The pungent and cool smell emanating from the man was still there, very faint, but one could still smell a hint of it in the cold mountain breeze that was blowing back and forth.
After Mu Kaiwei rearranged the situation, he temporarily handed the place over to Bi Tou and several colleagues to take care of, and then set off to run through the mountains and forests following the smell.
Her sense of smell is sharper than that of an average person, but according to her father Mu Zhengyang, it is not just sharp, it is extremely different from that of an ordinary person.
She can distinguish smells very finely, and will never forget any smell she has noticed.
The scent I smelled on Heisan tonight was the same strange scent that was on my mother's belongings seventeen years ago.
She had to find him.
Seventeen years have passed, and this tiny clue has finally appeared. How can she let it go?
Ah, there she is! She has caught him!
Hearing the movement behind him, the tall and slender man first glanced in her direction, and the next moment he immediately hid in the dark corner of the forest where the moonlight could not reach. His round eyes were clearly black and white, as if he was extremely shocked that she could track him.
The man had already removed the thin mask. Mu Kaiwei noticed it and stopped moving forward.
He must have been wearing a mask because he didn't want his true face to be seen. If she got any closer, it would only make him flee further. Her lightness skills weren't as good as his, so if she forced him away, it would be even harder to find him again.
So she stopped moving.
Because of the distance between them and because he had hidden in the dark, she couldn't see his facial features clearly, but she could see that he was holding his nose with his hand... For a moment, Mu Kaiwei felt like laughing, but also a little apologetic.
"Third Master's nose bridge... is it okay?"
The surroundings fell into silence. After a while, the man's slightly strained voice slowly rang out.
"My handsome face can... withstand this iron hammer blow from Master Mu."
Mu Kaiwei actually laughed, but didn't laugh out loud. The corners of his lips lifted slightly because of his slightly muffled tone.
"I have something to ask you, Master San. Please help me solve this puzzle."
The man uttered an "eh" and laughed strangely, "You can't catch me, and even if you do, you can't trap me. So you're not satisfied, so you find new ways to interrogate me, right?"
Mu Kaiwei did not answer but asked, "Does Third Master know my mother?"
She asked a simple question, but the person being questioned seemed to be distracted for a moment. After a few pauses, he finally answered, "Ms. Lin, the mother of Master Mu, was a well-known figure in the underworld back then. We in the martial arts world have certainly heard of her. How could we not recognize her?"
Mu Kaiwei asked again, "Seventeen years ago, my mother died in an accident. I was just eight years old that year. How old was Third Master then? He must have been quite young, right? And who did you hear about my mother's deeds in the martial arts world later?"
"Uh... I, how am I young? How can you say I'm still young? I'm very old, even older than you!" Look at what he said. He was so uneasy.
He just took off his mask, was unexpectedly tracked down by her, and was asked about the relevant events of the past by her, but did he lose his composure?
"Master Mu is really trying me like a criminal. I don't like it." He coughed twice to clear his throat and chuckled. "You go your way, I'll go mine. The road leads to heaven. We can each go our separate ways and neither of us can offend the other. Goodbye!" The best option is to run away!
"Wait—" Mu Kaiwei saw him flying into the night and started to chase him.
She tried her best, but there were many shelters in the mountains and forests, and Hei San's lightness skills were superb. After just a few moves, the other party disappeared. The only thing she could rely on was the smell that was getting fainter and fainter.
Considering what he said before, he said that he was quite used to living in the imperial capital of the Celestial Empire and had no intention of moving, so he must have returned to the city eventually.
Calming herself down, she took a deep breath and rushed back to the city, searching for that scent along the way, but it was so faint that it was almost invisible.
Entering the city, the smell was even fainter, and a light snow was falling in the city under curfew. She ran, searched, and distinguished in the streets and alleys that crisscrossed like a chessboard. Before the last wisp of chill dissipated, she was outside the high wall of the backyard of a wealthy family.
