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

Wen Yuening stared at Shen Sangwan with an expression that said, "You believe it yourself."

Hehehe—if you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do!

"Mo Feng is a master at fighting alongside me, but he's really incompetent as the commander of the Imperial Guards. Tomorrow, I'll have Commander Cen take up his post and give him a good makeover."

Mo Feng, who was on duty at the palace gate, sneezed several times and pulled his clothes closer to his chest as he faced the wind.

It's summer, how could he possibly catch a cold?

Shen Sangwan patted the mud off her hands again and walked guiltily toward the light.

Little did they know that the place where they had just fallen was an enclosed flower bed, piled with stones, about ten centimeters off the ground.

In the pitch-black night, Shen Sangwan didn't notice and stepped into empty space.

Without warning, he fell down, and by sheer coincidence, he landed squarely on Wen Yuening.

This is outrageous! They opened the door for something so outrageous!

[My lord, with a beauty in your arms, doesn't it feel wonderful?]

"Damn it, I've practically dug a five-bedroom, two-living-room house out of my big toe!"

"Your Majesty—!"

"Your Highness——!"

Shen Sangwan frantically tried to find a point of support so she could get up from the other person.

Then, by sheer coincidence, he pressed on Wen Yuening's palm.

The moment their skin touched, Shen Sangwan went numb!

"Xiao Tong, she feels so cool, her skin is so smooth, and her hands are so soft."

Master, I despise you!

Xiao Tong rolled her eyes at Shen Sangwan.

Qingque and Qingluan were terrified and quickly helped the two up.

Shen Sangwan's face was tense as she asked in a low voice, "Did you get hurt when you tripped?"

At this moment, she appeared calm and collected on the outside, but inside she was panicking terribly.

"Your Majesty, shall we summon the imperial physician?"

"No problem."

Wen Yuening waved her jade-like hand, and Shen Sangwan blushed unconsciously, but fortunately the light was dim, so it was hard to see clearly.

[Master, mission accomplished.]

〖call--〗

"Since you are alright, I will go and deal with the matters related to the Imperial Guards' patrols."

"Respectfully seeing off the Imperial Sister."

"Oh dear, oh dear, how embarrassing, so embarrassing! Xiaotong, why don't you dig a hole for me and let me crawl in?"

[Tsk tsk tsk, Master, you're two-faced, you're not a good person!]

"Ha! Me, hypocritical? Compared to you and your main system, who are all bluffing, my actions are nothing."

When I first heard the term "poaching," I thought it sounded unreliable. I expected it to involve me poaching employees from powerful figures, but it turned out to be poaching someone's wife.

Do you think this is reasonable? This is very unreasonable!

【Master, how could you say that about someone?】

[Stop! Stop!]

Don't disgust me. I only ate something for lunch; don't make me throw it up.

[Oh dear, I forgot that my master is already on the pirate ship. I've been so worried.]

Xiao Tong was incredibly smug, crossing her legs and swinging them vigorously.

Shen Sangwan was furious. She pulled him out, grabbed his ear, and kicked him hard twice.

Then, passing by a pond, they threw Xiaotong directly into the pond to feed the fish.

[Waaaaah—Master, you can't treat people like this! It's so unfair, so incredibly unfair!]

"Are you even human? Oh, you're not. Serves you right for being so talkative!"

Xiao Tong's avatar was confined outside of Shen's consciousness, so it could only climb out of the pool and follow Shen Sangwan with its head drooping.

"I haven't even seen what you looked like as a baby yet, how about we try it tonight?"

Master? Are you serious?

Xiao Tong stared at Shen Sangwan with a look of horror, and asked hesitantly.

"Hmm...it depends on your performance. If you do well—I'll consider it..."

【Hey~, Master, I've done a good job, what are you still considering?】

This is a reward for you!

So does that mean if you don't perform well...?

If you don't perform well, I'll just tear it apart.

【Hey—! Master, can't you be reasonable?】

Reason? What reason? To me, I am the great-grandmother of reason.

[Waaaaah—I don't want to live anymore, I don't want to live anymore.]

"That's great! Teach me how to die without the main system noticing. I've had enough of living. Since you're being kind, take me with you."

Xiaotong has become withdrawn!

He decided to ignore his host tonight.

To justify her actions, Shen Sangwan actually went to Mo Feng's place. She first gave him a lecture, and then chatted about unimportant things for half an hour.

Mo Feng looked utterly dejected. His Highness had sent a message saying not to strictly manage the patrols of Fengluan Palace tonight, so why did he suddenly come to reprimand the Imperial Guards for dereliction of duty?

Not only did he get a scolding for nothing, but he also had grievances he couldn't express.

The palace gates were already locked, but Shen Sangwan had special privileges and could freely enter and leave the palace. Mo Feng was also her man, so she didn't linger. After giving her instructions, she returned to the Princess's residence.

At this moment, Wen Yuening in Fengluan Palace stood there in a daze after Shen Sangwan left, her heart pounding and her cheeks flushed.

Looking down at his right hand, he felt as if the warm touch was still there.

"Your Majesty, His Majesty's entourage is approaching."

The young palace maid, following Qingque's instructions, ran to report.

After calming herself down and taking several deep breaths, Wen Yuening's complexion returned to normal.

"The moonlight is rather pale tonight, why is the Empress in the courtyard?"

"I drank some wine in the afternoon, and in the evening I felt a tightness in my chest, so I took a walk around the courtyard."

Wen Yuening greeted them with a smile, and the two entered the inner hall hand in hand.

After Qingque and Qingluan helped the two change their clothes, they blew out the lamp and withdrew.

"Ming Prince's Mansion"

In the lotus pond pavilion in the backyard of the Prince's Mansion, Shen Yujing reclined lazily on the back of the wooden railing.

By the faint moonlight, they occasionally sprinkled fish food into the pond.

A few red koi can be vaguely seen vying for food.

"Your Highness, after leaving Fengluan Palace, the Eldest Princess went to Mo Feng's place and talked for about half an hour before leaving the palace and returning to her residence."

"Can we find out why the eldest princess returned?"

"It is not yet known. The Princess and the Empress only stayed for a quarter of an hour, and dared not get too close for fear of alerting the enemy."

"As for General Mo, my men have learned that the Princess reprimanded him for his lax patrols and poor scheduling of the Imperial Guards, saying they need to be rectified."

The guard was dressed in a black, tight-fitting robe. If he hadn't spoken, he would have been completely invisible in the darkness.

"Starting tomorrow, we will deal with those who spread rumors one by one, leaving no survivors and no evidence against them."

Shen Yujing casually scattered fish food into the pond, as if he were giving instructions on a trivial task.

"Subordinates take orders."

"The Princess's residence continues to send people to keep an eye on things and instruct those who were assigned today to be extra careful."

"I've noted it down."

Shen Yujing got bored of feeding them and handed the gu bowl containing fish food to Xi Ping.

A breeze blew from the other side of the pond, causing ripples to spread across its surface.

This capital has been peaceful for too long; it's time for some turmoil to break out.