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

This was the first time Bai Jianan had ever been thrown out like this. His face turned ashen, and he helplessly felt the weightlessness as he crashed onto the door with a loud thud.

Seeing this, Jian Yue quickly shook off Qiu Lingyu and went to Bai Jianan's side, helping him up and asking, "Are you alright?"

"Cough cough, it's nothing, be careful."

As Bai Jianan spoke, his sharp eyes noticed that Qiu Lingyu's steel wire had come over and was heading straight for Jian Yue's throat. He quickly used his internal force to shake it off, picked up Jian Yue, rolled on the spot, and went outside the door, saying, "The living Gu is coming. If we don't leave now, it will be too late."

Jian Yue paused for a second, then nodded: "Let's go."

Seeing the two leave, Qiu Lingyu angrily threw the wire on the ground, turned around and shouted, "Did you do that on purpose?"

Lu Zhe nodded and sat down in the chair, saying, "Yes, but isn't this what you should be doing? Why did you suddenly change your mind?"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Lingyu angrily stepped forward, grabbed Lu Zhe by the collar, and said coldly, "You ask me why I changed my mind? Isn't it because of you? Aren't you afraid your master will kill you if you help them?"

Lu Zhe chuckled, pulled her into his arms, ignoring her struggles and venting her anger, and said with a wicked smile, "If he wants to kill me, he won't do it easily unless he has obtained the Crimson Coral and truly controls us."

As for today's events, he might suspect you, but he wouldn't suspect me. I think you should worry about yourself! Hey girl! I'm especially happy today, so give me a smile. If I'm in a good mood, I'll reward you with a kiss.

Lu Zhe rarely acted so irreverently, but his current wicked and roguish demeanor momentarily stunned Qiu Lingyu. When she came to her senses, she angrily bit his lip, drawing blood this time.

Lu Zhe stopped making a fuss, his face turned deathly pale, and he grabbed Qiu Lingyu's lips and yelled, "Spit it out, spit it out, spit it out right now, you idiot, you moron, spit it out right now!"

Qiu Lingyu suddenly smiled, gently pried his hands apart, casually wiped her lips, and laughed, "Isn't it good to share joys and sorrows with you? Why are you making such a fuss?"

"You're talking nonsense. Sharing joys and sorrows with me? Do you know how much I've suffered? Do you know what kind of life I've lived? Qiu Lingyu, don't always presumptuously make decisions for me. My affairs are none of your business. You just need to do what you're supposed to do."

Lu Zhe seemed genuinely angry. He abruptly stood up, the wound on his lip already healed, but he didn't wipe away the remaining bloodstains, and walked straight outside.

At this moment, a number of living Gu had gathered outside, but when they encountered him, they all tried their best to push him away to both sides, as if they were afraid of something.

As Qiu Lingyu watched Lu Zhe leave, she smiled, a warmth in her eyes, and whispered, "Fool."

Jian Yue and Bai Jianan rushed back to the capital, but after entering the city, they discovered that Hua Xiangrong had not returned. Jian Yue immediately became anxious and wanted to leave the capital to search for her, but Bai Jianan stopped her, saying, "If you go there and can't find her, it will be of no use. I will send someone over. You must protect your belongings."

Jian Yue paused, then sat on the bed, grabbing her hair in distress and saying, "I can't do anything at all. How useless am I?"

Bai Jianan sighed and sat down beside her, saying, "Yueyue, don't be sad. You're not a god, and there are many things you can't do. No matter what the final outcome is, you must take good care of yourself so as not to disappoint their expectations of you."

Jian Yue shook her head: "I'm fine. I'm just angry about why all this happened. Bai Jianan, my mother is dead, but I can't do anything about it. What if Sister Hua and my cousin are dead too? What should I do? What should I do?"

The invisible pressure was slowly building bricks in her heart, bit by bit, eroding her remaining willpower. She never imagined that her efforts would be like stones on water, scattered and broken.

Just as Bai Jianan was about to continue comforting Jian Yue, Xing Ke suddenly rushed in and, seeing Bai Jianan, hurriedly said, "You're back! My brother is missing! He's gone!"

Jian Yue suddenly looked up: "What did you say? What do you mean 'disappeared'?"

Xingke shook his head: "I don't know either. When you left the day before yesterday, my brother was still here. He even cooked a whole table of dishes for me. But today, just last night, he said he was going out for a while and never came back. I waited all night, but he still hasn't returned. I asked many people, but I couldn't find any trace of him. I even went back to look for Ironclad Soldier, but Ironclad Soldier seemed to have vanished into thin air."

As Xingke said this, her eyes were filled with shock and fear. She looked at Jianyue and said, "Hurry, hurry and find someone to look for him. Something must have happened to my brother, he definitely will."

"The armored soldiers have disappeared? And that black wind..."

Jian Yue muttered to herself, but Bai Jianan frowned and asked, "Xing Ke, what exactly do you mean? Don't rush, tell me slowly."

