Did the Seventh Prince attend court today?

That night, in the study of the east courtyard of the Duke of Anguo's mansion.

"A bunch of useless trash!" Yi Qiuwei slammed the letter onto the table, his face turning pale and then red.

The letter contained only two short lines: one line read, "Plan Huaiyang has failed, and the groom has disappeared"; the other line read, "The assassination attempt failed, and the whereabouts of the royal guards have been discovered."

The two advisors exchanged a glance and lowered their heads, not daring to make any judgments.

Yi Qiuwei let out a breath, rubbed his temples, and said, "They've even used the secret guards. It seems the Emperor truly dotes on this Seventh Prince. The groom has most likely already been captured. Have someone deal with the Huaiyang County Magistrate as soon as possible."

"Yes." The gray-clad advisor bowed in response, and was about to speak when a curse suddenly came from outside the door.

"You lackey, you dare to stop me? Get out of my way!"

Yi Qiuwei frowned and shouted, "What kind of behavior is this! Let the young master in!"

Silence fell immediately outside. Soon, a dashing young man with his shirt off rushed in, exclaiming, "Father, you can't kill Xiao Yunlu! He's mine!"

The newcomer was ashen-faced with dark circles under his eyes; it was none other than Yi Xunyuan.

Yi Qiuwei's temples throbbed. "Even if Xiao Yunlu is no better, he's still a prince. How dare you covet him? Don't let me hear those words again!"

"I don't care! I want him!" Yi Xunyuan's eyes were stubborn. "If you don't agree to give him to me, don't even think about me asking to marry the Minister of Rites' daughter!"

"You!" Yi Qiuwei was furious, pointing his finger at his nose and yelling, "Are you sick?! He beat you up like that, and I spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to get Chief Physician Chen to treat you and save your manhood, and you're still thinking about him!"

"Father, you don't understand." Yi Xunyuan's face showed infatuation, and his eyes shone brightly. "I get extremely excited whenever I think of him. Even if he just kicked me, I would be happy to take my life."

He seemed to be thinking of something, and his breathing became rapid.

Yi Qiuwei almost couldn't catch his breath, and swayed unsteadily. Thinking that he only had one son, he had no choice but to compromise. "I can agree to your terms, but on the condition that you marry a daughter of the Qin family. I don't care what methods you use, the Qin family must be tied to our Yi family."

"That's easy," Yi Xunyuan agreed readily, his face slightly contorted, "As long as you give me Xiao Yunlu, I'll do anything you want."

Yi Qiuwei shook his head helplessly and said in a deep voice, "In that case, don't touch those goods that are going to be sent down below. We finally found a few decent ones, and you've ruined them all. What's the point of using them now?"

"That won't do." Yi Xunyuan leaned back in his chair and said disdainfully, "Although they are all bland and tasteless women, it's better than nothing. Before you sent Xiao Yunlu here, I was counting on these people to pass the time. I'll just have fewer of them."

Yi Qiuwei had no way to deal with him, so he waved him away, saying, "Get out, I have something to discuss."

Upon hearing this, Yi Xunyuan sat up abruptly and asked excitedly, "Are we discussing how to capture Xiao Yunlu?"

"What are you arresting me for! You have no money to arrest me!" Yi Qiuwei finally couldn't hold back his rage. "Your words caused your aunt to lose 50,000 taels of silver, and your medical treatment cost another 70,000 taels. In just a few days, you've lost over 100,000 taels. No amount of money could cover your spending!"

"You good-for-nothing! Thanks to you, I can only afford to hire second-rate hitmen!"

Speaking of assassins, Yi Qiuwei felt a tightness in his chest and shortness of breath again.

Because of insufficient budget, they could only hire a ragtag group of people. Who would have thought that they would be wiped out before even seeing the target? Later, they gritted their teeth and hired a group of skilled people, but it was still a waste of time and effort. It was a complete failure.

Yi Xunyuan wiped the saliva that had sprayed onto his face and said weakly, "With so many businesses in the Yi family, do we really need this little bit more?"

"There's so much business, and even more places that need money to bribe! Not to mention, after finally finding a few customers, before we've even made any money, you've ruined them, leaving some dead or crippled. The Yi family is already running a deficit, so where would we get the money to hire more murderers?! Tell me, where did we get the money?!"

Yi Qiuwei roared wildly.

Yi Xunyuan finally felt a little guilty and whispered in defense, "Didn't my cousin also waste ten thousand taels of money?"

"At least the Third Prince's ten thousand taels earned him some reputation, but what about you?!"

Yi Qiuwei wearily covered his eyes. "Get out. Don't make me say it a third time."

Yi Xunyuan pursed his lips, reluctantly bowed, and took his leave.

The study door closed, Yi Qiuwei took a deep breath, and instructed: "No need to send anyone to keep an eye on the convoy anymore. Notify Gu Cheng to seize the opportunity and proceed according to plan."

"Yes." The aide, who had been keeping his eyes downcast and seemingly oblivious to his own thoughts, lowered his head.

The man dressed in gray suggested, "I think we can pass on a message to Her Highness the Imperial Concubine, asking her to arrange for the Fifth Princess to meet with the son of the Minister of Revenue."

Yi Qiuwei was slightly taken aback, then pondered for a moment, "You mean to use a marriage alliance to win over the Minister of Revenue?"

Another advisor in blue robes said, "I think this is inappropriate. Our lord has already promised to marry the Fifth Princess to Gu Cheng after the matter is accomplished. If he goes back on his word, I'm afraid the Gu family..."

Yi Qiuwei raised his hand to interrupt, "The Gu family is too ambitious, and the two brothers are not of one mind. They cannot be trusted completely. Besides, Gu Cheng may not succeed this time. If he fails, the Gu family will be doomed. The Fifth Princess cannot waste this move here."

"But if it succeeds, what will happen if the Gu family investigates..."

"They wouldn't dare. Not to mention that I would have something on them after the deed is done, even if I didn't, although the Gu family has some power, they don't have much prestige in the army and are always overshadowed by Cang Shuyue. They can only rely on me," Yi Qiuwei said confidently.

Seeing that he had made up his mind, the advisor in blue robes did not try to persuade him any further.

The journey went smoothly that day, and at dusk, the caravan successfully entered Yongding Post Station in Dingzhou. After routinely verifying the official documents and travel permits, and checking the silver seals, the group washed up, ate, and sat in the courtyard to cool off and drink tea.

A warm breeze made people drowsy. You Lu propped her chin up, listening to the eldest prince and Cang Shuyue chat while dozing off. Her freshly washed hair was still wet, hanging down her back and soaking her thin clothes.

"We'll reach Handan in two more days, then we'll have to switch to waterways. The thought of spending three or four days on the boat makes me anxious. I hope I won't embarrass myself," the eldest prince said, expressing his concerns.

Cang Shuyue responded casually, her eyes glancing at the boy's waist out of the corner of her eye.

A ground lamp stood in the corner, its tiny flame flickering and casting shimmering light on the soaked fabric, revealing glimpses of the pale waist beneath.

The image of the boy bending over and twisting his body unexpectedly flashed through my mind.

"Please have some tea, Master."

A cup of herbal tea was respectfully placed in front of him, blocking his view and pulling Cang Shuyue's wandering thoughts back. He coldly glanced at Yin Wu, who was blocking his way, and then looked away.

Yinwu was drenched in sweat.

It wasn't that he was tired of living, but rather that his master's gaze was too... intimidating.