The mistress who remarried has returned.

***

Time flies.

Lord Su drove away the Wang mother and her two children, and repeatedly apologized to his mother with a bundle of thorns on his back.

The mother consistently avoided seeing him, and a lawsuit was filed against Lord Su, accusing him of divorcing his wife and remarrying. The scandal spread like wildfire, making it difficult for Lord Su to continue his career in the capital.

As for Su Yunxi, who was the Crown Princess, she fell ill after the eldest son of the Qin family led his troops to Daqi. She would occasionally hear rumors about the situation on the battlefield, but she did not hear any news of a great victory for a long time. Because she was too worried, her illness became more and more serious.

Su Yunxi was ill for more than two years.

During this time, Xue Wenying came to visit her, but it turned out to be a condemnation of her. Why did she repeatedly use and hurt Qin Huai, who was so deeply in love with her? She told Su Yunxi that Qin Huai's hair had started to turn white when he left the capital for Daqi.

Su Yunxi realized that Xue Wenying truly had feelings for Qin Huai. She had made things difficult for her before because Xue Wenying thought Qin Huai had changed his mind. After learning that Qin Huai had never had any feelings for her, Xue Wenying let go of her resentment.

Su Yunxi did not utter a single word in response to Xue Wenying's condemnation.

For the past two years, the Crown Prince has sought out renowned doctors to treat Su Yunxi's illness, but all efforts have been in vain. The doctors all told him that it was a mental illness, incurable, and that the Crown Princess would not live for more than a few years.

Her brother has made great progress in the past two years. He is the youngest top scholar in the Great Zhou Dynasty and works in the Ministry of Revenue. At only fourteen or fifteen years old, he has already become a minor official of the seventh rank. The first case he took on was his mother suing his father for divorcing her and remarrying. The top scholar personally tried his father's case. It is a case of fortunes changing every thirty years, and he is still very motivated.

That day, the Crown Prince invited a famous doctor from Jiangnan to examine the Crown Princess. After examining her, the doctor shook his head and said, "There is no cure, no cure."

Zhou Yu was heartbroken and immediately cursed the doctor as a quack.

Su Yunxi leaned weakly against the pillow, barely speaking, only breathing lightly.

Li Changchuan reported from outside: "Your Highness, the Qin family army has conquered the Great Qi. They have won a great victory and are returning to the capital. However..."

Upon hearing this, Su Yunxi paid extra attention to news about the Qin family army. Hearing of their great victory, her worries of the past two years eased somewhat.

Zhou Yu frowned, staring intently in Li Changchuan's direction. "Just what?"

"However, General Qin... he died in battle." Li Changchuan said, "The entire Qin family has entered the palace, and the Emperor is receiving them. The Emperor has also ordered His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Crown Princess to attend and offer their condolences to the Qin family."

Su Yunxi felt a sudden metallic taste in her throat, and spat out a mouthful of blood onto the handkerchief she had been covering her mouth.

Zhou Yu took the handkerchief from Su Yunxi's hand and looked at it. His face turned pale instantly. He was heartbroken. "Liangdi."

Although she had been his Crown Princess for two years, he still habitually called her Liangdi. They had come together during that time, and the name Liangdi held special significance for him.

Su Yunxi had been staying at home for many days. Upon hearing the news of the general's death in battle, she quickly put on her clothes and tidied her appearance. She asked, "Li Changchuan, has the general's body been returned to the capital?"

Li Changchuan said, "It is said that the general died in battle three months ago and was cremated in Daqi. Only his ashes were brought back."

Su Yunxi closed her eyes briefly, and two lines of tears fell down her cheeks. That day truly was the last time she would see him.

When Zhou Yu arrived at the Golden Palace.

The Emperor sat on the golden throne.

Lord Qin and Madam Qin stood solemnly below the hall.

Madam Qin wept silently, holding her grandson's ashes in her arms. She looked ten years older than before, completely different from the spirited old lady Su Yunxi had seen from afar at Yingtian Pavilion.

The other aunts and uncles of Qin Huai were secretly pleased, unable to suppress the smiles on their faces.

An aunt went over to the old lady and said, "Old lady, the dead cannot be brought back to life. From now on, you'll have to rely on your filial son."

Qin Xiao is this aunt's child.

The old woman brushed the aunt's hand away from her sleeve, clutching the urn tightly, weeping uncontrollably, her grief so profound she could not utter a sound.

Su Yunxi sat down next to Zhou Yu and looked at the urn in Old Madam Qin's hand. She smiled in disbelief at first, but then tears welled up in her eyes.

Zhou Guangcheng addressed Qin Lanzhang below the hall, saying, "Lord Qin, Qin Huai held multiple positions in the court. Now that he has died in battle for the sake of the Great Zhou, it is truly a great loss to the Great Zhou. I know you are heartbroken at the loss of your beloved son. How could I not feel the same way? To me, Qin Huai was both a nephew and a son."

Qin Lanzhang remained silent with a calm expression. Qin Huai was a veteran of many battles, and it was impossible for the mere Great Qi to kill him so easily. There must be something fishy about Qin Huai's death.

Lin Feng then said, "General Qin was brave and skilled in battle. Now that he has died in battle, I request His Majesty to posthumously award him the title of Loyal and Brave General."

