Xiaoying nodded admiringly, now understanding why Madam Chu wanted to partner with her.

Such a strategy of showering business connections equally on everyone was truly impressive. The entire capital consisted of shareholders in her ventures!

But Xiaoying wondered if Chu Yu’s approach truly had no impact on Song Wen’s official career. She had some doubts.

Chu Yu smiled with an ambiguous expression: “My husband has little ambition for fame or official rank. He only desires fine clothing, to call friends to high pavilions, and to have several warm-hearted beauties by his side. To say something presumptuous, had my family not fallen on hard times, I would never have chosen such a man as my husband. But there’s a benefit in his nature; as long as I earn enough money for him, all household matters are under my control. Looking at it this way, I suppose I married the right person.”

As Chu Yu spoke, she couldn’t help but offer guidance to Xiaoying from her position of experience, though somewhat indirectly: “For a woman, money is the most reliable thing. No matter how great the glory men receive, women merely gain color and luster in their time of honor, yet must share equally in hardship when they fall. Consider my natal family, once prominent and noble. When they fell, my mother caught only a cold, but because they wanted to save on medicine costs, she was taken by a high fever… After that, I always thought, had she known to prepare for rainy days, not pouring her entire dowry into her husband’s bottomless gambling debts, she wouldn’t have met such a fate. Money is the foundation for a woman’s security and independence!”

Madam Chu was so fond of this lady that she couldn’t help offering a few words of advice.

Chu Yu had seen too many grand houses collapse in the capital. If the lady were clever, she should understand the importance of accumulating some money for herself. After all, as a mere concubine, she wasn’t even in a proper marriage with the Grand Prince. If the Grand Prince should fall from power one day, he couldn’t take care of her.

Of course, she said these things partly to instill a sense of crisis in the lady, encouraging future business deals.

Who doesn’t like making money?

Xiaoying smiled as she thanked Madam Chu for her advice. After seeing Chu Yu off, Xiaoying turned to return to the prince’s residence when she discovered Feng Yuan standing behind her.

Xiaoying walked over and asked: “I agreed to a business deal without asking you, and it requires quite a large sum! Do you agree or not?”

Feng Yuan lowered his gaze at her and said indifferently: “No.”

“What? No?” Xiaoying hadn’t expected this response and couldn’t help widening her eyes slightly.

Just as she was about to explain the benefits of the business, Feng Yuan covered her small mouth with his hand.

“Don’t explain now. Didn’t you say you’d whisper sweet words in my ear at night?”

Xiaoying blinked, only then remembering that she had told Madam Chu that if the Grand Prince didn’t agree, she would try to persuade him in bed.

So he had been waiting for her! But where had he been eavesdropping on the women’s idle talk?

Feng Yuan pointed to a pavilion-like building with flying eaves to the north of the gazebo where they had been sitting.

“That’s my study.”

Xiaoying suddenly understood. If the window was open, one could indeed hear the conversations in the gazebo.

Not only was this man eavesdropping like no gentleman would, but his speech was becoming increasingly improper. Xiaoying couldn’t resist the urge to bite his neck again.

Feng Yuan held her in his arms, using his cloak to shield them, allowing her to bite him, then said in a deep voice: “My hand hurts, yet you don’t care for me, choosing instead to feed fish and chat idly with others. Naturally, I wanted to hear what important matter would make you abandon me…”

This tall, imposing gentleman, usually taciturn and steady, with features bearing a hint of wildness, was not easily approachable.

But when he lowered his long, curved eyelashes, with a trace of melancholy on the tip of his nose, he exuded a youthful aura that aroused sympathy.

A man who rarely acted coquettish, once adding a rascally air, became difficult to resist.

Xiaoying was particularly susceptible to this approach. She could no longer bear to bite him and instead lifted his large hand: “Is it still painful? Even the palace physician’s medicine doesn’t help?”

Feng Yuan seemed distracted, stroking the lady’s slender waist as he asked: “How do you plan to whisper those sweet words in my ear?”

Xiaoying glared at him with a slightly reddened face. What more did he need?

So Feng Yuan simply carried Xiaoying to his nearby study.

The study conveniently had a soft couch. Claiming his hand hurt, he lay on the couch, feigning laziness, trying to make her serve him.

She refused, but he held her firmly, proving through action that even without using his injured hand, they could still engage in intimate activities, even more intensely.

Though he made her cry out, there remained an emptiness in his heart, as if something still hadn’t been fulfilled.

He suppressed his tense breathing against her neck and said softly: “I’ll find a way for us to marry soon…”

Xiaoying, originally as languid as a cat, suddenly snapped her eyes open upon hearing these words and exclaimed: “Marry? Have you gone mad?”

