Thunderclap!
Yun Yueyin slumped to the ground with a thud.
No one paid attention to her.
Li De also walked past her and sat down opposite Yun Shu.
Zhen Lin and Princess Ningde, who had just stood up, also sat down.
The seemingly harmonious scene before them did not look like a prelude to a fight.
Yun Shu was happy to maintain a superficial calm with them for the time being. She knew very well that Li De was acting under the emperor of Xixia's orders.
Zhen Lin had been watching Yun Shu's expression. The more composed and unruffled she was, the more his heart ached. At first, it was bearable, but as time passed, it became increasingly unbearable.
Did she know? Once the sky turned dark, this superficial peace would vanish.
They would not give her any chance to turn the situation around.
Did she really know?
Why could he sense that she knew, yet she appeared to be unaware of the current predicament?
"When did Miss Yun Er arrive in the capital?" Li De asked gently.
Seeing that Li De still had the leisure to chat with her, Yun Shu's heart stirred. Could he be trying to probe for information he wanted to know?
What made him so patient to deal with her?
Yun Shu had a general idea.
It must be because of her three meetings with Zhan Tianye, what she said to him, and whether Zhan Tianye had regained his memory, all of which Li De was desperately eager to know.
She lowered her eyes and replied, "Since the general stopped sending people to search for me at the city gates with portraits."
Li De frowned sharply. Had it been so long?
Then, she and Zhan Tianye must have met more than the three times they knew of!
Ningde suddenly felt that things were slipping out of her control.
"Miss Yun Er is very good at hiding," Li De said with a smile.
Princess Ningde suddenly gripped her teacup tightly. She had been here for so long? Then that meant...
She had thought she had everything under control, but at this moment, she suddenly felt as if she knew nothing at all?
Had Yun Shu met with Zhan Tianye in private?
Princess Ningde and Li De exchanged glances.
They both understood each other's thoughts.
Things were not going as they had expected.
"It's fortunate," Yun Shu replied with a smile.
If she hadn't known that Zhan Tianye had lost his memory, she might have continued to hide her identity and perhaps would have already left Xixia.
"You and His Highness Prince Jin..." Princess Ningde blurted out, but then she immediately stopped herself, realizing that some things absolutely should not be said.
Yun Shu seemed to know what Princess Ningde was thinking, and she smiled slowly.
Looking at Yun Shu's smile, Princess Ningde felt it was incredibly piercing.
Li De assumed that Yun Shu's feigned calmness was a tactic to stall for time. He glanced at the sky outside, which was already dusk. He reminded her with a slightly cold voice, "His Highness Prince Jin will not be coming tonight. The Emperor is playing chess with him, likely from tonight until dawn tomorrow."
"Yes, His Highness Prince Jin's chess skills are indeed superb. The Emperor of Xixia must be greatly enjoying himself playing against him," Yun Shu nodded elegantly, chatting pleasantly.
However, her praise for Zhan Tianye was not insincere.
As for the Emperor of Xixia, who was fond of strategizing and scheming, his chess skills must also be excellent.
When two evenly matched individuals played against each other, it was bound to be a long and intense game.
Upon hearing Yun Shu's words and seeing her smile, Li De did not feel any better. Instead, he sensed something… unusual.
The woman before him was too calm, too composed.
Faced with a dead end, one might show panic, cunning, or strategize, but what should never be displayed was an attitude of detachment.
It was as if she were an outsider, not a fly caught in a web.
Li De stared intently at Yun Shu, as if trying to read her mind. Yun Shu, meanwhile, slowly sipped her tea and smiled, "The tea today is different from what I drank at the prince's residence before. The tea leaves are the same, but something has been added to the water, which affects the taste. A pity."
Despite saying it was a pity, Yun Shu still took a few more sips.
Princess Ningde's face suddenly changed.
Zhen Lin looked at Princess Ningde and whispered, "Ningde, was this necessary?"
The inside and outside of Prince Pingyang's residence were sealed like a tight net. Even if someone wanted to escape, no matter how extraordinary their abilities or how unparalleled their martial arts, they absolutely could not get away.
And yet, she had gone to the unnecessary trouble of tampering with Yun Shu's tea.
Princess Ningde did not answer, but her grim expression was answer enough for Zhen Lin.
Looking at Yun Shu, who was leisurely and had seen through all their tricks long ago, Zhen Lin suddenly felt utterly despicable. She was his savior.
And yet, from last night until now, he had chosen to avoid the situation due to his own selfish desires!
"Miss Yun Er, I..." Zhen Lin wanted to explain himself, not wanting her to think of him as a despicable person.
Yun Shu looked at Zhen Lin and nodded with understanding, "I know what Young Master Zhen wants to say. Some things do not need explanation. Different stances lead to different choices, and there is no right or wrong."
She knew what Zhen Lin had been struggling with all this while.
In fact, Zhen Lin was a very kind person. Even after learning from Princess Ningde that she had another identity, he probably never thought that her intentions would harm Prince Pingyang's residence, nor had he ever considered taking her life.
Upon hearing Yun Shu's words, Zhen Lin's heart tightened even more.
He understood the meaning behind her words.
Precisely because he understood, it made him feel even more despicable.
"I know Miss Yun Er is not only skilled in medicine but also in martial arts. So, to prevent any accidents, I added something to the tea. It seems I was merely showing off my meager skills," Princess Ningde admitted directly after a moment of surprise.
Yun Shu nodded. "It's Huagong San, which makes my whole body weak and unable to use internal energy. Huagong San is hard to find on the market, and a packet costs a thousand taels of silver."
She could even tell that?
Everyone in the room was stunned.
Qiu Lu snorted coldly. This snort was not suppressed and was rather loud, making it clearly audible to them. They thought that a mere Huagong San could be used to harm their lady?
What Yun Shu said next shocked them even more.
Yun Shu continued, "This Huagong San is from a medical hall in Jiangnan. I sold them the formula, and they give me half of the profits annually."
Upon hearing this, Princess Ningde's expression could no longer be described as merely changing; it was shock.
"You concocted the Huagong San yourself?" Li De was also surprised. Many people carried this top-grade Huagong San with them for emergencies.
However, due to its high price, it was usually kept with great caution.
To think that it was actually from Yun Shu's hands!
Yun Shu smiled. "General Li's residence also has this Huagong San? Then be very careful. If you accidentally touch even a tiny bit of it, your internal energy will be weakened."
While saying it would weaken the internal energy, she picked up the teacup containing Huagong San and drank some more.