"But... why?" Yao Ling asked in confusion.

"To control the princes. Am I right, Father?" Yao Ying asked w.a.n.g Luo Hai whether his guess was correct or not.

"You are correct." w.a.n.g Luo Hai knew that Yao Ying was always perspective.

"Do they get married out of love?" Yao Ling hesitantly asked. She felt really curious about this.

w.a.n.g Luo Hai laughed bitterly. "In political marriage, who will get married out of love? Especially to the Emperor. He has thousands of concubines, how can you expect a man with a harem full of beautiful women will be able to love one woman for life? It's simply an outrageous dream!"

"Ha..." Yao Ling sighed. "It's true. All the males from royal bloodlines indeed have a lot of beautiful women around. I really do pity the women."

"That's true!" w.a.n.g Luo Hai said. "My sister actually really did love the Emperor and it adds to her grievance."

Yao Ying and Yao Ling looked at each other and helplessly talked to each other through their eyes, 'Father... you also have concubines.' But oh well... they just swallowed the words inwardly.

"Father, what's the organization for? What's your job there?" Yao Ying asked, steering back the topic to the organization once again.

"It's the web of communication and spy intelligence for the princes. I manage the network in this city," w.a.n.g Luo Hai answered.

"No wonder there's a rumor about how w.a.n.g Fu has a pretty big network," Yao Ling remembered what Ning jie had told her. Then, she was reminded of something, "If this news is public secret, won't it affect the Emperor's opinion to our family? Won't it increase his anxiety?"

w.a.n.g Luo Hai laughed. "Yes, but we indeed are the ones who supply the gossip to the commoners. After all, without a little bargaining chip like this, the Emperor won't be scared of us. If he doesn't fear us, he will certainly crush us to death. Besides, we also cover up our network nicely. We pledge our loyalty to the Emperor and promise him to give the Emperor the latest news first. At a glance, we look like we solely work for him."

"But...?" Yao Ying felt like w.a.n.g Luo Hai hadn't finished telling them all about it.

"Clever Boy..." w.a.n.g Luo Hai praised Yao Ying. "Of course, we sort out what kind of news that the Emperor is allowed to hear, what he needs to hear and what's not."

"Doesn't the Emperor also have his own intelligence network?" Yao Ying furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yes, but some of our people are there too, so what we report to the Emperor always go in line with the Emperor's intelligence network. We will just add a piece of bonus information once in a while so the Emperor will rely on us and remember our worth," w.a.n.g Luo Hai explained.

Yao Ling found that w.a.n.g Luo Hai -- although he seemed to be an easygoing person, actually was very clever. It seemed like they were serving the Emperor, but actually, they controlled the information around the Emperor!

Yao Ying started to see the bigger picture very clearly, about Fu Rong, the Hua Lou, and the connection with General Lin and Lin Jian. This was a really big network and he wondered how long they had built this kind of amazing achievement. It seemed like the princes were indeed very clever or someone probably had prepared this network for them.

"Father... this isn't an organization that has a plan for treason, right?" Yao Ling asked. After all, they even managed to infiltrate the Emperor's network, so what else they couldn't do?

"Of course, not! Never say such a treasonous word! It will lead to disaster if other people hear about it. All the members of our family will be killed!" w.a.n.g Luo Hai gently chided Yao Ling and to remind her that that word shall not be said. They ought to be careful when talking about the Emperors. He believed that the Emperor must have sent spies in their household too!

"We are doing this just for the sake of the princes. As long as the Emperor lead the kingdom wisely and never direct his sword to the princes, then we will do nothing and keep supporting him. We solely serve the princes," w.a.n.g Luo Hai blatantly pledged his loyalty to the princes.

Yao Ying and Yao Ling nodded. After everything was in the clear, they felt relieved. "Any more question?" They heard w.a.n.g Luo Hai ask and both shook their head altogether. It was enough information for one day.

"If you want to ask something later, you can just find me. You can go now! I heard that Yao Ying want to meet your new master?" w.a.n.g Luo Hai asked.

"Yes, Father."

"You will have a lot of fun with that old man around." w.a.n.g Luo Hai grinned.

