His expression was stern and cold. Si Lanfeng dared not ask more questions, but Wei Chenghui was different—his eyes gleaming sharply, he immediately stroked his beard: “Young Master, once she’s in death row, this old man will immediately arrange rescue, having someone take her to a remote town. You needn’t worry about her safety.”

“No.”

Li Zhaoting glanced at him, speaking coolly: “You needn’t rescue her—let Lian Yu play the villain.”

“Moreover, besides exposing her female identity, also reveal her status as a rebel’s descendant. Let everyone know she’s a Feng family orphan.”

This shocked not only Si Lanfeng but also Wei Chenghui: “Young Master, reconsider—this could affect you—”

Li Zhaoting’s gaze was misty with complexity the two couldn’t discern. He said coldly: “Lian Yu is no easy opponent—he’ll discover my identity sooner or later. Rather than let him expose it or have Feng Suzhen reveal it herself, better to put ourselves in mortal danger and then survive. I’ll have my own explanation then.”

Wei Chenghui grew suspicious. Had something happened today to make the young master decide this? This was actually good—the young master seemed prepared to abandon this piece. If they exposed Feng Suzhen’s identity before Lian Yu, the Lian-Feng relationship would surely sour. Once she lost their protection, he could secretly arrange her death with certainty.

After discussing details, as Wei and Si prepared to leave, Li Zhaoting suddenly spoke: “Teacher, please stay. I want to change the plan.”

Wei Chenghui frowned but forced a smile: “Has Young Master decided to spare her?”

“Of course not! I’m just thinking we needn’t be the villains in tomorrow’s court…”

Wei Chenghui was stunned, looking back to see the evening light dark red, illuminating the young master’s figure with brilliant yet blurred radiance. He stood quietly, unmovable as a mountain.

“Excellent strategy!” he praised inwardly. The young master was getting closer to the throne. Ruthlessness was a ruler’s weapon.

Returning home, he immediately wrote seven or eight letters, finding several trusted associates and whispering instructions. They took orders and departed, disappearing into the murky night.

After handling affairs, he smiled slightly and entered the main hall, only then discovering his legitimate daughter Wuxia had returned to visit family. Mother and daughter were chatting in the hall—Wuxia said she missed her parents and would stay a few days.

Wei Chenghui laughed coldly: “Wuxia, can your little schemes fool your father? Wuyan will return soon, staying at the mansion two days before leaving for recuperation. You’ve returned to mock and suppress her, haven’t you?”

Caught in her thoughts, Wuxia coquettishly held his arm: “Father, you’re saying you don’t love me but pity that lowly girl instead!”

The shrewd Mrs. Wei smiled slightly: “Your father loves you most—it’s just that you don’t tell him the truth.”

Wuxia looked at Wei Chenghui again. The Grand Secretary waved his hand, and only then did Wuxia relax, telling Mrs. Wei: “Mother, you don’t know—a great incident occurred in the palace today. Now everyone knows Li Huaisu is His Majesty’s precious treasure. And that Gu Shuangcheng was just made consort at the palace banquet. Though we don’t know her rank, it’s certainly not low. That Wuyan offended the Empress Dowager and Princess Imperial—she might drag our family down. Yet that lowly servant still thinks she’s a treasure, always acting cold—disgusting to see.”

“Oh,” Mrs. Wei was quite pleased, then asked worriedly: “But isn’t Li Huaisu…”

Wuxia curled her lips: “Mother, why be surprised? Male favorites have existed since ancient times. Some dynasties were completely permissive. Our emperor isn’t excessive—he’s kept it low-key and discreet.”

Mrs. Wei’s brow immediately relaxed. Whether the emperor liked men or women didn’t matter—as long as it wasn’t Wei Wuyan.

After Wuyan married, her concubine mother’s status had also risen. When Lian Yu accompanied Wuyan to the mansion, he showed intentional or unintentional respect, making the entire household dare not slight them afterward. Though Wuyan had been beautiful since childhood, stealing her daughter’s title as the capital’s first beauty, frequent bullying, suppression, and restricting food and clothing couldn’t satisfy her hatred. Later when Wuxia connected with Chao Huang’s good family background while Wuyan had news with Marquis Xiao Yao, though both men were equal in power, comparing status, the marquis was ultimately imperial family, superior to Chao Huang. Fortunately, Princess Lian Yue intervened, leaving that girl without support. She had finally breathed easy, feeling vindicated. Who knew that girl would be selected into the imperial palace, becoming the emperor’s favored consort—how could she swallow this?

Now how wonderful—the emperor had new favorites, Wuyan had left the palace due to illness with favor gone. What couldn’t they do?

