Behind the Qingjiang Palace is a quiet courtyard, where the Crown Prince and Crown Princess live and are rarely disturbed.

The crescent moon seemed to hang from the eaves.

In front of the vermilion gate, Zhao Ning paced back and forth a few times before finally stopping and lightly knocking on the door.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Caimei, are you asleep?"

There was a moment of silence in the room, followed by a cold voice, "Does the Crown Prince have to knock on his own door when he returns home? Don't you find it tiring?"

Zhao Ning smiled helplessly and gently pushed open the door. He saw a young girl holding her cheek lazily, half-leaning on the desk reading a book. Her pretty face was illuminated by the bright lights, making her even more beautiful.

Seeing Zhao Ning enter, Li Caimei nodded symbolically and continued to look at the book.

"What are you reading?"

"Liaozhai Zhiyi."

"This book hasn't been officially renamed yet, it's still called Shan Hui Gui Tan."

"The title doesn't match the book."

Hearing Li Caimei's answer, Zhao Ning couldn't help but smile. Since she gave this book to Li Caimei that day, the latter couldn't put it down.

The window was not closed, and the night breeze blew the candles.

The flickering candlelight cast Zhao Ning's shadow on the desk.

Li Caimei was a little annoyed by the flickering and had to raise her head. "The Crown Prince came back early today. Did you finish your official duties?"

"Thanks to your help, the official duties have been reduced!"

"It's not easy!"

Li Caimei pursed her lips and closed the book, adding softly, "There should be more people in the house, so I don't feel like I'm being kept here alone!"

These words were filled with resentment.

Zhao Ning sighed lightly. Although Li Caimei was the Crown Princess, except for the occasions where she needed to attend publicly, she always dressed like a young girl.

This appearance was no different from when they were not yet married.

But the once lively and mischievous girl seemed to have disappeared, leaving only loneliness and desolation in this body.

It was true that even the most vibrant wildflower would wither in this cold palace.

Not knowing what to say, Li Caimei sighed softly, "Forget it! It was my own choice in the first place. Besides, you have done us sisters a favor. I have no reason to blame you."

She remembered that back then, Li Caitan committed a crime punishable by death. Even the Li family didn't want to protect this legitimate daughter, and even their mother lost her life because of it. If it weren't for the Great Li King's help, she would probably have lost her sister in this world.

And the condition set by the Great Li King was simple: Li Caimei had to marry the Crown Prince and become the Crown Princess. As long as Li Caimei didn't violate the laws of the Great Li, the royal family would protect her for the rest of her life.

This condition seemed particularly generous. Li Caimei didn't understand why at first, until she discovered Zhao Ning's true identity as a woman on their wedding day.

In fact, this transaction was a win-win choice for this fake couple. However, Zhao Ning still gave her another condition: as long as this marriage remained stable until Zhao Ning took power, Zhao Ning would completely free her, in every sense of the word.

So for all these years, she had stayed in this courtyard and never took a step outside, except for the occasions she had to attend.

And she kept the secret very well, not even a single person from her mother's family, the Li family, knew Zhao Ning's secret.

Li Caimei looked at Zhao Ning, her smile becoming brighter. "Have you heard any news about my sister recently?"

"Well..."

Zhao Ning was a little headache, but after thinking for a moment, he said, "She joined the 'For Me' sect and did some outrageous things. The Queen Mother is planning to get rid of her!"

Li Caimei's smile froze on her face, and her voice trembled slightly, "Is it confirmed?"

Zhao Ning pondered for a moment and gave an answer, "Ninety percent!"

Li Caimei smiled bitterly, "She's still so unruly! But you told me so straightforwardly, aren't you afraid that I..."

Zhao Ning rubbed his temples, "If I didn't understand you, wouldn't our marriage be in vain? During this time, you haven't let me down, so how can I let you down? I will send someone to persuade Li Caitan. If she listens, I have a way to protect her. If she doesn't, I can only find a secret realm to imprison her."

Li Caimei fell silent for a long time, a bitter smile appearing on her lips. "Thank you!"

