Many children, many blessings; a stunningly beautiful wife is given to you right from the start.

Zhang Bailian and Lu Dachui exchanged a glance, their legs trembling.

"Your Majesty! Where are you going!"

Gu Ling'er didn't turn her head and walked faster and faster.

"Back to the Ministry of Works! I want to build an even bigger one!"

"I will not give birth until this monstrous heaven is blasted apart!"

Zhang Bailian took off chasing after him.

"You mustn't! This imperial offspring can't be kept hidden!"

Lu Dachui shouldered his hammer and ran after him.

"Your Majesty! We don't have any Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Mystic Ice Iron in our national treasury!"

"If you don't have it, go buy it! If you can't buy it, go rob it! Get Third Sister to allocate funds! Get Second Sister to send troops!"

Gu Ling'er ran faster and faster.

"Truth lies only within the range of cannons! If one shot doesn't work, then ten! If ten shots still don't work, I'll drain the entire earth's veins of the Great Qian Dynasty and use them as explosives!"

Zhang Bailian tripped and fell flat on his face.

He lay on the ground with his hands outstretched.

"The Great Qian Pill..."

Lu Dachui ran back and yanked Zhang Bailian up from the ground.

"Lord Zhang! Stop lying there! Hurry back to the yamen and make a procurement list! We need to get the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Mystic Ice Iron that the Empress wants right away!"

Zhang Bailian spat out the mud in his mouth, on the verge of tears.

"Collect? What are we going to use to collect that stuff? One gram of that stuff costs 100,000 top-grade spirit stones! Even if I sold myself, it wouldn't be enough to buy a cannon barrel!"

"Then let's go ask Lady Liu for money!"

"What a load of rubbish! Lady Liu will just stuff us both into the cannon and launch us!"

……

The Imperial Garden, Lotus Pond.

Shen Qinghe sat on a stone bench by the pond, holding a bowl of fish food in her hand.

Grab a handful and throw it down.

The red carp in the water were crowded together in a dense clump, and the surface of the water looked like a boiling pot.

Grab another handful and throw it down.

Several plump koi carp had floated belly up on the water, having fainted from overeating.

Shen Qinghe mechanically repeated the throwing motion, her eyes not even on the water's surface.

My mind was filled with that eerie chain.

That masked woman.

Lin Mo was pulled into the void rift.

"Clatter".

The fish food bowl in my hand fell to the ground and shattered into several pieces.

Shen Qinghe stared at the broken porcelain shards on the ground.

A large cloak fell over her shoulders.

Turn your head.

Jiang Zhiwei.

"Seventh Sister, what brings you here?"

Shen Qinghe managed a weak smile.

Jiang Zhiwei did not answer.

She placed the food box she was carrying on the stone table.

Open the first layer. Sweet and sour pork ribs.

Open the second layer. A bowl of chicken soup.

Open the third layer. A bowl of white rice.

Jiang Zhiwei handed the chopsticks to Shen Qinghe.

"eat."

In short, it was decisive and efficient.

Shen Qinghe looked at the plate of sweet and sour pork ribs. It was her favorite dish.

Lin Mo had even made it for her personally before, but she insisted that the imperial chef's version lacked soul.

A spasm ran through my stomach.

Shen Qinghe pushed the chopsticks back, forcing a stiff smile.

"Seventh Sister, I can't eat."

"You can leave it here for now, I'll eat it later."

Jiang Zhiwei didn't move.

Just standing there.

She stared at Shen Qinghe, her large eyes revealing a clear naiveté.

The two remained locked in a stalemate for a full minute before Jiang Zhiwei finally put down her chopsticks.

Then he rummaged through the small cloth bag he carried with him.

The cloth bag jingled and rattled, filled with all sorts of bottles and jars.

She took out a small porcelain bottle, uncorked it, poured out a red pill, and held it to Shen Qinghe's lips.

"medicine."

Shen Qinghe was stunned.

"What medicine?"

"Appetizer."

