You're the one who wants to marry a mistress, and I'm marrying someone else, yet you still

Xu Ning didn't know how to deal with this seemingly kind but actually cunning Prince Rui, so he could only remain silent.

Prince Rui, however, seemed unconcerned by Xu Ning's silence. He sipped his tea, occasionally glancing up at Xu Ning with a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Are you Princess Yongchang's senior brother? I've heard that people from the martial world don't usually concern themselves with worldly affairs. What are you doing here?" Prince Rui suddenly asked.

Xu Ning was slightly taken aback, then replied, "My master asked me to escort my junior sister to the Northern Border. I finally managed to come down the mountain, so I'm just spending a few more days with her."

Prince Rui smiled and said, "Oh? Is that all?"

Xu Ning frowned. Prince Rui was clearly trying to trick him into saying something. He was not good at lying, but he also knew that there were some things he couldn't say.

"That's all. I'll be going back to the mountain in a few days."

The eldest brother tried his best to calm himself down.

He usually interacts with people from the mountains, and they don't have that many ulterior motives.

Prince Rui should have continued to ask questions, but he did not.

"Well, alright, I'm full too, so I won't bother you any longer."

Prince Rui put down his teacup, slowly stood up, and lingered on Xu Ning for a moment, as if assessing something.

He remained silent until the end, then strode towards the door. Xu Ning quickly followed, secretly relieved, knowing he wouldn't know how to answer any further questions.

As he stepped out of the room, Prince Rui suddenly stopped and turned to Xu Ning, saying, "Your junior sister is quite an interesting person. There aren't many women in Xuancheng who dare to get a divorce. Your Xuwu Mountain should be focusing on cultivation, but now you're involved. I have a word of advice: although the martial world is far away, it doesn't necessarily mean you can completely avoid worldly troubles. Sometimes, once you get too deeply involved, it's hard to extricate yourself."

Xu Ning felt a chill run down his spine. He didn't quite understand what Xiao Yunli meant by those words. He looked up at Prince Rui and found that the other's eyes were deep and unfathomable, as if he could see into people's hearts.

Was this a warning to him? A warning that martial artists shouldn't get involved in the affairs of the imperial court? But how could Mount Xuwu possibly ignore his junior sister's matter?

“Your Highness is right. Our master only sent us servants to accompany our junior sister because he felt sorry for her suffering. We disciples of Void Mountain never cause trouble, Your Highness can rest assured.”

Xu Ning cupped his hands in greeting.

Prince Rui smiled slightly, said nothing more, and turned to leave in large strides.

Shen Cong'an, who had been waiting in the study for a long time, drank countless cups of tea before Xie Wanru finally arrived.

"What's wrong? Is there any noise over there?"

Xie Wanru asked as soon as she entered the room.

But she had Shen Cong'an hold a stack of peach blossom pastries, which looked quite nice.

Shen Cong'an was there to talk about how Xiao Yan had led troops to suppress the bandits. He had a large number of men, so news came quickly and easily in Xuancheng.

However, he was in no hurry and wanted to give the peach blossom pastry to Xie Wanru first.

"Try this peach blossom pastry first. It's made by a newly opened pastry shop in the city. I happened to see one on the way here, so I bought it for you. I heard it tastes excellent."

Shen Cong'an nervously handed the peach blossom pastry to Xie Wanru, but his eyes shone with anticipation. He hoped that Xie Wanru would find it delicious.

Xie Wanru was slightly taken aback. How did she end up getting involved in food lately? She took the peach blossom pastry and took a small bite. The sweet taste instantly spread in her mouth.

"Hmm, not bad," she praised, then said seriously, "Let's get down to business. Has Xiao Yan already led troops to suppress the bandits?"

Xie Wanru naturally handed the peach blossom pastry to Lin Qing, who ate one and nodded in agreement that it was good.

Shen Cong'an put aside some of his thoughts and said, "Yes, his troops have already left the city. He probably wants to use his political achievements to change the Emperor's opinion of him. After all, he is the Emperor's own son. No matter how much the Emperor likes His Highness the Crown Prince, he can't be too harsh on Xiao Yan. If he succeeds this time, the Emperor might give him some real power."

Xie Wanru's eyes darkened slightly as she sat down. "Then my senior brother and I must set off immediately. We must make him completely lose his chance to compete with His Highness the Crown Prince before the Emperor loses his trust in him enough. Only in this way... can we guarantee..."

Xie Wanru almost let slip that only Shen Cong'an knew about her rebirth, and even Lin Qing couldn't easily find out.

“I understand.” Shen Cong’an immediately took over the conversation. “I have been secretly cultivating some forces that are at odds with Xiao Yan and Lou Li. If something happens to Xiao Yan, someone will submit a memorial to the Emperor.”

As the third son of the emperor of the mighty Great Zhou Dynasty, Xie Wanru could only try to change her fate in her previous life in this slow and steady way, even if she wanted to.

In contrast, she paid little attention to Shen Nian'an after the divorce.

After all, the Shen family is a mess right now, not worth her energy, and with Shen Cong'an watching over them, she doesn't have time to bother with them.

"Lin Qing, I'm going out for a while. You stay at the Princess's residence disguised as me and wait for me to return."

Xie Wanru explained that she felt like she was about to leave.

Lin Qing had a peach blossom pastry in her mouth, and could only swallow it quickly. "Me? Are you sure I can impersonate you?"

Shen Cong'an was also somewhat confused as to why Lin Qing was needed to impersonate Xie Wanru. Xie Wanru probably wanted to impersonate Lou Li's person to mislead Xiao Yan and sow discord between them, but there was no need for Lin Qing to impersonate her.

“Xiao Yan isn’t smart enough to guess that it was me and my senior brother. Prince Rui might be a different story. I talked to him for a long time but couldn’t find out who he was working for. If he finds out that I’m not in Xuancheng, he will definitely be suspicious. There’s no guarantee that he won’t suddenly tell Xiao Yan.”

Xie Wanru said with a headache.

Since it's unclear which side Prince Rui is on, we can only treat him as an enemy for now.

Shen Cong'an was slightly surprised. It turned out that he had been waiting for so long because Prince Rui was in this mansion.

Although Lin Qing also found Prince Rui to be a strange person, she did not agree with the idea that Prince Rui was an enemy. "I felt that during the housewarming banquet, Prince Rui did not seem to be familiar with Xiao Yan, and he even helped you to criticize Xiao Yan and Lou Yao."

Shen Cong'an pondered for a moment, "This alone does not necessarily mean that he and Xiao Yan are not on the same side. It is very likely that he and Xiao Yan deliberately put on an act for us when they moved."

Shen Cong'an even thought that otherwise, why would a prince like him keep coming here?

He couldn't believe that Prince Rui really liked that sticky rice chicken. How could a prince who could do whatever he wanted come to a princess's residence several times just for a piece of sticky rice chicken?

“What you all say makes sense, but I still feel that it’s always better to be cautious.” Xie Wanru’s expression was somewhat solemn. “We don’t need to take this risk. Lin Qing can stay in Xuancheng disguised as me and go out occasionally. If Prince Rui becomes suspicious, it will be easier to explain. Besides, based on my understanding of him, if someone like him really wants to deal with us, he won’t do it openly.”

That was Xie Wanru's impression of Prince Rui, Xiao Yunli.