Prime Minister Xia's eyes were filled with flames. "If she hadn't hurt my reputation, would I have done this?"
"If you didn't want to harm her for life, if you didn't want to force her every step, would she do this to you? Go away. You and I have been married for seventeen years, and I have never spoken to you in this tone. This is the first time and the last time. After seventeen years of marriage, I advise you to accumulate some good karma for your own Xia family and stop damaging the blessings accumulated by your ancestors."
After Yuan finished speaking, she said to Nanny Yang, "Before I move out of Xiazhi Garden, no one from the Prime Minister's Mansion is allowed to disturb me. If anyone sets foot in Xiazhi Garden, have Xiaodao chase them out."
"Yes!" Nanny Yang really had a new respect for Yuan. She felt more and more that her decision to follow Zi'an was the right one.
Prime Minister Xia looked at Zi'an with cruelty and ferocity in his eyes. Under the influence of alcohol, he did not hide his resentment and hatred at all and told Zi'an bluntly that he wanted her dead.
Zi'an was not afraid at all. The two of them, who were nominally father and daughter, were staring at each other as if they were entering a duel, and neither of them was backing down.
Finally, without saying a word, Prime Minister Xia looked at Yuan deeply and turned away.
He left resolutely, and the moment he turned around, his eyes were filled with coldness, without a trace of confusion.
Zi'an turned around, reached out and hugged Yuan, and was deeply moved that Yuan stood up to protect her.
Yuan patted her back gently, her voice filled with unspeakable sadness, "If I had come earlier..."
She didn't say anything else, but Zi'an knew that if she had been tougher earlier, her daughter would not have died.
Yuan's original mentality was disheartened. She neither gave in nor endured, but she had lost all hope in everything. However, she did not consider her daughter. Because of this, she would never forgive herself in her life.
Yuan and Prime Minister Xia divorced. No, now it’s Yuan Cuiyu’s turn. She is no longer anyone’s Yuan.
The Prince An's Mansion soon learned about the divorce between Yuan Cuiyu and Prime Minister Xia.
It was Murong Zhuangzhuang who told him.
He was feeding the carp at that time. Hearing Zhuangzhuang's words, he raised his head and glanced at Zhuangzhuang, "Yeah."
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Zhuangzhuang stepped forward, "What are you going to do?"
Prince An glanced at her again, "What should I do?"
"She is free now, and they are divorced." Murong Zhuangzhuang said patiently.
"Hmm!" He hummed again, then threw fish food into the lake.
"Hey, my little Second Prince, tell me what you think." Murong Zhuangzhuang snatched the fish food from his hand and poured it all into the lake.
Prince An watched the fish scramble for the food and shook his head, saying, "How can you feed the fish like this? It's not fun at all."
"Forget about your interest. Let me ask you, you've waited for her for so many years. Now she is not the Prime Minister's wife anymore, and she is Miss Yuan now. What are you going to do? The Empress Dowager has been worried about your marriage for many years? And you just replied with a "hmm"? Do you want to piss her off to death?" Zhuangzhuang shouted with his hands on his hips.
Prince An glanced at her sideways, "Just like your mother never worried about you."
Zhuangzhuang was startled. "What does my business have to do with you? Now we are talking about your business, don't change the subject. I will fully cooperate with whatever you do, or I will immediately go to the palace to find the Queen Mother and ask her to decree the marriage."
Having said that, she was about to leave.
Prince An reached out and held her, his handsome face showing some distress, "Don't go."
Zhuangzhuang looked at him and said, "So, what are you going to do?"
Prince An let go of his hand, frowned and thought for a moment, "I don't know."
"What's there to not know? Where's your decisiveness as a general on the battlefield? Pick it up and bravely pursue your love." Zhuangzhuang said excitedly.
Prince An shook his head. "Since I was a child, I have actively fought for what I wanted. In order to achieve my goals, I will do everything I can. But, little aunt, you should understand that there are some people you have to protect carefully and take all her feelings into consideration. Do you think she will be willing to accept a relationship again now?"
"How do you know it won't work if you don't try? Maybe she'll be willing to accept you?"
Prince An looked at Zhuangzhuang, his eyes bright and frank, "I know her as I know myself, little aunt, I have been waiting for many years, and in the process of waiting, I never thought that I would wait until she comes, so I really don't mind giving her some more time to let her completely walk out of the haze of the prime minister's mansion. However, I will still tell her that I am still waiting for her, this time not waiting for her freedom, but waiting for her to accept life again."
Zhuangzhuang was a little dejected, "I thought you would go find her right away. So many people are hoping for your well-being."
