"I'm telling you, old man, if I don't see A-Yue today, I'm not leaving." Seeing that the Duke of Zhenguo was red-faced but unable to speak, Cui Zige burst into laughter, "Hahaha, old man, if I don't see A-Yue, I'll hang myself in your house in a bit."
"I am a member of the Cui family after all. You'd better think this through. If something happens to me in your house, how will you explain it to the Cui family, and how will you explain it to my aunt, the Empress!"
Upon hearing this, the Duke of Zhenguo was furious and immediately ordered his men to go to the Cui family to find someone to take away this living devil.
In truth, the Duke of Zhenguo wasn't afraid of him; he simply disdained arguing with a rogue.
...
Xu Yuehuai had just arrived at the palace gate and hadn't even gone inside when she happened to run into Qi Guze and Princess Yinshan.
Seeing how well-matched the two looked, Xu Yuehuai felt a pang of sadness and just wanted to leave immediately.
Qi Guze immediately stepped forward to talk to her.
His face still held a hint of joy: "A-Yue, what are you going to the palace for?"
"I am ordered to enter the palace." Xu Yuehuai was in a bad mood and answered him coldly before preparing to leave in a hurry.
Seeing her hurrying along like this, Qi Guze felt a pang of discomfort, but remembering Zhou Wan's words, he decided to endure it.
He had to resolve the matter of Princess Yinshan first before he could ask the Emperor to grant him and Xu Yuehuai a marriage.
Seeing him staring blankly at the departing figure, Princess Yinshan couldn't help but ask, "Regent, who is this young lady?"
"This young lady is the one I love," Qi Guze admitted directly.
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for Xu Yuehuai, who was passing by in a hurry, to hear clearly.
Xu Yuehuai immediately covered her mouth with her hand.
She was incredibly excited, but dared not show it at all, and simply continued walking briskly forward.
Upon hearing this, Princess Yinshan couldn't help but chuckle and teased, "No wonder you treat me this way. It seems you already knew why I came to the palace. But Your Highness the Regent, there's no need to treat me like this. I never intended to marry you from the beginning."
"Oh? It seems Princess Yinshan already had someone she loved from the very beginning?" Qi Guze couldn't help but look the man up and down.
However, even if the two of them had someone else in mind, in the end, only the current emperor could make the final decision.
Princess Yinshan smiled and said, "It's a secret."
After saying that, she continued walking towards the palace.
“Princess Yinshan, since neither of us is satisfied with this marriage, we can cooperate and hopefully secure a better future for ourselves,” Qi Guze couldn’t help but say.
As long as they are in the same boat, it will be much easier to resolve this matter in the future.
As expected, Princess Yinshan stopped in her tracks.
...
Xu Yuehuai had just entered the palace and hadn't even reached Consort Jia's Anfu Palace when she was quickly stopped.
She looked closely and saw that the person who came was none other than the chief eunuch An Dequan. She quickly curtsied and said, "Eunuch An, it's been a long time. I've come to the palace today on the orders of Consort Jia. Please do me a favor and let me pass through first."
She knew that the position of the chief eunuch was not to be easily offended, and now that she was surrounded by enemies, she naturally could not afford to offend anyone easily.
Seeing her respectful attitude, An Dequan couldn't help but be overjoyed. He couldn't stop smiling and quickly said, "Princess Heyue, don't worry. This old servant knows it's Consort Jia's idea. However, His Majesty specifically asked this old servant to wait for you here so that he could talk to you and give you a few words of advice. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain to the Empress and Consort Min."
Upon hearing this, Xu Yuehuai felt a mixture of curiosity and unease, unsure of the reason behind it.
However, since the Emperor has already given the order, she has no reason not to go.
She followed the chief eunuch to the imperial study, and immediately knelt on the ground upon entering: "This humble woman greets Your Majesty."
"Rise." The Emperor nodded, then instructed An Dequan and the others, "You may all leave."
Upon hearing this, Xu Yuehuai's heart skipped a beat.
She knew something was wrong, and couldn't help but steal a glance at the Emperor. Seeing his uncertain expression, she was also unsure of what to do.
"Xu Yuehuai, look what you've made of this harem! Because of you, the concubines in the harem are in complete chaos!" The Emperor began with a reprimand.
Upon hearing this, Xu Yuehuai was puzzled, but she also wondered why His Majesty's expression did not seem to indicate that he wanted to punish her.
After a moment's thought, she decided to admit her mistake first: "Your Majesty, I know that many things started because of me, but now I can't extricate myself. I beg Your Majesty to show me a way out, so that I won't offend any important person in the future without realizing it."
The Emperor looked at Xu Yuehuai with a troubled expression, sighed, and said bluntly, "Xu Yuehuai, do you know how chaotic my harem is?"
Xu Yuehuai was puzzled; she didn't understand why the Emperor was suddenly saying these things to her.
For a moment, she was at a loss for how to answer.
Seeing Xu Yuehuai's puzzled expression, His Majesty continued, "I want you to help me clean up and reorganize the harem."
"These women openly caused a lot of trouble by fighting over my son, and secretly they colluded to harm my imperial heirs for power." He said with some sadness, "I'm afraid that the disappearance of the crown prince was also caused by the harem."
The emperor spoke with a hint of anger.
Upon hearing this, Xu Yuehuai immediately understood his meaning.
However, although she wanted to help Consort Jia, she couldn't afford to offend all the concubines in the harem at once.
The Emperor, of course, noticed her hesitation and quickly continued, "Your visit to the palace this time is probably not just to accompany Consort Jia, but more likely to uncover the truth behind Consort Jia's miscarriage..."
“Xu Yuehuai, you are a smart man. You should know that if I don’t give you this opportunity, even if you have extraordinary abilities, you will not be able to investigate smoothly.”
His words caused Xu Yuehuai's eyebrows to twitch slightly.
However, Xu Yuehuai's hesitation was not only about offending the imperial concubines, but also about the affairs of the court.
She tentatively asked, "Does Your Majesty truly believe this is merely a matter within the harem?"
Upon hearing this, the Emperor couldn't help but frown slightly.
He understood that the affairs of the court and the harem were interconnected and should not be easily altered, but the current situation was too chaotic for him to remain inactive.
"You only need to manage the affairs of the inner palace. As for the affairs of the court... I will handle them myself," the Emperor said with a gloomy face.
Having said that, Xu Yuehuai finally understood. The Emperor knew everything, but was just pretending: "Your Majesty, I understand. I am willing to lend Your Majesty a hand and rectify the harem in one fell swoop."
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