Although she couldn't prove anything, she still walked along the high wall to the front of the house and looked up at the exquisitely carved wooden plaque hanging high above the gate. On it were three words engraved in solemn official script:
Prince Kang's Palace.
The thin-skin mask, which had lost its stickiness, was thrown into the brazier. The charcoal fire quickly devoured it, and the mask made of solidified special grass juice turned into ashes in the blink of an eye.
There was clean water on the washbasin rack in the corner of the secret room. He was not afraid of the cold and splashed water on his inexplicably hot face several times to wash it.
When my right hand touched my face, heat came out from my fingers and palm. The strange heat from holding hands with a girl still remained. For a moment, I couldn't tell whether my face or my palm was hotter.
The heart buried in his left chest was beating too hard, hitting his sternum so hard that it hurt. He rubbed it subconsciously, grabbed a towel and wiped away the water droplets on his head and face.
After changing out of his night clothes in the secret room, he returned to his bedroom through the secret passage. He pulled the trigger, and the door in the wall, which was decorated as an antique shelf, slid open. The figure of the old loyal servant was waiting there. Seeing him, his gray eyebrows almost twitched.
"Master, you, you got beaten?!"
"Uh..." He touched his nose which was still painful.
The old servant was furious. "Who dares to hit you? We'll take care of him for you!"
Before the master could even begin to speak, a sneer reached him. An elderly woman walked slowly into the inner chamber and snorted, "That so-called 'blind man' was able to beat him up, so how can you, an old fellow, think you can defeat him with your rudimentary martial arts? Is that even possible?"
The old servant's face flushed red, his eyes blazing with fire. "Then...then go! If you're capable, go!"
"Why should I go? He got beaten up, and it was a good beating. He was not as skilled as the other man, so he deserved it."
Seeing that the old loyal servant and the elder woman were about to confront each other again, the man quickly took back the right to speak and rushed out -
"No one is allowed to touch that person! If she wants to beat me up, I'll just take it. I owe her that, and I'm perfectly willing to do it. So no one is allowed... no one is allowed to touch her!"
Extremely quiet.
The elder woman slowly raised an eyebrow, looking as if she understood everything.
The old servant nodded slowly and solemnly, his gray brows now raised, and he was completely submissive. He muttered to himself, "Hmm... So it turns out that the girl from that family beat me up..."
"Black Master San", who had just earned a nickname in the underworld tonight, wiped his face hard again, but the heat was hidden under his skin and could not be wiped away.
Five days later.
The annual Buddha worship ceremony of Baohua Temple has officially begun. The old abbot, Master Yuande, will personally lecture on the sutras for three consecutive days, one hour each day before noon, in the Guangyuan in front of the main hall of the temple.
It is said that Master Yuande was born with Buddha nature. At the age of five, he was given a Dharma name by his master and formally ordained into the Buddhist monastery. When he was young, he traveled thousands of miles to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. After that, he translated countless Buddhist scriptures and devoted himself to studying Buddhism. He can be said to be the most knowledgeable person about Buddhism in the entire Celestial Empire.
Master Yuande is now old. Although he still holds the title of abbot, the affairs of the temple have actually been handed over to his disciples. This three-day lecture is his last time to appear in public and preach to the people. Once the news spreads, how could the devout believers miss it? As soon as the sky was light in the morning, crowds of people could be seen flocking to the mountain road leading to Baohua Temple.
If he wanted to investigate Baohua Temple, a Buddhist holy place favored by the royal family, and move Master Yuande, the "Big Buddha" in the eyes of the people, and the monks in the temple, Mu Kaiwei deeply believed that he should either remain silent or, if he really wanted to take action, he must hit the target right away. If he was going to provoke him, he would provoke him thoroughly.
The morning bells rang out, echoing through the mountains and forests.