"I will do my best for this matter. Let's not talk about her for now!"

Zhao Ning smiled and then asked, "Guess what I brought for you?"

"What?"

Li Caimei's eyes brightened slightly. Having lived in the deep palace for so long without going out for years, the only thing she could look forward to was the novelty that Zhao Ning brought from the outside world.

Zhao Ning took out two books from his pocket and pushed them in front of Li Caimei. They were two volumes of "Liaozhai Zhiyi".

"Wasn't it supposed to be released in a few days?"

Li Caimei was surprised, and her eyes couldn't hide her joy. After all, in this deep palace, no matter how profound the spell books were, they couldn't compare to these entertaining stories. She had already read the first volume of "Liaozhai Zhiyi" several times.

Zhao Ning smiled slightly, "The person who wrote the book is also an acquaintance of mine. I used some means to steal the last two volumes in advance!"

Li Caimei asked, "Is it that hostage from Kingdom Qian?"Although she had lived in the deep palace for a long time, she was not completely ignorant of the outside world. Zhao Ning specially assigned a palace maid to collect strange stories from all over the world. Any selected stories would be sent to Li Caimei's desk.

So she had heard of this hostage from Kingdom Qian.

Zhao Ning nodded, "This brother Ying has wild thoughts and is not bound by formalities. He is truly a wonderful person!"

Li Caimei couldn't help but smile, "He does have wild thoughts, but ultimately he is just a shrewd businessman with a strong smell of copper!"

"Oh?"

Zhao Ning was slightly surprised by her conclusion.

Li Caimei opened the book in her hand, "Just like the stories in here, although they are interesting, there are also many stories of destitute scholars being favored by beautiful fairies. It's no wonder those scholars are so enthusiastic. The stories are quite exciting, but such behavior really tarnishes their talents."

As she talked about these interesting topics, she seemed to open up her heart, and her eyebrows danced like a mischievous girl.

Zhao Ning couldn't help but smile. She had also read these books and thought the stories were good and could make money, but she didn't expect there to be such tricks inside.

She smiled, "Brother Ying must be in a difficult situation and has no choice but to do so. In fact, Brother Ying's broad-mindedness and ambition cannot be summed up by the word 'businessman'!"

"You're defending him!"

Li Caimei snorted lightly, "I don't care about his broad-mindedness and ambition. I just think he is very scheming. If any woman marries him, she will definitely be overwhelmed and end up losing everything!"

Zhao Ning couldn't help but laugh, "How can you tell?"

Li Caimei raised her eyebrows and pointed to the words in the book, "The writing reflects the person. The kind of person he is can be seen from his writing!"

"That makes sense!"

Zhao Ning nodded in agreement, but a hint of cunning flashed in her eyes. She took out a stack of papers from her pocket, "Today at the literary meeting, I had the honor of witnessing the birth of a masterpiece. Why don't you take a look and see what kind of person can create such a poem!"

"Okay!"

Li Caimei took it and spread the poem on the desk. With the help of the bright candlelight, she carefully read it and quickly immersed herself in the emotions of the characters in the story.

After finishing reading, her eyes became much gentler, "It can truly be called a masterpiece for the ages!"

Zhao Ning asked, "What kind of person do you think could create this masterpiece?"

Li Caimei thought for a moment and said seriously, "It must be an extremely passionate man."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely!"

Finally, Zhao Ning couldn't help but reveal a smile, "Actually, the one who created this poem, 'The Peacock Flies to the Southeast', is also Brother Ying!"

Li Caimei: "???"

...

Late at night.

Deer House.

"Can you turn your ears into fox ears?"

"Master, are you already tired of my cat ears?"

"What the f*ck, if I ask you to change, then change!"

"Alright..."

"Boring!"

Wei Teng got up and pushed open the window, irritably looking at the waxing moon outside.

But he didn't know why, ever since he came back from the literary meeting, he couldn't find that feeling anymore.

