Chapter 11 The Eleventh Kill

Xiaoyu was just worrying about how to explain to Zhou Xunran when the steward Wang knocked on the door and walked in.

I can divert my junior fellow apprentice's attention now! Xiaoyu immediately changed from worry to joy, and greeted him enthusiastically: "The chief steward is here, chief steward, please sit down."

The chief steward waved his hand and said, "I'll just stand. You sit down."

Now it was not a question of who would sit or not. Xiaoyu asked anxiously, "General Manager, the prince wants to ask you, what have you found out? Did Madam Zhang commit suicide or was she murdered?"

Zhou Xunran, who didn't say a word from beginning to end: "....."

Seeing the chief steward's inquiring look, Zhou Xunran nodded: "Go ahead."

The chief steward reported all the clues he had found truthfully: "I have asked a coroner to examine Madam Zhang's body, and it has been confirmed that she did hang herself from the beam. However, I have questioned the servants in the west courtyard, and some of them pointed to Madam Cheng, saying that Madam Zhang was bullied by Madam Cheng's words, and she committed suicide out of shame and anger."

The Sixteenth Sister is the type of person who is always unreasonable and sometimes the words she says can make people angry to death. But she won't make people so angry that they will hang themselves.

Xiaoyu asked, "Then why was her body not found until the afternoon? If they were to deliver breakfast, shouldn't they have delivered it in the morning?"

The general manager said, "Mrs. Zhang arranged this last night before she went to bed. She said she couldn't sleep recently and didn't want to be disturbed by outsiders."

Zhou Xunran made a decision in a few words: "In this case, let them sign and send the bodies directly to the Ministry of Justice. Let the people in the Ministry of Justice organize the files and submit them to the palace."

"No!" Xiaoyu interrupted Zhou Xunran, "Your Majesty, we can't be so arbitrary in judging the case. We should also ask Madam Cheng carefully. Maybe there is some hidden secret in this."

Hearing Xiaoyu questioning the prince's decision, the chief steward's heart began to beat fast. He shrank his body slightly, carefully observing the prince's reaction, fearing that Xiaoyu's words would implicate him the next moment.

But all he heard was the prince saying to him, "Wang Shunyi, then you should inquire carefully from beginning to end, and ask Madam Yao more questions as well. Don't miss any clues."

The chief steward was shocked that the prince actually listened to Xiaoyu's words. He thought that he should not underestimate her in the future, and bowed to the two of them again and again: "Yes."

Having said that, he bent over and left the room.

It was getting dark outside. Xiaoyu was a little worried about her Sixteenth Sister and wanted to go to the West Courtyard to check. She was about to say that she would go with the Chief Steward when Zhou Xunran said, "Madame Zhao is not well yet. Minglu is watching her. I'll trouble you to keep watch in the inner courtyard today."

"Watching the night? Me?" Xiaoyu pointed at himself in disbelief.

Zhou Xunran nodded: "You are my accompanying maid."

This is intolerable! Xiaoyu persuaded him earnestly: "Junior brother, I am your senior sister. How can I let my senior sister keep watch for my junior brother? You can't let your temper go."

"You swore in the daytime that you would take care of me, but now you are unwilling to even keep watch at night. It is obvious that you did not mean what you said. Sigh, when I meet my master in a hundred years, I wonder what he will say."

As he spoke, Zhou Xunran covered his chest and coughed weakly twice.

Xiaoyu reached out to help him up with a distressed look in her eyes: "Alright, alright, I can't keep him here. Stop coughing, or you'll start bleeding again."

She helped Zhou Xunran to the bed and wanted to undress him.

"No need for that, I can do it myself." Zhou Xunran pushed her hand away.

Xiaoyu took back her hand, "That's fine."

She was quick, and by the time Zhou Xunran lowered his head and raised it again, Xiaoyu had already taken off her coat, jumped onto the bed, lifted the quilt and crawled inside.

