Cen Xi retorted disdainfully, her mind filled with the scene of their first meeting. Thinking of how Shen Jinchen had ruthlessly choked her neck, Cen Xi's mind instantly cleared.

This person must have had ulterior motives towards her. At first, he wanted to kill her, and then he spared no effort to sleep with her. He said he liked her without any process. Such liking came too quickly.

And the Wen family, why did Wen Qixi listen to him and go up the mountain to apologize to him? Why did Wen Qihe willingly obey his orders and become his maid just because of one sentence from her?

Wanting to get into his bed is one thing, but there's probably some other ulterior motive involved.

For the first time, Cen Xi felt that she had eliminated the traitors too quickly. If Wen Qihe had stayed by her side, even if that scoundrel didn't say anything, she could have found a way to get some secrets out of Wen Qihe.

Seeing that she was staring at his face from every angle as she spoke, Shen Jinchen was at a loss for words.

"Out of things to say? Can't find an excuse?"

Cen Xi scoffed.

Shen Jinchen had been navigating the political landscape for years, unafraid even of Emperor Zhao's fury. Yet, the woman before him—his woman—made his scalp tingle under her gaze. Just as he was about to speak, Cen Xi said again:

"Silence means tacit agreement. Fine, I've already slept with you, and things can't go back to the way they were. I'll just assume you have a plan, but I don't care what it is. Once we deal with Yan Taizu, we'll have nothing to do with each other. That's all. Now, tell me, how do we plan to cooperate?"

"If I really had something on my mind about you, wouldn't you care at all?"

Cen Xi didn't ask, but Shen Jinchen's words stuck in his throat.

At that moment, he truly believed her words, "Let bygones be bygones," because she truly didn't have him in her heart.

"I don't care. Tell me your next plan."

Ignoring the way he was looking at her, Cen Xi spoke frankly.

Cen Xi vaguely felt that Shen Jinchen's identity was not as simple as it seemed; perhaps he...

Forget it. If fate only decreed that she should be in charge of Emperor Yan, then she should just finish dealing with Emperor Yan's affairs. As for the rest, she believed that Heaven would have its own arrangements, and they probably wouldn't have much to do with her anyway. Why should she know so much? Knowing too much wouldn't do her any good.

This is a timeless principle she learned after entering the workplace: never meddle in other people's business, and it's best not to even ask about it.

"You really don't intend to listen to my advice?"

Seeing that Cen Xi's expression was ambiguous, Shen Jinchen's expression was also ambiguous.

He had a feeling that the woman in front of him was even more cold-blooded and ruthless than him. The idea that she would be devoted to him after losing her body was absolutely impossible.

"Stop dawdling, I just want to hear how we should deal with Yan Taizu."

At this moment, Cen Xi no longer focused her gaze on Shen Jinchen's face, and spoke casually and lazily.

"I am not in a good mood today, so I am afraid I cannot discuss the plans with Miss Cen. Let's do it another day. You may go on your own, I will not see you off."

Shen Jinchen sat in his chair and gave Cen Xi a deep look. Suddenly, he told her to leave, and his address was no longer so intimate.

"Damn it, you're playing heartless, aren't you? Fine, then go ahead and play it. I'll trouble you, Prime Minister Shen, to tell me how to break the Flying Phoenix Mountain formation. I will never bother you again."

Cen Xi was taken aback when she saw his aloof demeanor, and then realized that his words meant he intended to distance himself from her.

Cen Xi cursed instantly, but she had never interacted with this person before. He said that, and she felt that she could laugh for three days after returning to Feifeng Mountain.

"Give."

Shen Jinchen tossed her a newly copied book, then closed his eyes to rest and stopped talking.

Cen Xi took the book, glanced at it and saw that it did contain a method to break the Ghostly Array. She then glanced at Shen Jinchen, who exuded a cold aura, and left the study.

Half an hour after Cen Xi left, Shen Jinchen asked Shang Se to make him tea again. He drank it sip by sip until late at night, sitting alone in his study.

Cen Xi successfully broke the formation and climbed the mountain using the book given to her by Shen Jinchen.

She hadn't been back for a few days, and the mountain had changed drastically. Shen Jinchen really was a man of his word; a group of people had come to the mountain so quickly to investigate the soil and prepare for planting flowers.

Thinking of the resolute look on that scoundrel's face before he left, Cen Xi wondered if he would send someone to invite these gardeners back.

Logically speaking, since he was so heartless, she should have kicked these people out. But she really liked Haitang, and if these people left, she really didn't know where to find them for a while.

So after thinking it over, she decided to let these people work for now, and if Shen Jinchen didn't settle their wages later, she would settle them herself.

Back in her room, Cen Xi thought she should go to Qingshan Academy. After talking with Shen Jinchen today, she felt that she hadn't done anything serious in a long time. She should also go and find out more about Xiao Qiliang. So she decided to go down the mountain in three days and go to Qingshan Academy under the identity of Jiang Yu.

When she took off her clothes to sleep that night, she found a silver note with ten thousand taels of gold in her pocket, as well as a piece of black jade. She was immediately shocked to realize that she had an important matter to attend to. She had to take over Zhenxiulou immediately, otherwise she would really have been taken advantage of by that scoundrel.

There was no way she could go to Qingshan Academy in three days; she had to take advantage of Chen Gou immediately, so she had to get to Zhenxiulou as fast as she could. She quickly put her clothes back on and hurriedly left.

Just as she was leaving, she ran into Xiaoyu, who wanted to sleep with her after hearing she was back. Cenxi hugged her briefly, then handed her back to Axiang.

"Ah Xiang, take good care of Xiao Yu. I have something to attend to and need to go to Shangyang City immediately."

"Mother, why are you leaving so soon after you get back?"

Upon hearing Cen Xi's words, Xiao Yu's joyful face instantly turned somewhat disappointed.

"Mommy has a big business deal to discuss and has to go take care of it right away. Little Fish, be a good girl and listen to Sister Xiang. Mommy will bring you candied hawthorns when I come back, okay?"

Cen Xi touched her little face to comfort her.

"Okay, little fish, be good. Little fish will wait for Mommy to come back."

The little girl said, holding back her tears.

"Sweetie, after we're done with this busy period, how about Mommy takes Little Fish out for a few days of fun?"

Seeing Xiaoyu's tears fall, Cen Xi tenderly wiped them away and comforted her.

"Okay, remember to come back. Don't run away with your uncle and never come back. Little Fish wants her mother."

The little fish pouted and mumbled instructions, but the words coming out of its mouth... well...

"Little fish, who taught you to say 'You can't run away with your uncle'?"

Cen Xi picked up the little fish and asked.

“Sister, the child is ignorant. She picked up a few gossips and started repeating them. I will educate her properly in the future.”

Ah Xiang didn't expect Xiao Yu to say that, so she awkwardly explained.

"Have people been gossiping about me on the mountain lately?"

Cen Xi raised an eyebrow and asked.

"There are some gossipy people. After the gardener invited by Prime Minister Shen came up the mountain, some rumors started to circulate, but my brother and Brother Liu have already dealt with those people."

Ah Xiang explained.