“Your subordinate has heard that Youzhou has always had a tradition of subordinates overthrowing superiors.”

Li Yuanying’s gaze immediately turned cold, saying slowly without warmth: “Subordinates overthrowing superiors equals treason. Is there no one left in this world you care about?”

Huo Qi Lang shrugged: “So what? My nine generations of kin are all gone. Even if you have an emperor father, I don’t care.”

With that, she pressed Li Yuanying down onto the brocade coverlet and covered his mouth before he could call for help, saying mockingly: “Prince, you wouldn’t want a group of guards outside the door to rush in and see such a scene, would you?”

She tore open his gorgeous silk middle garment and loosened her own belt, sitting astride his hips in disheveled clothing. Though her movements seemed casual, she actually used grappling techniques to firmly lock down his limbs. Never mind that Li Yuanying was ill – even when he was in good health, he absolutely couldn’t have broken free.

Whether it was “nine generations of kin are all gone” or “guards outside rushing in” that worked, when Huo Qi Lang slowly removed the hand covering his mouth, Li Yuanying indeed made no sound. He sank into the soft brocade coverlet, his pupils bright, and though constrained, he maintained an air of noble composure that looked down upon all things. This sight was fatally attractive, causing Huo Qi Lang to momentarily lose focus.

Taking advantage of her distraction, he suddenly reached under his pillow. Having fought countless battles, Huo Qi Lang reflexively seized the blade and casually flung it – the protective dagger embedded deeply in the bed frame.

“Let’s end the foreplay here. I can’t bear to hurt you, and you couldn’t withstand rough treatment.” She restrained his wrist with one hand while stroking the tendons and blood vessels of his neck with the other.

On one hand, she very much wanted to touch that proud neck; on the other, she feared he might struggle violently and trigger his illness. Unexpectedly, his pulse only quickened slightly. His impassive expression wasn’t feigned – after the initial shock, he had actually calmed down.

During this series of actions, Li Yuanying’s mind had already considered hundreds of possibilities – double agent, bought assassin, enemy seeking revenge – but she seemed to have no intention of killing him. He glanced at her arms bearing fine scars; after all, no assassin undressed before working.

“Is this all you want?”

Huo Qi Lang was baffled by the question, saying puzzledly: “Yes, what other reason could there be? The moment I first saw you, I planned to do this.”

Hearing her admit it, Li Yuanying seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He said flatly: “So it was premeditated. Have you considered how this will end?”

Huo Qi Lang smiled charmingly: “Nothing more than finishing and running away – what’s there to plan? Looking ahead and behind, tying your own hands and feet like the prince does, no wonder you can’t sleep at night.”

With things having reached this point, there was nothing left to discuss. Li Yuanying said no more. The illness had drained away his excess strength, leaving no energy for resistance. He simply closed his eyes and let her do as she pleased.

Huo Qi Lang stripped away his middle garment, marveling that the greatest beauty was stunning from skin to bone. Even ill to this degree, his body remained elegant and taut – a slender frame covered with a thin layer of muscle, broad shoulders, straight and long legs, every part the most perfect shape she could imagine.

And indeed, as she had thought, even while bedridden, human desires wouldn’t disappear but would only accumulate more acutely from long lack of release. With just a little teasing, this body began to tremble slightly.

He had no strength to take initiative, but Huo Qi herself had energy in excess. Fearing she might shatter this hard, cold yet fragile piece of beautiful jade, she dared only restrain herself and act gently, using slow fire to gradually heat the water.

A cauldron of stern snow water that had been silent for too long began to bubble with tiny bubbles, gradually rolling and becoming lively.

Li Yuanying’s taut body was like a drawn bow. There was a bowstring in his mind that had been stretched too long and too tight, constantly scheming and thinking day and night, not daring to relax in the slightest. Living in a realm of suspicion, one wrong step would mean eternal damnation.

But Huo Qi Lang gave him no chance to relax, forcibly compelling this weary bow to stretch to its maximum, to its absolute limit, until the bowstring was nearly destroyed. Within the heavy brocade curtains, the temperature was higher than when the silver incense burner provided warmth, and every breath was a sigh.

Then she deliberately stopped, looking down to savor his long eyelashes dampened by sweat and tears.

The water was just short of boiling point, the arrow nocked on the string. Li Yuanying opened his eyes in disbelief, glaring at her with something approaching hatred.

Cold rain poured down, gushing through the roof tiles. Guards patrolled the corridors, now passing nearby – he could hear the clash of their armor’s metal plates, and the shadows of their forest of spears penetrated the room through the window lattice.

Huo Qi Lang reined in and paused, stopping her hip movements, instead leaning down to kiss him. This was dangerous, but she couldn’t help provoking him. Facing this countenance, even knowing the next moment he might summon guards to pierce her with countless spears, she had to risk this transgression.

Li Yuanying still said nothing, only furiously bit her invading tongue in his rage. Both their mouths filled with the rich taste of blood.

Huo Qi Lang let him bite until Li Yuanying was choking and coughing on her blood, then withdrew, pressing her forehead against his to lick his pale lips, smearing her blood on them. In the flickering candlelight, that color looked like freshly made rouge, unusually seductive.

She loved both women and men, and the face before her combined all the wonderful qualities she loved – a transcendence beyond gender that even resembled herself somewhat. When light and shadow blurred the contours, it was like looking in a mirror.

Huo Qi Lang said softly with a laugh: “Can you taste something now?”

Li Yuanying trembled all over, flames nearly shooting from his eyes as he silently spat the blood in his mouth onto her face.

