Chapter 197: At the hour of the Rooster, the Drum Tower, located at the intersection of Chengtian Avenue and Dingding Avenue, struck the evening drum signaling the end of the workday.

Ding Suian, having changed into casual clothes, and his colleagues filed out of the Nine Gates Patrol Yamen, cupping their hands in farewell before heading home to their respective families.

The setting sun melted into gold.

It gilded the blue bricks and dark tiles of this majestic City with a soft, golden edge.

The streets remained lively; peddlers and porters hawked their wares, children chased each other at the alley entrances, and the aroma of food and the chatter of diners wafted from teahouses and taverns.

Carriages rattled, pedestrians wove through the streets, and everywhere was a scene of peace and prosperity in a flourishing age.

He returned straight to his home on Suimian Street, waiting until the deep night of the hour of the Boar to climb over the wall and head out.

The empty Chu County Dukes Residence still had lights on in both the rear quarters and the front courtyard.

Everything looked as usual.

The hour of the Boar.

In Xingning Ward, a resident returning late passed by the Minister’s Residence and vaguely saw a figure flash across the wall.

Startled, he hurriedly whispered to his companion, “Old Zhang, I think I just saw someone inside the Minister’s Residence.”

Upon hearing this, Old Zhang glanced at the peeling, lacquer-chipped gate of the residence, his voice trembling, “Don’t scare me! The entire household of the Minister’s Residence was implicated in the Qin Shou case last year, and all the men in the house died. The residence has been abandoned for a year, how could there be anyone inside!”

Hearing Old Zhang say this, the two felt the Minister’s Residence was all the more eerie and terrifying, and they quickly quickened their pace.

No matter how luxurious a residence is, once it is no longer inhabited, the speed of its decay is astonishing.

“Creak~ Creak~”

In the third courtyard of the deep residence, atop a pitch-black two-story pavilion, Gongye Ni had tried hard to tread lightly, but with every step, the loose floorboards emitted a slight groan.

By the window, Ding Suian stood tall, looking toward the three-courtyard residence separated by an alley.

“Lord, the brothers are all in position.”

“Mm, let’s wait.”

Last night, the plan Chen Duan had just agreed upon within the estate had already been turned into detailed text and placed on the desk of Princess Xingguo this morning.

As one of the people in the know, according to his vision, they should have directly surrounded Prince Anpings Estate and rounded up both human and material evidence in one fell swoop, which would have easily resolved the matter.

But Princess Xingguo chose not to do so.

Not only did she want to wait for Chen Duan to fully launch his move, but she also assigned Ding Suian the task of protecting the residences of various high-ranking officials and the family members of princes of different surnames staying in the capital.

It must be said that in this situation of waiting for the rabbit to strike the stump, his assignment was quite sweet.

After all, after tonight, the high-ranking court officials and family members of princes of different surnames whom he and his subordinates had protected would owe him a favor.

According to Lin Hansu, this matter was not something she had fought for on behalf of Ding Suian, but rather the wish of Your Highness herself.

Previously, there was the rescue of war prisoners from Southern Zhao, which had earned him prestige in the army.

And now there was this event.

Although Ding Suian did not interact with Princess Xingguo much, he couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation in his heart.

This woman, who wielded immense power in Great Wu, seemed to always be helping him accumulate merit and build a reputation in a covert way.

Could it be that Princess Xingguo and Old Ding also had an affair?

After all, Old Ding also hailed from the Princesss Residence guards; could it be that the affair between a guard and his mistress was hereditary?

The third quarter of the hour of the Boar.

The night grew deeper.

Prince Anpings Estate was heavily guarded.

Chen Duan was dressed in golden armor with a treasured sword at his waist.

This suit of armor was an imperial gift bestowed by his Imperial Grandfather during his coming-of-age ceremony at the age of twenty.

Wearing it now, it seemed to carry an added layer of symbolic meaning.

He walked into the bedroom with light steps.

On the bed, his ten-year-old eldest son was sleeping soundly, a trace of youthful heroism already faintly appearing on his tender Face.

Chen Duan stood by the bed, his cold gaze softening involuntarily.

He leaned over, wanting to stroke his son’s cheek again, but worried that his cold hands would wake the boy, he stopped halfway and eventually withdrew his hand.

The wife of Prince Anping, who was sitting by the bed, slowly stood up.

Under the candlelight, her Face was slightly pale, and deep within her eyes was an unconcealable worry.

Although a sense of foreboding lingered in her heart, she knew well that in the Face of the relentless pursuit by the Prince of Linping, the arrow had already left the bow and the sword had been unsheathed; there was no turning back.

Any dissuasion or worry, if spoken, would be useless talk that would only shake the morale of the army.

She gathered all the chaotic emotions in her eyes, adjusted her clothes, and faced her husband, who was in full military attire.

She performed a deep, solemn bow, her posture dignified and submissive.

When she raised her eyes again, she had managed to squeeze out a gentle yet firm smile.

“I will be here, awaiting Your Highnesss triumphant return.”

“Mm.”

Chen Duan raised his hand to gently stroke the Princesss cheek with the back of his hand, then turned his head to look at his son, saying only, “Take good care of Jun’er~”

Having said this, he turned and left decisively.

At this very moment, the scene inside the Princess Xingguos Residence was quite different.

Relaxed and peaceful.

“Hehe, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, I’ve finished again.”

On the couch, there was a small square table.

Princess Xingguo, Zhao Yan, and Ruan Ruan sat in a triangle, while Lin Hansu sat behind Princess Xingguo, explaining the rules to her.

