Qin Yining was also full of confusion. They had just come out of the woodshed, and in just the time it took to say a few words, the person had vanished!

Could there be someone following them for secret protection?

Qin Yining herself had no such people around her, but Cao Yuqing was after all a Cao family miss—there was no guarantee she didn’t have such people around her.

However, if this were truly the case, why hadn’t these people appeared earlier? Why wait until she woke up and the Duchess of Dingguo had gone outside with her before rescuing the person?

Perhaps the Cao family people were eager for her to perish here? Or perhaps the Cao family people believed she and the Duchess of Dingguo were accomplices!

If the Cao family truly misunderstood that she and grandmother were accomplices, it would likely bring tremendous trouble!

Though the Cao and Qin families had become in-laws, father wasn’t particularly warm toward the Cao clan, and the position of National Uncle had ultimately been taken by father as a replacement. Even though National Uncle Cao was no longer an official in court, his disciples were everywhere and his influence deeply rooted—the Qin family currently had no ability to contend with them.

In an instant, Qin Yining thought of many things and immediately felt the situation was extremely thorny. So much trouble was brought by grandmother, yet grandmother was now looking at her with suspicious eyes. Qin Yining didn’t know whether to be angry or helpless.

The Duchess of Dingguo observed for a long while but saw no other schemes in Qin Yining’s expression, then laughed self-mockingly: “Now that the person has escaped, whatever more I say is useless. However, you and the Cao woman are under the same roof—there will be plenty of opportunities to kill her in the future.”

Qin Yining looked at grandmother and said seriously again: “Grandmother, I think what I said just now was very clear. I won’t expose grandmother, nor do I want to make things difficult for grandmother. I’ll even continue to care for grandmother’s future life with aunt and sister-in-law. But I truly cannot let the Qin family’s lives be sacrificed as well.”

Seeing Qin Yining refuse repeatedly, the Duchess of Dingguo shook her head in disappointment.

Meanwhile, the men guarding the Duchess of Dingguo had already gathered nearby, and upon hearing Qin Yining’s repeated refusals, they all became angry.

“Alliance Leader! Why are you still wasting words with her? I can see she’s clearly greedy for wealth and glory, in league with that dog emperor!”

“That’s right, Alliance Leader! She’s not only on the same vine as the foolish emperor, disregarding her past grandmother-granddaughter relationship with you, she’s even colluding with the Great Zhou people!”

“Right! I heard that Great Zhou fellow surnamed Pang has close dealings with her!”

“Maybe when that Qin fellow brought her to the peace talks, it was to commit treason!”

“Not only does she fail to distinguish right from wrong while loyally serving the foolish emperor, she’s also a traitor! Alliance Leader, kill her!”

“Kill her! Kill her!”

…

The men were fierce and menacing, raising the steel knives in their hands high, everyone staring at Qin Yining with bloodthirsty eyes, like a pack of vicious dogs about to pounce and tear Qin Yining to pieces.

However, Qin Yining showed no fear, only calmly looking at the Duchess of Dingguo.

“Everyone be quiet.” The Duchess of Dingguo’s voice wasn’t loud, but carried full authority.

The men actually stopped shouting.

“Marquis Anping serves Great Yan wholeheartedly and would absolutely never commit treason—this is no different from the men of my Dingguo Duke’s mansion. And my granddaughter, when she was arranged by the foolish emperor to go to the peace talks back then—don’t you all understand what that was for?”

Everyone thought carefully about Qin Huaiyuan’s character over the years and fell silent for a moment.

The Duchess of Dingguo continued: “Today we wanted Miss Qin to be our alliance leader—wasn’t it because Marquis Anping has always been trustworthy? This old woman hopes everyone won’t act impulsively, constantly shouting about fighting and killing, or wouldn’t we become like those foolish emperors and corrupt officials who slaughter innocents?”

With just a few words, she made everyone lower their swords, and their killing intent toward Qin Yining immediately diminished.

