The man's sleeve slid down slightly as he moved, and Su Yuanyuan's heart skipped a beat.
She thought she would finally get a glimpse of his wrist, but to her disappointment, he was wearing a black inner garment with tight cuffs that completely covered his wrist, leaving her with nothing to see.
The dashed hope made the anticipation in Su Yuanyuan's heart sink instantly.
She was tempted to step forward and roll up his sleeve to find out for herself.
Realizing this thought, she scolded herself for being crazy.
How could she suspect that Cang Xuan was the man who had saved her at the mass grave that night?
In her previous life, they were strangers who had never even met. Why would he have saved her?
However, he had a pair of eyes that could see through people's hearts and fathom the secrets of heaven, and he also had an intelligence - gathering organization called Cloud - Drifting Pavilion. There was probably nothing in this world that he didn't know.
What she had done to Su Qingyu today surely couldn't be hidden from him. Wouldn't he be curious about why she had done it?
The black jade fan pushed a cup of tea in front of her, interrupting Su Yuanyuan's train of thought.
"Miss Su Si comes to see this king in the dead of night. Is it just to ask for a cup of tea?" Cang Xuan asked again.
He really wanted to know. She must have something important to say if she had come out to see him so late.
Su Yuanyuan secretly clenched her fist in her sleeve. She temporarily put aside her thoughts, pondered for a while, and then said:
"I remember that the first time you sneaked into my room as 'Yun Jian', you were not only injured but also being chased by the Wang family. That means you had sneaked into the Wang family's mansion to investigate that night."
"After that, you brought Uncle Shu to Yandang Mountain, claiming it was just a short stay. But in fact, you came for us who were also in Yandang Mountain. Your purpose was to lure Yan Huan to lead troops to 'suppress bandits', so that Uncle Shu could see the Yan family's ambition and get rid of them. By doing so, you could replace the commander of the Capital Garrison Army, and that commander could only be my father, Duke Yong, Su Qing."
As Su Yuanyuan recalled Cang Xuan's every move, her thoughts became clearer.
"The Yan family was actually quite close to the Wang family. The Capital Garrison Army was almost in the Wang family's pocket. Getting rid of the Yan family was like cutting off one of the Wang family's arms and weakening them."
Cang Xuan raised an eyebrow and said, "And then?"
"'The imperial star is weak. There may be a rebellion in the northwest.' You used this illusory reason to make Uncle Shu mistakenly think that my father had the intention of rebelling. You designed to make my father be granted the title of Duke Yong and come to Shengjing from the northern desert. You just wanted to use my father's hand to break the long - standing situation in Shengjing where the noble families led by the 'Wang, Lin, and Xue' families dominated."
The girl's voice was as clear and melodious as jade colliding, and her tone was neither too fast nor too slow. But the words she said were extremely startling.
"Now, you used the words 'the appearance of an evil star' to design a scheme that made the queen lose her phoenix seal and be sent to the National Protection Temple to 'avoid illness'. Then you created the illusion that the Tong family was rising and could compete with the Wang family. In this way, you could stay behind the scenes, watch the two families fight, and reap the benefits in the end."
She picked up a chess piece and gently placed it on the chessboard on the tea table. Immediately, there was a glimmer of hope in the dead - locked game on the chessboard.
"I remember that in Yandang Mountain, you once said that 'Cang Xuan' was a treacherous official who tried to stir up the court situation and play with mysterious arts. You clearly knew what you were doing and how others saw you. And you still did it, which proves that what you were aiming for was extraordinary. Prince Cang, am I right?"
The girl raised her clear eyes. Her black - and - white pupils were filled with wisdom beyond her years.
She was not an ignorant girl, nor a fool. She was Su Yuanyuan, the talented girl who had once shone in Shengjing.
It made sense. How could someone who was favored by Mr. Shanyin and taken as his disciple be an ordinary person?
In her previous life, if she hadn't been so emotional, stubbornly believing that the innocent would be cleared, and blindly trusting her family, she wouldn't have fallen into Su Qingyu's trap and lost her life in the end.
"Clap, clap, clap." Cang Xuan clapped his hands. "Miss Su Si is so smart and quick - witted. You really impress this king. Even if what Miss Su Si said is true, what does it matter to you?"
"My father, Su Qing, is the most important chess piece in your hand. Without my father, your plan to get rid of the Yan family and disrupt the pattern of the noble families would not succeed. As a member of the Duke Yong's Mansion, how can these things have nothing to do with me?" Su Yuanyuan said.
Cang Xuan lowered his eyes and said nothing. Su Yuanyuan couldn't help but feel a bit anxious. "The Wang family has been a noble family for generations, and their influence is extraordinary. Do you know that Uncle Shu was just an idle prince at first? If he hadn't received the strong support of the noble families, he would never have been able to ascend to the throne smoothly. If you go against the Wang family, you are going against Uncle Shu. He may have favored you and made you a favorite minister now, but what about in the future?"
"Bang!" It was the sound of Cang Xuan putting down his teacup heavily. The hot tea splashed out of the cup, leaving a red mark on his fair hand.
But he didn't even bother to wipe it off.
His face turned extremely gloomy. "Su Yuanyuan, don't you think you are meddling too much? Who I want to deal with and who I go against have nothing to do with you. Why do you have to interfere?"
Su Yuanyuan tightly pursed her lips.
"I did use Duke Yong. Your family lost their military power and were forced to come to Shengjing because of my design. You should hate me instead of coming here to tell me all this. What do you want? To curry favor with me? Have you asked your family if they agree?"
His words really hit the nail on the head. Just this afternoon, her third brother had warned her not to get involved with him.
She didn't want to disappoint her family, but she also didn't want to see him do something that was doomed to fail.
"I thought we were at least friends." Su Yuanyuan held back the tears in her eyes, trying not to cry in front of him.
"You've helped me so many times. In Qingyi Garden, if it weren't for your testimony, I would never have been able to seek justice for myself. And in the Delicacy Building, it was you who appeared and refuted the Prince Jin, so that we didn't suffer. Also, in Fuxing Temple, it was you who saved me and I survived."
"You are Cang Xuan, but you are also Yun Jian. You are my friend, Su Yuanyuan. I don't want to see you get into trouble and endanger your life."
Friend... He had never really had a friend he could confide in in his life.
But for someone like him, it was better not to have any friends.
"You must be mistaken. I helped you because I wanted you to lower your guard against me so that I could use you to achieve my own goals."
"You're lying!" Su Yuanyuan stared at him with wide eyes.
"If everything was just for the sake of using me as you said, then what about this?" Su Yuanyuan pulled out the red string around her neck and questioned him. "And what about the pill that made me immune to all diseases that you gave me?"