When Xingxing woke up early in the morning, she asked about the men in black again, "Brother Lin, did you mean that all those men in black were buried? But didn't you say there were nearly six hundred of them? How could so many people be buried?"

“They have help, and they are very diligent,” Zhu Lin replied calmly.

“If it’s buried in the ground, it won’t smell bad, and the air won’t be polluted.” Xingxing repeated the reason that Zhu Lin had told her that people must be buried after they die.

"Yes, that's how it is. Okay, let's not talk about that so early in the morning. I'll comb your hair and then we'll go have breakfast." The young man took the comb and skillfully styled the little girl's hair into a double-looped updo. With her pink dress on, Xingxing looked even more like a fairy.

"Brother Lin, you have such skillful hands! Where did you learn this skill? How can you comb hair so beautifully?" Xingxing felt that she was becoming more and more beautiful lately, and had more and more of a fairy-like temperament. She attributed this to Zhu Lin's hair-combing skills and the pretty little dress he gave her.

Zhu Lin just smiled gently and didn't respond. Of course, he couldn't tell Xingxing that he learned the hair-combing technique in his previous life.

Over the next few days, Prince Gong's men would appear intermittently, attempting to ambush and kill the people from Xianwu Island and Zhou Laoda's family, but they all failed. The men in black were discovered almost as soon as they entered the village, and before they could even make a move, they were killed in retaliation.

After ten days of this ordeal, Prince Gong was so frustrated that he almost died of anger. Helpless, he could only give up on seizing the silver mine for the time being. He was waiting for the right opportunity when good news came from the capital.

After the fake princess returned to the palace, although she did not alleviate the disasters in various places, the dog emperor and empress doted on her and thought she was a real princess.

Shui Li Niang also successfully entered the capital and made contact with the fake princess. Under the fake princess's arrangement, she has now infiltrated the palace and is staying by the fake princess's side.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it won't be long before the emperor and empress are both nearing their end.

A few days later, Xingxing took a stroll around Shanquan Village, somewhat puzzled. "It's been so quiet these past few days. Everyone in the village has moved back home, and those men in black haven't appeared either. Could they be planning something big?"

"It's alright. If they don't come, we'll go find them. They can come and go as they please. There's no such thing as a free lunch." Zhu Lin blinked her long eyelashes, her beautiful peach blossom eyes seemingly sparkling with stars and the sea, making even the stars stare in amazement.

Xingxing used to think her eyes were especially beautiful when she looked in the mirror, and that no one else's eyes were as pretty as hers. But now she doesn't dare say that anymore, because Brother Lin's eyes are just as beautiful as hers.

"Why are you looking so dazed, silly girl?" Zhu Lin ruffled Xingxing's hair.

Xingxing quickly covered her beautiful hair, "You can't rub it anymore, it'll be messy again. What did you mean just now? The men in black aren't coming to kill us, are you going to chase after them and kill them back?"

"I wanted to see what tricks they had up their sleeves, but they turned out to be so useless. It seems they're no good now. But since they've messed with us, we should naturally return the favor and let them taste what it's like to be attacked," Zhu Lin said calmly.

"Do you know where those people's hideout is?" Xingxing asked, tilting her head.

"Of course we know. Just wait and see, these rabble will never dare to provoke us again."

That night, Prince Gong's supposedly hidden hideout was destroyed by fire. Only five people, including him, escaped from the flames; all the others perished in the fire.

If Ye Yingtao and her subordinate hadn't arrived just in time, Prince Gong would probably have lost his life in the fire. This truly terrified him.

"Your Highness, your subordinate is late. It seems that some nerve-numbing herbs have been mixed into the fire. Anyone who gets smoked will lose consciousness and will not wake up even if the fire is huge..." Ye Yingtao did not continue, because Prince Gong's face was already terrifyingly ferocious.

The opponent was too terrifying. Prince Gong almost didn't even know how he died. Even he, who was always arrogant, was now trembling with fear.

"Pfft." Another three liters of blood spurted out.

"Your Highness." The few remaining men quickly helped him up.

"Your Highness, are you alright?" Ye Yingtao's heart skipped a beat. She had risked her life to rescue the prince so that she could make amends. The prince couldn't be angered to death at this critical moment.

Prince Gong waved his hand and said in a hoarse voice, "I am fine. Ye Yingtao, you saved me this time. I will not pursue the matter from the past. From now on, you will stay by my side."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Ye Yingtao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that her efforts tonight hadn't been in vain. Tsk, to be honest, she hadn't made any mistakes. The fact that all her assassins were killed wasn't because she had done anything wrong. It was because Princess Fuxing was protected by the heavens. How could those assassins fight against the heavens?

Of course, Ye Yingtao only dared to complain in her heart, but she didn't show it on her face at all. She kept her head down from beginning to end and appeared very respectful.

"Your Highness, what should we do now?" Ye Yingtao asked softly.

"Let's go to Pingzhou Prefecture." Pingzhou Prefecture is the closest to Quanshui Prefecture. Prince Gong is seriously injured and needs to find a safe place to recuperate first.

In short, he dared not stay in Quanshui Mansion any longer.

Ye Yingtao's eyes darted around, realizing that her chance to shine had come again. She immediately said, "Your Highness, my carriage is on the road next to the woods over there. I'll take you there."

Zhu Qiuyu gazed in the direction the carriage had gone, a slight smile playing on his lips. The gray-clad man beside him asked, puzzled, "Why did the eldest young master release Prince Gong? Shouldn't we eliminate him completely?"

These ten men in gray were the same men in black before. To prevent them from being mixed up with Prince Gong's men and becoming indistinguishable, Zhu Qiuyu had them change into gray clothes, so they are now men in gray.

"What's the rush? They're just at their last gasp. Killing them would be a piece of cake. I just want to see how much power this so-called Prince Gong has behind him, and who's working for him," Zhu Qiuyu murmured casually.

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