Jing Hengbo furrowed her brow.

Were this woman’s words true or false?

This poisoning method was quite clever, and rather effective against Gong Yin. Gong Yin had accepted those dancers either because he was jealous of her, or wanted to make her jealous, or wanted to deceive Ge Lian. Eighteen dancers filled the hall, waving their sleeves and swaying their little hands. Gong Yin would naturally look and linger. If he truly fell for such a trap, it was entirely possible.

She felt somewhat uneasy. Although she still believed Ge Lian couldn’t bring down Gong Yin, there was always that one-in-ten-thousand chance that he might become overconfident, careless, or that the opponent’s methods might be particularly ingenious…

They say concern leads to confusion. After enduring so many hardships since arriving in this strange world, she had gradually learned that one shouldn’t be overly confident in anything. The consequence of overconfidence was often capsizing in the gutter.

Only, leaving Zuoqiu Mo, that straightforward person, here at this moment…

She thought for a moment, made several hand gestures to Feifei, and the little monster blinked.

Then Jing Hengbo left Feifei behind and flashed back to Zuoqiu Mo’s side in another shadow. Zuoqiu Mo was still waiting for her, but her face was deathly pale with sweat beading on her forehead. From her appearance, if Jing Hengbo didn’t return soon, Zuoqiu Mo would charge out herself.

Jing Hengbo whispered about the Ge sisters’ scheme, then said, “Don’t worry about the Zuoqiu residence. I’ve already arranged protection and can at least rescue your old master. I have urgent matters to attend to but will return shortly. I’ve arranged a way to deal with the Ge sisters. They shouldn’t make a move on the prison in the short term. You must hide well and don’t act rashly. Wait for me to return before making any decisions.”

Zuoqiu Mo silently watched her with dark eyes. Jing Hengbo knew that having experienced betrayal and deception, her trust in people had been devastated. In this situation, how much confidence she could maintain was hard to say. But at this moment, she could only encouragingly squeeze her hand to reassure her, then vanished in a flash.

As soon as she left, Feifei began to act, suddenly darting out of the bushes and disappearing in a flash.

Just then, soldiers were rushing toward Ge Lian’s direction. Seeing this black shadow, they cried out in alarm, “Enemy!”

Ge Lian was also startled and quickly hid among the crowd, her eyes flickering as she looked around. “Search!”

The soldiers began their hunt. Ge Shao looked at the sky and whispered, “Let the people outside continue searching. Shall we go in to handle business? If we delay, I fear complications may arise.”

Ge Lian shared this thought, but just as she took a step, she suddenly felt something cool brush over her head, as if something furry had swept past. Then something ice-cold dangled down onto her face, nearly poking her eye. Greatly alarmed, she reached up to touch it, only to discover it was her own glass hairpin, somehow pulled from her hair and now hanging in front of her face.

Ge Shao also witnessed this scene and gasped, releasing Ge Lian and looking around fearfully while protecting her own head and face.

Frightened by this, Ge Lian suddenly remembered the legends of Her Majesty the Queen’s ghostly appearances and disappearances, feeling increasingly uneasy.

Earlier, she had noticed a flickering shadow on the ground. With no wind at the time, she suspected someone was behind the trees, so she deliberately spoke those words. But she couldn’t gauge the effect of those words well. Just because she could lay false traps didn’t mean others couldn’t play with truth and deception?

Thinking that the Queen might truly be nearby, and that with her methods, killing herself would be as easy as turning her hand, taking rash action now might bring fatal disaster.

Those who love scheming are particularly fond of their lives. After a moment’s hesitation, she said, “Wait a bit longer. We’ll proceed after finding the assassin.” She retreated into the carriage with Ge Shao once more.

…

Jing Hengbo’s return journey was very swift.

She knew that delays would bring complications. She knew that with Ge Lian’s suspicious and cautious nature, Feifei’s interference would make her temporarily inactive, but only temporarily. Such minor tricks couldn’t fool that gloomy and cunning woman.

And with Zuoqiu Mo’s temperament and situation, she wouldn’t be able to endure and wait for long either.

She had to go and return quickly. Just one glance to confirm Gong Yin’s safety would suffice.

She flickered in and out of the darkness while summoning her elite Halberd Army guards left outside the palace. Out of respect, the four thousand guards remained in the outer city, while Pei Shu had arranged for a hundred men to stay near the royal palace in the inner city.

The Luoyun tribe enforced a nighttime curfew, leaving the streets empty. Jing Hengbo confidently made her summons, and Halberd guards continuously emerged from the dark streets and alleys.

