Night had fallen over the capital, shrouding the bustling streets in silence.
In the Seventh Prince's Manor, the main courtyard was quiet, but inside the Indigo Cloud Study, the candles were burning bright.
Normally, this study was a forbidden zone. Even Nanny Li dared not approach it without permission. It was rumored that the Prince liked to read poetry here in solitude to soothe his illness.
But tonight, Ji Wanyin was standing right in the center of it.
"Sit," Xie Lanzhou gestured to a rosewood chair opposite his desk.
He had removed his outer robe, wearing only a loose black inner garment. The sickly powder was washed off, revealing his natural skin—pale, yes, but glowing with health and vitality. He looked relaxed, like a predator resting in its den.
Ji Wanyin sat down, her eyes scanning the room.
On the surface, it looked like a scholar's sanctuary. Shelves filled with scrolls, a guqin (zither) in the corner, and calligraphy paintings on the walls.
"You didn't bring me here just to drink tea, did you?" Ji Wanyin asked, fingering the 'Shadow Thorn' ring on her hand.
"Smart girl." Xie Lanzhou tapped his finger on the desk.
Click.
A hidden mechanism triggered. The bookshelf behind him slowly rotated, revealing a wall covered not in books, but in small wooden tablets hanging on hooks. Each tablet had a name written on it. Some were red, some were black.
Ji Wanyin's eyes widened slightly. She recognized some of the names—high-ranking officials, generals, even palace concubines.
"The 'Spider Web'," Xie Lanzhou said softly, watching her reaction. "While the world thinks I am coughing up blood in bed, my eyes and ears are everywhere. The red names are those I can control. The black names... are those who need to disappear."
He stood up and walked to the wall, his finger tracing over a black tablet labeled 'Minister Ji'.
Ji Wanyin's father.
"Your father, Minister Ji, has been secretly selling military provisions to the barbarians in the North," Xie Lanzhou said casually, dropping a bombshell. "I have the ledger. I can destroy the Ji family with a flick of my wrist."
He turned to look at her, testing her. "If I destroy your family, will you hate me?"
Ji Wanyin let out a laugh. It was a cold, bitter sound.
"Hate you? I would hand you the knife." Her eyes burned with intensity. "The Ji family treated me like livestock. My father sold me for political favor. My stepmother poisoned my own mother. Destroying them... is my lifelong dream."
Xie Lanzhou smiled, satisfied. "Good. We are on the same page."
"However," Ji Wanyin interjected, standing up and walking toward the wall. "You can't destroy Minister Ji yet."
"Oh? Why?"
"Because he is just a pawn. The person truly buying those provisions isn't a barbarian leader," Ji Wanyin reached out and tapped a blank space on the wall, next to the tablet of the Third Prince. "It is your brother, the Third Prince."
Xie Lanzhou's eyes narrowed. "You know this? Even my spies haven't confirmed the buyer's identity."
Ji Wanyin paused. She knew it because in her past life, the Third Prince used this money to fund a rebellion three years later. But she couldn't say that.
"I have my ways," she said vaguely. "I spent eighteen years in the Ji manor. I heard whispers in the shadows that no one else noticed."
She turned to face him fully. "If you strike Minister Ji now, the Third Prince will just cut off his tail to survive. You need to wait. Wait until the Autumn Hunt. The Third Prince will try to smuggle a batch of 'Cold Iron' weapons into the hunting grounds to stage an assassination."
"That is when we catch him," Ji Wanyin clenched her fist. "We catch both the seller and the buyer. One stone, two birds."
Xie Lanzhou stared at her. The atmosphere in the room shifted.
Before, he saw her as an interesting toy, a useful partner.
Now, he looked at her as an equal. A strategist who could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
He walked closer to her, invading her personal space until he trapped her against the bookshelf. The scent of ink and cold pine enveloped her.
"Wanyin," he murmured, his voice low and dangerous. "Who exactly are you? A neglected daughter of the Ji family shouldn't know about Cold Iron smuggling."
Ji Wanyin didn't flinch. She looked up, meeting his gaze head-on.
"I am the ghost who crawled back from hell to drag them down with me," she whispered. "Does it matter where I got the information, as long as it helps you sit on that Dragon Throne?"
Xie Lanzhou looked at her lips, then her eyes. For a moment, the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Then, he laughed. A genuine, boisterous laugh.
"Hahaha! Good! Very good!" He stepped back, his eyes shining with excitement. "You are right. It doesn't matter. As long as you are my wife, your secrets are safe with me."
He walked back to his desk and picked up a brush. He wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to her.
"This is the layout of the Royal Hunting Grounds for next month. Study it. Since you want to play a big game, I will give you the stage."
Ji Wanyin took the map. "I won't disappoint you."
"I know you won't." Xie Lanzhou sat back down, picking up his teacup. "Now, go back to sleep. I have letters to write. And... Wanyin?"
"Yes?"
"Tomorrow, don't wear so much makeup. I prefer your natural face. It looks less... deceptive."
Ji Wanyin smirked. "Says the man who pretends to be dying every day."
"Touché."
She turned and left the study, the heavy door closing behind her with a soft click.
Inside the room, Xie Lanzhou watched the closed door for a long time. He touched the spot on his chest where his heart was beating—a little faster than usual.
"A ghost from hell..." he muttered to himself, a smile playing on his lips. "Perfect. Because I am the devil himself. We are a match made in heaven."