The eldest daughter's scheming, the crown prince's exclusive favor to the venomous concubi

As soon as the shopkeeper finished speaking, seven or eight burly men suddenly emerged from behind the curtain and began to gang up on Bai Jianan. Upon seeing this, Bai Jianan quickly left the cloth shop. After leaving the shop, he looked back to see that the men had not followed him. He then breathed a sigh of relief and said, "If I hadn't been afraid of hurting innocent people, I wouldn't be in such a sorry state."

He looked around, then glanced up, and then leaped into the air, flying towards the backyard of the cloth shop.

Upon arriving at the inner courtyard, Jian Yue was led directly down to the cellar by the shopkeeper. Only after seeing the beautiful young woman sitting in the cellar did she smile and say, "I never expected that this cellar would become a place I frequent."

Upon hearing this, the woman turned around with a smile and said, "It is indeed Hua Xiangrong."

She smiled and said, "Finding you was a long and arduous process, and I've been waiting for you through the changing seasons. I really don't know which lover you've been meeting with every day."

Upon hearing this, Jian Yue shook her head and chuckled: "Sister, you just know how to make fun of me. My brother is also pitiful, having found such a sharp-tongued wife like you. It seems he's going to suffer a lot in the future."

Hua Xiangrong raised an eyebrow, her eyes filled with mockery: "Suffering? He's already secretly delighted to have won my heart, how dare he complain? I haven't seen you for a few days, and I can't even argue with you anymore. What? You want to go head-to-head with me?"

"No, no, I'm no match for you, sister."

Jian Yue quickly softened her tone, then walked over and asked with a smile, "Brother, still no news?"

Hua Xiangrong felt a tightness in her chest and sat down, saying, "I don't know what happened to him. He was given to Helihong by Bai Jianan that day, who thought he would keep an eye on him. But he disappeared on the first night."

I'm certain this person was given to me by Bai Jianan. Heli Hong certainly wouldn't eliminate him to avoid displeasing Bai Jianan. Therefore, I don't believe Heli Hong was responsible for this person's disappearance.

Jian Yue frowned and followed suit, pondering, "Your mask is flawless. If someone really wants to recognize your brother, they must be someone who knows your brother's habits very well. Otherwise, it's your brother who has revealed his identity on his own."

Both possibilities point in the same direction: the person who made the brother disappear must be someone he knew.

Hua Xiangrong rubbed her temples, her tone somewhat desolate, and said, "In all my years since I started out, except for my last mission, I've never run into any trouble. To this day, there's not a single clue I can't find. But this time, I'm completely out of ideas."

"Yueyue, I've tried everything but can't find a trace of your brother. Even Bai Jianan and Yan Xingzhi mobilized all the spies in the Qilin Pavilion, but they still couldn't find him. I'm afraid something has already happened to him."

Hearing Hua Xiangrong's weary voice, Jian Yue's heart sank. She thought for a moment, then her gaze suddenly shifted, and she abruptly stood up, saying, "I'll go find Hei Feng."

Hua Xiangrong raised her eyes and asked, "If you ask him, will he be able to tell you?"

Jian Yue shook her head: "I don't know, but I can't think of anyone other than the Ironclad Soldier who can make a highly skilled person disappear without anyone noticing."

Hua Xiangrong stood up abruptly and said coldly, "You suspect Qiu Lingyu?"

"She won't."

Almost instinctively, Jian Yue retorted, and then she looked at Hua Xiangrong and explained, "No matter what her purpose is in coming to the capital, I can guarantee that she will never lay a hand on the Shangguan family."

Hua Xiangrong suddenly snorted coldly and said, "Then who do you suspect? In this capital city, besides the dark force behind you, who else could escape my eyes? Tell me, if it's not someone from Qiu Lingyu's side, then is it someone from your side?"

Jian Yue frowned: "Sister, don't get agitated."

"How can I not be agitated? Shangguan Jianyue, it's your brother who's missing, my man! How can you expect me not to be agitated? Tell me, what are you going to do? After questioning Hei Feng, if he doesn't admit it, what are you going to do? Investigate Qiu Lingyu, or continue questioning Hei Feng?"

When questioned by Hua Xiangrong, Jian Yue was speechless. She looked up and saw Hua Xiangrong suddenly smile, a bloodthirsty smile on her bewitching lips. She said, "You are always like this. You can't make a judgment in the face of anything. Every time you are like you have been hit and broken."

Have you ever thought about how you can possibly get to the end like this? Are you going to have someone else clean up your messes every single time? Shangguan Jianyue, what do you take us for? Your shield? Your armor?

Have you ever thought about what you'll do when we're worn down by sharp weapons and can no longer be used? Will you still be so naive as to talk about that damn revenge?

"I didn't, I..."

