The eldest sister was reborn and the younger sister traveled through time. I just want to survive.

Fortunately, her self-mutilation was effective. Mingxin cried from time to time day and night. Changchun Palace summoned several imperial doctors overnight. Before dawn, the director of the Imperial Medical Bureau and old imperial physician Fang were summoned from outside the palace. None of the imperial doctors could diagnose that Mingxin was ill.

If it wasn't a disease, then it was possible that she had been possessed by an evil spirit. Empress Xue sent someone to secretly invite a Taoist nun to the palace to perform exorcism, but she still couldn't stop Mingxin from crying for no reason.

Three days later, Yan Muqing was invited to Changchun Palace alone. After the mother and daughter were together, Mingxin stopped crying.

That night, Ming Xin was taken back to the East Palace by Yan Mucheng, and Queen Xue never mentioned personally educating her again.

After being involved in the harem for many years, Queen Xue guessed that Yan Muching must have used some tricks. She also knew that if she insisted on raising the little princess, Yan Muching would feel sorry for her daughter and might not be able to hold on for long.

But even if she guessed it, she didn't want to go through the trouble anymore. It had been more than two years since the prince's wedding, and only one princess, Mingxin, was born in the Eastern Palace. She felt distressed and was reluctant to take risks with her only little golden bead.

Moreover, when she went to the Qianqing Palace two days ago, she actually saw Yan Yongchen, who was supposed to be in prison. If she was right, Yan Yongchen would be reinstated soon.

Although my father was firmly in the position of Grand Tutor and had a certain say in the court, the emperor had his own ministers. My father was a minister promoted by the previous emperor, and the emperor did not trust him very much.

Yan Yongchen is the most favored minister of the current emperor, and Yan Muching is Yan Yongchen's eldest daughter. For the sake of the crown prince's position, she cannot afford to offend him too much.

If she had seen Yan Yongchen a few days earlier, she would never have brought up the matter of raising the princess.

In the imperial study, Emperor Yuanjing read the latest battle report. He breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time he couldn't help but sigh repeatedly.

Over the course of more than half a month, North Vietnam had launched no less than ten powerful attacks on the city. If Gu Yunting had not arrived in time to stabilize the situation, Dingzhou City would probably not have waited for the arrival of reinforcements.

The reinforcements arrived in Dingzhou three days ago, and without even a day of rest, they started fighting with the North Vietnamese army.

Now that Dingzhou City has been temporarily saved, the Dafeng army has suffered heavy losses due to fatigue and discomfort, and it will be difficult for them to resist the powerful attack of North Vietnam in a short period of time.

Yan Yongchen read the battle report carefully several times and began to persuade Emperor Yuanjing.

"Your Majesty, please do not worry too much. Our army is much larger than the North Vietnamese army. No matter how strong the North Vietnamese army is, they will get tired. They have been fighting for dozens of days and are still insisting on attacking the city. It is very likely that they are running out of military supplies and are just waiting to capture the next city to seize Dafeng's supplies."

"I hope Lord Yan's inference will come true!" Emperor Yuanjing rubbed his brows tiredly, not daring to have any hope of luck.

The new emperor of North Vietnam personally led 150,000 troops to the expedition. He must have made sufficient preparations. Even if he could not shake Dafeng's foundation, he would definitely not give up until he had bitten off a piece of Dafeng's fat meat.

Looking at Yan Yongchen, who was standing straight with his eyebrows lowered, Emperor Yuanjing said, "You should go back to the palace today and wait. When the Dali Temple issues a notice tomorrow, I will directly issue an order to restore your official position."

"I obey your command." Yan Yongchen said nothing more and bowed and left.

Emperor Yuanjing did not withdraw his gaze until Yan Yongchen retreated out of the palace.

Based on his personal experiences since childhood, he did not trust anyone, no matter if it was the eunuch who had served him for many years or the person who had accompanied him by his bedside for several years, he could not give them complete trust.

He could only feel secure if he had all the power in his hands. However, before and after he ascended the throne, Dafeng had always been ruled by meritorious families. He tried every opportunity to train his own people, but after spending many years, he still achieved little results.

Most of the military power in the southern border is in the hands of Weiyuan Hou. Weiyuan Hou is okay, he is a rough man who can see through things at a glance, and he does not have the courage or ability to start a rebellion.

