Marrying a playboy? She turned the tables and used a magical talisman to become famous throughout th

The old woman was instantly stunned. "Your Highness, what did you say? The young master... he..."

"He is not a child of the Xiao family."

The Queen propped herself up and stood up, her voice calm to the point of being cold, "He came to collect a debt, and once he's done, he'll leave... go back to where he belongs."

Yin Liuli stepped forward to examine Xiao Huanjia's body, stood up, and said calmly,

"The primordial spirit has returned to the underworld, leaving only an empty shell."

"Your Majesty, it seems you have reached an agreement?"

"Yes, it's settled."

The Empress slowly raised her head, her gaze towards Yin Liuli extremely solemn. "Liuli, the Xiao family owes you this favor, and not only I, but the entire Xiao family remembers it."

"No need."

Yin Liuli waved her hand casually and walked to Gu Jinyan's side. "I told you, I'm only doing this for Gu Jinyan's sake."

Looking at her nonchalant expression, Gu Jinyan felt a pang of sadness but couldn't speak. All he could do was hold her hand tightly.

Yin Liuli felt a sharp pain from his grip, but she couldn't break free.

Three days later, a major event occurred in the capital.

The Xiao family's mansion in the capital city has a "For Sale" sign.

The grand mansion with five courtyards and five entrances, in an excellent location, was priced ridiculously low, immediately attracting many buyers.

But the Xiao family's rules were even more outrageous. To buy a house, one had to sign a contract promising not to drive away poor households in the neighborhood or to sell it to wealthy businessmen at a higher price without reason.

At the same time, the Xiao family sold off all of their dozen or so shops in the city and hundreds of acres of fertile land outside the city.

Following the Empress's instructions, Xiao Heng gathered the money obtained from selling his property, divided it into several large portions, and transported them to the poorest counties and townships in the neighboring prefectures.

The expenses for buying grain and distributing porridge, repairing bridges and roads, and providing medicine for the sick were all recorded in an account book, which was then sent to the Empress.

Xiao Heng dismissed the concubines who refused to stay and returned the servants' indentures without compensation. He then took his wife, children, and elderly parents and hired a dilapidated carriage to return to his ancestral home.

It was a small village that didn't even qualify as a county town. The Xiao family only had a few acres of barren land and a dilapidated old house left there.

The whole capital was in an uproar, and the nobles were talking about it, saying all sorts of things.

Some say the Xiao family offended the emperor and was secretly punished; others say the Xiao family offended the Grand Duke Jupiter and their home was in turmoil; still others say the Xiao family has gone mad and is throwing away their comfortable and prosperous life.

The Empress offered no explanation, but instead placed a statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva in her palace, where she observed daily vegetarian meals, chanted Buddhist prayers, and offered incense.

She continued to manage the affairs of the harem for the Emperor, a testament to their long-standing marriage.

Everyone in the harem thought she had lost power, and some short-sighted people, like Consort Zhang, came to her door to mock and provoke her.

Who knew that the emperor would see it and banish her to the cold palace.

After the Emperor learned of the Empress's affair, he didn't say anything no matter how she handled it, but he unconsciously started visiting Zheng Hua Palace more often.

Whenever there were Confucius, he would accompany the Empress to offer incense, talk to her and drink tea, or sit under the eaves and bask in the sun together.

The Empress knew in her heart that after so many years of walking hand in hand with the Emperor, the affection between the two old married couples was unmatched by anyone else.

Xiao Heng stood in front of the dilapidated house in his hometown, looking at the overgrown yard and the drafty eaves, and remained silent for a long time.

Then he rolled up his sleeves, borrowed a hoe from the village, and began clearing the weeds from the yard.

In the carriage behind him, his wife held their sleeping daughter, leaning weakly against the carriage wall, her face sallow, her eyes vacant, and the tear stains on her face still wet.

She couldn't understand why, instead of living in a perfectly good mansion and enjoying wealth and luxury, she would choose to suffer in this poor, remote place.

After clearing a small patch of weeds, Xiao Heng straightened up, wiped his sweat, and looked back at his wife's pale face, unsure of what to say.

He gritted his teeth and continued to bend over and hoe the ground.

After the imperial aunt returned Huan Jia's body, she talked with him all night.

Xiao Heng then realized that this child had come to collect a debt.

If we don't do as my imperial aunt says, the entire Xiao family will die.

"Your Majesty, there's no need to say more. I understand perfectly well."

Xiao Heng patted the Empress's hand and said in a deep voice, "I was born into wealth and honor, and have enjoyed blessings that others could not enjoy in several lifetimes. That is enough."

"Though I am useless, I am still a man. I should bear the responsibilities that come with it, for we are descendants of the Xiao family!"

"Heng'er..."

The Empress gazed at him for a long time, then suddenly burst into tears. "With your words, our Xiao family will not perish!"

……

Yin Liuli was carefully putting away the packet of broken jade.

Those were the fragments that the jade bracelet turned into after Xiao Huanjia died, scattered and dazzlingly white.

Yin Liuli wrapped the talisman again and handed it to Gu Jinyan, saying, "Go and find a thousand-year-old pine tree, three feet due east, and bury it there."

Gu Jinyan took the talisman bag and nodded.

He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Liuli, what will happen to Xiao Huanjia... after he returns to the underworld?"

Yin Liuli shook her head, and after a long while, she spoke.

"The hatred of 123 lives, kneeling in the Yama's Palace for 100 years, and then being reincarnated as a human evil ghost for 7 years."

Once his vengeful spirit, filled with boundless resentment, dissipates from its obsession, the best outcome is that its soul is utterly destroyed.

Gu Jinyan gripped the talisman pouch tightly in his hand and remained silent for a long while.

Yin Liuli smiled and said, "Gu Jinyan, don't worry about others. They have their own karma. Come here, I have something to tell you."

"What?"

Gu Jinyan looked on with curiosity.

"Many of the Xiao family's descendants today are those who committed the sins back then and voluntarily reincarnated, all so that Master Shen could avenge the Shen family and put an end to this tragic fate."

Yin Liuli said calmly, "None of the male members of Xiao Heng's generation have been able to have a son. However, this is a blessing in disguise. If they can fulfill their promise to Master Shen and atone for their ancestors' sins, the Xiao family will still have a large family with many descendants."

Tell the Empress to put her mind at ease.

"Um."

Gu Jinyan felt much more relieved. A sly smile suddenly flashed in his deep eyes, and he curled his lips into a mischievous grin.

"By the way, what did you just say?"

"What? What?"

Yin Liuli scratched her head and thought for a moment, "I say, the Xiao family will still have many descendants in the future..."

"Not this one, the previous sentence."

Gu Jinyan grinned even more mischievously.

"The previous sentence? I said that as long as the descendants prosper and the family can continue, there will be no shortage of outstanding children who can revitalize the Xiao family."

Yin Liuli couldn't understand his wicked smile, but her heart started pounding inexplicably.

Gu Jinyan immediately leaned closer, raising an eyebrow smugly, and said...

"Then my family will prosper and my descendants will flourish, and the family line will continue, right?"

Liuli, tonight is our wedding night, I'll try my best, will you help me...?

"Snapped!"

Before he could finish speaking, Yin Liuli's hand was already covering his mouth. Her cheeks were flushed, and she glared at him angrily.

"What nonsense are you spouting? What, what about trying harder... Pah, shameless!"