Jiang Yeqian asked again, “She thinks the reason for my treatment of Qi Qingyao is that I suspect that she is the Harbinger…”

Zhao Xin frowned. He really did not know what to say to that.

“So, I just admitted to it.” Jiang Yeqian continued talking to himself, “The little empress no longer has her eyes on Qi Qingyao now.”

Zhao Xin carefully asked, “Is this not a good thing?” As a servant, he did not care about Qi Qingyao—but this Excellency had always paid attention to her.

Jiang Yeqian answered, “It’s a good thing, but also not entirely.”

“???” Where did that come from?

Zhao Xin had always felt that his Excellency meant something more than what he said and that his actions were intriguing.

It had gotten to a point where he did not really understand him anymore.

Jiang Yeqian took a carriage all the way to Qinglong River. Upon getting off the carriage, he stood by the banks of the river in contemplation for a long time before murmuring, “If the little empress had retracted her order and canceled the engagement, the coup on the capital of Northern Liang will have to be postponed.”

Then, he turned back to Zhao Xin and said, “Envoys from Eastern Ling will be arriving, especially within these next few days.”

Zhao Xin replied, “With the rumors that Miss Qi is the Harbinger, it’s likely that the objective of the envoys from Eastern Ling during this critical moment is not that simple.”

Jiang Yeqian shook his head and said, “The objective is very simple. Eastern Ling has lost Pang Juan and is now left with one grand master, Shiye, who is cultivating in Yunwu Mountain. Eastern Ling had initially thought that only Shang Li and Si Jin were in Northern Liang now and were afraid that we would attack them for no reason. That’s why they sent an envoy… It’s not so much to seek peace, and more looking to sign a temporary treaty of peaceful coexistence to ensure that Northern Liang doesn’t join forces with Daming to invade Eastern Ling. However, another grand master has unexpectedly appeared… Li Ruoxuan, the new grand master, is now a variable. That’s why I’m afraid the Eastern Ling envoy is not coming just to seek peace. A swift eagle will likely be delivering a message to Eastern Ling soon… ”

His Excellency thought that they might send another eagle? It was possible. “What’s their objective?” Zhao Xian asked.

Jiang Yeqian looked at the setting sun and the glittering river covered with speckles of gold. “To capture Qi Qingyao…”

“What’s the use of abducting Lady Qi?” Zhao Xin felt unable to keep up with his Excellency’s mind.

Jiang Yeqian lowered his head. He picked up a small stone from the ground and played with it in his hand. “Zhao Xin, are you really that stupid?”

Zhao Xin contemplated hard and said, “What the master means is that they think that the rumors are true and from there, want to capture Qi Qingyao—the Harbinger.”

Although the State Preceptor had ascended to grand mastership, Zhao Xin did not think that there was anything special about Qi Qingyao.

As for Si Jin, they had also investigated him, and his mysterious past indicated that he had some obscure origins. He was a grand master, but Zhao Xin also believed that that had nothing to do with Qi Qingyao.

“Regardless of whether she is or not, the whole world thinks she is. She is now the center of a vortex.” Jiang Yeqian threw the stone in his hand into the river. It was obviously just a small stone, but it created a wave in the water.

“So…what does the master intend to do?” asked Zhao Xin.

The corners of Jiang Yeqian’s mouth raised. “If Si Jin doesn’t appear, she can only rely on Li Ruoxuan to protect her. I’m afraid that… it will be very difficult to protect her now that she is so popular.”

Not to mention that there was likely something else to the little empress’s decision to cancel the engagement.

…

…

When the edict was sent to the Lu family soon after, it created a rather large shockwave within the Lu family. Lu Yan’s face was blank—no one could tell if he was feeling joy or sorrow. He calmly accepted the edict and returned to the courtyard.

Instead, it was the Lu patriarch who was rather distraught. He had also just received a report that the little lady named Qi Qingyao might be the Harbinger.

It was rather unbelievable.

What a pity that she would not be marrying into their Lu family.

Dong Jing followed Lu Yan back to the courtyard, then looked at the man as he leaned to sit against the green satin pillow. His black hair hung like black silk as he reclined idly. His gaze was, however, empty—as if he did not know where he was. There was an exceptionally large and fat white cat with a golden left ear at his feet. It was also lying about lazily, opening its eyes occasionally to glance at the man.

Dong Jing hurriedly sent for someone to deliver some steamed confectioneries, sweet dishes, and some other rare fruits and cheeses.

When the delicious confectioneries arrived, the man still had not opened his eyes, somewhat worrying Dong Jing. He gave a slight cough and spoke.

“Master, the palace has canceled the engagement.” He wanted to pull Lu Yan back to reality.

“I know.” The man reached an arm out and carried the large white cat by his feet into his arms.

“But you look like…” Dong Jing looked at the man’s sickly visage worryingly.

Lu Yan, “I’m fine.”

“Do we need to inform the others on Qi Qingyao’s side?” Dong Jing asked carefully.

Lu Yan finally frowned and looked up at Dong Jing, his gaze as if he was looking at a fool. “Do you think the palace only sent me, and not her, the edict?”

Dong Jing held his tongue and changed the topic. He asked, pretending not to know, “Master, do you think it’s related to the report about the Harbinger?”

“The imperial government is unwilling to hand the Harbinger to the Lu family for nothing.” Saying this, Lu Yan spread himself out on the arhat couch and said casually, “I’d rather she wasn’t the Harbinger since me liking her has nothing to do with if she is the Harbinger.”

Dong Jing, “…”

…

…

State Preceptor’s Residence.

Qi Qingyao had received the imperial edict before dinner time. Dinner was filled with contentment. Just as Qi Qingyao decided to return to the courtyard and loiter around with the triplets for a bit, Li Ruoxuan reminded her, “The envoy is arriving soon. You’d better get ready.”

“???” What envoy? What did it have to do with her?

Qi Qingyao did not question him.

Glancing at the sky outside, she walked out.

“Where are you going?” Li Ruoxuan asked.

Qi Qingyao turned around and hurriedly asked her protector, “Can I make a trip to the Lu Residence?” She wanted to have a chat with Lu Yan.

Li Ruoxuan frowned and said, “If you’re looking for Lu Yan, you had better ask him to come here.”

Hearing this, Qi Qingyao asked Zhu Shen to send someone to the Lu Residence to call for him on her behalf…

Zhu Shen first glanced at his master to make sure he did not have any objections before carrying out her order.

The staff within the State Preceptor’s Residence were efficient.

They had reached the Lu Residence in just fifteen minutes.

Dong Jing heard that someone from the State Preceptor’s Residence was calling for his master and was happy to report this to his master, who was lying half-dead on the arhat couch.

“Master, Lady Qi has invited you to the State Preceptor’s Residence for a chat.”

Lu Yan instantly sat up and the white cat in his arms fell to the ground. The white cat looked at the human with disdain and sighed.

“Really? She called for me?”

“Yes, the person from the State Preceptor’s Residence is awaiting your answer at the door so that they may return to report.”

“Answer that person, and tell them I will be there right away.”

“Understood!”

Immediately after that, Lu Yan quickly freshened up and changed his clothes. Cleaning up his appearance a bit more, he then got into the carriage and headed toward the State Preceptor’s residence. He was smiling the entire journey.

Dong Jing’s mood also improved as he saw this.