Dantai Mo: [...]
After the Black Tortoise System reminded him, Dantai Mo came back to his senses.
It wasn't that he wasn't shocked, but that there were too many shocking things, one after another. For a moment, he didn't know which one to be shocked by.
In the end, he picked the most ordinary one to question.
From the Fifth Miss's tone, she seemed to be telling Wang Defa about this.
Just who was Wang Defa?
And then there was the Third Prince.
Last time in Cat's Eye Alley, he had happened to learn that the Third Prince wanted to arrange a mistress for Gao Yang to use as leverage against the Duke of Ping. This time, the revelation was even more explosive: he had learned outright that the Third Prince would launch a palace coup.
Gao Yang himself served in the Golden Guards, which were responsible for guarding the imperial city, while the Duke of Ping commanded the Five City Garrison Command, responsible for security in the Capital City. For a palace coup to succeed, those two forces had to be brought under control first...
Third Brother had already begun laying his plans...
As the eldest legitimate son, Second Brother had always conducted himself with steadiness and maturity. Imperial Father had certain hopes for him. Barring any mishaps, Second Brother should become Crown Prince without difficulty.
Among the adult princes, Third Brother was the most laid-back. He was always cheerful, never strove to stand out or get ahead, and was content just to scrape by.
At one palace banquet, Third Brother had even used drunkenness as a pretext to pledge his allegiance to Second Brother.
Not only that, Third Brother had submitted a memorial to Imperial Father, asking to be granted a princely title as soon as possible so he could leave the Capital City for his fief. The only reason the memorial had been held without a decision was that Third Brother had yet to marry.
After his wedding, Third Brother would leave the Capital City and have no further chance at the throne.
In Imperial Father's eyes, Third Brother had always been gentle and unambitious.
Even if he told Imperial Father this, Imperial Father might not believe him.
Then there was the hostage prince, Su Haoyan. He looked frail and scholarly, yet his schemes ran so deep.
Xue Yuanyu held an important position in the Ministry of War, and Dantai Wuyang also served in the Imperial Clan Court. Su Haoyan's connections with those two were no coincidence.
The more Dantai Mo thought about it, the more alarmed he became. Starting today, he would transfer some personnel from the Embroidered Uniform Guard to keep a dedicated watch on Third Brother.
He would pay particular attention to the Golden Guards and the Five City Garrison Command. Ideally, he would plant his own men in key positions.
When the court eunuch wheeled him somewhere deserted, Dantai Mo was so excited that he pushed himself up with both hands-and actually stood up from his wheelchair.
The court eunuch and guards: !!
Dantai Mo: !!
The Black Tortoise System: [Your Highness, while you were enjoying the gossip just now, I wasn't sitting idle!]
It had stolen a massive haul.
Dantai Mo: "..."
After enjoying the gossip, Jian Ruonan returned to the Flower Hall to find her mother, thoroughly satisfied.
Su Haoyan's love life was full of twists and turns. He had ambition and the makings of someone everyone fell for. She could absolutely follow his story like a serialized drama. Now she had some digital pickles to spice up her meals.
[Quick, give me some more juicy gossip about Su Haoyan.] Jian Ruonan asked the system to dig up more gossip, but it didn't respond for ages.
After a long while, the system finally let out a feeble squeak. [Squeak-]
Jian Ruonan: [What's wrong with you?]
This useless system really was trash. It was brazenly slacking off in broad daylight.
The system: [Nan Nan, when you were with the Fourth Prince just now, I felt like I'd been hollowed out.]
Jian Ruonan: [Hollowed out? Don't tell me you secretly ate my potent aphrodisiac?! That's an important tool I'm saving to make a cow have eight calves in one pregnancy!!]
The system: [...]
[Nan Nan, I'm a system. How could I eat a potent aphrodisiac?]
Jian Ruonan: [Then what's wrong with you? Are you just looking for an excuse to slack off?]
It couldn't have learned that from her, could it?
The system: [I don't know either. Every time you come into contact with the Fourth Prince, I feel weak. This time was especially bad. I went offline several times and had to activate my backup power just to keep going.]
[As soon as you left the Fourth Prince, that feeling of weakness disappeared. Now I'm full of energy again.]
[That's got nothing to do with me! You're the one who told me to win over the Fourth Prince!]
She wasn't taking the blame for this.
The system: [...]
Jian Ruonan was alarmed. [There must be something strange about the Fourth Prince! Can you investigate?]
The system: [I can't. There seems to be a barrier around the Fourth Prince that completely blocks my probes. It's all because my level is too low. Nan Nan, could you help me level up quickly? Once I level up, perhaps I'll be able to investigate what's strange about him.]
Jian Ruonan: [Isn't this just you wanting to level up and tricking me into working hard?]
The useless system was a crafty little thing.
How could she, Jian the Slacker, be tricked into action so easily?
The system: [Nan Nan, you're so smart. How could I possibly fool you?]
Jian Ruonan: [At least you have some self-awareness.]
[...] The system: [I only need 100 points to level up. For 100 points, you can't lose out or get scammed! Once I level up, the Good Luck Mall will upgrade too!]
The system continued tempting her. [After the upgrade, you'll even get visuals with your gossip! Enjoying gossip will be just like watching a drama!]
Jian Ruonan thought it over and decided that 100 points wasn't a bad deal. The visuals that came with the gossip, in particular, were worth putting in some effort for. [How many points have I saved?]
The system: [10 points.]
Jian Ruonan: [?? Why only 10?? Didn't I already have 20 before? And I've gained points several times recently! Did you secretly spend them?]
[Give them back right now, or I'm going to make a scene!]
[...] The system protested its innocence. [No! Nan Nan, you can't count only the points you gained. You have to count the points you lost too!! Besides, you spent ten points drawing cards for your talent performance. Did you forget?!]
On reflection, Jian Ruonan realized it was right. The Fourth Prince's moods were unpredictable, and she had lost points several times. She had also made five consecutive draws for this talent performance.
Points really were hard to earn.
"Nannan, where did you go?" Only after Min finished speaking with the officials' wives did she discover Jian Ruonan was missing. Having finally spotted her, she hurriedly asked, "Nannan, how are your preparations for your talent performance coming along?"
Xilu was an excellent zither player. This was her first visit to the Eldest Princess's Residence, so she was a little nervous, but she had practiced for a long time. There shouldn't be any major problems.
Nan Nan was still the one who worried her most.
The flower-viewing banquet at the Eldest Princess's Residence was a double-edged sword.
If a girl shone brilliantly and became a talented lady renowned throughout the Capital City, she could certainly marry well. But if she embarrassed herself, she would also become an after-dinner talking point for the officials' wives and daughters.
Min broke into a nervous sweat for Jian Ruonan.
"Mother, I'm ready." Although Jian Ruonan was only performing paper cutting, she had drawn dry ice when drawing cards.
The talent performances would take place at the Lakeside Pavilion, the perfect place to use dry ice.
[If talent falls short, dry ice can make up the difference!]
[Everyone will be so awed by my immortal aura that no one will care how awful my paper cutting is!]
[I'm such a clever little thing!]
Min: "..."
Now she was even more worried.
As mother and daughter were talking, a familiar notification suddenly sounded in their minds-
[Ding-]
[Host, there's some gossip about you!]
Jian Ruonan: [Report at once!]
The system: [Someone wants to harm you!]
[Someone also wants to make you embarrass yourself and has stolen your scissors and red paper!]
Before you continue