Bai Yuanshan was taken aback by Li Chang'an's words; he clearly hadn't expected the other party to be so impolite from the start.
But upon closer reflection, he realized that Li An had come to visit shortly after he received the picture albums. He was clearly there to interrogate him. Otherwise, what a coincidence it would be?
But then he thought again, since he had already dealt with all the things that could be used as evidence, he could just pretend to be ignorant and pretend he knew nothing. Maybe then Li Chang'an wouldn't be able to do anything to him.
"Your Highness, what are you saying? Please sit down and speak frankly..."
After saying that, Bai Yuanshan politely gestured for him to continue, and then said, "I wonder what kind of tea Your Highness prefers? I'll go and have someone brew a pot."
This cunning old fellow had a really good plan in mind. He wanted to take this opportunity to get away and go out to check the situation. Unfortunately, Chang'an would not give him this opportunity.
"No need. Aren't you afraid that drinking tea at night will keep you awake?"
Bai Yuanshan was speechless.
"Pfft..."
The commotion in the study was clearly seen by Cangyun and Zhuque, who had been spying from the rooftop. They also heard every word of the conversation between the two inside.
Li Chang'an's blunt retort just now amused Cang Yun, who couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Are you asking for it?!"
Zhuque immediately stepped forward, her brows furrowed in anger. She covered Cangyun's mouth with one hand and pinched his thigh hard with the other.
Cang Yun groaned in pain, swallowing back the laughter he was trying to suppress. He grimaced and rubbed his injured thigh, looking utterly devastated.
Women these days are really ruthless!
"Get back to work and don't get cocky, or I'll kick you to death!"
After saying that, Zhuque glared fiercely at Cangyun again.
Knowing he was in the wrong, Cangyun didn't dare to protest. He immediately straightened his expression and continued to observe the situation, but after a while, he couldn't help but complain, "Don't you think this old man is really asking for a beating?"
This time, Zhuque didn't refute anything, but instead, unusually, she agreed with Cangyun's thoughts, because Bai Yuanshan's hypocritical face was truly disgusting.
For a moment, Bai Yuanshan didn't know what to say. After a brief silence, Li Chang'an spoke first: "I came here to lay my cards on the table with you."
Bai Yuanshan's heart tightened. He wasn't sure what Li Chang'an meant by "showing his cards on the table," but no matter what, playing dumb was his best option right now.
Seeing that the other party remained silent, Li Chang'an was not surprised. She had already guessed that Bai Yuanshan would not easily reveal his true colors, so she simply stopped giving him face and said coldly, "You really went to a lot of trouble to print so many picture albums in just a few days. It must have taken a lot of effort, right?"
"What catalog? I didn't understand..."
Bai Yuanshan looked surprised, and decided that unless he could produce solid evidence, he was prepared to fight to the bitter end.
Looking at the old man in front of her who was like a clown, Li Chang'an couldn't help but sneer. She had seen through Bai Yuanshan's purpose, so she was too lazy to explain anything further.
"Whether you genuinely don't understand or are pretending not to, I won't lay my cards on the table today. I and the Prime Minister keep to ourselves. If you truly have any grievances against me, you can simply say so. There's really no need to resort to such underhanded tactics behind my back."
Li Chang'an stared coldly at Bai Yuanshan, taking in every subtle change in his face.
At this moment, Bai Yuanshan's old face turned red and white in turns. No matter how strong his mental fortitude was, he could no longer keep up the act.
"If there is a next time, Prime Minister, don't blame me for not being able to sit here and negotiate with you calmly like I am today."
Bai Yuanshan pondered these words for a long time, trying to think of what to say to avoid making himself feel awkward. But when he looked up, he found that he was the only one left in the study. Li Chang'an had left sometime earlier.
Suddenly feeling tired, Bai Yuanshan slumped back into his chair, feeling a dampness on his back. The night breeze blowing in through the window brought a chill, making him shiver involuntarily.
This is the second time; I've already lost to her for the second time!
A sense of frustration suddenly rose in Bai Yuanshan's heart. He felt a swelling between his eyebrows, so he closed his eyes and rubbed it with his fingers to relieve it.
At this moment, the study door opened again, and a group of guards and servants rushed in, which startled Bai Yuanshan again.
What are you doing?
Bai Yuanshan roared, suddenly feeling an inexplicable fire surge to the top of his head. He slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Where were you all just now? Were you all dead?!"
Seeing their master so angry, the servants panicked. The leader quickly stepped forward to explain, "We suspected that a thief had broken into the mansion, and everyone was busy chasing after him, so we didn't disturb you."
"Has the person been caught?"
Bai Yuanshan asked impatiently, his anger having subsided somewhat, but he still frowned.
"That thief was too cunning; he disappeared in the blink of an eye. We searched for ages but couldn't find him..."
The man replied somewhat awkwardly.
"A bunch of useless trash!"
Bai Yuanshan couldn't help but curse again. He felt annoyed just looking at this bunch of good-for-nothings, so he told them all to get out.
However, the truth is not as those people say. In fact, they were under the influence of the Vermilion Bird's bewitching smoke and only woke up now. After waking up, these people were afraid of something happening, which is why they rashly barged into the study.
Although he was scolded, Bai Yuanshan was unharmed and did not realize that they were lying.
If they had told the truth, Bai Yuanshan would probably have been even angrier, and might have taken his anger out on everyone else, so they all tacitly accepted the reprimand.
"These people are really shrewd!"
Cangyun couldn't help but click his tongue, suddenly feeling that Bai Yuanshan was actually quite pitiful. Not only did he sulk for a while, but he was also completely fooled by his subordinates without even realizing it.
But as the saying goes, there's always a reason why someone is pitiful; if you have to blame someone, you can only blame them for doing too many bad things.
When do we make our move?
Cangyun nudged Zhuque with his elbow, grinned mischievously, and asked, rubbing his hands together.
"Wait a little longer!"
Zhuque frowned and replied coldly, then continued to stare at the situation in the study.
Although he found it boring, Cang Yun could only wait for the right opportunity, because the guards who had been drugged had already woken up, and it was unlikely that they would be able to repeat their old tricks. All he could do now was keep a close eye on Bai Yuanshan's movements.
After all that, Bai Yuanshan was exhausted. He returned to his bedroom to go to sleep, while Cangyun and Zhuque, who had been waiting on the roof, naturally used their lightness skills to move to the roof of his bedroom as well.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
