Chapter 571 Dragon One Returns (Second Update)

Looking at Princess Ning'an's cloak, Gu Jiao couldn't help but think that Consort Jing also had an identical cloak. They were truly mother and daughter.

This is a mixed bag of gambling dens; you can find all sorts of people there.

Princess Ning'an seemed to know the place very well, and soon entered a side room at the end of the corner on the first floor, which was guarded by a special person.

Gu Jiao tried to go in, but was told that it was not a place that ordinary people were qualified to enter.

Then we'll have to keep watch from somewhere else.

"Here! Here!"

In a small, dilapidated courtyard next to the gambling den, Gu Chengfeng waved to Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao walked over.

This is a house that has been uninhabited for a long time, and the backyard wall is separated from the gambling den's side room by only one wall.

The two pressed their ears against the wall and could faintly hear conversations coming from the side room.

"...Didn't I lure them out? Your own people failed, are you going to blame me?"

It was Princess Ning'an's voice.

Gu Chengfeng silently asked Gu Jiao, "What do you mean?"

It must have been the time when Xiao Heng was lured out of the capital by Li Shilang's case. Xing Shangshu was also there. The two of them were almost killed by a group of men in black. It was only thanks to the Black Fire Pearl that they managed to break through the encirclement.

These words almost certainly indicate that the other party is the force from the Yan state.

There was a dangerous aura inside that even Gu Jiao felt apprehensive about.

Gu Jiao narrowed her eyes, a little excitement welling up inside her.

Princess Ning'an spoke again: "Speaking of which, who exactly is he? Why did you want to kill him?"

"This is not your business."

It was a man's voice.

It seems that Ning An is unaware of Xiao Liulang's true identity. She may not even know that Xiao Liulang is Xiao Heng. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to Empress Xiao to sow discord, only to end up making a fool of herself.

The information about sowing discord was brought out by Eunuch Qin's informant in Kunning Palace, and Eunuch Qin also mentioned it to Gu Jiao and the others in a letter.

It's not surprising that Princess Ning'an was unaware of the situation. Firstly, she had never met Xiao Heng, so it would be difficult to connect the two based on their appearances alone. Secondly, these people probably didn't want Xianleju to find out Xiao Heng's identity.

Princess Ning'an said, "Fine, I won't interfere in your affairs, but I have done what I promised you, while you have never kept any of your promises to me."

The man said, "Lure him out again."

Princess Ning'an said, "Why must we lure him out? Can't we just find any place in the capital to make our move? He goes to the Hanlin Academy and the Ministry of Justice every day; surely we can find an opportunity to strike on his way there and back?"

The man said, "There are too many witnesses; we can't take the risk."

Princess Ning'an said, "Then tonight is fine, right? Or you can just sneak into his house, is that not allowed either?"

The man said, "Then we'll have to kill everyone in the alley and leave no witnesses alive."

Even so, traces of the crime will still be left behind.

They wouldn't want to take action in the capital unless absolutely necessary.

Princess Ning'an said sarcastically, "It seems there's nothing more to discuss between us."

The man said, "If you want your things back, you'd better do as we say."

Princess Ning'an sneered, "Why bother with all this? Why don't I kill him for you?"

The man said, "If you can really kill him, then bring his head over and we'll give you the stuff."

Then an eerie silence fell over the room.

No one knows what Princess Ning'an is thinking, but judging from the noises of banging on the table and throwing cups inside, it's not hard to tell that Princess Ning'an is very angry.

Finally, the man seemed to give Princess Ning'an a gift, which temporarily calmed her emotions.

Gu Chengfeng whispered, "That group of people is the Yan Kingdom's force. What did they take from Princess Ning'an that forced her to risk her life for them? Could it be related to that key?"

"She's gone," Gu Jiao said.

Gu Chengfeng asked, "So, should we follow her, or follow that group of people?"

Gu Jiao said, "That group of people."

They cast out such a long line, and after finally catching a fish, they naturally wanted to chase after it and let it bite.

But what no one expected was that Gu Chengfeng's nose suddenly became itchy, and he couldn't help but sneeze loudly!

"Who goes there!"

The man asked in a cold voice.

Gu Chengfeng hated his nose! Why did it have to sneeze now of all times?

That's great!

We've been exposed!

Gu Jiao whistled at the sky, then grabbed Gu Chengfeng and quickly left the courtyard.

Princess Ning'an's guards used their light-footed skills to catch up.

Gu Chengfeng lifted the veil of his bamboo hat, grabbed the heavy skirt with both hands, and ran forward with a swaying gait!

Women's skirts really slow down speed.

Before they knew it, the two were overtaken by four guards.

The two sides engaged in fierce combat.