Feng Yuan also opened his eyes. The desire in his gaze hadn’t yet dissipated before suddenly turning cold: “You… don’t want to marry me?”

After speaking, he tried to calm his constricted heartbeat, making excuses for the lady. It was reasonable for her to have concerns, but he would do his utmost to remove all obstacles, given time…

But Yan Xiaoying pushed him away firmly and declared decisively: “When did I ever promise to marry you? Please stop this nonsense, will you?”

Feng Yuan no longer minded his wound, pressing his injured hand on her shoulder, his eyes cold: “What do you mean?”

Yan Xiaoying knew Feng Yuan responded better to softness than hardness, so she softened her voice as much as possible: “Really, stop this. We both have our affairs. After you get through this difficult period, I’ll be leaving. Aren’t you worried about me? At that time, you can send as many people as you want to Jiangzhe to serve as officials, and I’ll obediently let your people monitor me, all right?”

Xiaoying’s words weren’t entirely sincere; she was merely trying to pacify Feng Yuan so he could focus without distractions. In his current predicament, only by reaching for imperial power could he guarantee his safety.

He had no retreat!

And this path would be bloody and lonely. If he had no one beside him, who knew how twisted his mind might become? Xiaoying, having known and loved him, felt obligated to accompany Feng Yuan on this journey.

But for the road beyond, she didn’t plan to accompany him to the end.

Madam Chu had said that when men are in their glory, women add color and brilliance, but in defeat, they must share in the suffering. That’s why women should be shrewd and keep an escape route for themselves.

But Xiaoying felt the opposite. The days of shared hardship had their joy in struggling together, while those days of glory seemed tediously boring just to think about.

She had spent enough time in that imperial palace; it held no interest for her.

She had no desire to be a delicate flower in a man’s rear court, adding color to his life.

Therefore, whether Feng Yuan became a king or an emperor in the future mattered little to her.

When two people are getting along well, discussing such things can truly damage the relationship, so Xiaoying only wanted to hint slightly and then move past the topic.

But Feng Yuan saw it as betrayal, abruptly sitting up and coldly scrutinizing her: “So when you said you loved me that day, you were indeed lying!”

This female deceiver consistently deceives others!

What was hateful yet pitiful was that even though he had guessed the lady was lying, he had still believed it. At this moment, his chest felt as if it were being clawed, almost bursting with pain.

His mind seemed swept by a madness similar to the drug’s effect, requiring great effort to control himself from doing something irreparable to this little deceiver.

Xiaoying, unaware of the danger, casually reached out to pat his sturdy chest: “Lie down quickly. The blanket has lost its warmth from your tossing. I’m going to catch a cold!”

Her posture was alluring, like a snow-peaked goddess reclining, but her words were equally infuriating, almost making one vomit blood in anger.

Feng Yuan silently clenched his fist, blue veins winding from the back of his hand up his arm.

Xiaoying sensed the tension in his skin and sighed, rising to throw herself into his arms, gently scratching under his chin: “Why do you always get angry with me about things that haven’t even happened yet? With the master pressing in step by step, who knows if we’ll even live to see that day! Stop giving me that stern face, all right?”

When the lady was willing, even the deadly King of Hell could disguise himself as a cloyingly sweet piece of candy. Such an undisguised, blatant seduction was impossible to resist.

But Feng Yuan refused to be swayed. He slowly unclenched his fist, ignoring the blood seeping through the bandage on his palm, and pushed the lady away.

Xiaoying lay down in a huff, wrapping herself in the blanket, secretly observing his expression, unable to guess what he was thinking.

However, remembering his cunning schemes when plotting against her, Xiaoying found the future troubling as well.

She silently resolved never to discuss such topics again, lest it truly inspire him to dig that underground palace.

But due to her carelessness, Feng Yuan’s words suddenly became much fewer.

That night, the gentleman spent the entire night in his study and didn’t come to accompany Xiaoying.

The next morning, Xiaoying deliberately pestered him to join her for breakfast, but he didn’t initiate any conversation.

Xiaoying glumly ate a scallion pancake and noticed that his bloodstained bandage hadn’t been changed. She asked: “Have you changed the dressing on your wound?”

Feng Yuan replied: “No…”

“If you don’t change the dressing, won’t the wound fester? Don’t you want your hand anymore?”

“Didn’t you say we wouldn’t live long? I’ll try to die before you, then you can go wherever you want!”

Xiaoying choked on her pancake, neither able to swallow nor spit it out. Furious, she extended her leg to kick his calf: “If that’s the case, die far away from me and don’t offend my eyes!”

Just as their argument was becoming increasingly irreconcilable, a servant reported that Young Master Mu had come to visit.

Xiaoying set aside their quarrel and stood up, pointing to the gazebo by the lake: “Talk there. I’ll go to the study to eavesdrop!”

