Chapter 33: Susan Takes Action

Early the next morning, Jun Mohan arrived at the Grand General’s Manor with Lang Yi, followed by several Imperial Guards. They were beaming as they carried a plaque draped in red cloth. After all, these men had once served under the old general, fighting alongside him on the battlefield.

Now that the old general had been granted the title of First-Rank Protector Duke, no one was happier than them.

“Your Highness, why did you go to such trouble to come personally?” The old general, accompanied by his two sons and Mu Ling, hurried over to greet him.

“Old Duke, this plaque was specially commissioned overnight on my father’s orders, and the inscription is personally written by him,” Jun Mohan said. “Father said that you have spent half your life protecting the people of Great Yan and defending our nation. And now, you have also nurtured an outstanding Crown Princess. Your contributions to Great Yan are worthy of being recorded in history.”

Tears welled up in the old duke’s eyes. Without a second thought, he dropped to his knees before Jun Mohan. The emperor had not forgotten him! Great Yan had not forgotten him!

“This old subject… thanks Your Highness, thanks His Majesty! Long live His Majesty!”

Jun Mohan quickly reached out to support him. “Old Duke, this won’t do! Please rise, please rise! Today, I mainly came to see Ling’er—I have some matters to discuss with her.”

Not only the old duke’s family but even the onlookers outside were stunned by the Crown Prince’s words.

It was one thing for the Crown Prince to visit his fiancée, but to come specifically to discuss matters with her? That left everyone dumbfounded.

Their War God, the heir to the Great Yan throne—when had he ever cared so much about a woman’s opinion? Could this be… the legendary fear of one’s wife?!

Mu Ling noticed the astonishment in everyone’s eyes, shot a glare at Jun Mohan, and muttered under her breath, “Hurry up and go inside, aren’t you embarrassed standing here?”

Jun Mohan acted as if he didn’t see the little girl’s glare. With a doting smile, he followed Mu Ling inside. After walking a few steps, he turned back to look at the two young masters of the Su family and said mysteriously, “Generals, don’t forget—we’re going to the lake later. Just wait here for a bit, I’ll go speak with Ling’er first. It won’t take long.”

As they watched them leave, Su Ming turned to his father with a bewildered expression. “We’re just going to the lake—it was already decided at the palace banquet yesterday. Why did the Crown Prince have to make it sound so mysterious?”

The old duke sighed helplessly at his two sons. These boys had spent their whole lives on the frontier, growing up in military camps surrounded by rough soldiers. Forget meeting noble young ladies—they barely saw any women at all.

In their minds, marriage wasn’t even a consideration. Even after returning to the capital for the past two years, they had spent all their time in the Imperial Guards’ camp.

The old duke had been fretting over their marriages, but there was nothing he could do. Now that Ling’er was arranging things for them, he was overjoyed.

So when his foolish son asked such a naive question, he simply waved his hand impatiently. “Mysterious? Where is it mysterious?! Let me tell you two blockheads—if you don’t bring your future wives home today, I’ll make you kneel in the ancestral hall until your legs break!”

With that, the old duke clasped his hands behind his back and cheerfully went off to chat with the Imperial Guards.

The guards worked quickly, and in no time, the plaque inscribed with the words “Protector Duke” was hung proudly above the manor’s entrance.

“Big Brother, what does Father mean by this? He’s only giving us one day—where are we supposed to find wives for him? And we still have to accompany Ling’er to the lake today…”

Su Yi suddenly had a realization. He stopped complaining and widened his eyes, staring toward Mu Ling’s courtyard. “Brother, our niece… she wouldn’t be…”

Even if they were slow on the uptake, the two brothers finally put the pieces together.

With everything happening, why would their niece suddenly insist on taking them to the lake? The only explanation was… she was matchmaking!

But… who was she setting them up with?

At that moment, two dazzling figures popped into their minds—Princess Anping and Princess Lean!

Dear heavens, their niece really dared to think big!

“Brother, do you think Ling’er wants the princesses to become our sisters-in-law? Forget it, I’m not going to the lake today. Ling’er saved the old prince’s life—I don’t want to take advantage of that favor to trouble others.”

