After the favored concubine remarried, the aloof and powerful minister forcibly took her away.

Chapter 25 She'll make sure she can never recover.

Empress Dowager Feng, who was sitting at the table, chuckled softly and then gestured for Pei Yanzhi to sit down.

"sit down."

After bowing, Pei Yanzhi sat down opposite Empress Dowager Feng, and a palace maid came forward to pour him a cup of tea.

"There's more to Yanzhi's words than meets the eye, but I didn't know you'd become so hesitant and stammering."

Empress Dowager Feng looked up at Pei Yanzhi and said something. Then Pei Yanzhi said, "Your Majesty, I have no hidden meaning in my words. I just want to ask how you intend to resolve this case."

Pei Yanzhi picked up his teacup and took a sip. Only after knowing Empress Dowager Feng's attitude could he decide what to do.

“It shall be dealt with in accordance with the laws of Daqing. The emperor is subject to the same laws as the common people.”

Empress Dowager Feng narrowed her eyes slightly and said in a majestic voice, "Before the late Emperor passed away, he held my hand and repeatedly instructed me that the throne of Daqing was entrusted to me."

"But as you can see, there are undercurrents in the court. Everyone, whether human or ghost, wants to tear me and His Majesty apart. It will be too difficult to maintain order in the court."

She was once the apple of the late emperor's eye, pampered and carefree, without having to worry about anything.

But now, she is the Empress Dowager, the only person His Majesty can rely on.

If she falls, who knows how those people will bully her child.

"Yanzhi, I promoted you because I admire your character. In this court, everyone wants to protect themselves, but you don't, do you understand?"

Empress Dowager Feng leaned back, sitting on the soft cushions of the chair.

Pei Yanzhi naturally understood Empress Dowager Feng's meaning.

"Your humble servant will be loyal to the Great Qing Empire and to Your Majesty."

With Pei Yanzhi's words, Empress Dowager Feng's smile deepened: "I am giving you a secret order. Act in accordance with this secret order. If there is any obstruction, execute first and report later."

Upon hearing this, Pei Yanzhi put down his teacup, stood up, and thanked Empress Dowager Feng. His personal maid quickly brought the secret order to Pei Yanzhi.

Pei Yanzhi accepted the gift, bowed again, and then left Cining Palace.

Empress Dowager Feng watched his retreating figure, took a deep breath, and hoped that the person she had chosen would become a trusted advisor to His Majesty in the future.

Pei Yanzhi came out of the hall and encountered Wei Ziqian standing at the door.

Seeing that Empress Dowager Feng and Pei Yanzhi had been talking inside for so long, Wei Ziqian glared at him fiercely.

Then a palace maid came out and invited Wei Ziqian inside.

Pei Yanzhi ignored Wei Ziqian's attitude and left the palace with the secret order.

Ling'an was flooded in the first half of the year, and the imperial court allocated a lot of silver to it, but it was stolen by bandits on the way to Ling'an.

Of the 50,000 taels of disaster relief funds, only an empty box was found in the end.

According to the general in charge of suppressing the bandits, not a single tael of silver was found in the bandits' den.

Is it possible for this silver to grow legs and run away?

Furthermore, the 50,000 taels of silver were government-issued treasury silver, and each coin had a mark on it, so it wouldn't be easy to sell.

With such a large sum of money, transportation alone would be a problem.

Unless, of course, molten silver.

After the case was transferred to the Dali Temple and Pei Yanzhi took over, he only found out that the person who helped the bandits get advance notice and escape was a county magistrate from Ling'an.

His name was Yuan Kaiming, and after they found out about him, he faked his death and escaped.

The blood-stained gold bracelet was found by Mingxiang in the ruins of the Yuan family's house, which were engulfed in flames.

Pei Yanzhi closed his eyes and took a deep breath, tapping his fingers incessantly on the small table in the carriage.

Perhaps Empress Dowager Feng already had someone she suspected behind the scenes, but without evidence, it was difficult to arrest them.

At this time, in the Pei residence, Xiang Ning was teaching Bi Tao how to embroider.

She had kept some of the fabric that the old lady had given her, intending to make a sachet for Pei Yanzhi.

To make a good sale for him, she took advantage of her free time today to start making it.

Making sachets is not difficult; the embroidery on them was finished in no time.

When Bitao saw this, she also clamored to learn, so Xiangning made her sit down. "Embroidery is all about the needle moving with your heart. Whatever you want to embroider, just think about what it looks like in your mind. Look."

In Xiang Ning's hands, the small embroidery needle moved nimbly, and a little goldfish appeared so lifelike.

"Amazing! Sister, your embroidery skills are more than enough to make you a skilled embroiderer in an embroidery workshop."

Bitao looked at the embroidery frame from side to side, overjoyed.

Xiang Ning smiled and shook her head, without replying.

Her embroidery skills were taught to her by her mother. Back then, her family was poor, and her mother earned money by selling embroidery.

Little did she expect that the first piece of embroidery she made after completing her training would bring about a fatal disaster for her family.

So after that, Xiang Ning rarely did any more embroidery.

For her, such skills were deadly.

"Sister, this sachet looks like something a man would wear. Is it an orchid?"

Taking advantage of Xiang Ning's inattention, Bi Tao snatched the sachet from her hand.

"Hey……"

"Did your sister make this for you, Master? It's so beautiful! I want one too. You can't be biased."

Bitao held the sachet in her hand, and Xiangning got up to chase after her, saying, "Give it back to me quickly."

The two were playfully fighting when Bitao suddenly bumped into someone. She turned around with the sachet in her hand and saw that it was Qingzhu.

"Are you blind?"

Qingzhu was standing outside Qingyi Residence when Bitao, who had been running, accidentally ran to the door and bumped into Qingzhu.

"I'm sorry for bumping into you."

Bitao apologized to Qingzhu, and after she finished speaking, Qingzhu's gaze fell on the sachet in her hand.

Thinking back to what Bitao had just said, Qingzhu gripped the thing in her hand tightly, turned around and left.

"baffling."

Bitao never liked Qingzhu when she was in Mosong Garden. She always felt that Qingzhu was aloof and acted as if she were the mistress of the place.

Who would have thought that in the end, they would be driven out of Qingyi Residence.

"Alright, give it back to me now."

Xiang Ning reached out her hand, and Bi Tao smiled and returned it to her.

"I'm sure you'll like this sachet."

Xiang Ning didn't think that much about it; she was just hoping to see if she could use this sachet to exchange for her own.

Qingzhu hurried to the door of her house and looked down at her outstretched hand.

On it was a purse she had embroidered herself.

Since she stopped serving at Qingyi Residence, Qingzhu hasn't even been able to see Pei Yanzhi.

Why is it that Xiang Ning can so easily win the master's favor?

She was unwilling to accept it!

She went into the house and cut the purse into tiny pieces with scissors.

"I will never let you get away with this."

Qingzhu said viciously, and her originally aloof and ethereal face became distorted in that instant.

Recalling the maid she had encountered in the manor a couple of days ago, Qingzhu's eyes instantly turned dangerous.

Xiang Ning, I want to see if you can stay in this Mo Song Garden and Qing Yi Residence if you take my life!
She wanted to ensure that she would never be able to turn her life around again, and she wanted to sell her to a brothel.

just wait.

(End of this chapter)