This young woman called Ying’er truly resembled the Crown Prince too much—they both possessed an inexplicable lazy yet vibrant energy that made people instantly like them.

If their similar appearance was a mere coincidence, why were their temperaments also so alike?

Xiaoying rarely found herself unable to eat, but this meal was one such occasion.

She felt like a child bride purchased from the street for two taels of silver, eagerly brought home by a poor boy to show off everywhere!

But Feng Yuan was the Grand Prince of Dafeng, not some village pauper, so why parade her around under the title of concubine?

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but glare at the gentleman beside her.

Yet Feng Yuan remained composed as he took out a handkerchief to wipe the oil from the corner of her mouth, then picked up a large piece of crispy meat and placed it in her bowl: “This is my teacher’s wife’s specialty. Try it.”

Sun Shi smiled at this sight and said to Master Ge with satisfaction: “I had worried that A’Yuan wouldn’t cherish a lady, but seeing him now, he’s even more attentive than his teacher!”

Xiaoying gave a dry laugh, thinking she should thank Master Ge for his good teaching—not only was Feng Yuan attentive, he even knew how to care for a lady during her monthly cycle!

After the meal finally ended, Xiaoying eagerly pulled Feng Yuan back to their room.

She had no choice—if she didn’t move quickly, Xiao Tianyang would drag her off to practice again.

Once back in the room, she flopped unceremoniously onto the bed and said to Feng Yuan: “Have all the sentries around that small residence been removed? Can we go down the mountain and return? I want to see my foster father.”

Feng Yuan removed his shoes and lay down beside her, nuzzling her cheek with his high-bridged nose while distractedly saying: “After you left, that courtyard became quite lively. Three groups of people came one after another. Are you sure you want to go back?”

Xiaoying leaned in his embrace, playing with the gentleman’s lips with her finger as she casually guessed the visitors: “The first group must have been the Second Prince. With the Master’s support, his information is more reliable than before. His elder brother brought back a beauty from Jiangzhe and was always coming and going, so he must have been very curious. With the sentries removed, he came openly. He naturally had to check with the Master whether the typically cold-hearted Grand Prince was truly indulging in female company or had other plans. With his shallow nature, he probably couldn’t bear the wait and came first.”

Feng Yuan’s lips tingled under the teasing of her slender fingers as he replied absent-mindedly: “And the other two groups?”

Xiaoying began toying with the man’s Adam’s apple: “Another group must have been Princess Anqing. On the surface, she was clearing the name of the military official who had served her in Jiangzhe years ago, but in reality, she was presenting you with a pledge of allegiance. After all, you were the one who pacified Meng Zhun. By exonerating my foster father, she was currying favor with you. She must have wanted to meet with you privately to see if you could reach an agreement.”

Feng Yuan swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing forcefully under her fingertip as if he had swallowed an egg whole.

Xiaoying then moved her finger to the stubble newly grown on his chin, stroking while saying: “As for the third group… I can’t figure it out. Tell me… Oh!”

Xiaoying’s habit of fidgeting with her fingers when thinking things through needed to be corrected—did she think she was picking at a wall?

That playful finger had ignited a string of flames that naturally needed to be extinguished and plugged.

Xiaoying momentarily became like a fish out of water; once lifted from the surface, her mouth could no longer close.

After finally being released, her body was completely drenched, with enough sweat pooled in the hollow of her neck to form a spring.

But the gentleman was not yet satisfied and insisted on sucking away even the sweat from her neck hollow.

Xiaoying bit his chin forcefully: “I’m talking about serious matters with you. What are you trying to do?”

Yet as Feng Yuan looked at her face, crimson like a ripe red fruit, he remained distracted, thinking: The steward of the new mansion had shown him design albums for new beds for the prince’s residence, but he hadn’t chosen one at the time.

Now he thought the carved, hollowed-out huanghuali wood beauty couch would be best.

The sinuous pear wood bed frame would perfectly complement Ying’er’s curves, whether she lay on her back or her side, fitting her without the slightest gap…

Such fooling around nearly scattered all important matters.

Finally, Xiaoying learned from Feng Yuan that the third group was the Chief Steward sent from the palace by His Majesty.

Perhaps because Feng Yuan had previously shouted before his father about killing and slaughtering, saying he would strangle the woman he married, Emperor Chunde had become somewhat worried.

So when he heard from Consort Shang that the Grand Prince had brought back a lowly woman to keep in his outer residence, rather than being angry, he felt somewhat relieved and wanted to send someone to see if it was true.