Hearing this, Su Ming let out a chuckle as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. “Not going? Ha! If you go tell Father right now that you’re skipping the lake trip, do you think he won’t break your legs on the spot?”

Chapter 33: Susan Takes Action

“Brother…” Su Yi truly didn’t want to use their life-saving favor to put the two princesses in a difficult position.

“Enough, let’s just accompany Ling’er as usual. If the princesses don’t agree, Father can’t possibly break our legs, right?”

While the two brothers were still discussing how to save their legs, Lang Yi was recounting everything that had happened the night before.

“Heh, Your Highness the Crown Princess, if not for you, I never would have guessed that a mere marquis’ residence was hiding so many demons and monsters!”

“What? She… Susan really left the residence last night? Who did she meet?” This was what Mu Ling cared about the most. It was also something she never learned in her past life.

Lang Yi nodded firmly. “Yes, last night, not only did she go to a residence in the east of the city, but even our dear Marquis also left. However, he went to the First Prince’s residence.”

Mu Zonghui going to see the First Prince… Mu Ling wasn’t surprised at all. What she truly wanted to know was who Susan had gone to meet. She had a strong premonition that this person was connected to Xiliang and was definitely involved in the poisoning of Jun Mohan and the Southern Guard King.

“What about her? Who did she meet?”

Lang Yi hesitated before replying, “Your Highness, the Madam of the Marquis went to a place heavily guarded by shadow guards. I feared alarming them and didn’t dare get too close, so I couldn’t see exactly who she met.”

Mu Ling nodded. “Guard Lang, you did the right thing. However, today, send someone to raid that small courtyard. Bring back everything—even a single piece of paper must not be left behind. Remember, this must be done without Susan finding out! As long as we keep her in the dark, we won’t be disturbing the snake in the grass.”

Lang Yi cupped his fists. “Understood! I’ll send extra shadow guards for this. But, Your Highness… do you require live captives? If we engage in a fight, I fear—”

Mu Ling took out a packet of medicinal powder and smiled. “From now on, you must learn to kill without bloodshed. Go on, with this powder, they won’t be able to resist at all. The ones you bring back must be alive. With this powder in play, even if they want to take their own lives, they won’t be able to.”

Lang Yi chuckled. “Your Highness, do you have more of this… this powder? Could you spare some extra for me?”

“As much as you want! If you have somewhere to store it, I can give you an entire cartload right now. Do you want it?”

Mu Ling wasn’t joking. She had recently made a new discovery—any item originally in her space could be replenished endlessly.

“A whole cartload?” Lang Yi was startled and quickly waved his hands. “Never mind! I’ll ask you for more when I need it. An entire cartload of poison? I wouldn’t even know where to put it!”

Mu Ling corrected him. “This is not poison. It merely renders people incapable of resistance. No… to be precise, it paralyzes them. But remember, the effect only lasts for two hours, so you must finish the operation within that time.”

“Two hours?” Lang Yi smirked inwardly. Given the skills of the Eastern Palace’s shadow guards, capturing a group of defenseless people wouldn’t take even half that time.

“Rest assured, Your Highness! I’ll get it done!”

Mu Ling thought for a moment, then added, “Make sure not a single person escapes, understand? Also, have someone keep an eye on the Mu Residence. If Susan tries to return to that house, don’t stop her. I want to see what she does once she realizes the people she wanted to meet are no longer there.”

“Your Highness, should we take action against Marquis Mu as well?”

At the mention of Mu Zonghui, Mu Ling suddenly recalled something crucial. “Jun Mohan, hurry and send people to guard Xishan. We absolutely cannot let the First Prince and Mu Zonghui transfer their private soldiers. If they succeed, it will be much harder for us to track them down!”

“Don’t worry. The place where the First Prince hid his soldiers was dealt with this morning by the Southern Guard King. With Uncle personally handling it, there won’t be any slip-ups.”

In her past life, Mu Ling had never met the Southern Guard King and had no idea what became of him. But in this life, she could sense his absolute loyalty to the Emperor and Jun Mohan.

Now that she had destroyed the First Prince’s last card, there was no way he would ever lay claim to the throne in this lifetime!