Chapter 427

Seeing Shen Ninghua suddenly laugh, Hong Ling was a little confused. “Miss, what is it? Do you have a plan in advance?”

Shen Ninghua shook her head. “It’s not that I have a plan in advance. It’s just that heaven doesn’t even stand by Bu Yonghan’s side this time. If she doesn’t make clear of the matter before hurrying to attack me, she will have to bear the consequences herself. Never mind, you will understand when the time comes. Keep an eye on Bu Yonghan for the next two days. If there is anything, report it to me immediately.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Bu Yonghan had Xia Jingqiu under her control and repeatedly asked about the details of that day. After confirming that Xia Jingqiu was not lying, she immediately became pleased. On the contrary, Nurse Wu felt uneasy. “Your Highness, you should think about this matter carefully. I really feel that it is inappropriate.”

Bu Yonghan instantly frowned. “Nurse Wu, Mother Empress has always praised you. She even said that you are the person she trusts the most. You accompanied Mother Empress all the way from when she was an inconspicuous Princess Consort to when she got the position of the Empress. There must have been a lot of difficulties. Were you also indecisive like this at those times?”

Although it was a lot more difficult back then, every time they were dealing with a matter, Her Majesty made sure she was very confident before she took action. It was not like now—Bu Yonghan acted just based on suspicion. Her Highness did not even have any material evidence. Wasn’t this like rushing to get herself into trouble? However, Nurse Wu could not say these words. Otherwise, Bu Yonghan would probably punish her on the spot!

“Your Highness, although I sometimes speak poorly, I experienced more things than you. I hope you can think about it first. After all, this matter is very serious.”

“I’ve already thought about it. I’ve also thought of what to do.” Bu Yonghan narrowed her eyes slightly, and a trace of determination flashed in her eyes. “This time, I will definitely make Shen Ninghua unable to gain the upper hand! Father Emperor’s favor? Heh, His Majesty will always care about his own power and life the most. As long as he is sure that Shen Ninghua is a threat to him, no matter how much he trusts her, he will tear her apart!”

Nurse Wu’s heart skipped a beat, and she felt that things were getting out of control. “Your Highness, what are your plans?”

The corners of Bu Yonghan’s lips curled up, and her tone carried a faint trace of elation. “If I only expose that Shen Ninghua sent people to assassinate Xia Jingqiu, even if she was found guilty, the punishment will not be too severe. In addition, Xia Jingqiu is still alive, so something big has to be created manually. What do you think if Shen Ninghua sent the same batch of people who assassinated Xia Jingqiu to assassinate His Majesty?”

Nurse Wu’s heart jumped violently, and she only felt panic in her heart. Was Her Highness crazy? She had just married into Second Prince Mansion, and she had not even stabilized her position. If she acted rashly like this, wouldn’t it be like throwing herself at the knife? Did she really think that anyone could assassinate His Majesty who had been sitting on the throne steadily for so many years?

“Your Highness, you absolutely can’t do this. If you are found out, even if your status is noble, it will be difficult to escape death.”

“I will make the assassins wear an azalea symbol on them. Moreover, the people Mother Empress left me were all men of sacrifice. They will never betray me, nor will they let people find out it is planned by me! Moreover, even heaven is helping me. Now it is really a fantastic timing. There are numerous beasts in the wilderness, and His Majesty likes to hunt in the woods. Haha, it is really a rare opportunity!”

Nurse Wu only felt that her vision was going dark. “Your Highness, in order to take revenge on Shen Ninghua, you are going to sacrifice the men of sacrifice gifted to you by Her Majesty. Do you think it is worth it?” It was extremely difficult to cultivate and train each of those men of sacrifice, which should be used to save Her Highness’ life when in crisis. Now they would be used to frame others, wasn’t it too wasteful?

Bu Yonghan furrowed her brow. “Wasteful? Didn’t they get trained to serve the imperial family and help the masters eliminate their worries? Now that the opportunity for them to pledge their loyalty has come, how could it be considered wasteful? As long as Shen Ninghua is taken down, Baili Jinchuan will no longer have any longing in his heart. At that time, I will be able to control him…”

“Moreover, don’t you think this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? If it succeeds, then Shen Ninghua will be the murderer of the Emperor. At that time, we can send people to kill her and Baili Junyi. If it doesn’t succeed, then it will inevitably arouse His Majesty’s suspicion. At that time, she and Baili Junyi won’t be able to get any benefits. This is killing two birds with one stone. Either result will be good for us!”

Looking at Bu Yonghan whose eyes were shining, Nurse Wu only felt that Bu Yonghan was unreasonable. Baili Jinchuan liked Shen Ninghua. Even if she died, his feeling for her would not change. Instead of working hard on dealing with Shen Ninghua, it would be better to work hard on taking back his heart. One could fight a living person but not the dead. Most importantly, if the Second Prince knew that Bu Yonghan wanted to kill Shen Ninghua, he would really kill Bu Yonghan! Her Highness did have a noble status in the Great Yue Kingdom, but it was Da’an Kingdom here. If anything happened, even if Her Majesty wanted to help, it would be too late.

“Your Highness, the crux of the problem is not with Princess Zhaohua…” Before Nurse Wu could finish speaking, Bu Yonghan suddenly stood up and slammed the table.

