After that drop of concentrated essence of venom slid into the latrine bucket, the light in Xiao En's eyes gradually intensified. He interlocked his hands, performed another gesture, and gradually calmed the chaotic currents of true qi within his body. Within the Supervisory Council, he had always been subjected to torture and poison. The former director of the Seventh Bureau, with his bald head, understood his physical condition very well, so he had an excellent grasp of the limits, always keeping Xiao En on the edge.

After leaving the capital, Fan Xian's methods were even more overbearing, directly injecting poison intravenously, which caused great damage to Xiao En's physical functions. But just like what Fei Jie had told Fan Xian when he was young, the most crucial thing about using poison was the "application" itself. It wasn't necessarily the case that the stronger the poison, the better the effect.

After all, Fan Xian lacked experience in dealing with special individuals like Xiao En. He didn't seem to realize that after twenty years of torment, Xiao En's body had already accommodated hundreds of various toxins. These toxins had formed a certain balance within his body, preventing him from dying but also preventing him from finding a way to expel the poison with his true qi.

And what Fan Xian had used this time was like a mountain-clearing axe, forcibly cutting into the intricate knot of ropes. Although the breaking of the knot brought great pain to Xiao En, it also allowed this formidable figure, who had been immersed in the art of poison and conspiracy for decades, to find a sliver of an opportunity to untie the knot.

Xiao En slightly curled the corners of his lips. His dry lips, set against the backdrop of his snow-white hair, looked extremely terrifying.

Suddenly, he retracted the cold glint in his eyes, and his entire body slumped, immediately appearing much older. His body simply exuded the scent of an old man.

The convoy slowly came to a stop, and they began to look for a suitable place to set up camp by the lake. The Black Knights in the distance, like a gust of cold wind, swept past the right side of the envoy, scouting ahead and then returning to the group. Wang Qinian took out the key from outside, opened the well-sealed iron door, and walked in with a respectful expression. He served Xiao En food and clear water, carefully helped him tidy his face with a wet towel, and finally asked, "Would you like me to comb your hair today?"

Xiao En shook his head, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, but it weakened powerlessly. He said in a slightly hoarse voice, "When is Lord Fan coming today?"

He was asking about Fan Xian's daily poisoning routine. Wang Qinian replied with a smile, "We're not far from the border. Lord Fan means that Master Xiao can be spared the daily suffering."

No trace of joy appeared on Xiao En's face. He simply closed his eyes and asked, "I heard that this Lord Fan will be in charge of the Qing Kingdom's Internal Treasury next year?"

Wang Qinian assumed that Fan Xian had told this person, so he didn't pay much attention and said with a smile, "Yes, that's the richest place in the world."

"Richer than the Ye family?" Xiao En revealed a hint of contempt at the corner of his lips.

Wang Qinian was startled, then he remembered this unfamiliar name and said with a smile, "The Ye family has long been scattered."

"What?" Xiao En seemed to have thought of something. The look in his eyes was somewhat shocked, and he quickly hid it. Seeing that he didn't have anything more to talk about, Wang Qinian secretly breathed a sigh of relief, took the latrine bucket from under the chair, and hunched over as he got out of the carriage.

...

...

Wang Qinian covered his nose, carried the latrine bucket to the other side of the convoy's campsite, and went to the tent in the middle. He put the bucket down and complained, "He's such an old guy, and he still defecates so much all day long."

"After being imprisoned for twenty years, his physical functions have recovered so quickly. I'm also wondering if this old guy is even human," Fan Xian said with a smile, turning around and walking to Wang Qinian's side. He opened the lid of the latrine bucket, frowned slightly, and said, "It really stinks."

—————————————————————

"That move is really bad."

In that magnificent detached palace in Xinyang City, the white gauze curtains fluttered in the gentle spring breeze. In the early spring weather, the detached palace was surprisingly cold. The palace was planted with nothing but winter plum blossoms, which was extremely similar to the Guangxin Palace in the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Behind the white gauze, the gentle and delicate woman reclining on the low couch smiled enchantingly as she looked at the confidant who was placing stones on the opposite side.

This confidant's surname was Huang, and his given name was Yi. The name was ordinary, but he was an extremely resourceful person. Listening to the Eldest Princess's words, he smiled steadily and said, "In front of the Eldest Princess, even the world's best Go players can only make bad moves."

"Not necessarily." Eldest Princess Li Yunrui's mind conjured up that handsome face, and she laughed inexplicably. "That child is a smart person. Don't think that his smoothness is all because Fan Jian and the Emperor are close. I have never understood why Chen Pingping likes my good son-in-law so much."

Huang Yi shook his head and gently patted his long leg, saying, "There's no way to explain it. If we have to explain it, we can only guess that His Majesty likes Fan Xian."

"The Emperor likes Chen'er, that girl, so loving the house and its crow is possible. And Fan Xian is good at both literature and martial arts, so it can be considered as saving face for the Emperor," the Eldest Princess said with a gentle smile. "It's a pity that he's too clever for his own good and ultimately made a bad move. The envoy's rear team is going around those small vassal states, which seems safer on the surface, but in reality, the vast grasslands and the boundless lakes are precisely good places to escape to."

"According to the reports, the Black Knights are there."

"I know that too," the Eldest Princess said with a smile. "So it depends on whether Xiao En can escape on his own."