After learning that the three groups of visitors had each been more troublesome than the last, Xiaoying completely abandoned the idea of returning.

However, life on the mountain was quite difficult.

When Xiaoying let her guard down, she was once again captured by Xiao Tianyang for training. Xiao Tianyang completely ignored the young woman’s refusal to become his disciple, determined to instruct her in the saber-drawing techniques of the Miao saber.

Master Ge invited the Grand Prince to drink tea with him in the pavilion, carefully asking: “What is the relationship between this lady and the Crown Prince?”

Feng Yuan lowered his eyes: “She happens to look similar.”

Master Ge was familiar with the Grand Prince’s temperament; if he didn’t wish to speak, no iron rod could pry open his mouth.

Master Ge shook his head helplessly and asked again: “Then is she merely… someone who serves you?”

This time, Feng Yuan raised his head solemnly and slowly said: “She is a very important person to me.”

Master Ge’s brows furrowed: “Then are you… equally important to her?”

This time, Feng Yuan did not speak. His handsome features showed a hint of uncertainty and conflict, but finally, with a tense face, he declared as if taking an oath: “I must be important to her!”

The implication was clear—even if he wasn’t now, he would be in the future!

This conflicted and somewhat frustrated Feng Yuan seemed to have gained a humanity he had never possessed before.

But Ge Danian’s heart became unsettled.

Though he didn’t know the young woman’s true background,

At Yuxiu Village, this young woman had outwitted the Wei traitor with just her words, proving she was far from ordinary!

And Feng Yuan’s regard for this young woman far exceeded Master Ge’s imagination.

Everyone passes through youth.

Feng Yuan’s gaze toward the young woman was sincere and passionate, but was she someone to whom Feng Yuan could entrust his heart?

Ge Danian’s gaze inevitably turned toward the young woman on the training ground. Driven to desperation by Third Master Xiao, she had climbed a tall tree and refused to come down, clinging to a branch and beginning to cry loudly and miserably.

Seeing this, Feng Yuan immediately stood up and walked out to stand beneath the tree to receive the young woman.

Meanwhile, Xiao Tianyang was at a loss, saying he hadn’t spoken harshly—he was just teaching her saber techniques and had asked her to practice a hundred times or so. Why had the girl suddenly started crying?

From Master Ge’s angle, he could see the young woman jump from the tree into Feng Yuan’s arms.

Her pretty face didn’t have a single tear drop on it. With her back to Xiao Tianyang, she glared at Feng Yuan and whispered something.

Judging by her lip movements, she seemed to be saying: “None of you are good people! I’m exhausted. If he keeps pestering me, this young lady will jump off the mountaintop!”

The words were not polite, and normally, given Feng Yuan’s temperament, he would not tolerate them.

But Feng Yuan’s reaction was to pinch the young woman’s puffed-up cheeks, then draw her into his embrace, letting her continue to pretend to cry, while calmly telling Xiao Tianyang something about the young woman being unwell.

After the martial arts practice, Master Ge finally found time to have a conversation with Lady Ying’er.

Ge Danian needed to personally test this young woman’s character; otherwise, he would not be at ease.

After asking about her native place, age, and her parents’ whereabouts and livelihoods, Master Ge began to test the young woman: “Has anyone around you mentioned that your appearance has something inappropriate about it?”

Xiaoying was exhausted from practicing martial arts. Her arms trembled as she lifted her teacup: “I heard from the Third Prince that this humble one is disrespectful, bearing some resemblance to the Crown Prince.”

Master Ge nodded, as if mentioning it casually: “The Grand Prince is indifferent by nature and not one to actively curry favor with women. I wonder who instructed you to come serve by the Grand Prince’s side?”

Master Ge was convinced that Yan Xiaoying had been sent by someone to harm the Grand Prince while bearing such a face.

After all, her appearance, if made public or discovered by his foolish brothers, would certainly cause a huge commotion, bringing no benefit to the Grand Prince.

Xiaoying thought very carefully, then smiled and pointed to the chessboard nearby: “Would the Master be interested in playing a game?”

Master Ge allowed her to make the first move.

As they continued playing, the composed expression gradually disappeared from Master Ge’s face.

Because he discovered that this young woman’s fierce chess style… was identical to that of his student Feng Qiyuan!

This kind of tricky, rapid chess—could anyone besides that young man play it?

When the last piece was surrounded and captured, Ge Danian’s beard slowly rose as he looked up at Xiaoying with uncertainty and hesitation: “You… you are…”

Xiaoying stood up and, though dressed as a woman, performed a man’s graceful salutation to Master Ge: “This student has been disrespectful, winning another game against the Imperial Tutor.”

