Qiao Jinniang was really upset to see Tong Yingying.

  Behind Tong Yingying, there were several young scholars who supported her, and they all said, “Yingying, why do you bother to pay attention to an illiterate woman?”


  “Qiao Ruoyi is born by a concubine after all, so she has to live at her sister’s mercy.”


  Tong Yingying sneered coldly. “My mother is a concubine too, but even so, we should strive for a bright future for ourselves, instead of trying to please mistress-born sisters like she does.”


  A scholar complimented her, “Although Miss Tong is a woman, she has an unyielding resolve equal to that of a man. As the saying goes, a gentleman should constantly strive to become strong just like the evolution of the universe. I admire her very much.”


  Qiao Jinniang really couldn’t stand Tong Yingying’s self-righteous air, and said with a cold smile,

  “A gentleman should constantly strive to become strong just like the evolution of the universe? But the latter part is that a gentleman should generously cultivate to become tolerant just like the earth bears everything on it.

  “What makes you think you can judge other people? Are you worthy of being called a gentleman?

  “Tong Yingying knows nothing about sisterhood but calls it apple-polishing. Just because she doesn’t get along with her sisters doesn’t mean that she ‘has an unyielding resolve equal to that of a man’. Don’t insult this old saying!”


  All the scholars thought that Qiao Jinniang was illiterate and never thought that she had actually read a lot of books.

  “Hongling, Luhe, note down the scholars’ names and remember their appearances.”


  Qiao Jinniang instructed her maids. The scholars asked, “Why do you want to note down our names?” “That’s because I want to give your names to His Royal Highness. Gossip mongers are not worthy of being officials!”


  Qiao Jinniang said.

  Tong Yingying said, “The harem is not allowed to interfere in politics, and you haven’t entered the East Palace yet!”


  Qiao Jinniang said, “Have I interfered in politics? I’m just telling the truth.” When those scholars heard this, they hurriedly covered their faces. They didn’t pass the last Imperial Examination. If they failed in the Imperial Examination next spring, they would have to wait for three more years before they could take the next Imperial Examination.

  Seeing them disperse, Tong Yingying said angrily, “Spineless, humph!” Qiao Jinniang sneered. As a woman, Tong Yingying never cared about other women but held men’s oppression rules on women as canons.

  Not far away, Li Yun’s colleague said to Li Yun, “Why is Miss Tong doing this? In the hot spring villa, Qiao Jinniang lived with the Crown Prince and she is also the biological mother of the Crown Prince’s heir.

  “I heard someone from the Ministry of Rites say that they have started to prepare for the Crown Prince’s wedding, and the crown princess is probably Qiao Jinniang.

  “What good is Miss Tong doing offending her?”


  The Ministry of Rites hasn’t been so busy for a long time.

  There was no expression on Li Yun’s face. He knew that if he showed that he cared about her at this moment, it would only ruin Qiao Jinniang.

  Qiao Jinniang bought a lot of books, and when she returned to her room, she smelled the fragrance of ambergris.

  She went in, and as expected, she saw Lu Chen sitting beside her bed, reading one of her novels.

  Remembering that it was a romance novel, Qiao Jinniang hurriedly went over to take back the novel, “Don’t read my novels!”


  “Did you go to a book market with Li Yun today?”


  Qiao Jinniang closed the book and said slightly crossly, “I didn’t even say a word to Li Yun. Why did you say I went to the book market with him?”


  Lu Chen chuckled and said, “I’m just asking. Don’t be angry. I just came to tell you that the brocade fabric with which your wedding dress will be made has been done. Don’t put on weight in case you can’t fit into the dress.”


  Qiao Jinniang asked knowingly, “Hadn’t we already had a wedding? Why do it again?”


  Lu Chen didn’t want to recall their last wedding because she was really hateful at that time.

  Qiao Jinning thought of something and said, “Lu Chen, will you retaliate against me at this wedding for what I did to you in our last wedding?”


  “If you dare, I won’t marry you!”


  Lu Chen pinched Qiao Jinniang’s nose gently. “How dare you mention our last wedding!”


  Qiao Jinniang said, “I apologized to you later, didn’t I? You were unwilling to marry into my family, and I didn’t know you well back then, so I wanted to show you I was not a weakling you could bully.”


  Lu Chen recalled their last wedding. Qiao Jinniang’s adoptive parents really doted on Qiao Jinniang. Although they were seriously ill back then, they still managed to hold a grand wedding for them with very limited preparation time.

  They held banquets for three days and three nights in Myriad Taste.

  On the day of their marriage, Qiao Jinniang forced him to go to her house in a sedan chair. When he entered the door, she hung her skirt on the door and forced him to walk through under her skirt, saying that it symbolized that he was her conquest. At that time, Lu Chen was so angry that he wanted to leave directly. If he weren’t afraid that Qiao Jinniang’s dying adoptive mother would die if he left, he wouldn’t have tolerated it.

  Plus, he had already planned to leave the next day.

  But Qiao Jinniang forced him to kneel down and wash her feet. Although Lu Chen lost his memory back then, he knew this was a big insult to him…


  When he was about to leave, he suddenly saw Qiao Jinniang burst into tears. Although the little girl in the red wedding dress was hateful, she was also pitiful.

  After all, he owed her a life-saving grace, so he planned to give her a son before he left so that she wouldn’t be disturbed by her clansmen.

  But after spending a night with her, he could no longer forget her and didn’t want to leave anymore.

  Even if she called him her conquest, he could only admit that he had already been a prisoner of love.

  Seeing that he ignored her, Qiao Jinniang said, “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have done that to you. I was told that if I didn’t do those things to you, you would bully me. I had planned to make you crawl through under my skirt, but my parents scolded me…”


  Lu Chen smiled and said, “Fortunately, you didn’t do that. Otherwise, I would have left at that time.

  “The last wedding doesn’t count. This one will be our real wedding.

  “There will be a total of five sets of dresses for you at the wedding. The dresses are already being made and should be ready by early spring next year.” Qiao Jinniang exclaimed, “Five dresses? So many?” “The crown princess will have to offer sacrifices to the heavens, gods and ancestors at the wedding, so the procedures will be very complicated. I’m afraid you will be very busy that day.” Lu Chen took out a ruler from the embroidery basket on the side, “Come here, let me take your measurements.” Qiao Jinniang asked, “Are you so idle? Do you need to do this yourself?”


  Lu Chen said, “You don’t want to learn the court etiquette quickly, so you can’t let the people from the imperial palace come to take your measurements, but I want you to enter the East Palace as soon as possible, so I can only do it myself.”


  Qiao Jinniang patted Lu Chen’s hand gently. “You can take my measurements, but don’t do anything else. Maybe someone will suddenly come in again.”


  As soon as she finished speaking, Yuyan hurried in and said, “Miss, not good, Huixiang from Myriad Taste came to you, saying that a lot of people died on a cargo ship from the South. Someone recognized that the dead people were Qiao Laosi and his family.”


  Qiao Jinniang froze all over. Although she knew the Qiao clansmen would have an internal strife, she did not expect that they would kill.

  In Chang’an government office.

  Prefect Chang’an finally had a day off, and he was listening to his concubine singing for him at home.

  His subordinate suddenly rushed in and reported, “Sir, a lot of people died on a boat that has just arrived at Chang’an Wharf, and the youngest was only a month old!” Prefect Chang’an: “…”


  He finally had a day off. Couldn’t they submit this case to the Ministry of Justice?