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A/N: I started dedicating the earlier chapters to people who voted/commented/added this book to their library!

Needless to say, Feng Yanyan had to stay in his courtyard to recover from the sprain. His ankle was swollen for a few days, distressing his trio of servant girls to no end.

JuZi, being the oldest, knew this was unlikely to be just an accident so she was cold-faced to all of the beauties that visited the young master these days. The mei ren who went there all got scared of this first-ranked palace maid, especially Liu Weiwei who had a guilty conscience.

She merely went with the formalities and hurried away.

Today, it was Zhang Yunlei who visited. "Looks like the sprain is healing nicely."

These days, Feng Yanyan really didn't have the energy to socialize and say nice words. So he just nodded.

But the silence didn't seem to faze the other man. It even seemed he was more comfortable this way.

"Her highness is really worried about you. During the calligraphy lessons, she would inquire about your injury several times." Zhang Yunlei said after sipping tea.

It was obvious that it was only Long Tang who was asking about him. And not Long Sangyu.

"Well, Junzhu can rest assured." Feng Yanyan's pallid lips barely moved.

Beauty Zhang didn't know what made him this listless but it subtly made him bite the pastry with more gusto.

"Brother Feng, come to think of it. Serving Junzhu isn't so bad." He offered an understanding smile and a pat on the back.

Feng Yanyan finally had the energy to turn his head to him. With narrowed eyes, he snapped. "You came here just to convince me about some stupid thing?"

Zhang Yunlei looked frightened. "What are you saying, Brother Feng? Serving Junzhu... it's not a fool's endeavor!"

As if on cue, a high-pitched voice rang out.

"Insolent!"

Beauty Zhang immediately knelt on the floor and greeted. "Paying respect to Junzhu, Junwang."

Feng Yanyan glared at him before attempting to kneel. So it was like this. The protagonist was baring his teeth against Feng Yanyan.

He bit his lips, bearing the pain while kneeling.

"Explain yourself, Feng Yanyan." Ping Junwang's voice was thunderous. Of course, he would be mad. He heard someone slandering his niece.

Sweat started to soak Beauty Feng's back from the discomfort of his injury. Despite this, he only told the truth.

"Answering your Highness, Beauty Zhang brought up a delicate topic, hence I misspoke. How can Feng ever think of Junzhu? Her Majesty, the Empress sent us to the wangfu to be of service to wangye. So, this lowly Feng will only wait for wangye's decision."

Bringing up the Empress and King Wan Li was all he could think about at this moment.

Long Sangyu looked down from above Feng Yanyan's head.

The prince's distaste for him grew. Uttering Wan Li Wang when he obviously targeted him, Long Sangyu.

Such shamelessness.

Don't think that all the coquettish glances and the words he said inside this courtyard never reached his Highness' eyes and ears. Feng Yanyan could barely hide who he liked.

Of course, everyone who heard Feng Yanyan would think that he was head over heels for Ping Junwang.

Who would know that he only wanted the future position and not the person himself?

So now, no one would believe him even if he mentioned that he would respect wangye's decision. What decision? Wangye treated all these beauties as if they were air!

All of them were now anxious to get into Ping Junwang's courtyard as that's the next best option for abandoned beauties like them.

Feng Yanyan's pitiful voice resonated inside the hall again. "This lowly one has overstepped my boundaries. Feng is still muddleheaded from all the medicine. Asking Junzhu for punishment."

Long Tang stared at him for a while until his lips almost bled from biting back the pain. Her eyes flashed in triumph before she released him from his suffering.

"How can this princess bear to punish Beauty Feng? Come, help him get up to rest. This princess only came here to look at your condition. It seems the injury hasn't healed yet. Properly take care of Beauty Feng and you will be rewarded."

With a haughty look, she turned around and left with Feng Yanyan still kneeling on the floor.

Long Sangyu was about to follow too but a soft voice called out to him.

"Your highness, that day... Did Junwang see if someone accidentally made Feng lose my footing? It's just that I felt something hitting my foot. It's been bugging my mind for a few days now."

