the last emperor
She wanted to ask Shangguan Yuqi who those two people were.
Shangguan Yuqi sighed heavily and muttered to herself, "Yes, even if there's still hope, we can't let you go back and risk it again."
Judging from the intensity of the fire when they came out, the place must be a charred ruin by now, and any survivors would be completely destroyed.
Hearing the gravity of her tone, A-Qiu couldn't help but ask, "Who are they...?"
A familiar, clear, and gentle voice coldly entered their ears, saying, "They are here."
Upon hearing the sound, both A-Qiu and Shangguan Yuqi were shocked. A-Qiu almost fell off the wall, but quickly took a deep breath to steady herself.
The newcomer was Zhao Lingying. Her face was beautiful but cold. Her hair was disheveled, with water droplets clinging to her forehead. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that her yellow dress was soaked through, the hem clinging wetly to her body, as if someone had just poured a bucket of water over her head, leaving her drenched like a drowned rat.
She was carrying two people in each hand. Both of them appeared to be unconscious, their black hair disheveled, making their faces unrecognizable. However, even from their figures, it was barely possible to tell that they were a man and a woman.
Shangguan Yuqi breathed a sigh of relief and even managed to cup her hands and say, "Thank you, Your Excellency, for risking your life to save them both."
A Qiu knew perfectly well that Zhao Lingying, who had been hunting geese for years, had been pecked in the eye by a goose. Little did she expect that this clever fire would require her to personally rush into the inner palace to save someone.
Zhao Lingying coldly replied, "I had completely forgotten about these two." It was as if she were answering A Qiu's question.
These two people, though seemingly important, were far less important than Shangguan Yuqi. Therefore, Zhao Lingying only remembered them after setting the fire. He figured that A Qiu wouldn't have time to pay attention, and the jailers wouldn't risk their lives to save them, so he had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.
At this moment, A-Qiu didn't have time to ask who these two people were, so he could only ask for their opinions: "Where should we go now?"
Shangguan Yuqi is currently considered a criminal, and A Qiu is practically a wanted criminal. The identities of the remaining two are unknown, but they are still prisoners. Traveling through the palace so late at night could be troublesome if they encountered Sikong Zhao. If they went elsewhere, A Qiu only considered Tangli Music House, but she feared that if things went wrong, it would implicate the dance troupe sisters and Lady Sun.
Zhao Lingying sneered, "Apart from Qiwu Palace, nowhere else is allowed. That place is a wasteland and forbidden area; no one goes there casually."
A Qiu opened her mouth wide for a moment, clearly remembering that Chu Yuanyi was still guarding the place, and that Shangguan Yuqi was arrested and brought to the Yeting Palace for trespassing on the forbidden area of Qiwu.
Zhao Lingying coldly replied, "What's so great about Chu Yuanyi? I can easily take care of her. His Majesty is currently ill, and Sister Lanxiu is under house arrest. Who can tell us what we're doing in Qiwu?"
A Qiu was dumbfounded, never expecting Zhao Lingying to act so willfully.
But Zhao Lingying had already picked up the two people on the ground and rushed towards Qiwu Palace without looking back. She had no choice but to carry Shangguan Yuqi on her back and follow.
Sure enough, as soon as they pushed open the gate of Qiwu, they heard Chu Yuanyi shout from inside: "Who are you people, how dare you..."
But before she could finish her sentence, Zhao Lingying raised her hand, and a volley of silver needles flew out. Chu Yuan fell backward without a sound, and then fell silent.
A Qiu was surprised that Zhao Lingying, one of the former Flying Phoenix Four Guards and a top imperial guard, would use poison on Chu Yuanyi. It was too late to stop him, so he rushed forward and squatted down to look at him. He saw Chu Yuanyi lying on the ground in the courtyard with his eyes closed, his breathing and heartbeat normal, as if he were asleep.
Zhao Lingying coldly replied, "That needle only contained a sleeping potion, not poison. She won't die. You really do care about everyone's life and death."
A Qiu was speechless, thinking that Zhao Lingying had misunderstood. She was not such a kind-hearted person. Chu Yuanyi was not just anyone to her, but an elder who had taught her the Wind and Thunder Palm and treated her with great affection.
Zhao Lingying, however, seemed to have eyes in the back of his head and said, "Ah Qiu, are you secretly thinking that I, a dignified clerk of the Imperial Library, would use poison on a senior martial artist?"
How could A Qiu dare to admit it? He could only force a smile and say, "A Qiu wouldn't dare. It's just... I think the various things on Zhao Rong's body are really surprisingly effective."
A palace lady, adorned with gold hairpins, tinderboxes, and poison needles, was no less well-equipped than a notorious bandit.
Zhao Lingying coldly said, "That's why I said you guys are the fools. Chu Yuanyi is mentally unstable. Even if you fight her a hundred times, she won't learn her lesson next time you come. What's the use of talking to her about the rules of the martial world? The right thing to do is to take her down in the easiest way, save time and energy to do your own thing."
These words, however, included both A Qiu and Shangguan Yuqi in the insults.
A Qiu felt that what she said made sense, but she would never use poison on Chu Yuanyi. As for Shangguan Yuqi, who was like a sword immortal, even if she killed her, she would not touch the poison weapon, because that would violate the principles of sword cultivation. Therefore, Zhao Lingying's lesson was in vain.
A Qiu dared not give a false reply, and could only stammer, "Zhao Rong's admonition is correct."
Zhao Lingying coldly said, "I'm about to use torture. Do you two girls think you can stand by and watch?"
A Qiu exclaimed in horror, "What?!" She looked at the two people on the ground, almost speechless. At this moment, here, was Zhao Ling going to use torture to interrogate people?
