"ah!"
Huang Qian screamed, feeling the chill on her neck, and looked at Bai Tuantuan in terror: "Girl, spare me! Girl, spare me!"
Zhou Ke's eyelids twitched, he took a deep breath, cupped his hands and said, "Miss, you have to give us time to consider."
"Alright, half an hour."
Bai Tuantuan sheathed her sword, sat on the stool, crossed her arms, and looked at the two of them calmly.
Zhou Ke pulled Huang Qian aside and said slowly, "Madam, let's listen to her."
"No!" Huang Qian shouted, then, as if remembering something, she lowered her voice and said, "We can't listen to her! She's just spreading alarmist rumors! She just can't stand to see our family doing well! Master, they are all your relatives! If our daughters enter the palace, and our sons, nephews, and nieces enter the Imperial Academy in the capital, it will only benefit your career! We've been planning this for so long, we can't give up halfway!"
"But what if that person is a fake? What if, as this girl says, he really wants to kill our child?"
Huang Qian scoffed lightly, saying dismissively, "How could someone from the Prince Ping's mansion be fake! We've seen that token; there's no mistake!"
“Madam,” Zhou Ke shook her head, still wary, “but the Marquis of Zhongyong’s token is also genuine.”
Huang Qian opened her mouth, but for a moment she couldn't find any words to refute it.
"Sigh..." Zhou Ke sighed heavily. "Fine, I was wrong about the poetry competition anyway, so I'll do as this girl says. If those people come, it means what she said is true. If they don't come, we'll go back to normal. What do you think?"
Huang Qian didn't want to agree, but she was afraid that her daughter and son would get hurt, so she simply agreed: "Then let's postpone today's poetry competition."
"Okay, let's postpone it to the day after tomorrow."
Zhou Ke replied.
Huang Qian pursed her lips and complained a few times, but Zhou Ke stopped her: "If this girl is lying, we need to think this over carefully, since she might kill us at any time."
Huang Qian gasped and nodded quickly: "Master, please go and calm her down first."
Zhou Ke responded and turned to Bai Tuantuan's side: "Miss, we will do as you say. I will contact them right away."
"Okay, take this medicine. You can take it once you trust me."
With that, Bai Tuantuan left.
Huang Qian then called the person in charge of the poetry competition and asked her to postpone the poetry competition to the day after tomorrow.
After finishing everything, Huang Qian and Zhou Ke returned to the mansion.
Bai Tuantuan also joined Ning Nanxiao and the others.
"What happened?" The Emperor looked at Bai Tuantuan with a puzzled expression.
After everyone returned to their private room at Er Dong Restaurant, Bai Tuantuan finally told them what she had found out: "I suspect that the men in black are starting to get anxious. One possibility is that we encountered them several times and defeated them each time. Another possibility is that we spread orthodox cultivation techniques among the common people, making more people aware of cultivation, which has posed a threat to them."
"So their actions have become public and have begun to infiltrate among officials."
Bai Tuantuan touched her chin, thought for a moment, and said, "They've started to panic."
"Are we just going to give up like this? It's good that we were discovered, but we don't know this place, what are we going to do!" Eunuch Cai became anxious.
Ning Nanxiao slowly said, "Our people have been dispersed to various places. If anything goes wrong, they will send a message. We can only search slowly, because they are very vigilant. If we are not careful, we will lose our clues. Only when we are absolutely sure can we expose ourselves and wipe them out in one fell swoop."
The Emperor nodded: "Indeed, they are far too cunning. By the way, how is that master now?"
"The time is not yet ripe. Once my strength is fully restored, I will be able to extract his memories and find their lair." Ning Nanxiao's words relieved the Emperor and the others. As long as there was a way, they could afford to wait a little longer.
Because of the poetry competition, the group lost interest in exploring Jinzhou.
However, Ning Chengzhu had no intention of indulging Zhou Ke, so he grabbed his knife and ran straight towards the prefectural government office!
"Sigh... I have a feeling the Emperor's whereabouts are going to be exposed again." Bai Tuantuan rubbed her temples, feeling helpless. "Why is it that trouble always seems to arise everywhere!"
The Emperor snorted lightly: "When you weren't around, we didn't have so many problems. Blame it on you, little girl, for always meddling!"
"No way! It was Your Majesty who sent me to ask!"
Bai Tuantuan pouted, then looked at Ning Nanxiao: "Should we send the Emperor away first?"
"Need not."
Ning Nanxiao said calmly, "Only the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion has exposed its identity. If we dare to expose our identity so openly, those people will definitely think that we are not with the Emperor. Otherwise, they would naturally hide it."
Bai Tuantuan looked enlightened, while Mu Yangzhi couldn't help but ask, "Then what do we need to do? Shouldn't Father Emperor stay at Erdong Restaurant? We can take care of the rest."
"Um."
Bai Tuantuan responded, exchanged a glance with Ning Nanxiao, and then pulled Mu Yangzhi out.
Bai Han stroked his beard, watching the three children's retreating figures, and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, how about playing a game of chess with me?"
The Emperor waved his hand: "Sir! A letter has arrived from the capital."
Upon hearing this, Bai Han became interested: "Oh? How about the Crown Prince overseeing the country?"
The Emperor smiled and gestured for Eunuch Cai to hand the letter to Bai Han.
Bai Han opened it and, after reading what was written inside, raised an eyebrow: "Your Majesty, the Third Prince started causing trouble as soon as he returned!"
"What do you think the Crown Prince will do?"
Bai Han placed the letter on the table and slowly said, "If it were the Crown Prince of the past, he might have considered the brotherly bond and softened his heart. But after so many things, the Third Prince has repeatedly provoked the Crown Prince. If the Crown Prince is still soft-hearted, then the Emperor will have to change the position of Crown Prince."
Upon hearing this, the Emperor remained silent for a long time before finally letting out a sigh: "That is true, but fratricide is something I do not wish to see."
"Your Majesty, you have to give up something to gain something. Compared to other countries, this is already much better. At least the Crown Prince and the Second Prince are truly brothers, and the princesses are also kind-hearted people. You should be content!"
Bai Han said with a smile, "It's not about having many brothers, but about having the best ones."
"A friend in name only will stab you in the back; that's no good!"
Bai Han's words left the Emperor speechless, unable to utter a single word. He had to admit that Bai Han was right.
"Your Majesty, it's time for you to make a decision, not only for the Crown Prince and for the sake of Sheng Ning Kingdom, but also for the sake of the Third Prince. You don't want to see the Third Prince suffer a bad end, do you..."
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