The cat girl was still very beautiful, her eyes were still enchanting, and her body was incredibly flexible, but he felt a sense of boredom, and even the image of Hua Chao playing the qin kept appearing in his mind.

In fact, he had some impure thoughts about Hua Chao before.

Even many noble young masters in Jiangcheng had different feelings towards Hua Chao.

Putting aside her outstanding appearance, just her gentle and knowledgeable temperament could make many men unable to control themselves.

After all, Hua Chao's reputation was so loud, not all of it was because of Luo Yan.

Unfortunately, he could only look but not touch.

After all, Luo Yan was the prime minister and protected his daughter very well. Although many young masters had pursued Hua Chao, none dared to use force.

Especially Wei Teng, he didn't dare to make any reckless moves.

After all... Luo Yan was his uncle.

He had suppressed these thoughts before, after all... even though Hua Chao was still beautiful, her age was catching up, and her appearance would not last for many more years. But he never expected that after participating in the literary meeting and coming back, these thoughts would spread at an extremely terrifying speed.

What was going on?

Clearly, the literary meeting was just for fun.

Wei Teng shook his head and prepared to go downstairs.

"Master..."

The cat girl on the bed whimpered, her tearful eyes calling out.

Wei Teng stopped his steps and asked impatiently, "What's wrong?"

The cat girl spoke cautiously, as if walking on thin ice, as if she was worried about being punished because of this.

"Is it because I didn't serve you well?"

She spoke with trembling, as if she was worried about being punished because of this.

"It has nothing to do with you!"

Wei Teng impatiently waved his hand, "I'm going downstairs, you go to sleep first!"

The cat girl softly said, "I, I'll wait for the master to come back!"

Wei Teng spat, "No need! If I come back, I'll wake you up!"

The cat girl: "..."

Wei Teng muttered to himself, not knowing what he was saying, and hastily buttoned up his clothes before hurriedly going downstairs.The cat girl looked in the direction he left, her pitiful expression disappeared, and a faint mockery appeared at the corner of her mouth.

In her enchanting eyes, there seemed to be a bewitching light.

"Bang!"

Wei Teng went downstairs, kicked open a door, and cursed, "Ji Su! Get up, damn it!"

"Huh?"

Ji Su opened his eyes in a daze, and when he saw Wei Teng coming over, he was startled and quickly grabbed the blanket to cover his body.

He was a conservative man. It was fine for women to see his body, but he felt uncomfortable showing it to men.

On the other hand, the woman next to him sat up in a daze, not caring at all about exposing herself. She even threw a flirtatious glance at Wei Teng.

Ji Su was a little flustered. "Wei Brother, you're not asleep yet?"

"Sleep? What a joke!"

Wei Teng cursed, "Tell me, where did you buy this cat girl? How come she doesn't even know transformation techniques?"

Ji Su was a bit helpless. "Wei Brother! Except for those tamed and modified by humans, the demon race can only transform after reaching the level of a great demon. And once they transform, their appearance cannot be changed! Those who master transformation techniques are even rarer. It's already good enough that I could buy this cat girl..."

Wei Teng spat, "What a waste!"

Ji Su: "..."

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Although he had a frustrated look on his face, he was secretly delighted.

Seeing Wei Teng's appearance, it was likely that the Han family's plan was about to succeed. The cat girl was extremely skilled in mental suggestion.

When they attended the literary meeting today, they were just there to join in the fun. After all, their literary talent was mediocre, and there was no need to embarrass themselves. However, Ji Su had not been idle. The people sitting around Wei Teng today were all their people.

These people praised Hua Chao highly, even if Wei Teng didn't pay attention, it would still form a strong psychological suggestion.

When Wei Teng returned to his room, the first thing he saw was the cat girl playing with the strings of a qin. Then, she lowered his sexual experience, and finally, through mental spells, made him think of the scene at the literary meeting.

With so many suggestions, even a sage would feel a burning anger.

Wei Teng cursed for a while, and finally asked, "I heard that there are people in this world who are proficient in transformation techniques. Do you know anyone? If you do, find one for me!"

