Chapter 09 The Ninth Kill

Lin Kun still had the knife in his hand, as if he was going to chop her again at the next moment.

Xiaoyu didn't dare to get up. She half-lay on the quilt on Zhou Xunran's body, twisting and turning, trying to hide away.

Zhou Xunran sighed. It had been less than half an hour, but he realized that he had sighed more times than in the past six months.

"Xiao Yu, you get up first." Zhou Xunran said helplessly.

Lin Kun had followed Zhou Xunran for many years, and just from this one sentence, he could tell that the prince treated the killer Xiaoyu differently. He looked at Zhou Xunran in surprise, but found that he was staring at him coldly.

"Lin Kun, take off the knife."

Lin Kun put the knife back into the scabbard, took three steps back, put the scabbard on the table outside, and came back empty-handed, "Prince."

Zhou Xunran raised his leg and kicked Xiaoyu, "You can get up now."

Seeing that Lin Kun had nothing in his hands, Xiaoyu finally stood up straight and complained: "My Lord, your guard is too presumptuous. He actually dared to lay hands on me. You must teach him a lesson!"

"Okay, I'll teach him a lesson. You go back and eat something first."

Xiaoyu touched her stomach and before she could say anything, she heard Zhou Xunran continue, "I heard your stomach growling, go eat something."

His words were so certain that Xiaoyu even doubted whether she was really hungry.

"Okay, I'll come see you later."

After sending away the little fish that kept looking back every few steps, Zhou Xunran's brows gradually wrinkled.

The place where Master Wu Le lived was either the capital or the bamboo forest in Yundang Mountain. From Xiao Yu's tone, she and the old Master Wu Le often met, so she should live nearby.

The largest martial arts sect in the martial arts world, the Jieyou Sect, is based just two hills away from the Yundang Mountain.

Zhou Xunran raised his hand towards Lin Kun and said, "Xiaoyu should come to solve the problem herself. Go check if there is any mistake in this. Why did she come to assassinate me?"

Lin Kun was somewhat surprised, and said with a hint of disdain, "How could the Worry-Relieving Sect produce such a killer?"

Zhou Xunran looked at him: "Are you asking me?"

"I dare not." Lin Kun lowered his head, "Then I will check it immediately."

"By the way, you should have less contact with Xiaoyu in the future. If there is anything, let Minglu talk to her. If Minglu is not convenient, ask Zhou Yi to go." Zhou Xunran reminded again.

Apart from him, even Lin Kun and Zhou Yi didn't know that she had realized the master's identity. She could say such a thing, and it came from the door of worry relief, which showed that she had realized the identity of the master's female disciple, and it was basically confirmed to be true.

Lin Kun finally understood that the prince was disliking him.

After knowing that Xiaoyu came from the problem of worry-solving, Lin Kun's tone became relaxed, and he rarely joked with Zhou Xunran.

"Your Highness, I just have such a stinky face. It's not my fault, right? You know Zhou Yi is a smiling tiger. If he gets angry and stabs Miss Xiaoyu in the back, she will probably thank Zhou Yi with a smile."

Lin Kun and Zhou Yi have known each other for many years. As much as the people in the palace fear his cold face, they like Zhou Yi's smiling face. But only they themselves know that Zhou Yi is much more ruthless than Lin Kun.

Zhou Xunran glanced at him casually and said, "Are you free? Go to the prison and pry open the mouth of that Yi. I want to know what he saw in Cao Shipeng's mansion before nightfall."

Lin Kun responded and left the room with his head down.

Zhou Xunran drank the medicine and thought he couldn't sleep because of Xiaoyu's dizzy identity. Unexpectedly, as soon as he lay on the bed, his eyelids began to feel heavy, and he fell into a sound sleep in a daze.

Xiaoyu was hiding in the room, feeling so distressed that several strands of her hair were pulled out.

Putting aside other things, she absolutely cannot kill her junior brother. Not only must she not kill him, she must also protect him well and help him recover and live a long and healthy life. Only in this way can she be worthy of her master.

But if she doesn't kill him, she will never be able to return to Jieyoumen again.

