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Guo Neng, even though quite a significant figure outside, was treated like a dog by his uncle, summoned and dismissed at will.

The silver he earned was taken for granted by the Xue Residence; they dumped all the dirty, tiring work on him, and lately, they had been dismissing him more carelessly than ever.

Avoiding suspicion? Ha, they dismissed him with the excuse of "avoiding suspicion"!

His situation was already desperate; he couldn’t care less about avoiding suspicion!

Guo Neng’s eyes brimmed with malevolence; if anything happened to him, the Xue Family wouldn’t end well either!

That matter alone was enough for the Xue Family to be exterminated. He wondered if he, by exposing them, could earn some merit and claim later that the Xue Family had coerced him.

The more Guo Neng thought about it, the angrier he became, unable to suppress the urge to destroy everything!

He was inherently ruthless, hot-tempered, and could not tolerate the slightest grievance.

Yet over the years, he has tolerated much mistreatment from Xue Ping because of Xue Ping’s high status and power, while his own Guo family were merely merchants.

His dissatisfaction had already reached immense proportions.

Over these years, the Xue Family had drained so much from the Guo family. If Xue Ping had any conscience, regarded them as his own, he would have allowed them to enter the official career path long ago, leaving the merchant status behind and achieving something significant.

Instead, they suppressed the Guo family, claiming that merchants should not enter the official sector, and those in official positions should not engage in commerce—saying it was for the best interest of the Guo family, that having the Xue in power was enough.

Such a clever calculation, if not just to better control the Guo family, allowing them to be at the Xue’s beck and call?

Ha, such an old fool, who did he think he was fooling with those schemes? He pretended to be noble in front of others and dissociated cleanly with the Guo family, but behind the scenes, he wanted to profit from everything.

Leaving them to die, is that it? Well, don’t push him, or he’d rather bring about mutual destruction than let anyone have their way!

Guo Neng felt his chest about to explode with anger. Feeling the carriage’s motion, he clenched his fist, digging his fingernails into his flesh until blood flowed, and the pain somewhat calmed him down.

The servant boy by his side, seeing the blood on Guo Neng’s hands, jumped in fright, "Young Master, your hand is bleeding."

He hurriedly pulled out gauze and medicinal spirits from a cabinet in the carriage to stop the bleeding for Guo Neng.

Guo Neng’s piercing gaze shot towards the servant boy like a sword, frightening the servant boy into trembling, afraid to make another move.

Guo Neng closed his eyes to calm the rage in his heart.

When he opened his eyes again, they had regained their clarity. With things as they were, he needed to plan for fallbacks, better safe than sorry.

Having made up his mind, he said to the servant boy, "Have Guo Shun find a secluded place and send away our mother, the young madam, and several young masters."

Upon hearing this, the servant boy approached cautiously, "Young Master, Shunzi has gone on an errand..."

Guo Shun was Guo Neng’s confidant and competent handler. He had always managed those matters impeccably, earning Guo Neng’s complete trust.

In the past, the young master only entrusted Guo Shun and his team with those tasks.

Only a few days ago did the young master instruct someone else.

After some thought, still uneasy, he recalled Guo Shun, a rare exception, not expecting that this time, the young master would actually consider recalling him. ..

Guo Neng, again seething with rage, yelled, "Can’t you get someone to call him back? Must I teach you how to do everything?"

For years, no one had discovered anything; how could they possibly discover anything this time? Moreover, the task was already halfway done, and all that was left was for the remaining people to follow through, a path so familiar that nothing could go wrong.

What was most crucial now was dealing with his own affairs, with the situation becoming increasingly urgent. He couldn’t afford to worry about much else.

He ordered Guo Shun to first send his family away to safety, then head south to eliminate those who needed to be handled. It seemed pointless to rely on that old fool anymore.

That old fool had always demanded money and effort. After doing so much for the old fool over the years, what had he gained from it? Why should he even bother!

The Servant Boy hastily agreed, repeatedly apologizing and speaking pleasing words. He vaguely sensed something major was underway but dare not utter any excess words, fearing for his life.

Guo Neng lifted the carriage curtain to glance at the outside sky, then dropped the curtain irritably, and said to the coachman outside, "You drive so slow. Has the Guo family not fed you enough? Hurry up, or this young master will take your life."

The coachman outside shivered from cold, nodded submissively, raised his hand, and snapped the whip, making the horses increase their pace immediately.

The Servant Boy sitting next to Guo Neng became even more cautious.

Having been at Guo Neng’s side for quite some time, he had seen plenty of Guo Neng’s methods.

He had heard Guo Neng say similar things to a subordinate, who was later forced to eat a basketful of buns and choked to death on them, a particularly brutal incident.

Guo Neng’s mood somewhat improved, but whenever he thought of Xue Ping, hatred surfaced once again.

In the night, within Canglan Court.

After the evening meal and bath, Lian Hua sat in front of the Emperor’s usual desk, leaning on the chair with a volume of illustrated stories in front of her, engrossed like a well-behaved, studious child.

The storybook she was reading was illustrated, and although she could read the ones with more text, her eyes would blur after a while. She still preferred the illustrated ones, which did not require much thinking, as a glance would tell her what was happening.

The Emperor had not yet returned, and with nothing else to do, she started reading the storybook while waiting for someone to come back.

That afternoon, she had been well-behaved, quietly and attentively embroidering Xiao Lian Hua, making clothes under the supervisory instructions of Nanny Qi. She had lived up to everyone’s expectations and finally finished the garment!

Everyone at Canglan Court cried tears of joy; their lady had completed the garment, only needing to be wrapped and presented to His Majesty. Finally, they no longer had to act like thieves, and from then on, they could meet His Majesty with heads held high!

Xiao Jizi no longer had to pretend to keep lookout from dawn till dusk, no longer had to pretend along with their lady to deceive His Majesty, and no longer had to collaborate with His Majesty to deceive their lady.

When His Majesty arrived, he no longer had to endure the torment of "betraying his lord" by reporting what the lady was up to, whether he should wait for the lady to hide His Majesty before entering the court.

Of course, until the clothes were presented, Xiao Jizi still had to pretend not to know that His Majesty was already aware. However, compared to the time when the lady was making the clothes, the situation had greatly improved, and he felt content, unable to help but cry tears of joy.

Others might not understand how painful it was to repeatedly "betray his lord," to tell His Majesty time and again about what their lady was doing, causing him intense inner turmoil.

In this, he greatly admired that fool, who could betray their lady completely clean. Whatever His Majesty asked, he answered, reporting every detail of what their lady did without leaving anything out, thinking it was normal, that fool.

On the other side, Xiao Linzi felt quite dejected.

His task of reciting poems loudly for His Majesty had been canceled.

Ever since Consort Fang Pin visited, their lady rarely asked him to recite poems anymore, and he felt as though his talents were wasted, his earlier sense of accomplishment gradually fading away.

His talent for reciting poems seemed useless now, making him feel completely worthless again. He became listless, even eating half a bowl less of dinner at night.