Feng Yuan showed no expression and stopped eating, rising to meet Mu Hanjiang.

As for Mu Hanjiang, his days had been no better than Feng Yuan’s. After rising that morning, he had hurried to the prince’s residence without even eating breakfast.

Judging by the hollows under Young Master Mu’s eyes, he hadn’t rested well for a couple of days either.

Shortly after Feng Yuan left the birthday banquet that day, his servant delivered a note.

The contents of the note had shocked Mu Hanjiang. Feng Yuan stated that his mother, Princess Anqing, had on her person the madness-inducing drug that had caused his insanity years ago, and asked him to investigate the drug’s source.

His mother had also received a note from Feng Yuan, but the content was a fierce condemnation of her viper’s heart, accusing her of poisoning and plotting against him ten years ago, causing his madness and imprisonment. This time, however, he would not let it go and would settle accounts with her thoroughly.

Mu Hanjiang finally understood why the lady had poured out herbs from the sachet.

He knew about Feng Yuan’s madness episode from years ago.

At that time, he had been by his mother’s side, watching the adolescent go berserk and hold the young Crown Prince under water, pressing him down with deadly intent…

He naturally sought clarification from his mother.

But his mother denied it, coldly criticizing him as usual for not distinguishing truth from rumor and acting impulsively.

Since returning to the capital, Mu Hanjiang had had numerous disputes with his mother over political views and Dragon Scale Shadow Guard internal affairs.

This time, he set aside his filial piety, determined to investigate thoroughly.

Thus, with one command, he sealed the inner courtyard, preventing his mother from going out to receive guests.

Unable to mobilize the senior “Jing” generation of Dragon Scale Shadow Guards, he summoned the leader of the “Jin” generation that he newly supported, Shi Changfeng.

Commander Shi, though mediocre in martial arts, was skilled in poisons. He quickly discovered that both the sachet and Princess Anqing’s garments contained a poison called “Mashi Powder.”

This substance, when applied in small amounts to external wounds, could numb pain, facilitating surgery.

But with long-term consumption, it would turn people into walking corpses, causing manic depression and addiction—a truly harmful substance!

However, this wasn’t native to Dafeng but was refined by the Wei Country’s Ghost Doctor Xiang Yanlai, based on an addictive drug from the previous dynasty.

Twenty years ago, after one of the Ghost Doctor’s patients went mad from this substance and killed his only son, the Ghost Doctor ceased producing it. By all accounts, it should have disappeared. How had it appeared on Princess Anqing?

Moreover, this formulation seemed even more malevolent than the original recipe. For someone previously exposed to this poison, even the scent could trigger loss of control.

After identifying the drug, Princess Anqing’s face drastically changed, and she no longer obstructed her son’s investigation.

So on that day, the Mu household investigation was thorough—from the servants who scented the clothes, to the attendants who handled the fragrances, to the guards, even extending to the incense shops outside—everything was investigated to the end.

Finally, Mu Hanjiang discovered the key at the fragrance shop.

It turned out that the original fragrance had been switched while being delivered to the Mu residence.

At the time, a fight had broken out on the street, and the delivery boy was too busy watching the commotion. His box was knocked down, and after picking it up, he merely dusted it off before delivering it to the Princess’s residence.

The box looked identical to the shop’s regular containers, but that day, to please the Princess, the shopkeeper had specifically added some new fragrance samples. Yet, these samples were absent from the delivered box.

Thus, the trail went cold, and the culprit behind the poisoning couldn’t be identified.

After clarifying all this, Mu Hanjiang came to Prince Ruixiang’s residence to report to the Grand Prince.

“Give me a few more days, and I will discover…”

“No need. However, I would trouble Lord Mu to write a memorial, and in front of all civil and military officials, clarify how I was poisoned,” Feng Yuan said, standing at the gazebo entrance with his hands behind his back, gazing coldly at the lake waters.

Mu Hanjiang pressed his lips together: “This matter involves my mother. It would be more appropriate for me to submit a private memorial to His Majesty.”

Feng Yuan finally turned around, looking at Mu Hanjiang with a half-smile: “Lord Mu may not have understood. I’m not asking for your help, but giving the Mu family a chance to redeem themselves.”

Mu Hanjiang pressed his lips: “Do you also suspect my mother harmed you? Though she is strict, she is not a malicious person…”

“I have no interest in discussing Princess Anqing’s character with you. But the fact that she has managed the Dragon Scale Shadow Guards for so many years in your father’s stead, practicing nepotism and achieving nothing, is undeniable. Years ago, when I was still young and suddenly afflicted with madness, she witnessed it firsthand. If her intentions were pure, why didn’t she investigate thoroughly? I was heavily poisoned, and if just one person had spoken up for me and discovered the Mashi Powder, it wouldn’t have been difficult! Why didn’t she offer even a word in my defense?”

