Chapter 20: Reunion
Early the next morning, a guard reported, "Third Prince, a human woman has requested an audience, claiming to be your old friend."
Lu Rongshi's heart moved, and he suppressed his joy. He stood up, put on his outer robe, and walked quickly outside. In the golden autumn season, fiery red maple leaves were falling all over the yard, as if to celebrate the reunion of the two old friends.
She finally came, but it didn't seem fair to her. Why couldn't I go find her? No, stop looking for her. We must never be separated again.
Lu Rongshi had a lot of thoughts and wanted to say countless things to her, but all those words turned into one sentence: "Li'an, I miss you."
Jiang Li'an's eyes were red. Almost a year had passed, and she was still the same, gentle and patient as before. He felt relieved.
Jiang Li'an replied, "I'll come looking for you soon."
Lu Rongshi took out his treasured osmanthus wine and set up a banquet to entertain his old friends who had come from afar.
Jiang Li'an had no idea that Lu Rongshi's status was so high that he was second only to the emperor.
On the other hand, the uncle-master seemed to have a special fondness for helping Lu Rongshi, and he did not mind the trouble of running around everywhere.
Halfway through the round of drinks, Lu Rongshi called out to Jiang Li'an, "Li'an, I'm really tired. Every day I'm running around in this palace full of sinister people, wearing a mask to face all the intrigues. I can't be myself, and I don't feel at ease at all. I'm really tired."
As he spoke, he covered his face and was about to cry. Jiang Li'an was naturally distressed and stepped forward to comfort him, saying, "Rong Shi, this time we will face it together. Believe me, we will definitely get through this difficult time."
Lu Rongshi was stunned for a moment, then looked up at her. Seeing her determined eyes, his heart instantly fell. He stepped forward and hugged her, saying, "Okay, let's do it together. This time, we must bring the thief to justice!"
Jiang Li'an was arranged to live opposite her bedroom. The next day, Lu Rongshi sorted out his feelings and began to plan his next step.
Because Jiang Li'an had seen that group of people when he came, he saved the trouble of looking for someone like a needle in a haystack. Since Jiang Li'an was a stranger and one of the few people Lu Rongshi trusted, he was arranged to stake out the place. It would be best if he could catch the mastermind behind the scenes.
A few days later, Jiang Li'an was about to take action. Lu Rongshi realized that the plan could not be delayed any longer, and he had to stay in the palace, so he had to say goodbye to Jiang Li'an with great reluctance.
Lu Rongshi believed in Jiang Li'an's skills, but he also carefully reminded him: "Li'an, be careful."
Jiang Li'an smiled and said, "Of course, I don't want to lose you again."
Lu Rongshi's cheeks flushed slightly. He waved at her and said, "Go early and come back early."
Jiang Li'an was quite far away and couldn't see clearly, so he said, "I understand!"
Jiang Li'an was in the open and Di Qing was in the dark. The two of them followed the clues all the way and found the place where the group of people met. It turned out to be a noble mansion. Jiang Li'an couldn't help but feel puzzled, but he didn't dare to delay. He asked his uncle to go back and report the news first. He wanted to take a good look at what these nobles were doing.
I used the force to climb over the high wall and entered the yard. It was quiet all around, and only the sound of my own footsteps seemed particularly abrupt.
Jiang Li'an lowered his footsteps and walked to the window of a small house.
Seeing the lights on in the room and the sound of people talking, Jiang Li'an held his breath and listened, and unexpectedly heard two people plotting to poison the Fifth Prince.
Lu Rongshi had naturally told her about his relationship with the Fifth Prince. Her heart tightened. Why would such a thing happen in such an aristocratic mansion? Could they be trying to usurp power?
If this is true, then Rong Shi’s investigation route is extremely wrong.
If this continues, the relationship between the five princes will fall apart, and this group of people can be defeated one by one until they succeed in usurping the throne.
Jiang Li'an didn't dare to be careless and listened carefully, but he heard some incredible news.
"Why? Even when you killed the two saints, you weren't so cautious. Now that you're just the Fifth Prince, you're so withdrawn?"
"That's different! During the Twin Saints era, the Great Qi Dynasty was in dire need of military commanders. I was also operating cautiously in the dark, so naturally, I was safe. Now, there's only the Third Princess. I don't know what the Twin Saints sent her to learn. She's unfathomable. Furthermore, the guard beside her clearly has two swords, but only uses one. If I were to do the same thing again, I'd never return!"
"Oh, in your eyes, they are all paper tigers, the Third Prince, the guards, even if all the generals of Daqi were assembled, they would not be your match!"
"Also, although you have performed a great deed once, we can't force you. However, the master has specifically asked you to take action again. Once the mission is completed, your family will be released and you will escape!"
""
There was silence in the room for a while. Jiang Li'an was about to listen again, but he saw someone coming out of the main door. He hid his body and looked at the person. He saw that the person was an elf man with ordinary looks, who should be a laborer in the palace.
The man sighed deeply and murmured, "Daughter, wait for me. I'll finish this last job for you, and then we'll fly away and live a carefree life."
Jiang Li'an suddenly felt conflicted. This man was the murderer who assassinated the Twin Saints, Lu Rongshi's two mothers, yet he felt a little sorry for him.
Sure enough, there must be something hateful about pitiful people!
Jiang Li'an left quietly. Di Qing happened to be worried about her being alone, so he went back to report the news and rushed back. Di Qing asked, "How is the situation?"
