Chapter 1 "This Crown Princess Really Has a Way"

"I didn't expect that this crown princess really has a way," Cao Pojun couldn't help but sigh after several days of intense surveillance.

Although Wang Fangpin had sent the invitation to Mr. Sun through Qin, the old steward of the Wang family, neither Qin nor Wang Fangpin herself had betrayed any signs. Old Qin continued to help Wang Fangpin with various chores as always, without specifically going anywhere else. According to reports from the intelligence bureau agents secretly following him, he spoke and acted normally, and there was absolutely no dialogue resembling coded exchanges with anyone. It was impossible for the intelligence bureau to investigate everyone Qin came into contact with. After all, as a steward in a noble family, Qin handled purchases, arranged various itineraries, and delivered all kinds of items. He probably contacted hundreds of people a day. Investigating them one by one and sorting out everyone's connections would require the intelligence bureau to mobilize all its intelligence officers scattered across the continent.

Wang Fangpin was even more experienced. Since that day, she hadn't met anyone at home but instead constantly attended various banquets, garden parties, theatrical performances, and other activities. As a prominent figure in Danyang, Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess had so many people to socialize with that the intelligence bureau couldn't find a way to start. The harmonious atmosphere in Danyang, which didn't emphasize status and class too much, especially perplexed the intelligence bureau. Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess greeted many people warmly. They couldn't possibly investigate everyone, could they? If it weren't for Wang Fangpin's undeniable background as a member of the Danyang Wang family, known for her intelligence and grace since childhood, Cao Pojun and Nie Rui would have almost suspected that Wang Fangpin herself was a spy sent by some country to Dongping. Moreover, under the close surveillance of the intelligence bureau, Wang Fangpin had clearly made contact with that "Mr. Sun" because Crown Princess Wang Fangpin's slightly anxious attitude had indeed changed. Although Wang Fangpin still pretended to be anxious and paced back and forth, the intelligence bureau's surveillance personnel were highly skilled. They could still discern such subtle emotional differences. How exactly had the mysterious "Mr. Sun" contacted Wang Fangpin? No one really knew.

"It seems we have to find a way to induce them again. To get Mr. Sun to contact Wang Fangpin again, and with their caution, it probably has to be more than once… Only then can we have enough data to filter the repeatedly appearing targets and expose this Mr. Sun." After careful study, confirming that the intelligence bureau's efforts so far had likely been mostly in vain, Nie Rui suggested.

"Easy for you to say… How many more tricks do you want me to pull?" Tan Xiaopei rolled his eyes. Although he had deliberately disrupted the order of a series of things he had already planned to do and announced them with great fanfare, which didn't affect much, it wasn't easy to create such a big commotion and ensure that everything pointed somewhere, arousing suspicion among those with ulterior motives. He had been quite proud of his arrangements earlier, but he hadn't expected that, although they had indeed been somewhat effective, they had ultimately failed to lure out that Mr. Sun. Now, even Tan Xiaopei was wondering if he should discuss it with Tan Weiming and just take action to solve the problem without any evidence. However, the lurking Mr. Sun was unsettling.

"Your Majesty, there's no need to cause much of a stir. I think, if this Mr. Sun is really a representative of some force, wanting to use the Crown Princess to restrain my Dongping's grand plan, then he should be most concerned about three things. First, whether the comparison of status and power between the two princes gives him room to maneuver. Second, whether the Crown Princess has the ability and is actively implementing various measures. Third, whether the Crown Princess and the people around her have a firm resolve. Operating from any of these three aspects should allow Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess to contact this 'Mr. Sun' again," Huang Xuping analyzed. Although Huang Xuping held the rank of one of the Three Dukes, he usually lived a carefree life, with little busy government affairs. At most, he was in charge of cultural and educational matters. His greatest responsibility was still to act as Tan Xiaopei's primary strategist. His analysis hit the nail on the head, brightening the eyes of everyone present. Indeed, although Tan Xiaopei had created such a big commotion, he was ultimately racking his brains over the first aspect Huang Xuping mentioned. Although this was the most important and biggest aspect, it was only one aspect for a huge conspiracy.

"Then, my dear minister, do you have any ideas?" Tan Xiaopei asked.

"Wanting to shake the Crown Princess's mind in a short time is impossible. Rome wasn't built in a day. The Crown Princess has formed her current ideas and is putting them into practice, so she is clearly very decisive. Therefore, we must operate from other aspects. For example, shaking her confidence, or shaking her unknown thoughts. Moreover, we must not reveal any trace that we are already monitoring and controlling the Crown Princess," Huang Xuping said. "My meaning is, since the other side can create a Mr. Sun, then we should be able to create a Mr. Xu, a Mr. Luo, or something, to go to Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess's side and talk nonsense in an organized manner. Moreover, this person must have nothing to do with our forces, at least in a way that the other side cannot verify."