She grew up in the Jieyou Sect since she was a child. Apart from Master Wu Le, who she secretly became a disciple of, the only people left were the friends and relatives she knew in the Jieyou Sect.

The sound of hurried footsteps interrupted her thoughts.

The chief steward Zhu from the West Courtyard came hurriedly with his fat body: "Xiao Yu'er, where is the prince?"

Xiaoyu pointed to the room and said, "The prince has taken medicine and is resting. Chief Steward Zhu, what do you want?"

Manager Zhu raised his sleeves to wipe the sweat off his face and said, "Oh, something terrible has happened. Tell the prince quickly that Madam Zhang is dead."

"Which Madam Zhang?"

General Zhu said: "Who else could it be? One of the three beauties bestowed by the emperor, Madam Zhang."

You can not favor or treat the person bestowed by the emperor behind closed doors, but you must keep her alive. Just like when Xiaoyu first entered the palace, Zhu, the chief steward, said that cooking for the three ladies was enough to save face, and there was no need to worry about it.

But now, Madam Zhang actually died in the West Courtyard. If someone with ulterior motives knew about this, such as Cao Shipeng, he would definitely sue the prince for disrespecting the emperor.

"How could a healthy person die?" asked the little fish.

Manager Zhu also knew that this was a serious matter. Although he usually did not greet them with a friendly face, he also understood the consequences of someone dying in the palace.

"How would I know? She was fine yesterday. Today, when the maid who was delivering food went to her room, she found that she had hanged herself. Her body was stiff and there was no way to save her."

Xiaoyu looked back at Zhou Xunran's closed room. Lin Kun had gone out, and Zhou Yi hadn't come back yet. "Manager Zhu, why don't you go check on your brother-in-law first? After all, he is the chief manager of the palace."

Manager Zhu gestured with his hands and said, "Good Yu'er, you can't talk about the relationship between me and my brother-in-law casually. It would be bad if others heard it and it would cause gossip."

Xiaoyu gave him a displeased look and said, "Do you really regard it as a secret?"

"That's not true!"

The situation is urgent now, Xiaoyu doesn't want to talk about it anymore, "The prince finally fell asleep, it will be difficult to wake him up and let him fall asleep again. So, you go find the chief steward to check it out first, forget it, I will go with you."

With her around, Manager Zhu wouldn't be afraid of being scolded when he went to find the Chief Manager. "Okay, let's go."

The chief steward was named Wang Shunyi, who had followed Zhou Xunran through the struggle between the Crown Prince and the Fifth Prince and had won Zhou Xunran's trust.

He was about thirty years old, with a beard on his chin, and looked much more stable than Zhu. Hearing Zhu's panicked words, Wang Da, the chief steward, did not change his expression: "Let's go to the west courtyard to check the situation first."

Although the West Courtyard is not as large as the East Courtyard, it is also divided into dozens of exquisite small courtyards. In the Jinli Courtyard where Madam Zhang is, the other two beauties, Madam Yao and Madam Cheng, are also there. The outer circle is surrounded by maids and servants who serve them. There are more than 20 people in total.

Wang Daguanzhang was usually elusive in the palace, and in the eyes of the servants, he was much more dignified than Zhu Guanzhang. So when he appeared at this time, the discussion in the courtyard suddenly fell silent.

Xiaoyu didn't pay attention to them. At this moment, her attention was all on the woman standing in the front, wearing a light pink busty blouse.

The woman in pink also saw Xiaoyu. She signaled Xiaoyu to stay calm for a while, and she, like everyone else, watched how Wang the Great Steward would handle the matter.

Xiaoyu's heart was pounding like a drumstick. The pink-dressed woman in front of her was no ordinary person. She was the sixteenth-ranked female killer whom she met when she was solving the problem of worry. They didn't have a name, so Xiaoyu called her the sixteenth sister.

Three years ago, when the Sixteenth Sister was out on a mission, she fell in love with the son of the target of her assassination, and was worried about the betrayal. Later, the head of their Ten Women's Hall personally stepped in, and it is said that he cut the tendons of the Sixteenth Sister's hands and feet and drove her out.

Everyone said that it was good for Sixteenth Sister to leave and solve her problems, and live an ordinary life with her lover in the future, which was better than their life of living on the edge of a knife and not knowing whether they would live today or tomorrow.

