Ruan Changhong didn't ask what they said; it wasn't important to him anyway. He just wanted to protect his daughter.

After Ruan Changhong sat down again with an air of authority, he asked, "So, what's the first step of the plan?"

"If Your Highness wishes to join the army, there's no need to worry about the military. As long as the Yongle Marquis's mansion is there, you won't lack support. However, another problem is..."

Nguyen Thanh An paused, his leaden eyes narrowing slightly: "In order to ensure that the border situation can be controlled as soon as possible, and also to enable Your Highness to open up the situation, no one in the court can obstruct us."

"The most important things are food, funding, and military support."

Hearing Ruan Qing'an's words, Ji Wuyu tapped his fingertips on the table: "Minister Sun is from the Ministry of Revenue. If we can bring him down and replace him with one of our own, it would be good to secretly support him."

"If we can bring down the Minister of Revenue, I can send people to the Ministry of Personnel."

As soon as Ji Wuyu finished speaking, Ruan Qing'an understood perfectly. Although he had a miserable life in the royal family, he had grown to the point where his strength was even greater than what was hidden in the original text.

She glanced at Ruan Changhong: "Father, what do you say?"

Ruan Changhong nodded: "Yes, if Your Highness has no problems, the Yongle Marquis's residence can handle the matter concerning the Ministry of War."

In this way, all that's needed is to deal with Minister Sun.

Ji Wuyu was silent for a moment: "The Minister of Revenue is the Second Prince's man; he can't possibly ignore this matter, so—"

"Therefore, we cannot directly target Minister Sun, because it would alert the Second Prince and cause him to oppose us, while also exposing our ambitions."

As Ruan Qing'an spoke, she and Ji Wuyu exchanged a glance, offering no further explanation. However, their remarkably similar thought processes had aligned, and they both said in unison—

"Start with Sun Tianyuan."

037: [Not only did I get beaten up, I also got scammed...]

Sun Tianyuan, what a tragic story. 037 mourns for him.

The carriage stopped at the side gate of the Yongle Marquis's residence. Since the plan had been initially drafted, Ruan Changhong got off the carriage first, leaving only Ruan Qing'an and Ji Wuyu sitting in their original seats.

A delicate and frail young girl wrapped in a thousand-gold fur coat.

The prince, whose smile was as gentle as a nobleman, was unparalleled in the world.

The atmosphere was quiet and peaceful.

But when 037 heard that one of them was planning to force the emperor to abdicate and the other was planning to wipe out the entire royal family, he felt like a complete naive fool.

Because... these are two super villains!

Just as Ruan Qing'an was about to get out of the car, Ji Wuyu suddenly reached out and stopped her, asking, "I suddenly thought of something."

"Please speak, Your Highness."

"What if we get married?"

Ji Wuyu narrowed his eyes. This was a very real problem. Ji Hao was practically ready to tie the Yongle Marquis's Mansion to him and then just pack them up and kill them. This marriage could become a reality at any time.

Ruan Qing'an paused, then stepped down from the carriage and said with a light laugh, "This is something Your Highness needs to resolve."

“As an ally, I am not interested in the Crown Princess.”

After saying that, Ruan Qingan turned and left.

Only Ji Wuyu remained, leaning against the window, gazing at her retreating figure. Suddenly, he laughed and murmured, "Then, are you interested in the position of Empress, 'ally'?"

...

Three days later, at dusk, the swaying carriage stopped in front of Hongyun Restaurant. The Second Prince, dressed in brocade robes, slowly stepped down from the carriage, fanning himself with a folding fan. Beside him was Ruan Qing'an.

The Second Prince frowned, glanced at the Hongyun Restaurant in front of him, and couldn't help but say, "Although Hongyun Restaurant has a grand name, it is not as good as Bailixiang. I wonder why Sister Qing'an wanted to come here?"

"There are several dishes here that I really like."

Ruan Qing'an chuckled softly. After the somewhat reluctant Second Prince went inside, she turned around and glanced at Zui Chun Fang behind her—a famous brothel.

Because it was a deliberate invitation to the Second Prince, Ruan Qing'an had booked a table and banquet in advance, and there were only the two of them in the private room.

