Nine hundred and ninety out of a thousand were lost!

Jiang Wanzhi was furious at his indifferent and aloof attitude: "Hey! What kind of attitude is this?! You hit someone, killed them, and you still think you're right?"

"Miss, I have already stated that the money will be presented tomorrow. Since you do not believe me, what is your intention?"

He tilted his head slightly, seemingly seeking her opinion earnestly, but his calm demeanor only fueled Jiang Wanzhi's anger.

Jiang Wanzhi only had this one silver note, which was her lifeline. She dared not gamble on this person's character and had to get the money.

"Fine! I'll trust you this once!" Jiang Wanzhi's eyes darted around, and she decided to go for it.

"Where do you live? I'll go home with you to get it! One hand pays the money, the other... uh, we're even!" She put her hands on her hips, as if to say, "Let's see how you can refuse now."

Just then, the sound of footsteps came from not far away. "The young lady is over there! Quick! Surround her!"

A thunderous roar pierced through the bustling market, and the well-trained servants of the Prime Minister's residence, like a pack of wolves that had smelled blood, charged menacingly toward their location! The scene resembled a manhunt for a wanted criminal!

Jiang Wanzhi felt a chill run down her spine and instantly backed down!

A thousand taels of silver, a perpetrator—none of that matters in the face of the paper doll's father's pursuit team! Life is more important!

As if by reflex, she grabbed the only lifeline she could grasp: the man she had just scolded, who also owed her a huge sum of money.

Her voice trembled with urgency: "Hurry! Take me to your house to get the money! Now! Immediately! It'll be too late if we don't leave now!"

She yelled and pulled hard on his arm, dragging him toward the dark horse as if a raging flood was chasing after them.

The man's gaze swept indifferently over the approaching group of servants dressed in the robes of the Prime Minister's residence, then landed on the panicked little girl beside him, whose words and actions were so contradictory that she seemed to be performing a shamanistic ritual.

He understood immediately; it seemed this girl was none other than Prime Minister Jiang's daughter, Jiang Wanzhi.

No wonder he acts so unconventionally...

He sighed almost inaudibly, with a hint of helplessness, and with a swift movement, lifted Jiang Wanzhi, who was still futilely pulling him, onto the horse's back and seated her in front of him. Then he flicked the reins.

"Giddy up!" The dark-colored steed shot off like an arrow, leaving the shouts and pursuit of the Prime Minister's servants far behind.

Jiang Wanzhi was jolted around on horseback, gripping the saddle tightly, mentally cursing this ancient open-top horse as having zero comfort!

After an unknown amount of time, the horse finally slowed down and came to a steady stop in front of an impressive mansion.

The vermilion gate was heavy and imposing, the stone lions in front of it were solemn, and the lanterns hanging under the eaves clearly illuminated the three large gilded characters "Hengwang Mansion", exuding an inviolable royal majesty.

The man dismounted with fluid grace. Standing beside his horse, he looked up at Jiang Wanzhi, who was still frozen on the saddle, and gestured, "We've arrived."

Jiang Wanzhi looked down at the ground, then felt her aching back and sore bottom from the jolting, her face fell, and she demanded with a straight face, "Big brother! All that jolting and bumping around is making my body feel like it's falling apart! I can't get down! Help me up!"

She stretched out her paws, looking like a shameless rascal who wouldn't get down unless you helped her up.

The man frowned almost imperceptibly; his request to her seemed somewhat unreasonable.

But he still reached out and precisely grabbed Jiang Wanzhi's slender wrist with just the right amount of force, enough to neither hurt her nor prevent her from breaking free, and gently twisted and pulled her wrist.

Jiang Wanzhi's body was instantly lifted into the air, but landed steadily the next second.

She rubbed her wrist and subconsciously looked up at the plaque above the gate: "Prince Heng's Mansion"!

She gasped in shock, her face paling. Turning around, her eyes wide like saucers, her voice trembling with disbelief, she pointed at the plaque and asked, "Heng... Hengwang Mansion? Is that... Ninth Prince, Zongzheng Hengyu's Hengwang Mansion?!"

The man stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his posture as upright as a pine tree. He nodded slightly and said, "Exactly."

Jiang Wanzhi swallowed hard, still unwilling to give up, and asked, "Then...then you...you're from the Hengwang Mansion?"