"You!" Zhou Xunran was so excited that his chest started to itch. He covered his chest and couldn't stop coughing, his face flushed.

Xiaoyu quickly jumped off the bed and poured him a glass of water: "Why are you coughing again? Drink some water to relieve the cough."

Zhou Xunran pushed the water away, took a long breath and held it, then slowly exhaled, finally suppressing the itchiness.

Xiao Yu said with a sigh, "Finally, you stopped vomiting blood. Junior brother, you really scared me. Coughing like this all the time is not a solution. Let's call a doctor tomorrow to check it out."

Zhou Xunran looked at her, "What are you doing in my bed?"

Although he stopped coughing, the redness on his face slowly faded and turned into a pink color. With the confusion in his eyes, Zhou Xunran now looked less like the aloof Regent and more approachable and amiable.

Xiaoyu had always been the last one to be taken care of in Jieyoumen, and had never taken care of any younger brothers or sisters. Now, looking at Zhou Xunran, who was as gentle and adorable as a neighbor's little brother, Xiaoyu's voice unconsciously carried some persuasion: "I will keep watch for you at night. Isn't it just that we lie in the same bed, you sleep inside and I sleep outside, so that it is convenient for me to serve you and bring you tea and water at night."

Zhou Xunran frowned: "Master taught you all this?"

Xiaoyu shook her head. This was naturally taught to her by the killer brother and killer sister in the Jieyou door.

Zhou Xunran: "Who do you stay up all night for?"

Xiaoyu shook her head more frequently, almost making her dizzy.

"No, you are the first."

Zhou Xunran exhaled, supported her shoulders and helped her stand up, then pointed to the partition door outside the hall, "There is a one and a half foot long wooden couch outside the door, you can just sleep on it."

"Ah?" Xiaoyu tilted her head and looked in the direction of his finger. Sure enough, she saw the shadow of the wooden couch. She turned back to look at him again, and after getting Zhou Xunran's affirmative nod, she walked out in a daze.

Seeing her unsteady back, Zhou Xunran decided to send her back to Jieyoumen as soon as possible, so that she could learn the things that her master didn't teach her. It was better than staying in the palace without knowing anything and letting him worry about everything.

By the way, what did she learn from her master?

Zhou Xunran was worried inside. Xiaoyu, who was standing outside the door, was looking at the small wooden couch that was only as wide as her two palms and was also worried: It was so narrow, how could she sleep? If she turned over in her sleep, she would definitely fall off.

The two were not far from each other, Xiaoyu knocked on the partition door twice: "Junior brother, are you asleep?"

Zhou Xunran wanted to pretend that he didn't hear it, but then he thought that if he didn't answer, she would definitely come in to check, so he answered, "No."

Just no sleep!

Xiaoyu rolled around on the wooden couch wrapped in a quilt and said worriedly, "Junior brother, why is this couch so narrow? I can't sleep well. What if I fall off and get hurt?"

"I deliberately want you to sleep restlessly. If you sleep too deeply at night, how can you always pay attention to my movements? This is called night watch."

.....What a dark heart!

Xiaoyu muttered a few words, grabbed the edge of the couch with both hands, and tried his best to keep his body steady.

Zhou Xunran couldn't hear what she was thinking at the moment, but he could guess that because of her silence, she must be secretly cursing him in her heart.

She seemed to appear in front of him, pouting and swearing secretly. Zhou Xunran raised a smile and turned his head to see the hazy moonlight outside the window. He heard her breathing outside gradually slowing down. Zhou Xunran's eyes showed sleepiness, his eyelids became heavy, and he fell asleep.

As he said, Xiaoyu slept very uneasily. Even in his sleep, he was awakened twice by the feeling of falling.

It was not until the third time she woke up that Xiaoyu seemed to see a person standing in front of her. She thought it was Zhou Xunran who got up in the middle of the night. Her voice was a little hoarse, and she sat up in a daze: "Junior brother, you got up? Do you want some water?"

