The mistress who remarried has returned.

Qin Huai stood outside the Golden Palace gate, holding a long sword with the tip touching the ground.

Behind Qin Huai stood Shen Shu, Liu Shun, Chen Lin, and others.

"Ah!" The Emperor saw Qin Huai and exclaimed as if he had seen a ghost. He who had been standing there ordering the arrest of the Crown Prince and Qin Lanzhang suddenly sat down on the Golden Throne.

Zhou Qiu and Lin Feng both changed color. They exchanged a glance.

Lin Feng shouted, "How is that possible! Wasn't he already..."

Qin Huai had been there for a while and had already seen Su Yunxi outside the palace. She looked very unwell. Now that she was the Crown Princess, she sat in a high place, a place that subjects had to look up to.

Carrying his sword, Qin Huai stepped into the Golden Palace and said to his best friend Lin Feng, "How is this possible? Didn't you stab me to death and I fell off a cliff in Daqi? How come I'm back safe and sound?"

The tip of Qin Huai's sword sparked as it scraped against the ground, carrying a heavy killing intent.

Lin Feng took a few steps back.

Zhou Qiu also took a few steps back.

Zhou Guangcheng shouted, "Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor!"

However, Zhou Guangcheng discovered that no one present offered to protect him, including the key figures of the Great Qi whom Zhou Qiu had defeated; they all stood there and watched idly.

Zhou Guangcheng, Zhou Qiu, and Lin Feng were like trapped beasts, with nowhere to hide.

Grandma Qin looked at the ashes in her hand, then at her dashing grandson, and immediately said to Qin Huai, "If you keep acting up, you'll almost make me cry myself to death. When we get home, I'll beat you with my cane."

Qin Huai said to the old lady, "After I deal with these people who disrespected you, I will go home and kowtow to you to apologize."

Grandma Qin handed the ashes to Lin Feng, saying, "My family doesn't need this anymore, you can keep it for yourself."

Lin Feng refused to accept the offer and was about to attack Qin Huai when Chen Lin shot him through the knee with a crossbow bolt, causing him to fall to his knees at Qin Huai's feet with a thud.

Qin Huai came to Lin Feng's side and stared at Lin Feng with the corner of his eye.

Lin Feng was defeated, utterly defeated. He thought he could replace Qin Huai and even surpass him, but he never expected to suffer such a crushing defeat. Even though he was younger than Qin Huai, he still lost to him. "When did you realize that I had ulterior motives towards you?"

Qin Huai couldn't reveal that it happened while he was making love with a girl, and the girl whispered a few words in his ear to be careful of Lin Feng, only saying, "It's been two or three years, hasn't it?"

Lin Feng was taken aback. "You've been waiting for this day? Waiting for the Emperor to make his move, waiting for me to betray him, so you could portray yourself as a loyal subject and wipe out the tyrant, the traitor, and us all in one fell swoop?"

"Yes. But you have kept me waiting for too long." Qin Huai slowly walked towards the depths of the Golden Palace. He had never stepped onto these precious steps before. His father had told him since he was a child that a subject could only look up at the emperor from below the hall and be loyal to the emperor.

For those four years, he could only look up at the Crown Prince and Xixi from afar.

But more than two years ago, on that rainy night during the beginning of spring, as the door to the East Palace gradually closed, Xixi, who was locked inside, said that they would never meet again. He realized that he was no longer satisfied with just looking up to her.

Qin Huai immediately stepped onto the precious steps.

Zhou Guangcheng gasped, "They've rebelled! This traitor has rebelled!"

Zhou Qiu glanced at the soldiers from Daqi who had come to surrender, "Whoever can kill Qin Huai, my father will grant you land and make you a king! Meng Qian, your 147 elite soldiers have received many favors from me, how come you're standing by and doing nothing now!"

Shen Shu laughed loudly, "Meng Qian's 1847 assassins were killed by Qin Huai long ago. They've been in contact with your uncle Wen Quan at the Moon-Viewing Pavilion for the past few years; they've all been Qin Huai's men. Does the Second Prince really think that you've conquered the Great Qi assassins and killed the Great Qi Emperor in the past two or three years? It's always been General Qin's men who have been conquering Great Qi!"

Zhou Qiu couldn't believe that Qin Huai was so cunning, so cunning that he could act with him for years, just to make him and the emperor reveal their intention to dilute military power and solidify his reputation as a foolish ruler.