The Empress Dowager's carriage, accompanied by her attendant guards and palace maids, marched in a grand procession to Baohua Temple. An imperial decree was issued, exempting the common people along the way from the ritual of kneeling and paying homage to the royal procession. The decree also stated that since they were all Buddhist believers this time, they only needed to kneel and pay homage to the Bodhisattva and Buddha when they entered the temple, and there was no need to kneel and pay homage to anyone else.
Master Yuande and his disciples personally welcomed the Queen Mother and her entourage into the main hall. After the solemn ceremonies and the most anticipated lecture by the people, he privately interpreted a passage of scripture for the royal nobles in the lecture hall next to the main hall... It was "nobles" for sure. In addition to the palace servants who served the Queen Mother personally, there was also Prince Kang who accompanied the royal carriage up the mountain to worship Buddha.
Prince Kang Fu Jinxi was twenty-five years old. The current Emperor Xingyu was his biological uncle, and the most honorable woman in the Celestial Empire was his grandmother, the Holy Mother Empress Dowager.
However, although King Kang was born into a noble family, he lost his parents at a very young age.
It is said that Prince Kang and his wife took their eight-year-old son, who was suffering from a strange disease, to seek medical treatment. On the way, they were robbed and attacked by river pirates from Sanchuankou. Their boat was dragged into a rapid stream with sharp rocks at the bottom of the river, and they eventually died at the bottom of the river.
When the news reached the capital, Emperor Xingyu and the Empress Dowager were both angry and sad. All the local civil and military officials in charge of the Sanchuankou area were demoted, and the imperial court even sent troops directly from the central government to eliminate the river bandits.
At that time, the body of Prince Kang's son Fu Jinxi had not been found for a long time, and people thought he was in great danger. However, after being missing for nearly a year, the eight-year-old prince returned to the capital of the Celestial Empire, accompanied only by a loyal servant in his forties and an old woman.
Master Yuande met Prince Kang, who survived a disaster seventeen years ago, for the first time today. He said that by the end of their conversation, he felt that they had met too late.
He was originally the one presiding over the lecture, but unexpectedly Prince Kang raised questions one after another about the interpretations he had discussed. They went back and forth, discussing everything from the "existence" theory in the Agama Sutra to the "mind exists and the environment is empty" in the Yogacara Sutra, and then to the "mind and environment are both empty" in the Prajna Sutra. He talked so much that he completely ignored the Queen Mother, the "protagonist". It was not until a high-ranking palace maid quietly and quickly walked into the lecture hall, leaned over and whispered in the Queen Mother's ear that Master Yuande realized his negligence.
Fortunately, the Queen Mother did not seem to mind and was listening with a smile on her face. However, when she heard the palace maid's report, her kind face frowned.
Master Yuande naturally stopped discussing the scriptures with Prince Kang. He couldn't help but glance at the five disciples who were sitting cross-legged on cushions in the hall and accompanying him in the lecture, his eyes revealing confusion.
Originally there should have been seven, his proud disciples who had been with him for many years and were given Dharma names by him. They were all talents of the "Guan" generation.
Now that he was aging, he had handed over all important matters inside and outside the temple to them. These seven people were known as the "Seven Guans of Baohua Temple," but on such an important occasion today, only five of them had appeared from early morning until now. Why?
After hearing the maid's words, the Queen Mother said calmly, "This is a serious matter. Let the Six Gates come in and explain it to me."
"I obey your command." The palace maid knelt down and bowed, then left the lecture hall.
"Grandma Queen Mother, what happened?" The young prince sipped the fragrant tea specially prepared by the monks in the temple on the low table beside him to moisten his throat. He took one hand away from the small heater in his arms and reached out to gently hold his grandmother's clenched fingers. As he asked softly, a look of worry appeared on his face.
The Queen Mother patted the back of the young prince's hand, which was so white that veins were faintly visible. A reassuring smile flickered across her slightly tense lips. "It's alright. What could possibly happen? No matter how big the problem is, I'll handle it for you if you bring it to your Imperial Grandmother. Don't be alarmed. If you're alarmed, you won't be able to sleep well and get sick again. Be obedient, listen to Grandmother, and don't be alarmed."
