Later, when Qianyun passed away, Fengli came to Guangling from the capital and found Qi Yuan. With a little enticement, she got Qi Yuan to take her into his mansion as a concubine, who was also Qi Yuan's first open concubine.
Feng Li and Qi Ruyan recognized each other. Qi Ruyan understood that Feng Li wanted to help her, but she was unwilling to do so. Feng Li was not yet twenty years old and deserved a better life.
To avoid worrying Qi Ruyan, Feng Li told her that Qi Yuan was probably involved in the Yuanxing affair, so she was determined to wipe out Yuanxing and avenge her mother, no matter how difficult it was.
Feng Li was just making up a lie on the spot, but by sheer chance, Qi Yuan did indeed have a relationship with Yuan Xing, which Feng Li only found out later.
Although Qi Ruyan and Qi Fengli are nearly twenty years apart in age, they have always addressed each other as sisters due to their social status and have a very good relationship.
Qi Yuan was unaware of this matter. Over the past five years, he had grown increasingly fond of Feng Li, thanks in part to Feng Li's efforts. In order to get Qi Ruyan to leave the Qi family as soon as possible, she pestered Qi Yuan every day to become his concubine.
Later, Qi Ruyan divorced her husband, which led to the revelation of the truth behind the old news. The people secretly condemned Qi Yuan, but on the surface, Qi Yuan's business was not greatly affected. He still controlled a lot of business resources, and no one dared to question him.
Feng Li became Qi Yuan's legal wife, possessing many of Qi Yuan's secrets, and awaited His Majesty's arrival.
Chen Xiao recalled a sentence that Qi Ruyan had said to her back then, and her feelings were somewhat complicated. She looked at Feng Li and said, "You are in the prime of your life. It is a pity that you are like this now."
Feng Li remained calm and asked Chen Xiao, "Is Your Majesty regretting that I will not be a virgin in the future? Or is it regretting that I wasted five years? Or is it regretting that I may never be able to get married again?"
Hearing Feng Li's questions, Chen Xiao wasn't unhappy. Looking into her eyes, he said, "You clearly know what I mean."
Feng Li's expression remained unchanged, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes.
As a modern person, Chen Xiao naturally didn't think there was anything wrong with Feng Li's actions. He was just doing it to get revenge and accompany an old man, which was a bit of a grievance. But Feng Li and Qi Yanshang's future would be a bit difficult.
“I originally thought my sister wouldn’t tell His Majesty about this, after all…” Feng Li was somewhat speechless.
Chen Xiao raised an eyebrow. "After all, he's my concubine now?"
Seeing Feng Li nod, Chen Xiao couldn't help but chuckle: "I know that there aren't many in my harem who are unfaithful, so you don't need to worry about my thoughts. If you two are in love, once the Qi Yuan matter is settled, I'll let Qi Yanshang leave the palace. You won't even need to make up a reason then, and I'll do my best to help you quell the rumors."
After she managed to get information out of Xu Ruyan, Chao Yuan came to report that she had discovered that Qi Ronghua and Consort Mu might have had a past relationship before entering the palace. Qi Ronghua seemed to have some strange relationship with the concubine of the Qi family, while Consort Mu had a fiancée.
For some reason, when she realized she had been cuckolded many times, she suddenly calmed down. Perhaps it was because she never really considered these fictional characters as her concubines in the first place!
But Feng Li was moved by Chen Xiao's kindness and goodness, and still shook her head and refused. Although she didn't care about those things, she was Qi Yanshang's aunt on the surface, and rumors were that she was not so easy to deal with.
Chen Xiao stopped trying to persuade her, since she didn't know what Qi Yanshang meant. Their relationship was indeed somewhat unethical in ancient times.
Feng Li told Chen Xiao everything she knew about Yuan Xing, and said that she had discovered correspondence between Qi Yuan and Yuan Xing in Qi Yuan's study, but dared not act rashly and could only wait patiently.
Chen Xiao thought for a moment. This kind of shady business was definitely not limited to the orphanage in Guangling. It probably involved other places as well. He should first place people in each place and have them all act together. That should be better and make it less likely that those scoundrels would get away.
There must be important officials in the court involved in this matter, otherwise this information could not have been kept so secret for so many decades. Now she can only discuss it with the prime minister; she doesn't dare to trust anyone else.
Chen Xiao and Feng Li talked about how to resolve this matter for almost half the night. Later, they couldn't stay awake any longer and ended up sleeping together in the same bed.
The next morning, at the palace.
In the imperial court, the prime minister arrived last, accompanied by the emperor's eunuchs and ladies-in-waiting, while His Majesty was still nowhere to be seen.
So the officials began to whisper among themselves, and the most common speculation was that the emperor and the prime minister had quarreled the day before and that the two were not on good terms. Although the emperor issued an apology, the prime minister did not respond at all, which made the emperor feel that he had lost face and therefore did not want to attend court.
Xu Qian: ...Is it possible that the court only holds court once a week? It hasn't even been a week since the last court session... These high-ranking officials have become so idle over the years, that in order to fabricate stories about his discord with the emperor, they've even forgotten about the law...
After a moment of silence, Xu Qian ordered Chao Yuan to step forward and read out, “Your Majesty’s decree: I am feeling unwell, so the Prime Minister will be in charge of state affairs this month, and my eunuchs and female officials will convey my message.”
So the tide turned and the officials exclaimed: "Old ginger is spicier!" It seems the Prime Minister had the upper hand in the argument. His Majesty didn't want to attend court and had no one else to represent him, so he had to hand it over to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister's power is still too great!
Upon hearing this, Xu Qian nearly fainted. Chao Yuan, who was standing beside him, quickly stepped forward to support him. Seeing this, the rumors among the officials immediately shifted to: "The Prime Minister seems to be angry. Could it be that he didn't get any benefit from arguing with His Majesty?"
Chao Yuan: With you guys around, Ye Chao is truly impressed!
The imperial court was as noisy as a vegetable market, while the Qi residence in Guangling was peaceful and serene.
Only Chen Xiao and Feng Li ate breakfast, as Qi Yuan was too tired last night and had not yet gotten up.
The two beauties ate a little and then left the mansion together. As soon as they left, Qi Yuan's spies followed them.
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