The true intentions are revealed at the last minute.
Sun's wife, her face pale, said with difficulty, "Senior is joking. Even ants strive to survive. Who would want to die if they could avoid it?"
She looked at A-Qiu again, her eyes filled with relief, and said, "Good child, you are a promising one. With you by my side, I can die without regrets."
Zhongli spat on the ground and said, "Pah, pah, pah! Your disciple is quite capable. Only I, as your senior, am not capable enough to protect you."
Although she was cursing, seeing that Ah Qiu was extremely anxious, she finally came forward, lightly tapped Sun's back, and said, "Spit it out!"
Forced by the palm strike, Sun's wife coughed up a mouthful of black, stagnant blood, which also contained purple blood clots.
But after spitting it out, her complexion improved considerably, no longer as pale as before. The bluish-purple tinge on her lips also gradually faded.
A Qiu examined the blood she vomited closely but found no signs of poisoning. She turned to Zhongli Wuyan and asked suspiciously, "Senior, what kind of poison is this? It's colorless and odorless, and I can't detect anything unusual about it."
Zhongli Wuyan said irritably, "She wasn't poisoned! What she just took was 'Langhuan Powder' that I switched. This medicine will damage the spleen and stomach, and vomiting and pain are just like the symptoms of poisoning. If she took more, she could even fake her death."
Ah Qiu then realized why he hadn't been able to detect anything earlier – it was because his wife, Sun, hadn't been poisoned at all.
Zhongli continued, "You silly master, she has been hiding this poison under the incense table in the Kuilong Temple all these years. I switched it for her a long time ago, just in case she has a sudden change of heart."
Zhongli not only switched the medicine, but also made it have the effect of faking death, in case Sun Neiren encountered an insurmountable obstacle and secretly sought death. Even if Zhongli only found out later, she could still find a way to help her. Her planning was undeniably far-sighted and meticulous.
After carefully examining Sun Neiren's internal condition and confirming that she was unharmed, A Qiu said firmly, "Master, I will accompany you on this trip to see Huang Chaoan."
As night fell, a line of palace lanterns leading to the Yuezheng Corridor lit up, emitting a dim, yellowish glow.
This time, however, the sound of footsteps echoing in the corridor was not from a few people, but from a dense chorus of footsteps, like falling rain.
The dance troupe has a curfew; members are prohibited from going out at night. Only one or two individuals may violate this curfew, unless there are extremely special reasons.
The last time the dance troupe collectively violated the curfew and went out was when Sun's wife led everyone to the Temple of the God of Music in the garden to ask the God of Music if it was permissible to disobey the previous rules and allow the older instructors to perform on stage.
This time, A Qiu led the way, calmly supporting the still pale-faced Lady Sun. Following closely behind her were Xue Hongbi, Zhang Exu, and Cui Luzhu.
Behind these three were all the dancers from the dance troupe.
Under the lamplight, everyone appeared beautiful and dignified, all because they no longer needed to wear heavy pink lipstick. The geisha girls, revealing their true appearances, all had natural, unadorned faces, yet each of them wore a solemn expression.
Everyone has arrived.
This was an outcome that A-Qiu hadn't anticipated.
After hearing A Qiu's plan, Xue Hongbi resolutely said, "Let's go together."
"We" refers not only to her alone, but also to all the dancers present in the hall at that time.
A Qiu hurriedly stopped her, saying, "Huang Chaoan only wants to mention Master, so I'll go with her. I'm telling you this specifically because if something unexpected happens and we can't come back, we'll have to entrust the dance troupe to Instructor Xue from now on!"
Xue Hongbi opened her mouth, then angrily retorted, "Please my ass! You're the biggest backer of the dance troupe now. If Huang Chaoan dares to touch you, how long can we survive?"
A-Qiu suddenly found himself speechless.
She was confident she could take care of Huang Chaoan, but she couldn't predict how things would develop. After all, the palace wasn't under her control, and it wasn't her territory alone.
Xue Hongbi calmed down slightly and said in a low voice, "When I received the news that Huang Chaoan wanted to mention Sun Ci, I had already secretly inquired about it. It was the Divine Hound Camp that sent people."
The girls were horrified upon hearing the name of the Divine Hound Camp, especially Zhang Exu and Cui Luzhu.
Most of the geisha companions who disappeared without a trace, whether alive or dead, had been to the Divine Hound Camp. Although they didn't know the details, they believed it to be a hellish place that devoured people without spitting out their bones.
A vague deduction flashed through A Qiu's mind. The Divine Hound Camp was the personal guard of Marquis Dongguang, Pei Yuanli. Yesterday, Pei Yu's White Tiger had offended the emperor, enraging him. Anyone belonging to the Pei family should have restrained themselves, and the Divine Hound Camp had no reason to add fuel to the fire at this time.
There is only one possibility, and that is, as Sun Neiren said, the Pei family wants to eradicate all traces of their past wrongdoings.
Xue Hongbi decisively said, "Everyone should go together. With so many eyes watching, they'll be more cautious no matter what happens!"
A-Qiu's hesitant gaze swept over the dancing girls.
Most of them were only sixteen or seventeen, or fourteen or fifteen years old, about the same age as her. Their clear and innocent faces, thanks to the diligent protection of the older generation of musicians and Sun's wife over the years, had not experienced too much of the wickedness and darkness of the world.
Xue Hongbi knew what she was thinking and said, "What you can face, they can naturally face too! They are human beings, not pets that are kept and protected. Sooner or later, they will have to stand up and make choices for their own future!"