The young prince smiled faintly and nodded gently. "Okay, grandson, don't be surprised."
When Mu Kaiwei, dressed in a dark official uniform, entered the hall with the palace maids, what caught his eye was this happy scene of a grandfather and grandson holding hands and smiling at each other.
She bowed her head and knelt on one knee to pay her respects. "Your Highness, Mu Kaiwei, pays respects to the Queen Mother and Prince Kang."
"Eh? You, you... isn't this Little Muzi? Ah! I remember now. Your father, as the 'World's Greatest Detective,' also managed the three judicial offices of our dynasty. Later, you led your men to solve the counterfeit silver case and the South City Fire case, and then the 'Six Gates' fell on your shoulders."
The Queen Mother recalled, patting her legs lightly, her expression softening.
"Your father and you were summoned to the palace several times to meet the emperor. I have met you and praised you highly. At that time, I said that the young Muzi of the old Mu family really brought honor to the daughters of our Celestial Empire. Do you remember?"
"Puff... cough cough." A small sound, almost like a chuckle, suddenly sounded, but it was quickly suppressed. It was unclear whether it was a suppressed laugh or a cough.
"Your throat is itchy again? Your chest hurts? I shouldn't have asked you to accompany me today, but you insisted on going out and going up the mountain with me. Hey, I really can't let you do what you want forever."
As the Queen Mother became nervous, the four palace maids who served her closely also became nervous. They served tea, towels, spittoons, and back massages to help with breathing, and all of them were directed to the young prince who was sitting on a cushion leaning against an armrest.
Mu Kai did not move, not even raising his eyebrows, when he suddenly heard the young prince laugh softly and say:
"Grandma Queen Mother, my grandson is fine. Let's let this little Miss Mu Zi come forward and speak."
The empress dowager was awakened and turned her attention back to Mu Kaiwei, ordering her not to be so polite.
After thanking him, Mu Kaiwei stood up to report, striving for clarity and brevity. "The Six Gates have received word that the criminal who escaped the Dali Temple prison five days ago is currently in Baohua Temple. This criminal is closely linked to the recent spate of disappearances of women in the capital. Today is a major Buddhist festival at Baohua Temple, and with the Empress Dowager and the Prince joining in the celebration, the Six Gates shouldn't have forced their way through the gates. However, saving lives is like putting out a fire. I'm worried that if we're a little late, the villain might escape with help, leaving the women stranded without a chance of survival."
Even Master Yuande, despite his high level of cultivation, couldn't contain himself after hearing this. "Lord Mu, known to the people as the 'Jade Rakshasa of the Imperial Capital,' the head of the Six Gates, is he so crude and incompetent? Are you implying that Baohua Temple is harboring a fugitive? Prove it!"
"It's only because we have irrefutable evidence that we dare to storm the Master's lecture hall." Mu Kaiwei turned to face the old abbot, his brow cold. "Several groups from the Six Gates were among the believers ascending the mountain today. We originally intended to conduct a covert investigation, but we didn't expect to catch them red-handed inside the temple. You're so bold! You even dared to touch the Empress Dowager's trusted female servants. If my men hadn't acted immediately, I'm afraid we would have added to the missing persons case."
Upon hearing that it was a female official from the inner court, the Queen Mother sat up straight. "So, is Xiao Anzi really in trouble?"
The maid who had just arrived to deliver the message answered eloquently. "Your Majesty, Aunt An was attacked shortly after leaving the main hall after arranging the staff for the lecture hall. The assailant grabbed her mouth and nose from behind and dragged her towards the backyard of Baohua Temple. Fortunately, she was spotted by a Six-Door Gates constable disguised as a believer. Don't worry, Your Majesty. Aunt An is out of danger now. She only twisted her leg while struggling, which is why she sent this servant ahead to report."
