After a moment of contemplation, Pan Xian said, “Your Highness might directly negotiate with the Third Prince and clarify what he wants. Since the Third Prince is so concerned about Miss Yi, Your Highness could use her as a bargaining chip, negotiate terms with him, and then let him return home. As long as the Third Prince does not have an incident in this residence, if something happens to him in another place after a day or two, it would have nothing to do with Your Highness.”
Luo Ye raised an eyebrow, thinking this plan might be feasible.
But if Pan Xian truly had ulterior motives, he found it hard to decide. Concerned about whether Yi Yao might wake up due to the drug’s diminishing effect, he told Pan Xian, “Since my third brother has sent word that he was drunk, he can stay in the residence tonight without arousing suspicion. This prince will go check on Miss Yi’s condition.”
“
Pan Xian was not particularly pleased and, hearing Luo Ye’s tone suggested he did not want Pan Xian to follow him to Yi Yao’s location, said, “This subordinate will wait here for Your Highness.”
Seeing Luo Ye furrow his brow and stop speaking, the old servant carefully said, “Your Highness, there is one more thing. When we were bathing the young lady, we discovered an extremely strange object on her body. Please take a look.”
Luo Ye opened the wooden box handed over by the servant and, upon seeing the thin-as-cicada-wing yet transparent object inside, even the usually composed Luo Ye couldn’t help but exclaim “Oh” and asked, “Where was this found?”
The servant replied, “It was attached to the young lady’s left arm. When we were bathing her, we noticed something raised on her arm. We initially thought it was a wound on her skin, but upon careful examination, we realized it was something separately attached.”
A personal terminal, once attached, should normally adhere tightly to the skin. However, when the servants were undressing Yu Yi, they were careful not to pull forcefully.”
As they pulled down her bulletproof system along her arm, a corner of the terminal was scraped up and discovered by a servant during bathing.
Luo Ye gently lifted Yu Yi’s personal terminal, holding it in his palm and examining it for a while, yet unsure of its purpose.
Hearing the servant say that Yi Yao had attached it to her arm, he tried placing it on the outside of his own arm, smoothing it down. After the terminal adhered to his body, it sensed his finger’s touch, emitting a faint blue fluorescence where his fingertip made contact. However, Luo Ye didn’t know the gesture password to activate the terminal, and the fluorescence quickly disappeared after his finger left.
Seeing the weak fluorescence flicker with his touch, Luo Ye found it miraculous and was suddenly excited, his heart racing. He looked up at the servants in the room, seeing them with heads slightly lowered, unaware of the object’s extraordinary nature. Still, he wasn’t at ease and asked, “Did you touch this object?”
The servant responded, “Your Highness, after removing it from the young lady’s arm, we placed it in the box and did not dare to move it.”
Luo Ye shook his arm, seeing the object remained as if grown on his skin, then lowered his arm, letting his sleeve slide down to cover it. After pondering for a moment, he ordered, “Continue to administer her medication on time.”
Then he left the room.
Since Yi Yao was no longer pure, his original plan to possess her body and then force her to marry him was no longer viable. However, the two rare treasures discovered on her body intrigued him. To trick Yi Yao into revealing the purpose of the arm-attached object, he would need a reasonable explanation for the previous drugging incident.
Luo Ye returned to where Pan Xian was waiting, and together they went to the door of the room holding Luo Zhan, first ordering the guards outside to withdraw.
After the guards left, Pan Xian softly called, “Third Highness.”
The room remained silent.
“Third Highness?”
“This prince has already gone to sleep. Whatever you have to say, have the second brother come tomorrow,” came Luo Zhan’s indifferent voice from inside.
Luo Ye weighed the situation and said to Meng Qing, “Getting Yi Gu’niang is equivalent to getting Yi Ya’s son. What I’m worried about is that Third Brother, with the help of Yuwen Xiansheng and Yi Ya’s son, might forget the promises he made when forming an alliance with me.”
Meng Qing replied, “Second Brother can be at ease. Zhan does not want to invite Yi Ya’s son out of retirement. Zhan is only concerned about Yi Gu’niang herself.”
Luo Ye snorted, “If you truly want Yi Gu’niang, Third Brother should exchange her for Yuwen Xin’s life.
Meng Qing angrily said, “Second Brother, you are deliberately making things difficult for Zhan.”
Luo Ye calmly said, “Third Brother, consider your own choices.”
He proposed this condition not just to make things difficult for Luo Zhan. If Luo Zhan truly agreed, losing Yuwen Xin would be like losing an arm. As long as Luo Ye held this leverage, he could control Luo Zhan completely.
Meng Qing was silent in the room for a while before saying heavily, “Okay. But Second Brother must promise Zhan that you will not harm Yi Gu’niang before Zhan completes all arrangements.”
“I promise you. However…” Luo Ye’s tone changed, “Third Brother, don’t take too long. Within two days, as long as I confirm Yuwen Xin is dead, I will hand over Yi Gu’niang to Third Brother, completely unharmed.”
“Agreed.”
After Luo Ye and Meng Qing reached a consensus, he called the guards to unlock the door. Meng Qing stepped out, looked around, and asked, “Where are Xia Yuan and Xia Zhe?”
Luo Ye ordered people to bring Xia Yuan and Xia Zhe from the adjacent room, but their hands remained bound.
Xia Yuan and Xia Zhe, seeing Meng Qing, excitedly called out, “Your Highness.”
Meng Qing raised a hand to indicate he was fine, then said, “You will return to the mansion with me.” As he walked out, he paused beside Luo Ye.
Luo Ye, with a wary expression, took a step back.
Meng Qing softly laughed and asked, “Zhan is leaving. Won’t Second Brother see him off?” As he spoke, his left hand by his side flicked towards Luo Ye, attaching a listening device disguised as a small dry branch to Luo Ye’s robe.
Luo Ye didn’t notice this small action. He was momentarily stunned, then laughed, waving his hand outward, “Of course I’ll see you off. Third Brother, please.” However, he maintained a distance of two or three steps from Meng Qing, with a guard intentionally walking between them.
Until Meng Qing’s carriage drove out of the gate, Luo Ye’s face darkened, and he let out a heavy “hmph.” His third brother was becoming increasingly unpredictable. Today he couldn’t move against him, but he would seize any opportunity to eliminate him in the future. As long as he used someone else’s knife, it wouldn’t be breaking his oath.
Luo Ye saw her shy appearance rather than anger, and his heart stirred. Could she think he had done something to her while she was unconscious? Recalling that she was no longer a virgin, could she be trying to pin something on him? If that were the case, it would be a fortunate coincidence.
Luo Ye smiled and said, “Miss Yi, do you still feel uncomfortable anywhere?”
Yu Yi looked at him bashfully and angrily, then lowered her head without speaking.
Luo Ye probed further, “This is an empty courtyard in the prince’s inner residence. Miss Yi can rest assured and stay here.”
Yu Yi was stunned, then said embarrassedly, “This commoner cannot stay in the prince’s inner courtyard…”
As she tried to get out of bed, her feet touched the ground but she weakened and sat back down on the bed.
