Lili pondered for a while, observing Bai Yu's expression. Although Bai Yu had pretended to be flustered just now, his surprise at seeing Zuo Pang now seemed genuine.
Furthermore, the fact that Zuo Pang walked openly from the inner room to this terrace suggests that the other side has far more people than just those on the terrace; the entire teahouse may have been taken into custody.
But what about the men in black hiding in the inner room?
Lili has two questions now.
First, Zuo Pang came from the inner room, where there were more than a dozen people hiding. Did he not notice at all?
Was he too bad, or were those people too skilled?
Secondly, why didn't those men in black attack Zuo Pang?
Zuo Pang was holding three round, shiny walnuts in his hand.
"Zuo Pang?" Bai Yu raised his voice, "As the Left Assistant Minister of War, what brings you here?"
Zuo Pang glanced at her and chuckled, "Young Master's wife, how have you been?"
Li Baji, with his keen eye, stepped forward and said in a fawning tone, "Sir, my brothers and I have surrounded this teahouse. This man only has four guards; he can't escape. We'll leave him to your fate."
"Hmm." Zuo Pang nodded in satisfaction. "Well done. The person at the top will be satisfied, and you'll get your share of the silver."
After saying that, Zuo Pang pushed Li Ba aside and bowed to the group with a smile.
"Oh, ladies and gentlemen, I'm so sorry."
Xia Ning's expression turned grim: "Lord Zuo, as an official appointed by the imperial court, what are you doing?"
“Miss Xia, don’t ask questions you shouldn’t. But… since you’re all going to die anyway, it won’t hurt to know.” Zuo Pang chuckled, a chilling laugh running down his spine.
Now that Zuo Pang has said this, what is there that we can't understand?
"How dare you! I am the wife of the heir of the Marquis of Chongbo’s mansion, personally appointed by His Majesty. Do you, a mere fifth-rank official, not want to live? How dare you commit such a heinous act?" Bai Yu’s fingertips trembled with anger as she pointed at Zuo Pang and roared.
"Please calm down, Your Highness's wife."
Zuo Pang said he wanted to calm down, but he showed no remorse whatsoever.
"you!"
Bai Yu pretended to be angry, flicked her sleeve and turned her back to him, taking the opportunity to subtly glance at his eyes.
Gu Ziqi held Lili tightly, not understanding why the situation had suddenly changed like this.
Lili noticed his unease and gently rubbed his head: "Ziqi, don't be afraid."
Lili glanced coldly at the man and said, "In my humble opinion, the person mentioned by Lord Zuo must be someone of considerable importance, right? Marquis Chong is His Majesty's uncle, and there's not only a Minister's daughter and his wife here, but also the only young master of Marquis Chong's household. To go to such lengths to kill them... let me guess, could it be the First Prince?"
After Lili finished speaking, Bai Yu was strangely not surprised, as if he had known all along that the person behind Zuo Pang was the First Prince.
Xia Ning was initially surprised, her eyes flashing with countless thoughts, which she quickly connected together.
Five years ago, she was framed and taken to Nanlin County; it was the eldest prince who did it.
Unfortunately, the Xia family has been unable to find any evidence to impeach him.
Now that I think about it, although the Xia family was no match for the eldest prince's lineage, Madam Xia was the daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo. If it wasn't because of the suppression by powerful figures that they couldn't find any evidence, then they simply couldn't find any evidence at all!
The reason why no evidence can be found is very likely because the evidence is in a place that no one would expect.
Zuo Pang was the Minister of War's right-hand man and was highly valued by the Minister of War. Minister Xia and the Minister of War both belonged to the Six Ministries and knew each other very well.
No wonder, no wonder the Xia family has always protected Xia Ning so well, yet someone still managed to take advantage of her!
Xia Ning's face paled, then flushed red, and anger rose within her: "Zuo Pang, I ask you, five years ago, Minister Zhang had a drink with my father, were you also present?"
Zuo Pang raised an eyebrow in surprise, then chuckled dismissively, "Yes, it was me. I overheard Minister Xia instructing his servant to pass on a message to Madam Xia when I was delivering documents to Lord Zhang, which is how I learned about your itinerary."
Xia Ning opened her mouth wide, and in an instant, countless emotions surged in her heart: grievance, anger, and resentment.
Finally, Xia Ning simply asked him, "So, you've been the First Prince's person for a long time."
"That's right."
Perhaps sensing that the others were doomed, Zuo Pang made no attempt to hide anything, maintaining his usual smiling demeanor: "The Crown Prince is a man of exceptional talent and bearing, the eldest son of His Majesty and the son of the Imperial Concubine. It is not unreasonable for me to follow such a promising master, is it?"