The Queen Mother sighed and nodded. "That's good, that's good." She looked at Mu Kaiwei, her tone stern. "Little Mu, where's the criminal? Has he been caught? Who is he?"
Xiao Anzi, Xiao Muzi... Mu Kaiwei thought that this was probably the Queen Mother's way of calling her subordinates with affection.
She chose to ignore it, her delicate face still solemn as she replied, "Your Majesty, I have met the prisoner. He is indeed the one who escaped from the Dali Temple prison five days ago. However, he was cunning and took Aunt An as a hostage, allowing him to escape to the mountains behind Baohua Temple. The Six Gates are pursuing him with all their might."
"This, this... what is going on? How is it possible... How is it possible..." Master Yuande's old face was pale. He tried to stand up from the mat, but he couldn't get up.
In the hall, Guanzhi, one of the "Seven Guans of Baohua Temple" and the oldest disciple present, suddenly stood up from his cushion. He did not step forward to support the old abbot, but instead retorted to Mu Kaiwei, "This is impossible! You are lying! You, you made it up!"
Mu Kaiwei smiled instead of getting angry, one hand resting on the butt of his sword at his waist as he glanced sideways. "Monks don't lie. I'm not a monk, but I'm forced to tell a lie. I don't think the Buddha will be too offended. But this master, um... 'The Seven Contemplations of Baohua Temple,' your cushion seat is assigned third place. That must be the Third Master, Guanzhi. May I ask how Master Guanzhi can be so sure that I'm making it up?"
She spoke with such confidence the moment before, and then she readily admitted that it was a lie. Before anyone present could come to their senses, they heard her speak clearly again—
"Is it because Master Guanzhi was absolutely certain that the fugitive had been killed long ago, and even dug a large pit and buried his body securely, that my lie was exposed so quickly in front of you?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?!" Guanzhi shouted angrily, his face showing veins.
"Nonsense?" Mu Kaiwei raised his eyebrows and sneered. "Late last night, the hills behind Baohua Temple were far from peaceful. A three-wheeled cart was secretly pulled from the temple to the hills behind. It took a lot of effort to bury those three bodies, didn't it? Sadly, Master Guanzhi thought they were buried properly, but he had no idea that the Six Gates had been keeping watch for days and had finally spotted you, a flower."
The Empress Dowager and others' expressions changed drastically, and Guan Zhi's face, which was nearly forty years old but still well-maintained, turned pale and blue.
Master Yuande finally stood up tremblingly and asked in a hoarse voice, "Where are Guanzhi... Guanzhen and Guanjie? Why are your eldest and second brothers missing? They've been missing since early morning, and no one in the temple can explain why. Where did they go?"
Guanzhi narrowed his eyes slightly, pursed his lips and said nothing.
At this moment, a young master from the same generation as Guan suddenly stood up and said in a reassuring voice, "Master, Guan Qin knows where the eldest and second senior brothers are. Guan Qin, go call them over. I'll be there right away!"
"No one is allowed to leave!" Mu Kaiwei's voice suddenly burst out.
At the same time, she threw a flying knife from her palm with a "whoosh" sound, and the shining flying knife pierced Guan Qin's toes just as he stepped forward with a "whoosh" sound.
She gazed at the members of the Guan generation in the hall, took a deep breath, and then said, "Master Yuande, last night my men dug up the large pit in the back mountain. Besides the fugitive from the Dali Temple, the remaining two bodies are exactly those of the two monks from your temple. Do you think Master Guanzhi alone can easily pull the bodies of three grown men into the mountains and bury them without alerting you or the other monks in your temple?"
Upon hearing this, Master Yuande's knees weakened again and he fell to the ground again, unable to utter a single word.
The Queen Mother, now roughly understanding everything, slammed her sleeve down on the cushions in a rage. "How audacious! How utterly insane! What kind of place has Baohua Temple become? You, you... uh... you... you all... stand up one by one... what do you want to do?!"