Gu Jiao was unarmed and fought him bare-handed.

She managed to hold off three guards on her own, but one of them still rushed towards Gu Chengfeng.

Gu Chengfeng's heavy palace attire made it impossible for him to run or fight.

As the opponent unleashed a cold, long sword strike, Gu Chengfeng dodged, exclaiming, "I'll dodge!"

The opponent missed his target and swung his sword again.

"I'll hide again!"

After several failed attacks, the opponent became enraged. Suddenly, he abandoned his longsword and drew a dagger from his waist, stabbing it towards Gu Chengfeng's heart with lightning speed!

This move was too powerful and too fast; Gu Chengfeng had no time to dodge it.

Then there was a loud bang, and Gu Chengfeng's chest exploded!

The guard was completely stunned.

What's going on?

He blew up a woman's...things.

Since Gu Chengfeng was to dress as a woman, his physical appearance had to be similar. Their first choice for the stuffing inside his clothes was steamed buns, but the light steamed buns were too small and the large ones were too heavy. In the end, Gu Jiao took two small steamed buns from her medicine box and had Gu Chengfeng blow them himself.

It comes in any size you want, is lightweight and won't fall off easily—perfect.

Gu Chengfeng found it quite amusing and asked Gu Jiao if she had any extras. He would give one to his older brother and one to Gu Chenglin so they could blow on them when they had nothing to do.

Gu Jiao said there weren't any left.

There were only two left, and this guy even stabbed one of them to pieces!

Gu Chengfeng was furious. He grabbed his big hands and slapped the other person repeatedly!

Gu Jiao had dealt with those three people, but Gu Chengfeng was still indignantly slapping them across the face.

"Alright, let's go!"

"Don't stop me! I'm going to beat him up! I'm going to beat him up!"

Gu Jiao grabbed the furious and roaring Gu Chengfeng and dragged him out of the alley.

When Princess Ning'an and the man arrived at the alley, Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng were nowhere to be seen.

Princess Ning'an lost four guards, but she did not leave empty-handed; she found a piece of gold gauze that had been snagged at the scene.

She had seen this kind of gold gauze on someone this morning.

Before the fourth guard breathed his last, he revealed two important pieces of information: he had been blown up; he was dressed in women's clothes but spoke in a man's voice.

Princess Ning'an measured the footprints on the ground again.

There were two pairs of women's shoe prints; one pair was a normal size, while the other pair was larger than the feet of several guards.

"Heh." Princess Ning'an chuckled softly, her shoulders trembling with laughter. "Xinyang, oh Xinyang, so you were a fake after all!"

After Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng got into the carriage, they instructed the driver to quickly drive the carriage to a crowded area.

Gu Chengfeng was still heartbroken over the precious thing he had blown up: "Why did you run so fast?"

Gu Jiao said, "They have a master among them; even with you, we can't beat them."

Gu Chengfeng sneered, "What do you mean? Do you think my martial arts are so bad? Ha! When you broke into the Marshal's mansion at night, I wonder who brought you out from under the arrows of the Tang family army!"

Gu Jiao glanced at him: "You know it was back then."

Gu Chengfeng: "..."

Gu Chengfeng cleared his throat: "Aren't they supposed to be prohibited from making a move in the capital?"

Gu Jiao said, "We don't take action lightly, but there are always times when we have no other choice."

Gu Chengfeng sighed regretfully: "So we've lost them?"

Gu Jiao smiled and said, "No."

A majestic gyrfalcon soared across the clear blue sky—

The next day, just after dawn, Empress Xiao took Eunuch Su to the East Palace.

Today is the Crown Prince's first day of court. Empress Xiao was worried that her son might have made a mistake, so she came over again to give him a second explanation.

Empress Xiao straightened her son's clothes and said, "Your uncle is not in court. If you are unsure about something, don't agree on the spot. Don't worry, I have taken care of everything. Your uncle's subordinates will help you."

The Crown Prince said, "I know, Mother. You have reminded me many times."

"Isn't this because no one has given you any guidance—" Empress Xiao paused halfway through her sentence, then changed the subject, saying, "Later, your mother will select a few concubines for you, and when the time is right, you can choose one you like to be your principal wife."

"I will obey Mother's orders," the Crown Prince replied in a low voice.

Empress Xiao patted her son's shoulder with relief. Although he was still upset, at least he wasn't as stubborn as his father.

The Crown Prince said, "Mother, I'm going to court."

Empress Xiao was still worried: "Although I don't get along with Princess Xinyang, she is still your aunt. She won't harm you. Just listen to what she says and don't argue with her in court. If anyone tries to sow discord between you, you must not listen to them at all."

The prince muttered to himself, "If I bully her, her uncle will beat me when he gets back. He dotes on his aunt."

