"Your Majesty is handsome, Your Majesty is the most handsome, alright?"

Every word she spoke was utterly perfunctory, yet her gaze never left Cai Lian's face.

The emperor was instantly pierced by the words "That's enough," and looked at her with hurt in his eyes.

Suddenly, Jian Yang's eyes lit up, and she excitedly rubbed her hands together.

The emperor followed her gaze and saw that Cai Lian, who had been engrossed in his studies just moments before, had now walked out of his room and was heading towards the backyard along the covered walkway.

"Excuse me!" Jian Yang shoved aside the emperor who was blocking her way and followed Cai Lian with an excited and furtive expression.

In an instant, the emperor had a sudden inspiration.

The woman before him, who had helped him overthrow so many officials and concubines, was not someone who could be easily fooled.

She must have had her own plans for following this pale-faced scholar home.

Thinking about it this way, the emperor felt much more at ease.

So he and Jian Yang followed Cai Lian to the backyard, one after the other.

Sure enough, a man was standing under the locust tree in the backyard.

The man was dressed in a black outfit and looked very strong and powerful.

After seeing the man's face clearly, Jian Yang made a soft "hmm" sound. She felt like she had seen this person somewhere before, but she couldn't remember where.

Just as she was deep in thought, the emperor quietly leaned close to her ear and whispered, "That man is Zhou Jing'an's personal guard."

Jian Yang's eyes widened immediately.

Yes, after the emperor's reminder, she immediately remembered that the man was the Second Prince's personal guard, whom she had met twice before in the palace.

"When you followed that pale-faced scholar home, did you sense something was off about him early on?" the emperor whispered in her ear.

Since he reminded her, Jian Yang nodded and put her index finger to her lips in a "shh" gesture.

Cai Lian was already talking to the guard, and Jian Yang was eager to hear what they were saying.

However, the backyard offered too little cover, preventing them from advancing any further, or they would surely be exposed.

After straining her ears to hear nothing, Jian Yang finally gave up.

She pointed behind the emperor, indicating that she was leaving.

The emperor understood, and the two quickly returned to Jian Yang's room.

"You knew he was Zhou Jing'an's man all along?" the emperor asked curiously.

"He" refers to Cai Lian.

Jian Yang shook her head and said, "No, it's not that. I just had a sixth sense that his appearance was too coincidental, so I followed him back to try my luck. I didn't expect to actually run into him."

"A sixth sense?" The emperor looked puzzled.

Jian Yang explained, "It means intuition."

Although Cai Lian's identity and family background seemed impeccable, her intuition always told her that there was something wrong with him.

Sure enough, it really was a trap set up for her by the Second Prince.

Although she didn't know what Zhou Jingan was trying to do by going through all this trouble, it didn't matter; she had plenty of time to find out the truth.

However, the emperor rejected her plan.

"No, I'm worried about you going into danger alone, and I don't agree to it."

"I don't care if you agree or not," Jian Yang silently rolled her eyes.

Seeing that she remained unmoved, the emperor advised her again, "Ayang, come back with me first. I will have someone investigate what happened here."

Jian Yang glanced at him indifferently and said, "Your Majesty need not trouble yourself. I can handle this matter."

The emperor frowned slightly. "This place is not safe. You must come with me today."

Jian Yang said in a deep voice, "Does that mean we'll be safe if we go with you?"

That's a really hurtful statement.

If she hadn't been by his side, she wouldn't have gotten hurt.

The emperor was powerless to refute.

Jian Yang said coldly, "Your Majesty should leave first. Now that we have made progress, I will never give up."

Knowing that her mind was not easily changed and to prevent their relationship from deteriorating, the emperor ultimately respected her decision.

After leaving the Cai residence, the emperor was still worried, so he went straight to the general's residence to ask his brother-in-law for help.

Jian Hong immediately dispatched people to keep a close watch on the Cai residence's movements.

Perhaps to complete the charade, the next day, Cai Lian's father finally made time to meet his "own son," and Jian Yang was among those invited, witnessing the touching scene of the deep bond between father and son.

If Jian Yang hadn't witnessed Cai Lian and the Second Prince's personal guards secretly meeting last night, she would have almost believed that the two people crying in each other's arms were father and son.

Knowing they were acting, and seeing the two men's "genuine" expressions in front of her, Jian Yang was so embarrassed that she dug her toes into the ground, almost digging a three-bedroom, two-living-room house out of them.

The second prince went to great lengths to deceive her.

After the two had finished crying, Cai Lian's unfaithful father wiped his tears with his sleeve and turned his gaze to Jian Yang.

“I am very pleased that my son has made such a good friend as Miss Wang as soon as he arrived in the capital. I hope that Miss Wang will have more people staying at her home so that I can show her some hospitality.”

So the two of them acted for so long just to keep her here.

This was exactly what Jian Yang wanted to do, so she said, "No problem."

Cai Lian was very happy. After his father left, he nervously walked to Jian Yang's side.

“Miss Wang helped me a few days ago, and I haven’t had a chance to properly thank you yet. My father told me that a new restaurant has opened nearby with excellent food. I would like to invite you to a meal, and I hope you will do me the honor.”

Jian Yang knew that this kid was probably up to no good, so she pretended to decline, saying, "That's not right. I've been eating and staying at your house these past few days. If anyone should be thanking you, it should be me thanking you."

Cai Lian quickly waved his hand and said, "One thing at a time. Besides, if it weren't for Miss Wang taking me in and treating me, I might be lying dead in the street right now."

Jian Yang thought to herself that it couldn't be that exaggerated, but still nodded and smiled, "Then I'll accept it without hesitation."

The two arrived at the restaurant Cai Lian had mentioned, and sure enough, the decor was newly opened and there were quite a few customers.

Cai Lian wanted a private room, but was told that all the private rooms were full and he could only sit in the lobby.

He looked at Jian Yang apologetically and said, "Miss Wang, I'm so sorry."

Jian Yang laughed and said, "It's okay, it's just a meal, it doesn't matter where we eat."

As soon as the two sat down, the guests at the next table started talking loudly.

Its main content is still about Empress Wende faking her death.

Jian Yang was utterly speechless.

She had been staying at the Cai residence for the past few days, thinking that the heat of the matter would subside in a few days, but unexpectedly, it seemed to be getting worse.

Soon, everyone around joined the discussion, and each person expressed their opinion on the Queen's faked death, while also mysteriously revealing the so-called "insider information" they had learned to others.

This was even more outrageous than what Jian Yang had heard at the inn a few days ago.

As the person involved, Jian Yang's face turned pale with anger as she listened to everyone's comments about her.

Fortunately, she was wearing a human skin mask, so no one could see her complexion.

"Miss Wang, what do you think of the Empress faking her death?"