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

"Ming Prince's Mansion"

"Your Highness, Your...Your Highness, I know...I was wrong."

Lin Wanyi was pinned to the bed by Shen Yujing, with two hands tightly gripping her neck.

Her chest felt as if it were tightly blocked by cotton wool, her breathing became erratic, and the intense feeling of suffocation made her feel that she might meet her maker at any moment.

Shen Yujing seemed to enjoy the torture of the person beneath him struggling on the verge of death.

"Cough—cough!"

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Lin Wanyi tilted her head and gasped for air.

My heart was pounding, my hands were trembling, and the beads of sweat on my forehead reminded me that I had once again escaped death.

"Wan, why can't you ever learn your lesson?"

Shen Yujing got up and slowly smoothed out the slight wrinkles on his clothes.

"Bring people in."

Lin Wanyi was still suffering from cerebral hypoxia and felt dizzy and disoriented.

"Woooooo~"

The maid, dressed in blue, was bound hand and foot, with a large rag stuffed in her mouth. She sobbed and shook her body.

"Your Highness! What has Li Yu done to deserve being tied up like this?"

When Lin Wanyi finally managed to make out the other person's face, she gasped in shock.

A thin yet remarkably strong hand gripped her chin, meeting her cold, dark eyes, and a strange smile appeared on his sickly pale face.

Lin Wanyi felt a chill run down her spine upon seeing this, and her body trembled uncontrollably.

"Ah Wan, I have said that I can get you anything you want in this manor, except for the fact that you cannot abandon me. But my Ah Wan seems to be quite disobedient."

"Your Highness... I have no intention of abandoning you."

"Oh...is that so? But I heard that Li Yu wandered around Prince Sheng's residence for more than an hour today, seemingly looking for someone?"

"How come I've also heard that A-Wan tried to take the opportunity to send a letter to Princess Consort Sheng before she left?"

Shen Yujing suddenly laughed, his already thin and sunken face looking particularly eerie when he laughed.

Lin Wanyi collapsed to the ground, her voice trembling, "I only heard that Your Majesty has been feeling listless lately, so I asked Li Yu to give Your Majesty the sachet I sewed a few days ago."

"Oh~, it seems I have wronged A-Wan. Then please, A-Wan, take a look at this—what is it?"

As he spoke, he took out a small piece of silk from his sleeve, on which was embroidered a line of small characters.

“My aunt is old and her eyesight is failing. The characters that Awan embroidered are so small that she probably can’t see them clearly or understand them.”

The silk was embroidered in the inner lining of the purse.

She underestimated the caution of the person in front of her.

"Could it be that Li Yu secretly put this in to frame A Wan?"

"She seems to be a troublesome creature. Let's just skin her alive today, so that the others in the manor can see the consequences of framing their master."

Lin Wanyi knelt on the ground, her face pale, and pleaded, "Your Highness, Your Highness, this has nothing to do with Li Yu. I beg you to release her."

“Awan, I have given you many chances, but you did not cherish them. If I do not teach you a lesson, I am afraid you will never learn.”

Shen Yujing pulled Lin Wanyi up from the ground and led her outside. A long bench had already been set up in the corridor.

Lin Wanyi sat awkwardly on Shen Yujing's lap, and was forced to press her head down to look forward.

"Awan, next time remember to find someone with more power and younger. Your aunt is too old and can't manage things very well. With your sister, Awan, if you try hard, you should still have a chance."

The words Shen Yujing whispered in her ear were like a venomous snake coiling around her neck, making her feel both disgusted and suffocated.

In the courtyard, Li Yu was perched on a pillar, her eyes filled with fear.

"Don't say anything that spoils the fun. Watching someone get ripped off is a lot of fun. Ah Wan, don't ruin the atmosphere by pleading for them."

Seeing that Lin Wanyi was about to speak again, Shen Yujing covered her mouth first.

Hearing the person beside her calmly describe such torture as fun, Lin Wanyi shrank back, her whole body enveloped in gloom and madness.

Lin Wanyi could hear the woman's painful whimpers from time to time, and she shook her head frantically, trying to break free from Shen Yujing's restraints.

However, the other party tightly covered her mouth and forced her to open her eyes to watch this torture.

Blood stained the blue robe red, and chunks of flesh were thrown on the ground, covered in dust, causing Lin Wanyi's stomach to churn.

He couldn't catch his last breath and fainted in Shen Yujing's arms. Seeing that the person had passed out, Shen Yujing stopped the torture and ordered his men to slit the person's throat.

He carried Lin Wanyi towards the attic.

After everyone had left, the steward turned around and kicked the servant behind him, "Hurry up and clean up this filth!"

"Yes, yes, little one, go right here."

The Ming Prince's Mansion's pavilion is a three-story building, similar in style to the Fuyu Pavilion in Weiyang Palace. However, due to its location, one cannot see the entire Zhongdu from the top floor.

After settling the person on the bed on the second floor, Shen Yujing went upstairs to the top floor.

The old and rustic walls of the alley next to the Prince's Mansion are covered with moss, and some walls are covered with dense, green ivy vines.

There was a futon by the window, and Shen Yujing straightened his clothes and knelt down on it.

Facing north, he clasped his hands together and bowed deeply in reverence.

"My lord, it seems that the eldest princess has noticed something. Not only is she secretly training new guards, but she has also strengthened the security around the palace."

The man in black sneaked in from somewhere, and after Shen Yujing got up from the ground, he was already kneeling behind him.

"Did Yuexin send any message?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, everything is proceeding according to plan. The Princess has not suspected her and is not as wary of her as before."

Shen Yujing walked slowly to the rosewood table, where several scriptures were placed. He picked one up at random, turned around, and sat down on the soft couch next to him.

"How is the Duke of Song doing?"

"A message came back saying that the other party had once again refused the master's invitation."

After pausing for a moment while turning the pages of the scriptures, he continued to turn the pages. "In that case, let's add fuel to the fire and send a message to Halich of Dongrui, telling him to harass the border of Nanjing even more frequently."

"Also, go to the Soul-Hooking Pavilion and buy the Princess's head again, but remember to be even more careful than last time."

"Subordinates take orders."

The sky outside the attic was already dotted with rosy clouds, and the serene atmosphere was graced by the waxing crescent moon of autumn.

He sat on the soft couch and read the scriptures for a while, then scoffed and threw the scriptures into the brazier in the distance.

After exiting the partition, he instructed the maid waiting outside, "Burn that scripture."

"Slave, go now."

“‘All forms are illusory; if one sees all forms as non-forms, one sees the Tathagata.’ Ah—what an irony.”

As he stepped off the path, Shen Yujing glanced contemptuously at the scriptures he had thrown away, and muttered a silent sneer.