Jian Yue felt a tightness in her chest. She wanted to explain, but Hua Xiangrong didn't give her a chance. She sneered, "What do you want to explain? You don't have anything. If you don't have anything, you'll make the entire Lanyue Tower go down with you."

You didn't, would you have made the Shangguan family want criminals and plunged them into darkness? You didn't, you did it unintentionally, you feel you've already paid enough, but if it weren't for your reckless actions, how could the Shangguan family have been so easily caught by that old thief Murong?

And those so-called armored soldiers behind you, you think you don't want to implicate everyone and want to take the blame all by yourself, but what have you done? Aren't we the ones working hard for you in the shadows? Do you really think your actions could have succeeded without anyone's cooperation?

Do you really think you're invincible, that you can shoulder everything alone? My Yueyue, stop being so naive. Your naivety will kill everyone. You believe this, you believe that, but have you ever believed in the people who sacrificed everything for you, who fought alongside you?

Jian Yue fell silent. Hua Xiangrong had never spoken to her like this before. Even though Hua Xiangrong was somewhat flustered because of Shangguan Hanque's matter, it had to be said that most of what she said was correct.

Jian Yue suddenly gave a sarcastic smile. She had always thought that she had been reborn and had already severed ties with her past life, but she was still determined to avenge her past self.

When she sought revenge, she always presumptuously assumed she knew everything about her past life, thinking everything was so simple, but she overlooked the fact that everything had changed from the moment she was reborn.

As she lived, her life changed more and more, all because of her arrogance. These changes became increasingly numerous and uncontrollable.

Xingke had already told her that because of her special existence, the fates of many people had been affected, some for good, some for bad, but all of them revolved around her.

So, she still uses the biased perspective from her past life to judge everything in a self-righteous way. Is all of this right or wrong?

The contradictory mysteries were already a jumbled mess in her mind, but she still stubbornly wanted to sort everything out into the trajectory she wanted. But could she really succeed?

She suddenly collapsed to the ground, her eyes vacant and filled with confusion and helplessness.

Hua Xiangrong shook her head helplessly, stepped forward, squatted down, lifted her chin and said softly, "Yueyue, you should become strong. You shouldn't be so depressed. You can't always have to be helped up by others."

As for the so-called armored soldiers, I don't care whether they are friend or foe. As long as they do something to harm my people, I will never let them get away with it. That is my goal.

But what about you? What are your goals? From the beginning, it was for your mother, then for the Shangguan family, and for Bai Jianan. And what about you now? What are you striving for?

You're hiding many things from me now. Just because I don't ask doesn't mean I can't guess. In my eyes, you'll always be that bright and innocent young girl. Your hatred, your helplessness, your suspicion—it's all written on your face. You're full of flaws in front of me.

Jian Yue looked at Hua Xiangrong, the doubt in her eyes was instantly smoothed out by Hua Xiangrong, she sighed softly: "From your eyes, I can tell that you already have someone you suspect, but why don't you say so? It is clear that the person you are guessing must be someone you and your brother know well, and someone close to you."

Jian Yue's body trembled, and she closed her eyes. Hua Xiangrong sighed, "I won't force you, but I have to tell you, if Shangguan Hanque is alright, fine, but if something happens to him, I will definitely not let him go. Even if you don't tell me, I will definitely find him. Don't doubt my abilities, you should know that."

As she spoke, Hua Xiangrong released Jian Yue and stood up on her own, her back to her. Jian Yue opened her eyes and looked at Hua Xiangrong's back. After a long while, she lowered her voice and uttered a sentence.

I suspect my mother.

Hua Xiangrong's pupils contracted, and she turned around abruptly: "What did you say?"

Jian Yue shook her head, stood up, her brows furrowed with unyielding irritation. She recounted some of the things she had recently learned, then said, "These things are a long story, but you should understand, sister, that I am not speaking without reason, and I really don't want to believe that all of this is true."

But my brother's sudden disappearance, combined with what I now know, makes me wonder what my mother is doing behind the scenes, and what she really wants to do.

The death of Qiu Zhenzhou, the Gu worms in his room, why Qiu Lingyun suddenly learned Gu techniques, why Qiu Lingfeng had such strange Gu worms in her body, and why Murong Chuan was suddenly seduced by Qiu Lingfeng, became infested by Gu worms, and now even obtained the secret manual for practicing Gu techniques.

If all of this was done by my mother to avenge us, I wouldn't be worried. But now, with my brother suddenly disappearing, I realize that things aren't what I thought.

Hua Xiangrong frowned: "Why are you so sure that Shangguan Hanque was taken away by your mother?"

"Because the only people my brother and I knew and trusted at the same time, besides our grandfather and you, were my mother. And my brother's martial arts skills are such that, apart from someone like Hei Feng, he could even contend with Bai Jianan. How could he be taken away so quietly? The only way was to use the thing or person that my brother valued most as bait."

And my mother was the bait.