Chapter 167: Taking A Risk

Until Xie Wei had boarded the carriage and gone a good distance away, Jiang Xuening was still in a daze.

What was wrong with him?

She thought back to the time in her previous life when Yan Lin had returned after disbanding his troops, and she had felt uneasy, also telling Xie Wei something similar about severing ties after returning a favor. 

But he hadn’t reacted this strongly, had he?

This time, Xie Wei seemed… strange.

But where exactly was the strangeness? Jiang Xuening couldn’t quite pinpoint it.

In the end, she decided to put it out of her mind. After all, Xie Wei was someone whose mood was unpredictable and hard to please. If one could figure him out by spending time thinking about it, how would he manage to navigate the turbulent political scene?

What was important was that Xie Wei had agreed!

Although she had contacted Zheng Bao and found Zhou Yinzhi outside, the power they could exert was hardly enough to guarantee success—it was nearly a gamble with her life, and even then, it wasn’t without risks. 

But with Xie Wei, a key figure in the court, willing to help, the chances of success had increased significantly. And even if things went wrong, it would help prevent innocent people like Zheng Bao from getting involved.

Success is within reach!

Jiang Xuening nearly jumped three feet high at this thought. She returned to her room, and everything was calm. 

After Xie Wei’s stern warning, no one in the house dared to cause trouble for her.

Her only concern was the unwillingness of that person surnamed Xie.

To her surprise, after agreeing, he actually kept his promise. Early the next morning, Jian Shu came to her house with a formal invitation. 

He said that Master Xie, having accepted Lord Jiang’s entrustment, would naturally devote himself to Ning’er’s education. Therefore, he had asked Jiang Xuening to visit the Xie residence to test her academic progress.

Jiang Xuening initially believed it.

Upon arriving at the Xie residence, she felt extremely uneasy, trying hard to recall the books and the piano pieces she had practiced the night before. 

However, to her surprise, the Zhaoqin Hall was empty, and there was no sign of Xie Wei.

Jian Shu bowed and explained, “After returning yesterday, Master Xie instructed us to first gather information about the princess’s marriage, and some official documents should not be entrusted to others. So, we invited Miss Jiang here to review them. Master Xie has gone to the Youhuang Pavilion and left word that if you need anything, you can direct us, and we will handle it.”

Jiang Xuening immediately understood.

Xie Wei clearly avoided her, probably knowing that the task she was about to undertake was dangerous. 

He didn’t want to get involved in such a murky affair but, under pressure from her favor, reluctantly agreed. He figured out that out of sight, out of mind, so he sent a competent servant like Jian Shu to assist her while he kept his distance.

Jiang Xuening couldn’t have been happier.

If the grim Xie Wei were to sit in front of her while she discussed swapping people or kidnapping plans, she would be scared to death long before she could even speak.

Feeling relieved, she noticed the tense atmosphere in Zhaoqin Hall had eased, and she immediately relaxed, treating the place as her own. 

She casually invited Jian Shu to sit with her and started going through the documents related to the princess’s marriage.

Jian Shu dared not sit.

He stood by, handing her documents when she needed them, and assisting with writing materials when required. 

He remained completely formal, not daring to relax just because Xie Wei was absent.

Xie Wei’s subordinates were all as meticulous as he was. Jiang Xuening remembered in her past life, whenever she spoke alone with Xie Wei’s subordinates, such as Dao Qin and Jian Shu, they were always so formal. 

She had thought it was their natural temperament. When she called them twice and they didn’t sit, she simply focused on the materials in front of her.

The matter of the princess’s marriage was being handled by the Ministry of Rites.

The plan to send Princess Xiao Shu off for marriage was not working, and the emperor had no intention of changing his mind. 

This meant that soft tactics wouldn’t work, and the hard way was the only option. Understanding the entire process of sending the princess off for marriage became crucial at this point.

The date for Princess Shen Zhi’s marriage to the Tatars was set, calculated by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, for the 21st of March, less than a month away. 

The Ministry of Works had crafted a sturdy carriage and selected four fine horses to pull it.

The day before, the princess would worship at the ancestral temple with the emperor.

On the day of departure, she would need to rise early to apply her makeup, wear the phoenix crown and embroidered robe, cover her face with a veil, and bid farewell to her family and the emperor before leaving the palace. 

According to traditional customs, 800 elite soldiers from the Imperial Guard would be selected to protect her. The journey would begin in late spring, heading northwest with the weather perfect, neither too cold nor too hot.

