Once the bestowal of titles and honors is granted, a banquet must be held to mark the occasion.
Marquis Zhongyong valued this banquet highly and had borrowed people from Old Madam Wang well in advance.
The two who arrived were Granny Cui and Taozhi, who served Madam Wang.
Granny Cui was familiar with the situation of various families in the capital. With her help, Ye Zhen prepared a banquet guest list and sent it to Marquis Zhongyong for review.
After the Marquis of Zhongyong reviewed the invitations and found no problems, he added his own soldiers to the list and then had the invitations sent out.
In the following days, Ye Zhen prepared for the banquet during the day and worked on Xie Tingzhou's mask at night.
In between, he also took the time to invite Ye Zhengqing to the most bustling Taibai Tower in the capital for a meal.
Although Wang was still tormented by pain every day, her condition did not worsen.
Some families who were initially worried that Ye Zhen might actually bring misfortune and dared not associate with him saw this and immediately put their concerns at ease, happily preparing to attend the banquet.
Ye Wantang's plan completely failed, and in a fit of anger, she ran to Wang's room and cut up more than a dozen of her clothes.
She knew from the beginning that Ye Zhengqing valued his official career more than his daughter, so she wasn't as angry at his opportunism. What annoyed her the most was Wang Shi.
"Liars, they're all liars..."
Ye Zhen calmly watched her rage from the rooftop. Ye Wantang might not care about Wang Shi; she was just possessive and didn't like having what was hers taken away by others.
But she stole everything from Ye Zhen and even tried to kill her.
Ye Zhen wanted to make her lose everything one by one until she had nothing left, turning all her hopes into despair, so that he could quell the hatred in her heart and avenge the grudge from her past life.
Ignoring Ye Wantang, she sneaked into She Gu's room, and seeing that her condition was the same as before, she quietly left.
She never quite understood what Shegu was trying to say, but she did understand why Shegu was unwilling to reveal that she had been murdered.
Shegu is protecting Ye Wantang!
She must have been loyal enough for her mother to keep her by Ye Wantang's side.
Therefore, Ye Zhen cannot easily reveal himself before he has evidence to prove his identity.
Otherwise, the loyal Shegu might reveal her secrets to Ye Wantang.
In Shegu's heart, Ye Wantang was the child her mother had chosen, so she was willing to sacrifice herself to protect her reputation.
Ye Zhen dared not underestimate She Gu's loyalty to her mother, so he could only check on her at night to see how she was doing.
Upon returning to the Marquis's residence, she went straight to the Ink Courtyard to finish up the mask that evening.
An hour later, Ye Zhen walked up to Xie Tingzhou with a tray in his hand. "Brother, do you know what kind of poison is used to render someone speechless and unable to move?"
Ye Zhen didn't know how skilled Xie Tingzhou was in medicine, but she had read many medical books and asked Wanxing to inquire about it, but she had no answer, so she decided to try her luck with Xie Tingzhou.
"The Canglang Kingdom is fond of aggression. In addition to being cruel and warlike, they also enjoy researching various poisons, attempting to use poison to invade the Great Abyss."
As far as I know, when Ye Jinghong destroyed Canglang's capital, although he destroyed their pharmaceutical manufacturing base, he also left behind a considerable amount of poison to send to the palace for the imperial physicians to study.
He glanced at Ye Zhen and said, "It's an unwritten rule that military officers keep a portion of the spoils of war they capture."
The item Ye Wantang gave to Shegu was perhaps left behind by Ye Jinghong back then.
He asked nothing, yet he knew everything.
Ye Zhen had no need to hide anything anymore and asked, "Brother, do you have a solution?"
"You'll only know once you see it."
Xie Tingzhou added, "I'm not free tonight."
Tomorrow is the award banquet, and Ye Zhen has to get up early to prepare before dawn. It is already the middle of the night, but Ye Zhen does not insist.
He then asked, "Brother, what's the news about Xie Yunzhou's spying in the enemy country?"
Xie Tingzhou glanced at her, realizing he had also learned to use blackmail.
"The spy used the alias Shui Wuhen when he was in the enemy country. He once wrote a letter to His Majesty. That letter is kept in the secret vault of the Wude Division. I, the Crown Prince, will try to get that letter and compare the handwriting."
In his heart, the possibility that Xie Yunzhou was the spy was almost completely ruled out.
Ye Zhen asked, "Brother, once you receive the letter, may I take a look at it?"
She wanted as many clues as possible, hoping to find the person who had severed her hands and feet in her past life.
"Can."
Xie Tingzhou reached out his hand, "Can I have this mask now?"
Ye Zhen smiled, “Of course, the original production cost was 20,000 taels, but I have a very close relationship with my brother, so I will give him a 50% discount. He can give me 10,000 taels.”
"Ten thousand taels?"
Xing Ze's eyes were wide open.
Young mistress, why don't you just rob it?
Besides, isn't making a mask for one's master a transaction? And then he asked so many questions.
Ye Zhen noticed his dissatisfaction and his smile widened. "I said I would do it, but I didn't say it would be free."
"My elder brother is the heir of the Marquis of Zhongyong's household and the commander of the Martial Virtue Division. He has just received many rewards from His Majesty. Surely he wouldn't owe me that little bit of wages, would he?"
They also stole the windfall she had received from the county magistrate.
She wants 10,000 taels, but only her share.
Yinyue and the others are almost here. They're all teenagers, and raising kids is expensive.
She practically had her lack of money written all over her face, which Xie Tingzhou found inexplicably amusing. "Now that you're in charge of the Marquis's mansion, how could you possibly be short of money?"
Ye Zhen blurted out, "It belongs to the Marquis's family."
She was going to leave sooner or later.
Xie Tingzhou didn't press the matter further and glanced at Xing Ze.
Xing Ze went into the inner room and reluctantly handed over the silver notes to Ye Zhen.
Ye Zhen habitually counted the money; ten thousand taels of silver notes totaled tens of thousands. He smiled and said, "Brother, if you need anything in the future, you can come to me. I'll give you a discount."
His greedy appearance made Xie Tingzhou momentarily dazed.
When that person first saved him, he also took all the silver notes from him, and the way he counted the money was very similar to Ye Zhen's.
"Have you been living in the southern village all these years?"
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