The Empress's No.1 Lackey

Inside Prince Jing Mansion.

A similarly dressed ordinary spy knelt halfway on the ground, speaking towards a room with closed doors and windows.

On the window paper, the silhouette of a man with the body of a tiger and the arms of a gorilla was also reflected.

"Come in," came the steady voice of a middle-aged man.

The spy then stood up, cautiously pushed open the door, stepped in, and his gaze slightly lifted before falling again.

On the huge desk in the room, the most space was occupied by a precious bonsai, within which a small tree with deep red old pines was vigorous and powerful.

A refined middle-aged man sat in the chair, his arms wrapped with three coils totaling one hundred and eight extremely rare Bodhi beads.

His appearance seemed youthful, but the gray at his temples revealed his real age was slightly more than it appeared.

His face was handsome and his demeanor exceptional.

The Xu family had thrived for six hundred years, and generation after generation of improvements ensured that members of the royal family usually had good looks.

Prince Jing had been outstanding in both civil and military skills in his youth, dearly loved by the previous Emperors, yet it was unfortunate that he was born too late, destined never to ascend the throne.

However, having dedicated years to managing Jiancheng Road, he now counted as a hidden dragon in his own right.

"Put it down."

Prince Jing spoke casually, not immediately picking up the letter on the table but instead addressing the experienced and steady confidant who had built Prince Jing's entire spy intelligence system,

"Is that Mr. Song arranged properly?"

The chief spy knew that the Prince was referring to Mr. Song who had been brought back from Taicang Prefecture:

"Your Highness, rest assured, I wouldn't dare treat him lightly."

"Good, those who have contributed must be richly rewarded. Thus, we can win over the hearts of all," Prince Jing nodded. It was just a casual inquiry, but then he turned and asked a few more questions about other matters.

The latter answered them one by one, then hesitated to say, "Your Highness, the Shen family has been wanting to meet you."

Prince Jing frowned slightly, showing a hint of displeasure in his eyes: "Is it the old ancestor of the Shen family who wants to meet, or the Family Head?"

"The latter."

"Then dismiss him on my behalf, yes, and pacify them too. Once the matters in the Capital are settled, I naturally won't let them be mistreated."

"Your Highness, about the Capital..."

Prince Jing looked at him, fingers caressing the Bodhi beads, seemingly pondering. After a moment, however, he shook his head: "Not necessarily."

"Ah?"

Prince Jing smiled at him,

"Do not underestimate my niece. She seems gentle on the outside, but would someone truly soft-hearted have killed so many and dared to claim the throne against all odds?"

The chief spy was confused, "Your Highness, but with all this preparation, if it yields nothing..."

Prince Jing's expression remained calm,

"Food must be eaten one bite at a time, chess must be played one move at a time. Gao Lian is not my man, nor does his life or death concern me. I would actually prefer he were dead, which would force the Gao family to lean towards me.

As for Li Yanfu... The Li Party is fractured and divided, which is not only what my niece wants to see but also what I desire."

The chief spy thought for a moment, then suddenly had an epiphany, realizing that with this move, regardless of win or lose, the Prince could not be considered at a loss.

"Go," Prince Jing waved him away.

Once the man had left, he tore open the envelope on the desk; his previously nonchalant expression immediately began to fluctuate.

Prince Jing suddenly stood up, threw the secret letter into the brazier in the room.

He then pushed the door open and walked through the vast complex of buildings resembling a small Imperial Palace, arriving at a certain courtyard.

Upon stepping in, he saw a figure draped in a long gown, sitting cross-legged in the center of the courtyard.

It was a beautiful woman, although sitting, her body was suspended a foot above the ground.

The luxurious fabric of her gown fell to the ground like an open lotus leaf or an unfurled water lily.

"I've said before, do not disturb my cultivation unless it's important," the woman said coldly.

She opened her eyes, and the moonlight poured down, illuminating her face covered by an ancient and mysterious silver face armor.

The patterns on the face armor were strange, covering most of her face, leaving only her eyes and chin visible.

If Zhao Douan were here, he would recognize at a glance that this face armor was of the same lineage as Pei Niannu's.

The difference was that Pei Niannu's was dark gold, the female Shadow Guard's was of bronze, and the woman in front of him wore silver.

It seemed to symbolize a certain class.

Prince Jing was graceful, but his eyes were somewhat cold:

"Don't forget, you are now the Princess, my official wife, the Princely Heir's stepmother."

Princess Jing retorted, "Don't forget, I am only here to protect you, to do your bidding, and you must fulfill our agreement as well."

Prince Jing took a light breath, suddenly smiled, and said softly,

"Rest assured, once I hold more power, I will surely help you find Pei Niannu's mantle. But until then, you still have to help me, don't you?"

The female sorcerer sighed and asked, "What now?"

Prince Jing frowned and said, "Zhuang Xiaocheng sent me a letter, saying the State Preceptor is back. Could he really still be alive?"

The silver-armored Princess Jing was taken aback and her eyebrows also tightened.

"Do you think Zhuang Xiaocheng would deceive you?"

"Not sure," a cold expression appeared on Prince Jing's elegant face, "these remnants of Kuangfu Society are merely paying lip service to allegiance to me. But at this juncture, there seems to be no need for them to lie."

The Princess pressed her lips together, and after a moment said,

"That Demon Path sorcerer doesn't cultivate a righteous deity, his methods are bizarre. I've suspected all along that he was bewitching Xu Jianwen for his own cultivation... His death was also strange, his return wouldn't be surprising. By the way, where is he now?"

Prince Jing hesitated, "Zhuang Xiaocheng said, he went to the Capital."

The Princess paused, scoffed, and said,

"True to his nature. Seems like you should be pleased, your niece must be having headaches now."

Prince Jing, however, had mixed feelings. He rubbed a Bodhi Bead and looked up and sighed,

"I've always kept my distance from Evil Mages."

"Heh," the Princess scoffed at him and stopped talking to him, showing no more interest in cultivation. She floated down and walked towards the bedroom.

While walking, the silver face armor on her face wriggled away, hiding beneath the surface of a gentle woman's face.

In the entire Royal Mansion, few knew that the Princess was also a powerful sorcerer.

...

...

At dawn.

Before it was light, Zhao Douan saw Ma Yan off to the Imperial Court.

As a fourth-rank military officer, in theory, he was qualified to attend court.

However, according to his observations, the rank of officials in the Great Yu Dynasty was somewhat inflated, with plenty of Second Rank and Third Rank, and more like him, nominally fourth-rank of the Capital Camp, rarely summoned to court.

Of course, he wasn't keen on going either.

"Going to work before dawn, I'd be crazy to attend court when I could be sleeping in with a concubine at home. Oh, I don't have a concubine, so never mind..."

Zhao Douan grumbled to himself and continued to wait at the Imperial Court for the outcome.

About an hour and a half later, it was fully bright, and the Capital embraced another calm day.

As Ma Yan and others returned from court, the final outcome of Gao Lian's case also settled.

And what truly astonished and stunned the officials at the court was the overnight news of the sudden deaths of both the witness and the criminal.

The Capital, unsurprisingly, erupted into chaos again.

...

Will correct typos later.