The military power in the northern border is in the hands of Marquis Dingbei, who is the late emperor's confidant. Regardless of his loyalty or not, he will not be entrusted with important tasks again.

So after Marquis Dingbei fell, he took back the military power and trained his own people to take over the Dingbei Army.

But when it comes to the critical moment, it is still the men of the Gu family who can shoulder the heavy responsibility. Twenty years have passed, and the people of Northern Frontier still only recognize the Beihou Mansion and Prince Rong.

This was the case with the territory and military power, and the court was also firmly controlled by the major clans. The Xue family, the Hua family, the Su family, and several other century-old families were deeply rooted in their power. Even if he was an emperor, it would be difficult to shake the foundations of these major families.

Yan Yongchen was the first minister who was ambitious, capable, did not cling to the aristocratic family, and was willing to serve him as a sword.

Although he could not see through Yan Yongchen, perhaps the person who saw through him was not capable enough. If he wanted to have a good knife, he should not be too afraid of being hurt by the knife.

Therefore, he was willing to give Yan Yongchen a high position, to make the knife sharper, to weigh the noble families for him, to cut off their branches and leaves, and even to pry open their roots.

When Yan Yongchen returned home, Qian Manman sent someone to deliver a letter to Yan Muxi.

As Yan Muxi's father's biological daughter, she couldn't act too indifferent when his father was released and returned home. She also wanted to meet Yan Yongchen, so she immediately went back to Yan's house after receiving the news.

After entering the mansion, he learned that Yan Yongchen was the director of the study in the front yard, so he took Yinxia directly to the study.

"Second Miss, please!" Yan Yongchen seemed to know that she was coming, and actually asked Yan Da to wait at the gate of the courtyard in advance.

Seeing the plain-looking man with extraordinary swordsmanship in front of him, Yan Muxi couldn't help but think of the scene when the Sixth Prince had his throat pierced by a sword. His scalp went numb and his heart beat faster. He pinched his palms to maintain his composure.

It was a bright spring day, the doors and windows of the study were wide open, and Yan Yongchen stood in front of the desk, looking down at the chess pieces on the board, as if he was playing chess with himself.

Yan Muxi stepped into the house and waited for him to land before speaking and greeting him, "I haven't seen you for a long time. Is Dad all right?"

Yan Yongchen glanced at her and said, "Your father, I am fine, don't you know everything? Since there are no outsiders here, there is no need to pretend to be polite." After saying that, he lowered his eyes to look at the chess pieces on the board.

Yan Muxi felt that Yan Yongchen's words seemed to have hidden meanings, but also seemed to be just a casual greeting, and she felt even more uneasy for a moment.

"Thank you, my daughter, for your help that day."

"There is no need to talk about thanks between father and daughter, and your husband has already thanked you, so there is no need to thank him again."

Yan Yongchen spoke indifferently without even raising his eyelids, but Yan Muxi was shocked.

Yu Wantai actually met Yan Yongchen. When did he meet him?

Just as he was about to ask for clarification, Yan Yongchen, who had left a son behind, spoke first, "On New Year's Eve, your husband came to look for me, and I happened to be free, so I chatted with him for a while."

Yan Muxi took a deep breath to calm himself down, and asked tentatively, "I wonder what father and the prince talked about?"

Yan Yongchen asked back, "Do you want to know?"

She nodded hurriedly, and then realized that Yan Yongchen didn't look at her, and said, "My daughter wants to know, can Dad tell me?"

Yan Yongchen answered straightforwardly, "No. Stay out of men's business. And even if you want to, you don't have the ability to do so. Just stay quiet and take care of yourself."

Realizing that she couldn't get anything out of her, Yan Muxi stopped wasting her breath and said, "My daughter will follow your father's instructions. If you have nothing else to do, I will leave first."

Seeing Yan Yongchen waving his hand, she turned around and walked out. Before she left, Yan Yongchen suddenly said, "Life is difficult, and it's not easy to survive. Be careful about everything."

She didn't look back, but just paused and responded with a trembling voice, "Okay, daughter, I'll remember that." Then she turned around and quickly walked out of the house.

It turned out that it was not an illusion. Yan Yongchen knew much more than she thought.