They were in charge of being beautiful, and she was in charge of taking the hits.

Sima Lingchuan did not wake up, but his breathing gradually calmed down, and he seemed to be fine.

She started organizing information again. Putting aside how to win over men, becoming an empress would be mentally taxing. To be an empress, you need to be rich, right? But right now, she's being bullied everywhere, and her warehouse is full of useless junk. She needs to find a way to make money.

She paced around the room, got tired, and fell asleep leaning against the bed. Mo Baiyun stood guard outside. He felt that his master was really starting to become interesting.

At night, hearing the hooting of owls, Mo Baiyun swiftly leaped onto the roof. A dashing woman stood there, and Mo Baiyun looked at her.

The woman spoke up: "Owl, that person asked you to go to the Prime Minister's residence to see if she has any plans."

"Yes!"

A lithe figure moved swiftly through the darkness, arriving at a backyard where candlelight still shone. Two figures were reflected in the window, seemingly conversing. Soon, one of them emerged from the room, holding a token. Mo Baiyun followed behind him.

The man walked through several alleys and turned several corners. He stopped, and soon dark figures emerged from all around, kneeling down in unison: "But what are the orders from above?"

"Lord Sima said that you should go to the border to find the general of Xiao Rong Kingdom. Isn't Bei Rong Kingdom always trying to annex them? He said he could help them through this crisis, and the conditions are all written in this secret letter."

The man handed the secret letter to the men in black and turned to leave. Mo Baiyun drew his dagger, which gleamed coldly. He waited for the man to leave, then jumped down. Before the men in black could react, one of them fell to the ground next to Mo Baiyun, clutching his neck and convulsing. Mo Baiyun said, "Hand over the letter, and I'll leave you with a whole corpse."

The men in black exchanged a sharp glance, their eyes turning fierce. Without another word, they began to fight. In a flash, they all pounced on Mo Baiyun.

Mo Baiyun's lips curled up slightly, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes. He lightly sidestepped the leader's attack, then casually threw out a few darts, and the people in front of him fell to the ground.

The other men in black looked on in fear.

After several rounds, all the men in black had fallen to the ground. The secret letter fell into Mo Baiyun's hands. He kicked a corpse, his eyes filled with cold light and disgust: "Really, blood splattered on my clothes, ah! Then there's no way I can leave you with a whole corpse."

With a whistle, a flock of owls flew in, making eerie hooting noises, their eyes glowing red. Without turning his head, Mo Baiyun whistled and jumped onto the wall, disappearing into the night in a few swift movements.

Back at the Marquis's residence, just as dawn was breaking, Mo Baiyun returned to his room, tossed aside his blood-stained clothes and the secret letter, and prepared to take a proper bath. After all, during the day, he was still that innocent young man.

Wu Ziyan woke up early. Since she wasn't sleeping in bed, she felt uneasy. She got up and left the room quietly, afraid of waking Sima Lingchuan. She didn't see anyone outside the door. Thinking back to the past, Mo Baiyun would always be there no matter how late it was. Wu Ziyan didn't mind. After all, they were all human. Even cattle and horses shouldn't be exploited like this.

This was the first time she had gotten up so early. In the quiet morning, she strolled along, taking a deep breath. For this moment, she was truly herself.

As luck would have it, Mo Baiyun, humming a little tune and carrying a basin to pour water, ran into Wu Ziyan. Mo Baiyun was startled, but Wu Ziyan, who was still half asleep, didn't pay much attention. Mo Baiyun awkwardly called out, "Master, you're up so early, why didn't you call for anyone?"

"Ah, it's nothing, I just... wait, why does it smell so strongly of blood?" Wu Ziyan opened her sleepy eyes and looked at the water sloshing in the basin. It wasn't clear, but rather had a slightly brownish tinge. She immediately woke up.

"Little Yun'er!" [Could he be doing something unseen behind my back?]

"Master, I..." Mo Baiyun was a little flustered, after all, his identity was not something that could be revealed to others.

"You're not simple." Wu Ziyan never expected that there was such a person lurking in her heart.

"What are you saying, Master? Little Yun'er doesn't understand." But his eyes revealed murderous intent, a killer's instinctive reaction.

Wu Ziyan stared at Mo Baiyun as he circled around, then sniffed him. There was indeed a fishy smell. She wondered why a child gave her such a strange feeling. Wu Ziyan told Mo Baiyun to put down the water and sit by the corridor. She stared into his eyes, and as the sky brightened, they could see each other clearly.

