Chapter 337 Who is plotting against whom?

The commotion at Yinghe Lake on the night of Chinese Valentine's Day did not attract much attention. The incident happened suddenly that night, and the few people who knew about it did not say much afterwards, so almost no one knew that Tang Ning and Qian Qiyue fell into the water.

Only at Prince Lu's Mansion, after Qian Baokun personally met with the old Princess Lu, the already angry old Princess Lu directly hated Princess Leyang and the Fourth Prince's wife.

Princess Leyang suffered a defeat and was still thinking about how to make another move. The person she sent to keep an eye on Jiyun Lane brought back news that the servants of the Tang Mansion had begun preparing sacrificial items, and that Song Tangning would go to Lingyun Temple to participate in the Ullambana Festival on the Ghost Festival to pray for his deceased parents.

Princess Leyang was overjoyed upon hearing the news, and even put aside her worry that her young son had accidentally broken his arm.

In the palace, Emperor An is still obsessed with alchemy and Taoism. In the harem, the queen has lost her power over the six palaces, and the other concubines are ready to make a move. On the contrary, in the court, Lu Chongyuan has been demoted, Lu Qin has been exiled, Lu Zhao's execution date is approaching, and Xiao Yan is "seriously injured" and recuperating in the mansion. The aristocratic families are colluding with the second prince and no one knows what they are planning. The court is rarely quiet.

Tang Ning traveled back and forth between the mansion and the academy every day. When the Chujiu Academy officially started classes, she would take Xue Ru with her and other students to study.

This matter caused a lot of discussion, but no matter how much they discussed it, under the premise that Tang Ning was the head of Rongsheng Academy, even if those students felt that studying in the same class with girls was immoral, no one dared to make a fuss in front of Tang Ning, and in the end they could only accept the matter silently.

Everything was relatively peaceful in the capital. In Anxi, Xiao Yan was fleeing for his life with the mother and son of the Di family whom he had "accidentally met".

He was dressed in black and had a cold expression on his face. He swept the long sword in his hand across the neck of the teahouse waiter who was bringing up water, and then kicked away the old man who came over to make tea.

The table with the teacup in front of him was overturned to the ground. Several people who were originally guarding outside came in quickly and grabbed the old man who fell to the ground. Before they could do anything, the old man froze.

"My dear, he has taken poison."

Xiao Yan looked at the dead body on the ground and the foaming tea on the table that was obviously poisoned. He frowned and looked at the pale-faced young man beside him.

"Third time."

The guards following the young man were hesitant to speak, and the mother and daughter beside him were also extremely frightened.

"Thank you, Brother He..."

"Don't thank me, I didn't mean to get involved."

Xiao Yan waved his hand to interrupt Di Tao. "If those people hadn't attacked you the other day and killed me too, I wouldn't have gotten myself into this mess. I don't know who you are, but in just two days, you've already faced three waves of assassination attempts. I don't think we're meant to be on the same path."

He spoke with a cold expression, seeming particularly unkind.

"We have left Anxi. I will continue to head northwest. I will say goodbye now."

When Di Tao saw him ordering the guards to pack up, while he himself was wiping the sword in his hand with a handkerchief and looking distant, his suspicion of the man in front of him faded a little.

The girl from the Di family next to her was a little anxious.

"Brother!"

She tugged at Di Tao's sleeve, her lips turning pale.

She had just returned to her hometown to visit relatives with her mother and brother, but they were intercepted and killed on the way. Most of the guards were killed or injured, and her brother was also seriously injured. Those people chased them relentlessly, and they almost lost their lives several times. They were even caught red-handed the night before yesterday.

If it weren't for the sudden appearance of Mr. He, they would have died long ago.

Di Fangyun had never suffered so much before. She broke her legs and feet, and her body was covered with scrapes. She was in a state of panic after fleeing for several days. The appearance of He Langjun gave them two days of peace. She didn't want anyone to leave at all. If they left, who would protect them?

"Brother, say something!"

Seeing that "He Yan" turned around and left, and really had no intention of caring about them anymore, Di Fangyun quickly stood up and jumped forward.

"He Langjun, don't go!"

She quickly stepped forward and tried to grab Xiao Yan's sleeve, but he dodged her just as she touched him.