These geisha, whom she already knew well, were originally innocent girls who couldn't even kill a chicken. They wouldn't get too angry or upset. Even when they quarreled and occasionally revealed their innocent claws, the harm they caused was limited.
But at this moment, their faces all showed a resolute expression.
“The Divine Mastiff Camp can’t possibly kill us all,” Zhang Exu said firmly.
In the swaying shadows of the palace lanterns, a large group of dancers knelt in the dark outside the corridor where the music master resided.
Apart from A-Qiu and Sun's wife, everyone else was kept outside the gate.
A Qiu whispered to Xue Hongbi and the others, "If you hear me shout, you don't need to worry about anything, just rush in."
At this point, Xue Hongbi, unusually calm and composed, reached out and grasped A Qiu's hand, saying in a deep voice, "I understand. If anything happens, just shout!"
Zhang Exu and Cui Luzhu also reached out and grasped the hand that A Qiu and Xue Hongbi were holding.
A-Qiu shook their hands reassuringly, then let go.
With her other hand, she steadily supported Sun Neiren as they stepped into the hall.
The rest of the people waited anxiously in the darkness, listening intently to any sounds coming from inside.
This wasn't the first time A-Qiu had visited Huang Chao-an's dormitory.
On the table in the center of the hall, the candle flame on the lampstand was crackling and flickering, and a line of candle wax was falling into the copper dish.
The first person Ah Qiu noticed when she helped Sun Neiren in was not Huang Chaoan, who was standing in the center.
Instead, behind Huang Chaoan, stood a tall figure, hidden in the dim candlelight.
This man stood tall and firm, his figure unassuming yet exuding a chilling and intimidating aura.
He wore a helmet, armor, and a sword at his waist.
He is a soldier.
Soldiers from the Divine Mastiff Battalion.
But the moment A Qiu entered, the man glanced at her and then quickly lowered his eyes.
A Qiu could sense that the man's gaze was filled with shock and bewilderment.
Does he recognize her?
However, most of the other person's body was hidden in the darkness, and A Qiu could not see his face. In addition, the other person was covered in armor, so there was no clue from his figure.
The Divine Hound Battalion consists entirely of sons of powerful officials and nobles from the palace and court. It wouldn't be surprising if they recognized someone like Miss Shangguan. But why would anyone recognize a mere dancer like her?
The man's next action answered her question.
His hand, which had been hanging at his waist and not holding the knife, subtly made three different hand gestures towards her.
The movements were fluid and seamless, completed in a single, instantaneous motion.
That was the code of the Punishment Hall under the jurisdiction of Second Senior Brother Mo Yimingyue.
At this moment, A Qiu had no time to think about how her second senior brother's men had infiltrated the Divine Hound Camp. She hid her hand under her arm, supporting the hand beneath Sun's wife's, and also gave the other party a secret signal, indicating that she knew.
The other person remained motionless, and the scene fell into a silence so profound that a pin drop could be heard.
Huang Chaoan heard the two footsteps approaching, but he didn't look up at them directly. He just said in a deep voice, "Lord Dianle has a bright future ahead of him. Why bother getting involved in this mess?"
This was only the second time Huang Chaoan had spoken to A Qiu by name since she entered the Music Bureau.
When she was last mentioned here, although she was the one being summoned, she was treated like a puppet, and it was Sun's wife who handled all the responses.
In the palace, without the corresponding status, even if one wanted to take on responsibilities, there would be no opportunity to step forward and assume duties. Everything depended on power and position.
A Qiu replied calmly, "My wife, Sun, is my mentor in learning dance, so I can't ignore her."
For the first time, a sinister smile flickered across Huang Chaoan's fair, delicate face. She said, "Dian Le thinks too highly of herself. Let alone the fact that you are just a minor female official in the Music Bureau who has temporarily gained some favor, even if you were the Duke of Chenghua, you couldn't change Sun Ci's fate!"
He pointed to the silent officer standing beside him, his tone growing increasingly chilling: "This lord from the Divine Hound Camp is taking Lady Sun to a banquet at the military camp. Dian Le, are you planning to come along?"
The officer he was pointing at remained silent and ignored him.
On the table in front of Huang Chaoan was a flickering candle.
In the candlelight, his face appeared especially pale and terrifying.
Beside the candlestick lay a pair of bronze crane scissors used for trimming candle wicks, their jagged crane feathers gleaming sharply.
Sun's wife was pale, but she stubbornly raised her head and said, "Huang Lezheng, how dare you act so recklessly and disregard human life! Have you thought about how you will face those you have wrongfully harmed in the afterlife?"
She released A Qiu's hand, took a step forward, and stared directly at Huang Chaoan, refusing to budge an inch.
Huang Chaoan burst into laughter as if he had heard the funniest thing in the world. This refined and handsome man's laughter was as fierce as an owl's.
After laughing, he said coldly, "People as lowly as you and me are, living is nothing more than struggling to survive, who cares about dying!"
He chuckled and said, "Now, the only one who needs to worry about what happens after death is probably your wife, Sun!"
At that very moment, Sun's wife made her move.
As Huang Chaoan laughed, she silently moved closer, her sleeve seemingly brushing against the table, but in reality, she had already grasped the bronze crane scissors next to the candlestick in her hand.
When Huang Chaoan uttered the words, "I'm afraid it's only your wife," she suddenly brandished scissors, the gleaming blade aimed straight at Huang Chaoan's chest.
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