A piece of Japanese incense

Zhi Yihe nodded. "Exactly. By taking on this hot potato, he's effectively putting the reins on all the forces in the Seven Seas. He can't afford to let anything go wrong with the wedding banquet, or else he'll be humiliated and his prestige will be shattered."

"What about Lei Bao?" Feng Yan pressed the issue. "Although he's been transferred from the core of the sea, the wedding banquet is taking place in the mansion. He and his trusted henchmen are still in the city. How can we ensure he doesn't become desperate and cause chaos in the mansion?"

"So, the third step is 'driving the stakes.' You must personally oversee the wedding banquet process. Before the ceremony, arrange a lengthy and essential 'blessing' ceremony—presided over by you personally—at the 'Sea-Suppressing Pavilion,' which is dedicated to the Sea God and successive city lords. All key figures, especially Lei Bao and his trusted generals, must participate throughout the ceremony, praying devoutly and not leaving during the ceremony."

"Zhenhai Pavilion..." Feng Yan pondered, "That place is the highest, far away from the treasury, barracks and the main banquet hall. There is only one main road leading up and down, so it is indeed easy to defend but difficult to attack..."

"The blessing ceremony will last at least an hour." A sharp glint flashed in Zhi Yihe's eyes. "This one hour is your golden opportunity to control the overall situation. You must have your most loyal and reliable guards disguised as ordinary servants or musicians in advance and infiltrate various places throughout the banquet. When the blessing ceremony begins and Lei Bao and the others are trapped in Zhenhai Pavilion, your men will, under the pretext of 'ensuring the sanctity of the ceremony,' quickly and silently seize control of all entrances and exits to the banquet hall, the treasury, and the main roads leading to the various seaports and Lei Bao's private residence! At the same time, under the pretext of 'routine inspections,' take over key checkpoints throughout the city. Move quickly, accurately, and leave no trace."

She looked at Feng Yan and continued, "After the blessing is over, you poisoned the wine. Lei Bao drank it and walked out of Zhenhai Pavilion, only to discover that the entire City Lord's Mansion, and even half the city, is under your control. His minions are divided and under surveillance, and his orders cannot even leave the mansion! He is now completely alone. If he is smart, he should know that any reckless action at this moment is tantamount to self-destruction."

"No!" Feng Yan stared at Zhi Yihe in the shadows. "Your plan may be brilliant, but Lei Bao is no fool! If he finds out that I've transferred some of his trusted generals on some pretext, or if he notices something unusual about the movement of the guards in the mansion, with his suspicious nature, I wouldn't even be able to get within three feet of him, let alone drink my wine! He'll be extremely wary and won't even take a sip!"

Zhi Yihe was fiddling with a small silver sachet. Hearing this, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. "He's naturally suspicious. The more critical the moment, the more suspicious he becomes. So... to deal with him, we'll do the opposite—not lie to him about the poison in the wine, but make him 'feel' like there's poison everywhere, yet 'can't find' it anywhere."

Feng Yan frowned, his eyes filled with confusion and anxiety: "Explain clearly!"

"Look at this." Zhi Yihe gently pushed the thumb-sized hollow silver sachet in his hand to the edge of the table.

"At that time, I will use the stamens of seven kinds of deep-sea exotic flowers and herbs, supplemented with ice silk as a guide, and secretly refine it into the 'Fear Guide'. This guide is colorless and tasteless, dispersing when exposed to heat and melting when exposed to wind. It has no form or substance.

On the day of the wedding banquet, you will wear the sachet close to your body, hidden inside your lapel. When you approach Lei Bao, especially when you offer him a toast with genuine affection, he will inevitably become wary, resisting in every possible way, his nerves tense. This 'fear' will quietly diffuse within three feet of you, along with your body temperature, breathing, and the 'excitement' you feel at being 'misunderstood.'

"This intoxicant itself is non-toxic," Zhi Yihe continued, "but it has a magical effect—it can amplify the 'dry heat' generated by the surging qi and blood when a person is extremely nervous, amplifying it a hundredfold! It can cause the victim to experience a disorganized sense of well-being, restlessness, and a strong sense of discomfort as if a thorn in the back is on their side! More importantly..." She paused deliberately, emphasizing her words, "It can create a strange resonance with the 'Tiger Bone Qi-Strengthening Pill' that Lei Bao has been taking for years to suppress old injuries from the dampness and poison of the sea!"

