From now on, the Prince of Wei would likely regard him with an extra layer of caution.

What frustrated the Crown Prince was that privately mining spirit stones wasn’t his exclusive privilege. Among the newly discovered spirit stone veins in the mountains, there were quite a few examples of great nobles secretly hoarding them.

But such matters were always understood yet never spoken of openly. Now that it had been directly exposed to the Prince of Wei—to the people of Wei—he could only accept his misfortune.

Not only had he lost his reputation and the ruler’s favor, but he had also lost an enormous source of income. Even more frustrating was that the Prince of Wei ordered him to recover within a set time the spirit stones that had been “embezzled by subordinates.”

In other words, of the spirit stones he had previously extracted, he now had to return a large portion to the State treasury to fill this deficit. The old man’s meaning was clear: I can overlook past transgressions, but the treasures stolen from me must be returned with both hands.

He had already spent and used them—how could he possibly return them? The Crown Prince nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood. As his mind buzzed, only one thought kept circling:

Was this the work of his second brother Xiao Yan and Yun Ya?

If not, how could the timing be so coincidental, happening right after Mother Consort had set a trap for the State Preceptor?

If so, which links had they tampered with?

Recalling how Yun Ya had stood beside the Prince of Wei during his furious outburst, calm as a deep pool, even with mocking laughter in his eyes when he looked over, the Crown Prince was filled with unbearable anger.

He had originally been half-believing, but Yun Ya’s gaze unmistakably told the Crown Prince that all this was his handiwork.

But the Crown Prince couldn’t find evidence; this loss was certain.

This vindictive villain! Xiao Jing reached out and strangled a colorfully feathered parrot on the shelf, slightly relieving his anger, before thinking:

How had the State Preceptor suddenly become so prominent? As the leader of cultivators, in the past few years, though he couldn’t be called utterly respectful to the royal family, he had shown considerable deference.

When Feng Miaojun received news of the unrest in An Xia territory and the Wei Crown Prince being reprimanded in court, her body had already recovered and she could bounce around again. Chen Dachang, young and full of vitality, could also walk, but couldn’t engage in physical combat for the time being.

The person who delivered the intelligence was Mo Tizhun’s trusted confidant. The State Preceptor knew her true identity and regularly forwarded her “enemy state” news. From this point alone, she knew that the Prince of Jin had made her, a princess of a fallen country, a backup chess piece.

Finally, this confidant said: “There’s one more piece of news. About forty-five days ago, the Empress of Wei was scratched in the face by her cat in the garden, almost losing her eye.”

After the outsider left, Chen Dachang showed a vindicated expression but said: “The punishment for the Wei Crown Prince is too light.”

“For the heir of Wei, what matters isn’t the punishment but the old man’s pleasure or anger.” During her recovery here, Feng Miaojun had Chen Dachang explain the situation in Wei to her. She knew that besides the Crown Prince, the Prince of Wei had two other sons: Xiao Yan, whom she had met, and Xiao Wu, who was two years older than her.

The Crown Prince was born to the Empress, while Xiao Wu’s birth mother died from postpartum hemorrhage, so Xiao Wu had been given to the Empress to raise since childhood. These two brothers had always been close, while the relationship with Xiao Yan was much more distant.

Xiao Yan had also come of age and established military merits twice, making him a strong contender for the throne. She recalled Xiao Yan appearing with Yun Ya in Juping Village, thinking that this prince likely intended to win over the State Preceptor. “With the Empress injured first and the Crown Prince reprimanded afterward, this powerful mother-son pair suffering consecutive misfortunes, yet their opponents weren’t human—are there such coincidences under heaven?”

What injured the Empress was a cat, and what trapped the Crown Prince was heaven’s torrential rain. Even if they wanted to find an opponent to vent their anger, they probably couldn’t find a direction—this anger would suffocate them. With the Crown Prince’s misfortune, the beneficiaries were naturally the other two brothers, so this matter might have been the mischief of either Xiao brother, and perhaps Yun Ya had also interfered.

After all, the State Preceptor’s actions were unfathomable to gods and ghosts.

The Prince of Wei wasn’t senile yet; what she could see, how could he not anticipate? First, there was probably no evidence, and second…

“It seems Cloud State Preceptor is doing quite well in Wei,” Feng Miaojun said softly, not missing the phrase “The small investigator sent by the Prince of Wei to Youfian died suspiciously.”

His own man died inexplicably, yet the Prince of Wei didn’t investigate deeply. She wasn’t familiar with the rules of this world yet, but looking at the relationship between the Prince of Jin and Mo Tizhun, it didn’t seem to be this way.

Chen Dachang watched her from the side, wanting to say something but hesitating.

Feng Miaojun noticed and glanced at him: “If you can’t say it, then don’t.”

Chen Dachang: “…” The worms in his belly weren’t as formidable as the young lady! As a person from An Xia, hearing of the misfortunes befalling his former country, he was filled with melancholy, but remembering the Empress’s dying wish, he forcibly suppressed his words.

No matter how unwilling and grief-stricken he was, the young lady was just a frail woman who shouldn’t live bearing the hatred of her family and country.

Feng Miaojun could tell from his expression what he wanted to say. But the soul in this body was no longer Princess Changle; she had no interest in restoring the country or seeking revenge, nor would she be bound by others’ moral obligations. She focused only on the immediate problem: “News from An Xia and Great Wei takes over a month to reach us, by which time even the common people outside probably know. Isolation means passivity; we need a reliable and swift intelligence channel.”

Information was the most valuable asset, but she faced the predicament of having no one to use.

Saying this, she suddenly remembered what Peng Bai had said before leaving Sweet Water Village, and asked Chen Dachang: “Our people in the Jin capital—have you ever dealt with them?”

Chen Dachang shook his head. He was just a sixteen-year-old boy who originally worked under Peng Bai, with limited knowledge.

Feng Miaojun nodded, formulating some plans in her mind.

After breakfast, a servant reported: “Master Xu has arrived.”

Master Xu’s full name was Xu Fengnian, Mo Tizhun’s second disciple, actually thirty-nine years old, but the advantage of being a cultivator was evident here: he looked at most in his early twenties, with red lips and white teeth.

After the river shark incident, she had thick-skinnedly sought out Mo Tizhun, asking this convenient master to teach her some real skills. Although Smoke Sea Tower housed countless books with many cultivation classics to learn from, she understood a principle deeply—with a master, one avoids unnecessary detours.

Otherwise, with so many supplementary textbooks on the market in her previous life, why did schools still need famous teachers to lecture?

Experience was also one of the most valuable forms of knowledge.

She had no talent for cultivation, so the Great State Preceptor certainly wouldn’t spend his precious time teaching her personally, so he threw this important task to his second disciple Xu Fengnian, to teach her enough to protect herself.

This nominal third disciple always smiled sweetly when calling Xu Fengnian “Second Senior Brother.” Feng Miaojun was naturally adorable, and Xu Fengnian, not knowing this form of address was special, seeing her smile so charmingly each time she called him that, took extra care of her. Mo Tizhun had originally required him to guide Feng Miaojun once every four days, but as Xu Fengnian had been leisurely staying in the capital for the past half year, Feng Miaojun simply invited him to stay at her residence, convenient for close guidance.