It was as if an unspoken game had broken out between the two of them—whoever spoke first would lose.
Clouds of confusion swirled in Yun Chuhuan's eyes as he glanced between them, clearly at a loss. Seated steadily before the imperial desk, Emperor Xuanwu finally broke the silence.
"Just now you said, apart from the Sixth Prince and your hidden guards, no one else knew that the maid left a final message for you?"
"Yes."
Yun Shu raised her eyes and met Emperor Xuanwu's gaze, silently trying to guess why he asked such a question.
A moment later, the emperor called out again.
"Sixth."
"Y-yes, Father Emperor!"
"Not a word of today's events is to leave this room. Should you speak even a syllable, We shall fine you ten thousand taels of gold and have you flogged. Do you understand?"
His expression was stern, and his tone left no room for doubt. He was not joking.
Yun Chuhuan jolted with fright, nodding like a woodpecker.
"Yes, yes, this son understands. I swear I won't speak of it to anyone, not even to my Consort Mother!"
Ten thousand taels of gold!
If Father Emperor really fined him that much, he would not see even a single copper coin for the rest of his life!
He zipped his lips shut with a motion of his hand, miming a stitching gesture to show his resolve.
Emperor Xuanwu nodded in satisfaction.
"Then let this matter be treated as if it never happened."
"What do you mean, never happened?"
Yun Chuhuan had barely stayed quiet for two seconds before he burst out again.
"Father Emperor, will you allow Crown Prince Imperial Brother to frame Fifth Sister without consequence?"
"No. We want your Fifth Sister to handle it on her own."
Emperor Xuanwu's gaze fell deeply on Yun Shu.
"What means the Crown Prince may use against you, and how you shall respond—these are matters for you to consider. We grant you permission to use any and all methods necessary to protect yourself."
"...Any and all methods?"
Yun Shu had not expected that coming here to report an injustice would earn her this kind of response. She blinked, momentarily stunned, then cautiously asked,
"If I were to accidentally harm Crown Prince Imperial Brother..."
"We said, any and all methods."
He repeated the four words slowly and clearly. Though Emperor Xuanwu's face revealed nothing, his body leaned forward ever so slightly.
"You must judge the situation for yourself."
Yun Shu stood there in silence.
Wasn't this the very Imperial Father who loathed seeing his children fight amongst themselves?
What did this mean now?
No wonder they said the imperial heart was unfathomable. Before, their sibling squabbles were little more than childish games, so she had never experienced this side of him. She had thought she was lucky, that her Imperial Father was of a rare, broad-minded kind.
But on closer thought, this man was the victor of the previous succession war.
The former emperor had more than ten sons, and only this one had risen above them all. How could his mind be anything but complex?
Yun Shu left the imperial study, her head filled with swirling thoughts. Speculations flashed one after another, only to be dismissed in turn.
Enough. Overthinking would only give her a headache.
She would proceed step by step and do her utmost to protect herself.
If things truly took a turn for the worse, then in the end, she could simply ask Imperial Father to exile her to Qiongzhou.
Others of this era scorned Qiongzhou for its remoteness and poverty, but she did not mind at all.
With her villa at her side, Yun Shu quickly shook off her distractions. Her footsteps grew lighter with each step.
She was unaware that after she and Yun Chuhuan left, Emperor Xuanwu remained seated behind the imperial desk, unmoving like a statue.
In truth, from the moment he decided to elevate Shen Jingshu from Side Consort to Main Wife, he had already begun making preparations to depose the Crown Prince in the coming months.
The results offered by the Simulation Life Selection System had never been wrong.
Though many details had shifted along the way, Shen Jingshu still became pregnant with the same disabled child that would, in time, spell the downfall of the Crown Prince.
This was a sin the Crown Prince had brought upon himself. He had been given chances. Not only had he failed to repent, he had become even more reckless. Being deposed would be no more than he deserved.
Emperor Xuanwu, for all his moments of softness, was an emperor first and foremost.
He could forgive once, even twice, but not forever.
With a temperament like the Crown Prince's, if he truly ascended the throne, the Yun family's empire would not last.
But choosing another heir now was no easy matter.
The Eldest Prince was fit only for the battlefield. The Third Prince was a notorious wastrel. The Fourth was too rigid in thought.
As for the Fifth...
Clever, candid, full of spirit—but she still needed him, her Imperial Father, to coax her into taking the Merchants' Association seriously. Her laziness and free-spirited nature made her seem better suited to life as an idle princess.
And the Sixth? Best not even mentioned.
Before the Fourth barged in with his talk of how the Crown Prince's actions defied propriety and that rewarding such behavior would be an affront to good governance, Emperor Xuanwu had been mired in this very dilemma.
But then Fifth and Sixth arrived to report that the Crown Prince was once again targeting her.
In that moment, Emperor Xuanwu realized something.
The Crown Prince and Empress had once kept their guard up against the Eldest Prince, wary of his ambition and the threat he posed to the succession. But somewhere along the way, their focus clearly had shifted.
Now, they no longer saw the Eldest Prince as their greatest rival.
They had turned their attention to the Fifth Princess.
A girl not yet fourteen. A daughter, born of a low-ranked concubine who had died in childbirth.
No mother to shield her. No maternal clan to support her. No allies in court.
By all reason, the Fifth Princess should have been beneath their notice.
But they feared her all the same.
Not for what she possessed, but for what she could become.
She alone was enough to make the Crown Prince and Empress feel cornered.
That, in itself, told Emperor Xuanwu everything he needed to know.
So what if she was not versed in governance?
He was not yet so old. She was only thirteen. Time was still on their side. She could learn.
As for her laziness...
That, too, could be remedied.
The idea had taken root in Emperor Xuanwu's mind, but such matters touched the fate of the entire dynasty. Any change in the heir must be handled with the utmost care.
Thus, the Crown Prince's attempt to strike at Fifth Princess became a test.
If she could handle it well, he could begin guiding her in the path of the Crown Princess.
If not...
Well...
She was still young, and unlike the Crown Prince, she had no major faction behind her. Should that wretched boy truly act with lethal intent...
Knock. Knock. Knock.
With his middle and ring fingers, Emperor Xuanwu tapped the desk three times in a steady rhythm.
A flicker of shadow passed in his peripheral vision, and in the next instant, a masked figure in black knelt silently before him.
"Send two men to follow the Crown Prince. Watch his every move, especially anything involving Princess Sheng An. If necessary, you may use any means required to protect Sheng An."
To protect Princess Sheng An, even if it meant sacrificing the Crown Prince.
There was no ambiguity in those words.
Anyone else hearing them would have been shaken to the core.
But the Dragon Shadow Guard existed to obey the emperor. They did not question.
Even faced with such a chilling command, the figure merely lowered his head and answered without hesitation.
"Yes."