Chapter Sixty Murder

"Keep a low profile, keep a low profile."

Promotion and salary increases are certainly good, but the risk factor also increases exponentially.

She now understands that you really can't have your cake and eat it too.

Jiang Huan carefully put away the imperial edict and then plunged back into the Weiyang Palace to keep busy.

I'm not going to think about it anymore; I'll just take it one day at a time!

“This wind chime is perfect to hang here.”

Jiang Huan stood on tiptoe, trying to hang the wind chimes under the eaves, but she couldn't reach them no matter how hard she tried.

The little guy can't hang it up.

Who are you calling a shorty?!

Jiang Huan turned around abruptly and saw the emperor, dressed in a black dragon robe, standing behind her at some point. The gold-embroidered dragon pattern shimmered in the sunlight, making his face appear as handsome as jade, so beautiful that he seemed otherworldly.

"Your Majesty?!" She stumbled and almost fell backward.

Huo Lin reacted quickly, grabbing her waist with one hand and easily taking the wind chime with the other, hanging it out of her reach with his long arm.

[Her waist is so slim... I want to hug her a little longer.]

[Ahem, calm down.]

[I hung the wind chimes for her. Does she think I'm amazing?]

Jiang Huan really wanted to say, "So what if you're tall?"

But thinking about it, they saved me twice, which is quite remarkable.

"Your Majesty is truly agile. I tried several times on tiptoe but still couldn't reach it."

The wind chimes tinkled crisply in the breeze, as if echoing the unfinished praise in her words.

Upon hearing this, Huo Lin's lips unconsciously curled up, but he forced himself to suppress it and simply nodded reservedly.

"I heard you were setting up your bedchamber, so I brought some people to help."

Jiang Huan then noticed a group of craftsmen standing in the courtyard, waiting respectfully.

"Does His Majesty wish to supervise the construction?"

She glanced at the craftsman, then at Huo Lin, and winked playfully.

Huo Lin stood with his hands behind his back, exuding imperial majesty: "Hmm."

From now on, I will do everything for her that she can do herself.

[Besides decorating the courtyard, what else is needed? Clothes and jewelry? A sedan chair for travel?]

Otherwise, I'll just send my imperial carriage to serve her from now on...

Jiang Huan wanted to laugh, and for no reason, a mischievous thought arose in her mind.

She deliberately brushed past him while moving things.

Sunlight streamed through the carved window lattice, casting dappled shadows on Huo Lin's handsome profile.

He stood there, like a perfect jade sculpture, only the slightly reddened tips of his ears betraying his thoughts.

Jiang Huan smiled and continued arranging, putting away the trinkets she had brought back from the palace one by one.

Huo Lin suddenly approached and picked up a strangely shaped stone.

"This is?"

“I picked it up by the stream near the imperial palace,” Jiang Huan explained. “I thought its shape was interesting, so I brought it back.”

Huo Lin stroked the surface of the stone and suddenly said, "It looks like a rabbit."

Jiang Huan leaned closer to take a look and indeed found that the faint patterns on the stone really did resemble a rabbit.

Wow! Your Majesty has excellent eyesight!

She looked up in surprise and met Huo Lin's focused gaze. The two were so close that they could feel each other's breath.

"I'll put it away for you." Huo Lin was the first to look away and place the stone in the most conspicuous position on the desk.

Hmm, this stone does have a unique charm when placed here.

[It seems she quite likes these little trinkets; I should keep an eye out for them in the future.]

I wonder if they're in the pond in the Imperial Garden? I'll go down and fish them out sometime.

Jiang Huan simply nodded and quickly turned to tidy up the other things.

The thought of Huo Lin rolling up his trousers and scooping stones out of the pool made her want to laugh.

At this moment, a young eunuch entered carrying tea and snacks, his eyes darting around nervously.

Jiang Huan didn't notice, but Huo Lin's eyes had already turned cold, narrowing dangerously as he stared straight at the person.

"Your Majesty," the young eunuch's voice was high-pitched, "the Imperial Kitchen is asking about the ingredients for dinner..."

Jiang Huan wiped the dust off her hands: "I'll go right now."

