Standing beside the trap and looking down, the two of them screamed in fright. Madam Yun stepped on the rat's tail, which made the rat turn around and bite her.
"Ah!" Madam Yun screamed at the top of her lungs, her face pale with fright. "Your Highness, please, have mercy on us!"
Madam Shangguan was also quite frightened: "Crown Princess, you can't just stand by and watch someone die!"
Seeing the two noble ladies disheveled and in a sorry state, Song Yue was in a good mood. She nodded to the guards, who jumped down, grabbed the two ladies by the shoulders, and threw them to the ground.
Upon arriving, Madam Yun was furious: "Crown Princess, you are too outrageous! Why did you stand by and watch someone die? I have never seen such a cold and heartless person as you. No wonder the Eighth Prince abandoned you!"
Madam Shangguan, who was standing to the side, was the first to come to her senses. She glanced around and saw an endless array of guards. She quickly tugged at Madam Shangguan's sleeve to remind her.
"A person like you..." Madam Yun's words trailed off. After glancing around, she immediately realized something was wrong. Her eyes widened, she shrank back slightly, and frowned as she looked at Song Yue: "What is the Crown Princess trying to do?"
Song Yue slowly bent down, squatted down to be at eye level with the two of them, and smiled: "I have a bad reputation, and there's nothing I wouldn't do. I've gone to the trouble of getting you two together, so naturally I have something to ask you."
"You!" The two were stunned.
Song Yue's gaze fell on the two beautiful faces, and she clicked her tongue and said, "What beautiful faces, it would be a pity if they were scarred."
Upon hearing this, the two women covered their faces in fright, staring at Song Yue with terrified expressions: "What, what are you going to do, Crown Princess? We have no grudge against each other, why are you making things difficult for us?"
Too lazy to waste words with them, Song Yue stood up and looked down at them condescendingly: "What benefits did the Eighth Princess Consort promise you?"
The two exchanged a glance, about to hesitate.
But Song Yue had already raised her foot, as if anyone who said something she didn't want to hear would be kicked down.
Madam Yun said, "The Eighth Princess gave us a list and asked us to find all the people on the list."
“Yes, the people on the list come from all over the country,” Madam Shangguan quickly added, afraid that Song Yue would kick her off the list again.
Song Yue withdrew her foot, raising an eyebrow: "Where is the list?"
Madam Yun quickly pulled out the list from her bosom. It was filled with the names of a group of people, and even their hometowns were clearly recorded. Among them was a man named Chu Tianqi, who was circled separately.
Who is Chu Tianqi?
“This person is extremely talented and has a very high chance of passing all three levels of the imperial examinations!” Madam Yun blurted out.
At such a critical moment, Madam Yun could not care about anything else and could only protect herself first. Madam Shangguan also took out a list: "There is a poor boy named Zhang Shen in Rhino Village with immense strength. I once saw him smash the head of a stone lion with one punch. It's a pity that he only has brute strength. If he finds a master to train him, he will be more than qualified to become a martial arts champion."
Is this the future champion in both literature and martial arts?
It turns out that Xu Lingqing was still unwilling to give up and was using her memories from her previous life to search for talented people everywhere.
Song Yue wrote down all the names on the list, then returned it to the two men. She said in a low voice, "You haven't seen me today, and I haven't seen this list either, understand?"
The two looked at each other in bewilderment.
Song Yue was still worried, her eyes darkening slightly: "Turn around, all of you!"
The guards all turned around in unison.
Song Yue stretched out her hands to the two of them: "Take off your undergarments!"
The two women's expressions changed, filled with shame and anger: "Is the Crown Princess humiliating us?"
"No, it's just to keep it as leverage. As long as you keep your mouths shut, I guarantee that these clothes will be carefully preserved."
Forced by circumstances, the two had no choice but to compromise. They could only grit their teeth, take off their clothes, and hand them to Song Yue. Song Yue kept them, mounted her horse, and leaned down to smile at the two of them: "I recently met a master. This master knows everything from astronomy to geography and is omnipotent. At first, I was fooled, but I was exposed once. I'm glad I didn't do anything shameful. It's just a common folk trick."
After saying that, Song Yue raised her long whip and left the spot.
The bodyguards also disappeared shortly afterward.
Only two people remained.
Madam Yun's face flushed red with anger: "The Crown Princess is too despicable."
Madam Shangguan hugged her arms tightly, feeling ashamed and indignant: "She's always been a scoundrel, there's nothing she wouldn't do. But what the Crown Princess said just now reminded me that we might be being used."
A month ago, a person suddenly came to the Shangguan residence, claiming to be from another world and able to know everything. He immediately calculated some unknown things about the Shangguan residence.
This left Lord Shangguan completely bewildered.
The expert also said, "The Northern Chu Emperor Star has been occupied, causing the true Ziwei Star to be covered in dust. Northern Chu is very likely to be destroyed. He also said that within a year, the emperor and the crown prince will not be able to suppress the Ziwei Star and will definitely be devoured."
The implication was that the next emperor would be the Eighth Prince.
At first, Lord Shangguan didn't believe it either, but when someone pointed out his weakness, a wise man gave him directions, telling him to quickly gather these scattered talents, which would surely be of great use in time.
The Yun family used the same tactic.
"The Crown Princess is not virtuous in martial arts; it's best not to provoke her," said Madam Shangguan.
If she were to take out her undergarment and say something inappropriate, according to the rules of the large family, the two of them would only face certain death.
...
Hunting grounds
As the sun set, Jiang Ying's eyes remained fixed on the exit. The hunting time had arrived, but Song Yue was nowhere to be seen.
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