Chapter 134 The Chain Scheme

The matter of Jingren Palace has been settled.

Shen Qingci followed Chu Jichen back to the Regent's Palace, but she did not relax in the slightest.

Consort Shu Liu Rushuang's furious cry of "Go find Liu Ruolan" actually reminded her.

Liu Ruolan, this malignant tumor, will remain a major threat to our health as long as it is not removed.

She immediately summoned Wanqing and whispered, "Go find Zhuque and have her use all available personnel to keep a close watch on Liu Ruolan and the Prime Minister's residence."

She did this to find out Liu Ruolan's current situation and to see how Prime Minister Liu would deal with this daughter who kept causing trouble.

Secondly... she also wanted to take this opportunity to see for herself just how powerful the intelligence network her father had left her was.

Zhuque's efficiency far exceeded Shen Qingci's expectations.

In just two hours, a detailed secret report had quietly appeared on her desk.

The secret report said that after returning home from the palace, Liu Wenyuan stormed into the courtyard where Liu Ruolan was under house arrest. The moment he entered, he delivered a resounding slap to Liu Ruolan's face!

"Look what you've done!" Liu Wenyuan trembled with rage, pointing his finger at her nose and shouting, "Why did you have to offend that bitch Shen Qingci back in the Huo family?! Now that she's the Regent's Consort, she's going against us at every turn, are you satisfied now?!"

Liu Ruolan covered her swollen face, both shocked and furious, and naturally refused to admit her guilt so easily.

She retorted sharply, "How can you blame me?! It was clearly Huo Yunzhan who had evil intentions, impersonated Huo Yunting, and climbed into my bed! By the time I realized something was wrong, it was too late. For the sake of the family's reputation, I had no choice but to play along!"

"But that beast, he's eating what's in his bowl while eyeing what's in the pot! He's not satisfied with just having me, he even dares to dream of taking two wives and bringing Shen Qingci into his household! How can I swallow this insult?"

"If anyone's to blame, it's Huo Yunzhan for being insatiably greedy!"

“Besides,” Liu Ruolan’s voice was full of grievance and resentment, “when I bullied Shen Qingci before, I didn’t see you stop me! After Shen Qingci had a miscarriage, you also went with us to the Regent’s Palace to take in that wretch, and you didn’t say anything then either.”

"Later, didn't you say that we should turn the tables and force her into a corner so that we could find out the whereabouts of the Shen family's private army? Who would have thought that after being kicked out of the Huo family, she would actually marry that cripple Chu Jichen!"

Liu Wenyuan was rendered speechless by her words, and in a fit of rage, he slapped her again!

"Outrageous!" he roared. "It's clearly your own jealousy of Shen Qingci that has led you to repeatedly harm her! But it's no use saying all this now. Your sister was caught in the act of debauchery with the emperor by everyone, and Shen Qingci and Chu Jichen have accused her of drugging him. She's been banished to the cold palace, her future ruined! Now, the only one left who can share the burden for the Liu family is you!"

“I have already paved two paths for you.” Liu Wenyuan’s eyes turned cold and cruel. “Either I send you to the palace immediately to replace your sister, to secure the emperor’s favor, and to seduce him.”

“Or,” he paused, his voice growing increasingly sinister, “I’ll create an opportunity for you to get close to Chu Jichen. Do everything you can to seduce him, become his woman, and from him, buy a glimmer of hope for my Liu family!”

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruolan was struck dumb, her face turning deathly pale: "No! I won't go!"

"Your Majesty is absurd and tyrannical, and the harem is already a living hell! And Chu Jichen... Chu Jichen is a cripple who cannot have sex. How can I seduce him? Father, you are pushing your daughter into a pit of fire!"

“Besides these two paths,” Liu Wenyuan’s eyes held no trace of fatherly affection, only cold calculation, “you have no other choice!”

Upon seeing this, Shen Qingci couldn't help but let out a very soft sneer.

Liu Wenyuan, oh Liu Wenyuan, you really treat your daughter like a commodity that can be bought and sold at will, used to consolidate your power.

Even tigers don't eat their cubs, yet he was three times more ruthless than tigers and wolves.

"Miss," Wanqing, who was watching from the side, was also terrified, "This Prime Minister Liu... he's absolutely insane!"

“The more he acts this way, the more advantageous it is for us.” Shen Qingci’s eyes gleamed with calculating shrewdness. “Liu Ruolan is proud and will never be willing to be manipulated by her father. But she is currently weak and alone. If she wants to resist, she can only… seek another backer.”

"And the only powerful backer she can think of is probably... Huo Yunzhan."

“Going back to the Huo family is at least simpler than going to the emperor’s harem or trying to seduce Chu Jichen.”

"After all, although she said she wanted to divorce the Marquis of Yongning, she has not actually divorced him yet. In name, she is still the wife of the Marquis of Yongning."

Wan Qing frowned: "But Huo Yunzhan is no longer capable and has no power or influence. How could Liu Ruolan still be interested in him?"

“She looks down on him now.” Shen Qingci’s lips curled into a cold smile. “But what if… Huo Yunzhan were to regain his ‘success’?”

"Since Prime Minister Liu wants his daughter to be someone else's plaything, then I'll make sure that Liu Ruolan and Huo Yunzhan, that scumbag and despicable woman, are bound together and torture each other until they die!"

She immediately had an idea and picked up her pen to write a secret letter.

"Wanqing, pass this letter to our informant in the Huo family. Have him find an opportunity to whisper this in Huo Yunzhan's ear."

...

Inside the Yongning Marquis's residence, Huo Yunzhan was restless and uneasy because of recent events.

He finally got a chance to see Shen Qingci and lured her into the palace, but he never expected that His Majesty would not do as they had agreed before and would directly give Shen Qingci an aphrodisiac!

It's one thing to use aphrodisiacs, but to make matters worse, it failed!

In this way, Shen Qingci will definitely stop believing him completely!

It will probably be difficult for him to get close to Shen Qingci again.

An inconspicuous servant appeared silently beside him, lowering his voice:

"My lord, are you really willing to sit here and wait for your death?"

“Shen Qingci is now the Regent’s Consort, and things are not the same as before. You offended her so much before. Given her personality, once she gains a foothold in the Regent’s Palace, she will definitely turn around and deal with you and the entire Huo family!”

"Now, you only have one path to take!"

The servant's eyes gleamed with a seductive light. "That is, to firmly grasp Liu Ruolan! As long as you can make her devoted to you, you can re-establish your relationship with the Prime Minister's mansion! At that time, with the Prime Minister as your backer, what are you afraid of, Chu Jichen?"

Upon hearing this, Huo Yunzhan kicked over the chair next to him in frustration: "Easy for you to say! Liu Ruolan now looks down on me for being powerless and weak, and even more so on me... for my hidden illness! How could she possibly help me?!"

The servant smiled mysteriously, leaned close to his ear, and whispered a wicked plan in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"The Marquis suffers from a hidden ailment that renders him unable to have sexual relations. But... it's not entirely impossible."

"All you need to do is give Liu Ruolan some hallucinogenic drugs, and then find a strong and healthy man... Afterwards, tell her that your illness... has been cured. This way, she will definitely change her mind."

"My lord, you should have your men make love to her day and night, so that she can become pregnant as soon as possible. That way, you can have her firmly in your grasp!"