The legitimate daughter returns to the capital and embarks on a splendid life, tearing apart the fak

When Chu Duanshan returned to the manor, Chu Wanqing saw him and hurriedly went to greet him, her tone very anxious: "Father, is there any news about Jin'er?"

Seeing her red and swollen eyes, Chu Duanshan felt a pang of pity, but he still glanced at Lan Ying. Seeing her shake her head at him, he remained silent for a moment before saying, "Not yet. We've searched everywhere we can, and we're still looking."

Tears welled up in Chu Wanqing's eyes instantly. She plopped down in a chair, her voice choked with sobs, "Father, Jin'er... she'll be alright, won't she?"

Chu Duanshan opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he nodded: "It will be alright."

Chu Wanqing covered her mouth with a handkerchief, tears streaming down her face: "It's all my fault, I should have been watching over her."

Chu Duanshan wanted to comfort his daughter, but he didn't know what to say.

Seeing his dilemma, Lan Ying was afraid he would give himself away, so she quickly waved her hand at him and said, "Go and think of a way. You must find Jin'er."

Chu Duanshan felt as if he had been granted a pardon and ran away immediately. Otherwise, seeing Chu Wanqing so heartbroken, he was afraid he would not be able to help but reveal the truth.

After she left, Lan Ying couldn't help but scold her: "Alright, stop crying. Look at you, how can you act like a mistress of the house? You were fine when Jin'er wasn't back, weren't you? Just pretend she wasn't back."

Chu Wanqing choked, her voice trembling, "But Mother, I can't pretend she didn't come back."

She could hold back her tears when she was at home, but for some reason, when she saw her mother, she cried as if there was no tomorrow.

Lan Ying sighed helplessly, her tone saying, "You keep saying Jin'er will be alright, but deep down you're thinking she's probably in grave danger. Otherwise, why are you crying so much?"

Chu Wanqing quickly denied it: "Mother, I didn't..."

Lan Ying waved her hand to interrupt her: "If you truly hope she's alright, then don't cry. You must firmly believe in your heart that she's alright, and only then will she truly be alright. Do you understand?"

Chu Wanqing seemed to understand, but dared not cry anymore. She wiped away her tears and asked softly, "Mother, you haven't taken your medicine today, have you?"

Lan Ying wanted to say she had drunk some, but Chu Wanqing had arrived early, so she could only say, "I didn't drink any."

Chu Wanqing quickly called her maid to prepare medicine for Lan Ying.

After the medicine was brewed, she personally brought the bowl to Lan Ying's lips.

Lan Ying looked at the bowl of dark, murky medicine and felt a pang of bitterness in her heart, but she could only pinch her nose and force it down.

At lunchtime, Chu Wanqing specially asked the kitchen to make chicken soup, white porridge, and side dishes, saying that Lan Ying wanted to eat something light.

Lan Ying looked at the bland and watery lunch and ate it while pinching her nose.

After finishing her meal, she looked at Chu Wanqing and said, "Wanqing, you should go back first. You have to believe that Jin'er will definitely come back. Just pretend she just went out. If she comes back and sees you so dejected, she'll feel bad too. Don't forget, you still have Lang'er. Even if something really happens to Jin'er, won't you abandon Lang'er?"

Chu Wanqing opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but looking at her mother's tired eyes, she swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

She nodded, stood up, gave the maids a few more instructions to take good care of Lan Ying, and then turned to leave.

After she left, Lan Ying patted her chest and let out a long sigh of relief.

They're finally gone. If they hadn't left, we would have had porridge again tonight, which is so bland and watery.

And that bitter medicine, you only need to hold your nose and drink it once.

Chu Duanshan only dared to return after hearing that Chu Wanqing had left. As soon as he entered the house, he said with a sigh of relief, "Ah, she's finally gone."

Lan Ying couldn't help but chide, "You sure know how to dodge."

Chu Duanshan shook his head helplessly: "I have no choice but to hide, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold back."

Lan Ying sighed, "I'm so worried. We haven't heard from Jin'er at all. Where did she go? It's so cold outside, what if something happened to her, a young lady all alone..."

"Don't overthink it," Chu Duanshan interrupted her, his tone resolute. "That girl is a woman of her own mind; she'll be fine. She was able to travel all the way from Qingping County to the capital, escape unscathed from the Princess's residence, and break through those rumors. She's no ordinary person. She won't let us down."

Lan Ying looked at him, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "When you went to the palace to see His Majesty that day, did you ask him again afterwards? What did His Majesty say?"

Chu Duanshan sat down opposite her, sighed, and recounted the events of the past few days in detail.

That day, the emperor sent someone to investigate, and upon their return, he told Chu Duanshan that the assassin had not been caught.

Chu Duanshan, being a straightforward person, didn't beat around the bush and directly stated that he suspected Ya Min was involved in the matter. The two didn't get along well, and he had invited Yun Jin out of the city for no reason, and then Yun Jin got into trouble. No matter what, she couldn't escape responsibility for it.

Helpless, the emperor ordered the empress to send people to question Xuan Yamin and the others. The emperor's intention was that since there was no evidence, they should not go to court for the time being, but question them privately first.

After returning from the hot spring resort, Keyamin had a persistent high fever. She was delirious and confused, unable to even get out of bed.

The eldest princess told the messenger in the palace that if Yamin entered the palace in her current state, she might pass on her illness to the empress. The empress dared not take the risk, so the matter was put on hold.

Xiao Ya and Gao Shan were in no better shape; both were bedridden with illness. Their elders, fearing they might catch the illness, dared not let them enter the palace.

The emperor could only send a constable from the Dali Temple, who was skilled in investigating cases, to question people in various prefectures.

Ke Yamin was delirious with fever, tossing and turning and saying repeatedly, "There are ghosts" and "Don't arrest me." When asked about the assassin, she shook her head and said she didn't know anything.

Xiao Ya and Gao Shan were the same; they were so frightened that they could barely speak and could only cry.

When asked about Yunxiu, she felt extremely guilty, saying, "It's all my fault. If only I hadn't separated from her that day. Although she was just an adopted daughter of the Yun family, no one in the family treated her like an outsider. My father and I were heartbroken when she got into trouble, but my mother was the most devastated. Why wasn't it me who got into trouble?"

After finishing his sentence, Chu Duanshan added, "His Majesty said, 'I have a granddaughter! And she's so kind!' I never expected His Majesty to praise her."

Lan Ying rolled her eyes at him, wanting to curse him, but then thought better of it. She couldn't explain these complicated things to him anyway, so she snorted coldly: "She probably hopes that Jin'er won't come back."

She paused, then added, "There's no point in expecting to find anything out about this. Even if we did, His Majesty might not care. It's obvious this matter is related to Ya Min, and even out of respect for the Princess, they'll likely let it go leniently."

Chu Duanshan nodded: "I know, and I didn't expect His Majesty to punish her. We'll settle this score with her sooner or later."

Lan Ying leaned against the kang (a heated brick bed) and said softly, "There's no rush to settle this score. Let Jin'er settle it herself when she gets back."

Chu Duanshan nodded, then sighed, "Where on earth is it hiding? It's getting colder and colder."

Lan Ying's gaze fell out the window, and she murmured, "It should be soon."