The Prince of Pingnan couldn't recall anyone else in his palace for a moment. He said coldly, "This matter must be thoroughly investigated!"

Lei Song responded, but knew that this thorough investigation would be quite difficult.

If Princess Anle really stole the jade seal of the Prince's Palace, the consequences would be severe.

After they left, the sky was already beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

Lin Xiuyan yawned, closed the door, and prepared to take another nap. When she turned her head, she saw Ye Junfei sitting up, looking at her with his peach blossom eyes.

She was a little surprised: "Why are you sitting up?"

Instead of answering, Ye Junfei asked, "Did Lei Song really flirt with you?"

Lin Xiuyan recalled his intense possessiveness in a certain aspect and could only explain to him, "Of course not."

“When you weren’t back, he wanted to come into the house, but I stopped him and we argued a bit.”

After she finished speaking, she yawned again, took off her shoes, and sat on the bed.

Ye Junfei reached out and lifted her pants, and when he saw a bruise on her snow-white calf, his face instantly darkened.

He asked coldly, "Did Lei Song kick it?"

“No.” Lin Xiuyan shook her head: “A guard came and kicked the door. When I opened the door, he couldn’t stop his foot and kicked my leg.”

Seeing that Ye Junfei looked unwell, she said, "It's just a minor injury. I'll apply some medicine and it'll be fine in a couple of days."

Ye Junfei looked at her and asked, "Why didn't you say anything just now?"

He spoke as he gently massaged her wound with his fingers.

Lin Xiuyan was most afraid of having her legs pressed down. When he pressed down, the tingling sensation from his fingertips made her very uncomfortable, and she let out a soft cry.

Ye Junfei turned to look at her.

She laughed and said, "What's so special about this little injury? Every time my mother used to beat me, the injuries were much worse than this."

Ye Junfei's face darkened further upon hearing this. He looked at her and said, "Lin Xiuyan, I am your husband."

"I once said that with me around, I won't let anyone bully you."

"You're so good at tattling to that old geezer, why don't you come and tattle to me?"

Lin Xiuyan was stunned for a moment; she had never really thought about this before.

She has lived two lives, and in her previous life she suffered too much, which made her develop the habit of bearing everything on her own when faced with problems.

Because after all the people who cared for her in her past life died, no one would help her anymore.

All her complaints were tinged with a little scheming; she only wanted to gain some advantage for herself.

She never even considered going to Ye Junfei to complain or act coquettishly.

She said softly, "I'm not used to it."

Ye Junfei took her hand, looked into her eyes, and said, "You'll have to get used to this!"

“I am your husband, the closest person to you in this world. You can tell me all your worries and grievances.”

Lin Xiuyan looked at him with a slightly unfocused gaze. This Ye Junfei was completely different from the Ye Junfei of her previous life.

This version of him made her feel both unfamiliar and wonderful.

She gently nuzzled her head against his chest, then looked up at him and said, "Okay."

She remembered something else, took a round object out of her pocket, and asked him, "Do you recognize this?"

Ye Junfei was quite surprised when he saw what she was holding: "Where did you get this?"

He took it and pressed it on the round button, and a hidden clasp fell out. He pulled it again and pulled out half a wolf's head.

Lin Xiuyan looked somewhat surprised and replied, "When I encountered the group from Qingyuan last night, I killed a few of them."

"Qingyuan was very concerned about that person, so they searched him and found it on his body." (www.cascoo.net)

Ye Junfei laughed when he heard this: "This can only be said to be fate."

Lin Xiuyan asked, somewhat puzzled, "Could you put it more bluntly?"

Ye Junfei smiled and looked at her, saying, "Yesterday afternoon, I sent him the defense map of the palace through Princess Anle's spies."

"Given Anle's personality, after suffering so many losses, he immediately came to the Prince's Mansion as soon as he received the defense map."

"I thought Anle came for the jade seal of the Prince's Mansion, but I didn't expect Anle to be so greedy, wanting both the jade seal and the military tally."

Lin Xiuyan was somewhat surprised: "A military tally?"

“Yes,” Ye Junfei replied, “It is the military tally for the 50,000 troops stationed in Liefeng Prefecture, which was approved by the imperial court.”

"This army is usually led by the old man's trusted confidants, and can be mobilized with a military tally in critical moments."

Lin Xiuyan always thought that using military tally to mobilize an army was a bit silly, but as long as it worked, that was fine.

She handed the military tally to Ye Junfei: "Then you can have this. It's useless to me."

Ye Junfei didn't stand on ceremony with her: "I do have a use for this."

"That old codger will probably change the military seal in a very short time, but it doesn't matter. I can do a lot in that time."

Lin Xiuyan didn't ask him what he was going to do, but she knew he was probably going to trick Prince Pingnan again.

At this time, Qingyuan and his party had arrived at Princess Anle's residence.

Princess Anle listened to Qingyuan recount the events of the night. His expression didn't change much, but a chill crept into his eyes.

Qingyuan felt a little scared looking at Princess Anle like this. He prostrated himself on the ground and said, "Your subordinate is incompetent. Please punish me, Your Highness!"

Princess Anle sneered: "Punishment? You failed to seize such a good opportunity. Do you think punishing you will allow me to obtain the military seal of the Prince of Pingnan?"

Qingyuan lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to breathe.

Eunuch Yu said from the side, "This time it was Qingyuan's dereliction of duty, but now is a time when we need people, so please give Qingyuan another chance."

Princess Anle wished she could kill Qingyuan outright, but he didn't bring many people with him to Liefeng Prefecture.

He has suffered many losses recently, and if he kills Qingyuan, no one will work for him anymore.

He took a deep breath and said coldly, "You're saying there were other people who went to the Prince's mansion this time?"

Qingyuan replied, "Yes, I met a woman who had a very powerful crossbow that could fire in rapid succession."

“After we obtained the military tally, to be on the safe side, I put Lian You in charge of it, but I never expected that he would be shot and killed by that woman.”

Princess Anle asked, "A woman? Do you know who she is?"

Qingyuan shook his head: "I don't know. She feels somewhat familiar to me, but I can't remember where I've seen her before."

To be on the safe side, Lin Xiuyan changed her body shape and voice, so it's normal that Qingyuan doesn't recognize her.

Qingyuan felt that she was somewhat familiar, but it was just his intuition.

Princess Anle said calmly, "You and Qingfeng have always been the people I rely on the most."

"You have greatly disappointed me this time. You were seriously derelict in your duties and should have been executed."

"Now is the time when we need manpower. I have many things waiting for you to do. Go down and take ten lashes!"

Qingyuan kowtowed to him: "Thank you for the princess's reward!"

After he left, Princess Anle asked Eunuch Yu, "What do you think that woman was?"