At this point, there were roughly two plans for rescuing her:

The first option was to wait until the princess left the capital. After the guards became relaxed, there would be an opportunity to kidnap or swap her.

However, if the goal was to kidnap her, it would be easy. But if it was a swap, there was a problem—if the guards had already seen Shen Zhi’s face, the plan would be exposed no matter what.

The second option was to act before the princess left the capital. After bidding farewell to her family, she would directly board the carriage and leave the palace. 

The royal family would only observe from the city towers, so if someone bolder was found, someone who resembled the princess, was familiar with palace affairs, and volunteered to take her place, the guards would not suspect anything, as they had never seen the real princess before.

But this plan had a major flaw—it was far too dangerous.

The palace was heavily guarded, making any action risky and difficult.

After several mornings of careful consideration at Xie Wei’s residence, Jiang Xuening weighed her own resources and the extent of Xie Wei’s help. She decisively ruled out the second option.

The most reliable plan was the first one.

She carefully studied the maps at Xie Wei’s residence, pondering the situation. After much deliberation, she drew a line and marked several points on the map.

However, executing a mid-journey kidnapping would require a team of elite soldiers to succeed—800 elite soldiers of the Imperial Guard were not to be underestimated.

Though she still had some money left, which could be used for support and to arrange Shen Zhi’s future, bribing people from the outside to kidnap the princess was risky. 

First, it was uncertain whether those people had the capability; second, they might not have the courage; third, if the plan failed and was exposed, no one would be safe from the consequences.

Although Zhou Yinzhi could be useful, Jiang Xuening had reservations about him.

This was the moment when seeking help from Xie Wei seemed most appropriate.

Jiang Xuening explained her plan to Jian Shu.

While others thought Xie Wei was just a regular scholar, she could tell from Jian Shu and Dao Qin’s skills that he was not as simple as he seemed. She also knew of the things he had done in her previous life. If he didn’t have some significant backing, it would be strange.

So, if he had no other support, that would be surprising.

Jian Shu wrote down her request and said he would pass it on to Xie Wei when he returned, asking Jiang Xuening to come again the next day.

Every time she was in the house, Xie Wei was never there.

Jiang Xuening thought his temperament was becoming increasingly odd, but she assumed that the task at hand wasn’t particularly difficult, so he would probably agree.

To her surprise, when she arrived the next day, Jian Shu said, “Master Xie says that if the princess were kidnapped by ordinary mountain bandits, it would inevitably lead to the court investigating the matter. Even if Princess Chang escapes for a moment, she may not be able to escape forever. Since Ms. Jiang has decided to take this risky step, why not go for a dual approach, combining both the swapping and kidnapping strategies? Master Xie will handle the arrangements for the Imperial Guard. We will also send a ghost to take the place of the princess, saying that she died during the kidnapping. With the princess’s personal token, no one would ever suspect that the real Princess has already made her escape. This way, we can eliminate future threats.”

Jiang Xuening’s heart tightened upon hearing this.

Had she not considered this plan?

After all, it could resolve everything in one go, severing the imperial family’s search for Shen Zhiyi.

However, while kidnapping was somewhat manageable, pushing an innocent person to take the fall for Shen Zhiyi’s death was a different matter. 

First, it was hard to find a suitable candidate, and second, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Moreover, based on her superficial understanding of Xie Wei from her previous life…

Jiang Xuening looked up Jian Shu and asked, “This conversation probably isn’t finished yet, right? The marriage concerns the peace talks between two nations. If something happens to the princess, the situation becomes much more complicated. Since you agreed to the plan of kidnapping, wouldn’t you also take advantage of this golden opportunity? The person who kidnaps the princess and ‘kills’ her will likely not only disguise themselves as bandits but also leave traces linking them to the Tatar royal family, creating a false trail to incite suspicion between the two countries, and perhaps even stir up war.”

Jian Shu remained silent.

Jiang Xuening’s heart tightened further. “If war breaks out, there will be troops dispatched. The Xiao family’s paper tiger will be crushed easily, but in a military crisis, even if the court opposes and the emperor is unwilling, they will have to call back the old generals, hastening the process to reassemble the army.”

In this case, the Marquis of Yongyi’s family would return!

Jian Shu hadn’t expected Jiang Xuening to think of this angle, which was almost identical to his master’s plan from yesterday!