But now, why did Sixteenth Sister become the woman given by the Emperor to Junior Brother, and live in the palace?

Xiaoyu felt like there was a nest of ants in her heart, making her whole body itchy.

After Chief Steward Wang threatened the servants present not to spread what they had seen today, he dismissed everyone, leaving only the maid of the deceased Madam Zhang, Madam Yao, Sixteenth Sister, and Madam Cheng.

In the palace, even though the three ladies are the masters and the chief steward is the servant, it is clear at a glance who has a higher status, the masters who are not favored and restricted in every way, or the steward who holds real power.

Madam Yao was born in Jiangnan, and was very delicate. Even though it was already autumn, she was still wearing only a layer of green gauze, which made her figure even more attractive. She cried for half a day, and her eyes were red and swollen: "General Manager, what happened to Xinxin? Why is she so depressed?"

Mrs. Zhang, whose original name was Zhang Xinxin.

Madam Cheng's Sixteenth Sister said, "That's right. Since we are in the palace, we belong to the prince. Even if we are not favored by the prince, we will have no worries in our lives. Why did Xinxin commit suicide?"

Mrs. Zhang's body had been taken down from the beam by Chief Steward Wang and placed on the bed.

Facing the two ladies, Wang Dazonghe showed no contempt or anything else on his face. "The cause of Madam Zhang's death has yet to be determined. Please accept my condolences. It's getting late. Ladies, please go back to the courtyard and rest."

After he issued the order to expel them, Madam Yao and Madam Cheng had no choice but to leave the courtyard.

Xiaoyu immediately said, "Then I'll send them back."

Chief Steward Wang was worried about the autopsy. He nodded and said, "Go quickly and come back soon."

Xiaoyu responded and followed the two ladies out the door.

Next to Madam Zhang's Jinli Courtyard is the Yiren Courtyard where Madam Cheng's sixteenth sister lives.

Seeing Sister Sixteen entering the yard, Xiaoyu became anxious and turned around.

Mrs. Yao was only concerned about her sadness and did not notice her abnormality. "Xinxin is usually very cheerful, how could she be so sudden? It's all my fault for not noticing her abnormality. I killed her."

Usually, there were only the three of them and a servant in the West Courtyard. The palace had many rules, and even if they wanted to go to the garden, they had to apply to Chief Steward Zhu in advance and could only leave the courtyard after getting permission.

Moreover, even after applying ten times, you were only allowed to go out two or three times at most.

Now that she finally got to meet Xiaoyu, a stranger who was following the chief steward, Mrs. Yao wanted to pour out all the worries she had had in the past few days.

Xiaoyu's heart was still with Madam Cheng's Sixteenth Sister, so she just comforted him casually after hearing this: "Madam Yao, please accept my condolences. I'm sure Madam Zhang doesn't want to see you so sad."

"If she really thought about me, she wouldn't have left me alone."

Seeing that her sadness did not seem fake, Xiaoyu asked, "Have you known Mrs. Zhang for a long time?"

Madam Yao wiped the tears from her eyes with a handkerchief and nodded: "It has been five or six years. We are both from the Palace of Joyful Music. I am a dancer and she is a musician. We are good sisters who depend on each other for life."

"What about Madam Cheng? Is she also from Yueyinfang?"

Madam Yao paused and said, "She is not. We don't know where she is from. We only saw her when she left the palace, and then the three of us were sent to the palace."

"Has Madam Zhang behaved in any unusual way in the past few days, such as talking to herself or saying anything strange?"

Madam Yao thought about it carefully and said, "Not really. Xinxin is usually quite straightforward and she and Madam Cheng occasionally have arguments, but they are not serious."

She seemed to have thought of something, took a breath, looked at Xiaoyu in disbelief and asked: "It shouldn't be the case, Mrs. Cheng doesn't look like that kind of person!"

Xiaoyu thought to herself, it doesn’t matter what, Sixteenth Sister is the best at pretending to kill people.

Thinking of this, Xiaoyu's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that Sixteenth Sister came to the palace to do her old job again and to kill her fellow apprentice like herself?