Regent, please maintain your aloof image.

After the meal, Su Qianrou followed Su Jing'an to the study, where the two were playing chess.

Su Jing'an said, "You probably already know about what happened yesterday."

"Yes, I know."

"Then what do you think would be the most appropriate way to handle this?"

"Didn't you say you were going to sell her?"

"That was my original plan, but after thinking about it, I felt it was not quite right."

"Father is afraid that someone will use Aunt Liu to make a big fuss."

"One should always be wary of others."

"really".

"Do you have a good idea?"

"Dad should have already made up his mind."

Su Jing'an smiled, put down a chess piece, and said, "As expected, Rou'er understands me best." Then he asked, "When do you plan to go back?"

"I'll be back this afternoon."

The two then said nothing more and focused on playing chess.

Su Qianrou didn't ask him what his solution was, and Su Jing'an didn't offer to answer either; they would find out sooner or later anyway.

A few days later, Su Qianrou left Shengming Academy and prepared to return home, but she encountered assassins after only taking a few steps.

Yingyue and Seventeen did not hesitate and immediately made their move, but there were too many assassins, and the two of them had a hard time dealing with them.

Seeing this, several hidden guards quickly came out to help, which turned the tide.

Seventeen shouted, "Leave them alive!"

Therefore, the group did not kill them, but the assassins all had poison hidden in their mouths. Seeing that they could not escape, they all bit the poison and committed suicide.

In a courtyard, Yunyu was wiping his sword.

Luo Ying came in and said, "Master, our men have failed."

"Are there any survivors?"

"Rest assured, Master, they have all committed suicide by biting the poison; none of them survived."

"A dozen people can't handle two people, a bunch of useless trash," Yun Yu said, then threw the sword in his hand, which landed precisely in the scabbard on the shelf next to him.

"The Regent's wife is not only surrounded by shadow guards, but also by four secret guards, all of whom are highly skilled in martial arts. Our people are no match for them."

“It seems that woman is very important to him,” he said, then asked, “How many of us are left now?”

"There are still more than three hundred left."

"More than a hundred people were lost in just over a year."

"The Regent sent men to destroy several of our strongholds some time ago, in addition to these recent assassination attempts."

Luo Ying didn't finish speaking, but Yun Yu understood what he meant and said, "Tell them to behave themselves for now."

"Yes".

Yanxi Palace

Su Qianrou sat on the couch drinking tea, with Yingyue guarding her side and Shiqi standing respectfully in front of her.

Then, Su Qianrou put down her teacup and asked, "Has the matter been clarified?"

Seventeen replied, "Your Highness, we've found out. Those assassins are from the Hundred Stars Pavilion."

"It's the Hundred Stars Pavilion again, they really are a persistent ghost," he then asked, "How much do you know about the Hundred Stars Pavilion?"

"I only know that the Hundred Stars Pavilion was founded thirty years ago by a man named Yun Feng. However, he passed away nine years ago. The current pavilion master is his grandson, named Yun Yu. Because he always wears a silver mask, he is known in the martial arts world as the Silver-Masked Young Master. I know nothing else."

“He doesn’t even know what year he is now,” Su Qianrou asked.

"I don't know."

He's quite mysterious, but judging from his clothes and demeanor that day, he shouldn't be more than thirty years old.

Yingyue said, "Your Highness, in my opinion, those assassins today did not seem to be there to kill you."

"How to say it."

"Logically speaking, if they wanted to assassinate you, you should have been their primary target, but they attacked us first, which is not normal."

"Not only that, but I've discovered that they seem to be intentionally trying to lure us away," Seventeen chimed in.

"So, they wanted to kidnap me, not kill me."

"It seems so."

Su Qianrou remained silent, lost in thought.

Chunzhu entered and said, "Your Highness, Eunuch Li requests an audience."

"Let him in."

A moment later, Little Li came in and said, "This humble servant greets Your Highness."

"Why is Eunuch Li here?"

"His Majesty was very worried when he heard that the Princess Consort had been assassinated, so he sent me to come and see."

"I'm fine, Xiaoxuan doesn't need to worry."

"His Majesty is worried about the safety outside the palace, so he would like you to stay in the palace for a while. I wonder what the Princess thinks?"

"Go to live in the palace."

"Yes, of course. His Majesty respects the Princess's wishes. If the Princess is unwilling, His Majesty can send the Imperial Guards to protect her."

Su Qianrou thought to herself, "I think even the local soldiers are exaggerated, let alone the Imperial Guards. People who don't know me would think I'm some kind of important person."

It can only be said that she doesn't have a deep enough understanding of her own identity. In the entire Yunyue, apart from Mu Zexuan, the Empress Dowager, and Mu Jinchen, she has the highest status. Oh, right, there's also the Empress Dowager at Longjue Temple. In any case, she ranks among the top five.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Xiao Lizi said again, "I have brought a hundred Imperial Guards. If the Princess does not wish to stay in the palace temporarily, I will have them stay to protect her."

"You said you brought how many Imperial Guards?" Su Qianrou looked at him in disbelief.

Little Li didn't understand why she reacted so strongly, and replied, "One hundred."

Su Qianrou thought there would be at most twenty people, but Mu Zexuan directly sent her a hundred. It's not hard to imagine how spectacular it would be if she led these hundred imperial guards on the streets. If it were anyone else, they would probably be eager to do so, but she didn't want to show off like that, so she said, "Take these hundred imperial guards back with you, I don't want them."

"Your Highness, please don't make things difficult for me. I dare not disobey His Majesty's orders."

Su Qianrou thought for a moment and replied, "Is it alright if I stay in the palace for a few days?"

"It's good that the Princess is willing to stay in the palace temporarily. His Majesty will be very happy if he finds out," Little Li said with a smile.

"Chunzhu, pack a few clothes, we're going to the palace to stay for a few days."

"Yes".

Qingxin Pavilion

As soon as Su Qianrou entered the room, before she could even sit down, Mu Zexuan rushed in and asked impatiently, "Aunt, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Seeing that he was panting, Su Qianrou knew that he had run over. "I'm fine, but you, if Lord Wang and the others knew that you were in such a state, they would probably scold you again."

"Let them say what they want, it's nothing but the same old things, I'm tired of hearing them," he said, then asked again, still worried, "Are you really alright? Should we call the imperial physician to take a look?"

"It's really nothing, don't worry."

"It's a good thing you're alright, otherwise I wouldn't know how to explain it to my uncle," Mu Zexuan said thankfully.

Su Qianrou chuckled.

At this moment, Qiulan came in and said, "Your Highness, Aunt Fanghua has arrived."

"Please come in."

A moment later, Fanghua walked in and said, "This servant greets Your Highness."

"Aunt Fanghua, what brings you here? Does Mother have any instructions?"

"When the Empress Dowager learned that the Princess Consort had been assassinated, she was very worried and therefore asked the Princess Consort to go to Changshou Palace."

“Imperial Aunt, I will accompany you.”

"No need, don't you have class? Go ahead, come back after class, and we'll have dinner together."

Mu Zexuan was worried that the Empress Dowager would make things difficult for her, so he was somewhat uneasy.

"Go quickly, don't keep the teacher waiting."

"Alright, I'll go to class now. If anything happens, remember to have someone call me."

"understood".

Mu Zexuan then left.

"Aunt Fanghua, let's go," Su Qianrou said, and then walked out.