Jiang Xuening said, “Am I right?”

Jian Shu didn’t answer but lowered his head and said, “In any case, my master said that since you sought his help, he will certainly assist you. You can make the plans you need, and my master will make his own plans. They won’t interfere with each other.”

“…”

After a long while, Jiang Xuening finally smiled.

Compared to the grand plan Xie Wei had in mind, her idea seemed petty and narrow. If she were to fall out with Xie Wei, saving Shen Zhiyi would become an incredibly risky venture, and she wasn’t even sure if Xie Wei was secretly sabotaging her. But since she had agreed, the outcome might differ from her expectations, but at least saving the princess seemed almost guaranteed.

And as for the Marquis’s family…

She thought for a moment but chose not to speak further.

In the end, she said, “You’ve thought of everything; naturally, we’ll follow your master’s plan.”

The preparations for everything were then hurried along.

The news of Prince Linzi’s search for a consort had caused quite a stir, especially with the simultaneous selection of both the princess and the concubines, which sparked much discussion in the capital. In March, there were lantern festivals, temple fairs, garden strolls, and the common people prayed for the princess about to depart for the marriage alliance, celebrating for many days…

Beneath this lively surface, a bold plan was unfolding.

Time flew by in the preparations and wait, and before long, it was the day before the wedding.

Everything had progressed smoothly.

However, after finishing her reading at Fengchen Hall, Jiang Xuening couldn’t find an appropriate reason to enter the palace and could no longer see Shen Zhiyi. But she wasn’t anxious. All the preparations were in place, and she only needed to enter the palace the day before the marriage to bid farewell to the princess. At that time, she would lay out the plan, and it would still be seamless.

But what Jiang Xuening hadn’t anticipated was that, at this crucial moment, an unexpected turn of events occurred—

“The latest news from the palace is that the Noble Consort Xiao has proposed to the Emperor that the entire Yulin Army be replaced with the Imperial Guard,” Jian Shu said, his expression darkening as he continued. “Originally, many members of the Yulin Army were old subordinates of the Marquis’s family, already arranged by my master. There was no mistake in the plan. But Xiao Shu insisted on replacing them all with the Emperor’s trusted men to ensure the safety of the marriage. This means that in front of so many people, the plan to swap the princess will be extremely difficult to pull off. Unless…”

Xiao Shu!

Across the divide of past and present, Jiang Xuening thought to herself that, in the end, she had crossed paths with this person.

She said, “Unless we abandon the plan to replace her midway. The Imperial Guard has never seen the princess, so we must swap her out before the princess bids farewell and leaves the palace!”

“Indeed, but this method is very risky, and…”

Jian Shu paused at this point.

Jiang Xuening looked at him.

Jian Shu then spoke, “Moreover, my master feels that Xiao Shui’s actions are quite unusual. It seems as though she has sensed something about the plan to rescue the princess. She even requested to personally handle the marriage alliance, which, in a subtle way, seems to be in direct opposition to you.”

Jiang Xuening understood what he meant.

Xie Wei’s implication was that Xiao Shu’s intentions were so clear, it was as if she knew who had pushed for the princess’s marriage arrangement recently, and Xie Wei was concerned whether she had inadvertently exposed any clues or vulnerabilities.

The Jian Shu asked, “Kunning people inside the palace is far more dangerous than doing so outside. Is Miss Ning—”

“No.”

Jiang Xuening’s heart burned with anger. She stood up abruptly, letting out a cold laugh.

“She dares to take control of the marriage herself; she must be bold! What better opportunity to send her a big gift?”

Xiao Shu requesting to handle the marriage was a move that could backfire if something went wrong under her watch. With Shen Lang’s temperament, that dog of an emperor would make sure she paid the price!

Just as she had once been wrongly implicated in the jade Ruyi case, unable to find evidence but certain that Xiao Shu was behind it, Xiao Shu had probably sensed that someone was pushing the marriage arrangement and, therefore, was convinced that Jiang Xuening was involved.

Jiang Xuening knew well that both she and Xiao Shu understood each other’s animosity. Even though they might try to cover it up, neither would let suspicion fall on innocent people!

It was obvious that Xiao Shu had set a large trap, waiting for her to fall into it.

But Jiang Xuening actually wanted to take the risk.

Taking a dangerous chance still left a sliver of hope. If she backed down now, she would have to watch Shen Zhiyi die in a foreign land!

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