"Believe me, no one is more anxious than myself." Prince An reached out and patted her shoulder, his eyes still bright, "It's worth it. Some people are worth waiting for your whole life."
Zhuangzhuang turned around almost immediately, tears welling up in her eyes. She didn't have someone like this to wait for. She once loved someone very much, to the point of losing her self-esteem, but in the end, she could only watch him marry her most beloved maid.
On the day of their wedding, the maid left the princess's mansion. She watched him riding a white horse, so handsome and majestic, with clear features, just as in her dream.
However, he did not come to marry her, he only married her maid.
From that day on, she never let herself get drunk again, because she knew that after getting drunk, she would miss someone madly, and she could not bear this kind of longing, nor could she bear this kind of heartache.
There are several scars on her wrists, which were the warnings she gave herself when she couldn't bear it anymore, to not let her heart be broken again.
The second child was happy. He could still wait. Now he still had a chance to wait. Why did he need to act so urgently? Since he was willing to spend his whole life protecting someone, he didn't care about the days and nights.
Prince An reached out and touched Zhuangzhuang's hair, and said softly, "Aunt, it's time to let it go."
"I let it go a long time ago." Zhuangzhuang's voice revealed unspeakable heartbreak.
"If you had let it go, you wouldn't have been playing around like this all these years." Prince An sighed softly. He really felt sorry for his aunt and was also angry with that man.
"It has nothing to do with him. For some people," Zhuangzhuang raised his head and looked at the ripples on the lake, "it takes you a lifetime to realize that you are really not meant to be with him. Then, you won't let go until you die, because you have to let go of everything."
"Sometimes, I really want to kill him." Prince An looked at the heartbreak and sorrow on Murong Zhuangzhuang's face with heartache, and said almost with gritted teeth.
Zhuangzhuang raised his head and smiled sadly, "Okay, go and help me kill him, and then I can die too."
"Nonsense!" Prince An shouted angrily.
Murong Zhuangzhuang touched his chest, laughed heartlessly, but tears fell, and sighed deeply, "Yes, I'm talking nonsense."
But, if I die, my heart won’t ache anymore.
Prince An looked at her and couldn't bear to tell her the news. However, it seemed that she needed time to prepare herself mentally. "Aunt, he is coming back."
Murong Zhuangzhuang's body trembled slightly, and after a long while, he said, "Yeah."
Yes, I return to Beijing to report on my work once every three years, and this year is the third year.
She strode away and waved, "I'm leaving."
Prince An picked up the plate of fish food on the ground and shook his head gently, "The Murong family is full of romantic people."
As soon as he turned around, a guard came in, jumping up and down, looking at Prince An with a smile, "Your Majesty, guess what news I received?"
Prince An strode away.
The guards chased after her, "Miss Yuan got divorced, divorced!"
Prince An took another big step forward.
The guard was stunned. How could the prince just leave like this after such a happy event? After waiting for so many years, did he change his mind
The next day, the government came to the door as expected.
When the questioning was taking place, Prime Minister Xia was also present. He stared at Zi'an, fearing that Zi'an would reveal Xia Quan's last words. However, Zi'an kept his promise and did not say anything.
Ximen Xiaoyue did not admit to arson, but admitted that she was the one who ordered someone to summon the fire dragon.
Ximen Xiaoyue's mother, Li, spent a large sum of money to bribe one of the fire dragon dancers and made him admit to setting fire to the new house. Her purpose was to divert the focus from the fire dragon accident and create the illusion that someone had deliberately set the fire. This would protect the reputation of their fire dragon team and prevent it from getting out, so that the wealthy families would not invite them again.
The government initially concluded that the fire in the side house was an accident, while the fire in the new house was intentional arson.
Of course, this is only a preliminary conclusion and we need to continue the investigation because there are too many doubts.
The Duke of Jin could no longer bear the crying of Li and Ximen Xiaoyue, so he had to go to the palace to find the Queen. The Queen personally went to talk to the Minister Cui.
The Queen did not ask Lord Cui to show favoritism. She just said that since the government has initially determined that the fire in the side room was an accident, then the person who deliberately set fire to the new house should be punished to calm the situation.
Lord Cui saw that this incident only implicated the Prime Minister's Mansion and the Duke's Mansion and did not cause harm to other people. He also knew that this was an internal struggle within the Prime Minister's Mansion, so he decided to close the case because he did not want to waste manpower on such conspiracies within the mansion.
Ximen Xiaoyue was sentenced to three months in prison because she hired people carelessly and failed to strengthen protection, which caused a fire in the prime minister's residence and resulted in casualties.
