"How did you know your brother was captured?"
"My brother would leave me secret signals. This morning, I saw the signal for danger. Afterward, I heard that an assassin was captured at the Song estate yesterday, so I believe it must be my brother," Qin Erniang said.
Xue Xingyue nodded. "However, the Song estate is heavily guarded. Rescuing your brother won't be easy."
Qin Erniang bit her lip, her face pale. "I know. But didn't you want to obtain the Dragon Pendant? The Dragon Pendant is currently in the Song estate. I want to request your help, for me to enter the Song estate."
Xue Xingyue looked up at Qin Erniang. "Why ask me?"
Qin Erniang suddenly knelt on the ground, her eyes filled with hope. "As you said, sir, the Song estate is heavily guarded. I can't enter alone, so I implore you to lend Qin Erniang a hand. Qin Erniang will definitely find the Dragon Pendant."
"I understand. You may go down now," Xue Xingyue waved for Qin Erniang to withdraw.
Qin Erniang looked at her, her gaze filled with despair. "Sir..."
"At least let me think of a way, mustn't I?" Xue Xingyue said.
Qin Erniang's face lit up. She kowtowed, "Then Qin Erniang will await your news." With that, Qin Erniang happily departed.
"Your Highness, do you really intend to help Qin Erniang?" Wu Hen asked.
"I need to retrieve the Dragon Pendant anyway. Helping Qin Erniang rescue her brother can be done as well."
"That may be so, but how do you plan to rescue him?" Wu Hen inquired.
How to rescue him? Xue Xingyue twitched her lips. How could she rescue him? To live peacefully in the Song estate with a legitimate identity?
It seemed rather difficult. Xue Xingyue placed a hand on her forehead. How should she go about it?
A legitimate identity?
The Song family was not in a state of panic due to yesterday's assassins, because this was the Song family, the estate that everyone, even those in the highest positions, watched.
This was all because their Song family possessed a divine son who surpassed all others.
Sizhou was not famous for being the most prosperous state in Yu, nor for its abundance of beauties, nor for its fertile land.
It was only because Sizhou had the Song estate. The Song family, which had become a leading family among the five nations in just a few years, possessed no small amount of power.
Why was this the case?
Because the Song family had a daughter who was a noble consort, and a male member who married the legitimate daughter of the Zhao family. Who was the Zhao family? They were relatives of the imperial family, with a daughter who was the Empress. But most importantly, the Song family had a divine son who served as the Prime Minister.
Why was he called a divine son? Because it was this divine son who turned the previously unknown Sizhou into a region even wealthier than Yu, the capital.
Therefore, the people bestowed upon him the title of divine son, for in their eyes, perhaps only a son of God could possess such divine power to transform the impoverished Sizhou into the wealthiest region of Yu.
The public's acclaim for the divine son was even higher than for the Emperor.
Even though the Emperor was displeased, he could not directly remove the Prime Minister who had already attained such a high position.
Moreover, the Song family had deeply entrenched connections. The Empress was related to the Song family, and his most favored consort was from the Song family. Thus, he could not find any way to punish the Song family.
However, the Emperor was still the Emperor, the ruler of Yu. He could not be trampled upon.
If he couldn't control anything else, he could bestow marriages upon the Prime Minister!
Thus, imperial decrees poured into the Song estate. From the eldest grandfather of the Song family down to the youngest daughter of the Song family who had not yet reached maturity, imperial decrees of marriage bestowal were issued.
But who would have thought that if the Emperor had a ladder to cross the bridge, the Song family had a stratagem to counter it?
Let alone that the Prime Minister was a divine son.
Before the imperial decrees for marriage bestowal reached the Song estate, the Song estate was already filled with joyous occasions. Even the young daughters of the Song family who were not yet betrothed or had not reached maturity had found fiancés, and these were all children of families with high-ranking officials in the court.
The Emperor could offend the Song family, but if he offended them all, then his reign as Emperor would soon be over. He could imagine that if he forcibly bestowed marriages, the Dragon Qi Hall would be painted red with blood the next morning.
This was because those ministers were stubborn individuals. Despite his imperial status, he could not afford to offend them.
Since the imperial decrees bestowing marriages upon the Song family were unusable, then bestowing marriage upon the Prime Minister, the prime culprit, could be done, right?
Coincidentally, his most beloved Ninth Princess insisted on marrying the Prime Minister. He had been reluctant before, thinking that one day he would dismantle the Song family. But now that dismantling was impossible, why not let his Ninth Princess cause trouble?
His Ninth Princess, as a favored daughter of heaven, who in the Song estate would dare to bully his Ninth Princess?
Unexpectedly, the Prime Minister stated that he already had a fiancée. A fiancée? Just dismiss her.
But the Prime Minister adamantly refused, saying that even a wife from humble beginnings could not be divorced.
Just as he was growing furious, his Ninth Princess voluntarily went to the Song estate and acted as the future wife of the Prime Minister, causing chaos within the Song estate. So, he smiled and said, "Since my esteemed minister has a fiancée, why not let her be a concubine?"
But who would have thought that the Prime Minister, in front of the court officials, would launch into a lengthy discourse, stating that throughout history, there had never been anyone who had bestowed betrothal gifts upon their principal wife to be a concubine? This was a provocation to the national law, and he could not do it.
In his helplessness, the Emperor devised a good plan. If that fiancée could make the Ninth Princess retreat in defeat, he would agree to withdraw the marriage bestowal of the Ninth Princess to him.
He thought the Prime Minister would delay further. Who would have expected the Prime Minister to agree, but he also proposed that if the fiancée offended the Ninth Princess, he would request His Majesty to forgive the fiancée for her transgression against the princess.
The Emperor readily agreed because he knew his Ninth Princess very well. She had been spoiled to the point of being lawless. He could not think of anyone in this world who possessed the capability to bully his Ninth Princess.
The Ninth Princess had been residing in the Song estate for three days, and for everyone in the Song estate, it could only be described as a disaster.
In the morning, the Ninth Princess demanded that breakfast should not be less than twenty-eight dishes, lunch not less than sixty-eight dishes, and dinner not less than ninety-eight dishes.