Reincarnated as the daughter of my mortal enemy, all I want is to ascend the throne.

Li Qingyan believed in the principle of "one trick is enough to get by," so after having dinner with Li Yan, she went to find Yan Xu and delivered a fish to him.

Seeing the fish he had personally selected and had hooked up himself before him, Yan Xu picked up Li Qingyan and asked, "Is there something you need, Your Highness?"

Li Qingyan nodded quickly, "Tonight I'm going to storm the harem, so you... have to make an exception."

"Which road should we take?"

Li Qingyan chuckled, "From the inner prison to Consort Ling's Yuxin Palace."

Yan Xu nodded and touched her little fist with his own, and that was it—an agreement was reached.

That night, it was almost midnight.

Li Qingyan led ten female assassins straight towards Yuxin Palace.

The assassins kicked down the door, tied people up, and closed the palace gates. Before anyone could react, everyone in Yuxin Palace was turned into a zombie.

Li Qingyan sat on a chair in the main hall and said, "Bring the Second Princess here."

The second princess, still fast asleep, was carried in by assassins and placed on the ground. After rubbing her eyes and recognizing the person, she put her hands on her hips and pointed at Li Qingyan, "Li Qingyan, you are incredibly audacious to dare to break into a concubine's palace at night. My mother is Consort Ling. You...you deserve to die."

Li Qingyan narrowed her eyes. "Death penalty? Li Qingxi, look at what you've done. I'll cut you into a thousand pieces before I die."

The second princess disliked Li Qingyan and had many minor conflicts with her, but Li Qingyan never called her by her full name.

Li Qingyan asked her coldly, "Is Ronglan Residence your property?"

Li Qingxi's eyes darted around, wanting to say no, but when she saw the land deeds and house deeds placed on the table next to her, she immediately shut up.

The names on these items can be easily found to be related to her and Consort Ling with a little research.

While Li Qingyan was waiting for her answer, Consort Ling rushed in wearing her nightgown. She had been sleeping soundly after drinking the calming soup, but for some reason she smelled a fragrance and then heard a commotion outside.

Consort Ling rushed forward to protect the Second Princess, "Third Princess, what are you doing? Do you want to kill my daughter?"

Li Qingyan smiled, looking directly into Ling Fei's eyes, "So what if it is?"

That murderous aura reminded Consort Ling of Li Yan in his youth. The first time she met Li Yan was in Liangcheng when she went to her maternal grandfather's house, only to be met with bandits who broke into the city and committed arson, murder, and looting.

Fortunately, Li Yan arrived with his troops.

After capturing the bandit leader, Li Yan immediately beheaded him, his eyes filled with intense killing intent. At that time, Li Yan was only sixteen years old.

Li Qingyan's eyes now look exactly the same as Li Yan's back then.

That murderous intent wasn't just empty talk.

Consort Ling held the Second Princess, trying her best to shield her daughter with her own body. "You...you want to kill someone for no reason? Li Qingyan, have you gone mad?"

"Without any reason? Without any reason?" Li Qingyan pondered these words. "Did you know that your daughter opened Ronglanju and sells perfumes?"

Li Qingyan threw a bottle in front of the two people.

Consort Ling glanced at this thing; she naturally knew about it, and Ronglan Residence was able to open only with her help.

"Although Qingxi is a princess, it's perfectly acceptable for her to do some business; it doesn't violate any national laws. Why is the Third Princess so determined to beat and kill her?"

Li Qingyan raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing Lingfei's words, "Then do you know how the orchids here are cultivated?"

Consort Ling frowned. Although cinnamon orchids are rare, aren't all flowers, plants, and trees grown in soil? Could they possibly be grown using gold, jade, or other precious stones?

Seeing the similar bewildered expressions on the mother and daughter's faces, Li Qingyan slammed her hand on the table. "It's blood, the blood of girls under twenty. The girls' blood is mixed into the soil to grow orchids."

Do you know how many people died because of these orchids?

Do you know how many women are trafficked?

To this day, Li Qingyan only knows that women over twenty years old are sold to Guiyuan City, but... where did those women who were taken away from the brothels go? And where are those girls who are now being used as blood pools?

Consort Ling's hand trembled as she pushed aside the porcelain bottle that was close to her and the Second Princess.

Consort Ling's eyes widened in disbelief. She had indeed found a flower valley to plant orchids, but the planting was not her responsibility. How could she know that the soil used to plant the flowers was soaked in human blood?

