When Chai Yang brought the news, Qin Moyuan was sleeping soundly, holding Li Yueshu in his arms.
Upon hearing that Qin Yecheng had rebelled, Qin Moyuan immediately took up the weapon he only used on the battlefield.
He was the God of War of Chennan, the Regent of Chennan. Even if the Emperor was wary and suspicious, he could not stand by and do nothing.
Li Yueshu wanted to go with him, but Qin Moyuan refused.
He knew A Shu was capable, but he was still afraid of the one-in-ten-thousand chance that she might get hurt.
Li Yueshu pursed her lips and did not insist. She only instructed Xinghe to notify her immediately if anything happened.
That night, Li Yueshu guarded the entrance of Rumo Residence all night. The sounds of fighting outside were particularly clear in the darkness.
It wasn't until dawn, when the din gradually subsided, that she hurried to the imperial palace.
Along the way, there were broken limbs and corpses everywhere, and the pungent smell of blood drilled into people's heads.
As the Regent's wife, everyone recognized Li Yueshu and directly escorted her into the imperial palace.
Seeing this, Li Yueshu knew who had won.
Indeed, as soon as she entered the main hall, she heard the Emperor's furious voice: "The Lan clan colluded with the rebels and plotted rebellion. They shall be executed along with their nine generations of relatives, as a warning to others! Qin Yecheng has shown no repentance. From this day forward, he is demoted to commoner status, expelled from the family register, and forbidden to enter Chongzhou for eternity!"
Li Yueshu stopped her foot, preparing to go in, and waited outside for Qin Moyuan to emerge.
However, what did "colluding with rebels" mean?
Seeing her, Qin Moyuan quickly took off his blood-stained outer robe before going over to embrace Li Yueshu.
He did not hide anything from her questions and explained, "Qin Yecheng alone would not have had so many soldiers to rebel. It was the former Crown Prince, Qin Chengjin."
"Xie Qizhi, whom we met in Fengzhou earlier, originally intended to sow discord between the Gu family and the Crown Prince. But when Qin Yecheng's poisoning was discovered, he simply changed his target."
Li Yueshu knew that many things must have happened in between, but she did not ask further. She only felt that with Qin Yecheng's downfall, the male protagonist, Qin Yexiu, would have no rivals.
But she did not expect that on the second day after Qin Yecheng's rebellion, Qin Yexiu would also have an accident.
At that time, Qin Yecheng led his troops into the East Palace, intending to kill Qin Yexiu, the Crown Prince who had always suppressed him. During the fight, a list that Qin Yexiu had been hiding, detailing the Li family's involvement in selling official positions for Qin Yecheng, was accidentally uncovered.
The incident happened suddenly that night, and no one paid much attention. But the next day, when a little eunuch was tidying up, he saw it.
The little eunuch immediately hid the list and submitted it.
Upon learning that the Crown Prince had taken these corrupt officials under his wing, the Emperor was so enraged that he nearly fainted and immediately issued an edict to depose the Crown Prince.
Although the reason was different, Qin Yexiu's dethronement was in line with the original book's plot.
However, now that Li Xiangru's identity as the Gu family's eldest daughter, which she had been impersonating, was exposed, and the Zhenbei General and his wife had recognized her as their goddaughter, their attitude towards her was not as good as before.
Would the Gu family still go all out to help the deposed Crown Prince Qin Yexiu this time?
Qin Moyuan nuzzled Li Yueshu's neck, sounding tired, "A Shu, do you think the discovery of the list was a coincidence?"
Li Yueshu was startled.
Hearing him say that, it clearly wasn't a coincidence.
Qin Moyuan closed his eyes and rested, "That little eunuch's name is Zhang Yang. He was a classmate of A Min who sold him to Qingfeng Pavilion back then."
Li Yueshu was surprised, almost not remembering who he was talking about.
Qin Moyuan roughly explained Zhang Yang's situation.
