At the same time, in the capital city of Dadu, within the Marquis Changxin Residence, Yuwen Du clenched a secret letter delivered by carrier pigeon. As he read its contents, his eyelid twitched hard. In the next moment, he crushed the letter into a ball, his face filled with murderous rage as he roared, “Trash… A bunch of worthless trash! Situ Xin, you can’t even handle a mere woman, and now her life or death is still unknown!”
Beside him, the retainer Tian Jing lowered his voice and said, “Master… shall I go personally?”
Yuwen Du let out a cold snort. “I worked so hard to trick that woman into leaving the capital, and this is what I get? Tian Jing, set off immediately to that damned place called Shangyuan County… Whether dead or alive, I want to see her with my own eyes!”
“Yes, Marquis!”
Just as Tian Jing was about to leave, an angry voice suddenly rang out from outside the door. The sound made Yuwen Du’s eyes twitch again, and his face instantly turned gloomy.
“Marquis Changxin, this is how you handle things? That woman Xiao Lingshuang—her life or death is still unknown… How am I supposed to remain at ease?”
Yuwen Du quickly stepped out from behind his desk and respectfully greeted, “Your subject pays respects to the Second Prince!”
“Hmph… If you had done your job properly, you’d be calling me Your Majesty by now!” Second Prince Xiao Yang sneered.
Yuwen Du inwardly scoffed, “You? You think you’re worthy of being called ‘Your Majesty’ by me? Little bastard, if it weren’t for me, you’d have been killed by Marquis Juluhou Leng Hongyi a long time ago.”
But on the surface, he still smiled deferentially and said, “Yes, yes… Your Highness the Second Prince, don’t worry. Your ascension is only a matter of time!”
“I’ve already asked the Grand Priestess Gu Yue’er to choose an auspicious date. It’s roughly ten days from now.”
“So long as Xiao Lingshuang doesn’t appear by then, you’ll be the new Emperor of Beiheng. Surely, Your Highness won’t deny this subject ten days of time?”
Hearing that, Xiao Yang burst into laughter. “Looks like I misjudged you, Marquis Changxin!”
Then he added, “It’s all Situ Xin’s fault for being incompetent. Look at the useless men he sent? He’s let me down. When I see him, I’ll give him a good scolding!”
“Second Prince, the person you want to scold is already here!”
Situ Xin, clad in black armor, walked in with a grim face and tossed his riding whip aside before slowly approaching.
Xiao Yang panicked slightly, but quickly straightened his chest and said with a tinge of nervousness, “Si… Situ Xin, after all the trust I’ve placed in you, you’ve really let me down. You couldn’t even kill Xiao Lingshuang.” This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Situ Xin clasped his hands and said, “Second Prince, if it weren’t for that bastard Leng Hongyi interfering, my men would’ve killed her back in Mo County. She wouldn’t have lived this long.”
“But… I just received word from Grand Priestess Gu Yue’er. In ten days, you’ll ascend the throne. What are you afraid of?”
“What if that little wretch shows up at the enthronement ceremony? Everything we’ve done would be for nothing!”
“Hmph… Even if she’s still alive, even if she jumped off a cliff, I will make sure she never returns to the capital.”
“Situ Xin, that’s all I needed to hear…” Xiao Yang immediately felt much better.
Everyone in the room burst into laughter. But deep down, each had their own hidden schemes.
…
On the city tower of Shangyuan County, Gu Fei stood with Xiao Lingshuang, gazing down at twenty fierce, arrogant soldiers below. He asked, “Are those the ones chasing you?”
Xiao Lingshuang looked at the soldiers below, her entire body radiating killing intent. “It’s them… They’re Situ Xin’s dogs. They’ve always been mortal enemies of our Leng family.”
“Lord Gu, can you help me kill them?”
Gu Fei shook his head and replied calmly, “Miss Leng, this is not the capital where your nobility can slaughter at will. Shangyuan County has laws and rules.”
“If they stir up trouble here, of course I’ll make sure none of them walk out alive. But… why should I help you?”
Xiao Lingshuang scoffed coldly, “You’re worried about laws? You’re not even afraid of rebellion, but now you care about law?”
Gu Fei chuckled, “I’m talking about the laws of Shangyuan County. If no one offends me, I won’t offend them.”
“Unless what…?” Xiao Lingshuang’s heart stirred. If she could get rid of this group now, she could sneak back to the capital. Once she reached the palace, those rebels wouldn’t dare touch her again. With Marquis Juluhou Leng Hongyi and General Yang Ling backing her, they’d hesitate.
“Unless you give me 1 million taels of silver.”
“Deal! As long as you kill them, I’ll pay you 1 million taels the moment I return to Shangdu!” Xiao Lingshuang didn’t hesitate. She was determined to get rid of those rebels. She had no intention of paying that money anyway. In her mind, Gu Fei was also a rebel. If she didn’t kill him afterward, he should consider himself lucky. So she agreed without hesitation.
That was… too straightforward. Gu Fei felt suspicious. On the carriage, she’d been reluctant to offer even 800,000 taels. Now she agreed to 1 million so easily—it made Gu Fei cautious.
“Miss Leng, words are wind. Anyone can make empty promises. If I take the risk and kill them, and you don’t pay me, who do I go to? I can’t exactly kill you, can I?”
“Exactly… Miss Leng, our Lord never makes deals that lose money. No silver, no action,” said Zhang Biao from the side, full of curiosity. In just a blink, his Lord had picked up another beauty.
Indeed, wherever Lord Gu went, women followed.
Xiao Lingshuang listened to these two clowns echoing each other and was furious. How could both these bastards distrust her like this?
Then Zhang Biao lowered his voice with a sly smile and said, “Miss Leng, at least show some sincerity. Words alone mean nothing. But if you agree to be our Lord’s woman, maybe he’ll agree to help?”
Hearing that, Xiao Lingshuang nearly tore Zhang Biao to shreds. Her killing intent nearly took physical form. She cursed inwardly, “Bastard… I am the Empress! How could I marry a fake rebel like you?”
Though furious, she knew the situation was urgent. Who knew what chaos the capital had fallen into in her absence?
She thought it best to pretend to agree for now. Once she returned to the capital, he’d never see her again. And if she got annoyed, she could simply send tens of thousands of troops to wipe him out. No one would even know how it happened.
Gu Fei watched Zhang Biao messing around, trying to be his matchmaker. He was simply amused, curious to see how this woman would respond.
To his surprise, she seemed to make a monumental decision and looked seriously at Gu Fei. “Lord Gu, if you really kill those rebels down there, I—Leng Lingshuang—may consider it.”
She thought smugly to herself, “In any case, it’s Leng Lingshuang agreeing to marry you, not Xiao Lingshuang…”
“Just consider it? That’s hardly sincere.”
“No way, no way!” Gu Fei and Zhang Biao shook their heads like rattles.