Li Qingyan raised an eyebrow slightly. "Consort Ling, tell me now, did your daughter deserve to die? Do you know how many young women your wealth has caused to die?"

"Do you really sleep soundly day and night?"

The second princess was so frightened that she knelt on the ground, her face deathly pale. Li Qingxi, who was only six years old, was so frightened that she shrank into Consort Ling's arms.

The mother and daughter hugged each other, but dared not speak.

It wasn't until Li Qingyan's companions approached that Consort Ling hurriedly spoke, "It's my fault for not teaching my daughter well, but Qingxi was also deceived. How could she know that cinnamon orchids are grown with fresh blood? I bought the place where those flowers grow."

"If you want to pay with your life, then kill me. My daughter is innocent."

The second princess grabbed Consort Ling's sleeve, "No, no, this has nothing to do with my mother. I did it all. If you want to kill someone, kill me."

The mother and daughter were crying and fighting, each wanting Li Qingyan to kill them. Li Qingyan rubbed her ears and found it extremely noisy.

She picked up a teacup from the side and examined its jade-porcelain color; such things were incredibly valuable. Li Yan owned several sets. When Li Qingyan was throwing a tantrum, she had to avoid it, as she couldn't bear to smash it, but Consort Ling's teacup wasn't Li Yan's.

Li Qingyan really wanted to hear what the sound of the jade porcelain shattering was like.

【Host……】

"Don't try to persuade me, I just want to hear it."

[What a waste of money.]

Feicha looked at the fine jade porcelain with a pang of heartache; this thing was really expensive.

The next second, Li Qingyan threw the jade porcelain cup away, and it shattered into several pieces on the ground with a 'clatter'.

She frowned. "It's usually about as quiet as the sound of glass breaking."

Consort Ling and the Second Princess fell silent in fright. Both mother and daughter were terrified, especially Consort Ling, who had witnessed Li Yan's murderous nature firsthand; Li Qingyan was exactly like him. The restless look of the assassins made her cling tightly to the Second Princess.

The mother and daughter looked like two turtles, one large and one small, with white shells.

Li Qingyan said coldly, "You didn't know? If you didn't know, how did you get the cinnamon orchid? Do you know how difficult it is to grow?"

Li Qingyan patted off imaginary dust from her clothes, slightly raised her eyes, and said, "Li Qingxi, you and I are both Father Emperor's daughters. If I were to kill you now that you are crying foul, the Emperor Emeritus would certainly not allow it."

"I'll give you seven days to find out which soil was used to grow the orchids."

It was quite a surprise to learn that Huagu belonged to Consort Ling. Li Qingyan's people investigated for a long time but couldn't find out who was behind Huagu.

However, considering that Consort Ling's father was the Duke of Rui, this makes perfect sense. The Duke of Rui was a businessman before the founding of the dynasty, providing financial support to the retired emperor. He had plenty of ways to erase any trace of his business dealings.

However, because the Duke of Rui was being closely watched, he had been behaving himself all these years. This time, he had no choice but to take action for the sake of his daughter and granddaughter.

Li Qingyan frowned, thinking, "Old Deng is really wicked."

Li Yan's men have been keeping an eye on Duke Rui, so they must know what he's done. Li Qingyan stroked her chin, feeling that Li Yan was using her to do something.

After speaking, Li Qingyan left Yuxin Palace. Consort Ling and the Second Princess naturally wanted to thank her for sparing their lives. Ronglan Residence had killed so many people. Even if Li Qingyan had killed them on the spot, no one would have said a word.

After leaving Yuxin Palace and walking for a while, she ran into Yanxu, who was waiting for her not far away.

Li Qingyan ran towards him and jumped into his arms, asking, "Wasn't my acting great?"

Yan Xu nodded, "The young prince is the most capable."

Consort Ling and the Second Princess still haven't realized that they've been tricked by Li Qingyan.

Li Qingyan hugged Yan Xu's neck tightly, pressing her face against his, and threatened in a soft tone, "Yan Xu, you better tell me honestly, is Li Yan plotting against me again?"

Yan Xu couldn't move his neck. "Your Highness, be gentle, or I might scratch you."

Meanwhile, Li Yan, who was still waiting for Li Qingyan to return in the Hall of Diligent Governance, 'Achoo!'

"Is that little brat insulting me again?"