After saying this, Xiaoyu rubbed his eyes without getting any response. Then he realized that the person standing in front of him was not Zhou Xunran, but a man in black wearing a nightgown and a mask!

"You you you you you!" Xiaoyu struggled and tried to call for help.

The man in black scolded: "Shut up!"

As he said this, he threw a jade token to Xiaoyu.

Xiaoyu took it instinctively, and when she saw the words on the jade token, she slid down from the small wooden couch and squatted on the ground. She pinched her cheeks hard, and after confirming that the jade token in front of her was not fake, she knelt on one knee to the man in black: "Xiaoyu, the killer of the Ten Women Hall, greets the master!"

She held the jade token in her palm, raised it high, and presented it respectfully to the sect leader.

"I wonder what instructions the Sect Master has for coming here so late at night?"

I felt a cool sensation on the palm of my hand. It must be the Sect Master who took the jade token away.

"Why did the Ten Women's Hall give you the task of assassinating Zhou Xunran?" The sect leader's voice was arrogant and full of disdain.

Xiaoyu didn't dare to refute or lie to him: "Master, I don't know either. It must be a coincidence."

The master sneered and said, "This mission is cancelled. I will communicate with the guest in person. As for you, find a reason to leave within two days. If you can't return to the Jieyou Gate after three days, you will be cleared out."

Mission cancelled? Does that mean I don't have to assassinate my junior fellow apprentice?

Xiaoyu was delighted: "Yes, thank you, Master."

As soon as Xiaoyu felt happy, he thought of the Sixteenth Sister who wanted to assassinate his junior brother in the West Courtyard. What if she left and the Sixteenth Sister attacked his junior brother?

She wanted to report Sixteenth Sister to the leader, but the way Jieyou Sect dealt with traitors was much more severe than just betraying the master. If the leader really knew that Sixteenth Sister left Jieyou Sect and became a killer in another organization to compete with Jieyou Sect for a job, then Sixteenth Sister would really have no way to survive.

"Master."

"What is it?"

Xiaoyu suppressed what he wanted to say, "Master, rest in peace!"

A gust of wind blew open the doors and windows. The owner of the house bent over and jumped through the window at the back, disappearing into the night.

Xiaoyu closed the doors and windows, thinking that the sect leader had given her three days. Within these three days, she had to find out why Sixteenth Sister became a killer again and whose orders she followed to assassinate her fellow apprentice.

Junior brother?

Xiaoyu jumped up from the small wooden couch. She and the sect leader made such a big noise, could they have woken up her fellow apprentice?

Xiaoyu squatted on the ground and quietly moved behind the partition door. She saw Zhou Xunran's bed, and a figure was revealed under the quilt behind the thin curtains. Xiaoyu breathed a sigh of relief, feeling relieved that she was not woken up.

Yes, the sect leader is so capable that he dares to show up in his junior fellow's bedroom so brazenly in the middle of the night. He must have been well prepared.

Xiaoyu realized that she had thought too much and lay back on the wooden couch. It was great that she didn't have to kill her junior brother. This way, she and her junior brother could become a loving and caring senior and junior sister.

It must be that the master was kowtowing to the Bodhisattva and praying for their blessing.

She had to take her fellow apprentice to pay her respects at her master's grave as soon as possible.

But what should Xiaoyu do with her Sixteenth Sister? Her Sixteenth Sister helped her a lot when she was little. Now Xiaoyu can't abandon her Sixteenth Sister at all.

As she was thinking about this, Xiaoyu became more and more awake, and finally she couldn't fall asleep anymore. She simply got up and saw Zhou Xunran sleeping soundly. Xiaoyu quietly left the room and said to the guard at the door: "You watch him carefully, I'll go to the kitchen to make some porridge for the prince."

As he said this, he thought of the fact that the gatekeeper had entered the room without the guards noticing. Xiaoyu was worried and reminded, "Send two people to guard the window at the back."