After lunch, Shangguan Wanning dismissed all the maids on the pretext of taking a nap, changed her clothes, and quietly climbed out the window.
She carefully avoided all patrolling guards and slipped out through the back door.
She walked cautiously along the way, through the winding alleys, and entered a secluded courtyard.
Soon, a group of big men armed with steel knives broke in.
Shangguan Wanning stood calmly beside the flower bed, her fingers gently brushing the petals of the blooming flowers, but a cold light flashed in her eyes.
The leading burly man looked around, made a gesture, and his men immediately rushed into every room to search.
Shangguan Wan Ning was not in a hurry. She turned around and glanced at the leading man, and said calmly: "The person you are looking for is not here."
The leading man was stunned and frowned.
He stepped forward and put the steel knife on Shangguan Wanning's neck, and warned her fiercely: "Princess An Ning, we are all rough people, we don't know how to be gentle with women. You'd better tell us the whereabouts of Mu Jingrui, otherwise..."
"Otherwise? What if otherwise? If you have the guts, just kill me with one blow."
Shangguan Wanning met the leading man's gaze fearlessly, her whole heart trembling violently.
"you……"
The veins on the back of the leading man's hands bulged and the flesh on both sides of his cheeks trembled a few times, but in the end he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Shangguan Wanning smiled coldly and pushed away the shining steel knife. "Go back and tell your master that if you want to know Mu Jingrui's whereabouts, come to me yourself."
After saying this, Shangguan Wanning swaggered out of the courtyard.
She faced the bright sunshine at noon, tears falling uncontrollably. The warm breeze blowing across her face could not dry the traces of sad tears.
At dusk, Shangguan Yue returned to the Prime Minister's Mansion.
Shangguan Wanning sat in the study, waiting for him with empty eyes.
Shangguan Yue was a little afraid to look at his daughter, and coughed twice to hide his inner guilt. "Why don't you go out and have dinner with your mother?"
"I'm waiting for Dad to come back." Shangguan Wanning pushed the bowl of medicine in front of her forward and looked up at her father. "Dad, drink the medicine. After you drink it, your itching will go away."
Shangguan Yue's whole body stiffened and his face immediately turned gloomy.
"You know everything?"
Shangguan Wanning went out this afternoon just to test whether there was really someone watching her all the time.
He was not sure whether those people belonged to his father or to the Ming King.
So she sprinkled colorless and odorless powder in the courtyard and let it attach to the clothes of those people.
People who have come into contact with the powder for a second time will develop small red bumps all over their body and suffer from constant itching.
Shangguan Wanning prepared the antidote in advance.
She hoped her father wouldn't need it, but...
She was completely desperate as she watched her father pick up the medicine bowl and drink it all.
"Dad, why are you doing this?"
Shangguan Wanning felt angry, sad and terrified. She stood up emotionally and looked at her father with burning eyes.
"Sit down."
Shangguan Yue calmed down instead. He thought for a long time and didn't know how to explain his position to Shangguan Wanning, so he never opened his mouth.
Now that Shangguan Wanning had discovered it herself, he accepted it calmly.
"Ning'er, do you know what has enabled Dad to get to where he is today?"
Shangguan Wanning was at a loss. She couldn't guess what her father wanted to say.
"Some people say that I relied on my wife's family; some people say that I relied on God-given luck; some people say that I relied on my own efforts. But they are all wrong. From the beginning to the end, it was Concubine Wu who helped me rise to the top step by step."
Shangguan Wanning saw an inextricable tenderness in her father's eyes.
She didn't know if it was an illusion, but her heart seemed to be hit by something and was broken into pieces by pain.
"I have been dormant in the court for many years. My only goal is to get King Ming back to the capital and become the ruler of a country."
Once upon a time, Shangguan Wanning always thought that her father was on Xiao Yujue's side, and she never doubted it.
Looking back now, my father was actually wavering between Xiao Yujue and Xiao Zhenting, and his position was never firm.
To him, it didn't really matter whether it was Xiao Zhenting or Xiao Yujue who succeeded him. If one of them was defeated, the remaining one would be easier to deal with.
No wonder, when everyone thought Xiao Yujue was in dire straits, his father proposed to go to King Ming for help and volunteered to act as a lobbyist.
In fact, this was all part of their plan.
"Dad, don't be like this..." Shangguan Wanning stepped forward and held her father's hand. "Now the country is stable, and the people are recuperating and living in peace. You should be able to see that the emperor is a wise ruler, so why do you have to stir up disputes again..."
"What do you know?"
Shangguan Yue shook off his daughter's hand. This was the first time he showed extreme impatience towards his daughter.
"On the road to the throne, once you have shot the arrow, there is no turning back. At this point, the King will not give up."
"Dad, you have been an official for many years and have always been loved by the people. Could it be that you really have the heart to see them fall into war again?"
"If you cooperate, there will be no war."
Shangguan Yue turned to look at Shangguan Wan Ning and said, "Ning'er, most of the officials in the court have now joined the Ming King's army, and some of them are my disciples. They will all listen to me."
"The remaining small group of people are the emperor's die-hards. However, without someone to lead them, these people will not be able to achieve anything significant. As long as Mu Jingrui dies and completely cuts off the emperor's support, he will never have a chance to fight back."
Shangguan Wanning only then realized that her father and King Ming had been planning these things for many years.
"Ning'er, tell me where Mu Jingrui is."
Shangguan Wanning felt a chill down her spine.
"Dad, if I were married to Mu Jingrui now, would you still force me to betray my husband?"
"So what if you marry him? You are my daughter. Even if you are a widow, there are still many men vying for you."
Shangguan Wanning was stunned.
She always thought she was the treasure in her father's hand, but in fact...
"Dad, you are already a powerful prime minister. Unless you become the emperor yourself, your status will stop here. I am curious, even if you help the Ming King to succeed to the throne, what can you get?"
Shangguan Yue took a deep breath, his eyes narrowed and looked a little blurry.
"I... can spend the rest of my life with the person I love most, together, never to be separated."
Shangguan Wanning was stunned.
She never imagined that her father's deep affection for her mother was actually fake.
She couldn't help crying.
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