Turning Their Scheme Against Them

"Don't worry, host. Xiao Lingyan has also considered this. Therefore, the clues he releases won't be easily discovered by the Emperor. It will take at least three or four days to find out. By then, the second coup will have already occurred."

Zhao Ruxi was about to ask more questions when she heard someone knocking on the window.

She looked up and saw Xiao Lingyan standing there.

Startled, she turned and instructed Qingfeng, "I'm going to sleep. You all go out. You stand guard at the door and tell them not to disturb me."

Qingfeng immediately understood that it was Prince of Qi had arrived.

She expertly sent everyone else back, while she and Lu Yun stayed behind in the corridor.

Zhao Ruxi then let Xiao Lingyan in.

"Why are you here? Didn't I tell you not to come?" Zhao Ruxi frowned and scolded.

The darkness before dawn is the most terrifying. She repeatedly warned Xiao Lingyan not to wander around for the next two days, lest he be assassinated by the Third Prince.

"I suspect that the Prince of Ming intends to target me, and I'm planning to use this to my advantage by feigning illness. I was afraid that if the news got out, you would worry, so I came to tell you," Xiao Lingyan said.

Zhao Ruxi's heart tightened, and she asked, "What happened?"

"I had already discovered that the Third Prince had planted someone around me, but I hadn't dealt with it, only kept him at bay. Now I plan to transfer him to my side so that he can succeed and I can take the initiative. Otherwise, even if I guard against thieves for a thousand days, I might still fall into someone else's trap."

Zhao Ruxi was startled and asked, "When did you find out?" How come she didn't notice?

Ever since Xiao Lingyan decided to seize the throne, she had the system frequently check the people around him, but found nothing unusual.

Is there a bug in the system?

"When you told me I was cannon fodder, I went back and did some investigation, and that's when I found out. But I've been keeping him around, and now it's time for him to come in handy."

Zhao Ruxi breathed a sigh of relief.

At that time, she had accumulated a lot of points to investigate her background. They weren't a couple then, and Xiao Lingyan had no intention of participating in the struggle for the throne. Naturally, she couldn't care less about Xiao Lingyan.

"That's good too." She agreed with Xiao Lingyan's approach.

Now that the Crown Prince is imprisoned, the Fourth Prince is dead, and the Second Prince has been deposed, only the Third Prince and Xiao Lingyan remain among the adult princes. Since the Third Prince has played such a cruel game, he will naturally not let Xiao Lingyan.

In that case, we might as well turn the tables and take the initiative.

Knowing that Xiao Lingyan must have a well-thought-out plan, Zhao Ruxi did not ask him what he planned to do, lest someone overhear her.

She then asked, "How is things in the palace now?"

"Because Prince of Ming and the Crown Prince have always been at odds, the Emperor has become suspicious of Prince of Ming. He won't let anyone else interfere, but instead has deployed people everywhere to thoroughly investigate Prince of Ming and prevent Prince of Ming from making any further moves."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ruxi understood why, in the original novel, even though the second and Fifth Prince died early and the crown prince and Fourth Prince were killed, the Third Prince still allowed the crown prince to escape from prison, force the emperor to abdicate, and kill him, instead of ascending to the position of crown prince and waiting for the emperor to pass the throne to him.

Because the Emperor has become suspicious of him. Even if he does it discreetly, and no matter how much the Emperor favors Consort Jin and him, once he suspects him of harming his siblings, the Emperor will not pass the throne to him.

Besides these adult princes, the emperor also has a young sixth prince. The emperor is only in his forties and can still have more children, so it's not necessary to have only the Third Prince. The Third Prince has no other choice but to kill the emperor and seize the throne for himself.

But in this life, this is a dead end.

Because Xiao Lingyan would never allow him to kill the emperor again.

"How is Prince of An?" she asked again.

"Fortunately, his life isn't in danger. However, his finger was completely severed and can't be reattached," Xiao Lingyan said.

In modern times, if a finger is severed, it can be reattached if taken to a hospital in time. But in ancient times, that was out of the question.

Speaking of this, Xiao Lingyan's expression wasn't good. "Although this is the result we wanted, it still makes me feel bad that it actually happened."

He sighed, shook his head with a bitter smile, and said, "We always say that the Emperor is too kind and can't be ruthless towards his sons, which has led to the situation we have today. Now that it's my turn, I feel almost the same. Perhaps it sounds a bit sentimental, but when I first arrived in this world, my second brother was indeed very good to me and loved me dearly, especially in the original owner's memories. Seeing his lifeless face today, I don't feel the Gao Xing of a victor, but rather a heavy, unbearable pain."

"I really miss our era," he said, his face filled with melancholy.

"Who isn't?" Zhao Ruxi nestled into his arms.

The two embraced, remaining silent for a long time.

These are special times, and it's not advisable for Xiao Lingyan to stay here any longer. Having explained this, he prepared to leave.

Before leaving, he said, "I won't be coming for a while. Don't go out either, just stay home. I've got people guarding the area around the manor, so don't worry about your safety."

Zhao Ruxi nodded. "Okay."

She added, "You must take good care of yourself. Your safety must always be your top priority. If anything happens, be sure to send someone to tell me immediately."

"You can rest assured that I'll handle things," Xiao Lingyan.

Having prepared for so long, and with his mind focused on the unexpected, he naturally had a 99% chance of success.

After Xiao Lingyan left, Zhao Ruxi was constantly worried, fearing that Xiao Lingheng had not drugged Xiao Lingyan, but instead had someone assassinate him on the way.

Although Xiao Lingyan would surely bring ample guards to protect him, what if...?

She was relieved only when the system told her that Xiao Lingyan had arrived safely at the Prince of Qi's Residence.

The capital city remained quiet afterward, as still as death.

The emperor had not attended court for two days, and the court officials were all silent, fearing that they would incur the emperor's wrath.

The spoiled young masters who usually dressed extravagantly and rode wild horses were all kept at home by their families, and dared not be let out to cause trouble.

Aside from the common people who knew nothing about these matters and continued with their lives as usual, the nobles and officials were all as quiet as chickens. Kang Shilin, on the other hand, was summoned to the palace by Xiao Ge every day for drinks.

Zhao Ruxi learned of this news from the system, feeling both worried and helpless.

Xiao Ge was deeply distressed by what had happened. At this moment, only Kang Shilin could keep him company with drinks and listen to him pour out his troubles. Zhao Ruxi could neither stop her master from going nor could she stop him. She could only bear it all with a heavy heart.

She was also worried about Xiao Lingyan.

However, by the sixth day of the lunar new year, Xiao Lingyan was still perfectly fine, and nothing had happened.

A country cannot be without a ruler for a day. No matter how depressed Xiao Ge was, he could not neglect state affairs for long, so the morning court session on the sixth day was held as scheduled.

After the morning court session, Xiao Ge summoned the cabinet ministers to handle several important matters that had accumulated over the past few days, and then let them go home. He himself stayed in the main hall to review and revise the memorials.

When it was time for dinner, he was about to ask a eunuch to invite Kang Shilin to the palace to have dinner with him when a man dressed as Imperial Guards burst into the hall and swung his sword at him.