Even after Xie Wei had boarded his carriage and left far away, Jiang Xuening still felt somewhat dazed.

What was wrong with this man?

She pondered how in her previous life, when Yan Lin had just returned victorious to court, she had felt uneasy and had also said similar things to Xie Wei about repaying his favor so they would owe each other nothing afterward. But he hadn’t seemed to react this strongly then, had he?

These past two times, she kept feeling that Xie Wei was somewhat strange.

Yet exactly where the strangeness lay, Jiang Xuening truly couldn’t put her finger on it.

Thinking that since she had no clue, she simply cast aside this tangled mess. After all, Xie Wei was inherently someone whose moods were unpredictable and difficult to serve. If one could figure out what he was thinking just by spending time on it, how could he survive in that turbulent court filled with rising and falling fortunes?

What mattered was that Xie Wei had agreed!

Although she had contacted Zheng Bao and found Zhou Yinzhi on the outside, with only this little bit of power, if she wanted to succeed, it could almost be called gambling with their lives, and success was far from guaranteed. But if someone like Xie Wei, who wielded pivotal influence in the court, was willing to help even a little, the chances of success would greatly increase. Moreover, even if things failed, they could avoid implicating innocent people like Zheng Bao.

Success was in sight!

Thinking of this, Jiang Xuening nearly jumped three feet high. When she returned to her own quarters, everything was even more calm and peaceful. After that threatening speech from Xie Wei, not a single person in the entire household, from top to bottom, came to trouble her anymore.

She only worried that the man surnamed Xie was unwilling and resentful.

However, quite unexpectedly, after agreeing, he proved exceptionally true to his word. Early the next morning, Jianshu personally came to the residence to extend an invitation, saying that since Teacher Xie had accepted the trust of Lord Jiang, he naturally should devote more effort to Second Miss Jiang, and this time he requested that Jiang Xuening come to the Xie residence for an examination of her learning.

At first, Jiang Xuening actually believed it.

After arriving at the Xie residence, she felt quite anxious and uneasy, working hard to recall the books she had read and the qin she had practiced the previous night. Who would have thought that upon entering the Zhuoqin Hall, it would be completely empty, with no sign of Xie Wei anywhere.

Jianshu bowed and said: “After returning yesterday, Teacher left instructions for us to first collect all matters related to Grand Princess’s marriage alliance. Some official documents and records couldn’t be carelessly passed around for others to see, so we simply invited Second Miss Ning to come here and look at them. As for Teacher, he… he went to the Youhuang Pavilion. He left word that if you have any matters, you can give orders directly to this subordinate, and I will certainly handle them properly for you.”

Jiang Xuening then understood.

Xie Wei was clearly showing his disgust for her. He probably knew that what she planned to do this time was extremely dangerous, and originally didn’t want to get involved in these murky waters, but was forced to agree because she had leveraged his debt to her. So he simply adopted an “out of sight, out of mind” approach, throwing the capable Jianshu to her for use while keeping himself far away.

She couldn’t be happier about it.

If that King of Hell surnamed Xie were to sit before her, and she had to discuss with him in all seriousness matters like substitution and kidnapping, it would truly be enough to scare her to death before she could die of worry.

Jiang Xuening was delighted to be relaxed. She immediately felt the overly tense atmosphere in Zhuoqin Hall loosen up, and instantly revealed her true colors, treating it as her own home. Without the slightest reservation, she even beckoned Jianshu to sit down with her and first study those documents related to the marriage alliance.

How would Jianshu dare to sit?

He simply stood to one side. When Jiang Xuening wanted to look at something, he handed her the memorials and papers; when Jiang Xuening wanted to write something, he moistened the brush and ground the ink. From beginning to end, he didn’t dare overstep even slightly, nor did he relax in the slightest due to Xie Wei’s absence.

The people around Xie Wei were always as rigorous as him, excessively so. Jiang Xuening only remembered that in her previous life, on the few occasions she spoke alone with Xie Wei’s subordinates Daoqin and Jianshu, it was also like this. She thought this was simply their natural temperament. After calling him twice without seeing him sit, she let it be and focused her attention on what she held in her hands.

A major matter like a princess’s marriage alliance was handled by the Ministry of Rites.

The plan to push Xiao Shu out for the marriage alliance wouldn’t work, and the Emperor showed no sign of changing his mind. In other words, soft methods wouldn’t work; they had to resort to hard tactics and clever seizure. At this point, thoroughly understanding the process before and after sending the princess for the marriage alliance became extremely important.

The date for Shen Zhiyi to go to the Tatars for the marriage alliance had been calculated again and again by the Bureau of Astronomy and fixed on the twenty-first day of the third month—less than a month away from now. The Ministry of Works had people construct sturdy large carriages and selected four fine horses to pull them.

The day before departure, the princess had to offer sacrifices at the ancestral temple together with the Emperor.

