100: Regret? Emptiness? Sorry, no.

"Someone is visiting?"

Shen Xian had just seen Mo Yingqi off from the Governor-General's office and watched him leave in his carriage when he heard a report from his subordinate that someone was visiting Zhang Jiawen, which caught him off guard.

"Everyone in the city related to the Zhang Family has been placed under surveillance, so why would anyone come to visit him?" Shen Xian was momentarily stunned. "Who is it?"

"Reporting to the Minister, it is a young woman, and she has a boy who looks to be four or five years old with her." The soldier replied, his eyes filled with confusion. "The people at the prison said that the woman told them to just report it truthfully, and someone would arrange for her to get in."

"Oh, then let her go." Shen Xian narrowed his eyes. "Right, no matter what happens between that woman and Zhang Jiawen, tell the jailers not to pay any attention to it. Whatever that woman does, just pretend you didn't see it... Actually, send our own men over, let the jailers take a break. Remember, do not interfere or ask about anything. Once the woman leaves, just handle the aftermath."

"Yes, I understand."

Shen Xian guessed that this must be the Dancer that Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning had mentioned. Although he didn't know exactly what she intended to do, as someone who knew the inside story, Shen Xian was well aware that it was likely nothing good.

"Sigh, these two crazy girls..."

Although Shen Xian was an upright man, he wasn't so pedantic that he couldn't be flexible. The madness of Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning, while mostly stemming from Mo Yingqi, had also been fueled by his own sister-in-law.

The price they paid to obtain the Mo Yingqi they wanted most was to become the leaders of Partridge Sky and do the dirty work for the Imperial family. Shen Xian had always felt that the Shen Family had failed them; two perfectly fine, beautiful Legitimate Princesses had now turned into ruthless demons. Therefore, as far as Shen Xian was concerned, as long as Luo Yongan and Luo Yongning didn't attempt to usurp the throne, he would turn a blind eye to many things and even step in to help personally.

Of course, Shen Xian also understood that they had no intention of doing these things to begin with. In terms of talent and cunning, the two sisters were superior to Luo Yongfu and Luo Yongze, but firstly, they were women, and secondly... the world meant nothing to them compared to even a fraction of Mo Yingqi.

"Minister, do we need to notify the Imperial Son-in-Law?" The soldier's question interrupted Shen Xian's thoughts. "After all, the Imperial Son-in-Law assisted from the sidelines, and besides, Zhang Jiawen and he..."

"Forget it, since the Imperial Son-in-Law has already returned to his residence, let him get some good rest." Shen Xian waved his hand. "Also, remember, Zhang Jiawen has nothing to do with the Imperial Son-in-Law. He doesn't now, and he never will in the future."

"Yes, I understand."

After saluting, the soldier turned to leave, but Shen Xian suddenly called him back: "Prepare everything. Once that woman has seen Zhang Jiawen, send him to the Northern Frontier."

"This... Minister, do we not need to escort him to the capital?" The soldier was surprised. "He has confessed so much; he might be useful in the future..."

"No need. The Emperor trusts me and has bestowed the imperial edict plaque upon me, so there is no need to trouble The Emperor with such matters." Shen Xian shook his head. "Besides, Zhou Chutian won't be brought down so easily just because of one Zhang Jiawen, and that's not even considering whether Zhang Jiawen will still be fit to serve as a witness after that woman leaves... that is still an unknown."

"Turn around, go to the prison."

Mo Yingqi, who was dozing with his eyes closed in the carriage, suddenly opened them and said to Steward Zheng: "I want to see the end of my father with my own eyes."

"This... Imperial Son-in-Law, Her Highness ordered that you return to the Temporary Palace after completing your duties." Steward Zheng said, looking troubled. "Besides, the case has been tried; the Minister will handle his final disposal..."

"Hmm, you're right..." Mo Yingqi frowned. "Forget it, let's go back to the Temporary Palace first..."

A moment ago, Mo Yingqi had suddenly had a strange thought... Or rather, it wasn't his own thought, but an inexplicable idea that had abruptly appeared in his mind.

That was that today, his biological father would likely reach his dead end. This feeling was very strange, as if for a fleeting moment, his thoughts had resonated with someone else's.

The most absurd thing was that Mo Yingqi could clearly feel this, but it was just for a fleeting moment. Mo Yingqi rubbed his head, his eyes filled with confusion.

"Hmm? Just a moment ago, Yingqi seemed to resonate with my 'Love Follows'." Luo Yongan, who was drinking tea, put down her cup, the inexplicable excitement and madness in her eyes intensifying. "Yongning, we can proceed to the next stage."

