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

Luo Huaichuan was taken aback.

"The Yin family of Pingzhou, the Mu family of Tongzhou, and the Wen family of Liaozhou?"

"Recently, it seems that the daughter of the Yin family has also entered the palace."

Luo Huaichuan then remembered Yin Ruyu, whom he had seen at the Fifth Princess's place last time.

Although Yin Ruyu's reputation seems to be quite prominent, strangely, she has been keeping a low profile lately.

Apart from being with the Fifth Princess, I haven't seen her at all.

Yin Ruyu lived next door to the Fifth Princess, so it was normal for Luo Huaichuan to be able to see her. However, some others didn't even know that Yin Ruyu had entered the palace.

Luo Huaichuan narrowed his eyes: "Could it be that they have something on their minds?"

"But what good does that do for them?"

A hint of disgust flashed across Jun Lanjin's eyes. "The lust for power breeds people. No matter how much power they have, it can never satisfy the cravings in their hearts, so they reach out to touch the imperial power."

Even before he boarded the ship, Jun Lanjin had already noticed something amiss with the other three great families.

Some time ago, in order to protect the Xie family, Xie Tongchen handed over the list he had found with Chao Le.

The emperor found charges against each of the officials on the list and punished them all, but things were never that simple.

Although the emperor's power seemed to be highly centralized, in reality, the Great Chu had long been riddled with problems.

It has been almost completely infiltrated by the South.

Ever since he was able to hear the voice in someone's mind, Jun Lanjin had been secretly investigating. Based on the information in the voice, he followed the clues and found out everything.

If you don’t check, you won’t know. If you check, you will be shocked.

Following the lead of his mother, Jun Lanjin discovered that, apart from those around him, the court had long been corrupted as well.

The Southern Kingdom's royal family's schemes were so elaborate that if they hadn't been discovered in advance, the situation would have been irreversible long ago.

Therefore, the events depicted in Xie Xing's painting will occur.

Amidst the desolation of war, he was surrounded by strategists and generals who seemed poised to elevate him to power, but in reality, they were merely the last pillars of a dying dynasty.

As for the Star-Picking Tower…

Jun Lanjin still hadn't figured it out.

Originally, he was willing to be locked up in the Star-Picking Tower, hoping to find some clues.

Unexpectedly, as the affair between the old princess and the Southern Kingdom's royal family was exposed, he had no choice but to reveal that he was about to die in order to save himself and gain the trust of the emperor and empress dowager.

Unexpectedly, this aroused the Empress Dowager's panic, and she sent Xie Xing to the Star-Picking Tower overnight.

Xie Xing's arrival at the Star-Picking Tower ignited Luo Hanfeng's madness, which led to—

Luo Hanfeng's hatred for him deepened, and he set fire to the Zhaixing Tower.

Jun Lanjin: "..."

No amount of planning can compare to the brilliant idea of ​​a fool.

He truly hadn't expected that Luo Hanfeng, who could hear Xie Xing's thoughts and clearly knew what her mission was, would still be so fanatically obsessed with Xie Xing.

This gave Jun Lanjin a bit of a headache.

Since Xie Xing appeared, Jun Lanjin has focused most of his attention on Xie Xing and the system around him. He doesn't mind helping Xie Xing with his missions and gaining Luo Hanfeng's hatred points.

Sometimes, Xie Xing's actions are less effective at arousing Luo Hanfeng's hatred than Jun Lanjin's few words.

Jun Lanjin rested his chin on his hand, tapping his fingers on the table little by little.

"Do you think those few remnants of the previous dynasty could have such great power?"

"This is partly due to the assistance of the three great families."

Luo Huaichuan's mouth dropped open. "The three great families have joined forces?"

Jun Lanjin chuckled: "It's just that some people in their clan are ambitious."

Luo Huaichuan looked at Jun Lanjin with admiration.

Seeing how he flirted with Xie's daughter every day, I never expected that he could uncover so much more.

Jun Lanjin pointed to another area, "Here, the Southern Kingdom's forces have secretly infiltrated."

"The court has long been torn apart."

"Go find Cabinet Minister Song Qingyang. He will explain to you exactly what to do."

"Go."

Jun Lanjin was annoyed and didn't want to talk to Luo Huaichuan anymore, so he waved his hand to send Luo Huaichuan away.

Luo Huaichuan: "..."

Fine.

Anyway, with Jun Lanjin on his side, what is there for him to fear?

Luo Huaichuan got up and left.

The palace is crisscrossed by many winding paths, and the Cold Palace and the Imperial Garden are located close to each other.

To leave the Cold Palace, Luo Huaichuan had to pass through the Imperial Garden.

As I passed by, a melodious, silvery laugh rang out from inside.

Luo Huaichuan paused and peered over.

But then they saw Yin Ruyu, whom they had just been talking about, along with the Second Princess and a strange girl, all of them smiling sweetly.

Luo Huaichuan narrowed his eyes.

He turned and walked casually toward the three of them.

"Second Imperial Sister, what are the three of you doing so late?"

Luo Huaichuan smiled broadly and plopped down on the only stone bench.

The laughter of the three people stopped.

"What are you doing here?" The second princess glared at Luo Huaichuan with annoyance.

"I was just passing by when I saw three such beautiful girls laughing and joking, so I came to take a look."

As he spoke, Luo Huaichuan turned his gaze to Xie Mingzhu.

His eagle-like eyes narrowed. "And who is this beautiful lady?"

Xie Mingzhu's heart skipped a beat.

Before she could speak, the Second Princess said, "This is the daughter of the Duke of Zhou's family."

"The Duke of Zhou's Mansion?" Luo Huaichuan said "Oh," then hissed, looked Xie Mingzhu up and down, and said, "This prince has a close relationship with the young master of the Duke of Zhou's Mansion. Why does this young lady look so unfamiliar?"

The second princess said, "I've been traveling all this time. You've only been back for a short while, so it's normal that you haven't seen me before."

Yin Ruyu covered her lips and chuckled softly. Her smiling eyes looked at Luo Huaichuan: "Sixth Prince, you seem to be paying so much attention to this young lady. Could it be that you've taken a fancy to her?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Mingzhu pursed her lips and glanced at Yin Ruyu.

Recently, Yin Ruyu and Luo Hanfeng have become close, and Yin Ruyu recognized her identity at a glance, making it impossible for Xie Mingzhu to like Yin Ruyu.

She clearly knows her own identity, so why does she say such things? What does she mean by that?

Luo Huaichuan's smile faltered for a moment, then he laughed and said, "Sister, please don't make fun of me. Right now, I'm focused on helping Father Emperor. I don't have time for romantic moments with women."

"But Miss Yin..."

Luo Huaichuan's gaze fell on Yin Ruyu with a half-smile. "I heard that the Yin family asked the Empress Dowager to pay more attention to Miss Yin's marriage. Having been in the palace for so long, Miss Yin speaks and acts so modestly. Could it be that there is no prince in the palace that Miss Yin has taken a fancy to?"

At this point, Yin Ruyu's expression changed slightly.

The Empress Dowager wanted her to marry Jun Lanjin and have Jun Lanjin's child.

She was absolutely furious.

Luo Huaichuan's words were absolutely outrageous.

Yin Ruyu smiled and said, "Everything is up to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager."

"Sixth Prince, your words are too kind to Ruyu. Ruyu is nothing but a crippled body; how could she possibly be qualified to choose a prince?"