Fen Ling first searched the bodies of the assassins on the ground, stuffing everything he found into his chest pocket. Then he checked again for any marks on the bodies of the men in black before disposing of the corpses.
He was busy for a while, making sure that no bodies, whether on the official road or in the grass, were left. After erasing all traces, he returned to Su Rong, expressing his admiration, "Young Mistress, you’re very impressive; you killed nineteen people all by yourself."
Su Rong also felt quite impressive. Since she was young, this was the first time she encountered so many assassins. She asked, "Were these assassins from Nanchu?"
"You knew?" Fen Ling was surprised.
"Yes, I knew," Su Rong nodded.
Fen Long wanted to ask how she knew, but seeing her pale face, he thought it better to return to the city first. Suppressing his surprise, he helped her up and said, "I will take you back to the city first."
"Okay."
Fen Ling led Su Rong to the horse. Looking at her blood-stained body, he felt it would scare anyone who saw them in broad daylight. He hesitated slightly, then took off his outer garment and draped it over Su Rong, masking the blood. He seriously said, "I’ve never lent my clothes to anyone else. Forgive me for the inconveniece, Young Mistress."
Su Rong glanced at him but did not voice any opinion.
Fen Ling scratched his head, lifted Su Rong onto the horse, loosely held her around the waist, and galloped back to the city.
Su Rong didn’t expect that her trip to see Zhou Gu out of the city would nearly cost her her life at Shili Pavilion outside the city.
Arranging assassins to kill her in daylight showed that the Nanchu Queen, who had always failed to kill her, had run out of patience. The assassins took advantage of today’s opportunity and wanted to end her quickly.
Fen Ling’s outer garment was large and Su Rong was exhausted and leaned on him. She even hid her face to prevent anyone from recognizing her. After all, too many people in Jiangning County knew her.
Fen Ling rode the horse with Su Rong into Jiangning County without attracting anyone’s attention, as passers-by were continuously coming and going in the prosperous city.
At the Xie Residence, Fen Ling held Su Rong and knocked on the door.
A doorman peeped out and looked at Fen Ling, not recognizing him since he was hiding in the shadows.
Fen Ling uncovered Su Rong’s face, only to find that she had fainted. He said to the doorman, "Miss Su is injured."
The doorman recognized Su Rong immediately. Seeing her pale face, he paled with shock, hurriedly opened the door, and stammered, "The, the, the master is in the residence."
After he finished speaking, he closed the door and ran to report the incident.
Fen Ling quickly carried Su Rong into the courtyard. Before they got far, Xie Yuan rushed out from the residence. Seeing Fen Ling carrying the unconscious Su Rong, he immediately asked, "What happened?"
Fen Ling spoke in a low voice, "The Young Mistress was attacked by a group of assassins at Shili Pavilion outside the city after seeing Young Master Zhou off."
Xie Yuan’s face darkened. "Is her life in danger?"
"No, the wounds are not fatal."
Xie Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the housekeeper, "Quickly go to Huichun Hall and fetch the doctor."
The housekeeper promptly complied.
Xie Yuan instructed Fen Ling, "First, take her to her courtyard."
Su Rong had her own private courtyard in the Xie Residence. When she was a child, she didn’t like the restrictions and did not like to go to the academy. Her father and mother couldn’t control her and handed her over to Xie Yuan. Thus, she was mostly raised by Xie Yuan. But her mother never expected that Xie Yuan would indulge Su Rong so much. She learned a disproportionate amount of the arts, etiquette, and music, even under Xie Yuan.
Fen Ling carried Su Rong into the room and laid her on the bed. Only then did he describe the situation to Xie Yuan. After he finished speaking, he admiringly said, "Sir, the Young Mistress is really incredible. Even I couldn’t kill nineteen people by myself. The weapon in the Young Mistress’s hand isn’t her preferred one; it was just a dagger. If she had a sword, she wouldn’t have needed my help to finish off the last person."
Xie Yuan nodded, "The technique of killing people with golden needles, which is a unique skill of the doctors of Huichun Hall, has been perfected by her."
"I’ve also learned it, but I’m not as proficient as the Young Mistress. If she were to devote herself fully to martial arts, she would undoubtedly be the top master of Jianghu," Fen Ling openly admired.
Xie Yuan looked at Fen Ling and smiled, "Indeed, Xiaoqi is naturally gifted and extremely intelligent, she learns anything quickly."
Since being assigned by Xie Yuan to serve Su Rong, Fen Ling had always been following her secretly. He took a deep breath and sighed, "Indeed, I was almost driven by the Young Mistress to start over from scratch years ago."
