In Fengkun Palace, the imprisoned Queen Zhou sat paralyzed on the couch with dishevelled hair, her eyes filled with intense resentment: "Why didn't you die that year?! You should have died a long time ago!!"

"Yes, I didn't die, so you are very disappointed. You also hate Wei Junhang who tried his best to save me that year. You wish he would die, right?" Concubine Rui looked down at her and said slowly.

Queen Zhou sneered: "Yes, he deserves to die, you deserve to die too, all of you deserve to die!"

"So you ignored Prime Minister Zhou and the life and death of the Zhou family. You secretly used Prime Minister Zhou's power and made a deal with Prince Cheng in his name, letting Prince Cheng's son go. Then you attacked Prince Wei and secretly harmed my son."

Seeing the shock on Queen Zhou's face, she continued calmly, "Or, you let Prince Cheng go, not only because you wanted to make a deal with Prince Cheng, but also because you couldn't bear to see him die!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?!" Queen Zhou's pupils suddenly shrank, and she subconsciously refuted.

“I confess my true feelings in the peach blossom forest, and I can’t forget my love for you. Since you two love each other, why do you have to find ways to come between me and Your Majesty, making Prince Cheng hate Your Majesty for so many years in vain.” Having said this, she took out a pair of oriole knots from her sleeves and dropped them in front of Queen Zhou.

Queen Zhou's face turned pale, she snatched the oriole away, and said in disbelief: "How did this thing end up in your place?"

"You didn't expect that the one who caught you having an affair with Prince Cheng was not Concubine Chen, but me!"

"It's you? It's actually you? It's actually you!" Queen Zhou was shocked at first, then despair, and finally fell down.

"Since you have disregarded the life and death of the Zhou family for your own selfish reasons, His Majesty has now granted your wish. From now on, there will no longer be a Zhou Prime Minister in the Great Chu Dynasty. You should be thankful that there is still a conscientious Zhou Mao in your family. He has been suppressed by you and your daughter for so many years, but now he has not added insult to injury. Instead, he has exchanged his own future for the safety of the Zhou family. It is also because of him that His Majesty will show leniency to Prime Minister Zhou."

"Otherwise, just based on the crime of letting Prince Cheng go, your Zhou family will never be able to enter the capital for the rest of your life!"

"As for you, everyone in the Zhou family hates you to the core, especially your biological father and your brothers. Because of you, their careers are completely ruined! As for Zhou Mao, your mother killed his biological mother, so he saved you this time, so we are done with each other."

"I will not let His Majesty depose you from your position as Queen. I want you to watch carefully. In this life, no matter how high your position is, I can still step on you!"

"I am a concubine. Even if I wear a red crown and robes, I can only bow my head and bend my knees in front of the real first wife!"

Queen Zhou stared at her with wide eyes, and when she met her fierce gaze, she shuddered involuntarily.

Concubine Rui reached out her hand and gently smoothed her hair. She said softly, "I have lived in seclusion for so many years. I know everything about you in the palace, but you know nothing about me. From the day I returned to the palace, you have already lost."

Queen Zhou turned her head away to avoid her touch and sneered, "If His Majesty saw you like this, I'd like to see if he still loves you as much as he did back then!"

Hasn't Your Majesty always loved her pure and ethereal temperament that seems untouched by the dust of the world? Then let him come and see how horrible the woman he has kept in his heart for so many years has become!

Concubine Rui Gui chuckled: "We don't need to worry about our husband and wife affairs. You should worry about your future, Queen!"

After saying this, she turned around and walked away step by step.

The palace gates slowly closed behind her, completely shutting out the curses and insults. She looked up at the falling snow, and vaguely seemed to see herself in her red wedding dress, naive and full of joy at marrying a good man.

"Your Majesty, the eldest prince has woken up, the eldest prince has woken up!!" the palace maid came trotting over to report, her voice filled with ecstasy as if a huge burden had been lifted off her shoulders.

She was startled at first, then overjoyed, and she ran to the palace of the eldest prince with her skirt lifted up...

Shen Xinyan soon learned that the eldest prince's condition had improved, and she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, she heard the cheerful laughter of children outside the window. She gently opened the window and saw her daughter, Linfu, and the two little brothers from the third room playing snowball fights in the yard. On the corridor, Qi Ge'er was looking at them with envy. Wei Minzhi was standing beside him, staring at him nervously, as if she was afraid that he would join in.

Amid laughter, Wei Junhang and his son Wei Chenglin, wearing the same style of snowpowder, walked back in the snow one after the other, exchanging a few words from time to time, until Yue Ge'er threw a snowball at Wei Junhang.

"Second uncle, second uncle, I didn't mean it!" Yue Ge'er has never been afraid of this good-tempered second uncle, and he just said with a smile when he saw this.

Wei Junhang raised his eyebrows, suddenly bent down and made a snowball, then made a throwing gesture without thinking, which scared Yue Ge'er so much that he screamed and ran away, and the kids present laughed so hard that they held their stomachs.