“Nurse Wu, your status is high. I respect you for serving Mother Empress, but don’t take advantage of your seniority. If the crux is not with Shen Ninghua, then where is it? Is it with me?”

Nurse Wu knew that if she continued talking, Her Highness would be even more annoyed. But if she did not say anything, Her Highness would go ahead to execute that extremely dangerous plan. At that time, the situation would be even more difficult to control. “Your Highness, have you forgotten the original intention of choosing the Second Prince?”

Bu Yonghan paused, the expression on her face stiff. “I know…” She knew, but the indignation in her heart kept tormenting her. The roughness of his action on the night of their marriage, the cold treatment after that night, and the chiding in the tent previously all caused the hatred in her heart to keep intensifying. If she didn’t vent it out now, she was afraid that she would do even crazier things.

Under the guidance of the Great Yue Kingdom’s Empress, Bu Yonghan was indeed smart. She thought through many things very clearly. However, she was a princess after all. She had been doted on from the moment she was born. Under the protection of the Empress, even the princes, who were deeply loved by the Great Yue Kingdom’s Emperor, had to avoid conflicts with her. She understood what she should do, but her life of never having suffered a setback made her unwilling to bear any setback.

If it were any other woman, after receiving Baili Jinchuan’s rough treatment, they would bear with it and show a more gentle and harmless side of them. It would make Baili Jinchuan feel more guilty and then they would use this guilt to melt his heart bit by bit. Even if they could not take his heart away, at least they would be able to preserve the glory of being a Princess Consort. However, Bu Yonghan was burning with rage and even wanted to kill Shen Ninghua!

In the end, Bu Yonghan was smart, but she had been excessively spoiled.

Seeing that Bu Yonghan was in a daze, Nurse Wu thought that her advice had worked. She quickly added, “Moreover, Your Highness, you should know that although it seems that Da’an Kingdom’s princes are fighting for the position of power and that chaos is gradually occurring, in fact, under the mediation of the Fifth Prince Baili Junyi, most of the imperial power is still in the hands of His Majesty. Otherwise, His Majesty would not have been able to annul or reward the princes as he pleased.”

After learning about Baili Junyi, Bu Yonghan understood that the Fifth Prince was a different type of person among all the princes. When others were busy fighting for power, he launched a war against corrupt officials and made the imperial power unprecedentedly concentrated. When others were busy trying to rope in the officials, he shut his doors and lived his own life. The moment he came out, he took down a Noble Consort and landed another prince in serious trouble. He seemed to be fighting for power, but he did not take the initiative to fight for it. He helped the Emperor hold firmly the power in his hands and did not even care that he was unfairly scolded or revoked of his title. He kept busy doing things for the Emperor. He looked like he did not have any power, but none of the other princes or the ministers was willing to confront him.

If such a prince was not an exception, then what was he?

Bu Yonghan secretly gritted her teeth. “Nurse Wu, I understand what you said, but how do you know that you will fail without trying? Even His Majesty himself would not expect that there would be someone assassinating him, would he? I just want to make use of this kind of relaxed mentality… Nurse Wu, you are very smart. Mother Empress asked me to consult you more. Now, you saw it, and I have already made a plan. If it is found out that I did it, I am afraid that I will die even without a burial place. So, you don’t need to persuade me anymore. Save some strength and think about how to make the plan flawless.”

Nurse Wu paused and felt pain in her chest. “Your Highness, please do think twice.”

Bu Yonghan could not be bothered to talk anymore with her and directly turned to leave.

No matter how good Nurse Wu’s temper was, she couldn’t help but fiercely spit on the ground. “If the plan fails, those men of sacrifice will die in vain…”

Three days later, the matter of the canal had been explained clearly. Baili Qingcang secretly sent people to investigate. Now he was particularly happy and interested in the hunting event. He felt refreshed and had asked someone to bring a bow and arrows over. He wanted to go hunting in the forest.

Baili Junyi was allowed to accompany Shen Ninghua. He held her hand and walked around. Not far away was a small river. The river was so clear that the bottom could be seen. He asked someone to bring over a fishing rod and decided to fish by the river.

The breeze blew gently. There were no waves.

The two of them were particularly happy, but they did not know that the forest was already in a mess.

Baili Qingcang brought a group of guards and excitedly went to the forest for deer hunting. Their luck was very good. Not long after, they saw a majestic male deer. They immediately spurred their horses and chased after it. After about fifteen minutes, a group of assassins in black suddenly came out from the surroundings and attacked Baili Qingcang. They covered their faces and were not afraid of getting hurt at all. They only fought to kill Baili Qingcang and would not give up until they reached their goal.

Baili Qingcang’s eyes were sharp, and his eyebrows were tightly wrinkled. He immediately recognized that these people were men of sacrifice!

Seeing that his guards were about to lose, Baili Qingcang suddenly raised his hand and waved to the surroundings. Next, stealthy guards appeared like shadows and rushed towards the assassins. Soon, more than half of the assassins were killed.

The leader of the stealthy guards stood beside Baili Qingcang protecting him. Suddenly, his eyes moved, and he flipped over the sleeve of a dead assassin. A mark that looked like an azalea was revealed. “Master, look?”

Baili Qingcang was stunned for a moment and then his expression turned cold. “Good, very good. Someone actually dared to do this! Leave one alive and kill the rest!”