Chapter 185 - Minyue in Trouble

This Shen Ziqiao! This damned Shen Ziqiao!

Why did she get to be so unyielding? Why! She even dared to talk to her like this and threaten her too! Sheng Peiyin shook in fury. She heard that Shen Ziqiao was going to the palace today so she specially came over to check on this little bitch who ruined her entire life.

She thought that Shen Ziqiao would tremble in fear seeing her but she didn’t expect her to act like this still. She wasn’t afraid at all. She was the emperor’s most favored consort. It was easy for her to kill Shen Ziqiao. Why wasn’t she afraid?

“Your Highness?” The palace maid stared at her in worry.

Sheng Peiyin exclaimed angrily, “Let’s head back!”

The empress quickly heard about this. She sneered and exclaimed, “What a joker.”

Shen Ziqiao knew that she must’ve angered Sheng Peiyin badly today. However, she wasn’t afraid. If she was, she wouldn’t have talked back to the Imperial Consort Xian.

She didn’t understand. Why was Sheng Peiyin proud? So what if she was Imperial Consort Xian? Just a group of women fighting over status for one man. Why was she acting proud? How many years could she act proud for?

Even if the emperor pampered her right now, so what? How long could that last for? Plus, it wasn’t like people didn’t have information against Sheng Peiyin.

“First Madam, are we going straight home now?” Hong Yu asked.

“Let’s go to the Shen Family.” Shen Ziqiao thought about it. She wanted to talk to Shen Zikai about some things.

The horse carriage drove in the direction of the Shen Family. Shen Ziqiao sat in the horse carriage but didn’t notice that the carriage that just passed her was the person she had been thinking about for the past few days.

Shen Zikai thought it was a bit strange seeing Shen Ziqiao. “I was going to have someone come for you. Did you receive news from Minyue as well?”

“What happened there?” Shen Ziqiao froze and asked confusedly.

“What?” Shen Zikai asked confusedly.

Shen Ziqiao hurriedly exclaimed, “I just came from the palace.”

“The authorities suddenly arrested Pan Family’s cargo ships and all the goods have been detained. Then, under the crime of smuggling salt in, they closed down Yixing Company.” Shen Zikai told Shen Ziqiao about the news he just received.

“Smuggle his ass!” Shen Ziqiao cursed. “Who went to close down Yixing Company?”

Shen Zikai said, “It’s Minyue’s Provincial Military Governor Li. I investigated. They’re part of the Sun Family.”

“That means they’re targeting us.” Shen Ziqiao clenched her teeth. Clearly, Sheng Peiyin incited this. Back then, her grandfather had ruined Sheng Peiyin’s businesses in the capital in order to vent anger for her. Now, Sheng Peiyin was getting revenge.

“Ma Junfeng also opened trading companies in the Twenty-four Streets Company. Coincidentally enough, it’s across from Yixing Company. With the authorities’ support, Ma Family’s trading companies will quickly stabilize. Maybe even He Family needs to…

Shen Zikai said worriedly.

Shen Ziqiao obviously knew that it wasn’t heard for Ma Junfeng to become the head of the Twenty-four Companies if she wanted. However, she refused to let the Ma Family do this by trampling over the Pan Family.

“What did grandfather say?” Shen Ziqiao asked. If Ma Junfeng really wanted to oppose the Pan Family but without the Sun Family supporting him, he won’t benefit from it either. But the point was that the Sun Family was supporting him.

Shen Ziqiao recalled when Sheng Peiyin saw her today and how she didn’t bother to hide the proudness in her eyes. Clearly, it was her idea to deal with the Pan Family. What did she plan on doing?

Was there any point in dealing with the Pan Family and the court situation today? Did Sheng Peiyin think that she could steadily take the position as Imperial Consort Xian by beating the Pan Family? Did she think that the empress and the crown prince would be forced to give up their positions then?

“Grandfather just wants us to be careful. He didn’t say anything else.” Shen Zikai said in a heavy tone. How could he not know? Their grandfather just didn’t want to make things difficult for them. He didn’t want them to intervene and then be dragged down.

How could Shen Ziqiao not understand? She suppressed her anger and said, “Elder brother, we can’t just sit here and do nothing. Grandfather got dragged down because of us.”

“I know but what can we do when they’re in Minyue? Why don’t I go to Minyue?” Shen Zikai said.

“No, elder brother, I heard from the empress that Qi Zheng got injured when I entered the palace earlier. You can’t leave the capital at this time. I’m afraid that if something happens in the palace, no one can assist Qi Zheng. I’ll go to Minyue!” There was a determined glint in Shen Ziqiao’s bright eyes.

Shen Zikai just heard of Qi Zheng getting injured right now. He hurriedly asked, “How did Qi Zheng get injured?”

“I don’t know the specifics. He said that he’ll come back today so I’ll go home and check first. If there are any news, I’ll have someone tell you. Elder brother, you and father need to be careful. Best to have someone monitor the third prince.” Shen Ziqiao said in a low voice. “I heard that the third prince frequently leaves the palace and that Spiritual Master Zhu...who knows whether he’s the sect leader of Tianxuan Sect? It’s far from the capital so who knows if that’s even a real place?”

“I know what to do.” Shen Zikai suddenly laughed and then patted her shoulders. “Jiao Jiao, you just married Qi Zheng and you’ve learned how to be sneaky like him.”

