Reborn as the Regent's Beloved

Xiao Qingyin's eyebrows curved like the moon. "Does Your Highness mean that you will no longer deal with Grandmother?"

She poisoned the old lady not only because of the man in front of her, but also because of the resentment she had towards the Shen family and her own hatred for being forced to kneel in the ancestral hall.

The man nodded. "The reason I don't want you to deal with Madam Liu anymore is because Xiao Fengyi has a bigger backer now."

Before today, Feng Xingye thought the biggest obstacle between him and Xiao Fengyi was the old lady. But after today, the biggest obstacle to him getting Xiao Fengyi is someone else entirely.

"A bigger backer than Grandmother?" Xiao Qingyin thought for a moment, then suddenly thought of someone. "Could it be that the obstacle Your Highness mentioned is... Ninth Imperial Uncle?"

The man grabbed her arm, and she felt his fierce gaze. She heard him say, "Yes, I never expected that Ninth Prince would also take a liking to her. With Ninth Prince's protection, other princes certainly wouldn't dare to covet her anymore, but I'm not willing to accept it!"

In an attempt to please the man, Xiao Qingyin nestled into his arms and offered a suggestion: "Your Highness, since my sister is so ungrateful, why not force myself on her?"

Overlord is hard on the bow?

No one could have imagined that these words would come from the delicate and frail Xiao Qingyin, let alone that she would become a man's accomplice, dragging her sister into the fire in such a vile way.

Snakes and rats are in cahoots. Feng Mingjing smiled broadly after hearing this suggestion, and he liked Xiao Qingyin even more for being obedient and thinking what he wanted.

"Qingyin, you are truly a confidante. You understand what I think and have expressed all my thoughts."

Seeing the man happy, Xiao Qingyin felt that she had spoken to his heart.

“Your Highness, since my sister is being evasive, then you should force the issue and make it a fait accompli. That way, my sister will be yours, and even Your Highness Prince Zhao won’t be able to protect her.”

The man clenched his fist. "Not only do I want her to be mine, but I also want everyone to know that she likes me, so that Ninth Prince can't compete with me for her. However, all of this depends on you tipping me off."

Xiao Qingyin closed her eyes, as if she was enduring something, and continued to speak in a gentle voice.

"Whatever Your Highness desires, I will do my best to obtain it for you. Once we return to the Duke's mansion, I will have Green Book closely monitor my sister and keep you informed so you can get close to her. However, once you're close, how can we let the whole world know about your relationship?"

"There are many ways to announce it to the world. I will find a way to gather everyone together to make things easier."

The man told Xiao Qingyin his plan and then kissed her pale cherry lips.

While the adulterous couple were having their tryst in the temple's side room, they didn't notice that the man in black had already left the roof.

The man in black told Xiao Fengyi everything about their plan to frame her. "Master, you sent me to keep an eye on the Seventh Prince and Miss Xiao, but I didn't expect them to try to harm you and announce it to the world. Should I have someone beat up Feng Mingjing as a warning?"

Xiao Fengyi intervened, saying, "Don't act rashly. Since they want to harm me, let's play along and see what they do."

Feng Mingjing only needed to drug her to get her; he just needed to be careful about her diet.

But... if he spreads rumors about serious injury everywhere, then it will be impossible to guard against.

"Ye Si, have you heard what method the Seventh Prince is planning to use to announce this to the world?"

"No."

The man in black was named Ye Si. He was a spy sent by Liu Shi to serve Xiao Fengyi.

After Shen and Xiao Qingyin poisoned Xiao Fengyi, Liu felt a sudden surge of danger and feared she could not protect Xiao Fengyi. So she hardened her heart and activated the long-dormant spy team.

"This spy battalion followed your grandfather and me in our battles across the country, stealing a lot of important military intelligence. Your grandfather and I are old now, and to put the Emperor at ease, we relinquished military power, handing over all 80,000 elite troops of the Tianhu Battalion to the Emperor, leaving only this spy battalion behind."

As her grandmother recounted the story, Xiao Fengyi seemed to glimpse the heroic deeds of the warriors, but she still had some questions.

"Grandmother, those spies haven't been used for so many years, aren't they old and frail?"

The old woman's eyes were full of pride. "The spy battalion is a family of the Liu family. They have served the Liu family for generations. The predecessors are old and the successors are taking their place. You don't need to worry about that."

In her previous life, her grandmother passed away, and she had no chance to know about the spy camp. In this life, her grandmother survived and gave her the tokens and contact methods for deploying the spy camp.

The token is a broken willow branch charm, and the means of communication is a specially made firework.

On her first night at Baoguo Temple, Xiao Fengyi set off fireworks under her grandmother's guidance, attracting the descendants of the spy camp.

The man was tall and thin, masked and dressed in black, and spoke mysteriously, "A descendant of the spy camp has arrived. Please show your credentials."

At her grandmother's prompting, she took out the Broken Willow Talisman from her hand.

When the two broken willow talismans fit together perfectly, the man in black immediately knelt before Xiao Fengyi and acknowledged her as his master.

"Master, your subordinate Ye Si is at your disposal."

"Alright, Ye Si, keep an eye on the Seventh Prince for me."

Thus, under Xiao Fengyi's arrangement, Ye Si followed Feng Mingjing and obtained information about the other party's key master.

The room in Baoguo Temple was filled with the aroma of medicine. Inside the porcelain jar was the medicinal soup that Xiao Fengyi had brewed for the old lady. She said to Ye Si, "You should go back first. I will contact you again by firework if anything comes up."

Ye Si clasped his hands in a fist salute, "Master, I await your news." Then, like a slippery black fish, he darted out of the room.

The next day, Xuan Hua came out from where Ye Si had run away, carrying a tray and a medicine bowl into the room. "Miss, I've come to get medicine for the old lady."

When Xuan Hua entered the room, Xiao Fengyi happened to be turning off the stove.

As Xuan Hua poured the herbs into the medicine bowl, she told Xiao Fengyi about something she had just overheard.

“Miss, the master and young master have returned to the city ahead of time to attend court. Before they left, they instructed that you, the madam, the second young lady, and the old lady should go home together. Also, I heard Jinqin from the madam’s room mention that the Imperial Concubine will be holding a poetry gathering in half a month and has invited all the noble ladies to attend. You and the second young lady are both on the invitation list.”

"Your Highness, is this the Seventh Prince's mother?"

Xiao Fengyi recalled Ye Si's words; it turned out that Feng Mingjing had used the Consort's connections to gather everyone together.

Xuan Hua also felt that this matter was not so simple, and expressed her guess, "Eunuch Su, who is by the side of the Imperial Concubine, personally delivered the name card. Originally, he was going to have you go in person, Miss, but since the Second Miss could not go, Madam said that Miss could not go either."

Her aunt really favored her own daughter, and wasn't she afraid that if the two daughters of the Xiao family didn't go out, they would offend the favorite of the Imperial Concubine?

Sigh, such a shallow perspective.

However, even though she had a grand vision in her past life, she was still schemed against. Sometimes it's better for people to focus more on themselves.

Xiao Fengyi placed the medicine bowl on the tray in Xuan Hua's hands, then suddenly remembered, "Where is Eunuch Su's calling card?"

Speaking of this, Xuan Hua got angry. "Jin Qin said that Madam told Yin Qin to put the invitation away and give it to you after returning to the Duke's Mansion tomorrow."

"Oh, that's it."

Xiao Fengyi had no idea that Shen had secretly kept the Consort's invitation.