Li Yueshu exclaimed, "A Min dared to employ such a person?"
Qin Moyuan's voice was somewhat muffled, "With Concubine Lan's downfall, he was at his wit's end. A Min's bait was his only way out."
As for Zhang Yang's final fate, it would depend on A Min's own arrangements.
Li Yueshu simply hadn't expected such a sudden turn of events, and that A Min could still scheme like this.
Just as she was about to ask more about Shen Yimin's situation, she suddenly felt that Qin Moyuan, who was leaning against her, was breathing evenly and had fallen asleep.
Seeing this, Li Yueshu could only swallow her words and adjusted her posture to make him sleep more comfortably.
...
The successive incidents involving the Crown Prince and the Second Prince were a significant upheaval for Chennan.
As the Regent, Qin Moyuan naturally couldn't leave easily at such a time and became busy.
Qin Yexiu's matter had greatly angered the Emperor, and after being deposed, he was also driven out of Chongzhou.
Li Xiangru, as the Crown Princess, naturally accompanied him.
On the day Li Xiangru left, the Zhenbei General and his wife went to see her off. Meng Army Doctor and Gu Hexuan, however, did not. They were accompanying Li Yueshu at Rumo Residence.
Now that everything was resolved, Li Yueshu became completely indolent.
Spring turned to autumn, and three years passed in the blink of an eye.
According to the original book's plot, after Qin Yexiu was deposed as Crown Prince, the Gu family should have achieved military merits.
But now, most of the Qingyan Kingdom's forces were controlled by Ji Quansi. With no war between the two countries, the Gu family had no opportunity to earn merit, and Qin Yexiu naturally had no chance to return to Chongzhou.
What Li Yueshu did not expect, however, was to see Li Xiangru.
To be precise, she did not expect Li Xiangru to dare to attempt assassination.
Li Yueshu was just about to take Shen Tingwen to see the newly opened Liuxian Wine House in Chongzhou when, as they reached the entrance, a figure suddenly appeared.
"Li Yueshu, die!"
The voice filled with hatred was very familiar, but now was clearly not the time to think about that.
As Li Yueshu was about to dodge, Qin Moyuan, standing beside her, acted faster and kicked out.
"Clang! Bang!"
The figure flew out, knocking over several stalls.
Li Yueshu looked at the man beside her, who was tense, and couldn't help but laugh and cry.
Three years of marriage, and his habit of protecting her hadn't changed at all.
Li Yueshu wanted to see who the person trying to kill her was, but unexpectedly saw Li Xiangru.
Hadn't she been driven out of Chongzhou with Qin Yexiu?
Li Xiangru spat out a mouthful of blood and glared fiercely at Li Yueshu from the ground, "It's all your fault! If it weren't for you, the Gu family wouldn't have abandoned me, and I would still be the high and mighty Crown Princess!"
"It's all your fault! If I had known, Father and Mother should have strangled you to death when you were born. If you had died, no one would have competed with me!"
Li Yueshu: "..."
Could this really be something the heroine of a book would say?
Seeing her indifferent attitude, Li Xiangru became furious, "Li Yueshu, you deserve to die!"
With that, she scrambled up from the ground, grabbed a knife, and lunged at Li Yueshu.
"Seeking death!"
Killing intent flared in Qin Moyuan's eyes. He disarmed Li Xiangru and directly thrust the knife towards her heart.
At the critical moment, a flying knife suddenly shot from the side.
"Zing—"
The knife in Qin Moyuan's hand flew away.
The two instinctively turned their heads and saw a figure slowly approaching.
A cute and adorable face, a kind and gentle smile. That face was none other than—He Xiaoyu!
No, it wasn't He Xiaoyu!
Li Yueshu stared in disbelief at this person who had died three years ago, her heart pounding violently. "Xiaoyu?"
He Xiaoyu suddenly opened her arms and lunged directly at her, "Shushu, it's really you!"