Grand Secretary Fang cleared his throat. “Well, I just think that if you want, there’s a shortcut you can take.”

“A shortcut?” Feng Wu glanced at Grand Secretary Fang in bewilderment.

Grand Secretary Fang nodded. “To be honest, although His Majesty is still in the prime of his life, His Royal Highness has become an indispensable figure. Just imagine what will happen once he takes the throne… That is to say, this empire will be under His Royal Highness’s control for a very long time.”

Feng Wu frowned a little.

Grand Secretary Fang said, “So, in layman terms, if you can become a friend of His Royal Highness, it’ll make your life much easier.”

The frown on Feng Wu’s face grew bigger.

Grand Secretary Fang said, “No one would dare touch your family, and you can stop worrying about the Zuo family. You don’t have to live such a hard life.”

Feng Wu smiled. “Grandpa Fang, are you saying that I should bat my eyelashes at him and show him a little leg?”

She shook her head. “I know that His Royal Highness finds me attractive, but all beauty shall fade. No one can guarantee that he’ll stay interested in me forever. I can only protect my family when I’m strong enough myself. Everyone and everything can change. At the end of the day, I can only count on myself.”

Feng Wu had considered turning to Jun Linyuan for help, but it was too risky.

The guy was too capricious. He did everything on a whim. He could dote on someone one moment, and yell at them for no reason the next.

She never knew what she did each time to set him off.

The idea of entrusting her and her family’s safety to the care of Jun Linyuan… Feng Wu shook her head. She could only trust herself to do that.

“And there’s more to it. The main reason the Zuo family set me up back then was because of my marriage contract with Jun Linyuan. I’ll only bring trouble on myself if I hang out with him,” Feng Wu explained.

Grand Secretary Fang darted a glance at Feng Wu. “You can be so silly sometimes.”

“Huh?” Feng Wu was bewildered.

Grand Secretary Fang said grumpily, “Take advantage of his influence.”

With how smart Feng Wu was, she saw the light right away. She began to mull over Grand Secretary Fang’s suggestion.

Grand Secretary Fang was reassured when he saw that Feng Wu was considering the possibility.

Jun Linyuan had more influence than he could use, and she could borrow that, which would make her future much more promising.

He just hoped that the girl wouldn’t offend Jun Linyuan deliberately anymore.

Feng Wu scratched her head. “Well, I’ll think about that. Jun Linyuan might not let me, anyway. He’s stingy like that!

“Wait —” Feng Wu smacked her forehead.

After the long chat, she almost forgot what she was here for.

“Grandpa Fang, do you have everything now?” That was why she had come here today.

Fearing that her family would be in danger, she decided that she would set up the Taiyi formation as soon as possible. It would keep her family safe as well as help with their cultivation.

Grand Secretary Fang had started to gather the materials after Feng Wu entered Proud Snowfield.

Luckily, Grand Secretary Fang had pupils and old friends all over the continent, and he was very well-connected. No matter how rare the material was, someone would be able to send it to the imperial capital in a matter of days.

Grand Secretary Fang showed Feng Wu a list.

It was from Feng Wu herself, and everything on that list had been circled with red ink.

Grand Secretary Fang said, “Everything is here, and I placed them in the vault. Come, let’s have a look and see if they’ve gotten everything right.”