Jing Hengbo prepared to arrange for those guards to support Zuoqiu Mo. Originally, with her personally accompanying, they wouldn’t need so many people causing a stir. But now that she was leaving Zuoqiu Mo, she still needed to arrange help for her – at minimum, there had to be an escape route if something went wrong.

In the dark streets, figures continuously leaped about like flowing light and lightning.

Ahead at a street corner, a beam of light suddenly shot out unsteadily. Within the light, the shadows of carriages could be vaguely seen, suggesting an approaching convoy.

Jing Hengbo frowned, not expecting horse-drawn carriages to be traveling the streets at this late hour. From the looks of it, there were quite a few people too. The curfew applied to everyone, including royalty and ministers. If not for royal orders, even the Ge sisters couldn’t have come out.

Who could this be?

It was too late to avoid them now. With over a hundred people, scattering now might provoke pursuit, and Jing Hengbo didn’t want unnecessary complications.

Cursing her bad luck under her breath, she could only stand firm and watch the other party while pulling out a silk handkerchief to cover half her face.

In the opposite direction, inside a luxurious carriage that had just left the palace at midnight, Crown Prince Ge Heng of the Luoyun tribe squinted his eyes, studying the shadowy figures ahead and saying in surprise, “Where do all these people come from at midnight? They must have ill intentions. Guards, investi—”

Before he could finish saying “investigate,” a person suddenly appeared before him. A intoxicating fragrance proved this was a woman.

The woman had suddenly appeared in his carriage, unceremoniously pushing aside the dancer on his lap and squeezing in beside him with a charming smile.

Ge Heng was greatly startled and was about to call for his guards when he met that smile and couldn’t help but be stunned, his eyes becoming somewhat hazy.

Taking advantage of his dazed state, Jing Hengbo had already surveyed the entire carriage and his attire, confirming this was royalty of considerable status.

Ge Heng stared intently at the eyes Jing Hengbo had left exposed. As an experienced player who had wandered through countless flowers, based solely on these eyes – bright as pearls with autumn waters for spirit, flashing with infinite charm in a single glance – he could judge that this must be a rarely seen beauty.

Moreover, the beauty was smiling at him without any hostility.

Ge Heng immediately lowered his voice and smiled, “This young lady…”

“This young master,” Jing Hengbo rested an arm on his shoulder and smiled while caressing his face, “since you’re calling me ‘young lady’ so intimately, don’t reach behind your seat for the mechanism. Don’t you think it’s rather spoiling the mood toward such a beauty as myself?”

She smiled, her five fingers casually resting on Ge Heng’s neck with a faint cold glint between them.

Ge Heng dared not move.

Outside the carriage, the Crown Prince’s guard captain loudly reported, “Your Highness! Those black-clothed people have scattered into the streets and alleys, seeming to head toward the royal palace. Should we pursue them or notify the Five Cities Military Commission?”

“Swoosh.” The carriage curtain lifted, and the guard captain stared dumbfounded at an unfamiliar woman’s face. That face smiled and poked out, saying in a soft voice, “No need to worry, no need to worry. Off you go.”

The guard captain glanced at Ge Heng, who smiled stiffly and waved his hand with some difficulty.

The guard captain had to withdraw without pursuing, but quickly commanded men to surround the carriage completely. After positioning them, he arranged for experts to suddenly rush in.

However, when the curtain lifted, it was still just Ge Heng sitting stiffly with an unnatural posture, though his eyeballs rolled around frantically. If not for the woman who served him collapsed inside the carriage, still too frightened to get up, the guard captain would have thought he’d just seen a ghost.

As everyone looked at each other in confusion, Ge Heng suddenly straightened up and said excitedly, “Chase! Chase that woman! She’s an elusive bandit who must have gone toward the royal palace! Defending the royal palace is the Crown Prince’s responsibility!”

A moment of silence.

After a while, the guard captain whispered, “Your Highness, we’ve already returned quite late tonight. The Crown Princess…”

Ge Heng’s expression changed dramatically, and everyone lowered their heads.

The Crown Princess was a grand princess of high status from the Floating Water tribe, an important representative of the friendship between the Luoyun and Floating Water tribes. Her marriage to Ge Heng involved some important transactions between Luoyun and Floating Water that were not suitable for outsiders to know. The Princess herself had a fierce and fiery temperament with extreme jealousy. Ge Heng, half because of her status and half because of her personality, only played around outside and gave her considerable respect within the Eastern Palace.

After hesitating for quite a while, Ge Heng suddenly said coldly, “Those people did indeed head toward the royal palace. As Crown Prince, how can I turn a blind eye? No need for more words!”

Everyone thought this reason was acceptable and silently prepared to turn around.