Wu Ziyan gradually approached, pressing his body against Mo Baiyun's, his eyes seemingly trying to see right through him.

Mo Baiyun couldn't stand being stared at like that. Feeling guilty, he pressed his thumb against the hilt of his knife, holding it back against Wu Ziyan. At that moment, Wu Ziyan felt something hard pressing against her lower abdomen. She looked down and saw it was the hilt of a dagger, faintly gleaming. Wu Ziyan raised her hands and leaned back, asking, "Whose side are you on?" [This game is truly fraught with danger! Is it definitely an otome game?]

Mo Baiyun laughed out loud, then returned to his usual demeanor: "Master, why would you ask such a question? Of course I'm your person." As he spoke, he leaned closer to Wu Ziyan.

Wu Ziyan smiled, used her hand to sheath the dagger, then rubbed Mo Baiyun's face, stood up and left as if nothing had happened. In fact, she was already drenched in sweat at this time. What if he jumped up and injured her? Wouldn't it be over before it even started?

At this moment, Mo Baiyun's heart was pounding. For a moment, he really had the urge to kill, but there was another emotion involved that he didn't understand.

He poured out the water and returned to his room, where a woman was sitting, holding a secret letter in her hand: "You were really careless; she found out." She stared at him coldly.

"Sister, you should take the things back and report. I will explain things to that person myself." Mo Baiyun looked dazed, still not recovered from what had just happened.

"I advise you to be careful and not forget who you are." The woman's eyes were cold, like a robot's, with a hint of threat in them.

Mo Baiyun remained silent. How could he forget? From the time he could remember, he had been crawling and rolling among piles of corpses, completing one task after another like a machine. Cold-blooded and ruthless, a killer without hesitation, that was him.

But when he was ten years old, he was talking to the Queen after returning from a mission when a girl suddenly burst in and started begging and cuddling with the Queen. When she saw him, she said, "He's so cute." It was this sentence that stayed with him forever.

The empress doted on her and bestowed him upon her. She always treated him well and believed in him unconditionally. He felt that he had finally emerged from the shadows.

But later on, besides being able to act cute and throw tantrums, she was useless and timid. He gradually became respectful towards her, and he went into the shadows, living a life behind a mask.

But in the past few days, his master has suddenly changed, his actions are unpredictable. If it were before, she would have been terrified by what she just witnessed, how could she have remained so calm and indifferent?

As dawn broke, Mo Baiyun stepped out of the house, put on his usual smiling face, and walked into the sunlight. He greeted everyone as usual and took care of the chores, but he didn't see Wu Ziyan after walking around for a while.

Wu Ziyan sat in the courtyard, watching the fish in the pond. Recalling what had happened that morning, her mind was in turmoil. She analyzed the situation, thinking about Mo Baiyun's identity: "System! Xiao Jiu? Say something to me! At least tell me beforehand that there was such a dangerous person around me!"

But after calling out for a long time, the system didn't respond.

She muttered to herself, "It can't be Wu Chengye's man, right? If it is, he'll stab me in the back; Big Sister? Doesn't seem like it, she's one of us, so how come she doesn't know? There's only one possibility, she's the Empress's man! But she's just a good-for-nothing, wouldn't it be a waste to assign someone like that?"

Wu Ziyan was completely unaware that someone was approaching when Mo Baiyun suddenly appeared and whispered in her ear, "Who wants to stab you?"

Wu Ziyan was almost scared to the ground. She patted her chest and stared at Mo Baiyun. It was the first time she had looked at him so closely. His face was still immature, his eyes were narrow and long, his slightly curly hair was tied back, and his thin lips were pink.

Wu Ziyan laughed out loud, and now it was Mo Baiyun's turn to be at a loss. Wu Ziyan was just laughing at the system, wondering if none of the characters it set up were ugly.

"Master, are you out of your mind?"

"Little Yun'er, tell me the truth. You're someone the Empress placed by my side, right? What's your purpose? Tell me secretly. A general in the field may disobey the Emperor's orders, and you've already said you're one of my people." Wu Ziyan directly asked out her guess.

Mo Baiyun blushed and avoided looking at Wu Ziyan. How could she say such frivolous things? Wu Ziyan grabbed Mo Baiyun's waist and tickled her. Mo Baiyun laughed and said, "Master, you're being frivolous with me! I'm going to complain to my master."

