14 The Plan of Killing Three Birds with One Stone

Chu Yu sat by the lamp while holding a silver butterfly hairpin in her hand. She placed it before her eyes and took a closer look at it. The hairpin was gravely sharp that it could pierce a heart.

On the first day she had arrived in this era, she had scrawled the character '正' (zhèng) at the side of her bed with the silver hairpin. She would draw a stroke each day and now, there were two '正' characters on it now.

Chu Yu moved her wrist slowly after looking at it for a while and placed the end of the hairpin into the flame in the lamp. She retrieved the hairpin a moment later and took a careful look at it again. She then placed the end into clear water and wipe the water away after taking it out.

She repeated the same thing a couple of times.

The sharp end of the hairpin had a sparkling, crisp glow. Chu Yu hesitated a little while she held the hairpin with her left hand and traced it over her palm for a couple of minutes. Eventually, she held it at a certain angle and made a quick cut downwards.

The sharp silver end tore the delicate skin on her palm and fresh red blood gushed out of her wound that was over an inch long. Chu Yu pressed on her wound with a handkerchief decisively and screamed loudly, "Come at once! I'm hurt!"

Naturally, the maidservant came after her cry for help and ordered the medical practitioner to rush to the Imperial Residence. Chu Yu allowed them to work on her wounded hand. Although she had pain written on her face, her eyes were smiling.

The problem with her accent had magically been solved due to the body switch that Chu Yu had secretly tested for the past two days, yet her handwriting remained the same. Although she practiced calligraphy when she was young in her past life, her handwriting was horrible due to the lack of practice. She might have exposed herself if she happened to be at an occasion that required her to write.

Handwriting was different from one's behavior. She could deny it if someone were to expose her change of behavior, but handwriting was cold, hard proof that would stay on paper forever.

Chu Yu knew she would have to write somehow as soon as she began to handle the general affairs. She was bright and decisive when she wounded her right hand before anyone had the opportunity to suspect her. She paid a small price to avoid a bigger risk. With that said, she would have a legit reason for someone to write for her.

She had always been a cautious person. She had cleaned the end of the hairpin prior before wounding herself to prevent an infection. Although she cut herself following her palm line with the hairpin and it looked serious on the surface, it would be quick to recover and would not leave a deep scar if there was even one.

Initially, she was not fond of self-inflicted harm like this. She thought she could find some excuses and have some fun before she mastered Princess Shan Yin's handwriting. However, since she found out the truth about Huan Yuan, she knew she should not delay it further. After all, she was not the real Princess Shan Yin. She had no idea who else was participating in Huan Yuan's plot apart from Jiang Yan. The male companions were the only people that Huan Yuan could persuade in the Imperial Residence. Although she teased that he would definitely fail, she could not risk it if there were more people participating in the plot.

Since she had no full confidence in handling the situation, she would have to do something to control the storm.

Chu Yu ordered someone to get Rong Zhi over after her wound was treated.

She ordered everyone out as she looked at the layers of thick, white silk wrapped around her hand. Rong Zhi was the only one in her room now, so she said directly, "I'm thinking of sending Jiang Yan out of the Princess's Imperial Residence. What do you think?" In reality, Rong Zhi was not the best choice of person to do this, but since she found out he seemed to be standing by Princess Shan Yin's side, she figured he would do the same for her too.

Although she was instinctively anxious about the plan, she thought Rong Zhi would be a great help to her at the moment after some rational analysis.

Rong Zhi did not beat around the bush and asked directly, "How are you going to send him off?"

"By recommendation. I'll get him an officer position," Chu Yu answered immediately since she already prepared her answer beforehand.

Rong Zhi's eyes lit up. "Only Jiang Yan?"

"No." Chu Yu revealed a playful smile and gave five to six more names. However, Huan Yuan was excluded from the list.

Rong Zhi thought to himself with his head tilted to the side and said while smiling after a moment, "Killing three birds with one stone. Since you've already come up with the best plan, why are you still asking for my opinion, Princess?"

They gazed into each others' eyes and saw a subtle smile in each other. Suddenly, they felt a sense of understanding in those eyes.

All Chu Yu wanted was undoubtedly a split-up. Since Huan Yuan and Jiang Yan were the masterminds of the plot, she would then had to separate both of them. Jiang Yan would be granted his freedom, which firstly could reduce his hostility towards Chu Yu, and secondly, it would cut off his contact with Huan Yuan.

Jiang Yuan's departure would be a grave hit to Huan Yuan since half of his power was taken away. While sending off some of the male companions who might be participating in the plot, it would mean Huan Yuan's limbs would be taken away from him and there was no way for him to carry out the plot.

Thirdly, freedom was not the only thing that Jiang Yan would be granted. He would even get Chu Yu's recommendation to walk on the path to a bright future. It would undoubtedly send a hint to the other male companions in the Imperial Residence and they would wish the same to happen to them one day. In that case, the people who initially took Huan Yuan's side would be discouraged to participate in the plot. Who would want to risk their lives for Huan Yuan if they could see the light ahead?

They would only be pleasing her with all that they could and some might even betray Huan Yuan in order to regain their freedom.

The plan of killing three birds with one stone was definitely neat. It was a plan that she came up with after deep, thorough thought. However, Rong Zhi understood what she meant given the fact that she only revealed a small part of it. How was it possible for one to describe the wisdom that he possessed?

Chu Yu could not help but exclaim secretly while a strong sense of defensiveness rose in her. Rong Zhi understood the plan that she had been thinking for a long time from her quick brief. This young man was so smart that the thought of it scared her a little. 　

If he were to plot against her as Huan Yuan did, she definitely would not be able to handle it lightly.

Chu Yu rolled her eyes after suppressing her guard that came up forcefully and asked, "I got you here to ask you this: who should I recommend Jiang Yan to? Please be fair since he's talented."

Rong Zhi looked at Chu Yu in surprise. "Princess, do you really want to recommend him?"

Chu Yu was even more surprised than he was. "Of course, do you think I'd take back what I said?"

Rong Zhi was still as he looked at Chu Yu for a moment. He seemed to be wanting to see if she was sincere or if she was faking it. He cleared his judgment a moment later and said while smiling, "You've really changed, Princess. Had this been in the past, even though you're separating someone with this plan, you'd definitely kill Jiang Yan secretly, let alone recommend him a position."

Chu Yu's heart was racing, but she put on a calm face. "Me changing, is that a good or a bad thing?" She did not expect to expose such a major flaw herself. However, she was secretly relieved to figure out that Rong Zhi had no proof when he said that. She was unwilling to expose herself although he just revealed that Princess Shan Yin's usual way of handling things was killing without even blinking.

Rong Zhi replied with a smile, "There's no good or bad in that. Princess, you used to be secretive with your plans, and you never blinked when you killed but you lacked kindness. Today you seem to be a little soft-hearted, but you've got a different attitude now. Not only are you not punishing Jiang Yan for the attempt to revolt against you, but you're also giving him a bright future, Princess. Although you might be too lenient on him, I, Rong Zhi, can't help but admire your attitude."

Chu Yu could not help but feel a flush rush up to her cheeks. Although she did not have many feelings for Rong Zhi now and had her guard up, it was only natural that her heart skipped a beat when such a beautiful young man looked at her with such sincerity and told her that he admired her with a charming smile.