Chapter 221: Chapter 220: Playing DirtyQi Wuya had been waiting for a while for Han Mo to finish his sentence but eventually asked, "Hmm? What were you trying to say?"


    Han Mo bowed his head, sighing softly, "It’s nothing."


    Qi Wuya surmised that what he said was not what he wanted to hear and did not press further.


    No one understood his feelings for Sang Yan.


    Her virtues and shortcomings were not for others to comment on.


    He regained his composure and returned to the matter at hand, "Are there guards assigned to those Princes?"


    To say ’guard’ was actually a euphemism for surveillance.


    If possible, he would have liked to kill them all.


    Unfortunately, they were not to be killed, for the time being.


    "Mr. Jiu, rest assured. Someone is keeping an eye on all of them."


    Han Mo replied, "The Princes are all behaving themselves, staying within their respective Prince Mansions. The only problem is the Eldest Princess. Ever since the Crown Prince fell into a coma, she has been staying at the Crown Prince Mansion. Our people can’t get close to her for the time being."


    "Heh."


    Qi Wuya chuckled derisively upon hearing this, "Our Eldest Princess is quite interesting. When her Prince Consort was critically ill, she didn’t show such concern. But when Qi Guanglie is in trouble, she rushes to attend to him."


    Han Mo pondered and analyzed, "The previous two Princes before the Crown Prince died young; the Crown Prince is the first younger brother the Eldest Princess watched grow up, so naturally she’s more attentive to him."


    On second thoughts, Qi Guanglie’s acquisition of the position of Crown Prince was inseparable from the strong support of the Eldest Princess.


    Didn’t Qi Guanglie get decreed as the Crown Prince the year after Eldest Princess Qi Bingshuang married into the National Guardian General Mansion?


    "The Crown Prince has a good sister."


    A killing intent laced Qi Wuya’s tone.


    Han Mo caught on and quickly urged caution, "Mr. Jiu, think thrice. The Eldest Princess cannot be killed."


    Behind the Eldest Princess stood the National Guardian General.


    The National Guardian General, Huo Dingyuan, had powerful relatives by marriage. His eldest son, Huo Ran, had married the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister, Xue Wen Zhan. His second daughter, Huo Yin, was the wife of the legitimate son of the Great Governor, Zhang E. All wielded real power.


    One movement could affect the whole body.


    Especially now with the Emperor having passed and the Crown Prince in a coma, any more issues with the royal progeny could easily be traced back to him.


    Qi Wuya was the beneficiary of the situation.


    Too conspicuous.


    He had to take care of his reputation.


    Because if the means of ascension were unseemly, the successors would do the same.


    Once the rules were broken, they would be hard to maintain.


    Qi Wuya understood the stakes involved, and after giving Han Mo a deep look, his stern expression softened slightly, "You need not worry. I know what to do. A widow and a fallen Crown Prince cannot stir much trouble."


    He had never taken Qi Guanglie, that brainless fool, to heart.


    Just a pawn of others, a piece of trash.


    Had it not been for the presence of the Da He army in Puluo Country threatening them at the time, Qi Guanglie would have been taken care of by him in Puluo Country long ago.


    The fact that he was able to return to Beiqi was a favor from him.


    "Mr. Jiu is wise."


    Seeing him speak in such a manner, Han Mo nodded and felt slightly relieved.


    Qi Wuya then instructed, "Ensure the other Princes are well looked after; do not be negligent in their living provisions."


    Han Mo nodded, "Alright."


    Qi Wuya’s tone shifted, "As for the Crown Prince... when He Hongzhao arrives, have her come up with a solution for the Crown Prince’s illness. It’s already autumn, and the weather in Beiqi is getting colder. With the Crown Prince’s frail health, a slight carelessness leading to a cold or fever—and should his brain become damaged from the heat, then things would become rather interesting."


    He smiled at Han Mo.


    In their casual conversation, they decided the fate of the Crown Prince.


    Han Mo had always admired his cleverness.


    Qi Wuya, when calculating against others, was always clean and effortless.


    His ’bad’ was quite interesting.


    He was reminded of their first meeting in the Cold Palace.


    Back then, he was emaciated, barely skin and bones, his silver hair filthy without a hint of its true color, exuding a ghostly pale that made him look like an old man.


