Pingling Jun didn't have much feelings for Li Shanben either. Moreover, he was unwilling to enter the capital and pretended to be ill, which was a reasonable thing to do.

  Jiang Xuanjin listened to the report and didn't say much. He handed a letter to Yu Feng, telling him to secretly return to Kyoto to find Bai Dezhong.

  On the day of Li Shanji's death, Li Fanggui was absent. Bái Dézhòng took advantage of this to accuse him of being unfilial and petitioned the Emperor to issue an edict to punish him.

  Li Fangwu not only did not go to the capital to report for duty, but also did not attend Li Shanjie's birthday banquet. Even if he said he was ill, how long has he been sick? Not long ago, wasn't he fine when he went to Zhang Lin's longevity banquet?

  Li Huailian deliberated for a long time, and then wrote a decree to send to Pingling. The tone of the decree was very gentle, but it made Li Fangwu's whole body feel cold.

  The Emperor's meaning is clear: are you coming to Kyoto or not? If you arrive within three days, offer incense to Li Shan and there will still be room for leniency. If you do not come, then I will follow the Censor's suggestion and punish you in the name of unfilial conduct.

  The words were mild, but the attitude was clearly to be polite first and then take action. If it were before, Li Fangwu would have gone to Kyoto without saying a word. But now, he hesitated, thought for a moment, and went to see Jiang Yan who was still in Pingling.

  Jiang Yandao said: "What Purple Yangjun just said is indeed true, Your Majesty has already conceived the idea of opening up Pingling, and if you dare to go to Kyoto, His Majesty will certainly ask you for the crime of deceiving him. At that time, you will have no place in Pingling to rely on, nor can you get the protection of the court officials, and you can only be slaughtered by others."

  Li Fangwu broke out in a cold sweat: "Could Master Ziyang possibly save me?"

  Jiang Yan said with difficulty: "When I left, he only said to let you stay in Fengdi to protect yourself and there will be no major problems. As for how to do it, he didn't tell me."

  It's impossible to leave Pingling, and he knew that going to Kyoto would be fatal. He wasn't stupid! Li Fangwu was frightened and summoned his attendants to discuss how to shake off the name of unfilial piety.

  Three days later, Li Huaiyu also received the news.

  "This is really strange." Looking at the letter in her hand, she clicked her tongue, "Has Pingling Jun gone mad? Out of the blue, he actually wants to go against his own father?"

  How did it start spreading rumors about Li Shan's disloyalty and unfilialness?

  The study was quiet and still, the blue silk that had just been standing beside her was suddenly motionless. Instead, a slender hand reached out and handed her a cup of tea.

  Hua Yu took it over and happened to look up, almost spilling the tea cup.

  "How did you end up here?"

  Jiang Xuanjin stood in front of her, his entire body frosty, his eyes cold: "Just passing by."

  Living in the princess's mansion for so many days, he had hardly appeared before her. Just as Huai Yu had let down his guard, he suddenly saw him and was startled: "Lu... Lu Ou?"

  How can I get across this road and enter her heavily guarded study?

  Hurriedly thinking of hiding the secret letter in her hand, Huaiyu barely calmed down: "Next time you pass by, remember to knock on the door."

  Watching her movements, Jiang Xuanjin let out a light snort and turned his head to look away, asking coldly: "Do you want the Qu Lin River?"

  Qu Lin River is a big river that runs through Pingling, with tributaries not far from the border of Danyang. Originally, Danyang cut off the river flow and diverted it to East Ping's three counties, which also brought fortune to East Ping. Now if we want to change the river course back, the biggest resistance comes from East Ping's three counties; otherwise, the river would have been unblocked half a month ago. If Qu Lin River digs canals to support, it will be much easier for East Ping's three counties to give in.

  Li Huaiyu thought for a moment and said: "What does your excellency want me to exchange it with?"

  "It's simple," said Jiang Xuanjin, "helping Pingling Jun with a favor."

  Pingling Jun is now anxious about the crime hanging over his head and has begun to think of a way to shift the blame onto Li Shan. Otherwise, he cannot bear the guilt of being unfilial. However, as Li Shan's own son, he cannot openly say that his father had done something wrong, or it would not win people's hearts.

  At this time, Princess Chang of Danyang was the best helper.

  Hua Yu raised an eyebrow, instantly understanding Jiang Xuanjin's thoughts.

  She went to help Pingling Jun, and Pingling Jun gave her a river ditch as a reward. As for Jiang Xuanjin, he didn't need to do anything, just being the middleman would allow him to get favors from both sides. Pingling Jun was already deceived by him onto a pirate ship, and now he would probably regard him as his lifesaver.

  Gently clapping her hands, Huai Yu smiled and said: "You're quite formidable."

  "Does Your Highness agree?"