Ji Su looked puzzled. "Wei Brother, are you looking for this kind of person... for sexual purposes? Who do you want this person to transform into?"

Wei Teng cursed, "Nonsense! Of course it's Hua Chao!"

"Hiss..."

Ji Su took a deep breath. "Wei Brother, Hua Chao is related to you by blood!"

Wei Teng spat, "Nonsense! I have no blood relation with her at all! Stop talking nonsense, quickly find someone for me!"

"Someone who is proficient in transformation techniques..."

Ji Su pondered for a while, then suddenly slapped his forehead. "I actually know two people!"

Wei Teng immediately became excited. "Who?"

"I have a friend who knows someone who taught him. He said there is a man who is extremely skilled in both sexual techniques and transformation techniques!"

"Damn it, I like women!"

"He can also transform into a woman!"

"Get lost!"

"The other one is a woman, but she is already in her eighties. But don't worry, there are no flaws in the young girl she transforms into."

"..."

Wei Teng fell silent for a while, then asked about Ji Su's eighteen generations of female relatives.

Ji Su was very unhappy, but it was just a feeling of unhappiness. Besides popping a pimple, he had no adverse reactions.

Wei Teng cursed for fifteen minutes and got tired of it.

The fire in his heart subsided a bit, but the fire in his lower abdomen accumulated more and more.

He sat on the bed, rubbing his head in frustration.

Ji Su smiled apologetically. "Wei Brother, if you don't find this beauty pleasing, can I give her to you?"

As he spoke, he pushed the woman next to him towards Wei Teng.

The woman also smiled, ready to snuggle up to him, but unexpectedly, she was slapped to the floor by Wei Teng's big palm. She immediately burst into tears, but she dared not make a sound as she covered her swollen cheek.

"I'm tired of playing with her a long time ago!"

Wei Teng cursed.

Ji Su fell silent for a while, then whispered, "Since you don't want the transformed Hua Chao, what about Hua Chao herself?"

Wei Teng was suddenly startled. "Are you crazy? If I touch Hua Chao, do you want to see Luo Yan kill me?"

Although Luo Yan had risen to the position of the prime minister as a son-in-law of the Wei family, he quickly gained the favor of the King Li. At that time, the prime minister was not from the Wei family, so the Wei family took the opportunity to push Luo Yan into the position of prime minister.

Originally, this prime minister was just a product of the Wei family and the Zhao family's connections.

But unexpectedly, Luo Yan took advantage of this connection and firmly secured the position of prime minister.

Now, although Luo Yan still had many ties to the Wei family, he was definitely not a puppet of the Wei family. With the power in his hands, he could even suppress the Wei family in certain aspects.

Wei Teng was well aware of Hua Chao's position in Luo Yan's heart. If he touched Hua Chao, even if he was favored, he might not be able to bear it.

"Of course I won't touch Hua Chao..."

Ji Su quickly explained, "Hua Chao has a high status. How can we have any crooked thoughts about her? But if something really happens, would Wei Brother be willing to marry Hua Chao?"

"But she's too young...""Miss Hua Chao is just angry with Luo Xiang, so she didn't accept the cultivation resources. If she changes her mind, with the resources of the Wei family, what's so difficult about helping her break through the fetal metamorphosis stage?"

"Indeed, it's not difficult... Wait a minute! I never said I was going to marry her!"

Wei Teng shook his head, feeling something was off. There were too many people coveting Hua Chao's body, and those who wanted to marry her were not few.

But he was definitely not included in that list. Women were just for fun, what's the point of marrying them?

"In that case..."

Ji Su looked as if he had just realized something: "I thought Brother Wei suddenly mentioned Miss Hua Chao because he had ulterior motives, wanted to make a great contribution to the Wei family, and win the beauty in one fell swoop. It seems I was overthinking!"

Wei Teng was stunned: "What great contribution? What do you mean by 'winning in one fell swoop'?"

