She had no idea how she had been drugged, let alone how she could have drugged the Emperor.
If she had such abilities, she wouldn't have had to constantly humble herself to please Noble Lady Liu.
"Don't..."
When their passionate kiss deepened, Jiang Xinyue's hands had already slipped inside the Xuanwu Emperor's robes. As the tingling sensation spread throughout his body, just before his last thread of rationality snapped, the Emperor caught her wandering hands.
"Ah!"
Jiang Xinyue thought the Emperor would carry her like a princess, but instead, he grabbed her hand and began running.
They passed through the back corridor of the room, then ran past an elaborate corner tower, until they came upon an enormous glass greenhouse.
The transparent greenhouse was filled with vibrantly blooming flowers and plants, meticulously arranged by the servants who maintained it in an orderly and clean manner.
Clusters of flower branches hanging from the ceiling created a natural screen for the glass greenhouse.
"Mmph!"
Jiang Xinyue's tall, graceful figure was roughly pressed against the greenhouse wall by the Xuanwu Emperor, causing the hanging flower branches to quiver and scatter petals across the ground.
Their fingers intertwined as the flower branches shook even more violently...
In a secluded part of the garden, Lady Ruan and Jiang Yankun stared at each other in shock, while lying unconscious on the ground was Pei Zhishuo, who had just been harassing Lady Ruan.
Jiang Xinyan approached and asked, "Mother, are you alright?"
Lady Ruan shook her head: "Fortunately, the people Sister Xinyue assigned to protect me all knew some martial arts. Earlier, a eunuch said you had fainted here alone and asked me to come help you. Knowing I had Sister Xinyue's people protecting me, I thought there wouldn't be any major issues, so I came looking for you."
She looked guiltily at Jiang Yankun: "I didn't know this was Pei Zhishuo's trap. He just tried to assault me."
Thankfully, Sister Xinyue had prepared for this possibility.
Jiang Yankun's face turned black as coal. He walked up to Pei Zhishuo and kicked him in the back, causing the unconscious young man to groan in pain.
Jiang Xinyan seized the opportunity to speak: "No wonder the Emperor told Sister today to find me a good husband - he must have already known Pei Zhishuo wasn't a good person."
By saying this, Xinyan was conveying to Jiang Yankun that the Emperor was well aware of all the movements and interactions among his officials.
It would be best not to do anything inappropriate or harbor any improper thoughts.
His plan to marry Xinyan into the Pei family was simply because he believed the Emperor was becoming increasingly intolerant of the Pei family, and would eventually find an excuse to deal with them, just as he had done with the Song family.
If Xinyan could infiltrate the enemy's ranks and steal even a bit of information, it could serve as justification for the Emperor to take action.
When that time came, if the Emperor's beloved Xinyue whispered sweet words in his ear out of concern for her sister, even if he couldn't secure the position of Minister of the Privy Council for himself, at least he could gain entry into the Privy Council.
The Privy Council was the highest administrative office of the current government. Entering it meant becoming the successor to the current and former prime ministers. The Minister of the Privy Council commanded the Six Ministries and was the most powerful civil official at court.
Every civil official at court with any ambition or aspiration dreamed of entering the Privy Council, becoming a close minister to the Emperor, handling the Great Yan Dynasty's highest secrets, and wielding the power to promote or demote hundreds of officials.
The Emperor was always wary of those prestigious noble families with deep backgrounds, but his Jiang family was different!
The Jiang family had been merchants for generations, and in current society there were only four classes of people: scholars, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants, with merchants ranked last - the lowest and most despised.
He had no background at all. Those noble families looked down on his origins and wouldn't conspire with him to control the government. Instead, they would try every means to bring him down and replace him with their own people.
What the Emperor needed was a sharp blade that would oppose the noble families!
Hearing Xinyan speak this way now, he became alert again and said to her with a gloomy expression: "This matter shouldn't be publicized. Your mother's reputation is important. You two should return to the banquet first; I'll handle things here."
Pei Zhishuo was already coughing blood on the ground. The eunuchs and palace maids had beaten him severely, and with father's kick just now, his internal organs must be injured. Jiang Xinyan bit her lip and supported Lady Ruan: "Then father must seek justice for mother."
Even if they couldn't make it public, they couldn't let him off so easily. He must pay for his impropriety.
How could Jiang Yankun let Minister Pei off?
The Emperor was watching for his mistakes. If he didn't strip off a layer of his skin this time, he wouldn't be Jiang Yankun.
At the banquet, Minister Pei was smiling more broadly as he thought about his spy in the palace, someone no one would ever suspect.
However, his satisfaction didn't last long. A young eunuch hurried forward and whispered something to Minister Pei's personal attendant.
The attendant then urgently reported in his ear: "My Lord, young master... he's in trouble."
He had been caught in the act of harassing the wife of Lord Jiang, the Minister of Punishment, and had been beaten within an inch of his life.
As for how the two old foxes would handle this, that was their business.
Jiang Xinyan watched Minister Pei hurry out, then met Lady Ruan's gaze. Where was the fear and weakness in mother's eyes now? There was only... craftiness after achieving her goal?
"Mother! You... you are..."
"Shh!"
Lady Ruan gave a mastermind-like smile and shook her head at Jiang Xinyan: "Mother knows nothing. Mother is the victim."
That Pei Zhishuo, just an immature boy - what were a few mild insults from him?
She had been a dancer at the Ruyang Prince's Residence, a person of lowly status with no rights. To survive and please the nobles, she had smiled through far worse insults. What did his few words matter?
The Emperor wanted to deal with the Pei family, and her husband was calculating about the Pei family's influence. She was merely using her advantages to satisfy both the Emperor and her husband.
As the "victim," she needed everyone's sympathy. She was just an innocent white flower, not a black lotus with deep schemes.
"Xinyan, you should learn from your sister. Even if you have the ability to deal with your enemies yourself, don't let men think you're ruthless. When he loves you, even your cruelty will seem clever to him. But if he stops loving you and recalls your actions, he'll only feel cold-hearted, thinking you would stop at nothing for wealth and glory. You must hide your sharp edges and let men do the dirty work. Stay pure and clean - always be the sacred moonlight in his heart."
This method might not work for everyone, but in this patriarchal feudal society, it was undoubtedly the best approach.
Jiang Xinyan received a harsh lesson from her mother today, and finally understood who her sister had inherited her gentle demeanor before the Emperor from.
A crescent moon hung in the sky as soft whimpers came from the glass greenhouse: "Your Majesty, are you... are you finished? Shouldn't we go back?"
If they didn't return soon, others would notice that the Emperor and his Noble Consort had disappeared together.