Lili said coldly, "The Crown Prince embezzled disaster relief funds and grain, disregarding the lives of the people, treating human life like dirt, and only caring about so-called political achievements. Is this what you call a promising future?"
"What do you know?" Zuo Pang said disdainfully. "A few little girls think they understand politics just because they have mouths? What do a few lives matter in the face of absolute interests? The eldest prince said that once the Chongbo Marquis's mansion is severely damaged, I, Zuo Pang, will be the greatest contributor to this matter. At that time, the position of Minister of War will be in my pocket."
Xia Ning was furious: "Zuo Pang! Lord Zhang has treated you well, why... why...!"
"That old bastard has been bullying me for so many years, it's time for him to retire and enjoy his old age!"
"you!"
"Forget it. Communicating with certain people feels like my words are being thrown into a bottomless void. I put so much effort into expressing myself, but it's like playing a melody on a stubborn rock that can't perceive any rhythm," Lili said with a light laugh, stopping the agitated Xia Ning.
Zuo Pang's face instantly darkened, and he glared at Li Li: "Are you saying I can't understand human language?"
"Huh? I didn't say that."
"Heh." Zuo Pang gave a forced smile. "No matter how eloquent you are, you won't live past today."
Lili frowned: "Why does the First Prince want to severely damage the Marquis Chongbo's mansion?"
Could it be that His Highness's secret communication with the Marquis's residence has been discovered?
If that's the case, then it might be a bit troublesome.
If that's the case, the eldest prince shouldn't be doing something like this at this critical juncture. Doesn't that just make things more intriguing?
"If anyone's to blame, it's the old Marquis for his aging and restless nature! The Marquis of Chongbo's mansion has been protecting itself for decades. If they had continued to be royalists, that would have been fine, but unfortunately, the eldest prince discovered their inappropriate thoughts. My lady, has your young master been frequently meeting with the Imperial Censor Yi to discuss philosophy lately?"
Bai Yu said, "My young master has loved poetry and literature since he was a child, which is known throughout the capital. Master Yi is a man of great literary talent and is about the same age as the young master. It is perfectly normal for the two of them to discuss classics and philosophy."
"Tsk tsk, Lady of the Heir Apparent, do you know who this Lord Yi's teacher is? It's Grand Tutor Zeng! Anyone with eyes can see that among the princes, Grand Tutor Zeng favors His Highness the Crown Prince the most, and he also admires His Highness the Crown Prince the most. In other words, this Lord Yi is practically a member of the Crown Prince's faction."
A dark glint flashed in Bai Yu's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure, slowly sat down, and began to ponder the game again, playing with the chess pieces with his fingertips.
Not only that, Bai Yu also gently called Yang Shi to continue playing chess together.
Yang had already figured out the level of crisis from Lili's reaction. Lili's lack of anxiety meant that nothing was wrong for the time being.
So Yang calmly sat down and resumed playing chess with Bai Yu.
Xia Ning and Li Li were amazed.
Zuo Pang felt insulted.
"What are you doing!"
Bai Yu didn't even look up: "Can't you see? Playing chess."
"At a time like this, you're still playing chess?" Zuo Pang asked, bewildered. He chuckled, "Very well, let this game of chess carry you on your way. I'll just wait for you to finish."
"I'm curious, why are you so certain that we will die?" Bai Yu asked slowly and deliberately.
Zuo Pang gave him a look that said, "Are you stupid?"
"Your Highness, don't you understand our current situation? Are you perhaps waiting for the remaining fourteen guards downstairs to come to your rescue? The eighteen guards you brought are all elite, but unfortunately, they are no match for sheer numbers."
Zuo Pang chuckled, "As long as you and the young master are dead, the Marquis of Chongbo's mansion will naturally not dare to have any more crooked thoughts, right? And this matter will be handled extremely cleanly. We have countless ways to cover it up, and no one will know that it was the eldest prince who did it."
"Is that so?"
Bai Yu's words were meaningful. Zuo Pang paused, narrowed his eyes, and suddenly shouted a stern order: "Kill them all! Leave no one alive!"
Dozens of people swarmed forward instantly, their machetes aimed directly at the group in the middle.
The four guards were pitifully thin, but they gritted their teeth and charged forward.
Zuo Pang snatched a small knife from the waist of one of the people next to him and charged straight at Gu Ziqi.
Lili instantly threw Gu Ziqi into Xia Ning's arms, then forcefully tossed the two of them backward. She then took off the hairpin from her head, which was the same one Bai Yu had given her before. Her eyes turned cold, and she rushed forward and kicked Zuo Pang with a high kick.