In fact, the so-called joint liability was just that the government office was too lazy to think of other excuses. Anyway, everyone knew that Ximen Xiaoyue had an unshirkable responsibility for the fire. But since there was someone to serve as a scapegoat and the Queen Mother came forward, the government office simply sentenced him to three months in prison.
As for Ximen Xiaoqing, who was involved in the assault case, an imperial physician confirmed that he had suffered from insanity in his early years. Although he had improved after treatment, his condition still relapsed from time to time. He woke up after accidentally injuring Guiyuan that day and happened to see Xia Zian, the eldest daughter of the prime minister's family, at the rockery. In order to escape the blame, he maliciously wanted to frame Zian.
Lord Cui naturally knew that the matter was not that simple, but since the Crown Prince was implicated, he just explained it to Prince Li, the eyewitness, for the sake of face.
When Prince Li read the family files submitted by the Ministry of Justice, he saw that the imperial physician had determined that Ximen Xiaoqing was insane. He was a man who only looked at evidence, so he asked the Ministry of Justice to handle the matter as appropriate.
Ximen Xiaoqing was sentenced to one year in prison.
The quick resolution of this matter was within everyone's expectations.
As long as Zi'an and Liang don't testify, it will be difficult to accuse Ximen Xiaoyue of arson and murder based solely on superficial evidence.
Although Taibao analyzed the case, he did not, as he said, inform the government of all the details of the case that he had uncovered at the Duke's Mansion that day.
He had a trick up his sleeve and ordered his men to compile the confession of that day and send it to the Duke of Jin, and stamp it with his own seal. This was a warning to the Duke of Jin that this was the last chance, so that he would not continue to do evil.
This was the first time in Taibao's life that he had shown partiality. As he got older, his heart was not as hard as before. He was exhausted watching the young men of his clan continue to decline.
The Grand Tutor also had a copy of this file sent to Yuan. In the file, there was the whole story of the Prime Minister's Mansion's involvement in the fire, which he had deduced and was very accurate.
If this family file were to be made public, it would be enough to bring the Prime Minister's office to ruin, not to mention whether he could be convicted of a crime.
Because, those were the words of the most prestigious minister of the dynasty, and what he said was strictly in line with the facts.
The reason why he sent it to Yuan was that Taibao felt guilty and thought he had been partial to someone.
All the things said in this file only explained one fact, that is, Prime Minister Xia and the old lady set a conspiracy trap to kill Xia Zian.
Out of guilt, Taibao gave this family file to Yuan, which was actually equivalent to compensation to Yuan.
This matter, which could have caused a big stir, was settled because everyone had their own thoughts.
Everything was as Zi'an expected. Liang would never testify against Ximen Xiaoyue because, even though she hated Ximen Xiaoyue and the Duke's Mansion, her son and daughter were both from the Duke's Mansion. If the Duke's Mansion really declined, it would mean that their future would be ruined as well.
Especially since Ximen Xiaoqing still has to sit in jail, if he is dragged down by the Duke's Mansion, his future will be worrying.
This is a selfish yet great thought as a mother.
Forcing Prime Minister Xia to divorce Ximen Xiaoyue was already the greatest revenge against Ximen Xiaoyue.
Liang's aggressiveness was just for others to see; she was always soft-hearted towards the people in the Duke's Mansion.
Liang didn't say anything, and Zi'an knew that she would have no chance of winning even if she did. Since she couldn't be sure of bringing down Prime Minister Xia and the old lady, there was no need for her to waste her energy and time.
In the garden at summer solstice.
Chen Liuliu is bored now because Xiao Tuo and Murong Jie have left the capital.
"Ni Rong is fine now, but he wouldn't tell me where Xiao Tuo went. So where do you think he and the prince went? Why haven't they come back yet?" Chen Liuliu asked Zi'an, resting her chin on her hand.
Zi'an said without even looking up, "If he can leave government affairs and go out for a few days, it must be something important. You wait a little longer, they won't be gone for a few days."
Chen Liuliu had a worried look on her face. "That's true, but I'm different from you, Zi'an. I don't have much time left."
Zi'an originally wanted to tell her that destiny is sometimes in one's own hands, but when he thought about his own time travel and the things he faced after coming to ancient times, it seemed ridiculous to say this again.
"It will be fine. Have some confidence in yourself." Zi'an comforted him and continued painting.
Chen Liuliu came over and said, "What are you drawing? You have been drawing since I came in. Oh my God, Zian, you are so shameless. Why are you drawing a naked man? Oh my God, let me see it, I want to see it."
"Shut up and stop yelling." Zi'an wanted to cover her big mouth.
(End of this chapter)