He already worded it this way without accusing anyone but of course, those with sharp minds would understand it without hearing twice. Feng Yanyan suspected that someone tripped him on purpose.

Beside him, Zhang Yunlei's eyes darkened but his head was still submissively looking below. He had to remind himself that no one could possibly know. He didn't directly tell Liu Weiwei to harm Feng Yanyan.

His words that morning, when they received the invitation to play in the southern pavilion, were: "Be careful, Sister Liu. I noticed the soil and grass have more dew these days. One can easily fall. But it's good too, isn't it? I made good tea with the dew yesterday."

Long Sangyu's unreadable gaze floated past Feng Yanyan and Zhang Yunlei. His words were not particularly harsh.

"Beauty Feng, how can this prince take notice?"

Yes, how would he notice? Feng Yanyan was nothing to his eyes.

"Oh... I see. Thank you, your Highness." His words were barely above a whisper.

After that, he soullessly sent them off. The perfect image of a person with a broken heart.

Later that night, Feng Yanyan asked to not be disturbed and holed up in his bed-chamber.

When news reached Zhang Yunlei, he didn't laugh nor did he revel in schadenfreude. They were all playing a long game.

Whether Feng Yanyan decided to give up now, he ought not to care. He had his own objectives. Although he didn't know what made Feng Yanyan go after Ping Junwang, it didn't change the fact that Zhang Yunlei's goal was also the prince.

Meanwhile, in a forest on the outskirts of Suliang...

King Wan Li received a secret report from the falcon. From her solemn face, one would wonder what danger lies ahead.

But the cryptic message only said two words. "Yu'er ignored."

That's all she needed to know. She knew she was worrying for nothing. But if her brother became muddle-headed after being surrounded by this group of girls and boys...

Then it was safer not to delegate tasks to him in the future. Her plans for him would have to change too. Suliang could not be handed to him and have a fatuous ruler in the future.

One might say Long Xu Le was cold-blooded to the point of thinking to abandon her own brother. But this was also her way of protecting him.

He would just be harmed if she let him take over the mantle of Suliang if he was easily swayed. This territory that she cultivated to have wise courtiers would eat Long Sangyu alive if they saw he wasn't fitting.

So it was a relief that Sangyu's heart wasn't moved by the distraction sent by the Empress.

After burning the piece of paper, she had the peace of mind to do her job. Long Xu Le turned to her subordinates.

"Move. Expose the salt hoarders without fail and confiscate all resource supplies."

A ghost of a smile painted her lips. "Daring to give food to the barbarians in my territory. Such foolish bravery. Whoever brings the leader to me alive will get a thousand tales of gold, several li of fertile lands, and good marriage."

There was a hum of excitement in the air.

"But, if you fail the mission, you'll go back to cadet training. Everyone's salary will be halved for six months."

Hearing this, the men calmed down and assented to the orders.

King Wan Li watched them move like slithering snakes in the middle of the night. Even though she had the advantage in numbers and individual strength, she didn't dare be presumptuous.

Her mode of operation had always been to overpower the enemies, leaving no escape route.

The outskirts of Suliang were long prone to having thoughts of insurgency.

Outsiders with money and a bit of status would settle here, pretending to be merchants. Then, they will incite chaos in the locals bit by bit.

Long Xu Le had been dealing with this since before. The techniques varied over the years but she was sure these people would either be rebels or were sent by the Empress' people themselves.

Such a ridiculous claim would be rejected by the court and could be counted as King Wan Li rebelling. So she only dealt with it as she saw fit. There was no room for letting her guard down as long as she was sitting as Suliang's king and general.

Up above, the sky wasn't graced with the presence of the moon. But the stars competed which shone the brightest. Under the heavens, a lone figure stood. Her back was proud and her eyes looked forward.

Her inky black hair blended with the night but her eyes flashed with clarity. Unlike dogs and wolves that chased their prey until it tires out, Long Xu Le was motionless. She was akin to a tiger waiting for the perfect chance to strike.

Edited: Feb. 13, 2023