"Fine, fine. I'm getting a bit tired of holding back like this every day." Although Luo Yongning's tone was flat, the madness in her eyes was even more intense than her sister's. "Sister, but we have to visit the Grand Empress Dowager tomorrow; should we wait a bit longer?"

Ying Hong, standing to the side, almost couldn't hold back a laugh when she heard Luo Yongning mention holding back. Holding back? The two of you were so 'restrained' that you were practically keeping the Imperial Son-in-Law locked in the bedchamber, not letting him out. If you weren't holding back... I'm afraid it would be hard for us to even see you two again, right?

However, regarding this 'Love Follows', although Ying Hong had heard a little about it, she still didn't quite believe it. Even if it was a legendary poison, could it really be as they expected? Could it really keep Mo Yingqi firmly under control?

"Hmm... that's true." Luo Yongan nodded. "But the 'Love Follows' in Yingqi's body has already started to slowly resonate with ours. Before we leave the Jiangsu and Zhejiang region, we must ensure that Yingqi can slowly adapt to the true effects of 'Love Follows', and also... make him unable to leave us even more."

"But Sister, why are you keeping that Su Yan, and even promising to take her to the capital to find her brother?" Luo Yongning didn't quite understand. "She's of no use to us now; why bring her along?"

"She's useful, but not for Yingqi—for someone else..." Luo Yongan smiled mysteriously. "In any case, you'll know when the time comes. Let's just bring her along for now. I don't expect her to do anything, but having her is better than not."

On the other side, Zhang Jiawen sat on the straw bed in his cell, his face devoid of color. Shen Xian hadn't made things too difficult for him; it was a single cell with a table and chairs, and it was even relatively clean.

Looking up at the small iron-barred window, Zhang Jiawen couldn't help but feel a wave of bitterness. Although he knew in his heart that all of this would come sooner or later.

But when this day finally arrived, Zhang Jiawen still found it hard to accept. Not long ago, he was still the Provincial Administration Commissioner of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang region, but today, he had become a prisoner in the dungeon.

He still remembered when he was being escorted to the prison, many inmates recognized him and took turns hurling insults, mockery, and ridicule at him.

"As expected, if I am imprisoned, I am truly no better than those common criminals." Zhang Jiawen sighed deeply. "Mo Yingqi... Heh, I have calculated so much in my life, yet I failed to calculate that you would rise to success so quickly."

"Lord Zhang, someone is here to visit you."

A jailer walked over, speaking as he took out the key and unlocked the door. Behind him, a woman wearing a light-colored cloak walked in, holding a boy in a small jacket with her right hand and carrying a food box in her left.

"You, why are you here?" Zhang Jiawen's expression changed drastically the moment he saw her. "Didn't I leave you money? Why didn't you take him and hurry to the Estate to hide?"

"Sir, now that you are in prison, how could I not look after you?" The woman slowly lowered her hood, revealing a delicate and pretty face. "If it weren't for you reaching out back then, I wouldn't be where I am today."

"Foolish!" Zhang Jiawen slapped his thigh hard. "Even if I have lost power, the Zhang Clan can still protect you and the child. If that rebellious son Mo Yingqi finds out about you..."

"Sir, don't worry, nothing will happen." The woman acted as if she didn't care, simply placing the food box on the somewhat dilapidated wooden table and setting out the wine and dishes she had prepared. "If something were really to happen, the child and I would have already met with disaster; how could we have waited until today?"

"You, sigh, forget it..."

Since things had reached this point, Zhang Jiawen couldn't say anything more. He could only sit on the wooden stool, pick up the wine the woman had poured for him, and drain it in one gulp.

"Sir, is there really no chance left?" The woman looked at him with a mix of sorrow and resentment. "Though I didn't care about status back then, nor did I ever think I could marry into your family, I only asked that you always look after me and our son. But now, if you are gone, I truly don't know what I will do."

"There is none. There won't be any chance at all." Zhang Jiawen said, downing another cup of wine. "Yingcheng has already died a tragic death, and Mo Yingqi is now at odds with me. The only ones I can count on now are you and our little Treasure."

"But Sir, once you go, no one knows if you will live or die, and I am alone with the child... Sigh, never mind." The woman sighed softly and then used her chopsticks to pick up some food for Zhang Jiawen. "Sir, the child has been quite frightened these past few days. Once news of your situation spread, the two of us lost our pillar of support."

