At the end of the secret passage was a secluded house. As Xin Jiuwei changed into her maid's clothes and prepared to sneak back into the Xin residence, Xiao Ran suddenly handed her a small porcelain bottle.

"His Highness asked me to pass this on," Xiao Ran said with a complicated expression. "He said... if anything happens to him, what's inside can save your life."

Xin Jiuwei gripped the porcelain bottle tightly, feeling as if a huge boulder was pressing on her chest. Dawn was breaking, and a new day was about to begin. And there were less than three days left until the Emperor's birthday banquet.

The Xin residence was eerily quiet before dawn. Under the cover of the morning mist, Xin Jiuwei scaled the wall and entered. As she landed, she stepped on a dry branch, which made a crisp "crack" sound in the silence. She immediately held her breath and pressed herself against the wall, remaining motionless.

"Second Miss?"

A deliberately lowered voice came from behind the artificial hill. Xin Jiuwei breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "Bitao, it's me."

The elder sister's personal maid emerged from the shadows, her face ashen: "The young lady told me to wait for you here. Come with me quickly; there are spies everywhere in the manor."

Xin Jiuwei followed Bitao through the familiar courtyard, winding her way along hidden paths she had discovered as a child. Strangely, these paths, which should have been known only to her, were now being systematically utilized—potted plants were even placed at several key corners as cover.

These are...

"It was arranged by the young lady." Bitao didn't turn her head. "Since you left the capital, the young lady has completely renovated the mansion, inside and out."

Xin Jiuwei's heart trembled slightly. In her previous life, her elder sister was trapped in the inner quarters and died in despair, yet in this life she displayed such meticulous thinking.

The entrance to the secret room was hidden in the woodshed behind the kitchen. Bitao moved aside several seemingly haphazardly piled bundles of firewood, revealing a movable wooden plank underneath. Xin Jiuwei bent down and crawled inside, descending the narrow stairs. Before she reached the bottom, she heard her sister's voice:

"Thirty additional imperial guards have been dispatched to the east gate, all of them men of the Second Prince. Qi Huaiyu secretly met with the commander of the imperial guards yesterday and presented him with a box of gold bars."

The secret room was brightly lit by candlelight. Xin Xiyao stood before a huge map of the capital's defenses, marking it with a vermilion brush. She had changed into a smart riding outfit, her long hair tied up high, and an exquisite dagger tucked at her waist. She exuded a sharpness that Xin Jiuwei had never seen before.

"Sister," Xin Jiuwei called softly.

Xin Xiyao whirled around, dropping her vermilion brush to the ground, splattering a few drops of scarlet blood. She rushed over, grabbing her sister's shoulder: "You saw him? How is he?"

Without needing to be explicitly stated, the two sisters knew who "he" referred to.

"It's not good," Xin Jiuwei replied softly, the image of Xiao Xun coughing up blood flashing before her eyes again. "The poisoning he suffered from is more serious than we thought."

Xin Xiyao's nails dug deeply into Xin Jiuwei's shoulder, then she abruptly released them: "I knew it." She turned and picked up a letter from the table. "Someone anonymously delivered this morning, saying that the Second Prince has tempered his sword with 'Seven-Day Soul-Severing Powder'."

Xin Jiuwei's blood instantly froze. "Seven-Day Soul-Severing Powder" was a secret medicine from the previous dynasty. Those poisoned by it would appear unharmed for the first few days, but in reality, their internal organs would slowly rot, and they would die suddenly after seven days. In her previous life, Qi Huaiyu had used this poison to kill her father.

"Is there an antidote?" Her voice trembled.

Xin Xiyao shook her head: "It's said the recipe has been lost." Seeing her sister's pale face, she added, "But the Sixth Prince has many capable people around him, perhaps..."

"The birthday banquet is in three days." Xin Jiuwei interrupted her, "If what Xiao Xun said is true, the Second Prince will launch a coup that night, and he has already..." She couldn't finish her sentence.

The secret room fell into a deathly silence, broken only by the occasional crackling of the candlelight. Xin Xiyao suddenly turned and took a small wooden box from a hidden compartment: "Take a look at this."

Inside the box were a dozen or so small bronze plaques, each engraved with a different name and official title. Xin Jiuwei picked one up, her pupils shrinking sharply—"Lin Chongyi, Vice Minister of War," the very same Vice Minister Lin she had met in Yuncheng that day.

"This is..."

"A list of the Second Prince's henchmen." Xin Xiyao sneered. "That idiot Qi Huaihe thinks his investigations are very discreet, but actually, half of his informants were planted by me."

Xin Jiuwei stared at her sister in shock. The sister who was trapped in the inner quarters of the house and manipulated by others in her previous life had now woven a vast intelligence network.

"When did my sister start..."

"From the moment I discovered something was amiss with my mother's death," Xin Xiyao's eyes were sharp as knives, "did you think you were the only one who wanted to find out the truth?"

These words struck Xin Jiuwei's heart like a dull thud. Yes, why should she believe that only she, after being reborn, could change her fate? Her sister's intelligence and resilience far surpassed those of ordinary people.

"Xiao Xun asked me to tell you," Xin Jiuwei steadied herself, "that at midnight on the night of the birthday banquet, a red lantern should be hung at the highest point of the Xin residence."

Xin Xiyao raised an eyebrow: "Just as I thought." She walked to the corner of the wall, lifted a black cloth, revealing a dozen or so lanterns neatly arranged underneath—some red, some green, and a few rare blue ones. "I've been preparing for this for a while."

Xin Jiuwei then noticed that various weapons were piled up in the corner of the secret room, ranging from short swords to crossbows. The most eye-catching thing was the painting "Snow Plum Blossoms" hanging on the wall, which was now covered with many small characters. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the troop deployment of various mansions.

"Sister...how long have you been preparing?"

Xin Xiyao stroked a red plum blossom in the picture: "From the first time you mentioned Master Jueming of Lingyin Temple." She turned to her sister, "Do you think I didn't notice your unusual behavior? Your sudden coldness towards Qi Huaiyu, your frequent trips to the temple, and the constant calling out 'Xiao Xun' in your dreams..."

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!