With the cannon fodder script in hand, it is easy for the king to change his fate

"Your Majesty, should we arrange for someone to follow him all the way?" Yuan Qi asked. She had a feeling that Zhou Hanyi's sudden return to Wenling Mountain was not as simple as it seemed, and that there was probably a conspiracy they were unaware of.

With so many things happening to the Zhou family lately, their reputation is on the verge of ruin. Zhou Wenling, the head of the family, can't just stand by and watch.

After a moment of contemplation, Azhen was about to suggest arranging for two guards to keep an eye on things when she changed her mind: "No need."

"Let him be."

There's a hunch that sending someone to keep watch might be fraught with danger. What kind of danger could possibly put even the Heavenly Guard in peril?

Azhen relied on her own strength to not need anyone to investigate her, and she was not afraid of Zhou Wenling's schemes.

An ordinary emperor would certainly not have overlooked these things.

Yuan Qi was puzzled, but she always obeyed orders.

On second thought, it was His Majesty who established the Zhao Kingdom. Even if the Zhou family possessed extraordinary abilities, at most they could only find opportunities to hinder His Majesty. If the Zhou family truly intended to usurp the throne, their reputation would be even worse; their image was already established. If they were to actually attempt to usurp the throne, given the current situation, they would only earn the contempt of the entire world.

"You didn't bring Zhou Huo back, did you?" Azhen suddenly asked.

Yuan Qi said, "No, that's not true. Zhou Huo did suffer external injuries from the fire at Chunhua Tower that day and needs to recuperate. The weather isn't warm yet, and with Zhou Huo's mental state and injuries, he can't withstand the strain of traveling."

"Hmm." Azhen was thinking that someone who could erase the traces of an entire dynasty must not be an ordinary person. If that person were still alive and still connected to the Zhou family, they might actually be able to help resolve Zhou Huo's mental instability.

What caused Zhou Huo to become mentally impaired were just some ordinary drugs from the world; they were nothing to those with special abilities.

For example, she could resolve this situation without using any medicine.

Regardless of who it is or whether they still exist, if the other party dares to appear in front of her, they definitely won't be able to escape, and she can settle both the old and new scores together.

The recent incident involving Zhou and Huo has sparked much discussion, but with the imperial examinations approaching, the atmosphere in the capital has quickly become tense.

These students who went to the capital for the imperial examinations spent less time outside and studied diligently indoors.

Ji Zixing was the most unhappy among the students preparing for the exam. He never expected that Zhou Huo would not only fail, but also fall into trouble himself.

Fortunately, he only agreed to let Zhou Huo help test Chen Fangjin, but he did not discuss framing him with the other party.

After Zhou Huo's incident, he would visit the Zhou residence from time to time to check on the situation.

Even Zhou Hanyi, the head of the family, couldn't find any fault with him.

Having finished his studies, he visited Zhou Huo at the Zhou residence, only to learn that Zhou Hanyi had returned to Wenling Mountain.

The Zhou family's explanation was twofold: first, they were going back to pay respects to their ancestors; second, they had heard that a skilled itinerant doctor had appeared in the area, and they wanted to see if they could meet him.

As Ji Zixing left the Zhou residence, he said a few words, hoping that Zhou Hanyi's trip would go as planned and that Zhou Huo would recover soon.

Once back in the carriage, the smile on his face vanished.

He was certain that Zhou Huo had failed to harm Chen Fangjin this time and had instead been harmed himself. His investigation suggested that Chen Fangjin wasn't the one who made the move, but he wasn't sure which force was stirring up trouble. Given the current state of the Zhou family, many forces would be happy to bring them down.

There's nothing we can do about Chen Fangjin now. Since the fire at Chunhua Tower, and with the imperial examinations approaching, patrols in the capital have increased.

At such a critical juncture, he must not act rashly, otherwise he might accidentally bring trouble upon himself.

Ji Zixing still felt a lingering fear and relief after what happened last time. Fortunately, he had anticipated the Zhou family's reaction and used Zhou Huo's help in dealing with Chen Fangjin; he himself had no involvement whatsoever. Even Zhou Huo himself didn't think there was anything wrong with him.

He was still not very happy. Xie Ping was someone he had been eyeing for a long time, but after the imperial examinations, he had absolutely no chance.

The woman in the palace only had one close brother, Prince An, who had three daughters. Besides Xie Ping, there were also Xie Kui and Xie Nuo.

He's still too young to do much. Besides, he thinks he's too opinionated and difficult to manage.

As for Xie Kui, they are from completely different worlds and can't even get along. If he tries too hard, he'll only expose himself.

Let's talk about it after the imperial examinations.

There's no point in holding onto hope with Xie Ping anymore; we can only wait until after the imperial examinations to see if we'll have a chance to get close to Xie Kui.

On their days off, the other person's favorite thing to do is to go hunting with three or five friends, not because they don't have the opportunity.

If he really wanted to have something going on with Xie Kui, he would have to plan it out carefully.

The whole capital knows that he is infatuated with Xie Ping, so he can't suddenly have any feelings for Xie Kui. It would be best to make Xie Kui have feelings for him, let her take the initiative, and then find a suitable opportunity to let them get together naturally.

"Aren't you coming out? Do you want me to drag you out?" Xie Kui, who was inside the house, shouted at a spot on the roof beam.

Three months ago, she had a vague feeling that someone was following her.

But at that time, the location was still uncertain, and the opponent's martial arts skills were very powerful.

Seeing that the other person hadn't done anything wrong and seemed to be simply following her, she remained silent, secretly improving her martial arts skills. It wasn't until three days ago, when she was certain that her skills were sufficient to subdue the person, that she finally spoke up.

A figure descended from the roof beam. Before Xie Kui could ask anything, the figure bowed to her and said, "Greetings, Princess Kui. I am Thirteen, and I was sent by His Majesty to protect you. Now that your martial arts are superior to mine, His Majesty will be pleased to know this and will no longer worry about you being in any danger."

"I see." Xie Kui said this, but she didn't let her guard down. "Now that you've been exposed, will Aunt punish you?"

"No, Princess Kui doesn't believe in my identity?" Thirteen could tell. He thought to himself that although Princess Kui had a carefree personality, she was actually quite vigilant. He couldn't help but praise her inwardly.

"That's true to some extent," Xie Kui chuckled. "Is there any proof?"

That's definitely not the case.

To avoid being exposed, these bodyguards don't carry any clear identification tags.

As for how they identify themselves to their own people, they have special tattoos.

"Let's go to the palace. I've been wanting to see my aunt. My martial arts have improved quite a bit lately, so I'll go and show off my skills to her."

In the palace, when Azhen saw Xie Kui appear with Thirteen, she knew that Xie Kui's martial arts had surpassed Thirteen's, and she was very satisfied.

Having confirmed Thirteen's identity, Xie Kui stopped dwelling on the matter.

"Aunt, thank you." Xie Kui said this frankly, not expecting her aunt to care so much about her safety. "Do all of us sisters have bodyguards around us?"

“Yes,” Azhen said, “This matter cannot be told to anyone.”

“Okay, I know.” Xie Kui leaned closer to Azhen and chuckled. “If they want to know, they can observe for themselves. I’m not going to tell them anything. It’s a skill to discover things for yourself.”

Azhen chuckled slightly. (End of Chapter)