Chapter 41 Why doesn't he care about himself at all...?

Seventeen did not disturb Yu Huixin inside the house, and quietly squatted on the roof to observe her.

A short while later, the slender man came over carrying several bowls of food. The young men who helped him carry the food laughed and said, "It will be cold if we eat it later tonight."

"Cough cough, it's okay, I can just heat it up myself later."

"Hey, let Old Qian cook for you then," a young man said somewhat disapprovingly. Seventeen guessed that Old Qian might be the cook from earlier.

"Don't bother Lao Qian, he's already worked hard."

The group chatted for a while and soon reached the doorway. The slender man turned around and said, "I'll take it in myself, thank you."

The young men didn't stand on ceremony with him, gave him a few words of advice, and then left.

The frail man watched the group leave before turning around and pushing open the door to go inside.

As soon as he entered the house, he called out softly, "Come and eat quickly."

Yu Huixin quickly took the food from his hands and asked in a low voice, "You haven't been suspected, have you?"

The slender man shook his head, sat down to one side and smiled, "No, I've been with them for so many years, I still have that much trust in them."

Yu Huixin frowned, wanting to say something, but still didn't say it.

Aren't you going to leave yet?

The slender man put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and asked. Yu Huixin paused, her tone tinged with resentment: "I know I can't take them down by myself, but... I'm just not reconciled."

Seeing this, the slender man sighed softly: "The longer you stay here, the more dangerous it becomes. The people behind them are not people you can handle."

"...Then what should I do? Just keep watching them bully the people?"

Yu Huixin was clearly angry; she even stopped eating and glared angrily at the frail man.

"Sigh, you...you go back first, I'll figure out the rest. Don't worry, they won't be arrogant for long."

"If only I could know a good official, and hand over all the evidence you've collected, we could definitely wipe out all the bad guys here."

The frail man smiled, showing no reaction to Yu Huixin's naive and childish words.

If only there were such a good official.

"I'll find a way to get you out of here tonight. Don't come back, and don't get involved in anything here, understand?"

Yu Huixin hesitated for a long time before finally nodding under the other party's unwavering gaze.

Tonight... Seventeen stroked her chin, turned and nimbly hopped away like a swallow, joining the bright moon that had been waiting outside.

He then told Mingyue all the information he had gathered, saying, "It seems that the man is not one of these bandits."

"Let's go back first, we'll come back tonight."

Seventeen had the same plan, and after the two returned, they told Long Zhaoming about what had happened there.

"No weapons were found. If such a thing were real, it would definitely be well hidden."

Long Zhaoming pondered for a moment and said, "They certainly don't have many weapons. Even if they do, they're probably hidden somewhere. Otherwise, if they really want to rebel, it would be troublesome to get a bunch of weapons to them."

"Okay, Yue and I will go check again tonight. Yu Huixin definitely knows something. We'll ask her then."

Seventeen placed his hands on the table, yawned, and then heard his stomach rumble.

Long Zhaoming chuckled, then turned and saw Mingyue, and his smile vanished.

"Are you hungry? Order some food to fill your stomach first. We don't know what will happen tonight."

Mingyue looked at Seventeen with her eyes curved in a smile, a sight that made Long Zhaoming's heart ache, but he dared not show it.

Seventeen nodded and smiled, "Okay."

Seeing that the atmosphere between the two was gradually warming up, Long Zhaoming, with a particularly perceptive manner, coughed lightly and said, "Well, I'll go back to my room to rest first. Let me know when you're leaving. Oh, and do you want to bring Xiao Mowen along too?"

Mingyue shook her head: "No need, he'll stay here to protect you."

Long Zhaoming choked up, feeling an urge to tear off his elder brother's hypocritical mask in front of the Seventeenth Prince, but in the end, his deep-seated fear of his elder brother overcame his impulse.

Mingyue noticed his gaze and looked up at him coolly. Long Zhaoming made a last-ditch effort: "Little Seventeen, tell me, is it too late for me to learn martial arts now?"

"Huh?" Seventeen was taken aback, looked Long Zhaoming up and down, and hesitated, "Uh... if Your Highness wants to learn... perhaps it's possible?"

Mingyue looked up at him coolly, and Long Zhaoming sighed softly with his eyes closed: "Sigh, never mind."

After saying that, he turned and left, leaving the seventeen or twelve-foot-tall monk completely bewildered: "Why does Your Highness suddenly want to learn martial arts?"

"I don't know, all these princes are mentally unstable."

Seventeen rushed forward and covered Mingyue's mouth, her eyes filled with fear, and whispered, "What nonsense are you talking about? How could we presume to speak ill of His Highness?"

Mingyue paused, feeling a slightly unfamiliar warm touch on her lips, accompanied by a delicate fragrance.

It's not pungent, but it's not overpowering either; it's faint, like the natural fragrance of Seventeen.

For a moment, Mingyue was somewhat lost in thought. He looked at Seventeen's face as it approached, and his mind went blank.

"...knew."

Seventeen let go of his hand and complained softly, "It wouldn't be good if His Highness heard us."

The room quieted down, and thankfully the waiter arrived shortly after, bringing in fragrant food.

"Please enjoy your meal, esteemed guests."

After saying that, the waiter left the room and then took the dishes to Long Zhaoming's room next door.

While eating, Seventeen analyzed, "Brother Yue, what do you think the identities of these bandits are?"

"It's hard to say. Ordinary bandits certainly wouldn't have the audacity to manufacture weapons privately, but if it's the old gang, it's rather... "

Mingyue frowned, somewhat puzzled by this.

