Feeling powerless

She knew very well that her master would never treat her two senior brothers like that. Her master was fair in rewarding and punishing, and swift in his methods. Whether it was merit or demerit, he had his own ways to spur his two senior brothers on and make them obey and reflect on their actions.

His master was even less lenient with his enemies. The prisons of Xingfeng Hall were littered with countless skeletons. He knew exactly what methods to use against whom.

She... was indeed the only exception.

He could not kill her, nor could he thwart or torment her, but only to make her submit to his will.

So why did he adopt her in the first place?

As soon as the doubt arose, a sharp, needle-like headache struck.

After it subsided slightly, it returned to an endless drowsiness.

It was as if all the strength had been drained from my body.

But a voice inside her was still screaming desperately, telling her she couldn't continue sleeping like this.

Xie Tiao's life-or-death dilemma awaits her resolution.

Mo Yimingyue agreed to give her three days to consider, at which time she would only have two choices: "go" or "not go".

If she chooses to "go," there might still be a chance for things to turn around; but if she chooses not to go, Mo Yimingyue will definitely send someone else to get rid of Xie Tiao. Xie Tiao will certainly not be able to live to see the Southern Dynasty's surrender ceremony.

But even if she chose to "go," it would never have been in her current state, listless and unable to even steadily control the dagger, rushing out.

In her current state, it's questionable whether she can even reach the palace, let alone attempt an assassination.

Even now, she couldn't help but admire her senior brother Mo Yimingyue's ruthless cunning and resourcefulness.

If Mo Yimingyue wanted her to kill Gu Yi, she would never care. Because everyone knows that Gu Yi is not so easy to kill, otherwise he would have died countless times already.

But Xie Tiao was different. He had always been an inconspicuous figure in the Southern Dynasty, with little defensive power around him. Although he had practiced martial arts to strengthen his body, he was just average in the eyes of experts. Even a regular soldier from the Divine Hound Camp could subdue him.

Under normal circumstances, the Four Guards of Flying Phoenix and the Four Constellations of Heaven would keep a close eye on the Eastern Palace, but with the Southern Dynasty on the verge of surrender, and even the emperor facing imminent loss of his throne, the Crown Prince's importance had plummeted. Everyone had more important matters to attend to.

Rather than saying that her current goal in trying to cheer herself up is to go out and "kill" Xie Tiao, it would be more accurate to say that she is racking her brains to find a way to have the power to save him.

But that's easier said than done. Killing him, while difficult given her current strength, isn't impossible. But rescuing him from under the watchful eyes of her master and senior brothers is almost certainly out of the question.

But she simply couldn't give up.

No one understood better than her that although Xie Tiao's position was insignificant, he was someone that everyone in the Southern Dynasty palace carefully protected.

He has been able to survive to this day without a mother, power, or ability because many people have shown him kindness and silently protected him.

Needless to say, Xie Lang and Gu Yi, Consort Chen's discreet and distant care, the selection of personnel by the Grand Palace Eunuch Rong Yu in the Eastern Palace, the arrangement of the Flying Phoenix Guards to be subordinate to the Eastern Palace... all these indicate that Xie Tiao does not need to be exceptionally talented or have world-shaking achievements. He just needs to be himself and maintain his pure and kind nature.

They accepted him and agreed to help him become the future monarch.

She could hardly imagine the devastating impact on the Southern Dynasty if Xie Tiao were to have an accident.

But another voice in her heart said at the same time: Why bother?

The Southern Dynasties are about to fall. And who can escape death?

The Southern Dynasty was not her Southern Dynasty, nor was the Crown Prince her Crown Prince. She was merely a soon-to-be-discarded assassin of the Lanling Hall, a wandering swordsman.

Why should she care about the life or death of the Crown Prince?

But throughout, there's the memory of Xie Tiao's initial, captivating glance when she was still a dancer; Xie Tiao's later cautious yet ingratiating probing; Xie Tiao's relieved expression as he raised his head after her encouragement; and his courageous decision, made at Xiao Chang'an's instigation, to defy public opinion and arrange for a royal carriage to fetch her from the city gate...

Those vivid, heartwarming memories of the past, belonging to each other, still pulsate in her heart.

Even if it's true that Jianzhang later abandoned her, the camaraderie they shared back then was definitely genuine.

She still longed to do more for Xie Tiao, for this world...

It's true, I'm powerless to do it.

She once again struggled and suffered extreme internal conflict before falling into a deep sleep.

She woke up again, only to be startled awake by a loud bang.

A surge of light rushed in, stinging her eyes, and for a moment she almost wondered if she was back in the vast snowfield.

The prison door in front of them had been destroyed; the sturdy door panel had been shattered into pieces, scattered all over the ground.

Outside the gate, the white-clad man, who was originally a head taller than her, lowered his hand and crouched down to enter. When he saw her curled up on the ground, his handsome face, which had been as radiant as the sun, was filled with astonishment, and he immediately bent down to look at her.

A Qiu felt an excruciating pain in her eyes and immediately closed them, still managing to laugh as she said, "Senior Brother Ai Jie has always refused to set foot in this cruel and dark place. What wind blew you here from the Luan Terrace of Jianzhang Palace today?"

Upon hearing this, Gongyi Xiu immediately spat out, "That's right! You've already ended up in the so-called 'prison that even the King of Hell fears and ghosts dread,' in Xingfeng Hall, and you still have the mind to ask about my whereabouts. Besides, Lord Siyue, weren't you also blown here from the Phoenix Pavilion of Jianzhang Palace? If you can come, then I certainly can."

