The Host Has Fallen for the Second Female Lead Again - Chapter 94

“Let’s begin. It’s the spies. Get them out automatically.” Ji Mingxiao glanced at Xi Ruan. “Go get my sword.”

Xi Ruan nodded, turned, and went into the room. She came back with the sword that everyone believed Ji Mingxiao had never used.

Ji Mingxiao drew the sword immediately, twirled it, and her gaze was cold.

Wen Yue didn’t know what to do. She had never been in a situation like this.

“Yan Yan, calm down,” Wen Yue took a deep breath, forcing a smile. “I think there’s a really deep misunderstanding between us.”

Ji Mingxiao swung the sword back, the tip resting against Wen Yue’s neck. With just a little more force, the sword could pierce her throat.

Wen Yue’s face was ashen, the icy cold touch on her neck making it hard for her to think.

“I don’t think there’s any misunderstanding between us. Everything you’ve said was just to trick me,” Ji Mingxiao pulled at the corner of her mouth, looking a little unhinged. “You’ve been lying to me this whole time. You don’t love me at all.”

Wen Yue looked around, all eyes were on them.

She knew she was completely finished. She closed her eyes in despair.

With so many people watching, if the matter between her and Ji Mingxiao got out, her reputation would be ruined forever.

Ji Mingxiao wasn’t afraid; she was a princess. Even if she loved a woman, there would be no problem for her.

But Wen Yue was different. If Ji Mingxiao abandoned her, the Wen family would also disown her. No other noble family would accept a woman who had been with another woman as a proper wife. Ji Mingxiao was doing this on purpose. She could kill all the people who heard this, but the news would still spread as long as Ji Mingxiao was alive.

Wen Yue felt her hands and feet turn ice-cold. From the moment Ji Mingxiao made her move, her target was Wen Yue, using her to cause trouble for the Wen family. The Wen family saw Ji Mingxiao as a point of attack, and Ji Mingxiao likewise saw Wen Yue as one.

It was a test of who was smarter.

Xi Ruan watched from the side, her face expressionless, as if she were watching a play, feeling a little speechless inside.

Wen Yue’s mind was in chaos, and she couldn’t utter another word. Every time she tried to speak, the sword at her neck would shift.

She didn’t know if Ji Mingxiao truly dared to strike, but she didn’t dare to gamble with her life.

When Wen Yue left the palace, many people followed behind her. The palace maids were basically crying all the way out.

The news that Ji Mingxiao had Wen Yue and her spies escorted out of the palace quickly spread. The hottest topic in the capital recently was the Wen family.

Ji Mingxiao was very pleased. The more chaotic the current situation, the better. Chaos was to their advantage.

As for what would happen to Wen Yue when she returned home, Ji Mingxiao didn’t care at all. It would probably just be her smashing things, being scolded by Chancellor Wen, and questioning her life. She would definitely never regret it, but she would certainly resent Ji Mingxiao.

Wen Wan also heard about Wen Yue’s situation, but she said nothing and didn’t go to find Ji Mingxiao. She simply said she was feeling unwell and closed her doors to visitors, refusing to see anyone, including members of the Wen family.

“Wen Wan is so pitiful,” Xi Ruan sighed. She would have a much more comfortable life if she weren’t in the Wen family.

“Yes, but what can be done?” Ji Mingxiao patted Xi Ruan’s hand. “Don’t get too caught up in the act.”

After the palace maids left, Zhaoxun sent a new group of people, who were absolutely clean. Ji Mingxiao had System A check them thoroughly.

“What do you think Chancellor Wen will do next?” Xi Ruan asked, a bit curious about a matter as serious as planting spies in the palace.

“He’ll blur the focus and then turn the tables,” Ji Mingxiao clinked her cup against Xi Ruan’s, then took a sip of tea.

Xi Ruan didn’t ask any more questions. Judging by Ji Mingxiao’s expression, she knew she probably had a counter-plan.

“The plum blossoms in the Plum Garden are about to bloom,” Ji Mingxiao looked out the window. “Once they’ve all opened, we’ll go to the Plum Garden for hot pot.”

“Okay,” Xi Ruan nodded, her eyes lighting up.

Ji Mingxiao smiled at Xi Ruan’s reaction. “You really are a foodie.”

“As if you don’t like to eat, too,” Xi Ruan huffed lightly, her voice still carrying a hint of excitement.

“I’m not stopping you from eating. I’ll provide for you. Once we have enough points, I’ll let you eat over there too. Whatever you want.”

Xi Ruan swallowed. “The hot pot over there is really good. I had it once before. Even though it was all vegetables, the flavor was genuinely great.”

“That’s so sad,” Ji Mingxiao said, looking at Xi Ruan and stroking her hair. “Let’s go eat it again sometime.”

“It’s too expensive. Let’s not. Eating like this in this world is the same,” Xi Ruan shook her head.

Ji Mingxiao said nothing more, but she was determined to take Xi Ruan to eat it.

How could she let her live such a miserable life?