Seventeen tilted his head and thought for a moment: "No matter what, we definitely need to get rid of this gang of bandits as soon as possible. We can't let them bully the people forever."

"Sigh, I wonder how many evils these people have committed."

Seventeen felt a little melancholy. He knew that the world was not peaceful, but when faced with the cruel reality, he couldn't bear it.

But his own abilities were limited, and he could only do his best.

Mingyue nodded, picked up a piece of food from Seventeen's plate, and comforted him, "Don't think too much, take it one step at a time."

"I wonder how His Majesty is doing."

Seventeen lowered her head, poking at the rice in her bowl and murmuring softly. Mingyue paused, her voice slightly soft: "Seventeen, do you care about His Majesty?"

Hearing this, Seventeen was somewhat puzzled: "I was saved by His Majesty. You could say that my life was given to me by His Majesty. Isn't it normal for me to care about His Majesty?"

After speaking, he looked at Mingyue with a wary gaze: "Do you have any complaints about His Majesty?"

Seventeen recalled that Mingyue had said similar things to her before, and couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.

Mingyue has been by His Majesty's side for a long time, so why would she target His Majesty like this?

Seeing the suspicious look in Seventeen's eyes, Mingyue coughed lightly and explained, "No, how could I possibly have a problem with His Majesty? It's just that the guards rarely pay this much attention to His Majesty, so I thought..."

"What are you still going to do with it?"

Seventeen tilted his head to look at him. He knew he was different from the other secret guards, but His Majesty treated him differently from the other secret guards as well.

"It's nothing, it's almost time. Let's go ahead, otherwise we might miss it."

Mingyue looked down at Seventeen, a pang of jealousy flashing through her heart that she herself didn't even realize. He cared so much about His Majesty, but why didn't he care about her at all?

......

As the hour of Xu approached, Seventeen and Mingyue had been squatting outside the bandit camp for a while longer.

They observed the routes in the vicinity and estimated that Yu Huixin would likely walk from the side or rear of their house.

But they weren't sure what the person's plans were for tonight. They saw a room with a light on and heard sounds that could be cheers or something else. They exchanged a glance and, without thinking, squatted down outside the room.

"Hehehe, we've gotten a lot of money this time, enough for us to squander for a long time."

Seventeen listened intently and vaguely heard those words. Then another person laughed and said, "No matter how capable they are, they were still kept in the dark by us, weren't they?"

"Boss is awesome! Send someone to report this later, so as not to arouse suspicion from that person."

"Don't worry, the weapons are in our hands, they'll have to give us a wide berth, won't they?"

"Hahaha! Drink!"

After listening to what was going on, Seventeen roughly figured out what was happening.

The weapon is real, and there is someone behind them, perhaps the very person His Majesty and the others have been searching for.

For some reason, this man trusted the bandits and entrusted them with the safekeeping of his privately made weapons. However, the bandits harbored ulterior motives and used the weapons to threaten the county magistrate, committing evil deeds and bullying men and women everywhere.

In order to prevent the person behind them from finding out, they even killed some of the people sent from the other side, and finally sent a message back with a "bitter" tone, saying that they had been assassinated by an unknown person.

The bandit leader seemed to know Yejing very well, and his words implied that the murder was being pinned on Emperor Jing.

But Seventeen guessed that this person might not understand Yejing, but rather was aware of the conflict between the person behind it and Emperor Jing.

Such a person would actually become a bandit on a mountain.

This inevitably made Seventeen somewhat suspicious, and for a moment it was difficult to tell whether it was true or false.

Mingyue also analyzed these things, and was more surprised than suspicious. However, he took a deep look at Seventeen and a strange thought came to his mind: it seemed that as long as Seventeen was around, they would always stumble upon important things and evidence.

Even someone as skeptical of ghosts and gods as him had to admit that Seventeen might truly be a lucky star for his Great Jing.

Seventeen and Mingyue squatted for a long time, their legs were almost numb, before they finally heard a sound.

The frail man was helped out by someone; he appeared to be drunk.

When they arrived at the door, the slender man coughed twice, preventing the person supporting him from entering: "Thank you for your help. I drank a bit too much tonight."

The man who was supporting him let go and said with a smile, "It's okay to drink a little more on a good day. You should rest well. Anyway, you've got the money, and there's nothing serious to worry about. Take a few more days to rest."

The slender man nodded, and only went inside after the other person had gone far away.

Seventeen listened intently to the conversation inside the room.

"Drinking so much?" That was Yu Huixin's voice.

"Yes, they were all happy to have brought back some money."

He spoke with joy, but his tone was sarcastic. Yu Huixin was silent for a moment before asking, "How many people have they harmed?"

Then came a long silence.

“They’re all out drinking right now. Go out this way and keep walking straight ahead until you see a split tree stump with three cracks, two to the left and one to the right. Then follow the cracks to the left and you’ll be able to get down the mountain.”

The man gave very detailed instructions, but Yu Huixin remained silent throughout.

"...Let's go quickly."

Yu Huixin then responded softly.

Seventeen and Mingyue, skilled in martial arts and quick on their feet, found the wooden stake first, following the man's instructions, and hid to the side.

"Brother Yue, do you think Yu Huixin will be able to get out smoothly?"

Mingyue nodded: "Yes, she has some martial arts skills, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Sigh...she was a chivalrous and righteous woman, it's just a pity."

"Report this matter to His Highness, who will then report it to His Majesty. It will be impossible to appease the grudge until these people are torn to pieces."

Mingyue's voice was low, and Seventeen sighed softly, "In the end, it is always the common people who suffer."