Qin Huai climbed higher step by step, while Zhou Qiu fell to the ground with a thud, retreating in a panic.

Liu Shun suddenly jumped over and stepped on Zhou Qiu's back, pinning him firmly to the ground.

Qin Huai finally reached the dragon throne, kicked Zhou Guangcheng off the steps, and the emperor rolled several times on the steps until he rolled to Qin Lanzhang's feet.

Qin Huai sat down on the dragon throne, his gaze fixed on the Crown Princess beside Zhou Yu. Looking at her from this position gave him a unique feeling.

Qin Lanzhang looked at the emperor lying on the ground like a dog, then at his eldest son on the dragon throne, and said in a deep voice, "Qin Huai, you cannot be disrespectful to the emperor."

Madam Qin frowned and said, "What do you mean, sir? The Zhou family wants to use the Qin family and then discard them. If the Qin family doesn't resist, are they just going to stick their necks out and behead us?"

Madam Qin had always been dissatisfied with and prejudiced against Qin Huai, but today Qin Huai made her feel very happy and impressed her greatly!

Qin Lanzhang sighed repeatedly, "But I promised our ancestors that I would serve the Emperor for generations. Now my son is sitting on the dragon throne and has kicked the Emperor away. How can I explain this to our ancestors? At least I should discuss with the officials how to deal with this tyrant. He was kicked down like that..."

Grandma Qin said gently, "Indeed. It's hard to explain to our ancestors."

Qin Lanzhang was very grateful for his mother's understanding. But then he heard the old lady say, "Can you lie to our ancestors? Say that Huai'er is very well-behaved and did not rebel? Use your brain and don't speak ill of Huai'er in front of our ancestors' graves."

Qin Lanzhang was taken aback. At first glance, it seemed to make sense, but upon closer inspection, it was completely illogical. His mother was getting senile...

Qin Huai's gaze lingered on Su Yunxi for a long time. To be honest, Su Yunxi was quite scared because she had stood Qin Huai up when they last met. She had promised to go to Daqi with him after receiving the concubine's release certificate, but she went back on her word and stayed in the East Palace. Now, two or three years had passed, and she wondered if Qin Huai was still angry with her.

Qin Huai stared at Su Yunxi's face for a long time before turning his gaze to Zhou Yu's face.

Zhou Yu had imagined many scenarios for meeting Qin Huai: Qin Huai returning victorious from battle, with him, as the Crown Prince, discussing state affairs with Qin Huai; or Qin Huai dying in battle, with him, as the Crown Prince, offering condolences and sympathy to his family. But he never expected that they would meet in this way.

Qin Huai sat on the dragon throne.

As the crown prince, standing in the lower ranks of his subjects, looking up at Qin Huai, he realized that he had lost. He had lost in both power and in matters of the heart.

Qin Huai pointed his longsword at Zhou Yu and asked him softly, "Do you want the dragon throne, or Xixi?"

Zhou Yu countered, "And you, Qin Huai, what do you want?"

Qin Huai said decisively, "I want your Crown Princess."

Zhou Yu had assumed that Qin Huai would covet the throne, but to his surprise, Qin Huai had no interest in it whatsoever.

Zhou Yu was forced to make a choice. Admittedly, he wanted the throne and Xixi, but after these two years, he realized that Xixi was not happy by his side at all, and was chronically ill. He couldn't keep Xixi; forcing her to stay would only cost her her life. As for himself, having experienced the lowest point, he understood even more clearly that a man cannot be defeated; he must stand at the peak, invincible.

Su Yunxi swallowed hard. She had wanted to leave the Eastern Palace for the past few years, but seeing Qin Huai sitting on the dragon throne and specifically asking for her, she trembled. Was Qin Huai seeking revenge on her?

Zhou Yu looked back at Su Yunxi, then made a decision. He said to Qin Huai, "The dragon throne."

Su Yunxi felt as if she had been jolted awake from a near-death experience. The moment Zhou Yu chose the dragon throne, she slipped away from the side hall. Her back was no longer sore, her legs were no longer aching, and she could walk with ease. Her three-year-old ailment had suddenly disappeared.

Qin Huai stared at Su Yunxi's retreating figure, a slight smile playing on his lips.