Chapter 146
his night, Princess An Xi’s manor stood in silence with only the lantern in the study still burning .
Princess An Xi’s handsome face wore a trace of tiredness as she looked at the man in front of her with a frown . “Is there no news from Qing Chen?”
The man shook his head and answered in a heavy tone: “No . ”
Princess An Xi said a bit irritated: “What’s going on? Does she still not believe we think Qing Chen is missing?”
The man nodded . “Very likely . Though we’ve sent men looking for Mr . Qing Chen everywhere, she might think it is just a show put up for her by Mr . Qing Chen and us . ”
“I hope Qing Chen is fine . ” She closed her eyes, exhausted and rubbed her forehead as she said: “We’ve gone through so much difficulty in order to turn the situation for the better . If we fall short of success for lack of a final effort, I’m afraid . . . my father . . . ”
The man frowned and said: “Does His Grace still not trust you, My Lady?”
Princess An Xi said with a bitter laugh: “Father just had his 40th birthday . He is in his prime years . Even if he believes me, he won't give me any help . He needs another power to suppress me . ”
If it wasn’t her father who protected her enemy secretly in the past half a year, she couldn’t have failed repeatedly . Every time she was about to have evidence against her enemy, it slipped from her hand .
“Now that she has the military tally, we’ll be fighting for nothing if we don’t have it back . ”
Sponsored Content
Princess An Xi didn’t understand why her father who had always been wise would protect that woman . However, she herself can't stand aside when that woman harmed Nan Zhao . It was her responsibility as the inheritress of Nan Zhao .
“Can you get Mr . Qing Chen’s whereabouts?” Asked Princess An Xi . “If we can't succeed, bring him out of there first . I don't want to get him into trouble because of our internal affairs . ”
The man shook his head as he said: “I’m afraid not . Though we have news from Mr . Qing Chen sometimes, it comes from people who is sent by him so we don’t know where he is . ”
“Damn!” She cursed below her breath .
“Assassins!” A shout went up in the yard .
Princess An Xi stood up immediately .
The man beside her pulled out his blade and pushed the door open . However, he stepped back quickly and said with a frown: “They left for the guest yard . ”
Princess An Xi said: “There’s only Miss Chu in the guest yard . What do those assassins want from her? Let’s go and have a look . ”
Then she left first and rushed towards the guest yard . The man hurriedly closed the door behind him and followed .
The study went back to quietness when a window at its corner moved a bit as a black figure flew inside . Under the black mask was a pair of pretty eyes . The one in black walked to the desk in a flash and started to go through the records on it . Not having found what she was looking for, she went to the bookshelves for a search . There weren't many books in Princess An Xi’s study . Most of them were records in Nan Zhao language . After a great effort, the one in black saw a record hidden at the most unremarkable corner of the bookshelf . It wasn’t the record itself that attracted her attention, instead, it was the sunflower seal on it . Her eyes moved . A light and thin blade appeared at her fingertip and she opened the record in no time . Taking in ten lines at a glance, her eyes smiled faintly . Then she sealed it back and restored the study to its old look before she left from the same window that she came in .
Sponsored Content
In the guest yard, when Princess An Xi arrived with her guards, they were stopped at the door by Secret Guard No . 2 . He looked at all the people in front of him as he said: “My Lady, it’s very late now . What’s the matter?”
Princess An Xi said: “There were assassins who headed for the guest yard . Is everything all right with Miss Chu?”
“Assassins?” Said Secret Guard No . 2 with a frown: “I've been keeping guard here all night and haven't seen any assassins . ”
Princess An Xi paused since her guards would never lie . Besides, she did see a few dark figures enter the guest yard from afar . Why did Miss Chu’s guard deny it?“Guard Lin, Miss Chu is Mr . Qing Chen’s fiancée . If she is harmed, I can't account it to him . Was there nobody here?”
Secret Guard No . 2’s expression was dark as he said in a serious tone: “There were a few men here when a shout went up but they were scared away by my concealed weapons . I think there were men who were wounded . But none of them entered this yard . My Lady's good name is at the first place . Please speak cautiously . ”
Seeing Secret Guard No . 2's solemn expression, Princess An Xi finally realized why this guard insisted that no assassin entered the yard since Great Chu attached more importance to a woman’s reputation than Nan Zhao did .
“Sorry, Guard Lin . I’ve made an indiscreet remark . ” She waved at her guards to keep looking for the assassins before she turned back to Secret Guard No . 2 and said: “Did it frighten Miss Chu? Why doesn’t she come out?”
Secret Guard No . 2 answered calmly: “She lives in the inner yard and probably didn’t hear it . ”
Princess An Xi frowned as she said: “Guard Lin, if it isn’t convenient for you, I might as well check on her myself . It won’t be good if she is frightened . . . ”
“No . . . ”
Sponsored Content
“Sister princess, what’s going on?”
Secret Guard No . 2 was about to refuse when Ye Li's voice rose from behind .
With a big cloak over her and her hair loose on her shoulder, she looked sleepy and confused . Following her with a lantern was a maid sent to wait on her by Princess An Xi .
Princess An Xi smiled: “It was nothing . A few thieves broke in just now . Did they wake you up, Miss Chu?”
Cocking her head, Ye Li gave her a pretty smile . “I’m not afraid of them . Lin Han is good at martial arts . He has protected me all the way here . Haven’t you, Lin Han?”
Secret Guard No . 2 answered in respect with his head lowered: “Yes, please don’t worry about it, Miss . I’ve chased them away before they entered this yard . ”
Having seen that nothing happened to Ye Li, Princess An Xi nodded and said: “Well, have a good sleep, Miss Chu . I’ll send my men to investigate if there is any assassins who has run away . ”
“All right, thank you very much, sister princess . ” Ye Li said with a meek smile . Watching Princess An Xi leave, Ye Li's smile faded slowly . She turned to the maid and said: “Let's go back too . ”
The maid nodded and followed Ye Li . However, when she stepped in the room, she only felt her back become numb and collapsed .
Secret Guard No . 2 appeared by the door quietly .
Ye Li looked at him with arched brows as she asked: “What’s about those assassins?”
Secret Guard No . 2 answered in a serious tone: “There were assassins . I think they came for you, Miss . ” He walked into the room . Crouching down, he pulled a man in black out from under the bed . “There were three of them . They underestimated the guards here and were found out . Then they left after being wounded by me . I caught him since he was severely wounded . ”
Bending down, Ye Li watched the man lying on the ground with typical appearance of men of Nan Zhao . Though he was in a black suit, he didn't cover up his characteristics . “I don’t think they worked for Princess An Xi . Besides, Chu Liu Yun isn’t supposed to have any enemies here . Who would dare to come here just to provoke me?”
Secret Guard No . 2 said with a frown: “Is it possible that we are exposed?”
She shook her head . “No . If we are, we might be faced with much more than a few assassins who aren't good at what they do . It’s more like a demonstration of power . . . a provocation to Princess An Xi . ”
“A demonstration of power . . . a provocation to Princess An Xi? Because of Mr . Qing Chen?” Secret Guard No . 2 speculated .
Ye Li nodded and said pensively: “I think so . The only connection Chu Liu Yun has here is big brother . But what use is a provocation that hurts nobody? In comparison, it will be more useful to have me in order to threaten big brother, if they have big brother, too . ”
“Those assassins didn't have the ability to take a person away even without me here . ” Having drawn the attention of the guards before they were in the guest yard . They would in no way take a person away . “Miss, do you have any idea who did it?”
Ye Li smiled thinly . “I didn’t know at first . Now I think I have a lead . Tomorrow, I want to see your inquisition ability and verify my theory . ”