The window was open, and the night breeze blew in. Ruan Qing'an had just had a drink with the Second Prince when she could see out of the corner of her eye that the window of the private room in Zui Chun Fang across the street had been opened.

She met a pair of eyes with a gentle smile—it was Ji Wuyu, and she could vaguely see Sun Tianyuan nestled among a group of women opposite him. Then the window closed.

At this moment, the Second Prince said, "Qing'an, did you take the initiative to ask me out this time because you've thought things through about what happened before?"

Ruan Qing'an nodded slightly and silently poured wine for the Second Prince, saying, "Yes, the Ninth Prince is not the one I like. I helped him in the Imperial Study before, and that's why he took me to Cining Temple to make amends. But we ran into bandits and he ran away!"

"What?!"

The Second Prince immediately became indignant: "I didn't expect the Ninth Prince to go so far this time. He must have been scared out of his wits."

Ruan Qing'an also feigned anger, pouring wine while flattering, "Your Highness, as you know, I have been physically weak since childhood and am even weaker than a chicken. How could Your Highness, the Ninth Prince, simply abandon me?"

“If it were Your Highness the Second Prince, you would never do such a thing. Besides, you would definitely be more meticulous than him, knowing that there were bandits running rampant, and arranging guards in advance.”

Hearing this, the second prince felt very pleased.

Seeing Ruan Qing'an fall into anger, even blaming Ji Wuyu and believing himself to be better, the Second Prince's heart immediately warmed. This was a good opportunity!

Since that idiot Lao Jiu doesn't cherish it, then let him do it!

The second prince's smile deepened as he reassured her, "Of course I will protect Qing'an, without a doubt. Besides, we studied at the Imperial Academy together, and Qing'an used to call me 'Second Brother,' remember?"

"I remember, I do remember..."

Ruan Qing'an turned her head away coyly, her leaden eyes revealing only coldness—it really was her "second" brother.

The Second Prince was even more excited when he saw that Ruan Qing'an did not reject him: "The Ninth Prince did not act very kindly. Then I will reprimand him on your behalf, Qing'an. He really has no pity for you at all."

"Then thank you very much, Second Brother."

Nguyen Thanh An chuckled and continued to offer toasts.

The second prince had already drunk an unknown amount of wine. Ruan Qing'an was even using wine that Ruan Changhong had secretly kept, which had a very high alcohol content. The second prince was now in a state of semi-drunkenness, his eyes were not clear, and he was obviously in a daze.

Just then, Ruan Qingan suddenly asked, "I heard that there is a very interesting courtesan in Zuichunfang who lives on the top floor and sells her art but not her body, and sometimes she doesn't even take customers."

"Her? Ah, isn't that Hua Yue?"

The second prince, who was quite drunk, thought for a moment before saying, "My woman, who dares to touch her!"

That's true, because the Second Prince bought Hua Yue at the first auction. He liked her very much and thought she was clean, so he basically kept her on long-term. Occasionally, he would have Hua Yue sing and dance for guests.

Hua Yue lived on the top floor and was basically the Second Prince's exclusive possession. She was essentially a courtesan, and no one wanted to compete with him for her, which made Hua Yue quite special in Zui Chun Fang.

“Your Highness the Second Prince did the right thing. After all, she is a courtesan. If you like her, that's fine. But if you redeem her, His Majesty might think you're being distracted.”

Hearing Ruan Qing'an's gentle and persuasive words, the Second Prince nodded, agreeing that she was biased towards him. He couldn't help but say, "Qing'an, if... hiccup, if you and Ninth Prince break off your engagement, I will never let you down."

"Everyone else is a concubine, but you are my legal wife!"

Nguyen Thanh An: ...

037: ...

[Hey, hey, hey, ancestor, hold back! There's still a plan! Don't chop him up with a knife! You can't!!!]

Ruan Qing'an smiled kindly, finally putting aside his thoughts about the Ga Ren, and looked at the opposite side as if casually: "However... Miss Hua Yue lives on the top floor, right? But it seems to be in chaos now."

"And I also saw a man."

"What?!"

The second prince slammed his fist on the table and stood up.

No man can resist the risk of being cuckolded!

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