Mu Hanjiang’s expression darkened, and he said quietly: “Though my mother oversees the Shadow Guards, she was raised in the palace from childhood and knows nothing of poisons. This cannot be blamed on her…”

Feng Yuan laughed coldly: “What about that spy at the post station who was colluding with Wei traitors? Did you report to your father, or was it intercepted by Princess Anqing and dismissed? Though you couldn’t find out, I discovered some clues. His name is Wei Tao, originally belonging to the ‘Yong’ generation under your mother’s Jingwei. After being sent to Wei Country by your mother, his name was removed from the register.”

Mu Hanjiang frowned: “How do you know about Shadow Guard internal affairs?”

Feng Yuan sat on a stone bench and poured a cup of tea: “There are many who are dissatisfied with your mother’s old faction. With that person’s head, how difficult would it be to discover his name? You had already investigated this, hadn’t you? You concealed it, hoping to cover for your mother?”

Mu Hanjiang remained silent, evidently caught by Feng Yuan’s assertion.

Feng Yuan looked up: “His Majesty is currently most angered by Wei Country’s infiltration of Dafeng and the placement of spies. As managers of the Dragon Scale Shadow Guards, the Mu family cannot tolerate even the slightest flaw. The favor your ancestors accumulated is almost depleted by your mother. If Lord Mu continues to do nothing, I fear the Mu family’s fate will be tragic.”

Mu Hanjiang calmed down and said with certainty, “You have evidence but haven’t acted. Is it because of our friendship?”

Feng Yuan raised his sword-like eyebrows and laughed sarcastically: “Friendship? Are all sugar jar-raised young masters as naive as you? Guess why I haven’t acted.”

Mu Hanjiang’s gaze flicked toward the study to the north, where he had glimpsed a flash of pink skirt at the window.

“Are you using this to blackmail me into keeping silent about the matter of Yan Xiaoying from Jiangzhe?”

Feng Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly and said indifferently: “Tell me, what about my beloved concubine is worth your silence?”

Mu Hanjiang slowly raised his head, finally piercing the paper window he had been reluctant to touch: “Given the Crown Prince’s youthful temperament, even if he tired of the capital, he shouldn’t delay so long in Jiangzhe, ignoring his gravely ill mother. Reflecting on past events, I feel the Crown Prince’s character changed dramatically after returning from four years of confinement. The Empress’s seemingly mad words and the Crown Prince’s leg that should have been lame but showed no sign of injury must be connected, right? If someone was desperate to find a substitute for the Crown Prince, the Empress… would be the most likely person to do such a thing!”

He paused, then continued: “I’ve had people investigate. Lady Ying did not appear in the Jiangzhe area over the past year. Where was she during this time? Was she in the Eastern Palace in the capital?”

“Have you not verified whether the Crown Prince is male or female?” Feng Yuan asked with an unchanged expression.

Mu Hanjiang gave a self-mocking smile: “That time when the Crown Prince bathed in the hot springs with us, thinking back carefully, his leg became noticeably lame. But at the time, the Grand Prince said the Crown Prince had slipped, so I didn’t pay attention.”

Feng Yuan sneered: “These are all your conjectures, without evidence.”

Mu Hanjiang pulled out a page of testimony from his bosom: “Evidence? I have it! Yesterday, I finally received news from Yicheng. The prison warden, after seeing Lady Ying’s portrait, confirmed that this lady is the daughter of the father-daughter pair who had suddenly disappeared from Yicheng prison! And Tang Mingquan was involved because this lady was the Crown Prince’s substitute he found for the Empress! Grand Prince, what more evidence do you need me to produce? If these matters were presented to His Majesty, and he interrogated the Empress and her confidants, wouldn’t everything become clear?”

At this moment, the childhood friendship had completely vanished, each holding a fatal handle on the other’s throat.

In the study, Xiaoying had been eating dates, but toward the end of the conversation, she could hardly continue.

Truly, the dog that bites doesn’t bark. Mu Hanjiang, without a word, had gathered so much damaging evidence against her.

If she couldn’t silence him, wouldn’t her brother be in danger?

Thinking of this, she grabbed a handful of dates and walked out: “Oh my, Young Master Mu has arrived! The two of you sitting in the cold wind must be freezing. Come to the study to warm up!”

Xiaoying had completely forgotten that she was the one who had arranged for the two gentlemen to sit in the cold wind. She smiled as she invited them into the study.

The anger that Young Master Mu had been suppressing finally exploded the moment he entered the study.

He coldly surveyed the small mountain of date pits piled on the table and asked Yan Xiaoying, “What should I call you, my lady? Would ‘Your Highness’ be more familiar?”