Xiao Yan frowned, took two steps back, and looked down at the corner of his clothes that was touched, while the young and beautiful Di Fangyun grabbed nothing and fell forward to the ground.

"Fang Yun!"

Madam Di hurried over to help the man up, then looked up at the handsome young man with an angry expression: "He Langjun, what are you doing?"

Xiao Yan frowned, "I should be the one asking what you want to do. I have no obligation to protect you, and I have no desire to inquire about your identities. I'm grateful that I didn't blame you for being implicated and hunted down. Now that we've left Anxi, we should each go our separate ways. You should be content."

After saying this, he lowered his eyes in disgust and said venomously, "As for this girl, I already have a wife at home, and it's forbidden for men and women to touch each other. If she knew I was flirting with someone else, she would be angry."

"I hope the girl will respect herself!"

He swung the sword in his hand, and the corner of the clothes that was touched fell to the ground with a "swish".

Not only did the girl from the Di family turn pale, even Mrs. Di had a stiff expression.

Di Tao gripped the knife beside him, looking at the face of "He Yan" that looked like it wanted to have "Don't covet my beauty" written on it, and his breath got stuck in his throat.

He is so vicious and merciless. If he really approaches them to seek other spies, he will be hacked to death!

"Brother He." Di Tao spoke, his guard down. "I know I've gotten Brother He into trouble these past two days. We've brought disaster upon ourselves, and yet Brother He has been caught up in it as well."

"That's good to know."

“…”

Di Tao gritted his teeth and forced a weak smile, "But it's already happened. No matter how much I hate it, Brother He, you've already fallen into the eyes of those people. You've seen how ruthless they are, and they won't leave anyone alive. Even if Brother He leaves now, it's probably useless. Rather than being defeated by them one by one, it's better for us to go together so we can look after each other."

"I don't want to take care of you."

Di Tao: “…”

"You can't take care of me even though you're almost dead."

Xiao Yan's expression was indifferent, but his words were particularly venomous: "You don't need to threaten me. I let you go because I don't want to kill people for no reason. But if you want to take advantage of me, I don't mind giving you a ride."

Di Tao: “…”

Seeing that Xiao Yan was unmoved and the people behind him had already packed up their luggage, Xiao Yan also jumped on his horse and wanted to leave.

When Di Tao was thinking about how to keep the person, he suddenly heard a sound of breaking through the air, and a cold light shot towards his face.

"careful!!"

Di Tao shouted loudly and quickly grabbed Mrs. Di and her daughter and stepped aside to avoid the hidden arrow. When he looked up again, he saw more than ten black shadows rushing towards them in the woods. The masters and servants of the He family who wanted to leave were also trapped.

At this time, Di Tao could almost say that "He Yan" was not from Beiling, and Beiling could not raise such a spy with such a sharp tongue. While protecting his mother, sister and guards around him from the enemy, he approached Xiao Yan who was forced to retreat.

Xiao Yan "unconsciously" led his men to retreat, and soon retreated together with the Di family.

"Brother He, I'm truly sorry for concealing this earlier. I'm actually the eldest son of Di Shuangcheng, the Great General of the Northern Frontier Zhen'an Army. My name is Di Tao..."

"Shut up!"

Xiao Yan fought off the intruders while turning his head and speaking angrily.

Di Tao ignored him and simply said, "My mother and I were visiting relatives in our hometown. On our way back to the northwest, we were intercepted by spies from Beiling. Thank you, Brother He Yan, for killing the Beiling bandits and saving us from danger."

"If I am lucky enough to survive today and return to the northwest, I will definitely thank you very much. Even if I unfortunately die in battle, as long as you report the matter of Beiling to the army, my father will definitely reward you handsomely..."

Seeing that Xiao Yan's face turned ashen and the people who surrounded them became more brutal, Di Tao forced the people in front of him to retreat with a knife and retreated to Xiao Yan's side.

"Brother He, we are now tied to the same rope. Beiling will not let anyone who knows about this leave alive."

Xiao Yan angrily said, "Shameless!"

Di Tao smiled faintly: "I had no choice, please forgive me."

Xiao Yan glared at him with a sullen face, as if annoyed by his plot. The moves in his hands became more and more fierce. However, after blocking Di Tao's sight with his body, the hilt of the sword hit the wrist of the attacker, "forcing him back". At this time, a faint smile flashed across his phoenix eyes.