Suddenly, the sound of galloping hooves came from ahead. The guard captain hurried forward to meet them, returning after a moment with a pale face to report: “Your Highness, terrible news! Grand Officiant Zhan Hui has just been assassinated!”

“Who killed him!”

“Princess Lian said that Master Zhan Hui was protecting them as they dismounted when he was suddenly grabbed by a beast that caught his attention, then stabbed in the back. The assassin came and went like a ghost, impossible to track, but they saw it was a woman.”

Everyone was stunned. Wasn’t that woman just now also ghost-like in her movements?

Ge Heng was dazed, his expression unclear whether it was shock or anger. Then he suddenly slammed the table and shouted, “It was her! How dare she kill my Grand Officiant! This time we absolutely cannot let her go! Guards, mobilize my Eastern Palace guard unit and chase!”

A large group of horsemen hurriedly pursued toward the royal palace. Several experts under the Crown Prince were also dispatched to track Jing Hengbo’s trail, their robes flashing like bat wings across the dark sky before vanishing.

Not long after the Crown Prince’s carriage procession left, another luxurious carriage traveled hurriedly on this avenue lined with noble residences. The deep red carved body, golden royal insignia, and hanging octagonal sun-moon auspicious cloud palace lanterns showed that the carriage’s owner was a royal woman.

The carriage stopped at the desolate street corner. After a series of crisp bell sounds, the curtain was suddenly pulled open and a palace-dressed woman stuck her head out, shouting in exasperation, “Where is he! Where is the Crown Prince! Didn’t they say he’d already left the palace? I came personally to meet him, so where did he run off to!”

Ge Lian’s messenger who had earlier reported to the Crown Prince’s side hadn’t left yet and hurried forward to explain the situation. The Crown Princess, truly living up to being a woman, immediately saw through the appearance to the essence.

“What chasing assassins – clearly chasing women! What’s he running to the palace for at midnight? I want to see what kind of vixen could make him chase after her like a dog even when he’s reached his doorstep. Chase after them for me too!”

…

Jing Hengbo shook off that roadblock dog and headed straight for the royal palace.

Seeing Gong Yin’s palace residence from afar, indeed all other places had dimmed their lights, but his alone was brilliantly illuminated, with the sound of strings and wind instruments audible from far away.

The corners of Jing Hengbo’s smiling lips drooped a bit. She laughed several times with “heh heh heh,” and the content of her laughter sounded quite rich – roughly a combination of anger, dissatisfaction, indignation, and malice.

She appeared on the palace roof and looked down, letting out another malicious “heh heh” laugh.

Below, strings and wind instruments indeed played melodiously, but there were no dancing shadows to be seen. In the palace courtyard, Gong Yin half-reclined on a lounge chair facing the hall, with a small white jade table beside him. Purple grapes glistened with ice pearls, pears glowed yellow with a pink tinge in the lamplight, loquats were golden and lustrous as if carved from jade, and there were sweet melons rare for this season, served in porcelain dishes white as jade, with green translucent skin and bright red flesh, vivid as a painting.

Beside him, one eunuch fanned him on the left while another on the right held a small plate, ready at any moment to receive the melon rinds and fruit shells he spat out.

Music drifted melodiously from the great hall, and the light and shadows in the courtyard vaguely revealed graceful feminine silhouettes, showing that singing and dancing were being performed in the hall for the distinguished guest in the outer courtyard.

The distinguished guest was also quite good at enjoying himself, lying under the bright moon and sparse stars of the night sky. His snow-white fingers casually picked up a grape, and a eunuch immediately stepped forward attentively to help peel it. The guest waved his hand in refusal, his eyes still fixed on the singing and dancing in the hall. The eunuch quickly held up the jade plate, waiting for those few grape seeds to fall with a clear, crisp sound.

Jing Hengbo crouched on the palace roof, staring dumbfounded.

Was this still the great god?

Was this still the National Preceptor Gong with his ice-snow body, pure heart, few desires, and disdain for luxury?

Didn’t he only have two poses – processing court affairs on the throne and processing court affairs at his desk?

She struggled to recall all the times she’d been with him. Had Gong Yin ever half-reclined like this? Had he? Had he?

No!

More importantly…

Jing Hengbo stared at Gong Yin’s clothes and unconsciously swallowed, not even realizing it herself.

