V2C51

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Translator: Anne

Editor: Miqich

Proofreader: Ani and Sal

Once he had asked this, he suddenly shuddered… the Crown Prince had intentionally done this for others, such as Prince Xian and Lang Linling or even… Qiao Chu, to see.

On the other side of the opening, two girls anxiously looked at the woman who was situated between them. They were none other than Qiao Chu and her two servants.

Si Da shook Qiao Chu’s arm, desperately saying, “Master, everyone has retreated to the entrance of the Imperial residence. What should we do?”

Qiao Chu sighed and said in a low voice, “We’ll do the same and take a look at Prince Rui’s condition, alright?”

Meiren bowed her head and said hoarsely, “But, if this is, by any chance, one of Emperor Dongling’s schemes, there is a possibility that Prince Rui is unharmed. Now that everyone has gone to see Prince Rui, why don’t we seize this opportunity—”

Qiao Chu waved her hand, “No, Meiren, we cannot continue this competition. Regardless of whether it’s a scheme or not—if we don’t go—we’ll be denounced by the Emperor for not looking after Prince Rui when he had been in a life or death situation. Anyway, now that we’ve lagged behind, I can try to figure out the method while we walk.”

She tried to sound calm, but Si Da and Meiren could hear the uneasiness in her voice. Sadly, there was nothing they could do about it.

There had originally been people situated on all five of the paths; however, in the wake of the final group’s departure, the liveliness ceased to linger there.

The sky was a seemingly cloudless hue of light blue. Although it was nearly winter, the state of Prince Rui’s garden gave off the impression of being carefully maintained by someone highly skilled; hundreds of flowers were still in bloom and the warmth of the sunshine felt just right. The climate in Zhaoge was always pleasant, unlike how it was in the North, where summer was always too hot and winter too cold.

Staring at the two noisy figures ahead of her, Meiren gnawed on her lower lip and slowly raised her head. Her nose was tepid and her palms could no longer conceal the hot liquid that seeped out through the gaps between her fingers.

She normally didn’t like to smile, but at that moment, her lips raised into a soft smile. Meiren was in pain yet she felt incomparably strong. Her eyes were as scarlet as her completely blood-drenched hands.

She stubbornly walked forward, instantly being hit by a wave of dizziness. Meiren fell to the ground, panicked voices becoming muffled as arms encircled her body in an embrace.

* * *

A handkerchief was wrung out, blood dripping to the ground. Qiao Chu stared dazedly at Si Da as she sobbed and wiped blood away from Meiren’s nose and mouth.

Prior to Duma finding and intercepting them, assassins had been relentlessly chasing them. These killers had been sent by Qiao Mei’s mother, Great Imperial Concubine Feng Qing. While her father, Qiao Zeng Ning was adamantly against her participation, he was not so cruel as to send people to kill them.

The three of them had divided their work. Qiao Chu was in charge of coming up with methods to avoid being attacked and killed, Si Da was in charge of providing food and livelihood, and Meiren was in charge of fighting off enemies.

Their belongings had secretly been coated with the juice of a Beauty Flower—a flower from the ancient empire of Xi Liang; one that was particularly favoured by moths. Humans could not easily smell or taste the juice, however, moths flocked to it like bees to honey. The other party had been using moths to track the trio’s whereabouts.

They were unaware of this at first and were exposed multiple times. Later, they finally noticed why they were constantly being found and only then were they able to escape from the enemies’ pursuit. Before that, Meiren had stopped a concealed, poison-laced weapon from injuring Qiao Chu.