What Day Is It Today

The Imperial Guards began interrogating the palace maids who attended Princess Gia.

They quickly uncovered the truth.

It was Princess Gia’s personal maid who administered the poison.

The poison was handed to her directly by Consort Penelope.

Consort Penelope threatened her family, leaving her no choice but to obey.

"Detain everyone involved," Grace ordered. "Lock Consort Penelope in her palace—she’s not to take a single step outside until His Majesty returns!"

"Yes, Your Grace." The Imperial Guards escorted everyone away.

Eunuch Louis tried to slip away too.

"Eunuch Louis," Grace called out.

Eunuch Louis froze mid-step.

Grace looked at him. "Will you take the medicine, or will you talk?"

Eunuch Louis took a deep breath, knelt down, and said, "I’ll talk! It was indeed Consort Penelope who ordered me to invite you into the palace. As for the rest, I truly don’t know."

Grace waved her hand, signaling for him to be taken away as well.

Nine days later, the Heaven Sacrifice procession returned.

When Emperor Henry learned what happened to Princess Gia, he was furious.

He executed Consort Penelope on the spot.

And took the opportunity to further suppress the Wood Family’s influence at court.

For a time, the Wood Family fell into decline, struggling to survive.

In the blink of an eye, it was already the end of July.

There was just over a month left until Grace and Evan Xiao’s wedding.

Grace finally finished embroidering her wedding dress.

Taking advantage of the quiet night, she tried it on and admired herself in the mirror.

She looked absolutely stunning!

Her dowry, personally prepared by her grandmother, was ready too.

But the General’s Manor was oddly quiet.

Grace went to the General’s Manor and happened to run into Steward Qin. She asked, "Steward Qin, how have you been lately?"

"Quite well, haha," Steward Qin replied with a laugh. "Same as always."

"Not busy these days?"

"Not busy at all! You know, there aren’t many people in this manor, so there’s not much to do!"

Not busy?

Shouldn’t preparing for a wedding be busy work?

Grace cleared her throat and asked, "By the way, what day is it today? I can’t seem to remember."

"Today is July 29th," Steward Qin replied.

"Oh!" Grace exclaimed.

He seems perfectly clear-headed!

So why isn’t anyone getting ready for the wedding?

"You’re here to see the General, right? He’s in. Go on in…" Steward Qin said politely before leaving.

For some reason, Grace felt a little annoyed and strode inside.

She hadn’t walked far when she overheard a voice say, "I just saw Miss Lawrence come by again."

Judging by the voice, it was probably one of the few maids in the General’s Manor.

"She’s here again?" another maid said sourly. "She’s always running to our manor, and she’s not even married yet!"

"Hey, with the wedding coming up, how come our General’s Manor is so quiet?"

"If you ask me, the General just doesn’t want to marry her! But since His Majesty ordered it, there’s no choice!"

"Poor General…" The two seemed to walk off, and their voices faded away.

Grace was stunned for a moment, then walked inside.

Evan Xiao was once again buried in paperwork, his brow furrowed in concentration.

The documents were still written in characters she couldn’t understand.

Grace walked over and sat beside him.

"What’s wrong?" Evan Xiao asked. "Why do you look unhappy?"

Grace asked directly, "Do you remember our wedding is in September?"

"Mm-hmm."

"My wedding dress is finished, and the dowry is all ready," Grace said.

Evan Xiao glanced at her. "And?"

"But the General’s Manor hasn’t made a single move," Grace said. "Do you just not want to marry me at all?"