Jiang Zhiwei's communication style is always so concise and to the point.

Shen Qinghe looked at the red pill. The surface of the pill had a faint luster and emitted a sweet and sour fruity fragrance.

It looks exactly like the "hawthorn pills" that Lin Mo used to use to cheer her up.

Shen Qinghe's throat tightened, and she took it and put it in her mouth.

The pills melt in your mouth.

Sour and sweet, it hits your taste buds right away.

This tastes so familiar, even the ratio of sweet and sour is exactly the same.

"You...how could you do this?"

Jiang Zhiwei pulled over a stone bench and sat down next to Shen Qinghe.

"He taught me."

Shen Qinghe's eyes reddened.

When did he teach you?

"At night," Jiang Zhiwei tilted her head, "after I've gone to sleep."

Shen Qinghe was taken aback by these words.

In the entire Daqian harem, only Jiang Zhiwei could talk about this so seriously.

The sweet and sour taste spread in my mouth and slid down my esophagus into my stomach.

The stomach, which had been spasming, miraculously calmed down.

But the emptiness in my heart was magnified infinitely.

Shen Qinghe lowered her head, tears falling onto the back of her hand.

I miss him.

Shen Qinghe covered her face, her shoulders trembling violently.

I miss him so much.

Jiang Zhiwei remained silent.

She stood on tiptoe, raised her hand, and tried to reach Shen Qinghe's back, patting it gently.

Her petite figure and awkward movements brought warmth to Shen Qinghe.

Shen Qinghe leaned on Jiang Zhiwei's shoulder and burst into tears.

She's been holding it in these past few days.

The eldest sister is in postpartum confinement. The second sister is handling government affairs. The third sister is managing the accounts. The fourth sister is cooped up in the workshop, refusing to leave.

Everyone is doing their part to support this family.

Shen Qinghe felt that she was the most useless person.

She only knew how to play the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but these skills were useless when Lin Mo was arrested.

Unable to help, she could only hide in the Imperial Garden and feed the fish.

"Cry."

Jiang Zhiwei patted Shen Qinghe on the back.

"Cry, then eat."

Shen Qinghe cried so hard she could barely breathe.

"Seventh Sister...can he come back?"

"able."

Jiang Zhiwei did not hesitate.

"That woman is so strong... what if..."

"able."

Jiang Zhiwei interrupted Shen Qinghe, her tone firm.

……

Yunfu Palace, Jingya Garden.

The bright sunlight shone on something.

On the branches, several kingfishers chirped incessantly.

But the atmosphere in the courtyard was deathly still, devoid of the usual laughter and joy.

Xu Wenya sat at the stone table. Her slender fingers held a silver needle, and red silk thread moved back and forth across the embroidery hoop.

On the canvas, a pair of mandarin ducks were just beginning to emerge, looking as plump as overweight ducks.

She is usually excellent at needlework, but today she even messed up three stitches.

My mind was filled with the image of Lin Mo disappearing into the black rift.

"hiss--"

The needle pricked my index finger, and a drop of bright red blood oozed out, trickling down my fingerprint.

Xu Wenya frowned, put her finger in her mouth, and the rusty taste spread on her tongue.

She thought of Lin Mo.

That guy always liked to sneak into Jingya Garden at midnight, under the pretense of "checking the defensive formations," and then get into her bed.

He always liked to pinch her cheeks and tease her:

"My Wenya is so timid, what will she do if she encounters a womanizer in the future? Come, let your husband teach you a few self-defense techniques."

He didn't learn any self-defense techniques, and he swindled me out of all my clothes.

Xu Wenya's cheeks flushed, but the blush vanished in an instant, turning into worry.

"Why……"

After a long while, she put down the embroidery frame and sighed softly.

Just then.

"Bang!"

The vermilion gate of the courtyard was suddenly kicked open from the outside.

Amidst the flying sawdust, the left door came loose from its hinges and crashed to the ground with a loud bang.

Xu Wenya was so frightened that she trembled all over and almost threw the embroidery needle away.