"Why?" Yao Ying asked curiously. What kind of fun?

"You will see. Hahaha ---" w.a.n.g Luo Hai didn't want to divulge more, but instead, he laughed out loud. It made Yao Ying and Yao Ling look at each other in confusion. "Go... go... just do your jobs for the day!" w.a.n.g Luo Hai indirectly chased them away from his study room.

The two of them obediently went out and they both did what they needed to do. Yao Ling and Xiao Yu went to Zhang Mo Mo's lessons and Fu Rong. She checked everything on Ning jie's side from Ning jie's report and everything went smoothly. The kids obediently followed their arrangement. Qiao Qiao had calmed down, but the kidnapping indeed made him a little bit traumatic. However, Xiao Yu a.s.sured her that with the help of the other kids, he would get better in no time.

Yao Ling told Ning jie to teach Qiao Qiao reading and writing too. Ning jie readily agreed because she could see that Qiao Qiao is a clever boy. Xiao Yu thanked Yao Ling for her grace and boldly said that Qiao Qiao was also ready to serve Yao Ling. Yao Ling didn't know whether to laugh or cry at Xiao Yu's excited face. She patted Xiao Yu's shoulder and said, "Xiao Yu ah~ I will think where to a.s.sign Qiao Qiao later. But let the poor boy rest and calm his mind first, then we can talk about this later. I want him to follow me willingly --- not because you force him too, okay?"

Xiao Yu shook her head and said, "This servant didn't force him, Young Mistress ah~! He indeed said that he wants to follow you! And also... he wants to be like Feng. Whenever he talks about the hero who saved him, Qiao Qiao's eyes are twinkling with excitement and wors.h.i.+p."

Yao Ling couldn't help but laugh. "Just tell him to recuperate first and learn diligently, and I will a.s.sign him under Feng, okay? Of course, I need to ask Feng first whether he agrees or not."

Xiao Yu nodded in excitement. "Thank you, Young Mistress." She finally was able to sigh in relief, because she had secured a future for her brother. Her family was already doing good and she could wholeheartedly serve Young Mistress.

"How is Liu Li?" Yao Ling asked.

"She's recuperating, but not really well. Concubine Wan seemed to be angry because Liu Li went to the Hua Lou and smeared her name in front of Old Madam. Concubine Wan always hates her own background, so Liu Li really poked on her sore spot."

"Keep sending her a good medicine until she is fully healed. How's the treatment toward her there?"

"Yes, Young Mistress. After she has fallen from grace, the other maidservants on Concubine Wan's side start to bully her. After all, she's popular for being narrowminded and a bit cruel before."

"When the time comes for her to ask our help, just tell me and help her with everything you can. Sooner or later, she will become our important chess piece." Yao Ling smiled. Although she pitied the girl, she had targetted her husband and she wasn't magnanimous enough to let that matter go.

"Yes, Young Mistress." Xiao Yu knew that Liu Li wouldn't end up well, but unlike her young mistress, she didn't pity her at all --- after all, she had targetted her family and even kidnapped her younger brother. This grudge... she shall pay for it. Unfortunately, her young mistress still needed her, so she could do nothing about it. She wasn't going to betray her young mistress' trust over Liu Li.

*******

Yao Ying went to Lin Fu and he was welcomed by Lin Jian. "If you still don't come here today, I will probably drag you here," Lin Jian pouted. "What did you up to?"

Yao Ying looked at him and threw him a question back, "Didn't you already know beforehand?"

Lin Jian was taken aback by his question but managed to laugh. "How do you know?"

"I heard from my subordinate that there were a lot of corpses that he left back at the hua lou, but not a word about it was leaking out. So, I a.s.sume that you know something about it and clean up the mess for me," Yao Ying answered lazily.

"You are so confident, huh?" Lin Jian shook his head. "I just don't want the hua lou's reputation to take a hit. It will certainly affect our business. Don't be big-headed and a.s.sume that I did that just for you!"

"Uh-huh..." Yao Ying didn't believe a word that he said.

"I'm just curious. Why didn't you ask for my help?" Lin Jian asked.