Xie Xin was somewhat puzzled.

"This whole thing was originally aimed at me. You could have stayed out of it, so why drag you into it?"

Xie Xin always felt that Yun Chuwei should distance herself completely. That way, at least one of them could remain unharmed.

Yun Chuwei lay on the bed with her eyes closed, her voice gentle and calm: "Because only in this way can I protect you!"

Xie Xin's expression was somewhat complicated upon hearing this.

She looked at Yun Chuwei, wanting to tell her that there was no need to protect her. She should just let go.

"actually……"

She had only uttered two words when Yun Chuwei waved her hand to interrupt her.

"Besides, there are some things that the Embroidered Uniform Guard can find out even if you don't tell them. It's just a matter of time."

Even if the Embroidered Uniform Guard can't find her now, they will eventually.

There's a big difference between being caught and admitting it yourself.

Moreover, the Tianqi Emperor was not someone easily fooled. If they wanted to conceal something, they had to start preparing their explanations now.

"But..." Xie Xin wanted to say something more.

Yun Chuwei interrupted her again: "There's no need to discuss this anymore. Just do as I say. Remember, as long as they don't know our true purpose, I can handle whatever happens. What you need to do is think of your story and steer the conversation in that direction!"

Xie Xin didn't say anything more after hearing this, but simply said, "Okay, then I'll do as you say! In that case, shouldn't we go over our statements carefully?"

"No need, just say whatever you want. As long as the result is the same as what I said, that's fine! Everyone has different ideas and plans, and being too consistent in your statements is suspicious!"

Xie Xin nodded.

She thought for a moment, wanting to say something more, but found that Yun Chuwei was no longer speaking, her breathing was steady, and she seemed to have fallen asleep.

Xie Xin looked at Yun Chuwei's calm face, but her feelings were complicated.

She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep.

Fifteen minutes later, she opened her eyes and whispered, "Yun Chuwei, are you asleep?"

"No!" Yun Chuwei's voice was calm, without any emotional fluctuation.

Xie Xin immediately said, "Actually, this time, I didn't come away empty-handed!"

Although things escalated beyond her expectations, she personally felt that she had gained quite a lot.

Yun Chuwei, however, became interested. She opened her eyes and looked at Xie Xin with great interest: "What did you gain? Tell me!"

"At least Liu Guang and the others are trying their best to help me. Although they are my father's men and I can't go too far, I can feel the change in their attitude towards me!"

Their attitude towards her has changed significantly now.

I bet it's not long before they start to regard her as their master.

Yun Chuwei nodded: "This is indeed a gain!"

"And another thing!" Xie Xin continued, "After I was placed under house arrest, many of the people I had previously won over began to show their true colors. Some were thinking of betraying me, while others were trying to distance themselves from me. I think that using this incident to see some people for who they really are is a significant gain."

Yun Chuwei nodded again.

This is indeed a gain.

She continued, "What do you plan to do with those who slipped up?"

Xie Xin smiled and said, "Of course, we should place them in the right positions and make good use of them. The course you taught me taught that reliable people have reliable uses, and unreliable people have unreliable uses. Loyal and reliable people are naturally useful, but sometimes, unreliable and disloyal people can also be very useful. The best part is that we don't need to leave them a way out; we can abandon them whenever we want!"

Yun Chu chuckled softly; this person had truly mastered the craft.

-

The next day, Yun Chuwei still went to see Xie Xin.

The two had already said everything they needed to say the night before, so when they met, they only talked about things that were obvious to everyone.

After meeting Xie Xin, Yun Chuwei went to the palace to see Emperor Tianqi.

After all, going to see Xie Xin was a task given to her by Emperor Tianqi.

Upon seeing Emperor Tianqi, Yun Chuwei immediately knelt down and begged for forgiveness.

Emperor Tianqi raised an eyebrow slightly, then said, "Stand up and answer!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Yun Chuwei said, then stood up.

Emperor Tianqi then asked, "Why do you have to apologize as soon as you enter the palace?"

Yun Chuwei said solemnly, "I did not know that the Fifth Princess was impeached and even placed under house arrest because she helped Liu Guang. Before I left, I told Liu Guang that if he encountered any problems that he could not handle, he could ask the Fifth Princess for help."

"At the time, I thought that Liu Guang had just arrived in the capital and was not very familiar with the officials and nobles there. He was also not good at handling such relationships. The Fifth Princess, after all, was a daughter of the imperial family and was more adept at handling relationships with the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital."

"I never expected that the two of them would cause such a big incident. It was my miscalculation!"

Emperor Tianqi nodded slightly, seemingly not caring much about the matter.

He picked up a folded book from the desk and handed it to Sun Jiasheng, who was standing beside him.

He was speaking to Yun Chuwei: "Take a look at this memorial first."

Sun Jiasheng immediately presented the memorial in his hand to Yun Chuwei.

Yun Chuwei opened the folded document and first looked at the signature.

That was a memorial from Qin Zhi, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Looking at the contents, it's an investigation report about Xie Xin's attempts to win over court officials, and it contains a lot of evidence.

Qin Zhi was indeed a straightforward person. In many places, he pointed out that many ministers whom Xie Xin had won over eventually got promoted, which was Yun Chuwei's doing.

He further suggested that he believed Yun Chuwei was the person behind Xie Xin.

Yun Chuwei was somewhat surprised, although she had already decided to have Xie Xin push all the blame onto him. But she didn't expect Qin Zhi to be so close to success so quickly.

He just hadn't figured out their true purpose.

Indeed, the Embroidered Uniform Guard should not be underestimated.

She was once again glad that she had prepared in advance.

As expected, this matter could not be kept secret from Emperor Tianqi.

She knelt on the ground again and said to the Tianqi Emperor, "Your Majesty, I am indeed guilty. The accusations made against me by Commander Qin in his memorial are true!"

Emperor Tianqi's face darkened, his brows furrowed tightly, and he asked in a cold voice, "Why?"

Yun Chuwei truthfully replied, "I want the Fifth Princess to have more real power and a certain say in the court."

The Tianqi Emperor's expression was grim: "I see that. I'm asking you, why did you do this?"

Yun Chu lowered her eyes for a moment and said, "This matter has to start with the matter of Li Sanmei."

Because she had prepared her story in advance, she spoke with great emotion about Li Sanmei, describing how Li Sanmei was forced to be abused and assaulted by her husband in a very tragic way, making the listeners sad and bringing tears to their eyes.