She prayed frantically in her heart: Guards! Butlers! Stablemen! Anyone will do! Just please, not the person in question!

The man's gaze fell calmly on her terrified face, and he nodded again: "Exactly."

Her tone remained calm, but to Jiang Wanzhi it was like a bolt from the blue.

"So...you're a guard in Prince Heng's mansion?"

Seeing that he did not refute her, Jiang Wanzhi's voice even became tearful.

"You brought me here to get money... so you're planning to ask that... Ninth Prince Zongzheng Hengyu... for it?!" Her voice trailed off as she uttered the name.

"Exactly." The man's response was like the last straw that broke the camel's back.

"Hiss!" Jiang Wanzhi gasped. Her face, which had been flushed with shock and anger, instantly turned deathly pale, as if she had just seen the King of Hell himself.

The energy he had just been using to pester for a thousand taels vanished in an instant.

She turned sharply to the man, looked into his eyes and asked again, "Wait! You just said you had how much silver on you? Ten taels?"

The man calmly took out the leather money pouch from his pocket again: "Ten taels."

"Ten taels it is! Deal! Survival is the priority! See you in the martial world!" Jiang Wanzhi snatched the money pouch and clutched it tightly in her hand, as if grasping at the last straw.

Before she finished speaking, she had already run off in the opposite direction from the Prince's mansion!

She had only run a few steps when, as if remembering something, she suddenly stopped, turned back, and ran to his side, pleading repeatedly, "Brother Guard! Let's pretend today's events never happened! I don't want the thousand taels! Consider it your repayment! We're even! Please! Please! Don't ever say you've seen me!!!"

After shouting, she accelerated again without looking back, her figure quickly disappearing into the dark streets and alleys. Even the man's magnificent black horse had to admit that it was faster than her.

The man stood there, shook his head, and sighed helplessly: "Her words and actions are inverted, and her behavior is insane. It seems that Prime Minister Jiang's daughter has truly gone mad."

No wonder the entire household was on high alert, hunting him down. This illness, alas, is indeed quite serious!

Well, her madness only makes it easier for her to control Prime Minister Jiang's family.

He stopped thinking about it and raised his hand to knock twice on the heavy, cold gate of the Prince's Mansion.

The door opened a crack almost silently in an instant, and the chief steward of the Prince's residence bowed deeply to him with respect and humility: "Your Highness Prince Heng, you have returned."

"Hmm." Zongzheng Hengyu stepped in and casually asked, "Yan Cheng is back?"

"Your Highness, Guard Yan has been waiting for you in the study."

"Okay." Zongzheng Hengyu walked calmly towards the study.

Pushing open the heavy, carved wooden door of the study, a warm atmosphere mixed with the faint scent of ink wafts out.

The guard Yan Cheng, who had been pacing anxiously, suddenly looked up and saw that his lord was safe and sound. He was so excited that he almost rushed over.

"Your Highness! You're finally back! I was worried you might have encountered something... wrong on your way back since you didn't return so late." He swallowed the words "assassination attempt" back down.

“A mishap?” Zongzheng Hengyu walked behind the desk and sat down, his posture relaxed yet still exuding an invisible authority.

The image of that person running faster than a rabbit for ten taels of silver flashed through his mind, and the corners of his lips curved upwards very slightly, then turned into a soft hum with an ambiguous meaning.

"Heh, I guess I've run into one."

"Is Your Highness injured?" Yan Cheng asked anxiously, looking him up and down.

"It's alright." Zongzheng Hengyu picked up the hot tea that had just been served to him, the steam blurring his cold and handsome features.

"Your Highness, did you gain anything from your humble disguise tonight?"

Zongzheng Hengyu took a sip of tea and said with a sharp look in his eyes, "Heh! My brother, the Prince Ming, is indeed secretly colluding with the Night Hawk Pavilion and cultivating a force on the frontier."

Yan Cheng excitedly replied immediately, "His Highness Prince Ming is indeed so arrogant! Your Highness, why not report this directly to His Majesty and punish him severely!"

"After all, he has the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion backing him. If we rashly report him now, we won't be able to catch him all at once, and it will only expose our actions."

Yan Cheng asked, "So how should we deal with this now?"

"First, gather as much evidence as possible of Ming Wang's collusion with both insiders and outsiders, and wait for the right opportunity."