  "Nature, what's wrong with that?" Huai Yu stood up, hugging her belly and said, "If you're in a hurry, I can set off right now."

  His gaze fell on her belly, which seemed to be about to drop at any moment, and Jiang Xuanjin's face turned somewhat pale. He shook his head and said, "You only need to write a confession letter."

  "Hmm?" Hua Yu raised an eyebrow, "Shouldn't I personally go to Pingling and make a scene, wouldn't that be more realistic?"

  As for Li Shan's actions, it would be enough to make her pretend to be at odds with Pingling, and when the time comes, she will besiege the city, and then list Li Shan's crimes, which would be even more convincing!

  "Indictment." Jiang Xuanjin lowered his eyes, "If you can't write it, let Jiang Shen help with the writing."

  Seeing his attitude, Li Huaiyu fell silent for a moment, hugged her belly and walked in front of him, swaying back and forth.

  As expected, his face turned even paler, and the fingers on his knees slowly curled up.

  Hua Yu Le said: "Are you afraid of it?"

  "No." Jiang Xuanjin stood up coldly, "I've said all I needed to say, goodbye."

  "Ah!" With a playful heart, Li Huaiyu reached out and grabbed him, laughing somewhat wickedly, "Lord Jun should not have seen a pregnant belly before, right? Want to touch it?"

  His back stiffened, Jiang Xuanjin didn't turn his head: "I've seen it."

  Jiang's mother-in-law, Jiang Yan's biological mother Jiang Qishi, had also carried a belly this big and walked around the mansion, saying with a smile whenever she met him: "Third Master is going to be a young uncle!"

  Later, he indeed became a younger uncle, but Jiang Qishi died in childbirth. His older brother aged overnight, and more than ten years passed before he remarried.

  Compared to knowing she was pregnant with Lu Jingxuan's flesh and blood, he felt more shocked when he saw her belly.

  Old Master Jiang was urging them to have children earlier, but he never really meant it. He just wanted an excuse to get close to her. Who would have thought that one day she would actually stand in front of him with such a big belly?

  "How much do you like Lu Jing Xing?"

  Like him so much that I don't even put him in my eyes, like him so much that I'm willing to risk my life, and also want to have a child for him?

  Before I knew it, the words slipped out of my mouth as I was thinking about it in my heart.

  A low and melancholic voice echoed throughout the study.

  Li Huaiyu paused for a moment, walked around to his front and stood there, her eyes scanning over his pale face, not answering but asking instead: "Are you sad?"

  The suppressed emotions almost choked her, Jiang Xuanjin lowered his head and looked at her tightly: "What do you think?"

  "I think that if you're sad, I'll be very happy." Huai Yu hooked her lips, and there was no smile in her apricot eyes. "Because when I was in the dead cell interrogation room, I was also so sad that I almost died."

  He said she was a romantic and had a soft spot everywhere.

  He said, this word "love", she doesn't deserve it.

  No matter who wronged her, she thought it was no big deal. No matter how serious the charges were, she would take them with a smile, anyway, nothing was a big deal to her.

  But he can't, anyone can say that about her, but he can't.

  "You scoundrel." Jiang Xuanjin said in a low voice, "You clearly said before that one thing cancels out another, and you didn't hate me."

  "Do you believe me?" Hua Yu hooked her lips, "You have to remember, women are all unreasonable, the calmer they tell you it's okay, the angrier they actually are inside. When they're angry and you don't notice, that's when they'll take revenge on you."

  "I'm also angry, can I avenge too?" He rolled up his sleeves.

  "Sir, just come at me with all your might. I'll take whatever move you make. Just one thing - let's not involve anyone else in our personal affairs, shall we?"

  "Is Your Highness willing to take on this responsibility alone?"

  "Yes." She replied loudly.

  Taking a deep breath, Jiang Xuanjin nodded: "Then please Your Highness make preparations."

  Having said that, he swung his sleeves and walked out of the door without looking back.

  Hua Yu raised her eyes and watched his back until the shadow completely disappeared at the door, then sat back in the chair, propping up her chin in contemplation.

  Is there something wrong with Jiang Xuanjin? Is he really preparing a killer move for her behind her back by insisting on staying in the first-line city?

  Jiang walked deep into the courtyard and hadn't taken two steps before he saw Xu Chunian.

  Recently the weather has been cold, she was wrapped up like a ball of fur, crouching beside the flower bed digging soil, her back looked exactly like a rabbit.

  As soon as he had this thought, he went forward to take a look and found that she was not tending flowers, but digging up a withered grass.

  "What's the point of doing this?" He was puzzled.

  The crouching rabbit was startled and looked up to see him, furrowing his brow, then silently lowered his head again.

  "Are you going to keep breathing for much longer?"

  Are you angry? Xu Chuyi fiddled with the grass for a while and asked him, "If I'm not angry, can we go back to how things were before?"

