Report to the Empress and the Eldest Princess: They're using the system to poach your men.

Upon hearing that a woman had entered the palace and was being treated with great importance, alarm bells rang in Wen Yuening's mind. Having a close princess who could take away her prince was already her limit; how could a white-haired woman suddenly appear?

He got up and quickly had Qingque help him wash up. After changing into a set of casual clothes, he climbed over the high walls and windows of Weiyang Palace.

Unfortunately, when Wen Yuening took the old path from Fuyu Pavilion to the main hall, Shen Sangwan was not there.

She was greeted by a woman wrapped in white gauze, looking like a mummy, lying upright on the bed.

The hall was filled with a strong smell of alcohol.

As they were about to leave after failing to find her, Shuyi pushed open the door and, following Shen Sangwan's instructions, began to fumigate Shuyan's body with a secret fragrance.

So much so that Shuyi was wondering if his prince wanted to marinate the body of Princess Yuan'an.

"The Queen?"

Upon seeing the familiar figure, Shuyi's tone was filled with doubt, but she soon realized that the Empress had secretly come to see her prince again.

Wen Yuening looked embarrassed for a moment, but fortunately Shuyi was sensible and immediately said, "Her Highness is discussing matters with Ling Yuan in Yun Guang Palace."

Upon hearing this, Wen Yuening turned around, climbed out the window, and headed towards Yunguang Palace.

"The Empress is actually so skilled in martial arts?"

"Then she wouldn't come here looking for His Highness every day, would she?"

Watching the figure disappear into the distance, Shuyi momentarily forgot what she was supposed to do and just stared blankly out the window.

"Yunguang Palace"

Shen Sangwan hadn't wanted to come; she had originally planned to go and discuss the next steps with Wen Yuening, but Ling Yuan intercepted her and tricked her into coming here.

At first, she genuinely thought the other person had something important to discuss with her.

After several rounds of conversation, she realized that the other party was just making fun of her.

He got up in anger to leave, but Ling Yuan grabbed him, and he immediately inhaled a strange fragrance.

Shen Sangwan pushed the person away abruptly, sniffed again, and confirmed that the other party wanted to raise a gu on her.

"Do you Northern Witches like to plant Gu poison on people whenever you see them?"

"Your Highness actually knows about Gu poison?"

As soon as Ling Yuan finished speaking, she realized that her mind had been a beat too slow and wanted to slap herself.

The person before me has fought against the Northern Witches for many years and has seen countless Gu worms, so it is not surprising that he knows a thing or two about them.

"Since you understand Gu, how come you didn't notice that I've already been poisoned with Gu?"

Shen Sangwan slightly raised her head, staring coldly at Ling Yuan, her eyes revealing a hint of mockery.

Ling Yuan is a sorcerer, not a Gu master. As for why she knows Gu, it's only because her master was a fellow practitioner of sorcery and Gu. Because she disliked those insects, she only learned the basics.

But it's enough to save your life and make a living.

She had intended to use the opportunity to poison Shen Sangwan with a Gu poison to control her, but she hadn't expected that Shen Sangwan had already been poisoned with a Gu poison. Now that she had been exposed on the spot, the atmosphere became awkward.

"If you want to return to your Northern Witch in good health, I advise you to focus on recovering from your injuries and quickly rescue the princess. Don't think about any more crooked or evil things."

"You look so clean and innocent, but your heart is as hard as a flatbread. If you insist on courting death, I wouldn't mind sending you to meet the King of Hell a few days earlier."

Ling Yuan was not intimidated by Shen Sangwan's cold tone.

"Grandma often said that the people of Nan Jing are all beautiful but ruthless. Since Ling Yuan came here, she has had very few friends and didn't think that what Grandma said was true. But now that she has seen His Highness, she actually believes what Grandma said."

However, I've always loved doing thrilling things, and the more Your Highness does this, the more Ling Yuan likes to cling to you.

As the saying goes, men fear fierce women and women fear persistent men. Shen Sangwan thought that this persistent woman was also difficult to deal with!

"Ruoying, keep an eye on her. If she needs anything in the next few days, you should relay it to me."

"Doesn't Your Highness prefer women? Is it that Ling Yuan is not beautiful enough to catch Your Highness's eye?"

Shen Sangwan found it hard to accept and also felt bewildered by the woman's straightforward affection, whom she had only met for less than half a day.

“My Nan Jing is full of fine young men and beautiful women. If you take a fancy to anyone, I can act as your matchmaker. Don’t bother me.”

Ling Yuan smiled, feigning a pitiful look, and said in a very regretful tone, "Unfortunately, Ling Yuan only has eyes for Your Highness. If Your Highness is not willing, then Ling Yuan can only be saddened in secret and return home dejected."

"When the Empress feigns pitifulness, it's endearing. But your act reeks of manipulative scheming; it's disgusting. Stay away from me. If the Empress hears you, she'll probably be consumed by jealousy."

Shen Sangwan retreated several steps in disgust, ignoring Ling Yuan, and instead gave Ruoying a few instructions before fleeing this troublesome place.

As soon as he stepped out of the palace gate, he saw Wen Yuening standing by the window under the corridor, staring at him with a somewhat unhappy expression.

"Your Majesty...Empress, why are you here? Why didn't you let anyone announce your arrival?"

"It seems that Yue Ning arrived at an inopportune time, disturbing Your Highness's meeting with the beauty."

After saying that, he turned and strode away.

Shen Sangwan caught up, her voice filled with urgency, "No, she tricked me into coming here. I was planning to find you after I finished dealing with Ayan's matter, but I knew that Ling Yuan was lying to me under the pretense of treating Ayan."

Wen Yuening's pace quickened, as if she were walking on air, and Shen Sangwan couldn't keep up.

He had no choice but to grab the other person's arm, push open the palace door next to him, and bring the person inside, then quickly close the door.

Once past the secluded path, there would be many palace servants coming and going. Shen Sangwan felt that with so many people around, it would be bad if they saw her and the Empress arguing.

“Ah Ning, there really is nothing between me and her. I don’t know why she keeps targeting me. This is the first time I’ve met her, and we’ve only known each other for less than half a day.”

The two were in a hall filled with miscellaneous items, surrounded by dust, and even the slightest movement could raise a lot of dust.

But Shen Sangwan wouldn't let Wen Yuening leave without hearing a response.

Her guiding principle has always been to let bygones be bygones once things are out in the open, and she doesn't like to bring up old grievances or waste her energy on the past.

“A-Ning, if you don’t believe me, once she rescues A-Yan, I’ll immediately send someone to beat her up and then send her out of Nanjing. Once she’s out of Qinzhou, you can send someone to beat her up or have someone kill her, it’s up to you, okay?”

Wen Yuening didn't know what was wrong with her. She usually wouldn't get angry so easily, and she was just sulking.

She knew perfectly well that the other person wouldn't do anything outrageous, but why did she feel subconsciously uncomfortable whenever she saw Shen Sangwan with another woman?

"Feel sorry."

Faced with Wen Yuening's sudden apology, Shen Sangwan was bewildered and couldn't quite figure out what she meant.