"Sigh, I kept you secretly on the outside back then and had you give birth to little Treasure precisely to prevent a day like this." Zhang Jiawen looked at the little boy with his innocent eyes, and his heart was filled with mixed emotions. "My father-in-law once told me that desire is what destroys a person's heart the most. Heh, but in this life, food and sex are human nature. He said it so lightly, but I'm not stupid. He was simply afraid—afraid that I would marry a woman from another family, afraid that I would be won over by The Emperor or the late Emperor."

"For so many years, he had people arranged in my residence. Although he didn't forbid me from taking concubines, nor did he stop me from having more children, I knew in my heart that if I did so, it was hard to guarantee he wouldn't become suspicious of me."

The woman heard this and looked at him in confusion: "Sir, your first wife unfortunately passed away early. By all rights, whether you remarried or took a concubine, it shouldn't have had anything to do with that Grand Chancellor, right?"

"I had to put on that act, otherwise, heh..." Zhang Jiawen poured himself another cup of wine. "Wanting to make him trust me one hundred percent is impossible. So I could only do this. Although I dared not make him trust me completely, at least it helped preserve my official career..."

"But now, you've still lost everything, haven't you?" The woman couldn't help but say with regret. "Sir, tell me, what was it all for? With your talent, even if you didn't rely on him, you could have reached where you are today, right?"

"Back then, my wife took a fancy to me, and the two of us were quite compatible, but unfortunately, my father-in-law..." Zhang Jiawen seemed not to want to discuss this issue anymore. "Let's not talk about it; saying these things has no meaning."

"It still has meaning, Sir. For example..." The woman's gaze suddenly turned cold. "For example, back then, in order to please your father-in-law, you relied on the backing of the Grand Chancellor to frame so many colleagues, causing so many people to die unjustly, so many to be exiled, and so many children to be implicated. Even many daughters were forced into the Bureau of Music and Dance, watching their parents and relatives either be beheaded or die in exile..."

"Sir, tell me, do you still remember them?"

The woman's voice made Zhang Jiawen's heart turn cold. He looked up abruptly, only to lock eyes with a pair of bloodshot eyes filled with venomous resentment!

"You, you..."

It was as if Zhang Jiawen was seeing this woman for the first time. Before he could say anything, a sharp pain shot through his abdomen, causing him to fall heavily from the wooden stool to the ground.

"Don't worry, Sir, you won't die." The woman slowly stood up, then took a small bottle and pulled the little boy, who was still unaware of the situation, into her arms. "This poison was given to me by the Eldest Princess. It will only cause you to be in excruciating pain for half an hour, and you will feel weak in your limbs with no strength at all. After half an hour, it will slowly subside on its own."

As she spoke, she made the little boy drink all the transparent liquid in the bottle. Afterwards, she tossed the bottle aside and took two steps back: "As for what little Treasure drank, that is the lethal poison. But after all, he is a child I bore and raised for four years; I couldn't bring myself to be cruel, nor could I bear to watch him suffer. So, the Eldest Princess gave me this bottle of medicine."

"In a moment, little Treasure will fall asleep, and then, in his sleep, he will die from the poison without a shred of pain. I don't expect little Treasure to forgive me; after all, from the moment I gave birth to him, it was for this very day."

"Sir, you don't need to remember who I am, nor do you need to think about why. I never intended to tell you anyway. In any case, you've harmed so many people in your life just to climb the ladder, you probably can't even remember them yourself, right? It's better this way; when you die, you'll be a confused ghost. But for now, you can only watch your last hope, your last bit of bloodline, slowly die, and you... are powerless to do anything."

Mo Yingqi, who had just gotten off his carriage, hadn't yet reached the Temporary Palace when a soldier rode up to him. Upon seeing Mo Yingqi, the soldier dismounted and knelt: "Reporting to the Imperial Son-in-Law, Zhang Jiawen has suddenly gone mad in the dungeon!"

"Hmm? Gone mad?" Mo Yingqi was slightly surprised, but soon he seemed to understand something. "If he's mad, then he's mad. Has a doctor been called?"

"Before I left, the Minister had already ordered someone to fetch a physician."

Sighing, Mo Yingqi nodded, then took a money pouch from his pocket. Steward Zheng, who was on the side, quickly understood his intention, hurried over to take the pouch, and handed it to the soldier.

"Thank you for the reward, Imperial Son-in-Law. This subordinate takes his leave!"

Mo Yingqi said nothing, simply nodding, then turned and walked toward the Temporary Palace, carrying his saber.

Regret? Emptiness? At this moment, there was only a smile on Mo Yingqi's face—a smile of relief, yet one carrying a trace of cruelty.

"The next one should be you, Grand Chancellor..."

(Thought about it and decided to round it up. Apologies, apologies.)