When Su Rong was still a child, Xie Yuan already subtly introduced a tutor named Strong Body Technique among a bunch of tutors for chess, painting, and so on. She herself also showed her ambition, lacking patience for learning other things, but for martial arts, she had a tenacity, gritting her teeth and persisting. By the time she was ten, her third tutor had taught her all he knew and resigned. Xie Yuan then secretly spent a large sum of money to hire someone from the martial arts world to teach her, which lasted until he left for Yunshan Academy last year. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
However, her skill in killing people with a golden needle was not taught by the masters he hired, but rather by Su Rong herself. Growing up, she had often gotten into fights and faced assassination attempts, always getting injured. Her frequent visits to Huichun Hall led her to discover that an old doctor here, with incredibly high medical skill, did not only know how to save people but also knew how to kill with a golden needle. He helped her kill an assassin who appeared in the backyard of the Husichun Hall. The assassin fell noiselessly before she could react. She was amazed. Upon learning that the old doctor had killed the man with his golden needle, she pestered the old man until he taught her his golden needle killing technique.
When Xie Yuan found out, he had his secret guard investigate. That old doctor turned out to be a notorious assassin from the martial arts world thirty years ago and had since disappeared from public view. Unbeknownst to them all, he had settled in Jiangning County, working as a drug doctor in Huichun Hall.
A doctor from Huichun Hall arrived quickly. Of course, he was not the same old man who taught Su Rong how to kill with a golden needle; that old man passed away last year. This was Doctor He, who had been treating her for a long time and whom she had specifically befriended.
Doctor He arrived in a sweat, carrying a medicine box. Seeing Su Rong covered in blood, he was utterly shocked, "Who... Who... has Miss Su been fighting with? How did she get so badly injured?"
No wonder he was so shocked; Su Rong was severely injured this time.
"Just bandage her up." Xie Yuan instructed, walking out of the room and calling a maid to assist Doctor He.
Fen Ling also followed him out.
The room door was closed, and Doctor He quickly started to bandage Su Rong’s wounds.
Because Su Rong had been able to stop her own bleeding and give herself a simple bandage, although her injuries looked severe, it was not too difficult to treat them.
It took Doctor He almost half an hour to bandage all eight of Su Rong’s wounds, wrapping her almost like a dumpling, before he finally left the room.
Xie Yuan was waiting outside. Seeing Doctor He come out, he asked: "How is her injury?"
Doctor He sighed, "She’s severely injured. She’ll need to recover for half a month at least. A girl’s skin must not bear any scars, ten jars of Skin-Smoothing Jade Cream will probably be needed to prevent scarring."
"Just deliver the cream, you’ll get the money from my accounting." Xie Yuan said, with no change in expression.
Doctor He smiled immediately, "Alright, I’ll write a prescription and let her take it for half a month. She has lost a lot of blood and she must recuperate. Otherwise, more Skin-Smoothing Jade Cream will be wasted."
Xie Yuan nodded, "When will she wake up?"
"She should be awake in about an hour."
Xie Yuan waved his hand.
Doctor He then turned to prepare the prescription.
Xie Yuan went back to his room and sat at the table, asking Fen Ling: "You said Xiaoqi asked you, ’Is it an assassin sent by the Nanchu Sect?’"
Fen Ling nodded, "Yes."
Xie Yuan sighed: "Xiaoqi is smart. Although I intended to hide it, I’m afraid she already knows."
Fen Ling whispered: "The wet nurse named Zhao that the Young Master hired for the little master, she comes from the palace. She has taken care of the Queen Mother and has seen the young master. Are you thinking of telling the little master about her origin? Otherwise, you will certainly stop Nurse Zhao from entering the Su Residence."
"Xiaoqi and the Governor’s wife bear some resemblance. Those who are well-acquainted with the Governor’s wife would naturally be suspicious." Xie Yuan sighed, "She has been holding in the doubts and not asking me. It’s time I told her. After all, she’s grown up now, she should know about her origin. She has to be the master of her own affairs."
Fen Ling was very happy, "I will no longer have to hide in the future, I can stay by the young master’s side openly."
Xie Yuan reminded him, "You are a hidden guard."
Fen Ling corrected, "Yes, I’m a personal hidden guard, but I can also be an open guard."
Hidden guards hide in the shadows, unseen by everyone. But although personal hidden guards are also hidden guards, at least their masters should know they are there, ready to respond instantly. They will no longer have to hide when off duty – when the master eats osmanthus cake, they can also sneak into the room to eat together. Some places just aren’t suitable for hidden guards to hide. In such cases, open guards can protect their master anytime and anywhere openly.
Xie Yuan couldn’t help but chuckle, "You’ve had a tough time these past few years."
After some thought, he instructed, "Go bring Nurse Zhao here."
Fen Ling nodded, happily turned around, and left.
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