Can...

Ultimately, the desire to hear the dying words of a loved one prevailed over reason.

He knelt heavily on the ground, "Your Highness, from this day forward, Zhang Hui is your man, and I am willing to go through fire and water for you!"

"Willingly?"

"Yes, Princess."

Xiao Yuanshuang chuckled softly, "Get up."

"That day, I heard that my second brother's family had transplanted two apple trees from the north at great expense, so I went to take a look."

"It's so lively at Second Brother's mansion. Besides the apple tree, there are also two baskets of apples. Second Brother is distributing the apples."

"Some were given to the Emperor, some to the Crown Prince..."

“The concubine named Ai Cao knelt at the corner gate of the inner courtyard, motionless.”

I asked her, "What are you doing on such a happy day? Aren't you afraid of upsetting your second brother?"

"She said she wanted to beg the Second Prince to give her some silver, because her mother was seriously ill."

“I said, why don’t you borrow some money from the other sisters in your second brother’s backyard? She said that they had already raised money for her.”

“I gave her thirty taels and sent her away.”

Thirty taels of silver is roughly equivalent to three months' wages for a servant in the imperial palace; it's enough for normal medical treatment.

Zhang Hui was heartbroken. At that time, he was still in the outer courtyard, an insignificant servant.

He also knew that Xiao Yuanshuang

He bowed again, "Thank you for your help that day, Your Highness."

Xiao Yuanshuang wasn't lying. Thirty taels of silver was only enough for half a meal of snacks for her, but it was enough to bribe a concubine in the Second Prince's residence.

As for connections, the more the better, of course.

She liked the feeling of being a savior.

Xiao Yuanshuang continued, "Not long after, I met this Ai Cao again at the Second Prince's residence."

"She looked extremely haggard and stood swaying precariously at the entrance to the inner courtyard."

“I asked her, but she kept shaking her head and wouldn’t say anything.”

"It just means you've let me down."

"That very night, Ai Cao hanged herself."

"I didn't pay attention to this kind of thing at first, but because I had helped her, I secretly investigated it."

That's just a nice way of putting it; the truth is, Xiao Yuanshuang had just shown goodwill to someone when that person died.

Is Xiao Yuanche being too wary of me?

For this reason, she started investigating, and that's when she discovered Zhang Hui's existence.

It's just that Zhang Hui was a Karami back then, nobody cared about him, and he had no value.

Later, Zhang Hui climbed up step by step, and Xiao Yuanshuang believed that good steel should be used where it is most needed.

"That's when I found out that Ai Cao was pregnant. The baby was already four months along when it was discovered, and at that time, my second brother had only been married to her for a little over two months."

"She was all alone, unable to explain the situation, and began experiencing pregnancy symptoms. In addition, the death of her mother overwhelmed her."

Zhang Hui suddenly raised his head.

Suppressing sobs, "Four months...four months..."

It's no surprise that it's his child.

He and Ai Cao secretly pledged their lives to each other. When the Second Prince forcibly married her, no one knew that Ai Cao was pregnant, not even Ai Cao herself.

Through a series of unforeseen events, it turned into a tragedy.

Xiao Yuanshuang did not disturb him. After an incense stick had burned, Zhang Hui raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, and he gritted his teeth.

“This servant understands. If the Second Prince hadn’t forcibly taken the mugwort, none of this would have happened.”

"Do whatever you need, just tell the servant."

"I would give my life for it."

Xiao Yuanshuang squatted down and pinched Zhang Hui's chin. "I like smart people."

"That purse, wasn't it the work of my good second brother?"

"yes."

Once you get started, things become easier.

After Zhang Hui got past his own hurdle, he revealed Xiao Yuanche's entire secret, including his desire to become the emperor's son, spending 500,000 taels of silver to buy a courtesan, chasing down Liao's procurement officials, and embezzling 500,000 taels of silver from Liao's procurement officials.

Xiao Yuanshuang was genuinely amused and exasperated.

No wonder the Imperial Guards arrested people those days, which indirectly jeopardized her plans.

"Since Second Brother likes the courtesan of Qing Kingdom so much, let him stay in the courtesan's bed forever."

"Kunifu, you rotten beast, does he even deserve to be called one?"

Next came the time for plotting.

*

Murong Yue placed the little hedgehog, the little rabbit, the big pearl, the yellow crystal, and two white jade-like snake teeth on the table and fiddled with them vigorously.

The other ministers had all left to attend to their duties.

Li Xuanji, Qi Yuan, and Chen Shi'en remained.

“Yun Kingdom…” Murong Yue stared wide-eyed for a moment, then realized the name sounded familiar.

Which base was it again?

Did I send someone to attack?

I think so...

Murong Yue coughed lightly, deciding to be clever, "Our army has arrived...in the Yun Kingdom?"

Chen Shi'en immediately stepped forward and replied, "General Huo Cheng sent a military report two days ago, stating that under the pretext of pursuing bandits, they are heading south."

"The Yue army occasionally interfered, but it did not affect the progress."

Hiss, as expected, I sent people to attack Yun Kingdom.

Murong Yue scratched her eyebrows. "Then let's fight."

Li Xuanji conspired with several others to find out how to capture the Yun people hiding in the shadows.

At this point, Murong Yue could no longer get a word in edgewise.

He simply left the room for the ceremony to them and went back to sleep.

The second day was supposed to be a free day, but since we didn't finish what we did yesterday, we'll continue today.

Murong Yue secretly yawned.

She gave the little gray dog ​​nestled in her sleeve a gentle rub.

Ah-hao said this morning that we should just keep an eye on things and reward whoever's prey looks good.

High-ranking officials voluntarily refrained from participating, leaving the opportunities to younger people and those who rarely saw His Majesty.

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