Su Wanyan gave him a disdainful look: "Forget it, with your paper-thin body, I'm afraid you'll faint before you even do anything."

That's what they say, but Yu Nanqing is a prince after all, and whatever he says or does is definitely more effective than what she does.

Su Wanyan stopped dwelling on the issue and instead said, "By the way, there are actually two more things I wanted to tell you."

"What?"

"Su Chien said he saw Xu Si enter Yongxiang Restaurant a few days ago. According to Chien, Yongxiang Restaurant is a place where high-ranking officials and dignitaries dine, so I don't know what Xu Si went there for."

Yu Nanqing is smarter than her, so it's better to talk to him about these things.

"Another thing is that the medicine pot I used to brew medicine was laced with laxatives by the maids who were watching me. I guess they wanted to see you make a fool of yourself and also wanted to cause me some trouble. There are no people around the mansion who can help you, so I'm afraid that something unexpected might happen and I won't be able to guard against it."

She originally wanted to buy a few people from the broker, but she hasn't had time to leave the manor these days.

Yu Nanqing lowered his gaze slightly. He pondered for a while before saying, "If Xu Si has ulterior motives, he will make his move on the day of the Ksitigarbha Festival."

How did you know?

Yu Nanqing looked at Su Wanyan and smiled: "I don't know, but now my enemies are only those two people."

Su Wanyan immediately realized: "It's either the Emperor or the Eldest Princess?"

Emperor Yuanhe would not leave the palace easily, so it was very likely that the person who invited Xu Si to Yongxiang Restaurant was the eldest princess.

“Xu Si may already know that the poison you gave him was fake,” Yu Nanqing added.

"So he is now..."

"Hold your positions and wait for the right opportunity." If he were loyal to Su Wanyan, he would have told her about this, but Xu Si did not.

"..." Su Wanyan sighed: "Your brain is still the best."

She asked, "So what should I do now? Kill him?"

"Gah?" Yu Nanqing didn't quite understand the meaning of this word.

"It means... to get rid of him, to cripple him," Su Wanyan explained tactfully.

Yu Nanqing frowned. Actually, there was something else he was very curious about: Su Wanyan was a weak woman, practically powerless, yet she dared to kill the substitute sent by that person on her wedding night.

She even dared to utter words of defiance when he grabbed her by the throat.

Despite appearing naive and harmless, she dared to sneak into Xu Si's room in the middle of the night and beat him until he was covered in bruises.

She was said to be clever and resourceful, daring to beat the drum at the palace gate to appeal for justice, and daring to make such a scene with Marquis Yuanning in the street, but when she was treating him behind closed doors, she appeared so pure and unassuming, open and honest.

Is she reckless? She takes every step carefully before acting.

"Why are you staring at me like that again?" Su Wanyan slapped him on the face. "Do I have a flower on my forehead?"

"..." He wasn't allowed to touch her, but he was always very rude to her.

"Ahem." Yu Nanqing cleared his throat before saying, "If you're annoyed, you can deal with Xu Si as well."

“It’s really annoying to see him, but it’s even more annoying to see all these people in the manor.” Su Wanyan cupped her face in her hands and rested her head on the edge of the bed. “After dealing with one Xu Si, there are thousands upon thousands of Xu Sis. They haven’t noticed Su Chi’en yet, but once they do, they will definitely make an example of him.”

Xu Si is the best example. Since they can't touch her and Yu Nanqing for the time being, they've turned their attention to Xu Si, who serves her.

Xu Si is easily turned, but Su Chien is not. If Su Chien rebels, he will inevitably suffer a beating and may even lose his life.

This is also why she hasn't wanted to talk these past few days.

Seeing Su Wanyan's slightly furrowed brows, Yu Nanqing suddenly reached out and touched her brow.

"What are you doing?" Su Wanyan slapped his hand away and touched her brow. "Don't do that, it's uncomfortable."

In modern times, the people she interacts with most are her parents and her best friend. She has never been touched so intimately by any man before. The most she has ever been close to her classmates during anatomy class is when she is in close proximity to them.

She treated Yu Nanqing with the same care a doctor would give a patient, so she had to maintain the right mindset. But whenever Yu Nanqing made physical advances towards her, she felt uncomfortable and instinctively wanted to avoid him.

“You don’t look good when you frown,” Yu Nanqing said with a smile.

"I didn't ask you to look." Su Wanyan rolled her eyes.

Yu Nanqing didn't continue on this topic and smiled, "The guards and palace maids who came to garrison here are not all truly willing to come to Prince Gong's mansion. It's just that the emperor's orders are hard to disobey. If you do well, there will be no reward, and if you do poorly, you will face certain death."

Su Wanyan frowned upon hearing this, saying, "I understand everything you're saying..."

Yu Nanqing gently raised her hand to stop her from speaking: "You didn't understand what I meant. Some people can be recruited for your own use."

Upon hearing this, Su Wanyan's eyes lit up immediately: "What do you mean?"

“Serving in the palace is merely for a living. There are differences between maids and guards. If you can show them your abilities or let them know their fate and end, by using both kindness and severity, they may not be loyal, but at least they can be used by you temporarily.”

Su Wanyan looked at Yu Nanqing with some admiration: "You're so amazing, how come I didn't think of that?"

She was averse to the soldiers and maids from the very beginning and had no interest in paying attention to whether there were any other individuals who were different.

"The period following the Ksitigarbha Festival presents an opportunity."

Why?

“The Prince’s Palace is still stagnant. If we can return safely from the palace on the day of the Ksitigarbha Festival, you will be more adept at winning people’s hearts.”

If Su Wanyan can really bring him into the palace, his appearance will be a heavy blow to that person in the palace.

Su Wanyan didn't understand the meaning behind this, but she felt that Yu Nanqing made sense. Now everyone in the mansion thought that Emperor Yuanhe wanted Yu Nanqing dead. So, if Yu Nanqing entered the palace and came out of the palace safely, wouldn't that mean that Emperor Yuanhe couldn't touch Yu Nanqing for the time being?

It will be much easier to test the people in the manor at that time.

"It has to be you again." Su Wanyan smiled broadly.

Just then, Xu Si brought in lunch. The two exchanged a glance and tacitly stopped talking.

On the other side, in the Imperial Palace, at the Hall of Nourishing Life.

A guard dressed in black was kneeling on one knee before Emperor Yuanhe, reporting on the events that had occurred in the Prince's residence that day.

Looking at this bodyguard in his tight-fitting clothes, isn't he the personal bodyguard that Emperor Yuanhe sent to Yu Nanqing?

He was called a personal bodyguard, but in reality, he just stood at the door listening to others all day long and never served Yu Nanqing.

Emperor Yuanhe sat on the throne, his face expressionless. The memorial in front of him had just been delivered by the Silver Bureau.

This document records the amount of imperial silver that Prince Gong's residence has registered for refining.

He stared intently, his brows furrowing slightly, and without raising his head, he asked, "You mean Su Wanyan got Yu Nanqing a wheelchair?"