clash
That makes sense. In his mansion, even Cang Xie, his personal bodyguard, is being used by splitting himself into eight pieces. Where would he find the manpower to help her?
Lin Yi calmed down and finally followed Xie Chengnan's advice, sitting down in the chair. "Before you ask me, why don't you tell me how you knew what happened that day?"
"..." This time, Xie Chengnan was speechless. "I naturally have my own methods."
Lin nodded in agreement, "That's right, everyone has their own unspeakable troubles. How about this—we each take a step back, I won't pursue your source of information, and you won't care about what actually happened that day."
“That’s fine, but—” Xie Chengnan leaned closer, his breath almost in her ear. “Young Miss, why don’t you tell me the truth? What are your feelings for the Crown Prince now? Is it that you still have feelings for him and are playing hard to get, or…”
"I've already forgotten," Lin Yi replied crisply.
Xie Chengnan was somewhat surprised.
"Forced love is never sweet. He has no feelings for me, so why should I keep trying to win him over?" She said frankly, as if she had truly let go. "I have no other feelings for him. It's just that he has rejected me time and time again, causing me to lose face. This matter cannot be easily forgotten."
"So you're doing this for revenge?" Xie Chengnan's eyes held a hidden probing intent.
“You already knew my purpose the day I approached you for cooperation, didn’t you?” Lin Yi countered.
Indeed, Qiu Qing had come to him that day and told him that she hated the Crown Prince and Zhan Xian to the bone, and that she was joining forces with him only to drag Gu Shuan down from the position of Crown Prince. Otherwise, Xie Chengnan would not have agreed.
However, after Qiu Qingye entered the manor and spent the days with him, he always felt that the Qiu Qingye in front of him was not the same person who had sought him out for cooperation.
That day, Qiu Qing was filled with righteous hatred, but this time she seemed almost too indifferent. Observing her daily actions, one could not see the slightest resentment.
Therefore, his bringing up the old matter today was not only because he suspected she still harbored feelings for the Crown Prince, but also because he was testing her.
Even if all the things she did these days that didn't match the rumors could be dismissed as rumors and not to be believed, he had personally witnessed Qiu Qing's intense hatred that day.
Is it reasonable for a person to behave so drastically before and after without any reason? Xie Chengnan pondered to himself.
“Since you truly hate the Crown Prince, you must have already made a plan. The Qiu Qing I know is not one to let things go easily.”
Lin Yi stiffened his neck and said, "Of course."
"Then tell me, how do you plan to remove that person from the position of Crown Prince?"
Lin Yi was shocked, never expecting things to turn out this way. Why was the crown prince being changed so soon? Weren't they supposed to be joining forces to cause trouble?
Yes, is there anything more unpleasant than letting a chosen one fall from grace? Lin Yi felt cold sweat trickling down his back and up to his head.
He doesn't want Gu Shu'an to be the crown prince; does he want to take the position himself? But he's not a prince and doesn't have the qualifications. So who does he want to support? Besides Gu Shu'an, which other prince in Mingzhou City is capable of shouldering such an important responsibility?
And isn't this supposed to be a romance novel? How did it suddenly turn into a mind-bending political intrigue plot?
Xie Chengnan had been watching Lin Yi's expression closely, and naturally he didn't miss her slightly surprised yet composed reaction when she heard him say he would remove Gu Shuan from the position of Crown Prince.
Things turned out to be more interesting than he had imagined.
Lin Yi frowned slightly, still deep in thought.
The Crown Prince was born to Emperor Zhaowen and Empress Yi. As the legitimate son, he was intelligent and precocious, and was made heir apparent at the age of ten. In addition to Gu Shuan, Emperor Zhaowen had two other sons, Gu Shucun and Gu Shuzhang, born to Consort Shu and Consort Zhen, respectively.
Consort Shu was the younger sister of Qiu Qingye's mother.
The clue in his mind grew clearer. Could it be that Xie Chengnan agreed to the marriage alliance with Qiu Qingye in order to side with the Seventh Prince and help Gu Shucun seize the position of Crown Prince?!
Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, Xie Chengnan chuckled and said, "Is it really necessary to think about this for so long?"
Lin Yi raised his eyes, his expression complex and unreadable.
It's pointless. Gu Shu'an is the male lead; he will not only secure his position as crown prince but will also become the emperor of the Great An Kingdom. Those who contend with him will either die or be injured.
If it's just a few unpleasant incidents, Gu Shuan might not do anything to them. But if they get involved in the struggle for the throne, it's like being stuck in a quagmire, and it will be difficult to get out and clean themselves up.
"You..." As cannon fodder, with the same fate beyond their control, Lin Yi thought that he should pull him back if he could. Regardless of what preparations Xie Chengnan had made beforehand, he should be able to help him stop the losses in time.
"Alright, if you haven't thought about it, just say you haven't. I'm not interested in making it up on the spot. Didn't you want to rest? Or do you want to spend the night here?" All the probing and sharpness in Xie Chengnan's eyes disappeared, and he reverted to his usual leisurely noble demeanor.
Lin Yi wasn't sure if his interrogation earlier was genuine or a deliberate test. She returned to her room in a daze, still feeling uneasy, and summoned the system to ask questions.
"I want to know Xie Chengnan's fate."
[Once the host intervenes, the original plot will change, and the system will not know his future fate.]
"I mean, his ending in the original book."
[The host does not currently have permission to freely access the storyline.]
"I don't need to access the documents. Just tell me, is the mysterious figure at the end the same person?"
[Sorry, this involves core plot points and cannot be revealed by the system.]
Lin Yi took a deep breath. Nothing worked; nothing was of any use.