Wuxia naturally knew her mother’s thoughts. Her hatred for Wuyan was no less than her mother’s. The two women exchanged glances, thinking of soon beating the fallen dog, both laughing softly.

Wei Chenghui, calculating by lamplight, how could he care about these women’s petty squabbles? Seeing her father’s inattention, Wuxia pouted again: “Father, you mustn’t help Wuyan later. The rear palace situation is extremely unfavorable for her now—only then do I have opportunity to say something. Don’t ruin…”

The words “rear palace” reminded Wei Chenghui of something. His eyes suddenly showed sinister coldness as he laughed eerily: “Good, this way nothing can go wrong.”

Wuxia was startled. Wei Chenghui slowly spoke: “Wuxia, don’t you have good relations with Murong Ci and convenient palace access? Father has something for you to do.”

Mrs. Wei felt sorry for her daughter: “Master, it’s getting late, pitch dark. You have many spies in the palace—what matter requires our daughter to make the trip?”

Wei Chenghui grew impatient with her chatter, veins bulging on his forehead as he roared: “Woman’s heart—what do you understand!”

Seeing his fierce gaze and chilling aura as if he might kill, Mrs. Wei was frightened into crying out. Wuxia also trembled: “Father, what’s wrong with you…”

Wei Chenghui snorted coldly: “Wuxia, with your relationship with Murong Ci, she’s told you Li Huaisu is a woman, right? And warned you not to spread this, correct? She can’t compete with a man—that only shows the emperor has some preference issues. But if she can’t win against a woman, she’d lose all face.”

Hearing this, Wuxia stared wide-eyed in panic: “Father, you know…”

Wei Chenghui remained silent. Mrs. Wei was also shocked: “This woman took the top scholar exam, became an official…”

She glared at Wuxia and spat: “You dead girl, how dare you hide this from me.”

Wuxia stamped her foot: “Sister Ci repeatedly warned me! This news must be kept secret by His Majesty’s order. When Lian Xin spread it, His Majesty was furious. It could only remain a palace secret. If I told you and you accidentally mentioned it to those officials’ wives, letting His Majesty know the news came from our family—that would be terrible. According to Sister Ci, His Majesty will eventually restore Li’s female identity.”

Mrs. Wei nodded, but Wei Chenghui sneered: “What do you know? From today’s palace events, can’t you see? Li Huaisu and that Wuyan girl have deep friendship. That girl is cleverly using Li Huaisu against Gu Shuangcheng. Moreover, as long as Li Huaisu has favor, Wuyan also has favor.”

The mother and daughter were greatly alarmed. Wuxia bit her teeth slightly, her beautiful face showing some ferocity due to clenched jaw: “No, no…”

Wei Chenghui looked at his daughter: “If you don’t want Wuyan stealing your spotlight, immediately enter the inner palace to do something for father. Once this succeeds, Li Huaisu will surely die. When lips are gone, teeth grow cold—Wuyan can’t remain unharmed either.”

“Father, speak.”

Being father and daughter, Wuxia hardly hesitated. Her beautiful eyes were filled with the same malicious gleam as Wei Chenghui’s.

Tomorrow she would leave the palace—tonight was destined to be sleepless for Wuyan. She stared blankly at pale moonlight filtering through gauze curtain gaps. The day’s events flowed like water through her mind. Sudden sharp pain struck her chest—as if someone gripped her chest and abdomen, viciously stabbing with a sharp awl, then rapidly twisting it, scraping out flesh bit by bit. Tomorrow she’d leave the palace, first returning home for mother, then leaving the capital—not burdening others, not thinking of… Huo Chang’an. This thought supported her. Though the pain was heart-wrenching, she bit her lips hard without a sound, fearing to wake the night-watching Xiang’er. If Xiang’er made trouble with Lian Yu, she couldn’t leave the palace.

After the sharp pain subsided, darkness clouded her vision. She gritted her teeth and sat up, hair sticking to her forehead in uncomfortable, sweaty strands.

These past ten-plus days, she’d always wake startled at midnight, feeling chest tightness and breathlessness.

Gasping, she thought it was probably due to leaving the palace affecting her mood, especially after today’s events. After all, the imperial physicians were skilled—even the medically brilliant Lian Jie had examined her. Besides external injuries, she had no serious problems. Her illness was only an external claim.

She wiped away sweat and secretly wiped tears from her eyes, then dressed and rose, wanting to walk in the outer courtyard. After all, this place had given her stable life for quite some time.

Without disturbing Xiang’er, she reached the door where night-duty eunuchs and maids bowed, all puzzled: “Your Majesty, where are you going?”

“I’m going for a walk—you needn’t follow.” She smiled lightly, called for a palace lantern, and walked out.