He took another sip, put down his teacup, and casually said, "By the way, Yan Cheng, prepare one thousand taels of silver for tomorrow."

"One thousand taels?" Yan Cheng's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, his mind racing.

"Your Highness, what is this?" He cautiously tried to guess his master's thoughts.

Zongzheng Hengyu raised his eyes and looked at him calmly. "Send this thousand taels to Prime Minister Jiang's residence."

"Give it to Lord Jiang? Bribing a high-ranking official of the court, Your Highness... Your Highness, do you have a death wish?!"

"It's for Lord Jiang's daughter, Jiang Wanzhi." Zongzheng Hengyu's voice remained calm and composed.

"Wh...what? For Miss Jiang?" Yan Cheng was completely petrified, his mouth agape so wide it could fit a duck egg, and his jaw almost dislocated!

Is this... is this still the same cold-faced Ninth Prince he knew, who kept his distance from women and was clueless about romance?

The ink on the imperial decree bestowing the marriage was not even dry yet!

Your Highness is already... so eager to start pleasing the future princess?

A thousand taels in one go? This isn't right, Your Highness!

Seeing Yan Cheng looking at him like that, Zongzheng Hengyu frowned and said, "It's not what you think. Just do as I say."

…………

Meanwhile, on the other side, Jiang Wanzhi, who had been running wildly, didn't know how far she had run. She was so exhausted that she hid in a dark alley, leaned against the cold wall, and gasped for breath.

She cautiously peeked out and looked around, making sure the group of servants weren't chasing after her, before collapsing and sitting down on the ground to rest.

"I was so scared... I was terrified..." she patted her chest, still shaken.

After transmigrating into the book, the person she least wanted to see was that living devil: Ninth Prince Zongzheng Hengyu!

She's got a cheat code, she's a "God" who came with a script!

She knew perfectly well the fates of all the fictional characters in the book!

The biggest villain in this book, the ultimate villain who turns evil, is Zongzheng Hengyu!

Cold-blooded and ruthless? That's just part of his character!

Seizing power? That's just a phase in his career!

Killing the emperor and murdering his father? That was his ultimate achievement!

In the book, Jiang Wanzhi becomes his Princess Heng, but she is merely a pawn in his scheme to win over Prime Minister Jiang. After he ascends the throne, this ruthless tyrant immediately abandons her after using her!

Three days after ascending the throne, Prime Minister Jiang was assassinated, and the entire Jiang family was massacred. Jiang Wanzhi was banished to the Cold Palace and forced to live in a pigsty, where she was treated like a human being. She was tortured daily with slow-acting poison until she went insane and was imprisoned until her death!

Fortunately, his ending in the book was also quite tragic. The protagonist, King Zhao, whose rule was clear, led his army to overthrow his regime. This tyrant was surrounded by tens of thousands of soldiers in the capital and killed by a hail of arrows.

As Jiang Wanzhi recalled the plot of the original novel and imagined the scene, she felt incredibly satisfied! This scene had become the most exhilarating moment in the entire book for her!

The Great Shang Dynasty finally welcomed a truly wise and benevolent ruler! King Zhao's rule was clear and just, allowing the people to live in peace and prosperity, and enabling everyone in the world to enjoy a rich and flourishing life.

Jiang Wanzhi thought of the male lead again, her eyes sparkling with pink bubbles, filled with an idol-like adoration!

Ha, marrying Zongzheng Hengyu?

That would be worse than just making her slit her own throat and start over!

In a desperate attempt to defy fate, she took a huge risk and devised this plan to abscond with a large sum of money in the dead of night!

Run! We must run! Get as far away from that scourge as possible!

The result was that he died before he could even achieve his goal!

He not only lost his money but was also chased all over the streets, eventually running headfirst into someone from the Prince Heng's mansion!

Just what I feared most happened; it's like we've run into each other on the wrong side of the road!

Clutching the flimsy purse containing only ten taels of silver, she was on the verge of tears. How far could she possibly travel with that little money?

"Quick! The young lady is ahead! Block her!" A powerful shout tore through the silence of the alley!

Before Jiang Wanzhi could catch her breath, a group of servants, armed with brooms, sticks, and even spatulas, appeared again from the alley entrance as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and aggressively surrounded her!

"I (silenced)!" Jiang Wanzhi's vision went black.

Did these people install tracking radar on her?! This is simply illogical!