“Changed his mind?”

Since the group was about to leave, only one candlestick remained lit in the hall, providing weak illumination. Seeing this, the messenger took out a small candle from his chest, lit it with a fire starter, paused for a moment, then nodded: “Yes, His Majesty wants to bring Judicial Official Li to his side. It’s probably because the war situation is improving. Your subordinate doesn’t know either. Judicial Official Li, please.”

He smiled as he spoke, making a gesture of invitation.

“Let’s go, Huaisu. This is actually good – it saves you from being alive but constantly worried.” Xiao Zhou said, then suddenly sighed: “In the past when I went forth, the willows were soft and fresh.”

Ming Yanchu nodded, also looking at Suzhen with relief. The messenger greeted him politely: “Lord Zhuque has excellent literary talent and fine sentiments.”

“Do you know what the next line is?” Xiao Zhou smiled slyly.

“Your subordinate hasn’t read many books. This seems to be from the Book of Songs… it speaks of a soldier going away for years, how the scenery when departing differs from when returning – when leaving, willow catkins danced in the wind, but upon return there’s already rain, snow and frost. ‘Now when I think of coming back, the rain and snow fall thick’ – I think that’s the next line, though I’m not sure if it’s correct?” The messenger also sighed softly.

Though it was only a brief moment, a great battle had swept across the land so suddenly that both couldn’t help feeling moved. Just then, as they reached the hall entrance, Xiao Zhou suddenly drew her sword and stabbed fiercely toward the messenger’s chest. Ming and Suzhen were startled. The messenger was also shocked, but his reflexes were quick – with a light tap of his toes, his body moved as flexibly as a loach. He gathered his breath and leaped backward, causing the sword point to slide past in front of him. Meanwhile, Xiao Zhou seemed to have suffered some shock, her sword suddenly wavering as she spat out a mouthful of blood.

Ming Yanchu asked in confusion: “Zhuque, why did you try to kill him?”

But Suzhen knew Xiao Zhou well. She alertly stepped back, and at the same time, Xiao Zhou raised her sword to block in front of her, looking coldly at the messenger: “The next line should be ‘My son, oh my son, what shall become of such a good man?'”

“Before master left that night, he made me swear to protect Huaisu to the death. He said Huaisu wasn’t safe by his side, but staying in the palace was only slightly better than being in the army – not necessarily completely safe. He feared something might go wrong during the journey, so this was our agreed code phrase. Who says poetry must be perfectly matched! I never expected that after knowing you for so many years, you’d also have ulterior motives. Tell me, who exactly are you?”

Ming Yanchu was extremely shocked, because this was a trusted subordinate who had followed him for nearly ten years.

The tall, thin attendant!

It was also in these past six months that he believed the man had passed his tests and began letting him work beside Lian Yu!

Compared to their shock, the tall, thin attendant appeared much calmer. He spoke indifferently: “I originally wanted to quietly take the person away. Why must we tear off the facade?”

Xiao Zhou laughed coldly: “Don’t even think about it!”

However, as she flourished her sword, pain quickly flashed in her eyes. She bent over, and Suzhen was alarmed: “Zhuque, what’s wrong with you?”

“What exactly did you do to her?” She glared angrily at the man several steps away.

The tall, thin attendant looked at her with an indescribable gaze.

“As you saw, I did nothing.” Seeing Ming Yanchu’s face darken as he picked up Xiao Zhou’s sword to attack him, he smiled: “Manager Ming, though you have no martial arts, this forceful exertion of strength is the same as Zhuque’s forceful use of internal energy – both will damage the organs and meridians, severely leading to death.”

“Actually, you could wait a bit longer. Before long, you’ll all become completely weak. I don’t wish to harm anyone – this is the best outcome. Unfortunately, Zhuque is too alert… though it’s useless anyway. Now, I can only say that if you obstruct me, I will certainly kill you.”

Seeing Ming and Zhou immediately show pain and collapse to the ground, glaring fiercely at him, he sighed softly with self-mocking laughter in his voice.

Just then, with a “snap,” something struck his hand. The candle in his hand fell immediately, and lying on the ground with the white candle was a silver ingot!

Suzhen’s hand was still raised in mid-air.

She looked at him and said calmly: “It’s this thing, isn’t it? The wick of this thing is poisoned. Sir, what a sinister method.”

“Judicial Official Li, you’re always so clever. Unfortunately, it’s too late.” He smiled and walked toward her: “Please come with me.”

Xiao Zhou snatched the sword back from Ming Yanchu: “Do you think you can leave easily? If I shout loudly, the imperial guards outside this hall will—”

“Why lie? When I entered, there was only one announcing eunuch outside the hall. All the imperial guards have been withdrawn to a certain distance, haven’t they? Now even that eunuch has been sent away at my instruction. Who else can you call? You’re trying to leave secretly, aren’t you? Even Lian Yu’s own guards – you don’t want them to see, fearing word might leak out, right?” The tall, thin attendant laughed coldly.

Xiao Zhou’s expression changed, then she said: “Sir must be Quan Feitong’s man, right? Even that despicable laugh is identical to his. I understand now – it was you who took Huaisu away back in the Sangzhan tribe! If you hadn’t disguised yourself as seriously injured then, we would have suspected you long ago.”