"Are you telling the truth or not!" she demanded, showing no sign of stopping.

"Didn't you come to me of your own accord? What else do you want me to say? I was ordered to protect you." Wu Ziyan recalled, "There's such a thing? What a hassle. I still have to slowly read through these badly archived memories."

She stopped, released Mo Baiyun, and whispered in his ear, "Then remember this: now, if you follow me, you must be loyal to me, not the Empress, understand?" Her eyes sparkled as she stared into Mo Baiyun's eyes, conveying an air of unyielding resolve.

He was shocked to realize the meaning behind her words. When did his master have such ambitions?

Suddenly he felt something pressing against his stomach; it was his dagger. When had it gotten into her hand? Wu Ziyan handed it to him, saying, "Don't rush to answer now, but if you stand against me, I will kill you without hesitation!"

Mo Baiyun was certain: this person wasn't the one he knew, but he liked this one.

At this moment, Sima Lingchuan came out of the room and saw that the two were standing very close. Mo Baiyun noticed this and deliberately shouted loudly, "Master, what are you doing? Why are you touching me? You can have any beauty you want. Even if you don't have any right now, you don't have to hurt me!"

Wu Ziyan was both angry and amused. She also saw Sima Lingchuan at this moment. Mo Baiyun ran behind Sima Lingchuan and made a face at Wu Ziyan: "Master, look at Master, she is being disrespectful to me."

"Lingchuan, you're awake. Are you feeling better?" Wu Ziyan ignored what Mo Baiyun was saying beside her, her eyes fixed on Sima Lingchuan. At this moment, she only had eyes for him.

"Hmm, I'm much better. Ziyan, how could you do this to Xiaoyun in public? If you really like him, you should give him a proper title!" As expected of the mistress, she is truly magnanimous!

Wu Ziyan was speechless, while Mo Baiyun chuckled to himself. Wu Ziyan took Sima Lingchuan's hand and said, "He's still a child. How could I do anything to him, this little guy?"

Mo Baiyun continued to whine, "Master, look, she still won't admit it! How am I supposed to get married in the future?"

"If you can't get married, I'll definitely marry you, okay? Go do whatever you need to do!" Wu Ziyan waved his hand as if to shoo him away, and Mo Baiyun blushed.

Sima Lingchuan placed his finger on Wu Ziyan's lips: "Ziyan, how can you be so frivolous towards a boy?"

Wu Ziyan felt bewildered. What had she done to be so indecent? Mo Baiyun, however, ran away and turned back to call out, "Master, I've remembered what you said."

Sima Lingchuan explained, "As a woman, if you promise a man you will marry him, you cannot betray him. If you have feelings for Xiaoyun'er, I have no objection."

Wu Ziyan stared into Sima Lingchuan's eyes for a long while. Then, she ran her hand across his face; the touch was so smooth. She thought to herself, "This guy is too carefree. How come he's not jealous at all? He even seems to want to arrange things for me!" Her eyes narrowed. [Man, I'm going to win you over!]

Sima Lingchuan continued speaking in a serious tone, while Wu Ziyan lightly touched his lips with her tiptoes, hoping that he would obediently shut up.

Sima Lingchuan's face flushed red, and then he frowned, as if he had remembered something painful. Wu Ziyan also noticed that something was wrong with him. Sima Lingchuan clutched his chest and said, "Ziyan, I...I'm sorry."

"What are you saying? What's wrong with you?" [Did I do something to upset her?]

"Yesterday, yesterday, I! I'm so sorry!" Her eyes were filled with tears, and she was extremely aggrieved.

"Lingchuan, look at me, look at me!" Wu Ziyan held his hand, and their eyes met. Sima Lingchuan's tears flowed, and countless grievances surged in his heart. Wu Ziyan said, "No one blames you. It's not your fault. The only fault is that you are too good. So good that I want to hide you away."

Wu Ziyan wrapped her arms around Sima Lingchuan's waist and gently patted his back.

Sima Lingchuan didn't speak or cry loudly; he just silently let the tears stream down his face. What was wrong with him? He shouldn't be like this. He stood up and composed himself.

Seeing that he seemed to have recovered somewhat, Wu Ziyan asked, "Lingchuan, can you trust me?"

“Of course.” He nodded.

"Then I have something important to discuss with you tonight." His eyes were resolute, and he was indeed talking to him about something very important.