Feigning indifference to lure the enemy

Shangguan Yuqi said, word by word, "He's playing hard to get."

He first presented himself with a businesslike, indifferent attitude, showing that he didn't care about Yanxiu at all, plunging her into the abyss of disappointment; then he presented her with a painting that could captivate the world, full of talent, charm and deep affection. This sudden surprise and emotion, even if she hadn't fallen in love with him yet, what woman in the world could remain unmoved!

For some reason, upon hearing Shangguan Yuqi's conclusion, A Qiu no longer felt the urge to refute it, but only a sense of bewilderment.

This is something she doesn't understand, and if it's true, it's something she can't comprehend—another side of her master.

She simply couldn't understand why there was such a thing as playing hard to get between men and women, and she couldn't even imagine that such scheming would happen to her elegant and unrestrained master, Wan Qiqing.

The master has always been frank, open, and unrestrained with them.

Seeing her expression, Shangguan Yuqi knew she didn't quite understand, and said with a wry smile, "I suppose you don't understand the feeling of being hurt. Only when you personally witnessed how distraught my aunt was at that time could you understand the destructive power and effect of his move."

She continued, "Actually, I don't understand either. But when I connect the events before and after, and see my aunt's daughter looking so lost and helpless, I understand."

She sighed, “Everyone knows that my aunt is the most noble lady in a high-ranking family, and a master of music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but they don’t know that she is the most innocent person in the world. If someone as scheming as Shi Changqing wanted to hurt her or seduce her, it would be a piece of cake.”

She added, "But at the time, I was just a child and only had a vague feeling. I just thought it was really hateful that this person was playing tricks on my aunt. I only suddenly understood the truth after my uncle told me that Shi Changqing might be a spy for the Northern Qiang."

She said fiercely, "My aunt and uncle didn't get along very well before, but my uncle, the emperor, always put on a show of respect for her because of the Shangguan family. But later..."

Later, she even wanted to order Empress Shangguan's death, and even suspected that Empress Shangguan's child was not of royal blood. Based on her intuition, Shi Changqing must have played a crucial role in this.

After all, she had personally witnessed Shi Changqing's influence on Yanxiu.

Ah Qiu said with some difficulty, "Then how can Miss be so sure that the Empress is... innocent?"

A sad smile appeared on Shangguan Yuqi's lips as she said, "Although the daughters of the Shangguan family are innocent, they are not fools. Aunt Yanxiu carries the Shangguan family's century-old reputation and is also an empress of the Great Huan Dynasty who is unprecedented and unparalleled. No matter how charming or skilled Shi Changqing is in bewitching people, she would not be foolish enough to let herself fall completely into it."

She can't control her heart, but she can definitely control her person.

She turned around, looked at A Qiu, and said softly, "No one should underestimate the daughter of the Shangguan family." Then she let out a sigh of relief and stood up easily from the ground.

By this time, the effects of the bewitching drug had completely worn off, and she had regained her freedom of movement. Ah Qiu was horrified.

Shangguan Yuqi, a swordsman who has been in seclusion in the cemetery for many years, is without desires and has never been involved in romantic relationships. Yet, she can see through Shi Changqing's intentions at a glance. She is well-versed in the principles of swordsmanship and can understand the essence of things amidst the chaos.

Therefore, Empress Shangguan, as the most outstanding daughter of the previous generation of the Shangguan family, should not have been so incompetent.

At this moment, A Qiu was unsure of his own stance, whether he was on the side of his master Wan Qiqing or Shangguan Yuqi.

She had never witnessed her master's womanizing ways, but her senior brother, Gongyi Xiu, was the one most like her master. Gongyi Xiu was indeed dashing and unrestrained, and it was true that countless women were captivated by him, but those were all just playful acts, driven by his nature. As far as A Qiu knew, he had never schemed and plotted so meticulously to win a woman's heart.

Because it's unnecessary. Gongyi Xiu lacks nothing, nor does he need to prove anything.

Shangguan Yuqi suddenly said, "You entered the palace as a musician, so why did you specifically use the identity of Shi Changqing's daughter instead of someone else? Otherwise, I wouldn't have accidentally hurt you back then."

A Qiu's heart tightened. She knew that although Shangguan Yuqi hadn't gone to the Martial Saint Shrine that night, he must have heard about her identity through some channels.

In fact, after Gu Yi, Chu Yuanyi, and Consort Chen all discovered that "she is not Shi Changqing's daughter" that night, Shangguan Yuqi naturally knew that her identity as a palace inhabitant was fake, but she never asked her anything about it again. When she was attacked on the long street that day, Shangguan Yuqi came to her rescue without saying a word, but afterwards she did not utter a single word.

It seemed that as long as A Qiu wasn't Shi Changqing's daughter, she didn't care who she was or would change her friendship with A Qiu.

After a moment's hesitation, A Qiu decided to tell the truth, since Shangguan Yuqi hadn't even hidden her family affairs from her. She said frankly, "This is the identity that my sect prepared for me. My master said that Shi Changqing is quite popular in the palace and was extremely famous in the previous generation of the Music Bureau, which should be beneficial to my position. However, I didn't expect that I would run right into the young lady's sword."

This was the first time A Qiu had mentioned her martial arts school to Shangguan Yuqi. Shangguan Yuqi gave her a strange look and asked, "He struck you with those two palms, almost crippling your martial arts. Do you still acknowledge him as your master?"

A Qiu was surprised to find that Shangguan Yuqi seemed to know everything that happened that night. The "he" she was referring to was naturally her master, Wan Qiqing.

