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

Black Wind braced himself on the windowsill, climbed into the room, and closed the window behind him before lowering his voice to ask, "Master isn't in the capital. What happened? Why do you suddenly want to see Master?"

Zhou Qing bit her lip and recounted everything the Princess Consort Yi had said in the main hall. She grew increasingly aggrieved as she spoke, her voice filled with resentment: "She still wants to arrange a marriage for me, forcing me to go on dates, and she even wants to kick me out of the manor. Hei Feng, I can't leave. If I leave, all my efforts over the past few years will be in vain. Where has Master gone? When will he return?"

Hei Feng calmly reminded her, "Zhou Qing, mind your place. Our master's affairs are none of our business. Have you forgotten what our master said before he left? He told you not to act rashly and to wait for his return to make a decision."

Zhou Qing was speechless, her pent-up grievances finding no outlet. She then retorted defiantly, "But the Prince is going to marry that Princess of Ninghai! The wedding date is already set. What chance will I have then?"

Black Wind leaned against the wall by the window, saying nonchalantly, "It's just a matter of marriage, we haven't married yet, have we? Even if we do marry, we can still let her..."

As he spoke, he reached out and made a throat-slitting gesture.

Zhou Qing was taken aback, then asked anxiously, "Does Master already have a plan? Has Master already made arrangements?"

Black Wind shook his head, his tone still indifferent: "Don't ask about that, Master knows what he's doing. Just remember, don't act rashly, and don't ruin Master's important plans."

Zhou Qing said unwillingly, "Then what should I do? Just wait here like this?"

Black Wind was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Just use the 'delay' tactic. If she asks you to go and look at the women, go. After you're done, just say you didn't like them. Do you think they're going to force you into the bridal sedan chair? Just keep stalling until the master returns, and then see what the master decides to do."

Zhou Qing reluctantly nodded, but she had already made up her mind. There was no way to delay it. If it came to an unavoidable situation, she would go all out to make it a fait accompli before Yun Jin entered the house.

Seeing that she had stopped making a fuss, Hei Feng didn't linger any longer. He turned and went out the window, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.

Neither of them realized that a pair of eyes on the roof had overheard their entire conversation.

Yun Jin was unaware that someone was casually discussing her life or death, and even if she did, she wasn't afraid.

With this space at her disposal, no one can easily take her life.

She's very busy right now, embroidering sachets.

According to custom, the return gift for Xiao Jingyan today should include a set of shoes and socks or underwear that she sewed herself.

However, from the betrothal to the exchange of betrothal gifts, it only took six days. With the Lunar New Year celebrations and the constant flow of guests, the matter has been delayed until today.

The Princess Consort of Yi deliberately included Xiao Jingyan's robe measurements in the betrothal gifts she sent, the meaning of which was crystal clear: this was a hurdle that could not be avoided.

Yun Jin frowned as she looked at the paper with the dimensions written on it.

In her later life, she learned kung fu, medicine, music, chess, calligraphy and painting from three masters. However, none of her three masters knew needlework, so naturally no one taught her.

She thought for a moment, then called Qiuyi over and asked her for a newly made royal blue purse.

This was originally made for Yunlang. It was just finished, and I didn't have time to embroider the pattern on it yet, so I can borrow it for now.

Holding the purse, Yun Jin, under Qiu Yi's guidance, finally managed to embroider the simplest cloud pattern, and then embroidered a small "衍" character next to it.

When Chunxi saw the embroidered purse, she couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh out loud: "Miss, your needlework... is truly..."

Yun Jin picked up the purse, smugly dangling it, and raised an eyebrow, saying, "This was embroidered by me personally, after all. Every stitch is made with my heart. He dares to complain about it, just try!"

After saying that, he instructed Chunxi to deliver the purse to Chu Wanqing, saying it was a return gift prepared for His Highness Prince Yu.

Chu Wanqing took the empty purse and remained silent for a long while.

According to custom, this return gift should include a warm jade pendant or a piece of jade that Yun Jin had worn close to her body. However, her daughter grew up in Qingping County and didn't even have a decent piece of jewelry, so where would she get a warm jade pendant?

She turned and went to her private treasury, took out a fine white jade pendant, put it in her purse, and added it to the gift list herself.

Then he told Chunxi to go back and tell Yunjin what was inside, so that she wouldn't give a wrong answer when the prince asked later.

When Yun Jin heard Chunxi mention it, she simply nodded and said nothing.

In the afternoon, Chu Wanqing had someone buy some fine shoes and socks to add to the gift list before having Qinghe and Chai Hu deliver them to Prince Yu's residence.

Xiao Jingyan went straight to the home of Zhao Hansheng, the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, after leaving the house, and talked about Yunlang's enrollment.

Zhao Jijiu was a somewhat eccentric old man, but he was very amiable towards Xiao Jingyan: "You brat, you've come at just the right time. Old Man Chu sent someone to say something a few days ago. The Chu family happens to have two spots, and that boy from the Chu family took one, so the other one is perfect for this boy from the Yun family. I was planning to send the invitation to Old Man Chu in the next couple of days, but since you're here, I'll take it back with me."

Xiao Jingyan accepted the two invitations with a smile. He was then pulled into playing two games of chess by Zhao Jijiu and had a free meal before finally returning home with the invitations in his pocket.

When he returned to the mansion, Qinghe and Chaihu had already delivered the return gifts and left.

Princess Yi had the return gift delivered directly to his courtyard, and she specially picked out the purse that Yun Jin had given him and placed it in the most conspicuous position on his desk.

As soon as Xiao Jingyan returned to the manor, Yin Hu told him about the matter.

Xiao Jingyan picked up the purse and saw the crooked embroidery on it; he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

Just by looking at the stitches of the purse and the cloud pattern, you can tell they weren't made by the same person.

But so what? His wife doesn't need to know needlework.

He took the jade pendant out of his purse again, glanced at it, casually put it back, and carefully hung the purse around his waist.

Only then did he lean back in his armchair and ask Yin Hu, "What did my mother and Zhou Qing say to each other after I left?"

Yin Hu then briefly recounted the conversation between Princess Yi and Zhou Qing in the main hall.

After hearing this, Xiao Jingyan couldn't help but frown. He had asked his mother to help resolve Zhou Qing's matter, intending to cut the Gordian knot and send her out of the mansion. But his mother not only didn't send her away, but also agreed to let her continue to live in the mansion. What if Yun Jin finds out and misunderstands?

Just as he was pondering whether he should go to his mother's house to get to the bottom of things, Jin Hu's voice came from outside again: "Your Highness, Miss Yuanyuan requests an audience."

Xiao Jingyan raised an eyebrow slightly, leaned back in his chair, and said loudly, "Let her in."

Yuan Yuan pushed open the door and entered; it was the same round-faced girl from that day.

She was dressed as a maidservant today. After entering the room, she first bowed to Xiao Jingyan before saying, "Your Highness, there's some news from Zhou Qing."