I, the one in the heavens, am here to protect my bottom line in all realms.

Chapter 362 Stress and Feigned Death

Zhang Chengyuan already had a plan in mind, so when asked, he said frankly, "You're willing to give up your daughter when she's still young? Although we're doing this to repay karma, I don't want to work for nothing. I plan to make my daughter a female general, so she can not only get rid of these worldly problems, but also gain merit and faith."

Jiang Siyou's expression grew increasingly worried: "Can our daughter handle this?"

"Why not? We're not just decorations, and our daughter isn't useless either. You should have more faith in her."

Jiang Siyou touched her nose: "It's not that I don't have confidence in our daughter, but in ancient society, women were generally oppressed and women were placed above most men. I don't even want to think about how much suffering our daughter will have to endure."

Hearing this, Zhang Chengyuan was also helpless. If it weren't for repaying karmic debts, why would he be so timid? But from another perspective, this wasn't entirely a bad thing for his daughter: "Let me put it this way, do you want your daughter to suffer under our noses, or do you want her to suffer when she grows up and is disciplined by outsiders without any sense of decency?"

Jiang Si remained silent; there was no need to choose.

“You feel sorry for our daughter, but I don’t. We can’t protect her all the time. There will always be times when we’re negligent. It’s better to let her experience more things on her own than to try to fix things after something happens. Don’t you think so?”

Jiang Siyou agreed with this point, and the two quickly moved on from the topic: "Yuanbao, should we prepare some people for our daughter so that she will have someone to help her when she is away from home?"

Zhang Chengyuan nodded thoughtfully: "We do need some people in the public eye. So, I'll find a group of suitable candidates for her tomorrow and train them first."

"Is there anything I can help with?"

Zhang Chengyuan patted him and said, "Don't worry about this. Leave it to me."

Time flew by, and it was already late at night.

Jiang Si secretly returned to the Cold Palace: "Your Majesty, this is a return gift from Consort Cheng Zhao, sent by my subordinates."

The person sitting at the table had their head down, and their face, illuminated by the candlelight, had an indescribable eeriness about it. Finally, the person raised their head slightly, and their sinister gaze fell on Jiang Siyou: "Useless thing, you've already been exposed so quickly."

Jiang Si knelt down with a "plop," offering no explanation, just as usual.

Yu Qingyuan tapped the table lightly with his fingers, making a "tap-tap" sound. The sound was unhurried but could increase the sense of oppression in the quiet environment.

Jiang Siyou's body had a stress response to this; he felt a tightness in his chest and his whole body trembled slightly. However, this was exactly the kind of performance he needed at the moment, so he naturally didn't try to control it.

Yu Qingyuan, sitting at the head of the table, curled his lips into a smile. His voice was magnetic and pleasant, but if the original owner of the body, Yu Siyou, heard it, it would be as terrifying as a demon's whisper: "Yu Siyou, as your younger brother, you will do everything in your power to help your brother achieve his ambitions, won't you?"

Jiang Siyou looked up haltingly, as if her computer had frozen, her eyes filled with horror. Her lips, which had been bitten raw, trembled, and she couldn't utter a single word.

Yu Qingyuan rose gracefully, walked slowly to Jiang Siyou, bent down close to him, and said with malice, "Little brother, don't you want to?"

Jiang Siyou followed her body's instincts, slowly lowered her head, and tried to squeeze out a voice: "I...am willing."

Yu Qingyuan stood up with satisfaction: "Go back and keep a close watch."

Jiang Si staggered to his feet and left in a daze. He had indulged his body's stress response too much, and now he realized that he was completely out of control. He needed to find Yuanbao for help.

The second paper doll, hiding by the door, watched Jiang Siyou run away in a panic. Seeing his expression, it was clear that something was wrong, so it immediately went after him.

The reason why Paper Doll No. 2 was here was entirely due to Zhang Chengyuan's worries. She was afraid that something might happen to Jiang Siyou, so she specially had it stay here to provide backup. However, she did not expect that Jiang Siyou was so serious about acting that she did not notice it at all.

Using two acceleration talismans and one flight talisman, Paper Doll No. 2 successfully landed on Jiang Siyou's shoulder, but Jiang Siyou showed no reaction at all, seemingly shutting out all senses from the outside world.

Paper Doll No. 2 quickly pulled out a Qingming talisman from its body and stuck it on Jiang Siyou's forehead. The talisman instantly turned into ashes and fell to the ground. Jiang Siyou slumped to the ground, and her eyes gradually regained their clarity.

He felt a touch on his face, turned his head slightly and saw it was a small paper figure. He reached out and took it, placing it in his palm and looking down at it: "Are you Yuanbao?" "What's wrong with you? Weren't you acting? Why are you reacting so strongly?"

Jiang Siyou gave a wry smile: "I didn't expect the original owner to react so strongly to the stress."

Paper Doll #2 patted his hand: "Let's go back and pack up, then get some rest."

Jiang Si nodded and took the little paper figure back.

Zhang Chengyuan was already waiting. Jiang Siyou returned the paper doll to her, saying, "It's nothing, don't worry."

"Come here, let me take a look at you."

Jiang Si had passed away, but refused her treatment: "No need for treatment, I can still use this body's stress response."

Zhang Chengyuan was about to speak in disagreement when Jiang Siyou explained her reasoning: "No matter how good the acting is, it can't compare to the realism of the body's instinctive reactions. But I'll have to trouble you from now on."

Seeing his stubborn gaze, she sighed and stopped trying to persuade him: "Fine, you can carry this little paper figure with you from now on, just in case."

Jiang Si smiled and nodded, leaning on her shoulder with a sense of reliance: "Yuanbao, it's so good to have you."

Zhang Chengyuan put his arm around him and rubbed his face against his hair: "If you feel tired, I'll send you out of the palace. This is the perfect time, and you can go and train people for your daughter."

Jiang Siyou frowned slightly: "Fake death?"

He rejected the idea as soon as he said it: "No, I don't want to be separated from you."

Zhang Chengyuan felt sorry for him seeing him like this: "My daughter needs you. If you help me train people, it will make my life much easier and more convenient."

Jiang Si looked up at her, seemingly to confirm whether it was true or not, and after a long while said, "Okay, I'll go."

"The sooner the better, let's do it tonight."

Jiang Si nodded: "Okay."

"Give me a stand-in puppet."

Zhang Chengyuan reached out for the wooden puppet that had previously made him signify his identity with blood. After receiving it, she took out three talismans and used special hand seals to imprint them into the puppet's body. The puppet quickly grew larger and transformed into a living person indistinguishable from Jiang Si. Only its stiff limbs revealed its inhuman nature.

Zhang Chengyuan entered the command: "Go to the abandoned well in the Cold Palace, throw yourself into the well and die. Remain in a dead state for ten days until the master retrieves you."

After receiving the instructions, the puppet turned and quietly left, disappearing into the night, strictly carrying out its orders.

Zhang Chengyuan's gaze fell on Jiang Siyou: "Let's go, I'll send you out of the palace."

Jiang Siyou had just stood up when he was grabbed around the waist and rushed into the night. The whistling wind in his ears was enough to show how fast they were going. He squinted at the person beside him in surprise, but couldn't see anything clearly.

He squinted not because he discovered anything extraordinary, but simply because the wind was too strong and he couldn't open his eyes.

After a long while, he finally stopped. He vaguely looked around and saw that the place looked like the mountains: "Where are we?"

"Wait a moment, on the mountain outside Beijing."

As he spoke, Zhang Chengyuan closed his eyes and began to calculate, quickly finding a suitable candidate and position.