Uncle Wan entered the palace at a very young age. He was ugly and not favored. No noble master was willing to want him, so he was thrown into the Cold Palace.

In the Cold Palace lived Emperor Jingyang’s deposed Empress and the two princes that the deposed Empress gave birth to for Emperor Jingyang. The younger prince was the same age as him. At that time, he didn’t know anything. The eunuchs asked him to “take good care” of the prince, so he really served the prince with all his heart. The eunuchs in the Cold Palace died one after another. He was the only one who accompanied the two princes until they became adults.

One day, the Eldest Prince found him and said to him, “Wan Guancai, I want to leave the Cold Palace. Are you willing to help me?”

He nodded.

The Eldest Prince handed him a bag of poison. “Put it in Sixth Brother’s food.”

He was scared half to death. “Your Highness, you can’t! The Sixth Prince is your brother. No matter how much you want to leave the Cold Palace, you can’t harm him!”

The Eldest Prince was young, but he already had the dignity of an Emperor. “If I tell you to do it, do it! If you continue to spout nonsense, I’ll kill you!”

Of course, Uncle Wan did not. He had grown up with the Sixth Prince. How could he bear to poison his food?

Uncle Wan ran to the Sixth Prince’s room and woke him up from his nap. “Sixth Prince, Sixth Prince, you’re in trouble! Quickly pack your things and escape from the Cold Palace!”

“Why should I escape?” asked the Sixth Prince.

“You… you…” Uncle Wan couldn’t say that the Eldest Prince wanted to poison him, so he vaguely said,” I just received news that someone… Someone wants to kill you! ”

The Sixth Prince immediately lifted the blanket and ran out, but not in the direction of the Cold Palace’s exit. Instead, he ran into the Eldest Prince’s study. “Big Brother! Someone wants to kill us! Let’s escape quickly!”

Uncle Wan was standing at the door of the study at that time, and the Eldest Prince’s face was covered in darkness. At that moment, Uncle Wan deeply felt that he and the Sixth Prince would not survive… However, Uncle Wan did not expect that not only did the Eldest Prince let him and the Sixth Prince live well, but after he ascended the throne, he also bestowed himself to the Sixth Prince, who was later the Prince Yan.

There were some things that Uncle Wan could not guess, but he was certain that His Majesty treated the Yan Manor differently.

Uncle Wan barged into Dali Temple.

Those guards did not even draw their swords. When they saw that it was the Young Master Mansion, they stopped breathing.

Shadow Thirteen thought to himself, Why does Old Man Wan need a secret guard like me to support him when he can handle it himself? The secret guards were also very busy, okay?!

“Where is he locked up?” Uncle Wan grabbed a guard and asked.

The minister of the temple and the junior official were not around. The guards did not dare to offend the Young Master Mansion. Otherwise, even ten heads would not be enough for Young Master Yan to chop off.

He pointed to the torture chamber. “In… in the Heaven-class Punishment Room.”

The punishment rooms in the court were divided into Heaven, Earth, and Profound. The Profound-class Room was an ordinary interrogation room with almost no torture tools. Starting from the Earth-class torture room, there were many terrifying things. The Heaven-class torture room was used to interrogate evil people. They would not interrogate them first, instead, they would use the torture tools. It could be said to be the cruelest and most convincing place.

Uncle Wan’s eyelids twitched. “How long has he been locked up?”

“It’s been… two hours,” the guard said with trepidation.

Uncle Wan felt terrible. “Shadow Thirteen!”

Shadow Thirteen rushed to the Heaven-class Punishment Room like lightning and kicked open the metal door! Just as he was about to save him, he was stunned by the scene in front of him.

Uncle Wan ran over anxiously. When he took a closer look, he was completely dumbfounded.

… .

After Uncle Wan and Shadow Thirteen left for the Dali Temple, Yan Jiuchao also left the Young Master Manor not long after. He brought Shadow Six into the palace. He entered the palace like he was entering his own vegetable garden. No one dared to stop him.

He went to the imperial study without any obstructions. Eunuch Wang was guarding the door of the imperial study. When he saw him, he was slightly surprised. Just as he was about to shout for him, Yan Jiuchao had already walked past him, leaving only Shadow Six and Eunuch Wang staring at each other.