He launched into a tirade, only to find that A-Qiu's face had darkened. He immediately raised his hand and said, "Alright, alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Get up and come with me right now. —You can walk on your own, you don't need me to carry you, right?"

He looked her up and down, but A-Qiu knew he was checking if she had been tortured, which meant she might have broken her leg and be unable to walk on her own.

To dispel his doubts, she had no choice but to push herself up from the ground and struggle to stand up, but she stumbled and almost bumped into Gongyi Xiu.

Gongyi Xiu, quick as a flash, steadied her and clicked his tongue, saying, "Junior Sister, it's truly a rare sight to see such a delicate and graceful figure. I, your senior brother, am quite fortunate to have such a sight to behold."

With his support, A Qiu's legs, which had been numb, gradually regained feeling. He spat and said, "Senior Brother, have you not seen enough beautiful women? Why do you have to come to the dungeon to find a half-crippled person whose life is uncertain to see what you mean by 'fragile willow'?"

Just as Gongyi Xiu was about to speak, he suddenly reached out and ordered her to be quiet. At the same time, he quickly dodged to the side, just in time to hide his body in the shadows.

A series of hurried footsteps approached from afar, and a deep, resonant voice suddenly asked, "What's going on here?"

A Qiu recognized the voice immediately; it was Xin Yi, one of the "Eight Galloping Horses of Xingfeng" under his second senior brother, who was in charge of the prison.

Another person replied, "I don't know who is being held here. The head of the hall brought this person here personally, but afterwards no further orders were issued. He neither tortured nor interrogated anyone. It is said that the head of the Mo Yi Hall came here once two days ago, but he did not give any instructions."

Only then did A-Qiu learn that her master had imprisoned her here without informing any other members of the hall. Therefore, apart from her master and two senior brothers, the others in the hall were probably unaware that she had been convicted of treason and imprisoned here by her master.

Xin Yi said in a deep voice, "This prison door has been broken open with extremely strong hard qigong. I don't know if the prisoners have been rescued."

Another person said, "We haven't seen anything unusual along the way. None of the brothers on guard duty gave any warnings. If something serious like a kidnapping had happened, wouldn't they have warned us?"

A Qiu, however, knew perfectly well that given Gongyi Xiu's status in the three halls of Lanling, everyone knew he was the eldest disciple. If he were to enter directly, no disciple of Xingfeng Hall would question him.

As the two people outside the door spoke, they simultaneously looked inside.

Upon closer inspection, however, they were taken aback.

The surprise wasn't because he recognized A Qiu. At that moment, A Qiu's hair was disheveled, covering half of his face, and he was leaning against the wall, looking listless and weak. He had no trace of the demeanor of the former leader of the Divine Weapon Hall and chief assassin, so he didn't expect to be recognized.

They were surprised because the door was wide open, and the prisoner was still inside unharmed, showing no intention of escaping.

This scene was completely unexpected for them. Their instinctive reaction was to enter one after the other, naturally to question Ah Qiu about what had just happened.

But as soon as they came in, A-Qiu knew that the two of them were about to be in trouble.

Two dazzling beams of light flashed past, and the two men collapsed to the ground without uttering a sound.

Gongyi Xiu strolled leisurely out of the shadows, putting away his jade-framed folding fan and tucking it back into his waistband. The two bone-piercing nails had been fired from the mechanism within his folding fan.

He glanced at the two unconscious men on the ground and laughed, "Sorry, I'm sorry you'll have to be punished by the second junior brother."

He turned back and squatted down, saying to A-Qiu, "Get on my back!"

A Qiu hesitated, not for any other reason than that she had been lying in prison for days and was covered in dust and dirt. She was afraid that if she lay down on him, she might stain Gongyi Xiu's pristine white robes with dust.

Gongyi Xiu urged, "Hurry up and come up. Your lightness skill hasn't recovered yet. If you walk out like this, you'll be stopped by the Xingfeng Hall people before you even reach the door!"

A-Qiu had no choice but to climb onto his back and murmur, "I'm very dirty, I'm sorry."

Gongyi Xiu then turned around and glanced at it before saying with disdain, "It's alright. As soon as I return to the palace, I'll take off this garment and burn it. That'll solve everything."

Ah Qiu was so choked by him that she almost couldn't catch her breath. After a moment, she said, "Being carried by you is bad luck. I'm afraid I'll have to jump into the hot spring and soak for three days and three nights to wash away the smell of perfume on my body."

Gongyi Xiu sneered, "You wish! Do you think you're some kind of successor to the Junior Master, able to soak in the hot springs of Jinling Terrace whenever you want?" He retorted, "Besides, this isn't some common, vulgar fragrance. It's the precious 'Youlan Si' perfume from the Gongye family, a gift from Young Master Fusu to thank me for accompanying him on his investigation of the Frostflower Vine. You're lucky to have even a tiny bit of it."

A Qiu was about to vomit when she suddenly changed her mind and asked, "When did you and Young Master Fusu become so close? He even gave you a gift."

Gongye Fusu carried her on his back and sped away, saying, "Of course. This senior brother is an extremely easy-going and sociable socialite, and Young Master Fusu is also a perceptive and intelligent person who can understand subtle meanings. Naturally, we hit it off immediately. What, is there a problem?"