The Princess Sheng An sat firmly on the main seat, the Queen accompanying her, while the palace maids were summoned forward one by one for interrogation.
Within half an hour, they had already interrogated more than a dozen people.
When Su Rong and her party arrived, it was the turn of a young palace maid to be interrogated. The maid stood with her head lowered, her hands crossed in front of her, about to kneel.
"Hold on!" Su Rong suddenly called out.
The little maid paused in place, her hands unclasped, and with a glint of gold at her fingertips, she flung something towards Princess Sheng An and the Queen.
Seeing clearly, Su Rong flicked her wrist, releasing several golden needles from her hand. In an instant, they blocked the golden needles the young maid had aimed at Princess Sheng An and the Queen. The sound of gold colliding echoed lightly, barely audible, followed by a series of crisp sounds as the golden needles fell to the ground together.
The little maid, seeing her attack fail, was about to launch another strike, but Su Rong was already at her side. She reached out to grab her shoulder, but the maid, clearly a martial artist, attacked Su Rong. Su Rong quickly drew her dagger, swiftly severing the maid’s hand. The maid yelled out in pain, and Su Rong struck again, chopping off her other hand, then delivered a kick to her knees. With another cry of agony, the little maid fell to the ground, her face pale.
Out of the severed fingers of her hands, several more golden needles fell onto the ground.
Without even looking, Su Rong stepped on the young maid’s body, sweeping her gaze around, and told the guards: "What are you all standing around for? Tie her up!"
As soon as she spoke, everyone in the hall came to their senses.
Although Su Rong’s voice was not stern, it carried an unmistakable authority. Immediately, people surged forward to bind the fallen young maid securely. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
Both Princess Sheng An and the Queen looked a bit pale. They were not naive children; they knew what had transpired in a matter of moments. It was too dangerous, if not for Su Rong’s timely appearance, they would likely have died here today, despite the presence of their numerous guards.
Even though they had not encountered these golden needles before, they knew that if they were struck in a vital area, they would not survive.
Princess Sheng An swiftly rose to her feet and walked over to Su Rong, "You child, are you hurt?"
Su Rong shook her head, "No."
Princess Sheng An, getting closer, took her hand, "Why did you enter the palace? And how did you get here?"
Without waiting for Su Rong to answer, Yan Huisheng greeted the Princess Sheng An and Queen. He replied to the Princess’s question, "Replying to aunty grandmother, your majesty, Xiaoqi found out that Lord Zhao and Zhao Fei were killed by golden needles to the brain. Knowing that you were conducting an investigation in the palace, she was worried for your safety and so appealed to the King to take her into the palace."
The Rui’an King was also terrified, having witnessed firsthand the young palace maid’s daring and murderous use of the golden needles. He instantly nodded his agreement, reached into his robe, and took out two golden needles wrapped in cloth, "These are the ones Miss Su Qi found in the brains of Lord Zhao and Zhao Fei," He glanced at the needles on the ground, "They’re exactly the same."
There were two types of golden needles lying on the ground, one as thin as a hair, used by the young palace maid for her attack. The other type was normal-sized golden needles acquired by Su Rong, used by doctors for acupuncture, significantly thicker than the specially made, hair-thin assassination needles.
At her words, Princess Sheng An felt a lump in her throat. She clenched Su Rong’s hand tightly, "Thank you. If it hadn’t been for your timely arrival, the Queen and I would have been in danger."
At this moment, the Queen also came over and thanked Su Rong, "Thank you, Miss Su Qi."
She had long heard of Su Rong’s name. The first time was because of her engagement to Zhou Gu; the second time was when her son, Yan Huisheng, expressed his admiration for her without having seen her. As Su Rong entered the capital, the discussions about her continued.
Initially, the Queen held some prejudice against Su Rong. After personally cancelling Zhou Gu’s engagement, she worried that Su Rong had set her sights on the Crown Prince because she wanted to marry into the Eastern Palace. However, unexpectedly, she heard that Su Rong had traveled to the Buddha Temple with Ye Guixue and seemed to be betrothed to him. The Queen didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried.
Of course, she hoped her son would marry a well-born, noble maiden, but she was also concerned about his tenacious character, his stubborn devotion to one person. For the heir to the throne, it was not necessarily a good thing. Especially if the Crown Prince had an infatuation, it would certainly not be a good thing.
Later, when the Crown Prince came to her palace to pay his respects, she indirectly asked him about it. The Crown Prince helplessly shook his head, saying that even if it weren’t Ye Guixue, Su Rong would never choose him, and even if he insisted, he doubted he could win her over. Her character was not one that could be easily coerced.
Perhaps seeing the worry on her face, the Crown Prince reassured her, "Mother, don’t worry. The position of heir to the Daliang throne can only be mine. The future ruler of Daliang can only be me. I will not forget my status and what I should do as an heir."
He explicitly told her that he would not let his infatuation blind him. He would measure his actions and would not disregard everything just for Su Rong.
The Queen felt her heart settle down. When she asked about Zhou Gu, the Crown Prince shook his head, saying that his mood was probably not very good. The Queen understood. Zhou Gu was different from Yan Huisheng. He was younger and more inexperienced. Before Su Rong, he had never loved, but once Su Rong became his betrothed, he couldn’t restrain his feelings and fell for her easily.
Seeing Su Rong now, the Queen couldn’t help but admire her. In terms of looks, she was stunning, not inferior to Duanhua, and even perhaps surpassing Duanhua. As for her capabilities, she had just demonstrated her mastery of the golden needle technique, accurately blocking the hair-thin golden needles, and efficiently severed the young maid’s hand with her dagger. It was obvious to anyone who saw her, she was not an ordinary young lady.
The maidens brought up in the harem would turn pale at the sight of blood, let alone such brutal violence.
Finally, the Queen understood why the mere mention of her name, even without showing her face, had made the Crown Prince care for her. She had the kind of aura that made it impossible for people to ignore her, she was breathtakingly captivating.
"Your Majesty is too kind." Su Rong tilted her head, gave the Queen a smile, then turned to Yan Huisheng and added, "The Crown Prince looks a lot like the Queen."
These words were what the Queen loved to hear, and she smiled immediately, "This palace also feels that the Crown Prince resembles me more."
Yan Huisheng smiled slightly, "I think so too."
After speaking, his smile faded, and he glanced at the young palace maid unconscious on the ground from her pain. He gave orders, "Retrieve the poison pill that this maid didn’t get a chance to consume. Commence the interrogation immediately."
Someone complied, immediately pried open the young maid’s mouth and, true enough, found a poison pill wrapped in gold paper in her mouth, which she had not had time to bite into.
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