Cao Pojun asked with interest, "Does Lord Situ have a suitable candidate?"

Huang Xuping smiled and asked, "Commander Cao, what are you saying? Although you've returned from Xiling, you should know more interesting and knowledgeable people than I do, shouldn't you?"

Cao Pojun immediately understood. Indeed, when it came to mystifying and loosening someone's mental defenses, there was no more professional group in the world than the senior priest corps of the Leiyin Demon Sect (Thunder Sound Demon Sect). That was what they did for a living. Cao Pojun had been active in Xiling under the name of Lei Jun for so long that he certainly had more to say on this matter. He frowned and thought for a while, then said, "There is one person who is very suitable. The name he currently uses is Lei Yin. Although he is in the Demon Sect, he has never shown his face. However, the entire set of propaganda proposals of the Leiyin Demon Sect comes from his hand. He is also one of the people that Lord Ye cultivated in Yunzhou back then. If you want to use this person, it's best to go through Lord Ye. Lei Yin has no ambition. He just likes influencing others for fun, but he basically only listens to Lord Ye and is somewhat unconvinced by even Lei Huang."

Oh? Everyone's heart stirred. So there were such characters in the Leiyin Demon Sect? That was indeed very interesting. They often took a look at the core-stable but externally-rich and varied propaganda plans of the Leiyin Demon Sect, especially Huang Xuping, who often gained inspiration from them to use some inspiring content in his speeches to students at Tai College and other academies.

"Then it might as well be this person… Right, let's just hand the matter over to Ye Tao. Since Ye Tao could cultivate such a group of interesting people in the first place, and has been able to keep these people convinced all these years, it must be because Ye Tao still has some skills that he hasn't let us know much about… Perhaps, it's because we haven't paid much attention to this aspect. However, let Ye Tao figure out a way to do it," Tan Xiaopei said calmly.

The matter was thrown into Ye Tao's hands, but Ye Tao had no complaints. He immediately sent a letter to summon Lei Yin. While waiting for Lei Yin, he and Tan Weixin had already preliminarily agreed on a plan. Lei Yin and Lei Huang were two different kinds of people. This determined that Lei Huang could stand in the front to lead the development of the entire Leiyin Demon Sect, while Lei Yin became the formulator of propaganda plans hidden behind the scenes. The most fundamental difference between the two was that Lei Yin was so smart that he couldn't let the content of those lectures cause any waves in his own heart. His designs of those lectures, when used by others, could often make the crowd excited through twists and turns, even making the lecturers themselves fanatical, but Lei Yin himself always had a faint smile, even some playfulness… Such a swindler, I'm afraid, couldn't be easily believed.

Lei Yin was usually very idle. He hardly took charge of the Leiyin Demon Sect's teachings. His main job was to study propaganda plans and train teaching staff. When he received Ye Tao's letter, summoning him secretly to Danyang, with important matters to entrust to him, he happily dropped his work and left. He spent three and a half days leaving Xiling and came to the location Ye Tao had arranged, directly taking a flying boat to Ye's mansion in Danyang. This method avoided attracting anyone's attention. He didn't pass through the city gates, so no one could see him. At Ye's mansion, Lei Yin was happy to find that Ye Tao and Tan Weixin had prepared a large stack of materials. After flipping through those materials, his cheerful expression disappeared.

"Lord, what is this?" Lei Yin asked respectfully.

"Do you believe that through a series of question designs, we can understand what kind of person someone is and what kind of things they might do?" Tan Weixin took the lead in asking.

Those materials were all classic psychological test questions. Women always knew more about this kind of thing than men and believed in it more. Tan Weixin put in far more effort than Ye Tao in compiling these psychological test questions.

"... Your Highness, isn't this obvious? These things, even I feel a bit…" Lei Yin couldn't express his feelings for a moment.

"We want to understand ourselves, but we are afraid of understanding ourselves. For some people, they are more afraid of others understanding them, or others knowing that they understand themselves… The reason we brought you here from so far away this time is that we hope you can become this kind of person, allowing someone's mental defenses to show flaws. This kind of thing is not difficult for you, right?" Ye Tao asked with a smile.

Lei Yin quickly stood up, bowed deeply, and said, "Don't worry, my lord. We people are professional swindlers."