Once news spread from the capital that Feng Jiu’er was heading to the Feng clan, quite a number of people came to provoke her along the way.
In the blink of an eye, dusk arrived on the fifth day.
After receiving the letter, Qing Ye immediately delivered it into Long Feiyan’s hands.
The Ninth Prince had dispatched yet another unit to join the ranks protecting Feng Jiu’er.
This was already the third such unit!
Every time they passed through a city, an elite unit from that city would join them. By now, Feng Jiu’er’s escort had grown to several hundred people.
Since news that Feng Jiu’er was still alive had already been released, the Ninth Prince no longer needed to hold back — he openly sent experts to escort and protect her the whole way.
“Could it be that Zhan Qingcheng really didn’t leave with her?”
Long Feiyan’s five fingers tightened, and the letter in her hand instantly turned to ash.
“My lady, why don’t I sneak into the Ninth Prince’s Manor tonight to see whether the Ninth Prince is actually there?”
If the Ninth Prince had truly left with Feng Jiu’er, then the manor would necessarily be without the real Ninth Prince.
True or false — one attempt would reveal it!
Long Feiyan thought it over for a moment, then nodded: “Fine. Go test the waters tonight, but remember — you must not alert anyone outside.”
She only wanted to know whether Zhan Qingcheng had left with her. If he truly had, she didn’t want that news to spread.
Qing Ye’s martial skill was such that few experts in the martial world could match her.
If the person in the manor wasn’t the real Ninth Prince, she would certainly be able to tell.
There were only a handful of experts around the Ninth Prince, and she had essentially already learned all there was to know about them.
Sending Qing Ye should pose no problem.
Qing Ye accepted the order and hurried out of the palace that very night, slipping into the rear courtyard of the Ninth Prince’s Manor.
The Ninth Prince’s Manor was vast. Though smaller than the palace, its layout had never been leaked to the outside world, which made breaking in seem even harder than infiltrating the palace itself.
Qing Ye had no idea where the Ninth Prince actually resided; once inside, she could only feel her way through bit by bit.
Every corner of the manor seemed guarded just as heavily — there was no particular hall or chamber guarded more tightly than any other.
Qing Ye made her way across the rooftops, nearly getting spotted by the guards below several times.
The guards of the Ninth Prince’s Manor came in wave after wave, so tight and meticulous that there wasn’t a single gap.
Had anyone other than her come tonight — even Qing Zhi — they likely wouldn’t have been able to move an inch without being discovered.
Finally, Qing Ye spotted two servants carrying bowls of soup, walking by below.
She followed their pace, cautiously moving toward a spacious bedchamber.
Even before approaching that chamber, she could sense a formidable aura. She couldn’t tell whether it belonged to the Ninth Prince, but she knew for certain it belonged to an expert.
Qing Ye didn’t dare get closer, staying on the roof as she watched the servants hand the items to the guard at the door, who then opened it.
Qing Ye slipped quickly down from the roof, hiding among the tree branches. Looking down, she finally managed to catch, through the gap in the door, a glimpse of a tall, pale figure.
The man was sitting in a chair, apparently reading a military treatise.
The distance was too great to make out his features clearly, but at a glance, he was unmistakably handsome.
But whether it was truly Zhan Qingcheng or not, from this far away, Qing Ye really couldn’t be certain.
The one thing she could be sure of was that this chamber was indeed where the Ninth Prince rested.
With a light tap of her feet, swift as the wind, she leapt up from the branches and floated lightly back onto the roof.
But this time, the moment she returned to the rooftop, a chilling gust struck from behind.
She’d been discovered!
Qing Ye gathered her true energy into her palm and struck out.
The other party slapped both palms onto the armrests of his wheelchair, and the chair, as if fused to his body, leapt up right along with him.
Emperor Ji unleashed both hands at once, the icy force of his palms striking toward Qing Ye like sharp blades in an instant.
Qing Ye had long known this place was filled with skilled experts, but she hadn’t expected their martial skill to be this formidable.
She stepped back swiftly, narrowly dodging Emperor Ji’s strike, then with a reverse motion and a sharp whoosh, a long sword that had somehow appeared in her hand thrust straight at Emperor Ji’s chest.
This person before her seemed somewhat familiar, but in the darkness, she couldn’t make him out clearly.
Emperor Ji slapped his wheelchair, and it actually fired off two hidden projectiles in quick succession.
Emperor Ji slapped it again, and the wheelchair leapt up once more, carrying him forward with overwhelming inner power as he lunged at Qing Ye.
Qing Ye had only just dodged the projectiles when his palm force arrived; she had no choice but to raise both hands to meet it, bracing to take the blow head-on.
Moonlight fell over them as the gap between them closed instantly. In that split second, Qing Ye’s pupils contracted, and she abruptly withdrew her palm force, retreating in haste despite the incoming strike.
With a thud, the blow landed squarely on her body.
Yet Qing Ye used the force of the impact itself to retreat at top speed, vanishing from sight in an instant.
By the time Ye Luocha heard the commotion and rushed over, only Emperor Ji remained on the roof.
Ye Luocha landed beside him and looked in the direction he was staring, frowning: “Who was that? Daring to break into the Prince’s manor at night.”
Emperor Ji looked toward where Qing Ye had fled; that stretch of night sky had already settled back into stillness.
He said flatly, “I didn’t get a clear look.”
Indeed, he hadn’t seen clearly — but why did he feel a faint sense of familiarity? As if he’d met this person before?
Ye Luocha wanted to give chase, but Emperor Ji said, “There’s no catching up now.”
That person’s lightness skill was extremely high; had she not been trying to flee, she wouldn’t have lost to him in a single exchange.
He simply couldn’t understand — even if she’d meant to flee, there was no need to do it in a way that left her injured.
She had fled so fast, as if afraid of being seen, that she’d rather take the injury than slow down her escape.
Could it really be an old acquaintance?
Unfortunately, he hadn’t gotten a clear look at her face just now…
“What about the Prince? Was he disturbed?” Ye Luocha glanced at Emperor Ji, then immediately came down from the roof, landing lightly on the ground.
The Ninth Prince’s door remained tightly shut; during this period, she’d barely had any chance to see him at all.
Ye Luocha tried to approach, but a figure suddenly dropped down in front of the door — Emperor Ji had already steadied himself, blocking her path.
“The Prince has already retired to rest. Don’t disturb him.”
“I have something to say to the Prince.” It had been several days now without exchanging a single word with him.
During this period, Wu Ya had taken to shutting himself in his bedchamber. Although ordinarily, unless something came up, he tended to stay in his chamber most of the time anyway, at the very least he always went to the training hall every day.
These past few days, why hadn’t he gone to the training hall at all?
Outside, rumors said that Feng Jiu’er had been struck by a strange poison and needed to go to the Feng clan to find an antidote.
But everyone knew the Feng clan’s territory was far away, and more importantly, the road ahead was perilous — no one knew if she’d even make it back alive.
Feng Jiu’er had been gone only a few days, and the Prince had already shut himself in his room for this long.
Ye Luocha had every reason to suspect that the Prince might have already slipped out long ago, leaving together with Feng Jiu’er!
If that were truly the case, then Feng Jiu’er’s crimes would indeed be unforgivable!