    Following signals from several Princes, the eunuchs bullied him mercilessly.


    He was beaten to the ground, forced to imitate a dog’s bark.


    A piece of pastry was thrown in front of him.


    He grabbed it, wolfing it down, followed by a couple of barks, and was rewarded with a few more pieces of pastry.


    After eating the pastries and regaining some strength, he suddenly pounced, strangling the neck of the leading eunuch.


    He liked to lie dormant, accumulate power, and strike a lethal blow.


    Just like now.


    Lying dormant, waiting for the opportunity, no, perhaps creating the opportunity.


    "Mr. Jiu is wise."


    Han Mo smiled faintly, willing to follow him.


    *


    The next day


    He Ying woke up early.


    He was concerned about Beiqi’s affairs and did not want to delay in Quanzhou, planning to set off for the capital the day after tomorrow.


    The journey back to the capital required a lot of preparations.


    The State Mansion was bustling.


    Imperial Doctor Liu learned of this and came to check on He Ying’s injuries, and wrote a prescription for his future medication. Sёarch* The ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "The toxins have been mostly cleared, and the wound has healed well—next is nourishment through diet."


    Speaking of this, and thinking about the ingredients to prepare, he hastily took his leave.


    Sang Yan was also busy packing.


    They hadn’t lived here long, but they had acquired many things.


    Gao Wenliang had also gathered a lot of gold and silver jewelry, jade treasures for her to enjoy.


    Now, preparing to leave, even a simple packing filled two large trunks.


    "It’s too much."


    She was sweating from exhaustion and also quite bewildered: "When were all of these sent? I don’t even remember."


    She took out a long red pearl necklace from the overflowing trunk in front of her, looked at it, and wrapped it around her wrist, which could go around several times.


    Her wrist was fair, the pearls a deep red, they adorned each other, looking very pretty.


    He Ying watched from the side and said with a smile, "It looks good."


    He admired it for a while, then took out a jade bracelet from the trunk and put it on her other wrist.


    The fair wrist with the bright green bracelet was also complementary.


    Sang Yan, raising both hands, felt a bit of a delightful dilemma: "Wearing it like this feels a bit unusual."


    She was afraid of knocking or bumping them—they were all very precious, and it would be a shame to damage them.


    "You’ll get used to it after wearing them more."


    He Ying didn’t know what she was thinking and picked out a pair of red jade earrings, putting them on her personally.


    The red jade earrings adorned her small, lustrous ears like two red cherries.


    Looking at them, he felt an inexplicable appetite and couldn’t help but pull her to sit on his lap and nibble at her earring.


    Was it really the earring he was nibbling?


    He was clearly being naughty.


    He hadn’t nibbled much before her earlobe turned even redder than the red jade earring.


    His interest only grew: "Ah Yan, these earrings look really nice on you."


    Sang Yan, unable to see for herself, attempted to get up to look for a mirror.


    He Ying embraced her as they went, then at the mirror’s front, he nibbled her earlobe and sucked on her earring.


    He was getting better at playing.


    Sang Yan, blushing, tugged at his ear: "Nibble again? I’ll get an ear hole too. Then we can wear a matching pair."


    The idea of wearing matching earrings with him didn’t sound bad at all.


    He Ying didn’t understand her romance, finding it effeminate, and hurriedly shook his head: "No way. How can a man wear such things? It’s undignified."


    Seeing his resistance yet his continuous caresses, Sang Yan pouted: "I see you quite like it."


    He Ying replied with a laugh: "I like them worn on you."


    He really liked them.


    After kissing the red jade earrings, he went on to kiss the jade bracelet on her wrist, as well as the long red pearl necklace.


    Sang Yan, wearing the red pearl necklace as a bracelet, wrapped around four times, thought it looked pretty and fun.


    She admired it for a while, then unwound the necklace, took his hand, placed it together with hers, and then wrapped their hands together with the necklace.


    It wrapped around twice.


    He Ying puzzled: "Hm? What’s this?"


    Sang Yan, looking at their hands wrapped together by the red pearl necklace, asked with a smile: "Don’t you think it looks better this way?"


    Wearing it together.


    Entwined together.


    Never to part.