She accidentally flirted with the villain and was fiercely criticized as the regent for forcibly mar

The maid shook her head and replied, "They've all invited you to the front hall for tea. Please hurry and get ready to go!"

Jiang Ruining truly lacked the courage to confront two lunatics at the same time: "Have you gone to fetch Madam yet?"

The maid looked a little embarrassed: "I went, but the old woman guarding the gate said that the madam is not feeling well and will not see anyone today."

Jiang Ruining gave a mocking smirk.

Unwilling to step forward and help her fend off schemes and difficulties, he deliberately feigned illness.

It's amazing that she could come up with such a lame excuse!

Why don't you just say it directly? I was so angry at her disobedience yesterday that I was paralyzed!

"Since His Highness the Regent and Duke Shao are both waiting, let's go over there! We should thank them properly for sparing us from a fright!"

Cui Jingwei pursed her lips, her lip lines sharp as a knife.

Jiang Ruining caught a glimpse of the undisguised resentment and hatred on Cui Jingwei's face out of the corner of his eye, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

With the patrol battalion watching her every moment, how could she not be extremely careful? Xiao Che's food, clothing, and even a single fallen hair would be promptly disposed of.

Even if they searched carefully, they wouldn't be able to find any trace!

The group left.

"Ningning!"

Not long after leaving Chaohua Residence.

They encountered Chu Jin, who was rushing towards them.

Knowing that Cui Jingwei had barged in with her men, she guessed that it was no good. Not sure if the man had already left, she ordered someone to catch a stray cat to stop the women, so that Jiang Ruining would have time to clean up the mess.

Unexpectedly, someone who had sprained their ankle after being bumped by a stray cat deliberately entangled her until now, when they finally managed to break free.

Approaching her, he carefully examined Jiang Ruining, finding no injuries and no sign of distress. He breathed a slight sigh of relief: "Are you alright?"

Jiang Ruining shook her head: "Don't worry, it's nothing."

Chu Jin breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, let's go to the front hall!"

After passing through the huge inner courtyard, the garden that separates the front and back yards, and walking along the long covered walkway for quite a while, we finally arrived at the front hall.

In the hall.

The tea smoke curls gracefully, carrying a fresh and sweet aroma.

Shao Yunting's pleasant deep voice rang out first: "Your Highness is extremely busy, having been away from the capital for several days. With countless urgent memorials awaiting approval, how come you have time to stroll around here?"

Xiao Che's lazy tone held a smile, but also a hint of sarcasm: "Jiang Ruixiao wrote to ask Duke Shao to take good care of his sister, but Duke Shao is so busy that he doesn't even have time to say a word to someone who comes to him for help?"

"How come I happen to have time to pass by today?"

There aren't that many "changes" in the world that happen without a reason, unless they discover that the person they've been ignoring has something they want in them.

There is no such thing as a "coincidence" without a reason, unless he has been secretly and silently monitoring everything that is happening, and knows that today's "helping hand" will win Jiang Ruining's favor!

What's the point of having a good impression?

Naturally, it was for the purpose of winning them over.

Since Shao Yunting was neither his man nor that old fox Cui Taifu's man, an obvious conclusion can be drawn: in a corner that he hadn't noticed, there was a third force quietly lying dormant and developing!

It seems.

The little emperor has grown up and has his own little schemes. Someone wants to play a trick on him, like a mantis stalking a cicada from behind!

Shao Yunting looked somewhat guilty: "I had just returned to the capital and spent too much energy taking charge of the Dali Temple, and I did neglect this matter. I have realized my mistake, so I have decided to make it up to Ningning in the future."

The conversation turned.

"Your Highness has hardly ever had any younger generation members around you, and you have never been seen to show any affection for any family's juniors, yet you seem to have a lot of confidence in Ningning."

Xiao Che's slender fingers lightly tapped the thin porcelain cup, causing the lid to sway and tap against the cup, producing a crisp and pleasant sound: "Only those who want to use her would use 'confidence' to judge her value."

"Only those who are valuable are approached. Those who are not valuable can be ignored regardless of all sentiments. I would not stoop to such a ridiculous thing. I have no shortage of strategists; I only care whether a person is interesting or not."

"A person who can fool everyone in the capital by pretending to be a simpleton is much more interesting than you hypocrites."

Shao Yunting seemed to realize something after being mocked, and a dark look of "bad luck" flashed in his eyes.

A group of women stood outside the carved windows of the hall.

They all stopped in their tracks and listened quietly to the conversation inside.

As Chu Jin listened to Shao Yunting's "concern" for Jiang Ruining, her brows furrowed slightly and then relaxed, as if she were lost in thought.

The other young ladies from prominent families, who were usually dignified and elegant, were all shocked and changed their expressions upon hearing the Regent's words of "hypocrisy."

They also noticed the difference in how the two people inside treated Jiang Ruining, and their eyes, filled with jealousy and anger, swept towards Jiang Ruining.

What gives her the right?

She's a good-for-nothing with no reputation, no talent, and no ability to manage a household. Who knows whose poems she stole? What right does she have to be compared to these perfect daughters of noble families?

Why were the Regent and the Duke of Shao's eyes drawn to this good-for-nothing fool?

Jiang Ruining listened to the two men's relaxed tone, yet every word they spoke was sharp and veiled, as if they both liked her very much. In reality, they were both cunning schemers who were plotting against and using her!

One or two of them are such good actors, it's a waste of their talent if they don't go to the theater to perform!

Nonsence!

Unfortunately, she couldn't afford to offend either of them.

The back of her head was almost scorched to ashes by the jealous and suspicious gazes of these two admirers. Right now, everyone inside and outside must be wondering if she was pretending to be a fool in order to peek into the secret they were trying so hard to hide.

One can imagine how much scheming and targeting she will have to endure from today onwards, her whole body feeling as if it's being pricked by needles.

I silently felt a chill for Shao Yunting and the young emperor!

Because she could tell that Xiao Che had seen through everything based on Shao Yunting's unusual behavior over the past two days.

In the book, because the young emperor's faction was secretly developing, they saw that Xiao Che was about to eliminate the Empress Dowager and Cui Sheng'an. Fearing that the court would fall completely into Xiao Che's hands, they had no choice but to step forward and cooperate with him to rationally encircle and scheme against Xiao Che.

But by then the young emperor had already accumulated enough strength to immediately retaliate against Cui Shengan and the others after eliminating Xiao Che.

Now that his ambitions have been exposed too early, even Shao Yunting's protagonist aura might not be able to save the young emperor from his ambition and schemes to seize control of the court. After all, the god of war is never a soft-hearted person, and he will ruthlessly nip any dangerous sprout that might threaten his reclaim of the throne!

Fortunately, from the beginning she only intended to achieve a "peaceful coexistence" with the male and female leads, and had no intention of following them in their careers.

Otherwise, she would be heartbroken to watch her boss go bankrupt.

"Aren't you coming in?"