Huo Qi Lang interpreted this as urging and happily continued riding, pressing against his chest to feel the drumbeat-like rhythm. What she had thought would be a hastily fulfilled dream turned out to be so joyful, especially when transgressing against him – the reluctant forbearance on that countenance doubled her pleasure.

When the arrow left the string, the bowstring in Li Yuanying’s mind that had long been under tension snapped with it. Without any transition, in an instant, his weary body dragged his consciousness into the darkness together.

Li Yuanying nearly fainted, seeming to fall into deep sleep. Huo Qi Lang used the crumpled gorgeous middle garment to wipe the bloodstains from his face. When cleaning up the aftermath, he showed no reaction.

After he fell into deep sleep, Huo Qi Lang held his wrist and carefully monitored his pulse for a full hour, cautiously confirming that it gradually calmed from intense rather than stopping directly or interrupting midway. After all, if she accidentally killed this brother in bed, it would be too sorry to the sister who hired her to deliver the message. Offending the emperor at worst meant fleeing to the martial world, but offending the Azure-Robed Guest would be real trouble.

Afterward, she dressed properly, inserted her horizontal sword at her waist, and stuffed all the reward money into her chest, prepared to flee at any moment.

However, seeing his peaceful sleeping face, her legs couldn’t bear to move. She waited until the rain stopped and dawn broke with sparrows chattering over food outside, but still hadn’t left.

At the end of the mao hour (5-7 AM), Madam Li arrived with attendants and was shocked to find Prince Shao still sleeping soundly, as he hadn’t slept until daybreak for most of the past year. She even checked his breathing, fearing Li Yuanying had passed away suddenly in the night.

As for his accidentally knocking over the silver incense burner during the night and getting nosebleeds requiring removal of clothes for wiping – these were minor matters. After all, Huo Qi Lang was a martial world wanderer with rough manners. Being able to provide some care during the night was already good enough; one couldn’t demand she be as meticulous and thoughtful as the maids.

This sleep lasted until noon before Li Yuanying leisurely awakened.

Huo Qi Lang stood by the window, planning to take a few more looks at him before escaping through the window during the confusion. Though her lightness skills were mediocre, inferior to the top three of Canyang Academy, her ability to leap high and low meant none of these guards could catch her.

Who knew Li Yuanying would sit dazed for a while without making a sound. He felt under his pillow for the protective dagger, looked at it, and put it back. Then, with palace attendants serving him, he changed into fresh clothes, washed and rinsed his mouth to spit out the remaining blood, waiting for Madam Li to arrange medicine and meals. Throughout it all, he remained composed as if everything that happened in the deep night was just a dream.

Huo Qi Lang, tasting her somewhat painful tongue, felt rather bewildered.

After a while, Yuan Shaibo came to pay his respects. Seeing her still standing there, he asked puzzledly: “Why haven’t you finished your shift? The morning meal outside has already been served.”

Huo Qi Lang stammered. She feared that if she returned to the long house, Li Yuanying might order her to be stabbed into a hedgehog by everyone’s spears.

Madam Li called out: “What’s the matter? The young master slept well today and meals were served late too – let her eat in the room.” She then had a maid select several substantial dishes from Prince Shao’s meal for her.

Yuan Shaibo knew Prince Shao’s wet nurse was quite fond of Huo Qi Lang and said no more.

He approached Li Yuanying, bowed, dismissed the palace attendants, and said quietly: “Regarding the Lu family matter you entrusted, Secretary Yang has probably arranged it cleanly. But that Xianbei woman quietly left Chang’an afterward, so we need to find new people for new tasks – it will take some time.”

He then took out a small piece of paper folded into a square victory shape from his chest and respectfully handed it to Li Yuanying: “This is new information from the palace, related to the princess.”

Li Yuanying unfolded the square victory – just a blank white paper. Yuan Shaibo brought over a silver basin for washing. He threw the paper into it, and as the clear water soaked through, faint writing gradually appeared on the paper. Only three characters: Blood-Smeared Ghost.

Li Yuanying sat stunned for a moment. On his usually impassive countenance rarely appeared such bone-deep hatred, but like the writing on the paper, that expression was fleeting, leaving nothing behind.

As Prince’s companion reader, Yuan Shaibo had known Prince Shao since childhood and knew that the older he grew, the deeper his scheming became. When he occasionally revealed such expressions, it was invariably related to his sister. The assassination of “Pepper Minister” Lu Song’s entire family was the most desperate risk the usually cautious Li Yuanying had ever taken. Lu Song was the emperor’s favorite minister and had conflicts with the princess. His sudden assassination by killers could easily bring suspicion upon Prince Shao.

However, Li Yuanying spared no cost to avenge his sister and vent his hatred. Now learning the princess had fortunately survived but had been buried alive at the time, this hatred would only continue until the truth was found.

Since Noble Consort’s death, Bao Zhu was the only person in this world he cared about. Yuan Shaibo couldn’t help silently praying she could arrive safely in Youzhou soon.

After a long while, the paper in the water dissolved into a pile of fragments. Li Yuanying calmed down again and softly instructed: “Find some martial world people to ask about the reputation of this Canyang Academy sect.”

Author’s Note:

“First Day at Work Putting the Boss in Mourning” and “Ten Days on the Job Violently Screwing the Boss” were selected as outstanding graduate achievements of Canyang Academy this year.

Except when they need scapegoats for special occasions, this group never voluntarily mentions their sect affiliation, showing their reputation really isn’t great.

Tuoba Sanniang didn’t speak up when taking the contract, so the brother doesn’t know about this here.