Prince An's Motive

"Follow me."

Guard Bei said, turning around and walking away without looking back to see if Shi Yi was keeping up. Shi Yi knew he held a grudge against her, so she didn't mind.

She followed him to the backyard. Bei Zhencheng walked straight and then turned left, stopping after a while. Pointing to the room inside, he said,

"The servants' quarters are all full. You can temporarily stay in this room. After all, you are His Highness's personal maid, so it's only right that you have a comfortable room."

"Ah, thank you."

She smiled at him. Guard Bei quickly avoided her gaze. He asked,

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

She replied softly,

"I think you're a good person. Even though you have a grudge against me, you didn't mistreat me and even arranged such a spacious room for me. I'm very grateful."

Just a few words from her made the gruff young man, who knew nothing but martial arts, smile involuntarily. *Don't you know that this lady is a master of romance? If I want you to treat me well, I have ten thousand ways.*

Then she stepped into the room and called out,

"I'm going to rest for a bit."

Afterward, she lay down on the soft bed, closing her eyes with an extremely comfortable expression. She had no idea that Bei Zhencheng stood outside, peeking through the crack of the door at her for a long time before leaving with a smile.

Guard Bei returned to the study and reported to Prince An,

"Your Highness, I have arranged her accommodation."

"Mhm."

Prince An only hummed in response and continued reviewing memorials, paying no attention to his guard who was still standing there. After a long while, he asked,

"Is there anything else?"

"No, Your Highness."

"Then dismiss."

Bei Zhencheng scratched his head, looking extremely flustered. He then gathered his courage and said,

"Actually, there is one thing I don't quite understand."

Prince An spoke up,

"About Shi Yi, right?"

He nodded repeatedly.

He set down the memorial, walked slowly toward him with his hands clasped behind his back, and said,

"Yesterday, when I visited Sister-in-law Lin Ling, I happened to run into her there."

"Is this woman really that formidable? How did she know Sister-in-law's location?"

Prince An shook his head,

"That's impossible. It was probably just a coincidence. Besides, she was heavily injured; she wouldn't have the peace of mind to seek out Sister-in-law Lin Ling. She also doesn't bear the mark of Tianwu Valley."

"Then did we capture the wrong person?"

"There are only two possibilities. First, she has nothing to do with it. Second, she is a close contact who specializes in communicating with Yuwen Hu and that hidden figure. Therefore, I am keeping her by my side to easily monitor her movements. If she contacts the outside, we can lure the snake out of its hole. It's truly killing two birds with one stone. You should also keep the military tally safe. Since they haven't realized it's a fake yet, we can still use the same old trick."

"Your Highness is wise. However, how do we keep track of her?"

Prince An took a small gourd-shaped vial from his robes and tossed it to Bei Zhencheng,

"Give her this. Even if she flees to the ends of the earth, our tracking mice will be able to sniff her out."

"Yes, this subordinate will do it immediately."

Saying so, Bei Zhencheng hastily withdrew and went straight to the kitchen. He waved over a young maid.

"Guard Bei, what is it?"

"Prepare a meal for me."

"Yes, please wait a moment."

The maid quickly placed several dishes, a portion of rice, and a bowl of soup onto a tray, then handed it to Bei Zhencheng,

"Here you go, sir."

He took the tray and walked through the backyard to Shi Yi's room. At this moment, she was lying on her back, crossing her legs and swinging them while lost in thought. Seeing Bei Zhencheng enter, she sat up abruptly and asked with a smile,

"Guard Bei, what's the matter?"

"It's already past noon. I was worried you might be hungry, so I brought some food over."

"Really? You're so nice!"

Guard Bei scratched his head sheepishly,

"It's nothing. Go ahead and eat. I'll take my leave. Oh, once you're done resting, head over to His Highness's place. After all, you are his personal maid, so you should do some work to keep up appearances."

After instructing her, Bei Zhencheng quickly left.

In the room, she felt a bit suspicious: *One second cold and aloof, the next gentle and attentive. Men of ancient times are truly strange. No, there's definitely something fishy.*

Shi Yi laid the food out on the table, resting her chin on her hands as she pondered: *Could they have tampered with my food?* Thinking of this, she leaned close to the dishes and sniffed. She detected something unusual in the soup. Suspicious, she scooped a bit into a bowl and examined it closely.

As a professional assassin, she had studied a fair share of pharmacology, so she could identify most substances. *This isn't poison. Drinking it won't cause any adverse reactions. I've heard Prince An cherishes his mice, and their sense of smell is extremely keen. This must be some kind of tracking drug so he can easily monitor me. This An Dinglun is truly suspicious. Since that's the case, I'll just play along.*

Without hesitation, she drained the bowl of soup. *After all, I am innocent, so I have nothing to hide. Once the deadline is up, he will surely give me the antidote.*

Shi Yi continued to eat and drink to her heart's content. Despite her petite figure, her appetite was by no means small. She finished every single dish on the table, not forgetting to smack her lips in praise. Anyone who saw this would probably fail to recognize her as a woman.

After eating, her stomach was completely full. She set down her chopsticks and stepped outside, ready to begin her duties as a maid.

A moment later, she arrived at his study. Outside, Guard Bei was on duty. Seeing her, he asked warmly,

"Have you finished eating? How do you feel?"

"I'm done, it was delicious. Thank you."