After her mind was read, the spoiled brat became the darling of the whole group.

"He's shameless!" Xie Xing angrily complained to the system, "How could he do this?!"

[Wen Yan...it seems he resents Jun Lanjin because he's always subordinate to him.] The system thought for a moment and said, [Later, Luo Hanfeng joined forces with him.]

[He's slandering me!] Xie Xing was furious.

Meeting Wen Yan was bad enough, but this person always seemed to ruin things for her.

That's just his personality. The system couldn't do anything about it.

It all depends on who you believe.

Before Xie Xing could even explain, Xie Yuze had already shielded him behind him, coldly looking at Wen Yan: "Young Master, you should think about the consequences of your words."

"If I remember correctly, my sister has never met you."

Wen Yan said leisurely, "Perhaps your younger sister likes my appearance."

Xie Yuze sneered: "If we're talking about liking looks, Xie Xing and Prince Jin have a good relationship, so why doesn't Xie Xing like him?"

Wen Yan: "..."

This sentence immediately hit Wen Yan's sore spot.

"Enough," Luo Cheng'an said coldly.

He gave Wen Yan a warning look, then gave Xie Xing a deep look.

Nothing good ever comes of running into Xie Xing.

"Let's all pretend we didn't see anyone today, and I won't pursue the rest."

Wen Yan remained silent.

Xie Xing opened his mouth to speak again, but Xie Yuze covered his mouth.

"I hope Your Highness will not speak nonsense again next time." Xie Yuze covered Xie Xing's mouth while looking at Wen Yan.

Xie Mingzhu stood behind the two of them with her head down.

She felt extremely upset, and she bit her pink lower lip, leaving two marks.

After reaching an agreement, the group emerged from behind the artificial hill.

Before leaving, Wen Yan waved to Xie Xing and said with a half-smile, "Fifth Miss Xie, see you again next time."

Xie Xing hardened his fist.

I never want to see you again!

Feeling awkward, Luo Cheng'an made an excuse and left first.

Only Xie Xing, Xie Mingzhu, and Xie Yuze remained.

Xie Yuze looked at his two younger sisters.

He reached out and gently patted Xie Mingzhu's head, saying softly, "Mingzhu, you don't need to care what others say. Just understand that you will always be a member of the Xie family."

“Brother…” Xie Mingzhu looked up, her beautiful eyes red and swollen, and smiled sadly, “Am I really going to be a member of the Xie family forever?”

But what you're giving me is clearly not as good as before.

Xie Yuze didn't know what the girl was thinking. He could only read Xie Xing's mind, not Xie Mingzhu's. Seeing Xie Mingzhu's pitiful appearance, he assumed that she had been influenced by the words of the Southern Kingdom's envoy.

Then he smiled and said, "Of course, you've always been my favorite little sister."

Xie Xing stood to the side, her hands behind her back. She looked up at the sky and then at the ground, fidgeting with her hands behind her back, ignoring Xie Yuze's words of comfort to Xie Mingzhu.

Xie Mingzhu was not appeased by these words.

But she still smiled at Xie Yuze and said, "I understand, thank you, brother."

"And you."

Xie Yuze had just finished smiling at Xie Mingzhu when he turned around and his expression changed. He pinched Xie Xing's cheek in an annoyed tone and said, "What are you doing here for no reason?"

"Do you really think you're safe on your own? This is the palace. If anything happens here, you can't just stay out of it."

Xie Yuze himself didn't realize that his tone and attitude towards Xie Mingzhu had become distant, while his behavior and attitude towards Xie Xing had become more intimate.

No matter what you say or what you think, your subconscious actions cannot lie.

Xie Yuze's actions were clearly more biased towards Xie Xing, but he himself did not realize it.

Blood ties can be quite mysterious; sometimes, two people can grow close without even realizing it.

Xie Xing winced and rubbed his reddened face, stubbornly saying, "I didn't, I came out to use the restroom."

"Oh?" Xie Yuze sneered, "You went to the artificial hill while using the restroom?"

Xie Xing: "..."

She was speechless.

"That Prince Yu's heir is no simple man. You should stay away from him," Xie Yuze warned her impatiently when she didn't respond.

Even without Xie Yuze saying anything, Xie Xing himself didn't want to get any closer to Wen Yan.

She followed Xie Yuze dejectedly with her head down.

The original plan to bring Xie Mingzhu and Luo Hanfeng together was abruptly cut short before it even began.

……

the other side.

Another part of the Imperial Garden.

With one hand behind his head and his long legs bent, Wen Yan said casually, "Today, I had a brief encounter with the fifth young lady of the General's Mansion."

Upon hearing this, Luo Hanfeng, who had been sitting indifferently to the side, raised his head, his piercing gaze directly at Wen Yan: "What do you want with her?"

Can he hear your thoughts too?

Seeing his attitude, Wen Yan turned around and looked at him in surprise. "Hmm? Your attitude doesn't seem right."

Luo Hanfeng looked away and said coldly, "She is a pawn in my game."

"Chess piece?" Wen Yan asked in surprise.

"Everyone says that Prince Jin is closer to her. Is she your pawn?"

Luo Hanfeng gave a cold "hmm": "She was poisoned by my Half-Moon Poison. After the poison took effect, I made sure she could only go east and not west."

Luo Hanfeng's voice was resolute.

No one can escape the Half-Moon Poison.

Wen Yan raised an eyebrow: "You used Half-Moon Poison to deal with the young lady of the General of the Nation's Mansion?"

"That little girl doesn't seem like a pawn you can manipulate at will."

The few words Xie Xing uttered at the palace banquet showed that she had her own thoughts.

Indeed not.

Luo Hanfeng chuckled inwardly; even poisoned, he could still be arrogant in front of him.

They seemed oblivious to the meaning of life and death.

She is the first.

Those who don’t know are fearless.

Luo Hanfeng did not answer Wen Yan, but lowered his eyes to look at the mask in his hand.

He found the mask in the bamboo forest formation last time, and it looked familiar.

It felt like I'd seen it somewhere before.

"Jun Lanjin's relationship with the Crown Prince is so-so, but his relationship with the Sixth Prince is extremely good." Wen Yan's gaze fell on Luo Hanfeng's mask, and he rested his chin on his hand, saying leisurely:

“If you want to compete for that position, my support alone won’t be enough.”

"In the martial world, your Yama Palace may be of some use, but Jun Lanjin's identity is not simple either."

Luo Hanfeng looked at him: "Do you know what this mask represents?"

Wen Yan did not answer directly, but slowly said, "In the martial world, besides the Martial Alliance, there is another Ghost Palace that people are wary of."

"The Ghost Palace is elusive, and their influence is everywhere in the martial world."

"The master of that Ghost Palace has a title called Ghost King. No one can see his true face. He wears a Yama mask and leaves no living person wherever he goes."

Luo Hanfeng looked at the mask in his hand.

Ghost King?

He sneered and crushed the mask to dust. "Besides me, there are also forces in the martial arts world within the imperial court."

Wen Yan stretched and said, "The Sixth Prince has power, the Crown Prince has authority behind him, and his family supports him. You have nothing. If you want to compete for the throne, you can't even compete with the Four Princes by force alone."

"The best way for you is to marry a powerful and influential noblewoman as your ally."