Empress Xiao rolled her eyes: "Hmph, your uncle doesn't love her at all; he's just a man who cares about his image."

Eunuch Su rushed in, looking flustered: "Your Majesty! Your Highness! Something has happened!"

Empress Xiao frowned and looked at him: "What happened?"

Unable to hide his panic, Eunuch Su exclaimed, "Princess Xinyang and Princess Ning'an are arguing outside the Golden Palace!"

Empress Xiao looked puzzled: "What are those two arguing about? Why did Ning'an go to the Golden Palace again?"

Eunuch Su said, "It seems Princess Ning'an went to see Princess Xinyang specifically. She said..."

Empress Xiao asked, "What did you say?"

Eunuch Su forced himself to say, "Tell me... Princess Xinyang is an imposter!"

"You say I'm a fraud? What's your evidence?"

Outside the Golden Palace, Princess Xinyang, wearing a bamboo hat and a veil, stood on the highest step, looking down at Princess Ning'an, who was several steps shorter than her. "Without evidence, you're just spouting nonsense."

The Imperial Censor said, "Yes, how could Princess Xinyang be a fake? Her voice is exactly the same."

Princess Ning'an looked sincerely at everyone: "I guessed you wouldn't believe me, but I did see this person impersonating Princess Xinyang on the street yesterday. I asked the old nannies in the palace, and they said that Princess Xinyang has a female official named Yu Jin by her side. No matter where Princess Xinyang goes, Yu Jin is always by her side. So why is Yu Jin nowhere to be seen on such an important day as court?"

"This..." The Imperial Censor choked.

Yu Jin had been following Princess Xinyang for over ten years, and indeed, Yu Jin accompanied her every time she entered the palace.

Princess Ning'an's gaze fell on the face of the little maidservant beside Princess Xinyang. This was the same little maidservant from yesterday, but she had already guessed her identity.

Princess Ning'an pointed at the maid and said, "This maid is wearing a human skin mask on her face; she is also in disguise."

"What?"

Everyone was startled.

Not only is the princess fake, but even the maids are?

The crowd hadn't yet thought of the imperial edict appointing Princess Xinyang as regent, but if they knew that the master and servant were actually the Gu siblings in disguise, then the Gu family would be unable to escape the charge of treason.

The crime of treason warrants the execution of the entire family. Xiao Liulang is the son-in-law of the Gu family, and he too will die under the guillotine.

This is what they mean by "a pillow delivered when you're sleepy."

She was worried about how to kill Xiao Liulang.

Everyone glanced at the expressionless maid, then at Princess Xinyang, who was wearing a bamboo hat and dared not reveal her true face. Princess Xinyang's fingers were slightly clenched, and it was not hard to tell that she was nervous.

The maid gently patted Princess Xinyang's hand and shook her head slightly.

This seemingly unintentional action was still noticed by everyone.

Princess Xinyang took a deep breath and slowly said, "Sister Ning'an, I ask you, I have never done anything to wrong you, why do you slander me like this?"

Princess Ning'an said, "I'm not trying to slander you. I just don't want you to use your identity as Princess Xinyang to deceive people. You even went to see His Majesty yesterday. I don't know if you did anything to His Majesty. I heard that His Majesty's condition is getting worse."

Everyone's gaze darkened, and a hint of suspicion and coldness appeared in their eyes as they looked at Princess Xinyang.

Princess Ning'an stared straight at her: "If you were Princess Xinyang, would you dare to take off your straw hat?"

Princess Xinyang gripped her handkerchief tightly, her tone calm: "I have a rash, and my appearance is unsightly; I cannot see anyone."

Princess Ning'an walked up the steps one by one: "Is it a rash, or is it not a rash at all?"

Princess Xinyang said calmly, "What if I were?"

Princess Ning'an suddenly looked behind Princess Xinyang: "Royal brother?"

Princess Xinyang turned around.

Taking advantage of the moment when she was off guard, Princess Ning'an swiftly removed her bamboo hat!

A face covered in rashes was suddenly exposed to everyone.

Surprisingly, this is indeed Princess Xinyang's face!

Princess Ning'an was utterly shocked: "...Impossible! You must be wearing a mask!"

She reached out to tear off the human skin mask from Princess Xinyang's face, but Princess Xinyang slapped her across the face instead!

"Insolence!" Princess Xinyang's gaze was icy, her aura overwhelming!

Princess Ning'an was beaten and rolled down the steps.

The imperial guards behind her rushed forward to capture Princess Xinyang, but suddenly, a figure as graceful as a dragon descended from the sky and stood in front of Princess Xinyang with overwhelming power!

Long Yi: (Requesting) (Monthly) (Votes)

(End of this chapter)