She curtsied to Huo Linfu: "Your Majesty, please sit for a moment. I will be right back."

Huo Lin nodded slightly, but his gaze remained fixed on the little eunuch who had followed him away.

Once Jiang Huan was out of sight, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

"Wang Degui," he called in a low voice, "investigate that eunuch."

Wang Degui immediately understood and quietly followed them out, returning shortly afterward to report.

"Your Majesty, that servant is lurking suspiciously in the inner chambers..."

A cold glint flashed in Huo Lin's eyes as he strode toward the inner room.

Sure enough, they saw the little eunuch hesitating in front of Jiang Huan's dressing table, seemingly doing something.

"You," Huo Lin said, his voice cold, "come here."

The young eunuch trembled and walked over timidly to kneel down.

"Your Majesty..."

Huo Lin looked down at him and asked, "What are you looking for?"

"This servant...this servant didn't..."

A flash of cold light, and the long sword was already pressed against the little eunuch's throat.

Huo Lin's eyes were sharp as knives: "To be honest, I will leave you with a whole corpse."

The young eunuch turned ashen-faced, knowing he had no way out, so he decided to fight to the death.

He flicked his hand and sprinkled a handful of white powder, then took the opportunity to turn around and flee.

Huo Lin sneered, his longsword flashing like lightning, piercing through the white smoke and aiming straight for his opponent's back.

"Ah!" With a scream, the little eunuch collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from his chest.

Just then, Jiang Huan returned from outside and saw Huo Lin sheathing his sword with a corpse lying at his feet.

This was the first time she had witnessed Huo Lin kill someone.

The cold-faced emperor stood with his sword in hand, his murderous aura completely different from his usual demeanor. Drops of blood from the tip of his sword splashed onto the ground, creating dark red flowers.

Her heart was pounding violently in her chest, almost bursting out of her throat, and her legs felt rooted to the spot, unable to move.

The glaring blood meandered on the ground like a scarlet snake, slowly crawling towards her embroidered shoes.

Having transmigrated into the book for so long, she had almost forgotten its name and what Huo Lin was called.

He was a notorious tyrant...

But the memories of those days together are still vivid in Jiang Huan's mind, and she feels not only afraid, but also deeply alienated.

That little emperor who couldn't eat and kept complaining, and Huo Lin who risked his life to save her.

It shouldn't be this tyrant in front of us...

Huo Lin noticed someone was there, turned his head sharply, and his eyes were as sharp as knives.

Upon recognizing Jiang Huan, his gaze softened instantly, though it still held a hint of worry.

[This eunuch sneaked into her room, was caught by me, and still tried to escape?]

Fortunately, I discovered it in time, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to get a good night's sleep tonight.

[Oh no, she looks so scared! Did I frighten her? I'm not usually like this!]

Oh no, I hope she doesn't have nightmares...

Jiang Huan's heart skipped a beat, and she finally exhaled the pent-up breath she had been holding in.

Looking at the corpse again, most of the fear immediately dissipated.

After going around in circles, it turns out that Huo Lin was helping her catch the mole.

It's to... protect her.

"Is Your Majesty alright...?" she whispered.

Huo Lin was somewhat surprised. He quickly walked up to her, reached out to touch her but then withdrew his hand, his voice unconsciously softening.

"I'm fine."

Jiang Huan shook her head and pointed to the corpse on the ground.

"Is he an assassin too?"

"Hmm," Huo Lin said coldly, "I hid this under your dressing case."

He opened his palm, revealing a silver needle as thin as a cow's hair, its tip gleaming with an eerie blue light.

Jiang Huan gasped. If she had unknowingly used the makeup kit and been pricked by this poisoned needle...

"Thank you, Your Majesty," she said sincerely.

This is the third time; he's truly her benefactor.

Huo Lin sheathed his sword and was about to speak when hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the hall.

"Your Majesty!" A eunuch rushed in and whispered a few words to Huo Lin.

Huo Lin frowned, turned to Jiang Huan, and hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Jiang Huan quickly curtsied: "Since Your Majesty has something to attend to, you should go quickly."