After hearing her out, Qi Dao immediately cupped his hands and grinned. "Well, sis, looks like you're about to get your wish."
Qian Renxue's exquisite face lit up with confidence and excitement.
But she suppressed her elation. "Until everything is settled, we can't let our guard down."
Qi Dao nodded. "Then what will you do about Xue Beng and Prince Xue Xing?"
"If you execute them on some flimsy pretext, people will talk."
Qian Renxue gave a cold laugh, the corners of her mouth lifting.
"Don't worry. I already have a plan. Now I'm waiting for them to take the bait."
Seeing how confident she was, Qi Dao couldn't help asking, "What plan?"
Qian Renxue clasped one hand behind her back and said calmly, "Xue Beng has some cunning and knows how to bide his time, but his ambitions outstrip his abilities. He schemes without the nerve to act. I've deliberately let word slip that I'll go after him once I take the throne, to push him into a desperate gamble."
"Then even if I kill him in public, who would defend a traitor?"
Qi Dao rubbed his chin. "Xue Beng might be easy to handle, but Prince Xue Xing is an old fox. Will he fall for it so easily?"
Emperor Xue Ye had been ruthless in his youth, killing several of his own brothers.
That was why, when Qian Renxue had secretly poisoned the second and third princes, Emperor Xue Ye had suspected Xue Qinghe, whom she was impersonating, but had never looked too deeply into it.
Prince Xue Xing had survived Emperor Xue Ye partly because the emperor still felt some brotherly affection for him, and partly because Xue Xing knew when to yield and how to be careful.
Qian Renxue smiled faintly. "Precisely because he's hard