When Ning Yao heard this, she smiled as brightly as a flower.

I thought Consort Shu was intelligent, but I didn't expect her to be so impatient.

Pregnant concubines' meals all had to be approved by the Empress; otherwise, did she think her food could safely reach her elder sister's mouth?

The Empress used others to kill her, eliminating her elder sister and her child. How could she, a daughter of a merchant family, give birth to royal blood and become a stumbling block for the Second Prince?

In the eyes of those aristocratic families, merchants were always considered inferior, belonging to the social classes of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants.

"A prince? It's not even certain he'll be born!"

The imperial harem was in turmoil, with one bad news after another arriving.

As expected, Consort Shu lost her child, and it's obvious who did it.

But so what? How could the daughter of a merchant family possibly compete with the noble Zhang family?

Even if Shen Ce were in the palace, he would have to suffer this injustice in silence.

Ning Yao wasn't surprised at all.

Empress Zhang's faction plotted to seize the throne, and their actions became increasingly audacious.

No one knows what method she used to cover up the stench, but she actually began to rule as regent.

It should be noted that before Shen Ce left, he entrusted the affairs of the court to his uncle, Prince Duan.

Prince Duan, Shen Wei, was the late emperor's only brother, so it was only right that he should act as regent!

The government and the public naturally disagreed with a woman interfering in politics, causing a huge uproar, but the Zhang family managed to suppress it.

Prince Duan, Shen Wei, chose to withdraw from the limelight amidst this storm.

Ning Yao touched her chin. She couldn't understand what Prince Duan was thinking. Was he going to hand over the Shen family's empire to someone else?

After all, the book doesn't describe Prince Duan in detail, nor does it mention his regency.

Ning Yao only knew that the Prince Duan's Mansion had a marriage agreement with the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.

Shen Cile, the eldest daughter of Prince Duan, was betrothed to Ning Jin, the eldest son of the Duke of Zhenguo, a year ago.

The two married on the 18th day of the 11th month of the eighth year of the Yan Kingdom.

There are still one year and nine months left.

Ning Yao had a memory of this incident, but she had no recollection of anyone from the Prince Duan's residence.

Whether it's the plot in the book or the original owner's memories.

Empress Zhang and Consort Shu's private treasuries were repeatedly burglarized, and coupled with Consort Shu's miscarriage, Consort Shu's resentment towards the Empress reached its peak.

Since Empress Zhang had searched the palace and the guards had amassed wealth beforehand, the theft of Consort Shu's private treasury directly implicated Empress Zhang.

Less than a month after Emperor Shen Ce left, the Zhang family had turned the court and the harem into chaos and disorder.

Ning Yao's consciousness sank into the secret realm. Looking at a corner of the secret realm, she clicked her tongue and said, "They've only moved two houses so far, their movements are really too slow!"

After a month in the palace, Ning Yao took Zhi Lan out of the palace and returned to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

Although they had only been separated for a month, the family felt as if they hadn't seen each other for a long time.

Before Madam Ning could speak, tears welled up in her eyes, and her father, Ning Wenyi, also had tears in his eyes.

"She's gotten fat! My daughter's gotten fat!"

It seems the food in the palace is quite good!

Madam Ning nudged him and pulled Ning Yao aside: "How could you be fat in a place that eats people? You've clearly lost weight!"

Zhilan suppressed a laugh. She wanted to say that the master had a discerning eye; the young lady had indeed gained several pounds from eating and sleeping all day long.

But if I say this, I'll be embarrassing my wife, so it's better not to say it!

"Ahem!" Ning Yao coughed awkwardly and said to Madam Ning, "Mother, I want to eat the golden nanmu shortbread from the west of the city, the braised duck from the east of the city, and the jade glass made by Mother herself. I can't eat these in the palace!"

Ning Yao's coquettishness melted Madam Ning's heart: "Alright, alright, I'll have the servants buy the shortbread and braised duck. I'll make you some jade glassware. You can keep your father company for a while."

"Don't be fooled by his constant comments about your weight. He's actually more worried about you than anyone else. When you first entered the palace, he couldn't sleep at night because of his worries."

"Ahem! Madam, please go and make something delicious for your daughter!" Ning Wenyi said, his old face slightly embarrassed.

Madam Ning ignored him and patted Ning Yao's hand: "Be a good girl and wait for your mother to come back."

Ning Yao smiled sweetly.

After Madam Ning left, Ning Yao asked Zhilan to wait outside the door.

He pulled out several large silver notes from the secret realm and handed them to Ning Wenyi.

"Dad, start-up capital!"

Ning Wenyi took them and saw that they were all silver notes worth tens of thousands of taels each.

"Girl, where did you get this?"

"It's all because of Consort Shu." Ning Yao winked mischievously.

Consort Shu is really rich; there are still a lot of silver notes like these in the secret realm.

If you don't cash in now, you'll never have the chance again.

Ning Wenyi's expression was complicated, and after a long while, he finally uttered a sentence: "Thank you for your hard work!"

Consort Shu was a very stingy person.

His Majesty wanted to get some silver from Consort Shu's family to pay for the army's expenses before his expedition, but the stingy family only gave him 100,000 taels.

My daughter must have made at least seventy or eighty thousand taels by now. I wonder if she will suffer retaliation from Consort Shu.

Ning Yao shook her head: "It's a small matter, Father, you don't need to worry. The most important thing right now is what I told you last time, we need to shorten the time."

Ning Wenyi's thoughts were pulled back: "Two years is already a very short period, why shorten it further?"

Ning Yao asked, "Can Second Brother's engagement be called off?"

Ning Wenyi shook his head: "He asked for it himself, how could he possibly give it back?"

“That’s it. So this matter must be settled before Second Brother’s wedding! Father, you are the Duke of Zhenguo. You must know the current situation in Yan better than I do. I spent two years planning this, just to give our Ning family a way out.”

"The grain yield in Yan is not high. If we want to ensure our family's food supply, two years is not a long time. There are also various medicinal herbs and so on..."

"Wait, girl, what are you trying to do? Are you hoarding grain to start a rebellion?" Ning Wenyi exclaimed in surprise.

When Ning Yao told him she was buying food, he thought she was going to do charity work by distributing porridge.

But now it doesn't sound like that at all!

Ning Wenyi made a bold guess, feeling both worried and secretly excited.

My daughter is about to do something big!

Could it be that the emperor has failed his eldest son, and the third son, unable to bear it any longer, wants to overthrow his empire?

Wow, this is just as exciting as something out of a storybook!

"Rebellion is a Zhang family matter; I have no time for it."

Ning Yao poured cold water on Ning Wenyi, and he instantly calmed down.

"You're saying the Zhang family rebelled?"

"Father, can't you see? Empress Zhang of the previous dynasty is ruling with pity, and the regent is temporarily avoiding the limelight. The Zhang family has absolute power in the court. You may not know about the harem, but Consort Shu was pregnant but miscarried. The second prince, who was born of the legitimate wife, is only seven or eight years old. What can he do? Be a puppet emperor?"

"When my daughter was attending to the ailing Empress, she overheard Empress Zhang plotting to rule as Empress! What is this if not rebellion?"

"His Majesty is not dead yet? How dare they?" Ning Wenyi frowned, thinking of the words Shen Ce left before going to war.

Beware of the Zhang family!

Ning Yao did not continue talking about the Zhang family's rebellion, nor did she mention that the Yan Kingdom's fate was sealed two years later, nor did she mention Shen Ce's disappearance. She simply returned to the topic of stockpiling grain.