Ji Su explained naturally: "One of the gains is to marry Miss Hua Chao. The other is the three thousand followers of Luo Xiang. I'm sure you've noticed today, Luo Xiang has aged more than a bit, I'm afraid he won't last a few years... Who do you think will inherit those three thousand followers after Luo Xiang's death?"

"Nonsense!"

Wei Teng cursed: "Of course they will belong to our Wei family! His two legitimate sons are part of our Wei family, who else would these three thousand followers belong to?"

Although he was somewhat ignorant, he still understood some of the political situation through exposure.

In the Great Li, the ones with the most followers were of course Luo Yan and Prince Pingling, both known for their three thousand followers.

But in reality, the followers of Prince Pingling were not comparable to those of Luo Yan.

Prince Pingling did have quite a few capable people under him, but most of them were good at boasting.

However, Luo Yan's followers had quite a few who were capable of political affairs. They were like Luo Yan's think tank. Although only a few of them could directly hold office, many of their suggestions were put into practice through Luo Yan in the court.

These three thousand followers were coveted by both the Wei and Han families, including the Zhao royal family.

Ji Su seemed to want to say something but hesitated, as if he had gone through a great internal struggle before he finally spoke: "Brother Wei, don't get angry at what I'm about to say!"

"Speak!"

Wei Teng was somewhat impatient.

Ji Su asked: "Do you really think Luo Xiang is on your Wei family's side?"

Wei Teng irritably replied: "If not, then who?"

"I have a few questions for Brother Wei!"

"Ask!"

"If Luo Xiang is on the Wei family's side, why do both the emperor and the crown prince rely so heavily on Luo Xiang when they are in power?"

"That..."

"If Luo Xiang is on the Wei family's side, why did he send his two legitimate sons out of the capital, but found a teacher for his illegitimate son Luo Ming? I heard that at this Hundred Families Grand Meeting, Luo Ming took up a spot as an elite scholar of the Confucian school."

"That..."

"If Luo Xiang is on the Wei family's side, why did he find a woman who looks exactly like his deceased wife to remarry? And it's not just taking a concubine, but a proper marriage! At today's literary meeting, Ying Wuji publicly made the 'One Tree of Pear Blossoms Suppresses the Begonia', and Luo Xiang just pretended not to care and let it pass. Why is that?"

"That..."

Wei Teng felt his forehead heating up, feeling that his brain couldn't handle such complex questions. But after hearing Ji Su's questions, he only had one thought in his mind: Luo Yan's followers might really be taken over by the Zhao royal family.

Wouldn't that be a big problem?

Ji Su laughed: "But if Brother Wei marries Miss Hua Chao, it will be different! Miss Hua Chao is Luo Yan's most beloved daughter, and also the elder sister whom Luo Ming respects. Plus, Luo Yan is originally the son-in-law of the Wei family..."

Wei Teng slapped his forehead: "Then wouldn't those three thousand followers belong to me? I would be the great contributor of the Wei family!"

Ji Su quickly said: "Brother Wei is truly talented!"

Wei Teng couldn't help but grin, quickly retracted it, and nodded coolly: "Actually, I figured this out just now, I just didn't say it because I wanted to test you!"

Ji Su: "Ah, yes, yes..."

He chuckled to himself, perhaps Ying Wuji was right.

Two heads.

Only one can be the biggest.

Wei Teng's heart was burning, but he still frowned: "But... Hua Chao is so high and mighty, how can I make her fall for me?"

"Why make her fall for you? Just turn the raw rice into cooked rice!"

"But I heard she has a fiery temper..."

"Are there really fiery women in this world? The reason they are fiery is just because they haven't tasted a man's flavor."

"This is truly insightful!"

Wei Teng couldn't help but clap his hands, as if he had heard the most profound truth in the world.

Although he hadn't made up his mind, his lips couldn't help but curl up slightly amidst his chaotic thoughts.

Ji Su was getting a bit anxious and couldn't help but ask: "Brother Wei, do you need help?"

Wei Teng sneered: "I didn't say I was going to do this, besides, this is a family matter of the Wei family, where do you come in? Enough talk, I'm going to sleep!"

(End of Chapter)