The tall, thin attendant’s eyes moved slightly, answering softly: “Yes, I am Chancellor Quan’s man.”

“We really should have killed you. We shouldn’t have trusted you.” Xiao Zhou bit her teeth hard.

Ming Yanchu’s voice was hoarse: “It’s my fault.”

The two struggled to get up, but the drug had taken effect, and they couldn’t move no matter what.

“Trust? You didn’t exactly trust me either, or how could Lian Yu have won this battle?” The man’s voice contained mockery: “Enough, Agent Zhuque. Don’t waste any more time. You’re deliberately talking to me to wait for rescue to arrive.”

“Judicial Official Li, I don’t wish to waste more words. Please leave with me immediately. Otherwise, I will certainly kill these two.” He looked at Suzhen again.

Suzhen’s expression was actually calm: “Fine, I’ll go with you. Don’t hurt them, or I’ll bite my tongue and kill myself. You won’t be able to bring me before Quan Feitong and won’t be able to complete your mission.”

The tall, thin attendant suddenly showed a trace of a smile in his eyes: “Judicial Official Li, where exactly are you putting your hand? What you have in your chest is lime powder, isn’t it?”

Suzhen was burning with anxiety, secretly cursing – this bastard knew her like the back of his hand!

Her gaze suddenly changed as the tall, thin attendant suddenly pressed close and quickly touched several points on her body, then bent down to touch several points on Xiao Zhou and Ming Yanchu’s bodies.

He raised his eyebrows with a smile, picked her up, kicked open the hall door, and strode away.

Xiao Zhou and Ming Yanchu collapsed on the ground, their mute acupoint and several major acupoints sealed. Both were filled with hatred and anger to the extreme. Ming Yanchu was even more remorseful. Suddenly, Xiao Zhou let out a great shout and bounced up. Ming Yanchu was greatly shocked, knowing she had pushed her internal energy to the extreme, forcibly breaking through all the blocked meridians. She spurted out several large mouthfuls of fresh blood, her purple clothes all dyed red-black. But she covered her chest, swaying as she stood up, reached out to brush Ming Yanchu’s body forcefully, and smiled: “Sorry, my strength now can only unseal your mute acupoint, but Bai Hu is waiting by the secret passage. If she doesn’t see us come over after a while, she’ll definitely come looking. You just need to keep your mouth to talk to her, and she’ll help you unseal the other acupoints. I need to go… to delay that bastard.”

“Good!” Ming Yanchu answered loudly. He had no martial arts and couldn’t help much, so he could only watch her stagger out with her sword, choking with emotion.

“If I don’t come back, tell Wuqing for me that I… forget it, he and the princess make a good match. What’s the point of telling him I like him? Why make him…” She paused at the doorway, but then smiled, using her lightness skill to quickly depart.

Ming Yanchu felt cold in his heart. Having been a favored person beside the emperor for many years, he had coldly observed too much human nature and worldly affairs. At this moment, however, tears couldn’t stop flowing down.

This group of people had completely different identities and statuses, but over these years, they had been like family.

After Xiao Zhou left the hall, with her excellent eyesight, she saw from afar the tall, thin attendant carrying Suzhen and turning into a forest path ahead. She glanced in the opposite direction – they had just dismissed the imperial guards to that side. Damn, that person had seen this when he came, and now he was heading in another direction. If she went to notify the imperial guards, there was still some distance to travel, and she would lose track of them. This person had an imperial palace access token, and might just leave the palace like that.

She gritted her teeth, drew her sword and made a harsh cut on her left arm, then chased in the direction they had gone.

Blood kept flowing from her arm, leaving a trail that could be tracked on the road.

Bai Hu, quickly bring people over! I can’t hold on much longer, she kept thinking.

Blood continuously overflowed from her mouth, soaking all her clothes. Her heart and abdomen hurt as if they were tearing apart. She took a deep breath, bit her lower lip to shreds, not letting herself fall down. She lightened her steps and followed the black shadow ahead from a distance into the grove.

This was a large dense forest. It was a good place for people in the palace to enjoy the cool in summer.

At this moment, the tall, thin attendant walking in the heart of the forest sensed people approaching ahead. His heart skipped a beat. Holding the woman in his arms, he quickly hid behind a large tree.

Sure enough, two patrolling imperial guards carrying lamps soon passed by. The sky had almost completely darkened.

The tall, thin attendant alertly watched ahead. Just as the two men passed and he was about to continue, he suddenly felt several gazes sweep over from the side. His heart jumped again, and a strange cold feeling quickly surged up his throat. Were there another group of people hiding here?

One of the gazes, slippery like a snake, suddenly laughed: “Feng Suzhen? Excellent.”

He was startled. That person struck like lightning. The imperial guards walking ahead had just heard the sound and turned to investigate when each had a willow-leaf throwing knife between their brows. They fell dead without even making half a sound!

He instinctively used his lightness skill, rushing rapidly back the way he came. However, with several crackling sounds, over ten black shadows dropped from the air, surrounding the two of them completely.