The system, however, heard her thoughts and said unwillingly, "[The system can provide you with a real-time view of your goodness value and advance warnings of important plot developments.]"
...These two functions are useless! If it weren't for the system, she wouldn't have to bear the burden of goodwill points and be forced to do good deeds and save people. She wouldn't want to leave that storyline at all.
The system sensed it was being disliked: [Good news for the host! Thanks to your tireless efforts, your goodwill score has reached -8 points. Positive points are within reach! Keep up the good work!]
"Any rewards for positive points? If not, shut up and don't bother me."
[...]
The next day, Lin Yi returned to the Qiu residence early in the morning.
She gathered up all of Qiu Qingye's precious jewelry, planning to negotiate a good price at the pawnshop.
Yesterday, she went to Xinglin Garden intending to buy some medicinal herbs from the physician there and perhaps learn a few tricks of the trade. Although she had the index system, she had never actually seen a patient and dared not practice medicine rashly.
But what happened in the village changed her mind.
He was acting out of good intentions, trying to heal and save lives, but instead he was blamed and suspected. Lin Yi couldn't stand such things.
Wang Chunsheng and those poor people were living in dire poverty, and she wanted to help them.
On a whim, Lin decided to open a clinic and invite Wang Chunsheng to practice medicine there.
She offered a generous reward and spent considerable time explaining the pros and cons before finally persuading Wang Chunsheng to agree.
Opening a clinic requires a large amount of capital; this is only the first step.
This was what she had to do, and she shouldn't have asked her sworn father and mother for money. However, when Lin Yi looked at the silver coins that all the jewelry had been converted into, it was far from enough.
Shop space, renovations, medicinal herbs... all of these require money.
"Ah Ye, what are you thinking about?" Madam Qiu placed a piece of steamed, tender, and smooth fish belly into her bowl with her chopsticks. "What troubles you? Tell your mother, don't always look so gloomy."
“Mother, I would like to… request some money from the household.”
"Okay, how much do you want?"
"What do you need money for, to support your husband's family?" Qiu Baiji and his mother asked at the same time.
"No... I want to open a clinic."
"Open a clinic? That's ridiculous. Do you think you can just open a clinic whenever you want?"
“Yes, Ah Ye, why open a clinic? It’s tiring and you don’t make much money. If you need money, just ask your mother. I’ll give you as much as you want.”
"Still spoiling her? Look what you've made her into!" Qiu Baiji glanced at his wife reproachfully, only to be glared at and shut up.
Lin Yi knew that given Qiu Qingye's usual lack of trust, her parents would never support her opening a clinic, but she still gritted her teeth and asked anyway. Firstly, she was new to the area and couldn't think of any other way to raise money; secondly, she sincerely hoped that the Qiu family could support her.
Lin Yi swallowed a mouthful of white rice, her voice soft but firm: "This time I'm serious."
For a moment, even the clattering of bowls and chopsticks on the dinner table stopped.
After a long pause, Mother Qiu spoke up to smooth things over, "This..."
He only managed to utter one word before Qiu Baiji stood up and interrupted him: "Come with me."
Lin Yi followed Qiu Baiji to his private study and saw him turn a vase. Then, a clattering sound came from the entire bookshelf behind him, and a hidden compartment suddenly appeared on the third row of the bookshelf.
Qiu Baiji took out a wooden box about half a foot square and handed it to Lin Yi.
"Remember what you just said. If you're going to do it, do it properly. Don't mess it up and bring shame to the Qiu family."
Lin Yi opened the box out of curiosity and was dazzled by the golden light that emanated from it.
It was a whole box full of gold!
Lin Yi tightened his grip on his fingers, suddenly feeling that the box was too heavy. "I will return it to you as soon as possible."
Qiu Baiji waved his hand: "What's there to return? It's yours to begin with."
"mine?"
"This is Xie Chengnan's gift to you for your return visit." Seeing her blank expression, Qiu Baiji asked in surprise, "You didn't know?"
She really didn't know.
Before the return visit, no one from the Xie family had made any preparations. On the day of the return visit, she and the gift weren't even there. She only found out when she arrived at the Qiu family's gate that the dozens of boxes were actually full of things. And only today did she learn that among the return visit gifts, there was even a box of gold.
Judging by its weight, it must weigh at least five jin (approximately 2.5 kg), which is fifty liang (approximately 2500 grams) of gold!
...This gift is far too extravagant.
"Father, what else was included in those return gifts?"
"There were also five boxes of pearls, eight antique vases from the previous dynasty, and twenty bolts of silk..." Qiu Baekje recalled.
Lin Yi, however, was starting to lose his balance.
Is Xie Chengnan out of his mind? It's just a contract marriage, why is he giving such a generous gift? Even if he has money to burn, he should at least tidy up his own residence first!
"I don't care about your affairs as a couple, but you are married after all. That child is quite responsible. You can discuss things together." Qiu Baiji looked at his only daughter's dazed appearance and, unusually, said something kind for Xie Chengnan.
Lin Yi replied in a daze, "You're right."
Before leaving, Lin Yi made a special trip to Aunt Xue and gave her a prescription.
"Qingye, what's this?"
“When you returned to your parents’ home last time, I noticed that you looked a little tired. I guessed that you might have been having trouble sleeping. I saw this prescription in a book these past few days and copied it down. They are all ancient books, so I don’t know how effective it is. You can take it to the pharmacy to have it checked.”
"This..." Aunt Xue covered her mouth with her sleeve in surprise, then quickly smiled and said, "It's kind of you to be so thoughtful and still remember me."
Lin Yi gave a flawless smile: "It was nothing."
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