Chapter 261 The Northern Li Dragon Vein: Leaving No Trouble Behind

"Right, Young Master Yuwen?"

The moment Ji Qingwu uttered his surname, the leader gripped his shuriken and swung it at her.

You know too much!

The tall man grabbed the leader's upper arm from behind.

Yuwen Tianqing acknowledged his identity and said, "Miss Ji still remembers me; I am truly touched."

He wore a black mask with red patterns, featuring a black and gold mandala snake head relief. Combined with his gray-blue eyes, he exuded an almost venomous, sinister aura.

Ji Qingwu met those eyes.

"Young Master Yuwen is an outstanding person; once you've met him, you'll never forget him."

She had previously spoken with Duan Mingfeng about the importance of paying close attention to this imperial merchant from Xijin.

Later, Yuwen Tianqing found her and said that he had come to find his sister who was ill.

Ji Qingwu even wrote a letter to his elder brother in Nan Chu to inquire about the matter.

Lanling, the female bodyguard beside Ji Changlin, had a high fever once and couldn't remember her childhood clearly, but she was indeed familiar with the official language of Xijin, and might be Yuwen Tianqing's sister.

Ji Qingwu then lowered his guard against him.

If she had known that Yuwen Tianqing's purpose in coming here was to kill Yuan Heng, she would have sent him to meet the King of Hell the moment she saw him.

Ji Qingwu remained calm on the surface, but inwardly he wished he could kill this man with a single arrow.

But she couldn't do it, so she could only stall for time.

Yuwen Tianqing said, "Miss Ji, you'd better tell the truth. Where is the young prince? You're a smart woman, and I don't want you to suffer too much."

Yuwen Tianqing and his men approached, and Ji Qingwu stepped in front of them, her light silver hair ribbon fluttering in the breeze.

He ordered, "Search."

The group ran towards the back of the bookshelf, when suddenly a light purple mist filled their vision.

The tall leader shouted, "Hold your breath! It's poisonous!"

As they held their breath and sealed their acupoints, two men in black leaped down from the roof beams, swiftly unleashing their palm strikes and engaging them in a chaotic melee.

Ji Qingwu found a small bottle in her hand, which she casually tucked back into her bosom.

The amount of powder was small, but its toxicity was potent, affecting the assassin's movement.

Sanchuan and Sihai had previously taken the antidote pills that Ji Qingwu had given them, and when they fought the five of them, they were just as good as the others.

Ji Qingwu said in a normal tone, "I thought Young Master Yuwen was an upright person who came to Lin'an for a short stay in order to find his sister. It turns out that he was actually trying to assassinate a prince of our dynasty."

Yuwen Tianqing said coldly, "How many people from Xijin have been slaughtered by the Beili army? The life of just one prince is not enough to quell the hatred in Xijin's heart!"

Hearing the sounds of fighting behind him, Ji Qingwu said, "You want to kill the young prince, but have you thought about the consequences? How could the emperor let you go?"

Yuwen Tianqing sneered, "I would gladly die for Xijin, but Beili only has this one prince. If he dies, Beili's fate will be sealed."

Ji Qingwu said, "How can you be so sure that there will be no new prince in Beili? With so many concubines in the harem, there are bound to be some who can bear children for the emperor. How could the fate of Beili be related to this?"

Yuwen Tianqing drew his sword and said, "The Emperor of Beili is destined to have no sons. This prince is destined to die young. I am merely acting on behalf of Heaven."

“The shamans of Xijin have already calculated that the dragon vein of Beili lies in its offspring.”

Yuwen Tianqing, sword in his right hand, walked towards her.

The sword in his hand also shone with an eerie light, flashing with iridescent colors.

He asked, "I'm quite curious, why are you so insistent on protecting the son of the Northern Li Emperor?"

Ji Qingwu frowned and said, "I am from the Empress Dowager's maternal family, so naturally I must protect the royal family. You want revenge, but the child is innocent; he is only a four-year-old child."

Yuwen Tianqing's lips curled into a mocking smile beneath his mask. "Do you think the Emperor of Beili can escape?"

Ji Qingwu asked, "What do you mean by this?"

"Are you waiting for him to come back and save you?"

Yuwen Tianqing shook his head and said, "Don't wait any longer. The large force sent by Xijin has already begun its ambush. The villages near the Emperor's Temple are all our people. On the way back, we will be massacring the Northern Li royal family."

Ji Qingwu's breath caught in his throat; the situation there could only be worse than that of the Qian Yuan Palace. The villages near the Emperor's Temple were infested with Xijin assassins, and the original inhabitants must have all been killed.

Yuwen Tianqing said, "There's only this little one left in the palace, so of course I won't leave him as a future threat!"

Ji Qingwu's eyes suddenly lit up, burning with rage.

"You pity the soldiers of Xijin, but aren't the innocent civilians, monks, and nuns of Beili who were killed by you also pitiful?"

Yuwen Tianqing arrogantly used the tip of his sword to lift Ji Qingwu's silver-painted ribbon.

"The victor is king, the loser is villain; this has always been the way of things. Do you think Zhao Mingyan ascended the throne because of his benevolence?"

The sword reflected the woman's fair and jade-like complexion.

"Why is Miss Ji so desperate to be paired with that Emperor of Beili? He is very cold to you. He is unmoved by your affections. Why don't you find someone better?"

Yuwen Tianqing's gaze fell on Ji Qingwu's hands, which had been poisoned.

He invited, half-jokingly, "We have many fine men in Xijin, why don't you come with me to Xijin?"

Before he could finish speaking, a willow-leaf dagger flew in from the window, striking the tip of the sword and grazing Ji Qingwu's throat.

With a clang, the flying knife knocked Yuwen Tianqing's sword away, and the powerful throwing knife embedded itself straight into the wall.

Someone has come to rescue them!

Has Emperor Wusu returned? Or did the ambush fail...?

Ji Qingwu's eyes involuntarily welled up with tears.

But when she heard the man's voice, she forced herself to swallow it back.

There's no other reason than that he wasn't the person she was looking for.

Wei Ting's unique laughter rang out: "What the Fourth Prince said makes perfect sense."

Yuwen Tianqing looked at the person who had appeared at the door at some unknown time, his gray-blue pupils trembling.

Wei Ting continued speaking, having not finished what he had said.

"I think it would be better to find a better doctor than to find a doctor like Dr. Ji. On this point, I share the same opinion as the Fourth Prince."

"But there's no need to go to Xijin; the men of Beili are of superior quality."

Yuwen Tianqing asked, "When did you appear?"

Wei Ting said calmly, "The palace gate guard is my brother. He just happened to be sick, so I will take over as the city gate guard today."

"If you ask me when I will be..."

Wei Ting walked up to Ji Qingwu and said in an ambiguous tone, "I was here when Doctor Ji said he needed to find someone to go to the city gate and asked me to come."

Ji Qingwu felt he was too close, so she moved to the side.

Wei Ting smiled at Yuwen Tianqing and said, "Look, he's throwing a tantrum again."

Yuwen Tianqing asked, "What is your relationship?"

Wei Ting picked up the scalpel and played with it in his hand.

"It's because I want to marry her, but she hasn't agreed yet, so all the men of Xijin have to wait in line."

As they were talking, the throwing knife in their hand unexpectedly flew behind them.