Favored concubine deposed empress? I'll seize your throne and marry you to a powerful minister.

Because she not only has herself, but also the entire Wei family behind her.

Wei Rong was only twenty years old, and in the deep palace she had learned to feign weakness. Yun Sheng knew this was not a good thing, but as an empress, she had no choice but to do so.

Finally, he raised his hand and touched the top of Wei Rong's head.

They were standing here in their everyday clothes, so their relationship was no longer that of ruler and subject. He even regarded the person in front of him as his younger sister who loved to laugh and play when he was a child.

"It's good that you know what's going on." Yun Sheng promised her, "The information I received is that I will be transferred to the position of deputy commander of the Imperial Guard. From now on, I can keep an eye on the safety of the harem."

"I really didn't do it for this, Brother Yun. It's a good thing that you're being transferred, but power struggles are cruel. If it's not a matter of life and death, you can just stand by and watch. The Yun family has been dormant for too long. You should think more about the family."

These are Wei Rong's honest words.

If she were to break ties with Xiao Heng in the future, she did not want the Yun family to become the second Wei family.

After all, no one can predict what the future will hold.

Yun Sheng scoffed, "The emperors of the Xiao family have always been ruthless."

Wei Rong saw a hint of hatred in his eyes. Perhaps it wasn't just her father who hadn't gotten over what happened with Grandpa Yun, but also the rest of the Yun family.

She sighed softly.

Yun Sheng mounted his horse and looked at her from the horse: "The most useless thing is justice, and the most useful thing is power."

The white horse slowly rode away into the distance. Wei Rong looked at the figure on the horse and suddenly recalled things from the past.

When Yun Sheng was around ten years old, he went to the palace with his grandfather. When he returned, he told Wei Rong that he had encountered assassins in the palace, but fortunately his grandfather was capable and protected the emperor.

He said he wanted to become like his grandfather, taking the safety of the capital as his mission, and that the future of Yunjing would surely be peaceful and prosperous.

But when she grew up, Yun Sheng, who had witnessed her grandfather's wrongful death, told her that power was the most useful thing.

These people who grew up under the imperial city seem to have lost their original aspirations as they've gone through life.

Wei Rong returned to her seat with a heavy heart, only to be met with the Prime Minister's sarcastic remark: "It seems I made a mistake in sending him."

"I just wanted him to know whose favor he owed, but who knew you two were so distant, like brother and sister."

These words sounded strange, and Wei Rong was speechless: "Speak properly."

Has this person taken the wrong medicine today? Their words are always barbed.

Outside the window, the babbling brook continued to flow, while inside, the storytelling reached its climax, captivating the audience.

Ling Xianru neither looked out the window nor listened to the storybook; his usually emotionless eyes were fixed on Wei Rong.

It seemed that the old restrictions of hierarchy had been lifted, and he appeared extremely bold and arrogant, as if he wanted to stare holes through her face.

Wei Rong pretended not to know, and when she looked outside, a figure flashed past her line of sight.

In a flash, she felt a sense of familiarity; she seemed to have seen this person somewhere before.

Upon closer inspection, she saw the man standing beside a carriage. The carriage had no nameplate, but she had seen another carriage like it before.

During last year's heavy snow, she was left behind in the snowstorm by Xiao Heng, and someone came to her rescue.

The old man claimed to be the steward of the Prime Minister's residence. Even after she refused him, he still left a basket of fine silver charcoal in the snow.

"Ling Xianru".

Wei Rong suddenly turned around, connecting the dots in her mind: "Last year, I went to Changhua Temple to mourn my father's passing. On my way back, I ran into your steward. Did you know that?"

"Ah," Lingxian said with surprise, "you finally remembered to ask."

"Answer the question." Wei Rong didn't want to joke around with him.

She thought it was nothing out of the ordinary, since the Prime Minister's residence did indeed have a house nearby. When she ran into the old steward delivering a basket of charcoal, she didn't make a fuss about it.

"Didn't you yourself start to have doubts? On a snowy day, besides you going out to pay your respects on General Wei's 100th day memorial, what else would anyone else be doing going out for no reason?"

He answered the question, then posed the question to Wei Rong.

Her heart raced, and Wei Rong asked, confused, "Why?"

They had clearly never spoken. To outsiders, the Wei family and the Prime Minister were neither political enemies nor particularly on good terms.

The person who offers help in times of need could be anyone else, but not Ling Xianru.

"Why?" Ling Xianru murmured, savoring the two words.

He also asked himself why it had to be Wei Rong.

He lacked nothing; with a wave of his hand, all the ladies in the world flocked to him. Why was it Wei Rong who was the only one?

"You clearly heard everything that happened in the corridor on New Year's Eve in Liufang Palace, yet you didn't mention a single word about it to anyone. You could have used that to blackmail Shen Mingxiu, so why didn't you?"

Wei Rong was taken aback by his question and was momentarily stunned.

She never intended to use this to blackmail Shen Mingxiu, even though her methods were despicable at the time.

"At first, it was because she hadn't caused me too much harm. Using a woman's reputation against her wasn't my style. A woman's reputation, once ruined, is gone for life."

See, that's the difference.

Shen Mingxiu was able to come up with a wicked plan, even going so far as to kill someone to steal Wei Rong's undergarments, so that Wei Rong would be humiliated in front of others.

"And then?"

I don't know how the roles changed, but now it's Ling Xian asking and Wei Rong answering.

Later—Wei Rong glanced at him: "I don't know if you're righteous or evil, there's no need to offend you."

That's the truth. If she said that Shen Mingxiu and Ling Xianru were having an affair, it's hard to say how many people would believe her. If there's no evidence to suppress both of them, then Ling Xianru would probably turn around and kill her.

"Is it unnecessary, or do you feel it's not the right time, Rong, sister?"

"..."

Wei Rong felt that she couldn't have a proper conversation with this person.

Qiaoyu, who was waiting not far away, kept looking over, looking very worried: "What exactly is your master doing? My master hasn't had such a strong emotional fluctuation in a long time."

One moment she's angry, the next she's speechless, and then her face turns red with anger.

What exactly is the Prime Minister trying to do?

"I don't know," Mo Yu glanced in that direction, expressionless. "They should be alright."

"Does this look like anything's wrong? My master is almost fainting from anger! His face is so red!"

Mo Yu didn't know what kind of person his master was, but he felt that he was indeed being somewhat indecent.

If someone in the palace saw you grabbing someone's hand, it could cost you your head.

"Your master will be alright," Mo Yu comforted Qiao Yu righteously, "If anything happens, it will be my master who gets into trouble first."

"..." Qiaoyu was speechless: "Pah, pah, pah, what could it be? They just happened to run into each other for tea."

"Lord Mo, something has happened."

Suddenly, a bodyguard descended from the sky and whispered a few words to Mo Yu with a serious expression.

After hearing this, Mo Yu also became cold and serious. Without bothering to disturb her, she stepped forward to report to Ling Xianru.

Qiaoyu was even more speechless: "I told you not to jinx it!"