A Qiu was momentarily speechless at her question, and after a long while, she sighed and said, "It was I who betrayed the sect first and decided to be with... the young master. I don't blame him, but he has publicly expelled me from the sect, and I really have no face to call him master anymore." She couldn't help but follow Shangguan Yuqi's words and began to refer to Wan Qiqing as "he".

Shangguan Yuqi also sighed and said, "In any case, you won't have the energy to deal with these things now. Let's deal with the immediate issues and go back to the East Palace first."

Hearing her sigh, A Qiu realized that she was genuinely worried for herself, and the worry in her sigh was undeniable. Moreover, as the leader of the Flying Phoenix, Shangguan Yuqi had no need to feign ingratiation. Feeling a warmth in her heart, A Qiu said, "Alright."

It was late at night, and Zhao Lingying had not yet had time to order the lifting of the ban on A Qiu. The two were still unable to accept the questioning of the Imperial Guards, so they could only use their lightness skills to leap over walls and houses and rush towards the East Palace.

In fact, Shangguan Yuqi was much more familiar with the Eastern Palace than A Qiu, so she led the way. Dawn was approaching, and it was the time before daybreak when the guards in the palace were all dozing. Her white robes fluttered, and she moved as lightly as a crane, her movements as silent and effortless as stepping on snow. Her skill, combined with A Qiu's "Earth Concealment" technique, was unparalleled. Even the soldiers guarding the base of the wall would never have imagined that someone had just stepped over their heads.

Just as he stepped into the Langhua Hall of the East Palace, a burst of blue light suddenly erupted from behind the stone pillars on the steps, shooting straight down to Shangguan Yuqi's feet like a waterfall of stars.

The angle and timing of the hidden weapon's launch were extremely tricky, because Shangguan Yuqi was falling through the air and had no way to avoid it. Even if she managed to dodge it at the knees, she couldn't avoid it at the upper body, since the momentum of the fall was already established and there was no foothold in the void beneath her feet, making it impossible for her to change direction and dodge.

Judging from the timing of the man's use of the hidden weapon, it can be inferred that he had been secretly observing the two for a long time, but had remained silent, waiting for the best opportunity.

Despite being ambushed, Shangguan Yuqi remained calm and immediately drew the "Ice Bamboo" sword from her back, striking down to meet the incoming projectile.

Shangguan Yuqi's quick reaction and swift attack were impeccable. No one would have expected that she, as the head of the Eastern Palace Flying Phoenix Guard, would be ambushed by hidden weapons before the Eastern Palace. Her response was calm and perfect.

But A Qiu could see clearly that if she continued to sweep her sword horizontally as before, there would inevitably be poison needles that she couldn't avoid.

It wasn't that Shangguan Yuqi's prediction was incomplete; rather, she didn't know who the person who launched the hidden weapon was, and her first reaction was to make a guess based on common sense.

But A Qiu recognized at a glance that the large patch of blue light was the Green Bee Needle, Xiao Chang'an's unique hidden weapon.

She couldn't discern anything from the technique used to launch the hidden weapons, just as Shangguan Yuqi couldn't either. But based on her understanding of Xiao Chang'an, since he was plotting to ambush Shangguan Yuqi here, he must have a backup plan. He wouldn't let Shangguan Yuqi deflect all his hidden weapons with a single sword strike; that would be pointless.

At this juncture, the best course of action is to ensure that Xiao Chang'an is completely unable to anticipate Shangguan Yuqi's next move.

A Qiu was already in mid-air when he accelerated his descent and used his sheathed Crescent Moon Sword to strike Shangguan Yuqi's waist, using his strength to knock her aside.

Shangguan Yuqi used this external force to change her original trajectory, shifting two feet to the left before landing.

As expected, as soon as Shangguan Yuqi landed, two cold stars skimmed the ground from where she had been. If she had landed in the same direction, even if she could have swept away the waterfall of green bee needles with her ice bamboo, she wouldn't have been able to avoid these two striking branches that came after her.

Shangguan Yuqi stood there silently, his face ashen, holding the ice bamboo in his hand.

But his calm, unwavering gaze was fixed on Xiao Chang'an, who was slowly emerging from behind the pillar, waiting to see what explanation he would give.

Xiao Chang'an stretched and tucked the purple bamboo flute behind his back. He smiled casually and said, "It turns out that my sisters have returned. I woke up in the west wing hall and heard some noise outside. I thought that assassins had come from the East Palace, so I immediately came out to meet them. I didn't expect it to be my two sisters. I'm really sorry."

His words were perfectly plausible, but A Qiu simply couldn't believe them.

Because his timing was too perfect, if A Qiu had been half a foot further away from Shangguan Yuqi at that time, he wouldn't have been able to help her in time, and Shangguan Yuqi would have inevitably suffered two needles.

A Qiu didn't know why Xiao Chang'an wanted to plot against Shangguan Yuqi, but she knew very well that this kid's every word and action was unpredictable and he couldn't be trusted, especially when it came to people other than herself.

Shangguan Yuqi's beautiful eyes stared at him intently, and anyone under such a gaze would feel an indescribable pressure.

Because Shangguan Yuqi's gaze was also an outward manifestation of the swordsmanship she practiced, secretly aligning with the principles of swordsmanship.

Only those who are completely fearless can face her gaze without flinching.

Xiao Chang'an subtly avoided her gaze, turned to A Qiu, and exclaimed in shock, "How did you get yourself into this state?"

A-Qiu wasn't sure if he was faking it or serious, but her clothes were indeed scorched by the fire and covered in soot and charcoal, making her look rather disheveled. She guessed her face and head weren't much better, and shrugged, saying, "Just unlucky enough to run into a fire."