Feng Yan's eyes flashed, "Tiger bone strengthening pills? Those pirates take them almost every day!"

Zhi Yihe nodded. "When the 'Fear Attractor' aura is absorbed into Lei Bao's body and meets the remaining 'Tiger Bone Strengthening Pill' medicinal power in his blood... it will trigger a 'phantom poison' under his tense nerves! He will feel as if countless tiny insects are crawling under his skin, his throat will tighten, his breathing will be difficult, he will feel a stuffy feeling in his chest and nausea, and even occasionally a strange blue light will flash before his eyes!"

Feng Yan's face showed an expression of near ecstasy: "He scared himself?!"

"That's not all." Zhi Yihe's smile grew even colder. "If you toast him, he'll definitely refuse it in every possible way, staring at the wine with wariness, afraid you might poison it... All you have to do is 'accidentally' touch his arm or the back of his hand with your hairpin, just lightly, as if catching something on fabric."

She mimicked the tiny movement. "That feeling was as subtle as a mosquito bite, so subtle he might not even notice it immediately. But in his state of high tension, with his five senses amplified by fear, this tiny, imperceptible sting would be infinitely magnified in his mind! He would immediately associate it with you using a poison needle.

At this point, you don't need to say anything extra. Just look at him, watch him scratch his skin uncontrollably, have difficulty swallowing, and his face change color due to the symptoms of "poisoning"...

In order to survive, he will kneel down before you and beg for the antidote!"

Feng Yan listened quietly, her fingertips tapping unconsciously on her knees. The candlelight danced in her bottomless eyes, as if calculating every move and description. After a long while, she slowly exhaled.

Feng Yan slowly reached out and grabbed the sachet on the table. "Great... great 'Fear Attraction'! Great 'Phantom Poison Attack'!"

When she looked at Zhi Yihe again, her eyes were completely different: "Whatever you want, this princess will never break her promise! On the night of the wedding banquet, at Shipwreck Bay, at midnight, I will send someone to send them away. I will order someone to give you half of the antidote now!

As for yours, I will give it to you after you come with me to meet His Majesty and hand over the national treasure.

But if you dare to play tricks, I promise that you, your maid, and your father... will all die a miserable death a hundred times more miserably! I will make sure that all of your bodies sink forever in the deepest, darkest ravines of the seven seas, where even the sea god won't be able to find them!

Zhi Yihe met Feng Yan's gaze without flinching, and even pulled a smile from the corner of his mouth:

"Madam, don't worry. The game isn't over yet, so how dare the chess piece...die first?"

Feng Yan straightened her back, trying to regain her dignity. "Three days from now, when red silk is spread across the ground and joy resounds throughout the air, that will be the day when Lei Bao... no, the Seven Seas will truly change masters." Her gaze fell on Zhi Yihe's face. "Zhi Yihe... we... are in this together. If this succeeds, you will have made an invaluable contribution. This Wangchao City will welcome its first true 'Sea Lord of Heaven'!"

Zhi Yihe shook the sachet and nodded slightly: "Well, Yihe is here to wish Madam all her wishes come true. May the seven seas be peaceful and prosperous under your management." Her blessing was crisp, but without any warmth.

Feng Yan's voice was very soft: "Do you know? When I was about to step into the gates of hell, I saw you and Ting Zhu. I was holding your hand, and Ting Zhu was kneeling beside the bed, holding my other hand, and kept calling me 'sister'..."

The corners of Feng Yan's mouth twitched slightly. "It's very strange. In this strange, disgusting, painful place... seeing you two... I'm actually... happy."

Her voice dropped, a fragility that was unfamiliar even to herself. "It's as if... it's as if I'm finally not holding on alone. It's like I've returned to a long, long time ago... In the palace, there were no conspiracies or calculations, no deep blood feuds...

She raised her eyes and focused her gaze on Zhi Yihe again: "Perhaps, we could have been very good friends."

Zhi Yihe listened quietly. Feng Yan's words were like a stone dropped into a deep pool. She remembered the bloody delivery room, Ting Zhu's cries, and the cold, slippery hand that had grasped hers, convulsed with pain... In that moment, she hadn't calculated anything; her actions were sincere, driven by an almost instinctive desire to hold on to her life.