  "Nature." Jiang Shen lowered his head and looked at her forehead. "The divorce was just an impulsive moment, with a nod from you, we can still be husband and wife."

  "What then?" Xu Chuyan said softly, "I continue to return to your side, watching you be affectionate with others, every day making a table of dishes you won't even taste? Second Master, do you know what you want? Do you know what I want?"

  He slightly paused, Jiang Shen furrowed his brow: "You... want what?"

  Xu Chuchan slowly got up, gently patted the mud off her hands, looked up at him and said: "I want a husband who is kind to me with all his heart, doesn't abandon or hurt me, understands and sympathizes with me. Can Second Master do that?"

  It's impossible from the very start, just the first word is already beyond him.

  There are many kinds of people, some are born with a foolish heart, loving without regret; others can't calm down no matter what, they will meet people they like, but won't have only one person they like, wandering through the red dust, teasing others and also teasing themselves.

  Jiang Shen belongs to the second type. When he treats someone well, it's genuine, and anyone can feel that he has put in his true heart. He is indeed very dedicated. However, this dedication lasts at most for a short period of time, and soon becomes annoying and cold without any reason. The person who was once highly praised by him will be thrown back to the ground again.

  He clearly remembers every heartbeat of his own, remembers the bittersweet love, but if he wants to recall, it's really a bit difficult.

  "I once thought that when the second master gets tired, he will think of stopping and I can accompany you then. For the rest of our lives, after all, it's just you and me taking different paths to the same destination." Xu Chuyan smiled wryly, "But unexpectedly, the one who got tired first was me."

  When a girl's heart first opens up, her passion seems to be endless, feeling like she can love someone for a lifetime, no matter what happens, as long as they are together.

  However, time will always prove what it means to be young and reckless.

  She clearly knew that she still couldn't forget him, seeing him would make her heart skip a beat, make her nervous, and make her think of many things uncontrollably.

  However, after falling into this pit and getting hurt twice, although it looks safe from a distance, she is now afraid to jump again.

  "Miss Xü." Chi Jin returned, raised his eyes to see Jiang Shen, didn't say anything, walked to her side, handed over the flower pot she wanted, "This one."

  Xu Chuyi turned around, took it with both hands and knelt down: "Thank you, sir."

  Jiang Shen's face turned gloomy. Why was this person always lurking around her like a ghost? Could Xu Chuyan really not notice that this person had ulterior motives?

  He didn't feel right in his heart, he came forward and wanted to speak, but Frost Heaven hurriedly came up to pull him: "Young Master, Zi Yang Jun has an invitation."

  As he spoke, he pulled him away from the flower bed.

  Chihiro gazed at him calmly, her clear and beautiful eyes unwavering. Jiang Shen glared back, his anger not subsiding in the least, struggling for a while before turning around and pushing open the moon gate, flinging open the frosty sky: "What are you doing?"

  Frosty wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in a low voice, "I've made inquiries, whether it's inside or outside the mansion, everyone has a great deal of respect for that Lord Redgold. What's the point of you two colliding head-on?"

  "Respectfully?" Jiang sneered coldly, "Just a mere face-saving gesture."

  Frosty Sky shook his head: "He is now in the position of commander-in-chief, and has lost the title of faceless. The Princess did not restrain him, seeing him with Xu Niang in one place, nor did she stop him."

  Jiang said with a dark face: "So I don't understand what this Princess is thinking! These people are all her men, and she doesn't care about her own men?"

  Frost thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I've been in this princess's mansion for so long, but I've never seen anyone enter the eldest princess's courtyard to rest, except for Prince Ziyang who forcibly moved in the other day. Even Lu Da Zhanggui usually doesn't attend to her. It's somewhat different from the rumors..."

  Not mentioning it yet, but once mentioned, it's indeed so. Jiang Shen was stunned for a moment and said, "Is it because being pregnant is inconvenient?"

  "Who knows?" Frosty shook his head. "You'd better go see Master Zi Yang first, I heard from Cheng Xū that the master is in a bad mood."

  "What's gotten into him today?" Jiang Shen curled his lip, flicked his sleeve and headed to Jiang Xuanjin's house.

  This person became more and more silent, when no one was around, he would stare out the window in a daze, it's unknown what he was thinking. His body was visibly thinning, on his clear and jade-like face, that thick cloud of gloom couldn't be dispelled.

  "Write something for her." As soon as he entered, Jiang Xuanjin said, "Hurry up, it's urgent."

  Jiang Shen said with a bad temper: "Do you think I'm a substitute writer on the street?"

  He pulled out a letter paper and pen ink and placed it in front of him. Jiang Xuanjin took the pen and stuffed it into his hand.

  Jiang Shen lightly made a "tsk" sound and still gripped his pen tightly: "Speak."