“Are you also here to plead for mercy for Yu Shaoqing?” The Emperor sat behind his desk and saw the uninvited Yan Jiuchao.

Yan Jiuchao swept his gaze around and realized that the imperial study room was really lively today. The second prince, Yan Huaijing, the second prince of the Xiongnu envoy, and the directorate’s chancellor, Gao Yuan, were all standing in front of the Emperor.

The Emperor snorted and said, “There’s no need to look. They’re all here to plead for mercy for Yu Shaoqing. I don’t understand. What ability does a mere centurion have to actually make my son, my subject, and my ally…” He glanced at Yan Jiuchao and almost bit out a few words from between his teeth. “And my good nephew, to all come to plead for him!”

Among these people, three of them did not know Yu Shaoqing. Although one of them knew him, he was Yu Shaoqing’s enemy on the battlefield. Were they crazy, or was he, the Emperor, crazy?

Gao Yuan lowered his head. He was pleading on behalf of Yu Shaoqing because he knew that Yu Shaoqing was wronged. He was truly loyal and righteous. He should not have died unjustly. As for why the other three came, he was also puzzled.

Other than knowing why Yan Jiuchao had come, Yan Huaijing was also very puzzled about Gao Yuan and the Second Prince of the Xiongnu.

The Second Prince of the Xiongnu was forced by the Princess of Xiongnu. The Princess of Xiongnu had sent someone to pass a message to him. If he did not save Yu Shaoqing, she would stay at the entrance of the Dali Temple and not leave!

Young Master Yan looked at the three people in front of him unhappily.

“I… I’ll take my leave!”

One person pleading for Yu Shaoqing was pleading for mercy, but a bunch of people pleading for mercy was equivalent to Yu Shaoqing losing his life.

Gao Yuan tactfully left.

The Second Prince also understood this logic and bowed. “Father, I’ll take my leave.”

When the Second Prince of the Xiongnu saw that the Emperor’s most trusted minister and most valued son had retreated, he knew that this trip had been wasted. He placed his right hand on his left shoulder and bowed. “I still have something on, so I won’t disturb Your Majesty.”

“What? You’re not leaving?” The Emperor looked at Yan Jiuchao.

The three people who had reached the door stopped in their tracks. They all wanted to hear what this rumored crazy young master would say to the Emperor. However, before they could speak, Uncle Wan ran over anxiously. “Not good, not good—something happened—”

The Emperor frowned.

“What happened?” Yan Jiuchao asked.

Uncle Wan said breathlessly, “Yu… Yu Shaoqing is missing!”

When Uncle Wan heard that Yu Shaoqing had been locked up in the Heaven-class Punishment Room, he was so frightened that he hurriedly asked Shadow Thirteen to save him. When Shadow Thirteen kicked open the cell door, he saw a cold dark room. Yu Shaoqing, who should have been hung on a torture device, had disappeared, and the prison guards who should have be executing those tortures were all hung on the torture device… No one knew who hung them up. Even when they opened their eyes and found themselves hanging on the torture device, they were so frightened that they almost fainted again!

“How do the more than a hundred experts of the Dali Temple do things? Can’t they even keep an eye on a criminal?!” The Emperor gritted his teeth in anger. “Good, good, good. Yu Shaoqing is quite bold. He actually dared to escape from the prison on his own! His crime is even worse!”

Uncle Wan whispered, “Your Majesty, it shouldn’t be Yu Shaoqing who escaped by himself. The prison guard in charge of the execution said that they fed Yu Shaoqing with a lot of cartilage powder. Even an ox should have fallen.”

The Emperor’s expression darkened. “You mean someone broke into the prison?”

It was fine if they pleaded for mercy for Yu Shaoqing, but they actually broke into the prison. Did they take him, the Emperor, seriously?!

“You guys, get back here!” In a fit of anger, the Emperor scolded the Second Prince of Xiongnu too.

The three of them, who had just stepped out of the threshold, returned to the imperial study dejectedly.

“Did you do this?” The Emperor asked sternly.

The three of them shook their heads like rattle drums.

“Then it’s you?” The Emperor looked at Yan Jiuchao.

Yan Jiuchao also looked at him. “Your Majesty, do you think it’s possible?”