The five masters with the surname "Guan" in the hall, Guanzhi and Guanqin stood still, while the remaining "Three Guans" slowly and silently stood up from their cushions one after another, and looked at the nobles who came up the mountain today with gloomy faces, as if responding to what Mu Kaiwei had just asked - things that cannot be easily done by one person alone can naturally be done easily if the five of them work together.
The lecture hall fell silent for a moment. Guan Zhi looked at Master Yuan De, who sat limp, his legs limp, and spoke with deep reverence. "Master, we are all doing this for you, and for the eternal glory of Baohua Temple. Brothers Guan Zhen and Guan Jie cannot understand this. They discovered the fugitive and more than that. We truly hate to do anything, but for the sake of our future, we have no choice but to sacrifice them."
Master Yuande's eyes welled with tears as he shook his head and muttered, "Evil disciple... evil disciple... what have you done..."
At this moment, Guan Qin, who had pretended to go out to look for someone, suddenly took out a fire stick from his sleeve. He bent down, brushed the fuse of the fire stick heavily on the ground, and it ignited immediately.
"Put it down!" Mu Kaiwei glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and launched another flying knife or hidden weapon.
Unexpectedly, Guan Qin smiled strangely, without dodging or evading, and kept holding it high even though the flying knife cut off two of his fingers. The fire stick burst into fireworks, and the dazzling light instantly broke through the roof and exploded with a "bang" in the sky.
It seems to be a small cannon used for communication, indicating that they still have people in Baohua Temple.
Mu Kaiwei drew her sword from its sheath, the brilliance of the sword piercing the frost and snow, reflecting her cold face at the moment, and also reflecting the two deep pools of coldness in her eyes.
There were no more than ten palace servants and maids who could enter the lecture hall to serve the noble lady closely, and they were now in a panic.
The two palace maids rushed out while shouting, but before they could call the guards outside in, they were kicked unconscious by Guan Ji, the fourth of the seven temples. Seeing that his kicks rose and fell without a trace, he turned out to be a well-known martial artist.
Almost at the same time, a commotion broke out outside the lecture hall. The sky-high artillery fired by Guan Qin took effect. The accomplices in the temple were fighting hand-to-hand with nearly a hundred royal guards. The sound of swords clashing and shouting completely surrounded the entire lecture hall, as if the enemy was rushing in from all directions, leaving the nobles in the hall with nowhere to escape.
"Empress Dowager! Empress Dowager—" "Empress Dowager, please don't be anxious, don't be anxious!" "Xiao Li, hurry up and take the blue bottle of pills that Doctor Li gave you!" "Here, here!" "Quickly pour out a pill for the Empress Dowager! And the purple herbal bottle, open it quickly!" "Yes, yes! Woo..."
Mu Kaiwei listened quietly to the commotion behind him, his eyes fixed on the five temples below.
She could roughly tell that the oldest Guanzhi and the youngest Guanqin did not seem to be martial artists, but Guanji and the remaining two were not easy to deal with. If the three of them joined forces...what were her chances of winning?
Suddenly, a slightly deep but gentle male voice sounded -
"Xiao Li, give me the bottle of herbs and let me come in person."
As soon as that voice came out, it seemed to suppress the panic in an instant. Mu Kaiwei couldn't help but quickly glance sideways.
She caught a glimpse of the Queen Mother leaning against the chest of her grandson, Prince Kang, sniffing a bottle of herbs that a palace maid had opened and handed to Prince Kang. The Queen Mother wasn't fainting, but she looked frail. And Prince Kang... from her high position, she could only see his bowed head and a mass of silken black hair, bound in a white jade pearl crown and cascading down his shoulders.
"Little Mu Zi... Little Mu Zi..." The Queen Mother sniffed the herbs while letting the palace maids stroke her back and pinch the acupoints on her tiger's mouth. She raised her eyes and called out softly.
