The Host Has Fallen for the Second Female Lead Again - Chapter 89

Then Ji Mingxiao lowered her voice, “That wasn’t a small amount. It’s a good thing I found out early. If my reputation is ruined, your reputation won’t be any better.”

“What does my royal sister want to do?” Zhaoxun didn’t feel any change in Ji Mingxiao. As a sister-worshipper, his older sister was good no matter what, although he was indeed a little surprised that his sister would handle this kind of thing.

“Do you have anyone you can use? Go to the capital and spread the word that the Wen family steward embezzled wages and framed the princess. Those workers will probably talk about it after they go back. You just need to add fuel to the fire.”

“Okay.” Zhaoxun smiled.

“Look!” Ji Mingxiao randomly pulled Zhaoxun to the river. “I saw a blue fish in there before, why is it gone?”

The two began to chat aimlessly. The conversation ended with Zhaoxun saying he had to go read memorials.

Ji Mingxiao returned to her palace. She had originally wanted to move to the princess’s residence, but then she thought she might need to talk to the emperor at any time, so she gave up the idea.

Although the emperor was only fifteen, it was clear that he would be a good emperor in the future. Ji Mingxiao believed in her own judgment.

Ji Mingxiao had originally thought about seizing the throne, but now she thought better of it. From the current situation, it was already good enough to be able to do this in such a precarious situation.

Zhaoxun was indeed struggling, but he still went and did the task Ji Mingxiao had given him.

Now, the public opinion of Ji Mingxiao in the capital had improved slightly. The blame was basically all shifted onto the Wen family, and after Ji Mingxiao personally went and distributed the wages, there were even more voices praising her, and people were scrambling to work at Ji Mingxiao’s construction sites.

When Wen Yue heard these rumors in the capital, she subconsciously thought of Ji Mingxiao’s behavior that day. It was very clear that this matter was 100% related to Ji Mingxiao.

Ji Mingxiao was not surprised at all to receive the token for Wen Yue to enter the palace.

When Wen Yue entered the palace, she brought a lot of food that Zhaoyan liked. Wen Yue was very good at making Zhaoyan happy, which was why she could trick Zhaoyan so easily.

“Yueyue.” Ji Mingxiao leaned on the soft couch and sent everyone else out.

Every time Wen Yue came, the two of them would stay alone, after all, they might do other things.

“There are a lot of people in the capital praising you recently.”

“I know.” Ji Mingxiao smiled, a little nonchalantly. “So many people were speaking ill of me before, so I had to find a way to turn my reputation around. I didn’t do anything wrong, so why should they scold me?”

Wen Yue suddenly wanted to ask if those people were scolding the Wen family because the Wen family had done something wrong, but she didn’t dare to ask.

If everyone was speaking in hints, it would be easy to talk, but sometimes being honest made communication more difficult.

Wen Yue was very curious whether Ji Mingxiao knew that those people were scolding the Wen family.

She took a deep breath.

“Try the pastries I brought.” Wen Yue smiled at Ji Mingxiao.

Ji Mingxiao casually took one and took a bite. It did taste good, but she didn’t eat much more, since who knew what was added to it.

“In a few days, we’re going to Mount Feng to appreciate chrysanthemums. Do you want to come with us?”

“Okay.” Ji Mingxiao nodded. She had recently been researching which people were part of the pro-emperor faction. She wanted to test the waters with the daughters of those officials. In ancient times, women’s social connections were also very important. “Let me know the specific time.”

Wen Yue nodded. She had a lot of things she wanted to ask, but she couldn’t. However, just looking at her, she seemed not too different from before.

When she left, Wen Yue tried to kiss Ji Mingxiao, but she dodged it.

“Stop messing around. Go back quickly. It’s almost dark.” Ji Mingxiao was completely talking nonsense, as it was still bright outside.

Wen Yue had been thinking about things and only realized this after she left.

“Miss, why did you come out so quickly today?”

Wen Yue’s face was a little gloomy. “She told me to come out.”

The old Zhaoyan would always pester her to stay, wishing she could stay overnight.

But now…

It was clear that something had changed.

Wen Yue turned back to look at the palace and slightly clenched her fists.

Why did this happen so suddenly?

After Wen Yue went back, she told the story to the Wen family.

However, Prime Minister Wen didn’t take it seriously. In his opinion, Ji Mingxiao was just a cash machine.

“You just need to coax her. Don’t overthink it,” said Prime Minister Wen, glancing at Wen Yue. “Don’t tell me you can’t even control a useless person.”

Wen Yue lowered her head and didn’t say anything more. After leaving Prime Minister Wen’s study, her whole mood was a bit low.

“Miss.”

“I’m fine.” Wen Yue clenched her fists slightly. She was already sixteen this year, and there were many people who had come to propose marriage, but the Wen family had not agreed.

Wen Yue knew that even though she hadn’t said anything about her relationship with Zhaoyan, Prime Minister Wen had guessed.

In order to keep Zhaoyan under the Wen family’s control, they probably wouldn’t help her with marriage proposals, unless they could really get that position.

Wen Yue was a little annoyed. She had clearly done so much for the Wen family, but some people in the Wen family looked down on her because of it.