This guy’s outfit today was really quite… flirtatious…

That eternally fastened, highly buttoned signature collar that never opened had somehow loosened, and quite deeply too. Jing Hengbo’s gaze unconsciously followed that line of opening downward in exploration. By the dim starlight and moonlight, she vaguely saw a line of jade-white skin, two straight collarbones, and chest muscles that seemed to glimmer with an icy snow-like light…

Her Majesty the Queen felt her throat becoming somewhat dry. She was slightly dazed, thinking that such a scene of natural enjoyment – not only had Gong Yin never had it before, but she herself hadn’t either? Since crossing over, various storms had followed one after another without rest. She had been exhausted like a dog, unable to fall if standing, sleeping like the dead when collapsed. In her memory, had she ever appreciated beautiful men, singing, and dancing?

No!

Had she ever leisurely reclined on a lounge chair with him, eating fruit, chatting, and enjoying song and dance together?

No! None! At! All!

She suddenly became furious.

While she was galloping through the night, exhausted to death, he was here with fruit, lounge chairs, and entertainment?

While she crouched on rooftops in the cold wind, he reclined in comfort eating grapes?

With his collar open too!

Open! Open! Open your sister!

All those times before when she’d told him to loosen up, he’d been stubborn like he was about to be violated, refusing in every way. Now he was leisurely and comfortable, opening up – for whom? For those beauties in the hall?

Originally intending to take one look and leave, she now wanted to jump down and beat him up. But then she let out a resentful laugh, thinking this wasn’t the time for jealousy – Zuoqiu Mo was like a powder keg that could explode at any moment.

But leaving like this didn’t give her peace of mind either.

He wasn’t entering the hall, so it looked like he wouldn’t be poisoned, but who knew if he might go in later?

While hesitating, she suddenly saw Gong Yin get up and point at the hall, seeming to have intentions of entering. Her brow furrowed.

Better to solve this once and for all.

Her figure flashed and she was already in the back hall. Through the continuous screens, she could see the front hall brilliantly lit with a group of dancers performing paired dances.

She was pondering what would be most appropriate when she suddenly saw the dancers change their formation, scattering throughout the hall in graceful movements. Among them, two pairs turned to the side of the screens near the back hall.

Jing Hengbo quickly hid behind the curtains, revealing only her eyes. She watched as those two pairs of dancers turned half their bodies inside the screens. They all wore half silver masks, revealing only pairs of exquisitely made-up eyes.

Several women danced while exchanging glances. One of them whispered, “Sisters, the guest still won’t come up to the hall. What should we do?”

Another replied while dancing, “If the guest won’t come, we’ll go to him.”

“How do we go?”

“Naturally by changing the dance. The Scattered Flower Dance we choreographed recently takes up much space. Elder sister, you’re the lead dancer. In a moment we’ll support you and dance down to the steps. A gentle toss of the flower basket in your hands will be enough.”

The lead dancer hummed in agreement.

The other pair danced out first. One from this pair also danced out, leaving only the lead dancer who turned behind the screen to retrieve the flower basket hanging there.

Suddenly a hand reached out before her and took the flower basket.

The woman was startled and about to cry out when everything went black before her eyes.

Jing Hengbo looked down at the dancer at her feet and curled her lip, muttering, “Lucky you.”

She searched the woman and indeed found mechanisms in her collar, bracelets, ankle bells, and waistband. The so-called “poison from waving little hands” wasn’t false.

After removing all these items, it would naturally be safe. Then there was the flower basket – she couldn’t immediately see the mechanism. She held her breath and examined it. Hearing the music outside becoming increasingly urgent and the dancers near the screen frequently turning their heads to look, she knew she was taking too much time and might arouse suspicion. She could only hurriedly dress herself first.

Afraid that Gong Yin would recognize her, she bound her chest flat and wrapped several extra layers around her waist. She knew that a woman’s most obvious characteristic features were in these two areas. Once changed, and with the mask on, it would be difficult to discover in a short time.

Then she picked up the flower basket and turned out.

Her dance skills, honed through years of training, could withstand the most discerning scrutiny. As soon as she appeared, the somewhat anxious dancers breathed sighs of relief. Only one or two were slightly puzzled, feeling she seemed somewhat different, though her dancing appeared even more beautiful.

Not wanting to be recognized by Gong Yin, Jing Hengbo immediately changed her dance style upon emerging. She shifted from the original slow turning dance to an intense whirling dance. Her golden dance skirt was adorned with crimson silk ribbons – the upper half connected like lotus flowers, the lower half flowing freely. With this intense spinning, the entire hall suddenly seemed filled with floating sunlight and reflected rosy clouds. The hall was full of rainbows from her skirt’s ribbons, the pale yellow lamplight tinted with touches of rouge color, brilliantly splashing into people’s vision.

And her eyes, revealed beneath the silver half-mask, were unfathomably deep and mysterious, brilliant to the point of radiance. The flying corners of her eyes held natural charm. The stars and moon of this night were merely overly thin embellishments.