At the same time, a dozen or so men in black who had been hiding in the inner room finally appeared and began fighting with the masked men.
Unfortunately, Lili's strength was clearly insufficient to kick an adult man. However, Zuo Pang never expected Lili to make such a move, which gave her an opening, causing him to lose his balance for a moment.
In just that short time, Lili's hairpin touched Zuo Pang.
Zuo Pang dodged to the side, and the hairpin grazed his face.
Zuo Pang touched the blood on his cheek, his eyes filled with shock: "You know martial arts?"
"No way." Lili blinked and spread her hands innocently.
"hateful."
This was too humiliating. Zuo Pang didn't care where those dozen or so men in black came from. All he could think about was how he could have been hurt by a little girl!
Enraged, Zuo Pang charged forward.
"Lili, watch out!"
The hearts of the people behind him were in their throats. Gu Ziqi almost rushed up to find Lili, shouting, "I want to protect Sister Lili!"
Xia Ning held on tightly, preventing the little guy from going forward.
Bai Yu, who had remained calm until now, panicked: "Lili, come back quickly!"
Madam Yang was also terrified, keeping a close eye on Lili's every move, but she knew Lili would be alright. She breathed heavily as she reassured Baiyu, "Don't worry, Madam, Lili will be fine."
As expected, Lili was unharmed. Zuo Pang was furious. He had clearly used all his strength, but for some reason, he couldn't hurt Lili. Instead, Lili kept kicking him here and there.
Finally, Zuo Pang paddled hard and fell to the ground, where Li Li straddled his neck and pulled his hair repeatedly.
Yes, pulling out hair.
The most sophisticated fighting often uses the simplest methods.
Zuo Pang was so shocked by the fall that he saw stars and felt a sharp pain in his head, one after another, so painful that he felt as if his scalp had been shaved off.
"Ah! Ah! What are you doing, you little brat!"
Zuo Pang wanted to resist, but for some reason, this seemingly small guy was like a jack to Li Li, as if he weighed a thousand pounds, or perhaps he had fallen and was too weak to continue and was in a daze.
In short, he couldn't stand up and could only lie on the ground while she straddled his neck and pulled out his hair one by one. He could only watch helplessly as strands and clumps of hair fell to the ground in front of him, and then he would scream in agony.
"Hey, who are you calling a slut!" Lili said with a serious face, her hands moving quickly. "Didn't your teacher teach you to be polite? How can you talk about such a gentle, kind, innocent, and adorable little girl like that?"
Zuo Pang: ?
Weak, kind, innocent, and naive?
Putting everything else aside, look at what you're doing now, does it have anything to do with gentleness or weakness whatsoever!
"Ah! Ah! Don't pull it out, don't pull it out!"
Lili shook her head: "No, Lili is going to teach you how to be a person!"
Lili was very serious, as if she were really doing something very righteous.
The people behind him were completely dumbfounded.
Lili was still wearing that very gentle smoky blue dress, and the hair ornament on her head swayed back and forth. If you ignored the movements of her hands, she really was still the cute and lively Lili.
Unfortunately, they couldn't block out the actions below.
Pear was pricked repeatedly, like plucking chicken feathers, very vigorous.
Xia Ning swallowed hard, surprised to find that Li Li was actually being more reserved.
After all, Lili was someone who dared to cut people when she was only three years old...
Compared to that, Xia Ning suddenly felt that pulling out hair was acceptable, and even felt fortunate for Zuo Pang.
Oh dear, if there hadn't been so many people, it wouldn't have been just a matter of having my fur plucked.
Bai Yu was speechless, unable to utter a single word for a moment.
This scene is truly...shocking.
Yang covered her eyes, too embarrassed to look, and awkwardly explained to Bai Yu, her scalp tingling: "...Actually, Lili is usually very well-behaved at home, she would never do this..."
Bai Yu: "...Ah, I know..."
The most excited one here was Gu Ziqi, the youngest, who thought that Sister Lili was really amazing.
"Sister Lili is so amazing! She beat the bad guys so badly they cried out! Ziqi wants to be like Sister Lili when she grows up!"
Bai Yu was momentarily speechless: "...Ziqi, this...this is a rather unique way of fighting, so why don't we just not learn it?"
At some point, the sounds of fighting and killing around them gradually disappeared. After the group of men in black tied up the big men and threw them into a corner, they suddenly turned around and saw Lili pulling her hair out of the ground!
So a group of "cold-blooded killers" who had been through countless bloody battles began to watch Lili "fight" in stunned silence.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com