Of course, the Emperor knew that it was impossible. If he wanted to take him away, would he need to break into the prison? Even if he did, it would not be his style to not carve a sentence on the wall: “I’m here.”

The Emperor clenched his fists tightly. “Find them! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, you have to find Yu Shaoqing and that thief who trespassed into the Dali Temple!”

“There might be more than one person,” Eunuch Wang reminded.

The Emperor thought that this made sense. There were many experts in the Dali Temple. How abnormal did it have to be to be able to come and go freely under their noses? It was most likely a group of people! At least eighty to a hundred people! They worked together with the traitor to “transport” Yu Shaoqing, who had been poisoned by the cartilage powder.

The Emperor was furious. “Good, good, good. They actually dared to break into the prison and released my death row prisoner. I don’t care if it’s a hundred or a thousand people. In short, mobilize the Imperial Guards and capture them all! Leave no one alive!”

Yan Jiuchao did not come to look for the Emperor just for Yu Shaoqing. However, with such a sudden change, he could only put it aside.

After walking out of the imperial study, Yan Jiuchao asked Shadow Six, “With your skills, can you and Shadow Thirteen come and go freely in the Dali Temple?”

Shadow Six thought for a while and said, “We can come and go as we please, but it’ll be difficult to not be discovered. It’ll be even more difficult to bring someone who has lost consciousness.”

Yan Jiu raised his eyebrows. “You mean even Shadow Thirteen can’t do it?”

Shadow Six said truthfully, “I think it’s very difficult.”

Yan Jiuchao laughed ambiguously. “This is getting more and more interesting.”

… .

In the Young Master Manor, Yu Wan had finished taking a hot bath and changed into dry clothes. She was receiving treatment from the imperial physician in the room.

She knew nothing about the Dali Temple, but she knew that Yan Jiuchao had already gone to think of a way. Since that was the case, she just had to wait for the outcome.

At some point, she actually started to slowly trust him.

This imperial physician’s surname was Zhang. He was one of the two physicians who went to Baozhi Hall to treat patients on behalf of Doctor Ji. Yu Wan asked him and found out that he and “Doctor Liang” were both invited by Yan Jiuchao to let Doctor Ji free to focus on treating her uncle.

It would be a lie to say that she was not moved. However… Since he could invite the imperial physician, why didn’t he just get the imperial physician to treat her uncle? Why did he have to go around in such a big circle? That fellow’s thinking… was really strange.

“Miss, your injuries are not serious. I brought some ointment to help with blood circulation. You can reduce the swelling after applying it for three to five days.” Imperial Physician Zhang took out a box of ointment from the medicine box and handed it to Yu Wan.

“Thank you, Imperial Physician Zhang.” Yu Wan took the ointment and thanked him.

Imperial Physician Zhang reminded her again, “Also, Miss, you have to rest more. Don’t use your feet before the swelling goes down.”

Yu Wan nodded. “I’ll remember it.”

After that, Imperial Physician Zhang told her some taboos about food and drinks. Yu Wan knew a thing or two about health maintenance, but she still listened attentively.

Granny Fang personally sent Imperial Physician Zhang out. Before she left, she placed the ginger soup brewed in the kitchen on the table beside Yu Wan. “Miss Yu, don’t forget to drink it.”

Yu Wan thought that it was really just ginger soup. When she picked it up, she realized that it was a glutinous rice ball stewed in ginger soup. There was brown sugar in the soup, and the glutinous rice ball was a sesame filling and a peanut filling. The outer skin was soft and bouncy, and the filling was fragrant and sweet. If she ate the glutinous rice ball alone, she might get tired of it. If she drank the ginger soup alone, it would be spicy. Overall, it was just right.

Yu Wan was sweating all over. The cold air in her body had been dispelled. She was not hungry anymore, but she was not full either. She could still eat dinner after resting for a while.

Yu Wan could not help but sigh at the meticulousness and ingenuity of the Young Master Manor’s chef. The taste, effect, and quantity were all precise to the extreme.

What about Yan Jiuchao? Was he… also a person who had to do everything to the extreme?

Dong!

As she was thinking, the door was smashed open by a young kid’s head.

It was the three little munchkins who were hiding behind the door and peeping. As they watched, their little heads were too heavy and they smashed them.