An exquisite dancer can inspire excitement in everyone. The other dancers involuntarily spun rapidly to match her rhythm while the music soared higher and higher, layer upon layer becoming clearer, more uplifting, brighter, and more transcendently beautiful. The urgent strings sang out with divine grace, clear and bright, voice upon voice.

In the courtyard, the fan-bearer forgot to fan, the fruit-cutter forgot to cut fruit, and Gong Yin, who had picked up a grape to put in his mouth, stopped with his fingers in mid-air.

The hall was full of light and shadow like brilliant rainbows, and she came from within that rainbow.

Jing Hengbo danced faster and faster. Somehow her heart felt slightly agitated, and she vaguely seemed to hear sounds rapidly approaching. She couldn’t help but wonder how things were on Zuoqiu’s side. Suddenly all the dancers whirled toward her, gathering her in the center and lifting her up.

Jing Hengbo was startled, then realized this was the prelude to poisoning. She gripped the flower basket tightly.

From her elevated position, she looked directly into Gong Yin’s gaze across the hall entrance and jade steps. She felt his gaze seemed to fall on her… chest?

She was stunned and in her busy state still looked down at herself. Though she had tried to bind her chest as flat as possible, the low-cut dance costume still revealed a large expanse of snow-white skin.

Good grief, was he looking at her chest?

Was he looking at a dancer’s chest?

An incredible feeling rose in Jing Hengbo’s heart. Before she could think it through clearly, her body suddenly soared upward, lifted flying by the dancers.

In the courtyard, Gong Yin and the eunuchs involuntarily looked up.

Starlight and moonbeams floated, the sky was deep blue, the magnificent palace with brilliant lights and graceful dancing figures formed a gorgeous backdrop, while she was like a flying celestial, with deep blue-black eyebrows, heart-shaped silk garments, and her sash dancing in the wind like phoenix tail feathers, descended from deep within the clouds.

And at this moment, outside the palace courtyard, Crown Prince Ge Heng, who had hurriedly walked along the palace path searching for Jing Hengbo unsuccessfully and had instinctively come here upon seeing the brilliant lights, unconsciously looked up and saw this scene of chaotic flowers, rainbows, and celestial dancing.

He was stunned, thinking he was witnessing immortals descending to the world.

Even further away, the Crown Princess who had breathlessly pursued and finally spotted her husband’s silhouette, was about to call out when she suddenly saw that luxuriously magnificent, absolutely stunning scene.

She was naturally also stunned, but being a woman, her sensitivity to feminine beauty wasn’t as shocking as the men’s. Moreover, she was a jealous wife.

So she immediately looked away, just in time to see her husband’s instantly entranced expression.

The fury in the Crown Princess’s heart blazed upward. Her scorching gaze returned to Jing Hengbo. If that gaze could materialize, it would surely manifest as thousands of flying daggers to hack Jing Hengbo into pieces.

Just for an instant.

But the image left in people’s hearts, and its consequences, would be far-reaching.

Jing Hengbo had already descended.

By her calculation, she should land about three feet in front of Gong Yin. This distance was originally for her to throw the flower basket. Of course, she wouldn’t throw it. She would grab that piece of watermelon and smash it on Gong Yin’s forehead, then abduct him and dump him in some garbage heap. Let him properly taste the feeling of falling from the soft jade warm fragrance of heaven into the stinking hell.

She fell diagonally downward.

But her body suddenly tilted, as if pulled by something invisible, and she involuntarily landed beside Gong Yin’s lounge chair.

Somehow, the two eunuchs had vanished.

Gong Yin turned his head to look at her, his eyes gathering this night’s starlight, moonbeams, deep blue sky, and a magnificent her.

Jing Hengbo reacted quickly, gracefully smiling and leaning against the armrest of his lounge chair. She casually picked up a grape and said in a sweet voice, “Young master, eat a grape…”

That coquettish, affected voice nearly made her sick with disgust.

Gong Yin seemed not the least bit disgusted and actually tilted his head slightly, opening his mouth for her to feed him.

A flash of murderous light passed through Jing Hengbo’s eyes.

She changed her mind.

So good at playing along with the act – eat what grapes? Eat mud!

With a flick of her finger, a ball of mud appeared in her palm, replacing the grape. She smiled sweetly, posed seductively, leaned half her body against Gong Yin, and sent the “grape” toward his mouth.

Suddenly her wrist tightened, the mud fell to the ground, and her body flipped upward. The next instant, with a “thud,” she crashed into a chest that was both soft and firm.

She lowered her head and her gaze crashed into his suddenly deepened eyes.