From this point, no more needed to be said. Ge Danian finally understood the background of the Grand Prince’s beauty.

It wasn’t someone’s deliberate placement, but rather his own two students creating such a messy situation right under his nose!

The shock was tremendous, possibly involving imperial family scandals of blood and ethics.

The Imperial Tutor, normally so composed and steady, wore an expression close to that of someone about to collapse and spit blood.

Xiaoying considered herself respectful of teachers, so she didn’t let her old teacher remain shocked for too long.

“Master, it’s a long story, but this student can guarantee there is no blood relation with the Grand Prince!”

Then Xiaoying calmly highlighted the key points, removing irrelevant individuals, and explained how she had entered the palace to save her brother.

Master Ge had spent his life immersed in political machinations and had seen all manner of schemes, but as he heard about this young woman’s bold experiences, he listened with his scalp tingling and his hair standing on end.

If we consider who was the boldest, it wasn’t this young woman, but the source of all this—the venomous Empress Tang.

As a genius who had stood by His Majesty’s side to strategize in court, the Imperial Tutor had truly never imagined that the women in His Majesty’s rear palace could create such an earth-shattering affair.

For a moment, Master Ge again felt that one should never underestimate women.

However, Ying’er needn’t have revealed the truth, since the Grand Prince had already taken responsibility for her and hadn’t disclosed the actual situation.

Hearing the master’s question, Xiaoying smiled: “Master is a person of great wisdom. Even if I deliberately concealed things, Master would certainly uncover the truth. Having been teacher and student once, this student doesn’t wish to hide anything from you.”

This mention of their teacher-student relationship made the Imperial Tutor sigh slightly.

Only because His Majesty was wary of the Tang family, he hadn’t devoted much effort to Feng Qiyuan as a student and had never taught her true skills.

He felt unworthy of the title “teacher.”

That Feng Yuan had early on seen through the false Crown Prince and had fallen for this young woman was truly unexpected for Ge Danian.

But thinking carefully, Feng Yuan was different from other princes; he hadn’t grown up with the real Feng Qiyuan, and the first person he saw after ten years was Lady Ying’er, not the Crown Prince.

If it was love at first sight, it wasn’t surprising.

However, not only was there a vast difference in status between this young couple, but this young woman’s bold experience of entering the palace pretending to be the Crown Prince made it difficult for her to have a perfect outcome with Feng Yuan!

Since he was the teacher of these two children, he couldn’t help but warn them.

But just as he began, Lady Xiaoying smiled and said: “I understand it all, Master. You needn’t worry about this.”

Her expression suggested she had no intention of pursuing any particular outcome with Feng Yuan, as if such romantic matters weren’t worth mentioning.

Compared to these entanglements, what she was more concerned about was: “Master, do you know who the ‘Master’ of Xiaoyun Mountain Villa is?”

Ge Danian also knew of this figure who had connections with important court officials, and frowned slightly: “Why would you think I know the ‘Master’ of Xiaoyun Mountain Villa?”

“Because I saw that when Feng Yuan was imprisoned in Tianlu Palace, the books he read all had your annotations. For the past ten years, that ‘Master’ has been controlling the Grand Prince by any means necessary. Do you… truly not know anything?”

Master Ge frowned: “These books were indeed prepared by me for that child Feng Yuan. However, I sought out a familiar eunuch in the palace at the time, asking if he had a way to deliver some things to the child. Later, he came to tell me that his apprentice was responsible for delivering meals to Tianlu Palace, and said the child wanted to read, asking if I could bring some books. But what I brought wasn’t just books, but also food, clothing, and other necessities prepared by his teacher’s wife. Later, when I asked the Grand Prince, he said he hadn’t received them, so I assumed the eunuch who relayed the message had kept them.”

Xiaoying understood. In other words, over the years, Master Ge had prepared not just books for Feng Yuan, but many daily necessities. Especially the clothes, quilts, dried meat, and baked flatbreads made by Madam Sun—countless items.

Yet what reached Feng Yuan’s hands were only a few books.

The so-called “familiar eunuch” must have been arranged by the Master, cleverly pleasing both sides, borrowing Master Ge’s books to soften the Grand Prince in that desolate palace.

This was the first time Ge Danian had heard about the connection between the Grand Prince and the Master of Xiaoyun Mountain Villa. As he listened, his scalp tightened and his fingertips grew slightly numb.

