None of the servants in the hall reacted at all, and Eunuch Li didn't even flinch.

Gan Qiongying unfolded the memorial and saw that it was full of repetitive nonsense. She read several of them and found they were all greetings and inquiries.

It is obvious that Gan Lin, this puppet emperor, sits on the throne and spends his days criticizing the boasts and flattery of these ministers.

The Regent dared not let Gan Lin touch even the slightest serious matter. He happened to open a memorial with some serious matters on it. It had already been approved, and the handwriting was sharp and powerful, undoubtedly the work of the Regent.

Even a puppet like Gan Lin is so wary of him. Gan Qiongying sneered, thinking that Sima Rui was nothing special.

Such a powerful minister, whose influence extends far beyond the court, should be someone whose position cannot be shaken even if the emperor seems to hold the reins of power.

But Sima Rui took everything under his control, not daring to let Gan Lin touch it at all, which shows that he had no confidence or assurance in the power he held.

A bastard is a bastard, stingy.

Gan Lin tidied himself up and changed his clothes. The meal was almost ready. Gan Lin looked at Gan Qiongying, who was throwing the memorial on the table with a disdainful smile on her face.

She turned to Gan Lin and said, "Eat first, and after you finish eating, I have some really great news to tell you."

Gan Lin felt like he was dreaming. He had only known Gan Qiongying for less than an hour, but the frequency with which Gan Qiongying smiled at him was equivalent to several years in the past.

Gan Qiongying pulled him to sit down and dine with her. Instead of the eunuchs who served the food, Gan Qiongying sat next to Gan Lin and personally served him food according to his taste.

Gan Lin naturally ate all the food that Gan Qiongying picked for him, and seeing this, Eunuch Li, who was standing not far away, also showed a gratified smile.

People really can't live without food, and His Majesty finally ate a little more today.

Gan Qiongying fed Gan Lin like a duck being force-fed. Gan Lin was a strong young man, and before Gan Qiongying arrived, she thought he had been poisoned and was worried to death.

But when he cried earlier, he wailed so loudly that he didn't sound like someone who was seriously poisoned.

So they guessed that he was suffering from a cold for a long time because of his depression. When Gan Qiongying came, his depression dissipated, and he regained his energy after eating half of the meal.

After the siblings finished eating, they wiped their greasy lips with a handkerchief. The maids filed in again and neatly cleared the table. Gan Qiongying then gave Gan Lin a piece of radish cake: "Have a piece of radish cake to smooth things out?"

“I can’t eat anymore, sister,” Gan Lin said. “I just ate several pieces.”

Gan Qiongying twisted her wrist and stuffed the radish cake into her mouth, while simultaneously raising her head and giving a wink to Eunuch Li, who was standing at the door.

After finishing the pastry, Gan Qiongying slowly drank some water and called out to the void, "Where is Yingyi?"

In a flash, a man dressed in black seemed to fly down from the roof beam and knelt down in front of Gan Qiongying with a thud: "Yingyi is here. What are your orders, Princess?"

Gan Qiongying said to him, "Have the brothers guard the area tightly. I need to say something important to His Majesty. Not even a fly can be allowed to eavesdrop, understand?"

"Yes!" After saying that, Yingyi soared into the air and quickly disappeared from their sight.

Gan Qiongying then looked at Gan Lin, teasing him with a smile once again: "How is it? These shadow guards you gave me don't recognize you anymore. Just now, Shadow One didn't even glance at you, his former master. You don't have a single person you can use now. Do you regret it? Do you want me to return two to you?"

Gan Lin shook his head. When he assigned these people to Princess Duanrong's side, he had already told them that Princess Duanrong was their only master and that they had to protect her life with their lives.

“My elder sister is outside the palace, surrounded by wolves, which is more dangerous than for me. She needs the shadow guards to protect her more.”

Gan Lin said, "Sister, you must take good care of yourself and stay safe and sound."

Gan Lin spoke with utmost seriousness, and Gan Qiongying tilted her head slightly and smiled. Princess Duanrong truly loved Gan Lin very, very much. Whether this love was based on romantic love or the kinship of mutual dependence, it was so intense that it startled Gan Qiongying.

Gan Qiongying has known Gan Lin for so long, but whenever she makes eye contact with him, she feels the urge to cry.

However, Gan Qiongying quickly turned her head back, and her gaze towards Gan Lin suddenly changed. Her phoenix eyes narrowed slightly as she said to Gan Lin, "Chang Sheng Nu, let's run away!"

Gan Lin didn't understand Gan Qiongying's meaning at all, and asked blankly, "Huh?"

Gan Qiongying stepped over the low table and pressed down on Gan Lin's arm, saying, "You are imprisoned in this deep palace as a puppet. You are the handle in the hands of those wolves who surround you, as you said. As long as they use you to threaten me, I will jump even if it is a mountain of knives and a sea of ​​fire."

Upon hearing this, Gan Lin's arm trembled slightly, and he avoided Gan Qiongying's gaze.

Gan Qiongying grabbed his thin chin, which he had turned his head away from, and made him look directly at her. She said, "I'm talking to you about serious matters, not about romantic relationships!"

"Similarly, I am also a handle used by those people to blackmail you outside the palace. Otherwise, the Empress Dowager would not have been so unscrupulous last time, forcing me to drink that nourishing soup in the Yinian Hall, and you would not have needed to rush to drink the poison for me."

Gan Lin's expression changed, and he hurriedly tried to say something, but Gan Qiongying pinched his chin even tighter to stop him from speaking.

"I already knew it was poison, and you knew it too, Changshengnu, don't lie to me."

Gan Lin pressed his lips tightly together; he truly would rather die than let his older sister know this.

Gan Lin stared straight at Gan Qiongying, his eyes filled with a helpless sadness.

Seeing Gan Lin's expression, Gan Qiongying released his chin and then patted his head.

With a sigh, she said, "Whether it's the injustice of fate or bad luck that has brought us to this point, we can't blame anyone else. We can only blame ourselves for not being strong enough."

"But you and I, siblings, absolutely cannot be manipulated like this for our entire lives!"

Gan Qiongying slammed her hand on the table, startling Gan Lin so much that he shuddered.

Gan Qiongying, like the leader of a pyramid scheme, passionately declared, "We can't break this trap, but we can run away!"

"If you can't hold onto the sand, just let it go!"

"If we can't win a game of chess, can't we just flip the chessboard over?"

Gan Qiongying was actually extremely nervous, fearing that she would hear an answer she didn't want to hear from Gan Lin.

Just like Princess Duanrong, who racked her brains and risked her life to the death, she could not find another way out.

They were trapped in the shell of feudal ethics, confined by their birth and the predetermined "who" they were destined to be, never imagining that they could be anyone else if they changed their mindset.

Gan Qiongying asked Gan Lin with a tight throat, "Chang Sheng Nu, are you willing to give up your current identity, give up this so-called bullshit imperial power and wealth, and run away with me?"