Xun Ying kept watch outside the window all night without sleep. After dawn, he went to the street to buy breakfast for Wen Yu. On his way back to the mansion, passing by a teahouse, he paused slightly and heard people start to talk about what had happened in the Third Prince's Mansion the previous day.
His eyes darkened slightly, and then he quickened his pace and left.
"The news spreads quite fast," Wen Yu said without reaching out to touch the snacks Xun Ying had brought back. She propped her chin thoughtfully and looked out of the window.
After asking Li Qilun to take her out of the Third Prince's Mansion the previous day, Shen Wei, as they had previously agreed, deliberately found some gossips to watch the show near the Third Prince's Mansion.
The news that Li Qilun had taken a woman out of the Third Prince's Mansion spread quickly. When Wen Yu left the mansion, she nestled in Li Qilun's arms and covered her face with his outer robe, so no one recognized her identity.
Instead, under Shen Wei's deliberate guidance, now everyone in Shengjing knew that the young General Li, who had just won a great victory, went whoring with the Third Prince as soon as he returned to the capital.
Whoring was not a big deal in general, but not long ago, Ji Yunqing had just caused a stir. Now that he had just married a concubine, he openly brought someone to his mansion and even invited someone to whore with him.
Such rumors didn't sound good.
Moreover, for a prince and a general to do such a thing openly inevitably implied they were forming a clique for selfish ends.
Originally, Li Qilun returned to Shengjing this time to accept the reward on behalf of the Li family. But once this rumor spread, he failed to be summoned by the emperor for several days.
As the Li family was on the Crown Prince's side, Ji Yundan should have spoken to the emperor for Li Qilun at this time to promote this matter, but he remained completely silent.
"The County Mistress of Anning's request this time is extremely unreasonable. Don't you know that the Li family is in my camp?" Ji Yundan picked up a pastry and put it into his mouth. His tone carried a hint of danger.
However, although he said so, he still showed no intention of helping Li Qilun.
He deliberately mentioned this matter just to get Wen Yu to offer more chips.
"Li Qilun is arrogant and self - willed. Your Highness should discipline his temperament. Otherwise, you may be betrayed by him in the future. I'm doing this for your Highness's sake," Wen Yu replied flawlessly, but never mentioned any compensation.
Hearing this, Ji Yundan raised his eyebrows and couldn't help laughing. "Is it really for me, or do you have other motives?"
"What if I have motives? It's General Li who has openly pledged allegiance to your Highness, not Li Qilun. Your Highness agreed to my request because you were annoyed by Li Qilun's actions, right?" Wen Yu remained calm, gently tapping the table with her fingertips, looking in full control.
When Li Qilun returned to Shengjing from the border, Ji Yundan was considerate and didn't ask him to pay an immediate visit. Who would have thought that the first person Li Qilun visited was Ji Yunqing.
Regardless of what was really on his mind, his action had already overstepped the mark.
Now that he could be given a little warning, Ji Yundan was happy to see it.
"However, I still have to warn the County Mistress of Anning. The Li family is loyal to me after all. If you go too far, I may not just stand by and watch," Ji Yundan said, his expression taking on a threatening look.
He had cooperated with Wen Yu for so long and naturally knew her character.
Li Qilun was inexplicably targeted by her. It couldn't be an accident. He was afraid that Li Qilun had offended her somewhere.
But her grudges had nothing to do with him. He wouldn't let Wen Yu's personal vendetta affect his own path.
Ji Yundan's meaning was clear, and Wen Yu didn't intend to play dumb. She gave a soft laugh. "What if I go too far? Will your Highness kill me?"
"Li Qilun almost got engaged to you before. Why do you hate him so much?" Ji Yundan was a little puzzled and couldn't help asking, "Hate him so much that you're willing to annoy me and still go your own way?"
Wen Yu shrugged indifferently. "If your Highness wants to do something to me because of someone who is not sincere enough, I can't do anything about it."
"Does your Highness really think that Li Qilun is truly submissive to you?"
"He has high ambitions. He visited Ji Yunqing first after returning to the capital. If it was to pledge allegiance, it would be okay. But it seems that his purpose is just to raise his value and wait for your Highness to condescend and take the initiative to find him."
"Such a scheming person. Doesn't your Highness think he's just like Pei Shen?"
"If one day his greed is insatiable, aren't you afraid that he'll bite you back?"
Wen Yu spoke casually, but her words were clearly meant to scare.
In front of Ji Yundan, being straightforward about her thoughts would convince him more than being evasive.
Sure enough, seeing her openly showing her malice towards Li Qilun, Ji Yundan's expression relaxed a bit. "But the County Mistress of Anning and I are just in a mutually beneficial relationship. If I sit back and watch you harm General Li's son, won't General Li turn against me?"
"If you were a member of the Eastern Palace, I would surely protect you. But the County Mistress of Anning's current identity is a bit awkward."
They were back to this topic again.
Wen Yu rolled her eyes and couldn't help scolding. "Your Highness is so interested in marriage. Be careful of setting a bad example."
"Set a bad example?" Ji Yundan repeated meaningfully. Then he looked out of the window, his eyes fixed on the big tree where Xun Ying was hiding. "Do you mean Xun Ying? Well, does he have feelings for the County Mistress of Anning?"
Ji Yundan's tone was confident. Especially after seeing the momentary stiffness on Wen Yu's face, he was even more certain.
"Judging from the County Mistress of Anning's reaction, it seems that you're quite annoyed. Well, how about I assign you a new secret guard?" Ji Yundan said and snapped his fingers.
As soon as the sound rang out, a tall figure flashed into the room.
He turned to the secret guard and said, "From now on, you'll take Xun Ying's place. Follow the County Mistress of Anning, deliver messages, and protect the county mistress's safety."
"No need," Wen Yu said, her eyes darkening as she refuted.
She just didn't want Xun Ying to have any inappropriate thoughts about her, but she had to admit that she couldn't replace Xun Ying casually now.
After all, there wouldn't be another secret guard who would be willing to hide things from his real master for her.
Especially now that she wanted to deal with Li Qilun, if she really fell out with Ji Yundan because of this, the secret guard he left by her side would become a threat instead.
Seeing her refusal, Ji Yundan's expression became even more intriguing.
He glanced out of the window again.
Xun Ying had been a bit anxious since he saw the secret guard enter the room. His perfectly hidden figure in the tree crown was now a bit exposed.
"Why do you refuse? Is the County Mistress of Anning reluctant to part with Xun Ying, or do you look down on my other secret guards?" Ji Yundan asked Wen Yu, but his eyes were still on Xun Ying. "Xun Ying used to be an excellent secret guard under me, but now, it seems not anymore."
A secret guard who accidentally showed his衣角 in a hurry was lucky to be taken away by Wen Yu. Otherwise, he would have received a lot of punishment back in the secret guard camp.
"Your Highness promised before that Xun Ying is already mine," Wen Yu frowned unhappily, correcting Ji Yundan's words. Then she explained, "I'm used to having Xun Ying around. I don't want to get familiar with a strange secret guard again. If your Highness has nothing else to say, I'll take my leave."