But no one expected that Princess Xingguo, playing cards for the first time, would win consecutive games after losing the first one.

This caused Zhao Yan, who considered herself a veteran, to lose Face.

While shuffling the cards, she muttered in a low voice, “Your Highness, this is called beginner’s luck. Everyone wins when they first learn, but after a few rounds, it won’t work anymore.”

“Oh? Who said that?”

Princess Xingguo smiled without smiling, while Zhao Yan replied, “My husband said it!”

“Hehe, is everything your husband says correct?”

“Uh, most of it is.”

After shuffling, they started another round.

Princess Xingguo calmly organized the cards in her hand, her gaze calm and unruffled.

Zhao Yan quietly raised her foot and gently tapped Ruan Ruan’s knee under the table, then quickly winked.

The meaning was obvious: use the old trick, join forces to ‘take down’ Your Highness!

Back in Southern Zhao, the two of them had used little cheating tricks to swindle Old Man out of plenty of money.

But this time, Ruan Ruan felt the movement under the table and her body stiffened almost imperceptibly.

Far from responding, she pulled her knee back, lowered her eyelids, and stared fixedly at the cards in her hand, even softening her breathing, afraid that Princess Xingguo at the head of the table would notice any clue.

Swindling Old Man was one thing; he was old and his eyesight was failing, so he couldn’t detect it.

But the person in front of them was the Princess Xingguo of our Great Wu!

Ruan Ruan didn’t dare.

Seeing Ruan Ruan acting like an ostrich, Zhao Yan couldn’t help but blink again, sending urgent signals.

But Ruan Ruan simply buried her head lower, pretending not to see.

Seeing this, Zhao Yan could only glare angrily at her useless teammate.

The bold are stuffed, the timid are starved!

Ruan Ruan, you coward!

Opposite her, Princess Xingguo likely noticed something and laughingly helped Ruan Ruan out, “Ruan Ruan, what is the name of this game?”

Ruan Ruan, temporarily escaping from Zhao Yan’s coercive gaze, breathed a sigh of relief and blurted out, “It’s called ‘Fighting the Mother-in-Law’!”

“…”

Princess Xingguo, who was organizing her cards, had her fingertips stiffen almost imperceptibly, then she laughed, “Why such a strange name.”

Zhao Yan, to the side, puffed out her chest proudly, “This game used to be called ‘Fighting the Landlord’, taught by my husband.”

“But later, Sister Princess said this name was easy to offend people, so I changed it to ‘Fighting the Mother-in-Law’!”

Lin Hansu smiled and nodded.

It was good that she was thoughtful in this household.

There were so many landlords in Great Wu; why would you want to fight them for no reason and offend people?

Besides, she, Lin Hansu, was now the largest landlord in Lanyang.

How could one fight against oneself!

Princess Xingguo turned her head to look at the dignified Lin Hansu, “You certainly think things through~”

“Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness~”

Lin Hansu felt that she must be tired; otherwise, why would she feel that Your Highness’s words had a somewhat sarcastic tone?

“A three~”

Princess Xingguo seemed quite interested in this topic.

She looked at Zhao Yan again and said casually, “‘Fighting the Landlord’ offends people, so aren’t you afraid of offending people by naming it ‘Fighting the Mother-in-Law’?”

“Haha~ Your Highness, you don’t know, I don’t have a mother-in-law!”

“Hehe. You seem quite happy about it.”

“A seven! I’ve heard Wansu talk about it. Oh, Wansu is the head maid beside Sister Princess; she said that when Sister was in Lanyang before, she was forced by a wicked mother-in-law to almost be buried alive with her husband—super bad, super bad!”

“A Queen.”

“A two. In this world, not all mothers-in-law are bad.”

Inside Wangqiu Hall, the candlelight was dim.

The usually solemn and deep hall now looked more like the living room of an ordinary household.

The crisp words of young girls, small arguments, and occasional bursts of laughter.

Even the palace servants standing by could not help but sigh, as if they had never seen such a relaxed and comfortable side of Your Highness.

But the rare, stolen moments of warmth were, after all, short-lived.

At the second quarter of the hour of the Rat, a roar sounded without warning outside the residence, followed immediately by the crisp sound of metal clashing.

Just a few breaths later, the commotion grew louder, reaching Wangqiu Hall from afar.

Although Lin Hansu had known about tonight’s events in advance, she couldn’t help but straighten her body in tension.

Zhao Yan pricked up her ears and listened, suddenly saying, “Ah! It sounds like there’s a fight outside!”

As she spoke, she threw the cards she was about to lose onto the table, stepped off the couch, put on her embroidered shoes, and was about to go out to watch the excitement.

“Come back~”

The voice was soft, but very forceful.

Softness and strength seemed to fuse perfectly in Princess Xingguo at this moment.

Zhao Yan subconsciously froze her body.

Turning back to look, she saw that the gentle smile that had just lingered on Princess Xingguo’s brows had quietly faded away.

The eyes looking over were calm and deep, carrying an unquestionable majesty.

Zhao Yan shrank her neck, obediently withdrew the foot she had already stepped into her embroidered shoe, and lowered her head as she shuffled back to sit on the couch.

When Princess Xingguo occasionally revealed her ferocity, Zhao Yan’s reaction was not simple fear, but stemmed from the instinctual submissiveness of a beast toward the strong.

Zhao Yan’s intuition told her that Princess Xingguo was not to be trifled with.

“As a young girl, why join in such excitement?”

Princess Xingguo’s voice had returned to its previous affability.

She then looked at the others and softly comforted them, “Matters of fighting and killing will be handled by others. You all sit honestly and keep me company playing cards.”