Qingying returned to her temporary room, and a short while later, Yu Yue and Tong Xia, who were unconscious, were also brought back.
This matter did not alarm the Wang and Pan families.
She bolted the door, took out a tinderbox, lit the lamps in the room, and went into the inner room.
On the floor beside the bed lay two men, their hands and feet bound and their mouths gagged—the very two she had shot down with her crossbow.
This crossbow was a gift from Wei Huaixu, intended for her to use in critical situations for self-defense. The arrows inside were short and finely crafted, insufficient to kill, so she coated the arrows with a very strong anesthetic, capable of instantly paralyzing the person struck.
"Come out," she said softly.
No sooner had she finished speaking than a man in black was hanging upside down from the roof beam. He stood motionless with his hands behind his back, spun around, and landed lightly in front of her.
Qingying sat on the wooden chair, looking up at him. The flickering light beside her reflected the coldness in her eyes.
"Why are you hiding and not making a move? Are you waiting to see me make a fool of myself?"
The guard wasn't afraid of her, and said coldly with his arms crossed, "His Highness only ordered me to protect your safety."
It means that as long as she is alive and well, his other concerns, such as appearances and personal matters, are irrelevant to him.
Qingying felt a surge of anger, but then she thought about it and realized she didn't need to take it out on him. After all, he was right; he was Wei Huaixu's subordinate, not hers, so it was normal for him to be dissatisfied.
She closed her eyes and beckoned to the guard with her finger, "Come here."
The guard moved his eyes, hesitated for a moment, and then obediently moved closer to her.
He was masked, and Qingying could only see a pair of dark, deep eyes that seemed to hold a bottomless, icy pool.
Qingying looked at him for a while and then suddenly said, "You also have a beauty mark at the corner of your eye, just like his."
He immediately took a step back, avoiding her direct gaze, and said coldly, "What do you want to do?"
She smiled, feeling inexplicably pleased. "It's nothing, I was just curious about what your face looks like under that veil."
"Don't even think about it. We Shadow Guards only show our true faces when we're about to die."
Qingying looked at him, pursed her lips, and asked again, "Do you have a name?"
"No... they all call me Ashu."
Qingying nodded, pointed to the two people on the ground, and said, "Ashu, do you have any way to get information out of them?"
"have."
"Then I'll trouble you..."
Before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by a cold voice: "No, this is not within my scope of responsibility."
Qingying was a little annoyed, but she held back for a moment before continuing in a soft voice, "His Highness the Crown Prince did indeed only ask you to protect me, but if I don't find out the truth, I might encounter danger again, so you must help me. This is also to protect my life."
Ashu replied, "If anyone tries to hurt you again, I will kill them."
"But...but there are so many people, can you kill them all?"
"able."
"No matter how skilled you are in martial arts, you will inevitably have moments of weakness."
"No." Ashu looked over, a hint of sharpness in his eyes. "I am the strongest among the Shadow Guards."
Qingying felt a moment of frustration. She frowned, her eyes darting around, and then suddenly had another idea: "It's okay if you don't want to help me. Then I'll just have to ask His Highness the Crown Prince myself. I'll make sure you're the one to investigate. You know he won't refuse me."
Ashu never expected that this seemingly gentle and weak woman would be so difficult to deal with. He took several deep breaths and finally agreed in a cold voice, "Okay, I'll investigate."
Qingying smiled slyly, her eyes crinkling, like a little fox who had just pulled off a clever scheme.
Ashu felt helpless. At that moment, he realized that he shouldn't have brought these two people back; he had simply asked for trouble.
...
Qingying didn't sleep well that night. The image of the thugs being killed kept appearing in her dreams, and the blood stained her clothes a bright red.
She was awakened in a cold sweat and barely closed her eyes for the rest of the night.
The next day, news of their encounter with the villains did not spread. Instead, officials from the capital arrived and reported a murder that had occurred in the back mountain of Chongfu Temple.
Lu Xingli went down the mountain early in the morning, but Qingying was not implicated.
She accompanied Wang to listen to Master Nianci preach, and afterwards they had a vegetarian meal at the temple. After noon, the group went down the mountain.
Two days passed peacefully before her men returned with news that the dead thugs were not townspeople, but rather escaped convicts who had been exiled and deserved to die. The authorities did not investigate the matter thoroughly, only stating that it was a revenge killing.
"That's for the best, so as not to drag me into this."
A young woman's reputation is of utmost importance. If she is associated with a convict, she will inevitably be the subject of gossip.
Yu Yue gently fanned her with a round fan to cool her off, but she was quite dissatisfied: "Are you just going to swallow this insult like this, Miss?"
Qingying said, "Of course not. They're obviously bribed to harm me. How can I suffer this injustice for no reason?"
"But now that the matter is settled, how can we turn the tables?"
“If someone wants to settle things peacefully, we should go along with it, but I’m not going to suffer in silence.”
Seeing her so confident, Yu Yue figured she must have already made up her mind, so she wisely refrained from asking any further questions.
As night fell, a cloth bag appeared by Qingying's window. When she opened it, she found twenty silver ingots inside, a considerable sum, along with several letters and a signed confession.
These are sufficient as evidence.
She knew it was sent by Ashu, so she whispered a thank you to the person outside the window. Although no one responded, she knew he could hear her.
The following day, Qingying sent a visiting card to the Duke of Lu's mansion.
I heard that Lu Xingli was quite frightened. She is the most favored legitimate daughter of the Duke of Lu's mansion. She has been pampered and protected for so many years. She has never seen such a bloody scene.
When she received Qingying's invitation, she was still hiding in her room, shivering under the covers. Madam Lu sat by the bed and comforted her: "Xingxing, don't be afraid. Those people deserved to die. Even if they wanted to take your life, they shouldn't have come for you. Remember, their deaths have nothing to do with you."
Lu Xingli's face was haggard, her eyes slightly sunken, and her eyes were filled with tears. She shook her head and said, "But I can't forget, Mother. When they died, their blood splattered on my face. It was so hot. I felt like I was being burned. These past few nights, I've often dreamed of their eyes wide open before they died. It's so terrifying."
"You have to forget it even if you can't!" Madam Lu said with a hint of exasperation, "You still want to be the Crown Princess? Once you enter the palace, it's a place where people kill without shedding blood. With such little courage, how can you be worthy of such a great responsibility!"
Lu Xingli lowered his head and remained silent.
Madam Lu sighed helplessly, "It's all my fault. I've protected you too well all these years, so you don't understand how treacherous the world is. This is a good opportunity to temper your character."
"Liu Qingying has sent her a formal invitation. Tomorrow, you must get back into character and not lose face in front of her, do you understand?"
Lu Xingli replied softly, "Daughter understands."
"Sigh~ I'd better inform your brother in advance so he can come with you tomorrow, lest you miss something." After saying this, Madam Lu got up and left.
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