It was clear at this moment that she had indeed been given special treatment as a girl in Lanling Hall—her second senior brother, Mo Yimingyue, was a master of torture and interrogation, and his methods were ruthless and unscrupulous. However, in the past, he would avoid doing such things in front of her. Therefore, A Qiu had never seen anyone being tortured in person before.
Zhao Lingying stretched out her foot and kicked one of the two unconscious people on the ground in the head. The force of the kick was just right, neither too light nor too heavy. The woman let out a soft moan, as if she was waking up.
Shangguan Yuqi, who had been lying on Aqiu's back, had now dismounted and was using Binghuang as a support. She bowed to Zhao Lingying and said, "What Your Highness wants to know from these two people, I have been staying next door to them these past few days and have clearly heard through the secret method of sound transmission. These two truly do not know, so please let them go, Your Highness."
Zhao Lingying laughed and said, "I didn't expect that arresting them and putting them next to you would have this effect. How do you know they weren't just making excuses to deceive you?"
The woman among the two had already sat up. Her long hair was braided into many plaits, interspersed with colorful silk cords and tied with bells, which fell behind her. She wore a linen robe, her skin was fair and white, and her pupils, perhaps due to the cultivation of some special technique, had a faint blue light. She was captivating and mesmerizing. If it weren't for the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, which indicated that she was obviously old, she would definitely be a stunning beauty.
When A Qiu saw her, he had a strange sense of familiarity, as if he had seen this woman somewhere before, but he could not find any trace of her in his memory.
Although the woman's robes were torn in many places and her face was covered in soot, making her look quite disheveled, she still exuded a gentle and composed air. She said, "The shamans of the Zhuyou Sect do not lie. I swear by the name of the God of Heaven and Earth, my brother and I truly do not know the whereabouts of that child."
Upon hearing the words "Zhu You Men," A Qiu suddenly understood, finally realizing the source of his familiarity with the woman!
This was all because, although the woman before them was older, she shared a similar mysterious and spiritual quality with Bai Shi of the Zhu You Sect, like a wild and enchanting spirit from the deep mountains and marshes, possessing an innate abundance of spiritual energy. In Bai Shi, this wildness and spirituality were well concealed by her refined and scholarly demeanor. At first glance, Bai Shi appeared to be a young lady from an ordinary official's family, but the mysterious and primal aura of a shaman within her was unmistakably evident.
She immediately realized that the two people in front of her were probably her master Qi Luo and her senior master Qi Shang, whom Bai Shi had been searching for since she came to the capital from the southwest.
Back in Dawan Mountain, Xiao Yu of the Hidden World Sect told two seniors from the Zhuyou Sect that they had been taken away by envoys from the capital. Who would have thought that the ones who took them away were actually Zhao Lingying's men.
And yet, she would see them under these circumstances.
A Qiu had already made up her mind that, no matter what, based on the connection between Zhu You Men and Gui Gu, and the bond with Bai Shi, she would find a way to rescue these two great shamans from the palace.
Zhao Lingying stood with his hands behind his back, a half-smile on his face, and said, "I, Zhao Lingying, am not afraid of gods or ghosts, or the Great Witch Qiluo. You'd better think this through. If you deny it to the death now, and your brother wakes up later, I will torture him. If he can't hold back and confesses, you will be doomed."
The beautiful sorceress named Qi Luo was completely unfazed by the trap. She looked deeply into Zhao Lingying's eyes and sighed, "We are just unorthodox folk sorceresses. Back then, Emperor Qian Huan only used us, not trusted us. Zhao Rong only used her brain a little to think about such an important matter as the imperial heir. How could she possibly let us outsiders know the whole story?"
Her words made sense, but Zhao Lingying only snorted coldly, kicked her again, and closed a large acupoint at the back of her head, causing her to fall into a coma again.
Upon hearing the words "imperial heir," A Qiu was immediately shaken. Even though she was not well-versed in politics, she knew that the imperial heir had always been a matter of great importance. These two sorcerers had actually been involved in a case concerning the imperial heir back then. No wonder they had lived in anonymity all these years, fearing being found, yet they ultimately could not escape Zhao Lingying's pursuit.
Zhao Lingying kicked another person awake. The man woke up leisurely and sat up calmly from the ground. His appearance was five or six parts similar to Qi Luo's. His skin was dark, and his narrow eyes that slanted towards his temples had a somewhat eerie light. His expression was extremely calm, as if he was not surprised at all that he had fallen into such a situation.
Zhao Ling was not as polite to him as she was to Qi Luo. She did not have her signature weapon, the Judge's Pen, on her at the moment. Instead, she snatched A Qiu's Crescent Moon Sword, but did not point it at Qi Shang. Instead, she slashed it across the side of Qi Luo's neck, who was lying unconscious on the ground, and said coldly, "I will ask you a question, and you will answer it. If you do not answer it well, my sword will penetrate a little further. How about that?"
When Qi Shang saw Zhao Lingying pointing her sword at his sister, his previously calm eyes flashed with a fierce light. He then examined the sword in Zhao Lingying's hand closely, but narrowed his eyes and asked a question that was not directly related to the one he was asking: "Is this the 'Carved Moon Sword' of Junior Master Gu Yi?"
At the same time, his gaze fell on A Qiu, because Zhao Lingying's sword had just been drawn from A Qiu's waist.
The Louyue Sword has a unique design, with crescent moon carvings on the hilt and openwork cloud patterns on the blade, making it appear even lighter and more graceful. It is Gu Yi's signature weapon, known to almost everyone in the world, but very few people have actually seen it.
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