This villain has become a ghost

In the palace, the ministers who had just finished the morning court session were talking and whispering to each other.

"What's wrong with His Majesty today? Even after Lord Qiu Lin refuted him like that, he wasn't even angry at all."

"And... he seems to be smiling in a rather strange way."

"Are you planning something else?"

"Makes sense."

"That's right, you better be careful."

After all, in their hearts, the emperor has always been a smiling tiger, the kind who smiles on the surface but is secretly planning to skin and pull out the tendons of people.

Thinking of this, the ministers were suddenly horrified and left in a hurry.

Very scary.

In the South Study.

In the spacious and bright study, Nangong Mingzhu sat upright at the desk, his eyes focused on the memorial in his hand.

Suddenly, he cast his gaze towards the fruit plate beside him, picked up an orange with his slender hand with distinct knuckles, raised the corners of his lips in a happy arc, and his eyes were full of smiles as he casually looked away.

After a long time, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

"Your Majesty, the virtuous concubine requests an audience."

"Enter."

Qiu Shuangwan rushed in. Although she was a little afraid of him, she still bowed and struggled to speak, saying:

"See Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty, you went to see Miss Yue on my behalf yesterday..."

Qiu Shuangwan thought for a moment, swallowed the question "Did you embarrass her?", and said carefully:

"I wonder...how is she? Is she okay?"

Nangong Mingzhu glanced at him sideways, raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do you care about her a lot?"

Sure enough, ineffective communication is answering questions with questions.

Qiu Shuangwan was frightened by his glance. Some scenes of him killing people flashed through her mind, and the words she wanted to say were stuck in her throat for a moment.

"Your servant... Your servant is just..." Qiu Shuangwan cursed in her heart, hating herself for being so timid. She lowered her head, and her voice became lower and lower.

"Just what?" Nangong Mingzhu played with the orange nonchalantly.

Qiu Shuangwan glanced at him secretly, but saw that his expression was not gloomy. On the contrary, he seemed to be in a good mood.

...Thinking back to his comradeship with Yue Liuyun, Qiu Shuangwan finally mustered up the courage and whispered softly:

"I'm just afraid you'll embarrass her."

"Your Majesty, no matter what unpleasant things happened in the past, she and you once shared a body, and she absolutely has no intention of harming you..."

Nangong Mingzhu paused, and finally looked up, as if he had heard something funny. There was a hint of disbelief in his eyes, and he chuckled.

Did he embarrass her?

He said meaningfully:

"...Don't worry, from now on, no one will make things difficult for her."

"Even if it's me, it won't work."

Qiu Shuangwan was stunned, not knowing what was going on.

What does it mean?

After a long silence, he finally digested the meaning of his words. Suddenly, he felt happy and looked up at Nangong Mingzhu, asking in surprise:

"Your Majesty, have you... reconciled with Miss Yue?"

Nangong Mingzhu said nothing, but raised the corners of his mouth high and tossed the orange in his hand, looking particularly happy.

...It's not just a reconciliation.

Qiu Shuangwan saw that the smile on his face became deeper and deeper, but she did not say anything to refute him, so she just took it as his consent.

He was immediately very excited, and thought to himself, "Yue Liuyun is awesome!" He actually managed to appease the tyrant so quickly. He is indeed a role model for our generation.

What he didn't know was that, to put it bluntly, this person was finally "coaxed" by his own strategies and persistent pestering.

Qiu Shuangwan didn't understand why, but she felt relieved and happy. She said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

After saying this, he thought, since Yue Liuyun is fine and they have reconciled, there is nothing more to say. He bowed and said:

"Then... I will not disturb Your Majesty from handling government affairs. I will take my leave first."

-

On the other side, General Qiming’s Mansion.

At noon, in the center of the courtyard stood an ancient pavilion, red pillars, green tiles, and eaves. Inside, around a stone table and stone benches, Yue Liuyun, Liu Zeyin, Yin Yun, and a group of staff gathered to eat lunch.

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, everyone started to talk about business.

While Yin Yun filled Yue Liuyun's cup with tea and stopped her from drinking, he said to Liu Zeyin solemnly:

"General, news has come from Wuzhou that the poison has been successfully placed in the governor's daily diet. I believe it won't be long before he will be at your service."

Yue Liuyun's expression remained unchanged. He drank his tea by himself and silently memorized the message in his mind.

If I remember correctly, this governor of Wuzhou should have been supported by Nangong Mingzhu.

Liu Zeyin took a sip of sake and asked, "What about the Wuzhou spies?"

"Everything is going smoothly," Yin Yun smiled slightly. "Ever since Min Caizhe died and Wei Yanzhi and Zhang Jing were imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, the contacts between Daying and the spies are basically all our people."

"Wuzhou is entrenched with spies and is relatively close to the border. The people sent by the emperor are just a drop in the bucket."

Liu Zeyin nodded, put down her chopsticks, and said, "That's very good. However, we must be cautious and careful about this matter. We must not take it lightly."

"Don't worry, General. I understand." Yin Yun replied with a bow.

Liu Zeyin's expression darkened, and he said thoughtfully, "There's something else we've suspected for a long time, and I think it's almost confirmed."

Yin Yun said: "You mean..."

"The emperor refused to allow the eldest princess to marry because she is now in his service," Liu Zeyin said. "I suspect the eldest princess is the one working in the dark, traveling to various cities and states to eliminate the spy bases."

"Furthermore, she seems to have close ties with the Chiyu people. Perhaps... she is the one who has ruined many of our affairs."

Yue Liuyun was shocked.

He is indeed not a pushover and has already guessed this.

I have to remind Nangong Wanqing that she should be more cautious when taking advantage of a tiger to get its skin in the future.

Someone said:

"In that case, why don't we try to get rid of her?"

Yin Yun said, “Now that we have confirmed this, let’s wait for her to show up.”

"What you said is absolutely true."

Someone else spoke up, "There's another thing. News has come in that Concubine Lan Murong Jin has left the palace. She's most likely planning to return to the Chiqu Tribe."

"General, do you want to stop me?"

Liu Zeyin thought for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "No need to stop me."

"General... why is that?" Yin Yun asked, puzzled. "If she returns, it's very likely that the situation in Chiyu will become even more chaotic. If Daying takes advantage of the situation and invades, the Chiyu tribe will definitely not be able to withstand it."

“Although it must disappear, it must continue to exist until the time comes.”

Liu Zeyin suddenly turned his gaze to Yue Liuyun and asked, "Yue Yunpeng, what do you think?"

Yue Liuyun, who was suddenly called out, swallowed the last bite of rice, put down his chopsticks, touched his chin and thought seriously for a few seconds.

Wait, she's making that up.