Mu Kai nodded slightly and replied, "Just stay behind me and don't be alarmed."
Before she could finish her words, Guan Ji, along with his two fellow apprentices from the fifth and sixth ranks, had already attacked with ingenious moves.
She could guess what the other party was thinking. Things had come to this point and were irreparable. The best way was to kidnap the two royal nobles. With the Queen Mother and Prince Kang as her trump cards, she could expose the situation openly and then slowly negotiate with the court. She didn't believe that she couldn't find a way out.
But she can delay, but they can't.
She wielded the sword in her hand with incredible swiftness, emitting sharp rays of light.
The three opponents rushed left and right, and advanced from the top, middle and bottom. She relied on the unstoppable weapon and the combination of sword and knife moves to block the overwhelming and fierce attack.
"Knife!" Guanzhi, on the other side, pulled out a weapon from somewhere in the hall, perhaps hidden in the various Buddhist halls and libraries of Baohua Temple. He tossed the knife to Guanji and the other three. He and Guanqin, who had just bandaged his wound to stop the bleeding, each helped Master Yuande up. The latter seemed stunned and desperate, his body limp as mud. He was almost dragged to the door, muttering to himself:
"This is treason... a capital crime... there's no way out... Baohua Temple is finished... everything is gone..."
"Master, it doesn't matter if Baohua Temple is gone. As long as we are still alive, with your translations and reputation as a rallying cry, we can gather people and have our own people. We can even become the king of the mountain and dominate the land. There is no sin in that." Guanzhi consoled in a low voice, constantly comforting him.
Mu Kaiwei wanted to distract himself and listen but he couldn't, because the three monks from Guanji were approaching again with swords in their hands.
Her blood boiling and her fighting spirit high, she didn't need to worry about her chances of winning. The situation before her was rare, and each of her opponents had good kung fu skills. The three of them complemented each other's strengths and weaknesses, and their cooperation was almost seamless.
Almost.
In other words, there are still loopholes to be found.
Her father Mu Zhengyang once taught her a set of martial arts called "Shuangbi Pu" step by step. It can be said to be the essence of Mu's martial arts. It can play a big role when being besieged by masters. She studied very hard, but the result was not as good as her senior brother Meng Yunzheng. She could understand it, but she felt that she was somehow lacking a little bit of maturity. Later, her father told her that she lacked practical experience.
Actual combat. This opportunity has finally arrived, how can I let it go?!
And in this battle that lies before her, she must win, she will win, she can only win.
She pulled out the silver dagger from her waist. It was specially made for her by her father. It was about half an arm's length, and the handle fit her palm perfectly.
So she used a sword in one hand and a silver dagger in the other, using both of the "two gems" together. An inch longer, an inch stronger, an inch shorter, an inch more dangerous. She made up for her own shortcomings by cutting into her strengths, and then used her shortcomings as an advantage. Defense and attack were all changed in one move.
Guan Ji and the other two moved forward and backward as swiftly as the wind, and the sword lights emitted by the three big swords were like a huge net covering the ground.
Mu Kaiwei, however, stood alone at the gate. Considering that the nobles were old or weak, and there was also a small group of delicate palace maids, she tried her best to guard the area within her feet so that the people behind her would not lose their protection.
suddenly--
"Hit!" She swung her sword fiercely, but it was a feint. The long dagger in her left hand was the killer move. With a dull "thud", it pierced into one person's heart, and the three-person sword formation was suddenly broken. Without any pause, she suddenly turned the feint of the sword into a real chop, landing heavily on the shoulder of another person, and immediately taking away his arm.
Guanji screamed and quickly stepped back, but his ankle was hit by something, and he fell heavily to the ground due to numbness.
When Mu Kaiwei turned her head to look, her heart skipped a beat, but she would never let go of the advantage in front of her, so she suddenly put her sword against Guan Ji's neck.