As wise as the Imperial Tutor was, he immediately grasped the intention of someone attempting to manipulate the imprisoned child.

He only muttered to himself: “These things… why didn’t he tell me about them…”

But halfway through his words, the Imperial Tutor’s gaze fixed.

He suddenly realized that Feng Yuan never told him these things because that child had never trusted him in the first place!

Although the Ge couple were closer to Feng Yuan than others, they truly cared for him as if he were their child,

A child who, from the age of three, had been passed among various residences of the former imperial household officials, eating from a hundred families as he grew up, naturally had a wariness far stronger than ordinary children.

Feng Yuan’s reticence had been formed since childhood. He was accustomed to silently observing his surroundings, maintaining a high level of vigilance toward everyone.

Although he had improved considerably during those years living with the Ge couple,

The subsequent calamity had plunged him back into a ten-year nightmare.

That Feng Yuan had never mentioned the “Master” to him—could it be that the child suspected the couple of being the Master’s people?

In contrast, the young woman before him was truly incautious. Why had she revealed everything without reservation, without even confirming his identity?

Hearing this, Xiaoying smiled slightly: “Even if you were the Master’s person, what of it? In the Yuxiu Village incident, the Master sacrificed you and your wife. If it were just you, Master, that might be acceptable, but if Madam Sun were harmed, how could you let the Master off lightly? Besides, having been your student once, how could I not understand Master’s upright character?”

In a few sentences, she had both explained the reason for her trust and placed a high hat of praise on Ge Danian’s head.

Only now did Master Ge finally overlap the young woman before him with that cunning, intelligent young Crown Prince.

If this young woman had any exceptional quality, it was her extraordinary ability to connect with people.

Even Feng Yuan, suspicious from childhood and not easily trusting others, seemed willing to be close to and trust this young woman.

This required not only some worldly experience but, more importantly, an innate personal magnetism.

He had previously seen a woman with similar charisma—the lady of the Ye family.

However, compared to the late Ye Zhanxue, this young woman had more of an innate, untamed wildness that did not conform to rules and lacked some of the constraints of family and national responsibility.

Master Ge couldn’t help but think with some regret that if Ye Zhanxue had been as bold and untamable as Lady Ying’er back then, she probably wouldn’t have swallowed her pride and remained by the Emperor’s side for the sake of her family’s honor!

But what kind of result would such a bold and willful young woman create for Dafeng’s situation if she were truly with the somber Feng Yuan?

Even the intelligent Imperial Tutor couldn’t make a judgment at the moment.

However, this young woman currently had no ill intentions toward the Grand Prince. She merely wanted to investigate who the Master truly was.

Master Ge was unwilling to withhold information from this student and spoke openly: “Since the Late Emperor ascended the throne, the court has maintained a moderate and steady attitude toward martial artists, on one hand recruiting talents broadly, and on the other, using the Dragon Scale Shadow Guards to control those with disloyal intentions in the martial world. This Master mainly operates in the black market and was not previously a prominent figure. Therefore, this old man doesn’t know much.”

And now, if what this young woman said was true, this mysterious Master leaning toward the Second Prince would certainly have an immeasurable impact on the future political situation.

Unfortunately, he was about to withdraw from this inscrutable chess game.

The day before, in the medicine he had brought from the palace for his wife, he discovered rhinoceros horn had been added.

Though valuable, this ingredient conflicted with the medicine Sun Shi usually took. If accidentally consumed, the consequences would be unthinkable.

The investigation was simple; Ge Danian quickly discovered it was the work of people from the Second Prince’s side.

Presumably, when he was investigating the geng iron case, he had casually offered suggestions to His Majesty, which the Second Prince had learned about and resented.

This was a warning, warning Ge Danian not to meddle in court politics anymore.

Ge Danian’s return to the capital this time was entirely to seek medical treatment for Sun Shi, and also because he was concerned about Feng Yuan.

But now, after the Yuxiu Village incident, plus this unexpected medicine tampering, he increasingly realized what kind of chaos he had dragged his wife into.

So now, his only wish was to take his wife away from the capital again, to no longer be disturbed by these schemes.

Thinking of this, Master Ge took a page from his bosom and handed it to Xiaoying: “Among the court officials, there aren’t many that the Grand Prince can use, but if he can properly utilize these few people, he can achieve twice the result with half the effort!”

Xiaoying was somewhat surprised and didn’t reach out to take it, instead asking: “Why are you giving this to me?”

If there truly were usable talents, Master Ge should have given the list to Feng Yuan long ago!