Song Chuyi felt she might have still underestimated Yuanhui’s maliciousness. This great monk not only wanted to push aside the two stumbling blocks of the Song and Cui families to wholeheartedly become the number one person under Prince Dongping’s command.

He also wanted to kill two birds with one stone – using Prince Duan’s remnants to assassinate her, then after her death blame it on Consort Xian. In one stroke, he would both eliminate a thorn in his own eye and remove a thorn in the flesh for Prince Dongping and Big Madam Fan, further earning their trust.

This monk did everything and made every move with deep intent. No one knew how many traps and backup plans were buried in each seemingly casual word he spoke. She took a deep breath and sneered coldly while covering her face.

“I originally thought to deal with the Chen family first. Yuanhui has deep roots and Huangjue Temple as cover, so I wanted to put him aside for now.” Song Chuyi took a deep breath. Sharp pain came from her knees and elbows, but these pains were nothing compared to the humiliation and fright she had just suffered. At least she could still stand here with her life intact.

Since she hadn’t died, she would just have to let those who wanted her dead die instead.

Ma Changjiang, Ma Wangkun and the others came over supporting each other. That group of death warriors possessed excellent martial skills and struck ruthlessly. They all bore wounds, especially Ma San who was responsible for guarding the courtyard. Because he had been caught off guard, both he and Sun Ergou had suffered serious injuries.

“First go fetch Doctor Yan.” Song Chuyi turned to look at Qing Ying. “Tell him to bring several apprentices. We have quite a few injured people here.”

Doctor Yan was an itinerant physician specially invited by Nanny Xu. Because he had nearly frozen to death at their door the winter before last, Nanny Xu had taken pity and kept him at the Tongzhou estate. He simply stayed on, and normally when anyone on the estate had a headache or fever, he could treat them. Later, because Ma Changjiang and the others frequently got injured and Song Chuyi had no trustworthy physicians around her, she simply asked Nanny Xu for him. He had been living in this courtyard ever since, usually researching medicinal herbs and medical arts.

Qing Ying turned and quickly went to find Doctor Yan. Song Chuyi glanced coldly at the corpses on the ground and asked Ye Jingchuan and Zhou Weizhao, “How should these people be handled?”

This courtyard had only been purchased by Song Chuyi after the incident at the house near the Yellow Immortal Temple. Speaking of it, it was extremely secretive, yet Yuanhui had even been able to find this place and knew her whereabouts. It seemed he had put considerable effort into tracking her.

Such a master who could calculate everything and see through people’s fate – why would he strike so ruthlessly at a twelve-year-old girl? Could it really be as Yuanhui said, that her rebirth would change the trajectory of all events, causing even her own fate to become unclear and blurred?

She thought again of that time in the palace when Consort Xian had Yuanhui declare her suitable as a secondary consort, and Zhang Tianshi had looked at her with that meaningful glance. But immediately she shook her head. If there really was such a thing as fate, then since Heaven had opened its eyes and allowed her to be reborn, surely it wasn’t so she could suffer again. Even if it meant defying fate and never entering the cycle of reincarnation again, she accepted it.

“Report it to the authorities and wait for Shuntian Prefecture to send people.” Zhou Weizhao’s expression was calm as he followed her gaze and swept over these people. “Although Yuanhui exerted more effort than Consort Xian, having Consort Xian persistently causing you trouble like this isn’t a solution either. Prince Duan is already dead, Princess Nine has already married far away, and the remaining Prince Lu only wishes to keep his head down and live peacefully. Giving her some punishment at this time would be good.”

Ye Jingchuan glared at him, somewhat anxious. “Are you crazy?! Right now everyone is saying she has a calamitous star fate that brings bloody disasters. If people find out that right after Yuanhui spoke about her fate, she was immediately assassinated, wouldn’t that be announcing to the entire world that what Yuanhui said was true?”

The hunting grounds incident had already been proven once. If it was proven again, Song Chuyi’s reputation would be completely ruined. Even the Empress and his own mother consort, who had been half-believing and half-doubting, would probably become wary.

Zhou Weizhao clasped his hands behind his back, his eyes still carrying a gentle smile, as if nothing in this world could anger him. He glanced at Song Chuyi. “Of course we can’t let others know this is her place. An unmarried young lady maintaining such a large residence where those who come and go are all a bunch of men – how would others view her? Yuanhui also saw clearly that even if something happened, the Song family wouldn’t dare make it public, which is why he chose to strike here. This matter will have to be pinned on you.”

Zhou Weizhao pointed back at his own chin, mouth slightly open. “Me?”

“That’s right, you.” Zhou Weizhao nodded affirmatively. “You’re already reckless and unruly by nature, and when you were in Xibei before, you had old grievances with Prince Duan’s people. This time, we’ll simply say those people wanted to kill you for revenge. With your father and brother suppressing the matter, the Shuntian Prefecture magistrate’s people won’t dare not investigate.”

“No, no, no.” He thought of something else and immediately negated his own statement. After thinking, he said, “Aunt has had a conflict with Consort Xian over Princess Nine’s matter. Recently, whenever Consort Xian sees Aunt, she’s always snide and sarcastic. We’ll simply go ask Aunt and say this estate is hers.”

Assassinating Ye Jingchuan and Princess Rongcheng – the severity of this would immediately rise several levels. Not only would the Shuntian Prefecture magistrate have to investigate with all his might, even the Imperial Guard would have to get involved.

He could then give the Shuntian Prefecture magistrate and the Imperial Guard people some inside information, having them wipe out all those Prince Duan remnants in one sweep. That group of death warriors would either say nothing at all, or at most implicate Consort Xian, but would absolutely not dare to involve Yuanhui.

This way, they would first resolve Consort Xian, that powder keg who was always stabbing them in the back from time to time. However, Princess Rongcheng might not necessarily be willing to lie and cover things up in such a major matter.

Song Chuyi hesitated somewhat. “But Her Highness the Princess…”

“I’ll go speak with her.” Zhou Weizhao turned to look at her. “Aunt will agree.”

This was indeed true. In the previous life, Princess Rongcheng had died largely because after learning of Zhou Weizhao’s death, with nothing left to live for, her body had rapidly deteriorated.

Consort Xian truly deserved to die. She tolerated Big Madam Fan’s antics only because Big Madam Fan’s previous thoughts had all been on winning over the Cui and Song families, and she hadn’t done anything too excessive to the Changning Earl’s household. Also because someone like Big Madam Fan, who had been beloved by the Crown Prince for so many years, was now treated by him like a dangerous threat overnight – even if she cleared her name in the future, she could never return to her former status in the Crown Prince’s heart. Even in her own son’s heart, she would forever be a stain on her womanly virtue. Having her live the rest of her days in constant fear and trembling would be the greatest punishment for her.

But someone like Consort Xian, while alive, constantly caused trouble for people. Now without children to restrain her, she was simply a complete scoundrel, and even Prince Lu couldn’t make her restrain herself.