Qian Yuanbao forced himself to return to the manor. Li Nuan, with her keen observation, noticed his pale complexion and quickly poured him a cup of tea.
"Did something happen?"
Thinking that this matter could only be concealed for a while, not forever, and that he still had to send the person to Taihe Temple, he decided to be direct.
Li Nuan was shocked. "You're saying Lord Li An has rebellious intentions? He's in league with Qin Lang?"
Li Nuan instinctively felt something was amiss. In this era of peace and prosperity, the current Emperor was a rare wise ruler. Historical records stated that rebellions only occurred during times of natural disasters or when the ruling officials were incompetent.
"What are you going to do? Tell the Emperor about this?" Li Nuan asked.
Qian Yuanbao shook his head. "We don't know the extent of Li An's influence yet, and I don't have any evidence. If I rashly tell the Emperor, even though he has a close relationship with our Qian family, he might not believe me. If Li An finds out, I fear for your safety and the child's, as well as your grandmother's. Besides, Baifu is also in their hands! I can't guarantee that our manor isn't infiltrated by their people."
"Baifu? Didn't Baifu return with you just now? How is he in their hands? Was that person not Baifu? No, it was clearly Baifu," Li Nuan was a little confused.
"Li An has many capable individuals. That person was disguised as Baifu, and the disguise was very successful. Not only that, but he even mimicked Baifu's subtle mannerisms so perfectly that even I, let alone you, thought it was Baifu. Li An himself admitted that the person was sent by him, supposedly to protect me. In reality, he was monitoring my every move. Moreover, he was highly skilled and didn't take Bai Su or the people around me seriously." Thinking about it, Qian Yuanbao became very angry. He had promised Baifu that he would help him have a grand wedding. Now, it was uncertain if Baifu could even return safely.
Li An, knowing full well the relationship between the Qian family and the Emperor, didn't hide his rebellious intentions from him at all. Therefore, Qian Yuanbao speculated that Li An had many trump cards, enough to make him confident that the throne would be his.
Qian Yuanbao had never concerned himself with matters involving court politics before. He always felt that with Emperor Chongwen supporting the Qian family, he didn't need to think about these things. Furthermore, in such matters, he always relied on Gu Sinian.
Considering that Gu Sinian was now far away at the border, and Qi Zhenzhen suspected those people were Qin Lang's, and now the connection between Li An and Qin Lang had been revealed.
So, could all of this have been orchestrated by Li An? Deliberately causing trouble to lure Gu Sinian to the border?
Qian Yuanbao's head ached, and he couldn't untangle the connections.
"Let's not talk about this. You pack up and go back to your maiden home. Tell your parents that you're going to accompany your grandmother to Taihe Temple for Buddhist rituals," Qian Yuanbao said, shaking his head. "I won't feel at ease if you and your grandmother are alone in the manor. Who knows if that madman will go back on his word."
"I'll only escort Grandmother there. I'll stay in the manor to accompany you," Li Nuan said without hesitation, not wanting to be separated from Qian Yuanbao.
"Li An asked me to do things for him, so he likely won't let me be idle. If I'm away, and you're left alone in the manor, how can I be at ease? If you fall into his hands, it will be a restraint on me."
Li Nuan understood the seriousness of the situation and had no choice but to obey Qian Yuanbao.
"After you go, discuss this with Qi Zhenzhen in detail and see if she has any ideas. However, Li An seems so confident that I don't think Qi Zhenzhen can interfere much." Qian Yuanbao was frustrated. "We can only take things one step at a time!"