As expected, the next day, new rumors were circulating outside. They claimed that Ji Mingxiao had used her status as a princess to force Wen Yue, and now that she had a new lover, she wanted to drive Wen Yue away. Chancellor Wen had already begun shifting the public’s focus from his disloyal ambitions to Ji Mingxiao’s private life. The matter of the spies was completely ignored, pushed under the rug.

For this, Ji Mingxiao attended a gathering and brought the topic up casually.

“I must be truly incredible, to have forced a young lady of the Wen family when the entire palace is filled with Wen family spies,” Ji Mingxiao pulled at the corner of her mouth. “The wages the steward embezzled were probably also in the hands of the Wen family. Wen Yue was always asking me for all kinds of things, and I gave them all to her.”

“I forced her? Forced her to accept my money?” Ji Mingxiao glanced around at the people present, scoffing. “Everyone here isn’t stupid. You should understand the key issues at hand.”

No one dared to speak, they just exchanged glances. The noble ladies of the royalist faction nodded in agreement.

After the gathering, Ji Mingxiao’s words spread.

It was just a war of public opinion. Who was afraid of whom? Chancellor Wen needed to occupy the moral high ground to legitimately seize the throne.

Zhaoxun had completely handed over the management of the literati who wrote articles to Ji Mingxiao.

Every day, Ji Mingxiao would basically provide them with topics, they would write the articles, and then they would be distributed in the capital. Sometimes, they were even sent to other nearby cities.

Although information spread slowly between cities in ancient times, it was enough. Ji Mingxiao completely controlled the public opinion in several major cities. Most of Zhaoxun’s manpower was in her hands. She would selectively allow some of the rumors sent out by Chancellor Wen’s people to remain. If all the public opinion was in her favor, people wouldn’t believe it. The news she chose to keep was generally news that she could easily refute.

And because Chancellor Wen had not gained any advantage in their few clashes, many people had begun to take a wait-and-see approach.

After all, Chancellor Wen was the mastermind of a rebellion. Those who didn’t know he was planning a rebellion before had probably guessed it by now.

Most human behavior is driven by self-interest. A high-risk endeavor like rebellion would not be undertaken without foolproof confidence and immense benefit. As Chancellor Wen’s momentum slightly declined, people would begin to question whether it was truly worth risking their entire family for his ambition, especially since they weren’t the ones who would become emperor.

Ji Mingxiao was very satisfied with the current situation. Wen Zhaoyan and Zhaoxun had already identified the core members of the rebellion. Everyone outside of the core could be swayed.

As long as they grasped the opponent’s weaknesses, anything was possible.

Xi Ruan looked at Ji Mingxiao’s smiling face and couldn’t help but poke her cheek. “So excited?”

“Mm.” Ji Mingxiao caught Xi Ruan’s hand and kissed it.

Xi Ruan felt a ticklish sensation on her palm.

“When are you guys planning to take down the Chancellor’s mansion?” Xi Ruan pulled her hand back. “Stop kissing my hand, it’s so ticklish.”

“Soon,” Ji Mingxiao laughed. “Don’t be in a hurry.”

Wen Yue hadn’t reappeared since being escorted back. The palace maids who were taken back with her naturally didn’t have a good outcome, but Ji Mingxiao didn’t pay them much mind.

“No hurry,” Xi Ruan rested her chin on her hand.

She had been sleeping with Ji Mingxiao for a while now because the people in the palace had been replaced with honest and law-abiding ones. With the added cheat of System A, there was nothing to fear.

Xi Ruan was also becoming more and more unrestrained, openly not doing any work, and no one said anything about it. She even ate at the same table as Ji Mingxiao, and some people had already started to speculate, though they didn’t dare to speak their thoughts, only wonder silently.

Because of what Ji Mingxiao had done recently, people’s impressions of her had completely changed. She had become synonymous with being deep and calculating. So when the matter of her and Xi Ruan came out, others were a bit suspicious, wondering if there was some other motive, and didn’t believe the two of them were genuinely together.

“Now, when I walk through the palace, people just stare at me,” Xi Ruan propped up her chin, looking at Ji Mingxiao. “Before, people would still talk to me, but now no one even dares to.”

Ji Mingxiao raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t I talking to you?”

Xi Ruan rolled her eyes in annoyance. “You don’t understand the feeling. The way people look at me is just weird.”

“What’s there to be afraid of? When things are settled, I’ll tell everyone that I really do love you and that it wasn’t some kind of scheme.”

Xi Ruan: …

“People will look at us even more strangely then.”

“So what if they do? What’s there to be afraid of? Will you look down on me because of how others look at us?” Ji Mingxiao asked.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Xi Ruan looked Ji Mingxiao up and down. “Besides, I’m already looking down on you right now.”

Ji Mingxiao blinked, then the next second, she pounced on Xi Ruan, nuzzling her, and didn’t say a word.

“Get up,” Xi Ruan poked Ji Mingxiao’s waist. “Did you gain weight?”

“I didn’t gain weight, the princess did. What does Zhaoyan gaining weight have to do with me?”

Xi Ruan: …

Ji Mingxiao burst out laughing.

“You’re not going to eat yourself into a fat person, are you?”

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