Chapter 346 Madam Huo
The emperor chased after Qin Jinzhi's departing figure, glaring resentfully at Eunuch Hong.
"Can't this little bastard say a few nice words?"
Grandpa Hong looked at the sky and the ground, and said, "I haven't done anything wrong, so don't call me."
Qin Jinzhi arrived at the Empress's palace.
Feiyan sat on the small stool as always, waiting for her.
He ran over as soon as he saw her.
Qin Jinzhi looked at Feiyan with a puzzled expression, "Why have you lost weight?"
Fei Yan couldn't suppress her smile. "What are you saying, Princess? I've always been like this, haven't I?"
Qin Jinzhi smiled and asked, "Haven't had an appetite lately?"
Feiyan said with a grin, "That's not true."
Qin Jinzhi patted her head and said, "Just be happy and don't neglect your stomach."
Upon entering the palace, the Empress was directing everyone to prepare the first course of noodles.
As soon as Qin Jinzhi entered, the Empress immediately pulled her over.
"Quick, pick a headpiece."
Qin Jinzhi was pressed onto a stool, and a set of jewelry was placed on her head to compare them.
"Grandmother, what are you doing?"
The Empress said, "Your eighteenth birthday is just around the corner."
Qin Jinzhi asked in confusion, "Grandmother, shouldn't this be her nineteenth birthday?"
The Empress gave her a look that said, "You're just a child, what do you know? You can only grow a year older after your birthday."
Qin Jinzhi nodded, looking completely bewildered.
After the Empress finished styling her hair, she said to Qin Jinzhi, "Go take a bath, you stink."
Qin Jinzhi was dragged to take a bath again.
After changing her clothes, the Empress was still choosing other jewelry.
While picking through the items, he said, "Can'er and Piao'er have returned to the capital. They might come to see you in the next few days. That girl Piao'er is always the most attached to you."
Qin Jinzhi smiled and said, "I saw her when I went into town today."
The Empress laughed and said, "I knew that girl was rushing out of the palace to do something."
Qin Jinzhi rested in the palace for a day.
The next day, Qin Jinzhi glanced at Pei Jinnian during court.
I heard that this guy poisoned himself.
He did manage to break the deadlock, and was much smarter than the fool he was a few months ago.
The officials in the imperial court now look at Qin Jinzhi with different thoughts in their eyes.
Evidence of the Yang family's plot to rebel was presented in the main hall.
The victims of the counterfeit currency case perpetrated by the Yang family ten years ago were also brought before the emperor.
The truth has come out.
The culprit has been executed, and His Majesty has taken into consideration General Yang's founding achievements.
They were spared death, but were instead enslaved and forced into hard labor.
The next day, the prison guards discovered that Mr. Yang and his wife had both committed suicide in the prison.
Consort Yang should have been stripped of her title and banished to the Cold Palace.
For some reason, His Majesty ultimately changed the order to stripping her of her title, demoting her to the rank of Consort, and confining her to her own palace.
Xiao Linglong leaned against the bedside, her knees already red and swollen.
The palace maids applied the medicine to her little by little.
"Princess, if you had waited any longer, your leg might have been ruined."
Xiao Linglong's face was gloomy. "Even if this part of me is really ruined, I can't let my mother really go to the Cold Palace. If she goes to the Cold Palace, my mother will never be able to turn things around."
In the days that followed, she came to understand what Qin Jinzhi had been doing.
Qin Jinzhi may seem haphazard, but everything she does revolves around one thing.
That was to eliminate the powerful families.
The person behind Qin Jinzhi is her father, the emperor.
The excessive power of aristocratic families weakened the imperial authority.
Her father was the one who manipulated everything from beginning to end.
She knelt for three days and three nights, almost ruining her legs, before she finally saw her father.
Qin Jinzhi is important because she is the most useful weapon in the Emperor's hands.
But if she also has value, she can naturally exchange it for a chance to reduce her mother's punishment.
Qin Jinzhi returned to the Prince's Mansion after court.
Huo Qing and Huo Chun were standing outside the door.