The Wen family, from top to bottom, fought for the family’s honor. Men entered officialdom, and women became tools for marriage.

Wen Yue looked up at the moon in the sky.

She was madly jealous of Zhaoyan.

Why did such a fool have such good family members, able to have whatever she wanted, carefree?

Ji Mingxiao had been studying how to make herself more powerful recently. She had originally wanted to use cultivation methods to train, but the system eventually told her that doing so might cause the world to collapse. However, there was no such thing as internal energy in this world.

In the end, she could only get a long sword from Zhaoxun and start practicing martial arts.

Fortunately, she hadn’t forgotten the sword techniques she had learned in the cultivation world, but without the assistance of cultivation, she couldn’t get the same feeling as before.

“Host, didn’t you used to dislike fighting and killing?”

“I still don’t like it now.” Heaven knows Ji Mingxiao’s legs were still trembling when she mentioned the punishment of death by a thousand cuts. She later thought that the Wen family wanted to rebel, so she held back. In this kind of life-or-death situation, there was no need to be soft-hearted.

She knew deeply that Zhaoyan’s existence was a blemish on Wen Yue. If things succeeded, the other party would definitely not spare her life. The reality was that the other party did indeed take her life. Although in Zhaoyan’s memory she didn’t know who killed her, Ji Mingxiao felt it was probably Wen Yue.

Ji Mingxiao woke up at the same time every morning to practice her sword. When she slept, she would send everyone out, so no one would find out when she practiced her sword in the morning. Yes, her palace was very big, and there was no problem with practicing the sword.

After practicing, she would pack up her things and go back to bed, calling for someone to prepare her bath water.

So when the news reached Wen Yue’s ears, it was that Ji Mingxiao suddenly started taking baths in the morning.

Ji Mingxiao took some time to go and see the Empress, Wen Wan, the eldest daughter of the Wen family.

Wen Wan was three years older than the emperor. When the two were married, Zhaoxun was still a little child.

Their relationship was very distant. Since Zhaoxun was young, there was no problem with him not visiting the back palace. He would only go to see the Empress on the first and fifteenth of the month and would not stay overnight.

There were only three women in the back palace, and they all seemed to be there to accompany Wen Wan.

Zhaoyan and Wen Wan often talked together. In Zhaoyan’s eyes, Wen Wan was a very good sister-in-law. She knew a lot, was interesting, and had a good temper. She had even advised Zhaoxun to be nicer to the Empress.

As soon as Ji Mingxiao walked into the Empress’s palace, she was welcomed in.

Wen Wan was sitting in the courtyard drinking tea. When she saw Ji Mingxiao, she smiled, “The princess has come.”

“It’s been a while since I came to play with you.” Ji Mingxiao sat down opposite Wen Wan, very casually, as if nothing had changed.

Wen Wan looked at Ji Mingxiao, and her expression didn’t show any problems, as if she didn’t know anything about the outside world.

The two of them chatted aimlessly. The topics were not meaningful.

Ji Mingxiao also couldn’t tell what kind of person Wen Wan was, but in Zhaoyan’s memory, Wen Wan had died. On the day the Wen family rebelled, she had committed suicide in the palace. As for why, Ji Mingxiao didn’t know, but she also knew that Wen Wan wouldn’t have had a good outcome if she had lived.

In Ji Mingxiao’s opinion, this should be a victim of political struggle.

“Are you in a bad mood? I rarely see you looking so unhappy.”

Ji Mingxiao propped her chin. “I’m only occasionally, you look unhappy all the time.”

Wen Wan’s hand gripping the cup froze for a moment. She glanced at Ji Mingxiao. “What do I have to be unhappy about?”

“Isn’t Axun good to you?”

“The Emperor is naturally good to this Empress. Royal sister doesn’t need to worry.”

“If you have anything, just tell me. If I can help, I definitely won’t.” Ji Mingxiao smiled at Wen Wan.

Wen Wan pursed her lips. “I really don’t. I’ve always been like this.”

“Why don’t you do something you want to do?”

“This Empress is the mother of the country,” Wen Wan said.

Ji Mingxiao smiled and suddenly understood the reason for her suicide. The most difficult people were always the ones standing in the middle.

Having more or less figured out Wen Wan’s attitude, she didn’t stay any longer.

“Wen Wan is so pitiful,” System A sighed.

“She probably knew her fate long ago. No matter what happened, she wouldn’t have survived,” Ji Mingxiao said indifferently. “The Wen family probably wanted her to give birth to the emperor’s son or to whisper in Zhaoxun’s ear.”

“But Zhaoxun doesn’t touch her, so she’s completely become a decoration. She doesn’t want to help Zhaoxun, nor does she want to help the Wen family, but she can’t betray either her husband or her father. Her moral sense is a bit too high, no wonder they let her enter the palace and let Wen Yue wander outside.” Ji Mingxiao walked slowly on the path. When she returned, she received a letter from Wen Yue.

The day for appreciating chrysanthemums was the day after tomorrow.

The day before they set off, Zhaoxun sent many self-defense items, mostly hidden weapons, in bracelets, jade pendants, and various other small items.

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