play hard
A young warrior with "Ce Lin" tucked into his waist and "Bai Zhan" on his back appeared behind him, but it was none other than Lie Changkong, the young master charioteer who had not been seen for many days.
Lie Changkong said in a low voice, "You know... she has her reasons, so why did you make such a condition?"
From Lie Changkong's perspective, A Qiu is of extraordinary importance at this moment. Regardless of her identity as "Jing Ke" of Lanling Hall, Wan Qiqing would not agree to her marrying easily. Even Xie Tiao, the future monarch and crown prince of Dayan, would probably never agree to his junior sister marrying casually.
When Xie Lang's sworn sister, Mu Huaying, married General Pei Yuanli, the palace was extremely cautious. Since A Qiu is Gu Yi's successor and the Crown Prince's junior sister, her marriage is absolutely not something she can decide on her own.
The white-haired man said calmly, "If she succeeds in this, many people will want to marry her. I must first cut off her escape route so that she cannot agree to marry someone else."
Lie Changkong looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated.
After a moment, he said, "But in Miss Qiu's heart, she has no emotional foundation with Lord Liyang. It is a bit unreasonable for you to force her like this."
Watching her departing figure, the man said, "If I don't push her a bit, she might marry someone else in a daze, and she might not even understand her own feelings."
Lie Changkong was speechless.
He had followed the other party for many years and thought he knew him very well, but he never expected that he had this side to him.
In short: by any means necessary.
Ah Qiu was barely clinging to life as he left the Liyang Divine Palace.
But as soon as she left the territory of the Liyang Divine Palace, she immediately felt weak all over, as if the things that had always supported her could no longer stand.
She never thought of getting married, but Lord Liyang made it clear that if she did not agree to this, he would not teach her the "Shao" and "Wu".
She never wanted to know her origins, but overnight, she had experienced too much.
Some things are impossible to forget, even if you want to.
She ran off aimlessly, completely lost.
The vast Jianzhang Palace, with its city walls stretching for dozens of miles under the starlight and moonlight, resembles a maze.
When she came to her senses, she found herself standing outside the gate of Qiwu Palace.
I still remember when she first entered the palace, she was walking in the palace at night. Because she didn't know the way, she accidentally stumbled into Qiwu Palace and got into a fight with Chu Yuan, who was guarding the place. Fortunately, Consort Chen, Li Lanxiu, and Gu Yi arrived in time to stop her.
But now, after experiencing that dream of being confined in the Qiwu Forbidden Chamber, the vines, plants, broken walls, and ruins here all seemed to be shrouded in a familiar yet strange atmosphere for her.
Legend has it that there were hundreds of phoenix trees planted around Qiwu Palace. Over the course of several dynasties, the oldest trees have grown so tall that they can attract phoenixes to perch there. It served as a temporary palace for empresses of the Southern Dynasties.
But that was a matter of the previous dynasty. Later, a great fire broke out in the annex of Qiwu Palace, destroying all the century-old paulownia trees. Fortunately, the main hall was unharmed, and all the books and scrolls were preserved intact. The vines and herbs that grow here now are the result of the wild growth that has spread over the past few decades.
These were all things that A-Qiu overheard from Lady Sun later. Lady Sun seemed unwilling to elaborate. The former Empress Shangguan was, in Lady Sun's heart, a figure she couldn't easily speak of.
A-Qiu strolled forward, reached out and pushed open the dilapidated wooden door, and walked inside.
She used to frequent this place, usually visiting the main hall. But now, she was heading around the main hall, heading straight towards the northwest of the back courtyard.
If she remembers correctly, the secret chamber in her dream that imprisoned her should be located in this direction.
Although he was mentally prepared, when Ah Qiu turned a corner in the narrow tunnel and saw the door that was exactly the same as in his dream, he was still shocked.
It was right in front of this gate that the current emperor, Xie Lang, then the Right General of the Imperial Guards, picked up Su Jinlan and threw her at Chu Yuanyi, forcing Chu Yuanyi to fight back with his palm. As a result, the poison took effect, leaving him with a chronic illness that would last most of his life.
In fact, the most unbelievable thing for her in the whole affair was Xie Lang.
The appearance of Xie Lang from more than ten years ago is not much different from that of the monarch she sees on the throne now, except that he is a little younger. But what he shows is a side that is very different from his usual refined, serious, dignified and majestic image.
But upon closer examination, it's not hard to understand.
Xie Lang was able to gain favor under the incompetent emperor Sima Yan and become the highest-ranking member of the Xie family's elite faction. Later, he was chosen by Gu Yi to become the spokesperson for aristocratic politics. This was naturally inseparable from his eagerness for power and his years of painstaking scheming.
Those who wield power must first learn to become its servants.
Although A Qiu had met Xie Lang several times, she did not have any special feelings for this powerful and authoritative emperor. However, he was the person Gu Yi had always supported and supported, as well as the father of her senior brother Xie Tiao. He had been fair and impartial in rewarding and punishing her. Therefore, even though she had seen him dragging the Ancestral Dragon Sword backwards with his hair disheveled in the middle of the night, slashing wildly in the palace, she still chose to trust Gu Yi's judgment of people.
The moment her thought crossed her mind, she suddenly heard voices coming from afar towards the forbidden room.
She was immediately startled. Qiwu Palace was a forbidden area, sealed off and abolished by two successive emperors—everyone knew this. Furthermore, Chu Yuanyi secretly guarded it, and ordinary people were not allowed to enter without permission. Even Shangguan Yuqi, who had trespassed here, was imprisoned in the Yeting Palace for reflection. Who could be coming so late?
And this commotion was quite significant, seemingly involving several people.
Given her cautious nature as a former assassin, she should stay far away now, since her intrusion into this place is not something that can be brought to light.