“Is it Xiaobao?” Yu Wan looked at the small figure that rolled in. Her eyes moved and she was about to get up to hug him when she felt a piercing pain in her ankle. She gasped.

Xiaobao landed first, followed by Dabao and Er’bao.

The three of them quickly got up and slipped into Yu Wan’s arms.

Yu Wan hugged their soft bodies. It had only been a few days since they last met, but she seemed to miss them even more.

Yu Wan rubbed their little heads. “Have you eaten well these few days?”

The three of them nodded. As if they were afraid that Yu Wan would not believe them, they even lifted their tops, revealing their round stomachs.

Yu Wan looked at their watermelon-like stomachs and knew that they were really full. A smile appeared in her eyes. “Good boys.”

The three of them leaned their heads forward.

Kiss!

Yu Wan was instantly charmed. She bent down and kissed each of them.

Suddenly, the three of them saw Yu Wan’s bandaged left leg, and their faces instantly became extremely anxious.

Yu Wan quickly comforted them. “I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt.”

The three of them looked at Yu Wan skeptically.

Suddenly, Xiaobao walked over, bent down, and exhaled softly. Soon, Daobao and Er’bao also came over. Of course, they couldn’t breathe out. However, it was this clumsy action that made Yu Wan’s heart ache.

The three little fellows stayed with Yu Wan until they fell asleep before letting the nanny carry them back to their room.

As soon as the nanny left, Yan Ruyu came to visit. She was here to visit the three children, but she never expected to see Yu Wan here.

“Why are you here?” Yan Ruyu stopped outside the room and looked at the woman sitting inside in disbelief.

Yu Wan’s own clothes were wet. She was wearing the princess consort’s purple dress with a waist and a white embroidered silver phoenix lute. This outfit was beautiful and moving when worn by the princess consort, but it had a poetic and picturesque beauty on her.

She sat there quietly, looking more like a noble’s daughter than Yan Ruyu.

Yan Ruyu’s pupils instantly constricted.

Hearing Yan Ruyu’s words, Yu Wan did not even look up.

Yan Ruyu had just been angered by the princess of Xiongnu this morning. She could not be angered by a village girl again.

Yan Ruyu walked into the room coldly and came to Yu Wan. She looked at her indifferently. “Didn’t you hear me talking to you? Why did you let me in here? Who allowed you to come in?”

“Yan Jiuchao.” Yu Wan raised her eyebrows.

Yan Ruyu gasped. “Is Young Master’s name something you can call?”

Yu Wan smiled faintly. “What? You don’t have the guts to call him that? Or did he ignore you?”

Yan Ruyu’s sore point was poked. Whether she had the courage to call him that or not was useless. She could not see Yan Jiuchao at all now. She was the children’s mother, so it was only right for her to visit the children. However, every time she came, Yan Jiuchao was “coincidentally” not around.

“It’s so late… Why are you still in Young Master Yan’s room?” Yan Ruyu asked angrily.

Yu Wan supported her chin with one hand and smiled at her. “Because I want to… live here.” Who asked you to scheme against me? I’ll anger you to death!

“You…” Yan Ruyu suspected that she had heard wrongly. What did this woman say? She wanted to stay in Young Master Yan’s room?! Could it be that Young Master Yan… he… he liked this woman?

Yan Ruyu was so angry that her veil was about to fall off. “You… You approached the children time and time again because you had such dirty thoughts! You’re shameless!”

“Then you’re not?” Yu Wan said lightly.

Yan Ruyu had never been insulted like this before. “I’m the biological mother of his sons! I’m engaged to him…”

Yu Wan interrupted her. “Engagement? What engagement? Did he admit it? Did he say he wanted to marry you? Do you think you can rely on him after giving birth? Are you stupid or is he stupid?”

Yu Wan’s words hit the nail on the head. Yan Ruyu’s face turned green. “If Young Master doesn’t marry me, will he marry you? Why don’t you take a look at your own status? Is a country bumpkin worthy of the Young Master of Yan City?”

Yu Wan said casually, “So what if I’m worthy? So what if I’m not? In short…”

When Yan Jiuchao returned to the manor, he had just arrived at the door when he heard a sentence that made his heart explode.

“I have to marry into the Young Master Manor. I want to be the mother of his children!”