"Why would Xiao En want to escape?" Huang Yi frowned and pondered. "According to the Eldest Princess's agreement with Shang Shanhu, as long as Xiao En can return to his country and rise again in the future, the imperial court and their master and disciple can work together from the inside and outside, and they have a full 40% certainty of overturning the current Northern Qi royal family."

"Xiao En is not an easy person to control... just like Chen Pingping," the Eldest Princess said with a smile. "If he returns to the north according to the itinerary, he will be completely under the control of the Northern Qi royal family. Maybe it will be another twenty years of imprisonment until he dies of old age, which will not help our plans with Shang Shanhu in any way... I sacrificed my reputation and sacrificed Yan Bingyun, that pitiful official, just to exchange for Xiao En's freedom. Only in this way will Shang Shanhu fulfill his promise... I will not allow anyone to destroy this matter."

"What if Shang Shanhu goes back on his word? He is, after all, a general of Northern Qi."

"Would Xiao En be willing to work for Northern Qi? Moreover, if I take action, even if Shang Shanhu doesn't betray us, I'm afraid those stupid members of the Zhan family will force him to do so."

Huang Yi said with a smile, "The Eldest Princess's calculations are flawless, and no one can match them."

"Don't flatter me," the Eldest Princess said, covering her lips and smiling shyly. "I'm far inferior to the Emperor."

She suddenly sighed and cast her gaze through the heavy white gauze curtains, not knowing where it landed. Her incomparably beautiful face looked somewhat infatuated, her eyebrows were like paintings, and her expression was like a celestial being. Huang Yi couldn't help but stare blankly.

"The Yan Zhi incident last time had a great impact on the Princess's reputation," Huang Yi said in a deep voice after a long time, finally breaking free from the beautiful scene just now. "Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find out who was responsible. However, according to news from the Ye family of the Kyoto Garrison, the assassin incident at Guangxin Palace should be inseparable from the Supervisory Council."

The Eldest Princess was still supporting her chin and staring infatuatedly at the sky, seemingly not hearing what he was saying. After a long while, she softly parted her lips and said, "Don't pay attention to these trivial matters. What we need to do now is to completely pull Shang Shanhu onto our ship."

Huang Yi was silent for a moment, then suddenly revealed a trace of anger and said, "In my opinion, this is not a trivial matter. Your Highness the Princess has been planning day and night for the imperial court. During the Niulan Street incident last year, the ignorant people and corrupt officials only thought that the Eldest Princess wanted to kill Lord Fan and regain control of the Internal Treasury. How could they know that the Eldest Princess was seeking an opportunity for His Majesty to send troops to the north... The imperial court has gained a large amount of territory from this matter, but who will remember your relationship to it?"

Annoyance gradually appeared between Eldest Princess Li Yunrui's eyebrows, and she waved her hand and said, "There's no need to say any more."

Huang Yi looked at the Eldest Princess's beautiful face, steeled his heart, and said, "Let's talk about the Yan Bingyun incident. Originally, Your Highness the Princess had only secretly arranged it, but unexpectedly, it was exposed by those petty people. Now, the people of Qing Kingdom all think that Your Highness the Princess is colluding with foreign countries. Don't those foolish people understand that with Your Highness the Princess's status, what benefits could she gain even if she colluded with foreign countries? People always only see the surface of things, but they don't know the wonderful plan secretly arranged by Your Highness the Princess will bring to the imperial court."

The Eldest Princess looked at him coldly, and after a long while, she suddenly said, "Notify me when Yuan Hongdao arrives."

Huang Yi hesitated to speak.

After a long while, the Eldest Princess chuckled and said softly, "The world laughs at me for being too crazy, I laugh at the world for not seeing through me. As long as the Emperor is well and Qing Kingdom is well, I won't care about those things."

Huang Yi's heart skipped a beat, and he vaguely sensed something, but he trembled and dared not say more.

"Chen Pingping should have his own plans," the Eldest Princess said with a slight smile. "I believe Fan Xian, that lovable child, also has his plans. Speaking of which, everyone's external goals are about the same, but there are some differences internally... If Xiao En fails to escape this time, then after we arrive in Shangjing, let our people contact the envoy and let Fan Xian cooperate with our actions."

Huang Yi was greatly shocked and thought, how could we join forces with the enemy?

Seemingly guessing what he was thinking, the Eldest Princess was delicate and unbearable, but she contained hidden mockery and said, "Some things are not for you to consider. Are you saying these things today to move me?" A hint of absurdity flashed in her beautiful eyes. "In this life, what I hate most is being moved by you vulgar people."

"Your subordinate dares not," Huang Yi was covered in sweat, raised his head to look at the Eldest Princess, and asked softly, "Then should Yan Xiaoyi's plan regarding Lord Fan be temporarily suspended?"

"Why should we suspend it?" The Eldest Princess looked at him with a smile, and the coldness made Huang Yi lower his head. "I really like Fan Xian, this child, this son-in-law has not disappointed me, so I really can't bear for him to be too far away from me... Whether dead or alive, he should be a very handsome young man, right?"

This most inexplicable beautiful woman of Qing Kingdom slowly raised her face, her clear and beautiful face was incomparably firm, thinking, who said that women can't shine on the stage of the world? Since there had been one before, she would definitely be able to become the second one.