To divorce his wife, the top scholar preferred being cuckolded to wearing a red hat.

Su Ziyu suppressed her doubts and did not speak directly to Madam Ruan.

If her guess is true, then this is her father's biggest secret.

To hold one's father's biggest secret in one's hands is itself a form of gamble.

She needed to verify this matter and see what Liu's true identity was. If she really was Consort Mei from the palace, she would understand why her father supported the Fourth Prince.

Thinking of this, Su Ziyu remembered something else.

Her father knew about her affair with the fourth prince.

If she and the Fourth Prince were siblings, he definitely wouldn't agree.

Between her and the Fourth Prince, only one of them was his biological child.

It's either her or the Fourth Prince.

If the Fourth Prince really is him... Su Ziyu dared not think any further about this possibility.

This is truly a shocking secret, an even bigger secret than Consort Mei's fabricated death.

She wanted to be the first to discover this secret before negotiating with her father. Regardless of whether she was his biological daughter or not, he had only one choice: to acknowledge her as his daughter and then place her on the throne as empress.

If he doesn't comply, she will expose these secrets to the public.

If she can't live, then nobody should live.

The more she thought about it, the more excited she became.

She thought she had no chance with the Fourth Prince, but fate had been so kind to her, bestowing upon her such a shocking secret. If she used it well, she could be the future Empress.

"Ziyu, what are you thinking about? You're so engrossed in your thoughts that I called you several times but you didn't hear me." Madam Ruan wanted to ask Su Ziyu to keep an eye on Aunt Liu, but she saw Su Ziyu sitting to the side, head down, seemingly deep in thought.

He couldn't hear her calls at all.

“I was just thinking about who this Aunt Liu is that Father is so concerned about. Since Father didn’t find a way to get to her where he placed her before, we might as well start by investigating the maidservant next to her.”

From my observation, Aunt Liu trusts her maid implicitly. This suggests the maid must have been with her for over a decade. Since Aunt Liu has no leads, investigating her maid will surely uncover something.

“You’re right. We’ll start by investigating her maid; we’ll definitely find out.” Madam Ruan’s face lit up with joy.

How could she not have thought of that?

……

Su Mingyue received a message from Ling Fei.

They said that Young Master Zhao had completed the procurement of all the supplies and arranged to deliver them that evening. He had previously asked them to arrange for escort, but now he had changed his mind, saying that once they handed over the supplies, the Kyushu Chamber of Commerce could leave.

Su Mingyue looked at the message and felt that something was wrong.

"Xingchun, I need to leave the manor." Su Mingyue casually lit the note and tossed it aside.

Xingchun glanced at Qingyu, and Qingyu immediately followed.

As night deepened, the carriage headed towards the outer city.

Halfway there, Qingyu realized something was wrong: "Miss, someone is lying in ambush on us. Be careful."

"You be careful too." As she spoke, she had already picked up several silver needles from her fingertips.

Several black-clad figures stood in front of the carriage, each wielding a sword, the swords pointed directly at the carriage.

Without saying a word, the other party charged towards the carriage with his sword.

Qingyu met them head-on.

Those people had clearly been secretly following her, waiting for her to leave the mansion so they could make their move.

The opponent's martial arts skills were very high, and Qingyu gradually lost ground.

Su Mingyue remembered the mouth flute Xiao Zhan had given her and put it to her lips to blow it.

Xiao Zhan, who was heading towards Taipingpo, heard the sound of the flute and his expression changed; he immediately turned around.

Seeing that Qingyu was exhausted, the man in black approached the carriage.

Su Mingyue sat in the carriage, listening to the commotion outside, thinking about what kind of medicinal powder she should prepare for them later.

A long sword pierced through the air, heading straight for the man in black's chest.

The man in black collapsed and died instantly.

The other men in black were the same.

Qingyu was overjoyed; it must be the prince who had arrived.

Su Mingyue also thought that Xiao Zhan's men had arrived. Just as she was about to speak, she heard a dozen or so men in black kneeling outside, facing the direction of the carriage, calling out in unison: "Miss, the Thirteen Dark Guards have returned to their posts. Please give us your orders."

That voice...

Su Mingyue lifted the curtain.

A group of men in black were kneeling on the ground outside.

They were the secret guards left to her by her mother, numbered from 01 to 13.

"Uncle Lingyi, didn't I tell you to disband? Why are you back?" When she was ten years old, she was attacked when she left Luzhou, but Lingyi and the others appeared in time to save her life.

Later, she went into the mountains to learn medicine from her master. There was no danger in the mountains, and her master didn't want any outsiders around, so she disbanded Zero One and gave them a large sum of money so they could find a place to get married and have children.

Unexpectedly, after so many years, they have returned.

“Protecting Miss is our mission.” Zero One knelt respectfully on the ground: “The capital is in turmoil, and we must return to protect Miss.”

Su Mingyue looked at them, her eyes slightly red.

She didn't know where her mother got such a secret guard, but she knew it was the best gift her mother could leave her.

If it weren't for them, she would have died when she was ten years old.

"Alright, now that you're back by my side, I will certainly not treat you unfairly. I'm going to Taipingpo now, follow me." Ling Fei and the others are definitely in danger at Taipingpo.

"I will follow your orders, Miss."

The carriage restarted.

When Xiao Zhan and the others arrived, Lingyi and the others thought they were bad guys and were about to fight when Su Mingyue stopped them: "Lingyi, they're one of us."

Xiao Zhan glanced at them and asked softly, "Did you just encounter any danger?"

“Someone sent top assassins to kill me, but luckily Zero One and his team arrived in time. They were my mother’s secret guards, whom I disbanded years ago. I never expected they’d be waiting for me to come back.”

“These are turbulent times, and I’ll feel more at ease knowing you have more people protecting you. Let’s go, I just saw quite a few soldiers heading to Taipingpo.”

"Soldiers?" Su Mingyue frowned, and quickly realized something was wrong: "Young Master Zhao and his group are playing tricks. Their ultimate target is not the Kyushu Chamber of Commerce, but us. As long as we show up at Taipingpo tonight, they will assume that we are in league with the Kyushu Chamber of Commerce."

On the way here, Su Mingyue thought that this wave was aimed at the Kyushu Chamber of Commerce and Ling Fei.

Looking back now, the Kyushu Chamber of Commerce was just bait; their real purpose was to lure out the people behind the Kyushu Chamber of Commerce.

Hearing her words, Xiao Zhan slightly curled the corners of his lips: "So, you admit that you are Young Master Yue?"

Su Mingyue was somewhat surprised by his way of addressing her.

"you……."

"It's not hard to guess." Xiao Zhan didn't say much. "Don't worry, only you and I know about this. The most important thing right now is for us to get to Taipingpo as soon as possible. Even if we know their true purpose, we still have to go, don't we?"

Yes, the delivery will be made tonight, and several important figures from the Kyushu Chamber of Commerce will be there.

If she hadn't shown up, they would all have been in danger.