With the monk in hand, the world is mine.

Fang Rulai immediately grabbed the nearby embroidered quilt and covered herself. “Release the others in the courtyard!”

“Have you lost your mind from the rain?” The Crown Prince took a seat on the Grand Tutor’s chair opposite the bed, his expression disdainful. “Even if I’m in a good mood and agree to your terms, that doesn’t mean you can demand whatever you want.”

The reason he hadn’t dealt with those outside immediately was because he still needed to extract some information from them. Once he had what he wanted to know, it wouldn’t just be a question of releasing them—whether they lived or died would be another matter entirely.

Fang Rulai understood the Crown Prince’s implication. She hadn’t really hoped for much; she just wanted to test the limits of the “terms” she had obtained.

“Then let’s change it to placing Zhang Sheng in a coffin,” she said, allowing only a fleeting three seconds for the image of Zhang Sheng’s final moments to flash through her mind. Once dead, there was no revival. Guilt and regret were useless! In the future, she would offer the enemy’s blood as tribute to Zhang Sheng’s spirit in heaven.

“That’s easy. Agreed! Luxi—” The Crown Prince summoned Luxi in and gave him instructions. Luxi nodded and left.

“It’s settled. Now it’s your turn to contribute. Tell me, what do you need if you want to uncover everything about that person?” The Crown Prince’s gaze grew strangely eager—partly in anticipation of Fang Rulai’s abilities, partly fueled by a newfound zeal that with this “monk” in hand, he could control the world.

Fang Rulai was straightforward. “I want the clothes he wears often or objects he frequently handles.” That man—whatever his name, whatever he ate or did—had ruined the entire plan, caused her to be scrutinized and touched. No matter what, she must exhaust every effort to uncover all his weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

The Crown Prince rose and headed toward the door. “Prepare the carriage. We return to the palace!” The sooner they returned, the sooner they could find the items, and the sooner they could understand if Uncle’s loyalty was truly to him alone.

Fang Rulai silently clenched a corner of the quilt, narrowly escaping disaster.

The Crown Prince paused at the door, turned back with a smile full of disdain. “I’m not punishing you today, not because your crisis diversion strategy worked, but simply because today—you’re unlucky!”

Her monthly cycle was ongoing.

Fang Rulai felt as if a dagger had pierced her knee. How had she forgotten this most effective tactic in favor of complicating matters? Had her painstaking, imaginative “intelligent mode” been treated as nothing but a fool’s game? Was she a clown summoned by the Great Sage Brother? Damn it!

“Hahaha.” The Crown Prince laughed heartily as he left.

Fang Rulai threw a large pillow to the ground in frustration. It was all Guan Shiyin’s fault! If he hadn’t insisted that women should wear delicate, brightly colored inner garments and forcibly prepared a full set of red lingerie for her, how would she have attracted that lustful wolf who cared nothing for appearances? That scoundrel would not be spared. And that other scoundrel, Guan’s idiotic second brother who had led that bastard to her—he would be remembered, too!

At this moment, outside the city, in the square before the Qitian Taoist Temple.

Guan Shiyin sneezed.

At a tense standoff with the enemy, he sneezed at the worst possible time.

Opposite him, Ping Shi mocked, “Miss Guan, or rather, Young Master Guan, is that a sign of guilt and fear? Don’t worry, calm down. As I said before, as long as the Guan family swears loyalty to the Crown Prince, I can still protect your life before him.”

Guan Shiyin filtered out the useless words and focused on the key point. “Ji Ping Shi? The youngest brother of the late Empress? You’re still alive? Then the one who was executed by the late emperor over a decade ago was a substitute you sent!”

Ping Shi was not enraged by having his identity exposed so easily. “You’re sharp! Ten years ago, I told the Crown Prince you couldn’t be spared, but he insisted that you were just a woman, consorting with the sickly Second Prince, and thus incapable of greatness. Now, you truly are colluding with the Second Prince to usurp the throne. Hmph, he must regret not acting sooner.”