After subduing the other person, she glanced at Guan Ji's body and surroundings with a puzzled and thoughtful look, and finally picked up a small round object at his feet.
Guanzhi and Guanqin had already dragged Master Yuande out of the lecture hall.
At this moment, Mu Kaiwei seriously injured two monks and captured Guan Ji. Someone finally broke into the lecture hall, and several figures broke through the big window and rushed in one after another. Fortunately, they were all her own people. In addition to the imperial guards, there were also her "Six Gates" who had secretly entered the temple.
As soon as the leader of the guards entered the lecture hall and saw the situation clearly, he naturally knelt on one knee and shouted something like "I am too late to rescue you, please forgive me, Queen Mother and Prince", and the guards who followed him in knelt on the ground.
Mu Kaiwei handed Guan Ji over to his two subordinates, sheathed his weapon, and then turned around and also knelt on one knee.
"The Queen Mother and the Prince are frightened. I, your humble servant... eh?" She raised her arms in front of her chest and saluted. Before she could finish the words "I deserve to die", she was suddenly stunned by the face of Prince Kang who was looking up at her.
It's not that she had never met Prince Kang Fu Jinxi before, but she had always been at a distance and had never met him up close like today.
At this moment, the two were only an arm's length apart. He was sitting on the couch with his arms around his queen mother, and was surrounded by palace maids. She knelt down to apologize, and their eyes met.
Most of the descendants of the Celestial Empire were born with good looks. The melon-shaped face in front of her, which was so white that it was almost sickly white, was also good-looking. Under two long black eyebrows were a pair of beautiful and elegant phoenix eyes. His nose was high but handsome, and his lips... were really beautiful diamond-shaped lips. The upper lip was thin and well-defined, and the lower lip was plump. It seemed that no matter whether he was smiling or not, the corners of his mouth were upturned, which made people inexplicably want to curl up the corners of their mouths like him.
And then... there's this strange feeling that's hard to describe.
He looked at her, his eyes sparkling, as if he was looking at her very intently and carefully, not wanting to miss anything. He also seemed to trust her wholeheartedly and take her as... as his support?
Mu Kaiwei quickly shook off the random thoughts in her mind and opened her lips to speak again, but the man's beautiful lips spoke first -
"You said to stay behind you, and the Queen Mother and I did a good job of avoiding them. You said not to be alarmed, and I will not be alarmed. I am very obedient."
His tone was full of intimacy, and his eyes blinked slowly at her.
Mu Kaiwei couldn't help but wonder, but her heart was also trembling, because she heard that slightly deep but soft male voice again, which seemed to have the effect of calming the soul and healing.
And his expression was also so gentle and harmless, so innocent that it made people sincerely want to protect him.
"Little, little Mu Zi..." Although the empress dowager was still weak after recovering her breath, she saw everything clearly from beginning to end. As she called out, the old woman stretched out her hand towards the person she was calling softly.
Mu Kaiwei had been kneeling upright and performing the ceremony meticulously, but when she saw the Empress Dowager's well-maintained pink and white hand reaching out to her, even touching her door, she had no choice but to respectfully offer her own hand, which was not at all soft, to the Empress Dowager to hold.
"It's you, Xiao Muzi..."
...Huh? She's what? Mu Kaiwei looked puzzled.
The Queen Mother panted as she spoke, "Such a fierce and valiant person, like a Jade-faced Rakshasa wielding a spear to subdue violence, will surely...will surely subdue the region." Her fingers suddenly closed, tightly gripping Mu Kaiwei's hand. "I will arrange a marriage for you. I will appoint you as the principal wife of Prince Kang. I will...I will give you to him."
Mu Kaiwei found that the Queen Mother had handed her hand to someone, and that person actually held her hand, not just holding her hand, but also holding her hand with their fingers intertwined.
"...Prince?" Her voice was hoarse as if she had swallowed a handful of charcoal ash.
"Eh, you're referring to me." The expression of sudden realization was still harmless and innocent.
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