Shen Ziqiao glared at him. “What do you mean by sneaky? What did I say?”

Shen Zikai laughed out loud but shook his head. “No, I said nothing. Quickly go back.”

Coming out from the Shen Family, Shen Ziqiao’s smile faded immediately. She thought of how her grandfather and uncles who cherished her were now forced in a tight spot by Ma Junfeng and she felt as if her heart had been snatched. She was in pain and in anger. She wanted to fly to Minyue and then hack Ma Junfeng into pieces.

“First Madam?” Hong Yu looked worriedly at Shen Ziqiao.

She had never seen Shen Ziqiao being so angry before. She felt a strong murderous intent in the air.

Shen Ziqiao stared outside the carriage window and exclaimed, “We’re going to Minyue.”

Hong Yu froze and wanted to ask why but seeing that Shen Ziqiao didn’t really want to ask, she didn’t dare to press.

Returning to the Qi Family, Hong Ying hurried over and exclaimed, “First Madam, the eldest master has returned!”

Shen Ziqiao’s gaze flickered. “Where?”

“Inside the room!” Shen Ziqiao had already pulled the curtains to the side and entered the room after Hong Ying finished talking.

Hong Yu pulled Hong Ying over and silently stood outside.

“Qi Zheng!” Shen Ziqiao looked nervously at the man sitting by the bed against the window. He casually wore an everyday robe and casually read a book. Seeing that Shen Ziqiao had returned, his handsome face revealed a gentle smile.

“You’re back?” Qi Zheng asked and waved Shen Ziqiao over.

Shen Ziqiao glared at the smile on his face. She walked over and removed his belt.

Qi Zheng was scared witless. “Jiao Jiao, this...broad daylight. It’s not suitable. Why don’t we wait until the night and then…?”

“Shut up!” Shen Ziqiao shouted. She couldn’t remove the damned belt. “Remove your own clothes!”

“We’ve only been away from each other for two days and you’ve missed me that much?” Qi Zheng purposely exclaimed in an ambiguous tone. “You’re too enthusiastic. This husband might not be able to withstand it.”

“Qi Zheng!” Shen Ziqiao was really mad. She glared at Qi Zheng who was still laughing. “If someone didn’t tell me about it, you won’t ever tell me that you got injured? Do I always need someone to tell me about you? What do you take me for? What?!”

“Jiao Jiao…” Qi Zheng stared at Shen Ziqiao who was streaming with tears. He stood up trembling and tried to explain, “I, I wasn’t injured. That’s just a minor injury. Really. It’s fine. Don’t cry. Jiao Jiao, don’t cry. Sit down first.”

Shen Ziqiao smacked his hand away from hugging her. “Minor injury? You won’t tell me because it’s a minor injury? Then what sort of injury do you need to have in order to tell me? Qi Zheng, who do you take me for?”

Qi Zheng hurriedly said, “I didn’t tell you because I, I didn’t want to worry you. You want to see my injury? I’ll let you take a look. I’ll let you take a look right away.”

As he finished, he quickly took off his robe and tugged his clothes apart, revealing his bare chest.

There was a layer of gauze wrapped around his sturdy chest. Qi Zheng was about to remove the gauze.

“What are you doing?” Shen Ziqiao glared at him and asked.

Qi Zheng smiled. “Didn’t you say you want to see my injury? I’ll let you look.”

“Bastard!” Shen Ziqiao threw the cushion on the bed at him. “Who cares if you’re injured? Who wants to see your injury? Get lost, get lost!”

“Jiao Jiao…” Qi Zheng looked helplessly at her. “I had Uncle Qun tell you the other day so that you wouldn’t think about bad things. That’s why I didn’t tell you.”

“I’m not listening to anything right now. Leave.” Shen Ziqiao shifted her gaze. He had no idea what she cared about.

Qi Zheng furrowed his dashing brows and hugged her tightly. “Jiao Jiao, don’t be angry. Tell me what I did wrong.”

“What could you have possibly done wrong? You did this all for me.” Shen Ziqiao sneered.

“Don’t be like this.” Qi Zheng’s heart ached.

Shen Ziqiao wiped her tears. “You don’t understand. No matter what happens, I want to be the first one to know. I don’t want you to hide things from me. I care about you. I’m your wife. Not only do I want to share your happiness, I want to share bitterness with you too. But if you don’t tell me anything, what am I exactly?”

“Jiao Jiao, sorry…” Qi Zheng apologized in a hoarse voice. “I won’t hide from you in the future. I won’t hide anything from you.”

He didn’t really plan on hiding it from her. He just wanted to tell her personally about it when he came back. But there was no point saying that now.

Shen Ziqiao really wanted to check on his injury. He had already gotten injured in the northwest so she wondered if it’d affect his old wound.

“Jiao Jiao, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell you but that I wasn’t able to leave the city at all for the past two days. I got attacked when I left the city. In order to capture the mastermind, I had Uncle Qun tell you that I was fine. I didn’t want you to leave the city. If you found out that I was injured, you’d definitely leave the city. If something happens to you then, I…” Qi Zheng explained in a low voice. Seeing that her expression was a bit better, he carried her and sat down. “No matter what happens in the future, I’ll be sure to tell you first, okay?”

Shen Ziqiao sniffled and cried a bit. She didn’t feel so bad anymore.