Qin Yining secretly breathed a sigh of relief, gaining new understanding of grandmother’s absolute position in the Azure Sky Alliance.

“Grandmother, we…”

“This is bad! Run quickly!”

Qin Yining’s words were abruptly interrupted. She suddenly turned toward the source of the sound, and Qin Yining was so shocked her eyes widened in alarm.

She saw Cao Yuqing, dressed in luxurious silk robes with a cloak, holding a long sword and leading ten men in black tight-fitting clothes with silver masks covering their faces, charging over from not far away.

Cao Yuqing’s jade face was frosty, her sword edge sharp, and her movement techniques agile as she dodged and weaved—her martial skills were actually a notch higher than the “Silver-Masked Men” behind her, while those “Silver-Masked Men” clearly followed Cao Yuqing’s lead!

Qin Yining was utterly astonished, suddenly remembering the “Silver-Masked Men” who had come running along rooftops and walls to rescue the emperor during the welcoming ceremony that day—the leader among them had been a woman whose build was extremely similar to Cao Yuqing’s!

Now, no matter how slow Qin Yining was, she understood that Cao Yuqing was the leader of the secret agents around the emperor!

Just now in the woodshed, it was clearly Cao Yuqing who had killed the guards and escaped herself.

Cao Yuqing had deliberately invited her to go to the Immortal Maiden Temple together, then deliberately got captured—she had probably long known that the Azure Sky Alliance leader was the Duchess of Dingguo! She likely had the intention of testing her! It was also to lure the snake out of its hole!

Since the Silver-Masked secret agents around the emperor already knew that the Azure Sky Alliance leader was the Duchess of Dingguo, how could the emperor not know?!

And now that Cao Yuqing had become father’s concubine, did father know Cao Yuqing’s true identity?!

Qin Yining’s face turned deathly pale. The more she thought about it, the more terrified she became. Watching Cao Yuqing with her murderous expression leading a group of people, cutting down enemies like slicing melons and vegetables—seven or eight Azure Sky Alliance members had already been killed and fallen to the ground, and they were about to charge in. She looked at the Duchess of Dingguo in panic, hurriedly making eye signals.

The Duchess of Dingguo was also shocked by Cao Yuqing’s fierce momentum. Seeing Qin Yining’s expression, she immediately understood her meaning.

Qin Yining was telling her to use her as a hostage!

The Duchess of Dingguo’s heart immediately filled with mixed emotions—she had intended to use and threaten Qin Yining, yet Qin Yining wanted to protect her!

Without time to think much, the Duchess of Dingguo immediately wrapped one arm around Qin Yining, used her other hand to snatch the knife from a nearby man’s hand, and placed it against Qin Yining’s fair, slender neck, shouting loudly: “Stop! Or I’ll kill her!”

Cao Yuqing pulled her precious sword from a man’s chest, looked expressionlessly toward Qin Yining and the Duchess of Dingguo’s direction, and laughed coldly: “Truly deep grandmother-granddaughter affection—this really opens my eyes.”

“You flatter us. That Miss Cao is actually the foolish emperor’s secret agent also truly opened this old woman’s eyes. I wonder if your father, mother, and sister know about Miss Cao’s identity?”

The Duchess of Dingguo remained calm and composed, using the knife against Qin Yining’s neck as she led people retreating toward the courtyard exit.

Qin Yining was already weeping in extreme terror, struggling and shouting: “Let me go! I showed you such filial devotion, yet you treat me like this! I truly misjudged you!”

“Shut up! You’re nothing but the foolish emperor’s dog, yet you dare speak of filial devotion to me! If you truly had filial devotion, why didn’t you act to kill her just now!”

The Duchess of Dingguo endured her heartache, striking Qin Yining’s shoulder once with the knife handle. After Qin Yining cried out in pain, she once again aimed the blade at Qin Yining’s neck!

“Have your people all disperse and let us leave! Otherwise I’ll kill her!”