Mother and I were deeply moved, crying together as my sister, with swollen eyes, got into the wedding sedan to join the Shen family with General Shen. Mother, inconsolable, was barely comforted by Miao Yin and my elder brother.
After the joyous event, a shocking incident occurred. The High Priest, deemed closest to the divine, was discovered in a private meeting with a man in the temple, sparking outrage in Nanrui. The furious Emperor imprisoned the High Priest, stripping her of her position and awaiting investigation by the Imperial Historian’s Office.
Before that controversy could settle, another major corruption case emerged from the Ministry of Personnel, led by Prince Ning Jiang Yunqiao. This case involved high-ranking officials, making it the most significant court scandal in Nanrui in nearly a decade. Prince Ning was stripped of her position and confined to her residence, severely damaging Yunqiao’s faction.
Yunqiao was trapped in her residence, and Xia Zhiyuan had disappeared. I wanted to visit her but ultimately refrained, as we were no longer close, and my visit would only be seen as a provocation. Additionally, her entanglement with Xia Zhiyuan, the white peacock exchange, and the rumors no longer mattered.
I wanted to know if she had truly tried to harm me by tampering with the golden cup. Although I believed An Jin wouldn’t lie to me, I wondered if there was a misunderstanding. Was the person An Jin sent reliable?
I consulted An Jin, but he suggested using this opportunity to deliver a final blow to Jiang Yunqiao, ensuring she could never rise again. I hesitated, feeling that she had already lost, and making her defeat even more humiliating seemed unnecessary.
An Jin smiled, stating, “To achieve great things, one must seize every opportunity. When you need to be ruthless, you can’t leave any room for mercy. Your opponents are like wild grass on the plains – given the slightest chance, they’ll resurrect. By then, you’ll regret it and can only watch yourself lose.”
His words had merit, but I couldn’t bring myself to be so cruel. An Jin aimed to strip Yunqiao not only of her status but possibly her identity or even her life. If she alone suffered, that would be one thing, but if it implicated A Fu and her husband…