On the day of departure, she had to rise early to apply makeup, don the phoenix crown and ceremonial robes, cover her head with a veil, bid farewell to the imperial family and the Emperor, then proceed all the way out of the palace. Following the customs of marriage alliances throughout history, she would be accompanied by eight hundred fine soldiers selected from the Yulin Army as guards. Departing in late spring and heading northwest, the weather would be just right—neither too cold nor too hot.

Here there were roughly two rescue plans:

First, after the princess left the capital, when the guards relaxed, there would be opportunities either to kidnap her or switch her midway.

However, if kidnapping, that was simple enough, but if switching, and if the guards had already seen Shen Zhiyi’s true face during the journey, the matter would be exposed no matter what;

Second, was to make a move before the princess left the capital. After bidding farewell to the imperial family, she would directly board the carriage and leave the palace. The imperial family would only watch and see her off from the city tower. If they were bold enough to find a woman with similar features who was familiar with palace matters and willing to serve as a substitute, as long as she wasn’t discovered after embarking on the marriage alliance journey, since the guards had never seen the princess, even if they saw the substitute, they wouldn’t suspect anything.

However, this plan also had enormous drawbacks—it was far too dangerous.

The imperial palace had strict security; executing this would likely be difficult.

After pondering in Xie Wei’s residence for several mornings, weighing the power in her hands and the extent of help Xie Wei would provide, Jiang Xuening decisively crossed out the second plan.

The most reliable was the first plan.

She carefully examined the maps in Xie Wei’s residence, and after much deliberation, drew a line on them and circled several points.

However, kidnapping someone midway would necessarily require an elite team to succeed—eight hundred Yulin Army soldiers were no joke.

Although she still had some money left that could be used for support and would be enough to arrange Shen Zhiyi’s future life, if she wanted to buy people from outside to kidnap the marriage alliance princess, there was a risk they might turn traitor. First, they might not have the capability; second, they might not have the courage; third, once it failed and was exposed, no one could escape the consequences.

Zhou Yinzhi could certainly be used, but Jiang Xuening also had reservations about this person.

This was the best time to seek help from Xie Wei.

Jiang Xuening told Jianshu of her plan.

Others didn’t know and only thought Xie Wei was an ordinary civil official, but just from seeing the abilities of Jianshu and Daoqin, she knew there was more to him than met the eye, not to mention all those things Xie Wei had done in her previous life.

It would be strange if he had no other resources at his disposal.

After Jianshu noted this down, he said he would relay it when Xie Wei returned and asked Jiang Xuening to come again the next day.

These days, whenever she was at the residence, Xie Wei was definitely not there.

Jiang Xuening just thought this person’s temperament was becoming increasingly strange, but she figured this matter wasn’t particularly difficult and he should agree.

Who would have thought that when she came the next day, Jianshu actually said: “Teacher says that if ordinary mountain bandits kidnapped the princess, it would inevitably lead to the court investigating internally, and Grand Princess might escape for a while but might not escape forever. Since Second Miss Ning has decided to use this risky strategy, you might as well employ both methods simultaneously—combining the substitution and kidnapping plans. The arrangement of the Yulin Army will naturally be handled by Teacher. Then just push out a scapegoat to substitute for the princess, saying she died in the kidnapping, and pair it with the princess’s identifying tokens. No one would imagine that the real Grand Princess had already escaped through a golden cicada shedding its shell. This way, future troubles can be eliminated.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xuening’s heart turned cold.

How could she not have thought of this plan?

After all, it could resolve everything once and for all, ending the imperial family’s desire to search for Shen Zhiyi.

However, while kidnapping was one thing, pushing out an innocent scapegoat to die in Shen Zhiyi’s place immediately posed problems: first, it was difficult to find a candidate; second, her conscience wouldn’t allow it.

Moreover, based on her superficial understanding of Xie Wei from her previous life…

Jiang Xuening raised her head to look at Jianshu and asked: “These words are probably incomplete, aren’t they? The marriage alliance concerns peace negotiations between two nations. If something happens to the princess, the implications would be extremely complex. Since Teacher has agreed to the kidnapping plan, how could he waste such a golden opportunity? When the time comes, those who kidnap and ‘kill’ the princess won’t merely disguise themselves as mountain bandits—they’ll also leave behind some traces related to the Tatar royal family, deliberately creating confusion, provoking mutual suspicion between the two nations, or even inciting war.”

Jianshu remained silent.

But Jiang Xuening felt her heart tighten: “Where there’s war, troops must be deployed. The Xiao clan is a paper tiger, unable to withstand a single blow. Under urgent military circumstances, even if there’s opposition from court and country and the Emperor is unwilling, they’ll probably have no choice but to send urgent summons thousands of miles to recall the former general and reinstate the Loyal and Brave.”

Thus, the Marquis of Yongyi’s household would return!

Jianshu truly hadn’t expected Jiang Xuening would think this far—almost identical to his master’s plan from yesterday!

Jiang Xuening asked: “Is that right or not?”