Zhou Guangcheng nodded, "Granted. This is only right; Qin Huai deserves to be honored with the titles of Loyal and Brave."

Lin Feng continued, "Apart from General Qin's death in battle for the country, the Second Prince and Lord Wen Quan captured key figures in Daqi, enabling Daqi's core figures to coordinate with our Great Zhou from within and without. This allowed us to successfully behead the old emperor of Daqi and conquer Daqi. The Second Prince's contribution is indispensable! This humble general requests Your Majesty to reconsider the selection of the Crown Prince."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yu slowly realized that Qin Huai's death and Lin Feng's request to re-select the crown prince were probably both a scheme by the emperor and Zhou Qiu. Ever since he was cleared of the murder of the emperor, the emperor had been wary of him taking revenge after he was enthroned, and therefore had long hoped for a legitimate reason to re-establish the heir apparent.

Zhou Guangcheng nodded and said to Lin Feng, "I will respect the suggestions of all my ministers. The Crown Prince has indeed not made any achievements in the affairs of Daqi these past two years because he has been busy taking care of the Crown Princess's health."

As he spoke, Zhou Guangcheng turned his gaze to Qin Lanzhang, bluntly and blatantly diminishing the power of the Qin family, "Qin Huai is dead in battle, and the Qin family is now in a state of transition, with the army leaderless. I consider Lin Feng to be Qin Huai's close friend, like a brother. I will have him adopted as Qin Huai's son. From now on, he will help Qin Huai solve problems and share the burden of military and Ministry of Personnel affairs."

Qin Lanzhang had long anticipated that Zhou Guangcheng intended to dilute military power, but he did not expect Zhou Guangcheng to be so ruthless. While recovering Daqi, Zhou Guangcheng had already secretly plotted to win over Lin Feng, a confidant of Qin Huai, and conspire to kill Qin Huai.

Qin Lanzhang had long suspected that Lin Feng was not a trustworthy person. It seemed that Qin Huai had indeed failed because of his association with Lin Feng. The Qin family had served the emperor for generations, but now the emperor had killed his child. For the first time, Qin Lanzhang felt utterly disheartened by the Zhou family. It was not unreasonable for the emperor to be unfilial.

Lin Feng came to Qin Lanzhang's side and knelt down at Qin Lanzhang's feet. "Son greets Father. From now on, Feng'er will definitely treat you as his own son."

Qin Lanzhang glanced at Lin Feng but did not respond. What Lin Feng wanted was not to show him respect, but to take away everything that Qin Huai had previously controlled.

Madam Qin raised her hand and slapped Lin Feng across the face.

Lin Feng smiled nonchalantly.

"Lanzhang, I am sympathetic to your loss of your beloved son and have bestowed upon you the title of Qin Huai's close friend. Why do you refuse this imperial favor?" Zhou Guangcheng ripped away the veil of pretense. Without Qin Huai, the Qin family was at his mercy. "Does my subject intend to disobey my decree?"

Qin Lanzhang straightened his back ramrod straight. "Your humble servant can still serve for a few more years. When I can no longer serve, it's not too late to adopt a son."

The emperor looked at Zhou Qiu and said, "Qiu'er."

Zhou Qiu then slowly walked to Qin Lanzhang's side, chuckled, and said, "If Lord Qin disobeys the imperial decree, I will have no choice but to order your men to arrest Lord Qin, Madam Qin, and Old Madam Qin. Old Madam Qin is already old; if Lord Qin were to subject her to such suffering, it would be unfilial of him."

Qin Yue's husband, Sun Bin, said in a deep voice, "My father has me as his son-in-law to share his burdens. It's not too late to adopt a son after I die in battle. I beg Your Majesty to reconsider. If you take action against the Qin family, I'm afraid it will not be in order to win over the people and would be considered as persecuting a loyal minister."

Zhou Guangcheng, however, had neither patience nor fear, and the national treasury was in dire need of replenishment. He immediately declared, "Insolence! How dare you disobey my imperial decree again and again! Qiu'er, seize them!"

As soon as he finished speaking, people surrounded the Qin family.

Su Yunxi then grabbed Zhou Yu's sleeve.

Zhou Yu immediately shouted, "Li Changchuan, protect the Qin family!"

Li Changchuan immediately led his troops to block the Qin family behind him, creating a standoff with the emperor's men.

Zhou Guangcheng clapped his hands and said, "Excellent! Excellent! My beloved minister and my crown prince have openly rebelled. Qiu'er, Lin Feng, take down the crown prince and the Qin family!"

The Emperor emphasized each word heavily, saying that by eliminating the Crown Prince and the Qin family, he could seize all power and be free from any threat.

Just as Lin Feng and Zhou Qiu were about to clash with the Crown Prince and the Qin family.

But then a lazy voice rang out from outside the Golden Palace, "Is everyone here? If you are, I'm about to settle accounts."

The sound attracted everyone's attention.

Everyone looked towards the gate of the Golden Palace.

Su Yunxi's heart tightened suddenly, and she looked towards the Golden Palace. She immediately recognized the person who had come. In the two years since she last saw him, he had a lot more gray hair. His appearance had also become more rugged and handsome.

The last time I saw him was during the beginning of spring that year; it was drizzling that day.

The person outside the palace was none other than Qin Huai.