Jiang Li'an frowned and replied, "Let's talk about it when we get back!"
The two hurried back to the palace. Lu Rongshi had already prepared an empty room. The three of them sat around the table. Jiang Li'an told Lu Rongshi what she had heard and seen. Jiang Li'an said, "The situation is not optimistic. If the information I heard is true, then there must be a huge conspiracy behind this matter!"
Lu Rongshi also gradually frowned. If this was true, then the mastermind behind the scenes must be a powerful noble. Imperial power was the most important thing for the nobles. If the nobles wanted to rebel, they would definitely arrange pawns, and the pawns could develop their subordinates. In this way, the difficulty of the investigation would increase again.
Lu Rongshi pondered for a while, and finally said, "Uncle Master Di Qing, please protect the Fifth Prince. I'll be on guard against these things, so nothing will happen. But the Fifth Prince is powerless, so it's difficult for him to protect himself."
"We'll lure him out of his hole, and when he's about to make a move, we'll catch him in one fell swoop!"
A few days later, a maid came to the door of the Fifth Princess Xue Xin's bedroom to deliver food. Xue Xin was taking a nap at that time.
The maid walked to the door and saw two guards. One guard raised his hand to stop them, and the other guard took out a silver needle and said, "Routine inspection! Everyone, please cooperate."
He inserted the silver needle into the food, and seeing that there was no change in the needle, he waved his hand and let it go.
This situation had been going on for several days. The man could no longer resist the urge to flee far away. Seeing that the Fifth Prince had such tight security, he decided to assassinate him directly.
Another half month passed without incident. Just when everyone was about to let down their guard, an outsider came to visit, claiming to be an envoy from the Witch Empire. Lu Rongshi was in charge of meeting him.
The man was dressed in a white robe, his sleeves fluttering, and he exuded an air of immortality. Lu Rongshi couldn't help but think of his own master, the one who seemed like a banished immortal.
This person claimed to be an envoy from the Witch Empire, but he did not talk about the internal affairs of the Witch Empire. He just seemed to be looking for something.
Lu Rongshi was naturally puzzled, but it was inconvenient for him to explain. It was really dangerous for a suspicious person to appear at such a critical moment.
Jiang Li'an did not go out to stake out the place today. She walked around the palace and met the white-robed witch on the way. The witch was also surprised that she was in the palace.
After a few pleasantries, Jiang Li'an finally understood that she had also come to the palace looking for someone. The white-robed witch read her fortune and warned her, "Young lady, be careful today. If I'm right, you'll soon face a fatal disaster."
Jiang Li'an was naturally skeptical, but he just thanked her and said goodbye.
The white-robed witch was arranged to rest in a side hall. At night, Lu Rongshi complained to Jiang Li'an about this matter. Jiang Li'an consoled her, saying, "This person is the one who led me all the way to the land of disorder. She is only here to look for someone and will not cause any trouble."
After hearing Jiang Li'an's words, Lu Rongshi felt relieved. After dinner, he said good night to Jiang Li'an.
Jiang Li'an returned to the bedroom, and all he could think about was the death calamity that the white-robed witch had talked about. He didn't believe in these prophecies, but he had to take them to heart, after all, it was a serious matter like death.
When she was about to take a rest, she heard footsteps on the roof. Jiang Li'an had been fighting in the Western Regions for a long time, and the Central Asian coalition forces were best at sneak attacks, so she was very familiar with this sound.
She stood up, put on her outer robe, and walked quickly out of the door. She saw a figure heading towards the Fifth Prince. She glanced at Lu Rongshi's bedroom and saw that the lights had been turned off. If she went to call Lu Rongshi, it would be too late. Her uncle was guarding there, so she was not afraid of a head-on attack, but she was afraid of a sneak attack by the thieves who did not take the usual route.
After thinking about it, she stood up and quickly chased after him. She chased him all the way to the Fifth Prince's bedroom. She saw that the man had already dealt with the guards, but her uncle was still nowhere to be seen. Jiang Li'an did not stop and quickly stepped forward, shouting, "This general is here, thieves, retreat quickly!"
The man was obviously startled. He turned around and saw a little girl. He then flashed to the door of the bedroom.
Jiang Li'an saw that this man didn't take him seriously. However, he was in a hurry to leave and his Gan Jiang sword fell in the bedroom. He simply pulled out the sword of the guard who had long since died, and stabbed it straight into the man's back.
The man jumped to the left, dodging the first sword, turned around and opened his arms, trying to grab Jiang Li'an. Jiang Li'an touched the ground with his toes, did a somersault and came to the door of the bedroom, separating the bedroom from the man.
Jiang Li'an held her sword in front of her, and the door to the bedroom was behind her. No matter what, they must not succeed today!
The man said nothing, just stood there. Jiang Li'an was wondering why his uncle was not there, but then he saw a few more people coming in from behind the man. One of them said, "We've led that man away, so feel free to display your skills!"
The man then said, "Miss, I don't want to hurt innocent people, please get out of the way!"
Jiang Li'an finally understood that his uncle had been lured away. Hearing the man's words, he was furious and said coldly, "You don't want to hurt innocent people? What crime has the Fifth Prince committed?"
Seeing that Jiang Li'an actually knew the inside story, the man stopped pretending and said bluntly, "What a pity for such a pretty girl. Let's get started and finish this quickly!"
The people behind him said: "Yes!"
The author has something to say:
I'm forced by the circumstances, but winter vacation is coming soon, so please bear with me. I will definitely update quickly during the winter vacation!
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