Jianshu didn’t answer. He only lowered his head and said: “In any case, Teacher says that since you’ve sought his help, he is indeed assisting you. You plan what you can plan, and Teacher will plan what Teacher needs to plan. They don’t interfere with each other.”

“…”

After a long while, Jiang Xuening finally smiled slightly.

Compared to the grand strategy Xie Wei was plotting, her concerns were truly shallow and petty. If she were to fall out with Xie Wei, rescuing Shen Zhiyi would become a complete gamble, and who knew if the man surnamed Xie would sabotage things behind the scenes. But if she agreed, although the direction of this matter would differ somewhat from her expectations, at least rescuing Grand Princess would be a sure thing.

And as for the Marquis’s household…

She thought for a moment but didn’t say anything more.

In the end, she only said: “Teacher’s considerations are thorough. Naturally, we’ll proceed according to Teacher’s method.”

All matters then hastened into preparation.

Prince Linzi Shen Jie’s selection of consorts was indeed lively for a while, and simultaneously selecting both a primary consort and a secondary consort also caused quite a bit of discussion in the capital. In the third month, there were also lantern festivals and temple fairs, garden tours and spring outings. The common people prayed for Grand Princess who was about to go for the marriage alliance and celebrated for quite some days…

Beneath the boiling surface, a bold plan was unfolding.

The time spent preparing and waiting passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the day before the marriage alliance.

Everything had progressed smoothly and without incident.

However, after the companion reading sessions at Fengchen Hall ended, Jiang Xuening couldn’t find a suitable reason to enter the palace and couldn’t see Shen Zhiyi again. But she wasn’t anxious either. Everything that needed to be prepared was ready. She only needed to wait until the day before the marriage alliance to enter the palace with others to bid farewell to the princess. Then she would reveal the plan in its entirety, and everything would still be seamless.

But what Jiang Xuening never expected was that at this critical juncture, an unexpected change occurred for which she was completely unprepared—

“News just came back from the palace saying that Consort Xian has proposed to His Majesty that all of the originally arranged Yulin Army be replaced with the Imperial Guard.” Jianshu had been following the entire rescue operation for the princess, and at this moment, even his expression darkened considerably as he continued: “Originally, among the Yulin Army, quite a few were former subordinates of the Marquis’s household, and Teacher had already arranged for them properly. The midway substitution would have been flawless. But Consort Xian strongly advocated replacing everyone with His Majesty’s trusted confidants to ensure the marriage alliance proceeds without any problems. This way, trying to execute a deception strategy to replace the princess in front of all these people will be as difficult as ascending to heaven. Unless…”

Consort Xian—Xiao Shu!

Across her previous and current life, Jiang Xuening thought, she had ultimately still come into conflict with this person.

She said: “Unless we abandon the midway replacement method. The Imperial Guard has never seen the princess, so the substitution must be completed after the princess bids farewell but before leaving the palace!”

“Indeed so, but this method is far too risky, and moreover…”

At this point, Jianshu paused.

Jiang Xuening looked at him.

Only then did Jianshu say: “Moreover, Teacher feels that Consort Xian’s action is quite unusual. It’s almost as if she’s detected something about the plan to rescue the princess, and she’s volunteered to His Majesty to oversee Grand Princess’s marriage alliance, vaguely seeming to be directly opposing you.”

Jiang Xuening understood what he wanted to say.

Xie Wei’s meaning was that Xiao Shu’s purpose was so clear, as if she knew who was behind the recent proposal to have her replace Grand Princess in the marriage alliance. He was worried whether Jiang Xuening had exposed some flaw or mistake in the past.

Jianshu asked: “Replacing someone inside the palace is not like replacing someone outside the palace—it’s extremely risky. Does Second Miss Ning—”

“No.”

A fire burned in Jiang Xuening’s heart. She rose abruptly and laughed coldly.

“If she dares to volunteer to oversee the marriage alliance, she has some nerve! Taking this opportunity to send her a great gift—wouldn’t that be just perfect?”

Volunteering to oversee the marriage alliance, but if something went wrong under her very nose, with that dog Emperor Shen Lang’s temperament, she’d surely suffer the consequences!

Just as when she was framed in the jade ruyi case and dared to conclude without evidence that it was Xiao Shu behind it, it wasn’t strange that Xiao Shu vaguely sensed someone was pushing the marriage alliance proposal behind the scenes and concluded this matter couldn’t be unrelated to her.

Those who had the capability and could pull it off were already few and far between.

Jiang Xuening’s wariness of Xiao Shu, Xiao Shu’s hostility toward Jiang Xuening—both were crystal clear to each other. Even with concealment, it wouldn’t lead them to suspect innocent people!

One could easily imagine that Xiao Shu must have cast a wide net this time, waiting for her to fall into it.

But Jiang Xuening truly wanted to break through and try.

Taking a desperate risk still offered a glimmer of hope, but giving up now would mean watching helplessly as Shen Zhiyi’s soul perished in a foreign land!