Shen Xinyan couldn't help but smile as she watched Wei Junhang catch up with the fleeing Yue Ge'er, pick up the little guy, and then make a gesture to throw him away, causing Yue Ge'er to scream for mercy, which made Pingfu and the others laugh so hard that they fell down.

Wei Chenglin looked at this joyful scene with a smile on his face, watching his father playing with his younger siblings like a child. Not far away, his mother was standing by the window with a gentle smile on her face.

He looked at the brother and sister on the corridor again, thought for a moment, and then walked over.

Wei Minzhi and Wei Chengqi were both a little afraid of this cousin who looked like their grandfather. When they saw him coming, they stood up straight and called out politely, "Big Brother!"

"Fourth brother, don't you want to play with Linfu and the others?" Wei Chenglin remembered that this somewhat introverted cousin had a good relationship with Linfu, so he asked.

Wei Chengqi was about to speak when Wei Minzhi beside him quickly interrupted him: "Brother Qi is feeling a little unwell. The doctor said he cannot get cold."

Wei Chengqi's eyes dimmed and he lowered his head in disappointment.

Before Wei Chenglin could say anything, Wei Minzhi hurriedly said, "Big brother, mother is looking for me and Qi Ge'er now, so we will go back first."

After saying that, he forcibly pulled Wei Chengqi away.

Wei Chenglin frowned but said nothing.

"You act like a child who has never grown up. If your father sees you, you'll probably be scolded again." After Qiutang and the others took the snow monkeys, who were playing enthusiastically, away to change their clothes, Shen Xinyan poured a cup of hot tea for Wei Junhang and said with a scolding look.

Wei Junhang smiled, took a few sips of tea to warm himself up, and then said helplessly: "His Majesty has assigned me a task and asked me to report to the Dali Temple the day after tomorrow."

Shen Xinyan was stunned: "Dali Temple? Why would they suddenly assign you a task?"

"It is said that my mother was so angry that she couldn't stand me doing nothing all day, so she risked her face to beg His Majesty for such a job." Wei Junhang shrugged.

Shen Xinyan laughed dumbly.

"Your Majesty actually agreed?"

"My mother has come to you and begged you for help. Your Majesty cannot refuse." Wei Junhang was helpless.

"Mother means well, but you must not be ungrateful. If my third sister-in-law knew about this, she would be so jealous! I don't know where she heard it from last time, but she said mother agreed to Marquis Pingliang's wife's request and was going to get a good job for Marquis Pingliang. She even complained to me about this for a while!" Shen Xinyan said with a smile.

"Marquis Pingliang's job has already been secured, but I'm afraid it may not be what he expected."

Shen Xinyan nodded indifferently to show that she understood, and then listened to the other party continue: "Now that the eldest prince's condition has improved, everyone in and outside the palace has breathed a sigh of relief. His Majesty and the Royal Concubine are also relieved. In a few days, the Royal Concubine will summon the Zhao family's female relatives, and the Zhao Mansion will gradually regain some momentum. It's a pity that the child's whereabouts are still unknown."

"Is there no news yet?" Shen Xinyan asked curiously.

Wei Junhang shook his head: "The couple lives in a remote place, and they rarely interact with others. Even if we find out about them, it will take a long time."

As long as the child was not found, the Imperial Concubine would not be at ease. Naturally, the Zhao family's side branches would try every possible means to pass on their sons and nephews to Zhao Quanzhong. It seemed that within a few days of arriving in the capital, they had already found ways everywhere, and the open and covert struggles between the branches gradually emerged.

"Oh, there is one more thing. Lai Fu, well, that guy has a crush on Xia He, but he doesn't have the courage to ask Xia He about her feelings. I promised him that day that I would find a chance for you to ask Xia He for him." Wei Junhang always felt a little guilty because it was the first time he made a promise with someone close to his wife.

"Lai Fu and Xia He?" Shen Xinyan was a little surprised, but also felt relieved, so she agreed quite happily, "Okay, I'll ask for him."

She has always been concerned about the marriages of Xia He and others. Lai Fu is a capable person around Wei Junhang and his character is trustworthy. If this matter can be accomplished, it will put her mind at ease.

At least, in this life, she will try her best to make the three maids around her live happy, whether it is Xia He, Qiu Tang, or even Chun Liu who has been with her all her youth in the last life, she will marry them off in a grand manner.

Seeing that she agreed so readily, Wei Junhang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"The weather is getting colder, and I'm afraid father's injured leg will flare up again." Looking at the snowflakes dancing outside the window and listening to the whistling wind, Wei Junhang could not hide his worry.

Shen Xinyan paused slightly while pouring tea for him.

In the previous life, the Duke of England passed away on an unusually cold winter day two years later.

She still remembers the faint smile on the British prince's face in her previous life. It can be seen that he died with a smile on his face.

Five years later.

"Madam, Miss Hui is here." Xia He, dressed as a woman, lifted the curtain and walked in.

Shen Xinyan closed the account book, looked up, and Shen Huiran's slender figure appeared before her.

"Aunt." The twelve-year-old girl was tall and graceful, gentle and beautiful. Just standing there, she had the noble bearing of a lady from a wealthy family.