"According to Qin Yiliu's eldest sister, Qin Xiangxiang, Qin Yiliu instigated her father, the Duke of Ying, to hunt you down five years ago."

Speaking of this, Xie Jin'an felt a belated chill down his spine.

He thought, if Qin Yiliu had succeeded back then, wouldn't Shijie (Senior Apprentice Sister) have been forever stuck at the age of fifteen?

Yu Qingwu was equally shocked and broke out in a cold sweat.

That day, Qin Yiliu's affected manner and constant antagonism made her intuitively feel that the other woman was deliberately trying to seize everything that belonged to her.

From people to property.

At the time, she only suspected that the other party might harbor some unknown resentment towards her, perhaps she had offended her in the past.

But at this moment, Xie Jin'an's words stunned her.

Staring at Xie Jin'an in astonishment, Yu Qingwu paused for a long while before repeating his words in disbelief, "Your Highness is saying that Qin Yiliu started trying to kill me five years ago?"

"But... I didn't even know her five years ago?"

"I also find it strange, but... after hearing her eldest sister's words today, I suspect..." Perhaps feeling that his speculation was too absurd, Xie Jin'an paused for a long time before suppressing his emotions and saying, "I suspect that you may have become enemies with her in the future, and she wanted to eliminate you in advance to prevent any future trouble..."

Xie Jin'an kept it brief and quickly recounted everything that Qin Xiangxiang and the two maids had said outside the city today to Yu Qingwu.

After listening, Yu Qingwu couldn't come back to her senses for a long time.

Absurd! It was simply too absurd!

Previously, Xie Jin'an had told her that Qin Yiliu had claimed to be able to foresee the future in front of him. She was half-believing and half-doubting. Even if she had believed it for a moment and felt afraid, she had quickly dismissed the matter.

But at this moment, she was so shocked that she couldn't speak for a long time.

Yu Qingwu was still in a daze when Xie Jin'an reached out and waved his hand in front of her eyes, continuing, "Shijie, don't be in a daze. I haven't finished yet."

Hearing this, Yu Qingwu suddenly came back to her senses and looked at Xie Jin'an with a confused and somewhat panicked expression, "What? Did that Qin woman predict anything else?"

What was this woman thinking?

Seeing Yu Qingwu's expression, Xie Jin'an immediately guessed that she must be thinking about how Qin Yiliu had predicted that she would kill him.

He smiled and called out to her, "Shijie, don't look so terrified. That Qin woman may indeed be able to foresee the future, but it's hard to say whether what she said is true or false."

"Besides, there's one more thing I can't figure out. If Qin Yiliu could foresee the future, why did she fall into your hands earlier? Also, if she could foresee the future, why didn't she foresee that she and the Shen family would be imprisoned?"

"Think about it, what was Qin Yiliu's reaction when you and I went to the prison to see the Shen family that day? She was very panicked. She saw me as if I were a life-saving straw, and she tried her best to grab onto me. If she had already foreseen that the Shen family would face this calamity, why did she marry Shen Lin in the first place? Why didn't she help the Shen family overcome this calamity?"

"If she knew that the Shen family would suffer and be able to get through this calamity safely, then it would make sense for her to step into this quagmire. But if she knew that the Shen family could overcome this calamity, she wouldn't have been so panicked. It's clear that she wasn't sure either."

"So, I'm wondering, why is that?"

As Xie Jin'an spoke, he frowned unconsciously, his expression extremely puzzled, unable to understand.

After being analyzed by him like this, Yu Qingwu felt even more complicated.

She scratched the tip of her nose, pondered for a moment, and speculated, "Could it be... that Qin Yiliu's eldest sister, Qin Xiangxiang, is lying? Perhaps Qin Yiliu doesn't have the ability to foresee anything. The reason she was able to predict those things was just because she understood the situation."

"For example, the snow disaster. The saying goes, 'thunder in winter, there will definitely be heavy snow,' which will naturally easily cause a snow disaster..."

"I also have some doubts... so, I plan to ask another person."

Before Yu Qingwu could finish speaking, Xie Jin'an spoke again. He curled his lips and said, "However, perhaps this person can only tell the truth if Shijie interrogates them."

Perhaps only she could get the truth out of him?

Was he saying...?

Yu Qingwu was first puzzled, then suddenly realized something, looked up at Xie Jin'an, and speculated with a frown, "Your Highness is talking about... Shen Ke?"

As expected of his Shijie, she always knew what he wanted to say before he even opened his mouth.

Xie Jin'an nodded and smiled, "Yes, it's definitely impossible with Shen Lin. He seems to be truly in love. It's also difficult to ask the Duke of Ying and his eldest son. The only way is to start with Shen Ke."

"Previously, I thought Shen Ke was quite shameless, even eating the grass around his own nest, and in such an immoral way. Now that I think about it, could it be because... there was a profit to be made from this Qin woman? For example, being able to rely on her ability to foresee the future to help him get promoted and make a fortune?"

Xie Jin'an analyzed in detail, but Yu Qingwu was distracted again.

Yes, now that she thought about it, although Shen Ke was also a bastard, he wasn't too outrageous when he was young. At least... he wouldn't steal his brother's woman, especially one who was properly married...

Moreover, in the beginning, Shen Ke did often go to Shu to see her, but later he went less and less. Once, he had only arrived for a short time when he was called away...

Thinking of this, Yu Qingwu frowned even more. After a long time, she nodded and softly asked Xie Jin'an, "Your Highness, when can we go see Shen Ke?"

"When your injuries are better, when everything has settled down, when Shen Ke needs to beg you..." Xie Jin'an's low voice sounded in her ear.

Yu Qingwu's mood became even heavier.

She began to fear that if the Qin woman really could foresee the future, how much did she know, and would she tell all her future plans to the Shen family, or even more people?

Yu Qingwu was quite anxious, but being anxious was useless.

She didn't go out for the next few days.

By the time she felt better, a month had passed.

During this month, Xie Jin'an's Crown Prince faction, led by Yu Qi, and the Inner Eunuch Bureau faction were fighting fiercely with the aristocratic factions.

After a bloody storm, things finally came to a conclusion.

Qiu Shi and Shen Yanhuan were sentenced to be cut in half at the waist for rebellious remarks and instigating the Crown Prince's Consort to harm the Crown Prince. Xu Shi was to be executed for slandering the Crown Prince's Consort, but because her ancestors had made contributions, she was only stripped of all her honors and thrown into the heavenly prison. As for Shen Zongyuan, although he was 'completely unaware' of everything, he was also implicated for failing to discipline his family, and all the men in his family were stripped of their official positions.

In addition, the matter of Shen Zongyuan's embezzlement was ultimately pinned on a scapegoat, who claimed that it was all done by his subordinates who used his name.

As for the others, they more or less made up for their losses. Those who should be demoted were demoted, and those who should be put to death were put to death.

Among them, the most miserable were the wife of the Marquis of Qiu, the Lin family, the mother of Qiu Shiyi Niang (Eleventh Mistress Qiu), who, along with her in-laws, all perished.

On the day of the arrest, Qiu Shiyi Niang was still dressing up in her room. Seeing the maid rushing in, she seemed a little impatient and said angrily, "Why are you so flustered? What happened?"