Qin Su has already achieved her goal, so letting her go now won't make any difference.

Yu Shuo didn't say a word the whole way, and she thought he would ask her something when they got back.

She didn't believe Yu Shuo hadn't guessed anything, but after sending her back, Yu Shuo left and didn't say anything when he came back.

Seeing him massage her again, Qin Su hesitated and asked, "Aren't you curious about what happened today?"

Yu Shuo understood what she meant, and while massaging her, he said, "I'm not curious."

This made Qin Su feel uneasy.

She waited for a while, but Yu Shuo still didn't ask.

Qin Su tugged at his sleeve and said cautiously, "Are you upset that I didn't tell you?"

Yu Shuo patted her hand reassuringly, "No. You can say what you want to say, or it's fine if you don't. I just hope you can make sure you're safe before you do anything."

Qin Su lay down, resting her chin on her hand. "Actually... there's no danger. The one in danger is your brother."

Yu Shuo paused, then shook his head, "You wouldn't stand idly by if your brother were in danger."

He trusted Qin Su especially.

Hearing this, Qin Su laughed and said, "You trust me so much, what if I don't care about my brother?"

It's often said that a wife is an outsider, and many people don't treat their wives as family.

Does Yu Shuo really trust her that much?

Qin Su hummed and hawed, but she was actually quite happy inside.

She was very pleased with his trust.

"No." Yu Shuo said with certainty.

He took the juice Lian Tao handed him and said to her, "Drink some water."

Qin Su got up, holding the small bowl, and sipped the water slowly. "It's not that dangerous. At most, my brother will gain a great beauty."

"Um."

Yu Shuo's expression remained indifferent, revealing no emotional fluctuation.

Perhaps seeing that he didn't seem to care much, Qin Su gave up on trying to bring it up with him.

She was the one who didn't tell Yu Shuo, so Yu Shuo should be the one who's unhappy, but now it's her who's unhappy.

This emotion is somewhat strange.

After a while, Qin Su got up and tried to sit cross-legged, but found it was just a little uncomfortable, so she put her legs off the bed.

Yu Shuo tidied up the bottles and jars next to the cabinet; they were all medicines Qin Su needed to take recently, mostly pills to help with pregnancy.

"Hello."

Upon hearing Qin Su's voice, Yu Shuo stopped what he was doing and looked over.

Qin Su said with a smile, "I never expected that His Highness Prince Chen would do such trivial things."

"How about I tell you?"

Yu Shuo seemed to know Qin Su's thoughts. He walked over and sat down next to Qin Su, his wide, dark-colored sleeves with gold thread spread out on the bed. His voice softened slightly, "Please inform your husband, Your Highness."

"I really want to know."

Qin Su knew he was deliberately trying to make her happy, but that didn't stop her from feeling much better.

"Was that woman arranged by someone else? Was it Xue Huai'an again? Is he trying to plant a spy by the Emperor's side?"

"Hmm~ Your Highness is very clever!"

Yu Shuo fell into deep thought. After a while, he said, "Xue Huai'an is that capable?"

He had always known that Xue Huai'an was a deep thinker, but he never knew that Xue Huai'an could do something like this.

I underestimated him before.

However, he also knew that Qin Su would be unhappy if he killed someone.

Otherwise, he would have uprooted Xue Huai'an completely.

Qin Su knew what the outcome would be if she handed over all the authority to Yu Shuo, but there were some grudges and resentments that she still wanted to settle herself.

"Yes. To be precise, he was really lucky." After all, ordinary people couldn't get Kang Lin's influence, but Kang Lin handed over his people to Xue Huai'an before he died.

It's truly astonishing how blind God is.

"That woman won't harm my brother, but she is indeed a spy planted by Xue Huai'an."

Yu Shuo: "Shall we expose them?"

Qin Su shook her head. "Instead of exposing her, let's make her one of ours."

“If this woman is greedy for money, we can lure her with money; if she is lustful, we can send her a beautiful woman. But if she wants power, wouldn’t that be perfect too? Cooperating with us is far more reliable than Xue Huai’an.”

Yu Shuo hesitated. There were quite a few emperors in history who had fallen at the hands of women. How could he feel at ease?

My elder brother is not a lecherous man, but he is still a man after all.

"What's wrong?" she asked Yu Shuo when she noticed his expression was off.

Yu Shuo stared into Qin Su's eyes and said, "We can use other methods; we don't necessarily have to bring this woman into the palace."

This was the first time Yu Shuo had refuted Qin Su.

Qin Su was slightly taken aback, not quite understanding.

"You don't want her to enter the palace... is it because you think she might be wicked and bewitch your brother?"

Yu Shuo nodded without hesitation.

Qin Su recalled Tao Rong from her past life. Tao Rong was very greedy, always adorned with jewels whenever she went out, and beaming with joy whenever she saw a treasure. But it seems she never actually did anything to harm the country or the people.

Xue Huai'an once cooperated with an enemy state in order to gain power, and Qin Su could hardly guarantee whether Tao Rong was involved in this.

"I'd like to visit Tao Rong tomorrow, the woman from today. Should I go and find out more about her then?"

Qin Su was still somewhat reluctant to part with such a valuable piece.

But I didn't want to upset Yu Shuo.

"Um."

"I will send someone to investigate."

Qin Su didn't refuse; it's always good to know more.

Yu Shuo told Qin Su to rest while he went out for a while.

The palace of Emperor Mingyang.

"Your Majesty." Yu Shuo came over, but did not bow. He went directly to sit down opposite Emperor Mingyang.

Upon hearing his form of address, Emperor Mingyang laughed, "So now you know how to call me Imperial Brother?"

Instead of answering his teasing, Yu Shuo went straight to the point and asked, "What is your opinion of that woman today, Your Majesty?"

Emperor Mingyang was clearly taken aback. "That woman who went up the mountain to gather herbs and accidentally wandered into the hunting grounds?"

He couldn't even remember the other person's name.

There's no point in even offering an opinion.

Yu Shuo nodded.

"No comment." Emperor Mingyang asked Deng Quan to bring the chess set, preparing to play a couple of games with Yu Shuo.

"I don't know that woman well, so how can I evaluate her? However, I have ordered an investigation, and I expect to have news soon."

"Want a couple of rounds?"

Yu Shuo also needed to wait for news, so he listened to Emperor Mingyang's words.

The two brothers hadn't played chess together in a long time, so they took the opportunity to chat.

Emperor Mingyang asked about the couple's life, whether they were getting along well or not.

Yu Shuo always gave positive answers.

Before the game was over, a guard entered from outside. He knelt on one knee and said, "Your Majesty, Prince Chen, I have something to report."

"Speak," Emperor Mingyang said. He was in a good mood, placing a chess piece on the board and pondering how to win.

His younger brother never gave him any leeway, and he usually won when they played chess together, which made him, as the older brother, very competitive.

"His Majesty has given me some clues regarding the matter he asked me to investigate. It is true that the woman has a nephew who was injured and needs medical treatment. Medicinal herbs do indeed grow on Xiaoxishan Mountain near the hunting grounds."