine."

The steward of the Ye family said he was worried that Ye Zhengqing might do something rash, and that wasn't entirely unfounded.

Ever since he was dismissed from his post, Ye Zhengqing felt hopeless and no longer wanted to curry favor with Li Chenghai.

With his legs crippled and his face disfigured, what hope does he have left?

Seeing that he didn't react, Li Chenghai pinched his chin and brought the medicine to his mouth. "By tomorrow at the latest, I will have made a contribution. As long as my future is bright, you will have a place in the court. What are you afraid of?"

He has confirmed the location of the illegal workshop, and tomorrow is the day Xie Jinyao mentioned the explosion would happen.

After much deliberation, he felt that discovering the illegal workshop in advance was not as meritorious as stopping it in time during the explosion, so he waited for half a month.

If he achieves this merit, His Majesty will reward him, and his father will also value him again.

If Xie Jinyao provides him with a few more opportunities to make meritorious contributions, he will surely rise to prominence.

Are you telling the truth?

Upon hearing that there was still hope, Ye Zhengqing finally reacted.

Li Chenghai raised his chin. "I'll tell you the details after you finish drinking."

Ye Zhengqing obediently drank it, then looked at Li Chenghai and asked, "Can I become a fourth-rank official again? Even a lower-ranking fourth-rank official would be fine."

Li Chenghai laughed, "You're promising. Once I'm in a high position, I'll be willing to take on even a third-rank official position, let alone a fourth-rank one. But right now, I need to get rid of Ye Zhen first. You'll have to cooperate well later..."

He then recounted his suspicion that Ye Zhen had broken Ye Zhengqing's legs and how he had the steward Ye lured Ye Zhen here.

“I have investigated carefully. After Ye Zhen left the banquet that night, he met up with the butcher from my household and found you and Su Shi on the way to the kitchen.”

The butcher returned to the banquet promptly, but Ye Zhen took a long time to return. She possessed light-footed skills; that was enough time for her to chase you all the way into the mountains.

"That wretched child, what a vicious mind she has. If I had known this would happen, I should have killed her long ago."

Ye Zhengqing cursed, but in truth, he had also suspected Ye Zhen.

Outsiders assumed he had simply fallen off the mountain, but he knew perfectly well that someone had framed him.

He was obsessed with getting promoted throughout his life and mostly practiced flattery and sycophancy in officialdom. Most of the people at the Imperial Estate that day were high-ranking officials, and he had no grudges against them.

Even among the several sworn enemies of the same rank or lower-ranking officials, none possessed that skill. Only Ye Zhen, vicious and ruthless, harbored hatred towards him.

He even thought of that Taoist priest. At that time, he was in a predicament and was bewitched by a ghost. He wanted to get out of trouble as soon as possible, so he believed the Taoist priest's words and severed ties with Ye Zhen.

Afterwards, although he was indeed promoted, he was not dismissed after only a few days in office, and Ye Zhen ultimately benefited from all the things the Taoist priest had said.

Ye Zhen got rid of the Ye family, and he got rid of him.

After being dismissed from his post, he sent people to the Qingxu Temple outside the city to look for the Taoist priest, but they found nothing but ruins and no one at all.

He suspected that the Taoist priest was actually one of Ye Zhen's men in disguise, and that he had swindled so much money from him.

It's infuriating to think about. "Once Ye Zhen and Xiao Zuo succeed, I will expose her shameful deeds to everyone, so that she will be despised even in death."

Seeing that he had regained his spirits, Li Chenghai laughed and said, "You don't need to do this kind of thing. On the contrary, you have to pretend to speak up for her."

Ye Zhen had considerable wealth and manpower; now that she's dead, her possessions should naturally fall to you, her father.

Ye Zhengqing's eyes lit up when he thought of Ye Zhen's family background. "You're right. Even if she cuts ties with me, I still raised her, so she should indeed be mine. However, the Marquis of Zhongyong might not agree..."

Li Chenghai laughed, "The Marquis of Zhongyong is filled with the pain of losing his son. He has already left the capital, so he can no longer care about Ye Zhen."

Furthermore, do you take me, the son of the Prime Minister, for nothing? No one will help Ye Zhen.

When Ye Zhen's reputation is ruined, she can only ask Ye Zhengqing to testify for her. At that time, whatever Ye Zhengqing wants, can Ye Zhen refuse him?

As the two were engrossed in their conversation, a servant came to report, "Master, Miss has arrived."

Li Chenghai nodded to Ye Zhengqing, threw some incense into the incense burner to induce unconsciousness, and then hid in the side room.

Ye Zhengqing took the antidote in advance and pretended to be half-dead as before, lying limply on the bed, waiting for Ye Zhen to enter the game.

Meanwhile, at the Prime Minister's residence, the man in black had just come out of Prime Minister Li's study when he felt inexplicably uneasy. After a few moments of silence, he turned and hurried towards the Ye family's residence...