Guan Shiyin knew that “he” referred to the Crown Prince. Whether the Crown Prince regretted it or not was never his concern. He continued focusing on the facts. “Usurpation? Rebellion? Weren’t those the charges that led to your execution? Because of that, your entire Ji family was wiped out, and the late Empress, out of guilt towards the late emperor, took her own life.”

Memories of the past flashed by. Ping Shi’s emotions grew turbulent. “My sister didn’t die by her own hand; she was driven to death by that incompetent ruler!” Back then, that man told him to his face that if she didn’t die, Li Yincheng would. The Ji family had not resisted the annihilation of their nine clans solely to protect Li Yincheng. If Li Yincheng lived, how could the Yao Tian kingdom change its name to Ji?

“Most of the high officials in the court were students of my father, Scholar Ji, and most governmental affairs were managed by my sister, Empress Ji, on his behalf. That useless man only cared about his elixir of life. What right did he have to cling to that position? He did not deserve to be emperor!” Ping Shi slammed his fist on the armrest.

“So you secretly survived all this time, gathering the remaining forces, working behind the scenes for years, all to ensure the Crown Prince’s smooth ascension?”

“Yes! I gathered every surviving faction, both openly and covertly, all to avenge the Ji family and then place Yincheng on the throne!”

“You orchestrated the late emperor’s death?”

“Correct. Did he think that with the Ji family gone, he could rest easy? Without the Ji family, none of those women around him were harmless either.”

“You also secretly poisoned the Second Prince.”

“Of course. Though that useless man only had two sons, that extra one was unnecessary! He once promised that Li Yincheng would ascend the throne after his death, but I didn’t believe it! Though incompetent, his scheming was deep. After the annihilation of the Ji family, how could he allow Yincheng, who bore half the Ji blood, to remain? So, I had to give him a reason he couldn’t refuse! With only that son left, he dared not act recklessly and break ancestral norms.”

“So many years of secret scheming—why can’t they find any trace of you in Shengjing?”

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have remained inactive out of fear of this unknown power. Suddenly, a spark lit up in Guan Shiyin’s mind. “You’re not in Shengjing!”

“When you were frequently admitted to the palace as a child, Yincheng should have listened to me and quietly eliminated you then.” Ping Shi’s regret deepened. Had he not been stuck in Pingcheng, unable to intervene, he wouldn’t have overlooked the growing influence of the Second Prince and Guan Shiyin.

“You’re in Pingcheng!” Guan Shiyin suddenly understood the long-unsolved mystery. “You’re the one who arrived over ten years ago and secretly took control of Shijia Village!”

Ping Shi’s regret deepened further. “When you were born, they spared you, thinking that once you grew up and the Crown Prince casually assigned you a title and brought you into the palace, the Guan family would be secured. But you grew closer to the Second Prince, and by then, I was already in Pingcheng. I repeatedly wrote to Yincheng, urging him to eliminate you early on. Apparently, he never succeeded. Hmph, what kind of ability can the useless man’s son have? I have to clean up his mess!”

Having pieced together Ping Shi’s identity, Guan Shiyin suddenly sensed danger. “You’re here, which means the palace has already made arrangements in advance. The Second Prince and his faction must have fallen into a trap. Then…” He stopped himself, thinking of Fang Rulai, left alone in the small courtyard. They had accounted for everything—except Ji Ping Shi. Yet the distant Ji Ping Shi knew Fang Rulai’s secrets.

“Banxia,” Guan Shiyin urgently ordered, “return to the city at once.” Since they were operating simultaneously inside and outside the city, manpower was limited. He and the Second Prince had taken the main forces in separate groups; Fang Rulai’s side might be in grave danger.

Banxia acknowledged and was about to rush out, but before Guan Shiyin could turn, several dozen Taoists sprang forward in front of him.

“Trying to leave?” Ping Shi stood on the steps, looking down on Guan Shiyin and his group surrounded in the center of the square. “Forget about him. Even you won’t leave this temple today!”

———
Off-topic note:
Received a long-awaited gift from Manman early this morning—so happy! Thank you! By the way, no matter how busy you are, remember to take care of your health~
Also: The second update will be posted at 2 PM this afternoon.