Qin Jinzhi stepped forward, "Big brother, there's no need to come out to greet me."
Huo Qing looked pale and said, "He didn't come out to pick you up on purpose."
Huo Chun glared at Huo Qing, then smiled and said to Qin Jinzhi, "Has Xiao Bao eaten yet?"
Qin Jinzhi nodded.
Huo Chun smiled again, "Then Xiao Bao, remember to run fast later."
Just as Qin Jinzhi was about to ask a question, she looked at the expressions on their faces and immediately said, "Brother, I have something to do, I'll be going now."
She immediately turned around and was about to leave.
The gates of the Prince's mansion were suddenly flung open.
"Qin Xiaobao, where are we going?"
Qin Jinzhi immediately put on a fawning smile.
He then turned to look at the woman standing in the middle of the entrance to the Prince's Mansion.
"Auntie, when did you get back? Why didn't you ask Xiaobao to pick you up?"
Qin Jinzhi looked at Huo Qing and Huo Chun, and the two immediately looked around, neither of them making eye contact with Qin Jinzhi.
The woman had her hair styled in a traditional Chinese bun, and her face showed signs of wind and sand.
His eyes were very dignified.
The feather duster in his hand looked even more imposing.
The woman looked at the three of them and said, "Come in."
Huo Qing quickly walked behind Qin Jinzhi.
Qin Jinzhi then walked behind Huo Qing.
Finally, the two stood behind Huo Chun.
The three men, all smiles, followed the woman into the palace.
The woman arrived at Qin Jinzhi's courtyard with practiced ease.
After the three entered, the woman said to Yun Que, "Close the door."
Yun Que looked at Qin Jinzhi and said, "Princess, may you have good luck!"
As soon as the courtyard gate closed, the woman pointed at the Huo brothers and shouted, "Kneel down!"
The two brothers immediately knelt down to one side.
The woman threw the feather duster aside.
He plopped down on the ground and started howling.
"I don't want to live anymore, I'm too ashamed to face anyone, I'll just smash my head against a wall and die to atone for my sins with Ziyi!"
Qin Jinzhi scratched her head.
This is Huo Tingshan's wife.
Huo Chun and Huo Qing's biological mother.
Li Hongxue.
Qin Jinzhi was most afraid of this aunt.
She used every trick in the book: crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide.
Qin Jinzhi quickly stepped forward and said, "Auntie, don't cry. I've made all the preparations for this attack on Fengchi. Besides, I have my eldest brother and Erdan with me. There's no danger at all."
Li Hongxue glanced at Qin Jinzhi and said, "I don't want to live anymore. The little one is disobedient and secretly went to the battlefield behind my back. If something happens to her, who will I explain it to? I might as well just kill myself!"
Huo Qing muttered to himself, "Xiao Bao is amazing. He knocked the king of Fengchi Kingdom off his horse with a single slash."
Li Hongxue immediately glared at him and said, "You dare to say that! Xiao Bao went to the battlefield and not a single person told me! Do you know how dangerous the battlefield is!"
Qin Jinzhi now felt that her three years of hiding her identity on the battlefield were incredibly wise.
If this auntie knew, she'd be devastated.
Huo Chun quickly said, "Mother, calm down. I really didn't mean to hide it from you. It was very sudden, and besides, Father knew about it too."
Li Hongxue jumped up and said, "You still dare to say that? You're the older brother, so you think you're younger than her? I'll deal with that old bastard later!"
After hearing this, Huo Qing couldn't help but say, "Mother, Xiao Bao is going to take over the Zhenbei Army in the future. How can he never go to the battlefield? Xiao Bao's martial arts are better than mine. He's not as fragile as you say."
Qin Jinzhi was deeply moved that Erdan spoke up, but she also mourned for him.
Sure enough, the feather duster was swung directly at it.
Huo Qing immediately covered his head.
However, the expected pain did not materialize.
He looked up and saw the feather duster being caught by a hand.
“Aunt, my father’s death was not Uncle Huo’s fault, nor was it the Huo family’s fault. My elder brother and Erdan have no responsibility to take care of my life.”
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