She only asked Luo Xue to keep an eye out for who Yu Nanqing met; she didn't tell Luo Xue to secretly follow him.
She never intended to hide this from Yu Nanqing.
Luo Xue paused for a moment, then suddenly realized: "I see, I misunderstood, Your Majesty, please forgive me."
She said this, but her innocent expression gave Su Wanyan the illusion that she was dazed.
She smiled helplessly: "Never mind, maybe I didn't explain it clearly."
"Then Your Highness, should I continue to keep watch today?" The prince has gone to the prefectural capital, and if she doesn't leave soon, she won't be able to keep up.
"Yes, go quickly."
"Yes, this servant will take her leave."
Su Wanyan stared at the list placed on the stone table, and the comic book in her hand lost its appeal.
"Your Majesty, when Bai Jiaojiao abruptly disturbed you last year on Qixi Festival, I felt she was restless. Yesterday, she intercepted the Prince on the way. I wonder what she's up to." Qiu Ye stared at Bai Jiaojiao's name on the list, her expression displeased.
To be honest, Su Wanyan didn't really care about Bai Jiaojiao.
However, her name seemed too out of place among the list of officials, so they asked about it.
What she cared more about was Yu Nanqing's contact with those officials, but unfortunately, only Yu Nanqing had information about the other twelve cities of Fuzhou.
Yu Nanqing has been busy with Fucheng's affairs these days, so she can't see anything yet.
"Your Majesty, should we call Bai Jiaojiao over and teach her a lesson? Let her not try to eat swan meat like a toad!" Qiu Ye continued chattering, which brought Su Wanyan back to her senses.
He laughed and said, "Why are you getting more and more irritable?"
Bai Jiaojiao's little schemes were like mung beans and sesame seeds compared to the bigger picture; they were insignificant matters, and she didn't take them to heart at all.
Qiu Ye immediately shut her mouth, lowered her head and suppressed her temper: "Your Majesty, this servant was wrong, this servant dares not."
Seeing Qiu Ye's reaction, Huang Ye quickly stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, I don't think Bai Jiaojiao will give up so easily. Although she can't cause any trouble, she's still annoying and it's not good to delay the prince's important business."
Huang Ye's words hit the nail on the head. Su Wanyan suddenly realized and thought to herself, "I think what you said makes a lot of sense. You really are like that. You either don't say anything at all, or when you do, you always have something to say."
With Yu Nanqing so busy right now, and then Bai Jiaojiao pops up, Su Wanyan doesn't think Yu Nanqing will have the energy to deal with her. If he doesn't deal with her, then Bai Jiaojiao will definitely take advantage of the situation.
Not to mention... there's Yan Gongyi right in front of us.
"Sigh, I'm always getting into trouble with women."
Qiu Ye didn't hear clearly: "What did you say, Your Highness?"
Su Wanyan folded the list: "It's nothing."
She could imagine Yu Nanqing's appearance when Bai Jiaojiao stopped him; he must have been lost in thought, preoccupied with his own affairs, and most likely hadn't heard a word of what Bai Jiaojiao was saying.
Su Wanyan knows Yu Nanqing too well; what she said was spot on.
"What does Your Majesty intend to do?" Qiu Ye asked curiously.
"No rush." Su Wanyan smiled. "She will come to find me."
If Bai Jiaojiao wanted to wait for Yu Nanqing to give her a response, that was a pipe dream; she could only come to her.
However, things didn't go as Su Wanyan had imagined...
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" On this pleasant day, Su Wanyan had a chaise lounge placed in the front porch and was taking a nap in the shade when she was awakened by a series of urgent calls.
Su Wanyan slightly opened her eyes and saw Qiu Ye rushing over from the front yard: "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"
Su Wanyan frowned, snapping out of her daze: "What's wrong?"
"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Rumors are spreading in the capital that... that the Prince is going to take Bai Jiaojiao into his household, and that... that the rumor also says... that the Prince has already gone to the Bai residence to propose marriage, and even set a date!"
"..." Su Wanyan was stunned, completely confused.
Su Wanyan lay down on the chaise lounge: "I thought something serious had happened."
"Your Highness, why aren't you worried at all? This is clearly fake. How could the Prince possibly marry Bai Jiaojiao! Luo Xue can prove it. She's been following the Prince these past few days. Just call her over and ask her!" Qiu Ye said anxiously.
Su Wanyan chuckled: "You know it's fake too?"
If you know it's fake, why panic?
"But...but..." Qiu Ye frowned slightly, "These rumors are quite detailed. If things get out of hand, and Bai Jiaojiao doesn't enter the manor, won't people say that the prince is heartless, fickle, and plays with people's feelings? Won't she ruin the prince's reputation?"
"Moreover!" Qiu Ye said urgently, "The Bai family obtained the betrothal gifts from who-knows-where, making them look so real that even if the Prince and the Empress come forward to clarify, they probably won't be able to explain themselves!"
Even she knew that gossip could be a powerful force, and the common people didn't care whether the rumors were true or false; they just wanted to know the outcome of the matter.
Whether Bai Jiaojiao enters the manor or not, she will be their topic of conversation after dinner; the only difference is whether it's good or bad.
Su Wanyan nodded: "Indeed."
Especially because of the new tax law, the city's wealthy merchants are all eager to make their move.
“I was wrong.” Su Wanyan lay on the chaise lounge and sighed softly. “I thought it was just a young girl’s thought that would be easy to resolve, but it turns out that things are much more complicated than I thought.”
It's not impossible that Bai Jiaojiao could be used to unite the city's wealthy merchants and coerce Yu Nanqing into submission.
Thinking deeper, if that's really the case, then the government must be involved. Without the government's backing, merchants alone cannot shake Yu Nanqing's power.
"How long have these rumors been circulating?"
"I heard them talking about it when I went to the market to buy things just now. I hadn't heard anything about it when I went to the market a few days ago. It seems like they're spreading it quite aggressively!"
That would be intentional, and it's even more obvious.
"Your Majesty, what do you suggest we do?"
Su Wanyan remained calm: "Nothing to do, just lie down."
"Huh?" Upon hearing this, Qiu Ye was stunned and exchanged a glance with Huang Ye: "Your Majesty, what does this mean? This servant does not understand."
Su Wanyan just smiled and didn't continue the conversation.
If it were just Bai Jiaojiao, she might be able to handle it, but if it involves all the things behind it, then it's beyond her control. Yu Nanqing couldn't possibly remain completely inactive, or perhaps, Yu Nanqing was deliberately waiting for them to make this commotion.
Thinking about it, Su Wanyan's eyes flickered slightly. Could this be a trap deliberately set by Yu Nanqing?
"Yan'er." Speak of the devil and he appears. While Su Wanyan was still thinking, Yu Nanqing slowly walked over from the courtyard gate.
Snowflakes followed closely behind him.
He followed even closer than Tanaka, who was always by his side.
"Yan'er." Yu Nanqing approached and called out again. Although his expression was helpless, his words were very gentle: "Luo Xue has been with me for several days now. Don't you plan to withdraw the order?"
He already knew about it when she secretly followed him on the first day of the snowfall.
Knowing that it was Su Wanyan's instruction, he didn't interfere much. He even felt that Su Wanyan sent Luo Xue to follow him because she cared about him, and he was quite happy about it.
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