But for some reason, she felt an extra curiosity about the people and events that had occurred in Qiwu Palace. It was as if she could sense some kind of mysterious calling.
As the voices grew closer, she steeled herself, disregarding everything else, raised her hand to push open the door to the forbidden room, and slipped inside.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she entered, the light stung her eyes, and a barrage of sword light, carrying unparalleled power, silently poured down upon her.
A Qiu was completely unprepared for the presence of someone in this secret chamber, especially such a formidable expert, and was greatly alarmed.
She had come to pay homage to the Divine Lord of Liyang tonight, and it would be improper for her to carry weapons, so she did not bring the Louyue Sword bestowed upon her by Gu Yi. However, the "Assassination of Qin" sword was always kept close to her right elbow for self-defense.
Originally, in order to conceal her identity as the Lanling Assassin, she would never reveal her "Assassination of Qin" technique unless it was a matter of life and death. But at this moment, the sword's momentum was too strong, and without a weapon, it was impossible to block it.
Before A Qiu could think further, the dagger slid into his palm. He leaped forward and slashed straight down the opponent's sword, the dagger barely touching the guard, preventing the opponent from attacking again.
When she saw the other person's face clearly, it was as if a bucket of ice water had been poured down her spine. She was so shocked that she could not even finish saying "Miss Shangguan" when the other person stopped her with a finger, signaling her to withdraw her weapon and leap away.
A Qiu's panic stemmed from the gleaming, determined "assassination of Qin" weapon she held in her hand.
The assassination attempt on the Qin emperor was an ancient military formation, extremely famous in the martial arts world. Even Sikong Zhao could recognize her as "Jing Ke" from the veiled figure, let alone Shangguan Yuqi, who came from a family with profound learning and was the foremost swordsman of the Southern Dynasty's powerful clans.
A Qiu's parry and deflection with his dagger was a standard assassin's technique—short, sharp, and fast. Without years of practice and refinement, it would be impossible to block the full-force attack of Shangguan Yuqi, known as the Sword Immortal, in such a hasty move.
In truth, A Qiu had indeed slipped up in front of Shangguan Yuqi. That day, she got separated from Gu Yi outside the West Market and was surrounded by the thirteen shadow assassins of the Divine Weapon Hall. It was Shangguan Yuqi who led his troops on patrol and happened to rescue her. How could a palace lady in charge of music and dance have formed an enmity with such a large and powerful group of assassins from the Lanling Hall? But Shangguan Yuqi left in a hurry and never asked her a single question afterward, as if the incident had never happened.
In fact, given the Flying Phoenix Guard's duty to patrol the imperial city's security, Shangguan Yuqi should have investigated the whole story. After all, if this had happened to an ordinary official, it would have been a bloody incident.
When Zhao Lingying blocked her path, A Qiu was extremely cautious, fearing that she would reveal her identity as an assassin. However, Zhao Lingying tested her with a golden hairpin, which made her feel apprehensive. To this day, she is still unsure how much Zhao Lingying knows about her background.
However, she never expected that today, she would openly and blatantly use the symbol of Jing Ke from Lanling to assassinate the Qin emperor, right in front of Shangguan Yuqi, the current head of the Flying Phoenix Guard. With both witnesses and physical evidence, she had no way to lie to cover it up.
Unexpectedly, Shangguan Yuqi only glanced at "assassinate Qin" before ignoring it, indicating that she had no intention of fighting again.
A Qiu was confused, but since Shangguan Yuqi told her to stop, she obediently let go and jumped backward, thus separating the two who had been fighting.
Shangguan Yuqi glanced at "Assassinate Qin" again, then turned aside as if unintentionally to block it, saying, "Put away your little gadget. There are other people here."
A Qiu listened to her instructions, dumbfounded, and put the dagger back into her sleeve. Her eyes had adjusted to the indoor light, and she saw that there was still a person sitting on the straw mat on the ground. It was none other than Chu Yuanyi, who had not been seen before. Her white hair was disheveled, and she sat cross-legged, as if in a trance, oblivious to everything around her.
Shangguan Yuqi spoke in a clear voice, "I infiltrated Qiwu Palace and followed her to this secret room, but she discovered me, so I had no choice but to acupuncture her acupoints."
A Qiu knew early on that Shangguan Yuqi was trying to investigate the past of her aunt, Empress Shangguan, and even dared to defy Xie Lang for it, resulting in her being imprisoned in the Yeting Palace. She never expected that Shangguan Yuqi would be so bold. Even after being released, she was still not giving up and sneaked into Qiwu at night to investigate.
However, upon reflection, now is indeed a golden opportunity. The Empress Dowager, Consort Chen, is under house arrest, and Xie Lang is gravely ill. Zhao Ling should be in control of the palace, but she certainly has no interest in the affairs of Qiwu Palace. Just by looking at how freely she comes and goes from Qiwu, one can see that the Emperor's decrees are practically meaningless to her.
Ah Qiu pointed to the door, meaning she was asking if Shangguan Yuqi knew who was outside.
Shangguan Yuqi looked alert and shook her head, indicating that she didn't know either.
At this moment, Chu Yuanyi, who was sitting on the ground, opened his single eye and said irritably, "A Qiu, if you want to see, just go to the wall and take down the seventh brick from the bottom. There is a hidden compartment there, which is enough to see clearly. Shangguan girl, go and lock the door and turn it around. The door to this secret room will be hidden. Even if someone comes from outside, they won't be able to see that there is a secret room here."
A Qiu was surprised: Chu Yuanyi seemed confused, yet he remembered the events in the secret room so clearly.
But Shangguan Yuqi had already leaped out and reversed the Seven Star Plate on the door. Sure enough, the room immediately trembled slightly, as if it had shifted.
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