"No need to say more, the armored soldiers she mentioned are the people behind me. Black Wind came from there."

Jian Yue spoke softly. Bai Jianan looked over and saw a strange glint in her eyes. He was worried and wanted to speak, but Jian Yue interrupted him again. Jian Yue looked at Bai Jianan and said, "Send someone to find Sister Hua. Don't worry about Jia Banwen's matter for now."

Upon hearing this, Xingke immediately flew into a rage and stepped forward, roaring, "What did you say? Why?"

Jian Yue calmly said, "For no reason. He is a fortune teller and would never let himself go down a dead end. It is only normal for him to seek out someone else first."

Upon hearing this, Xingke's eyes widened in anger, and he said, "Aren't fortune tellers human? Don't you know that a doctor cannot heal himself? Aren't fortune tellers also unable to find their own divination results? Could it be that you were faking it all along? Did you want me to appear so that my brother would die?"

Jian Yue suddenly smiled and looked at Xing Ke, asking in return, "If that's what you say, then so be it! I was tricked into this by you step by step, and now it's my fault. It's my fault for meddling in other people's business. Do whatever you want."

Bai Jianan frowned and looked at Xing Ke coldly, saying, "For Banwen's sake, I don't want to do anything to you, but your vulgar language went too far. No matter what, we have never wronged you."

Xingke sneered: "Yes, you have not wronged me. I misjudged you and my fate. Fine, if you won't go looking, I will. I refuse to believe that with my abilities, I, Xingke, cannot find a single person."

Xingke turned away angrily, but Jian Yue mocked, "Don't believe me? But you've been searching for over twenty years, and you only found it with our help. Now you're kicking us after we've served our purpose. It makes me realize how cold and heartless the world is!"

Xingke paused, gave a resentful snort, and strode away. Bai Jianan then said to Jian Yue, "She might have been in a hurry. Don't be angry. Get some rest."

As he spoke, he tried to help Jian Yue lie down, but Jian Yue stopped him. Bai Jianan frowned, but Jian Yue said, "Go ahead! Time waits for no one, I'm afraid something might happen to Sister Hua."

Bai Jianan wanted to say something, but Jian Yue turned her back to him and said, "You can leave now, I'm tired."

Helpless, Bai Jianan could only leave. Jian Yue's heart was still not open. Too much of a good thing is bad, and he couldn't force her completely, so he could only sigh, tell her to rest well, and then leave, thoughtfully closing the door behind her.

The door closed, and Jian Yue rubbed her temples wearily, saying, "Come out!"

"You are indeed intelligent."

Jian Yue smiled bitterly, her face contorting as she looked at the face of the person who had suddenly appeared in the room. After a long pause, she finally said, "How could you use her face?"

Upon hearing this, the visitor laughed and said, "Isn't this face good? It's not ugly."

Jian Yue shook her head and frowned, saying, "It's not ugly. This face has been with me for five years. If it were ugly, I would have changed it long ago. But things have changed. Now, I really don't want to see this face. And it's rare for you to have a woman's face. Looking at your figure, it's really inappropriate."

As she spoke, Jian Yue lay down on the flat pond, staring unfocused at the ceiling of the bed, and said, "Jia Banwen, what's going on this time?"

Hiding under Xiao Cui's bed with her face on, she was not discovered by anyone for some reason. Even she only found out after receiving a signal from Jia Banwen, which made her cooperate in the act. But what is Jia Banwen going to do next?

Jia Banwen smiled and said, "It's nothing. I just couldn't bear to hurt her feelings, so I thought I'd let you be the bad guy for a while."

Jian Yue chuckled: "This is truly an undeserved disaster! Why should I bear the blame for your indifference?"

Jia Banwen shook his head and sighed, "Haven't you suffered enough undeserved misfortunes, young lady? This can be considered as pointing you in the right direction. You should make a choice as soon as possible."

Jian Yue shook her head, looking bewildered. "Choice? What choice do I have? Everything is happening, it has nothing to do with me, so why should I choose?"

"All of this may seem to have nothing to do with you, but everything revolves around you, doesn't it? I'm not saying you care about the world, but you are certainly deeply affectionate. Can you really bear to watch the people around you die one by one in the clutches of evil?"

But what can I do?

Jian Yue practically screamed, not caring whether anyone outside could hear her.

She stared wide-eyed, tears streaming down her face, staring blankly at the ceiling.

She suddenly sneered, mocking, "It's all a setup, a setup I can't control. I have no part in it, neither inside nor outside. I'm just standing here as a one-man show, watching you all perform. What can an observer do? Precisely because I'm an observer, shouldn't you see things more clearly, young lady? Those involved are often blinded, while bystanders see clearly! Young lady."

Are bystanders always clear-headed? But what did I see?

What should I do? Just watching is exhausting, so how can I possibly resolve this situation?

Does she have that ability?