Chapter 150: Flirting with Her?

Shen Yingjue raised his eyes to look at Tan Qingjiu: "What do you plan to do?"

Tan Qingjiu lifted her eyelids and answered without any hesitation: "Naturally, we'll beat them at their own game."

"They all think that we desperately need the antidote in Tan Yunge's hands. But the truth is, we don't need it at all, so I'll just hold my ground and refuse to budge. I'll wait for Tan Yunge to be driven to desperation, and then, wait for her to escape..."

"Once Tan Yunge manages to escape, I will have someone waiting outside to meet her."

The corners of Shen Yingjue's lips curled up slightly: "The Princess Consort is truly vicious. It took Tan Yunge such a great effort to get out of that cell, believing she was finally about to gain her freedom. She thought that as long as she endured this period and found someone else to take over, she could live a life of luxury and exact her revenge. Yet at that exact moment, just as she breathes a sigh of relief, the Princess Consort intends to plunge her completely into the abyss."

Tan Qingjiu glanced sideways at Shen Yingjue: "That's right, I am indeed such a dark and ruthless person."

"However, I like it." Shen Yingjue burst into laughter upon hearing this: "It's a perfect match for a sickly wretch like me."

Tan Qingjiu rolled her eyes. Recently, Shen Yingjue had quite a penchant for flirting with her.

Yet she did not flatter herself that her charm was overwhelming, or that Shen Yingjue had fallen for her at first sight and was now hopelessly deeply in love.

Nine times out of ten, Shen Yingjue simply found her amusing and entertaining to tease, which was why he couldn't resist playing along with her.

As the two were speaking, the voice of the head steward echoed from outside: "Your Highness, someone from the palace has arrived, saying the Emperor summons Your Highness to the palace."

"Understood."

Shen Yingjue walked toward the door, and the head steward continued: "The Emperor said that the Princess Consort fell unconscious from poison, and explicitly instructed Your Highness to bring along the detoxifying pills previously formulated by the Princess Consort when entering the palace."

"Understood."

After speaking, the head steward lowered his eyes and added: "Moreover, this old servant hears that His Majesty this time not only sent people to summon Your Highness, but also invited the Heir of Prince Ding's estate. This old servant surmises that His Majesty summoning both Your Highness and the Heir of Prince Ding to the palace is most likely on account of the matters concerning the Princess Consort and the Heir's Consort."

Shen Yingjue nodded: "I know."

Having finished his conversation with the head steward, Shen Yingjue returned inside the room: "The Emperor wants me and Shen Xiao to enter the palace for an audience, most likely regarding the affair between you and Tan Yunge. I will head into the palace first; you can rest easy here in the manor. I have already instructed the head steward not to let anyone enter the main courtyard."

Tan Qingjiu merely raised a delicate eyebrow: "The Emperor is a man of a thousand duties, yet he still has the leisure to meddle in such trivial matters?"

Shen Yingjue chuckled upon hearing this: "You may consider the matters between you two to be trivial, but His Majesty certainly does not. After all, you are... my Princess Consort, and at the same time, my life-saving talisman."

Shen Yingjue spoke without any reserve in front of Tan Qingjiu now: "The Emperor has always guarded against me, afraid that I might recover from my illness, and afraid that once cured, I would contend with him for the imperial throne."

"At the same time, however, he does not wish for me to truly die."

Shen Yingjue sneered softly: "After all, he still needs to use me to keep the current Empress in check."

Having said that, Shen Yingjue chuckled to himself once more: "Therefore, my life is quite important, and since my life is important, yours, my Princess Consort, is naturally quite important as well."

Tan Qingjiu raised her eyes toward the door: "What about the head steward? Does he know that my poisoned and unconscious state is actually feigned?"

"I didn't explicitly tell him, but I suspect he already has his suspicions. It doesn't matter, though; you can simply ignore him."

"He is the Emperor's man. Once I enter the palace shortly, I will simply lay the matter out in the open."

Tan Qingjiu narrowed her eyes: "Lay it out?"

Shen Yingjue nodded: "Most of the people throughout this entire Prince Duan's Estate belong to the Emperor, and he is actually well aware of what happened today. If I lie, it will only breed distrust in his mind, so it is far better to tell the truth directly."

"We will say that Tan Yunge really did poison you—after all, both human and physical evidence are complete and irrefutable, so it cannot be faked. However, you happened to possess an antidote item on your person, so you were not poisoned..."

Hearing this, Tan Qingjiu shook her head: "No, we cannot say it like that. It is difficult to keep true secrets within the palace walls. If you enter the palace and tell the Emperor such a thing, it might not be long before word spreads everywhere that I possess an item capable of warding off all poisons."

"An item that repels poison, no matter where or when, must certainly be considered a remarkably powerful treasure, right?"

"Since it is a powerful treasure, it will inevitably arouse the covetous desires of others. I am merely an ordinary person; if people come looking for me because of this and I cannot produce the item, what am I to do if malicious villains decide to silence me?"

Shen Yingjue blinked his eyes gently: "Then how does the Princess Consort think I should explain it?"

Tan Qingjiu tilted her head in thought: "Just say that although I was poisoned, the poison itself was not actually capable of rendering someone unconscious. At the time, in the heat of the moment, I simply came up with the idea of pretending to faint."

"Later, when I discovered that the person who poisoned me was Tan Yunge, because I refused to condone her actions, and because I did not want the Tan family to use our relationship as sisters to force me into forgiving and letting her off, I simply chose to continue feigning unconsciousness and let Your Highness step forward to handle the matter."

"And you, because I am currently your physician and your life is in my hands, had no choice but to assist me."

Shen Yingjue raised an eyebrow: "The Princess Consort has considered everything most thoroughly."

"Naturally," Tan Qingjiu hooked the corners of her lips. "It wouldn't do to truly place Your Highness in a difficult position."

Shen Yingjue gave a light chuckle: "Then shall the Princess Consort continue resting in this room for now? I will head into the palace first."

"Very well."

As Shen Yingjue departed leisurely, Tan Qingjiu returned to the bed and lay down.

A play must be acted out to the very end. Although Shen Yingjue had claimed he instructed the head steward to bar anyone from entering, various factions were undoubtedly intertwined within this Prince Duan's Estate, and she had to be on her guard.

Just as Tan Qingjiu had anticipated, less than two quarter-hours after she lay down, a string of bells inside the room suddenly chimed.

Tan Qingjiu narrowed her eyes slightly, studying the string of bells.

Shen Yingjue had set up numerous bells throughout this courtyard, and tied various types of bells in every corner of the room, each string connected to a different location.

Although she could not distinguish which specific bell chimed to indicate someone's presence in a particular spot, the mere ringing of the bells alerted her to the fact that an intruder had arrived.

Tan Qingjiu closed her eyes, regulating her breathing.

Soon enough, Tan Qingjiu caught the sound of faint, rustling noises.

She strained her ears to listen closely and discriminate, and after a long moment of careful discernment, she realized that the sound seemed to be coming from the direction of the roof.

It sounded as though someone was treading extremely lightly across the roof tiles, approaching from a distance.

The roof?

Tan Qingjiu sneered inwardly; surely a normal person would not arrive via the rooftop, would they?