“Who they wanted to harm…” Princess Wen Chang’s delicate eyebrows knitted together, then suddenly her eyes widened as she said, “Could it not be Rong’er…”
Giving the golden crossbow to Rong’er had been completely her spontaneous idea. She hadn’t mentioned it to anyone beforehand, and Rong’er had only just arrived at Shanglin Nunnery. If the golden crossbow had been tampered with while still in the palace, could the other party have somehow predicted Rong’er’s existence through divine foresight?
The more she thought about it, the more horrified she became. Biting her lip, she stared out the window in silence. A dark cloud suddenly drifted across the horizon, obscuring half the clear sky. The room grew shady and cool, casting faces in half-light and half-shadow. Princess Wen Chang stepped back, thinking of that dark and treacherous deep palace she had just left – deceptive and ever-changing, shadowy and ghostly, with demons and monsters lurking like night owls in the shadows of darkness, cackling wickedly, waiting for the right moment to extend pale, claw-like fingers and seize throats for a fatal strike!
“Who? Who?…” she murmured to herself. A terrifying thought flashed through her mind, making her entire body tremble, yet she dared not speak it aloud no matter what.
Qin Chang Ge smiled slightly and slowly paced to the window, closing the shutters that had been blown open by a sudden cool breeze, saying softly: “Whom did they want to harm? You… or rather, Xiao Jue?”
Princess Wen Chang covered her mouth, drew a sharp breath of cold air, and stared at Qin Chang Ge in terror, as if she were the hidden assassin lurking in the shadows.
“We can imagine a certain scenario,” Qin Chang Ge said with an elegant smile and cheerful expression. “On some pleasant day with gentle winds, light clouds, green grass, and blooming flowers, His Majesty visits Jin’Ou Palace to see his elder sister. They converse happily, and while reminiscing about the past, they inevitably mention beloved childhood items. The Grand Princess would naturally take out her carefully preserved golden crossbow for the siblings to play with. In His Majesty’s joy, he would naturally relive his childhood heroic spirit and personally test-fire it… Even if he didn’t plan to test-fire it, even if the Princess forgot to mention the golden crossbow, even if you didn’t discuss the past, I believe someone would very reasonably and naturally remind you… and then…”
She smiled and fell silent.
Princess Wen Chang’s face turned ashen. Though Qin Chang Ge’s tone was playful, every word was chillingly cold and utterly real. This wasn’t guesswork or prophecy, but a deep, dark conspiracy that had already been calculated, planned, and carefully laid out by someone! Had she not left the palace early with Qin Chang Ge, had it not been for today’s strange coincidence, the golden crossbow would sooner or later have been brought up under some opportune circumstance, and the mechanism would definitely have been triggered… What momentous events would have occurred then! What consequences would have followed!
Palace upheaval, governmental overthrow, sudden storms, rivers of blood… Many, many people would die, many would rise to power taking advantage of the chaos, many would be wrongly imprisoned, many would manipulate the court situation, many would overturn the imperial harem, causing the currently most powerful Xiliang Empire to split into three or five parts, destroying the great territory that A’Jue had painstakingly conquered through years of bloody battlefield campaigns!
The empire reborn from blood, fire, and decay would definitely no longer resemble its original form.
The more she thought about it, the more terrified she became, and the more horrified she felt. What would her own fate have been then – she almost dared not imagine! And when had she become embroiled in such a shocking conspiracy to harm the emperor? She had been utterly ignorant from beginning to end. Waves of cold dread washed over Princess Wen Chang. Despite the deep autumn weather, she pulled her robes tight and began to tremble.
Seeing her pale lips, Qin Chang Ge felt compassion and comforted her: “Don’t be afraid. Now that you’ve left the palace and didn’t bring most of your former maids, it seems this strange turn of events has inadvertently purged those around you. Rest assured, today’s incident nearly harmed Rong’er, so naturally I cannot stand by and watch.”
When she spoke the last sentence, there was a rare hint of coldness in her voice.
Hearing her promise, Princess Wen Chang felt somewhat reassured and said with trembling lips: “Chang Ge, thank you…”
“Call me Ming Shuang,” Qin Chang Ge turned around with clear, transparent eyes, as pure and piercing as a snowless winter. “Between you and me, thanks were never necessary.”
She wrapped her hands with cloth and went to collect the flying needles from the ground.
Princess Wen Chang looked at her questioningly. Qin Chang Ge sighed: “It seems I truly have a toilsome fate… I must go down the mountain again. Who tampered with the golden crossbow – that cannot be determined for now, but these flying needles should provide a clue.”
She held the needles at a distance and examined them for a while, saying: “This material appears to be heavy iron forged from the Chihe region, and there seems to be something else mixed in… In the few years I’ve been away, when did Xiliang gain another hidden weapon expert?”
Smiling, she carefully packed the needles in a box and beckoned to her son: “Young Master Xiao.”
Young Master Xiao came trotting over on his short legs.
“Come, let’s go back to visit the flower thief.”
Qi Fan squatted on the coffin, his face full of melancholy as he made his new candy.
“Sigh—” Qi Fan fiercely licked his candy and said resentfully: “Still no one to eat it—I miss Rong Rong.”
Rong Xiaotian rolled his eyes.
“I say, why did you agree to let Ming girl take Rong Rong away?” Rong Xiaotian frowned. “Although she seems unsuspicious, what if – I’m saying what if – she harbors ill intentions and means harm to Rong Rong? Even though we have guards watching and protecting at all times, we couldn’t possibly defend against her when she sleeps with Rong Rong every night.”
“I naturally understand this reasoning,” Qi Fan stirred his syrup with a grin. “I just agreed because I saw something you didn’t see, which moved my heart and made me feel at ease entrusting Rong’er to her.”
“Oh?” Rong Xiaotian raised an eyebrow, his face full of suspicion.