The gleaming sharp blade reflected a cold light under the winter sun. The cold wind of deep winter blew the snow from the trees, falling in flurries. Huang Wenjun curled up on the ground, watching as the blade came down, and in utter despair, closed his eyes.
In the distance, a pair of eyes quietly took in the entire scene.
Only after the people from Duke Chu’s residence calmly finished handling the corpse did Old Zhao speak in a low voice: “Your Highness, he’s completely dead.”
Xiao Yunting raised his eyebrows, his handsome face bright with his charming peach blossom eyes. He turned his head to glance at Lihua, who was still trembling beside him. “Is it this person?”
Lihua nodded repeatedly, her eyes wide with nervousness. “Yes! It’s him! The young lady told me to tell Your Highness that this man’s behavior was suspicious from the start. Even while using him, he repeatedly tried to breach the contract—he’s not a reliable person, so…”
Old Zhao couldn’t help but click his tongue in astonishment.
Previously, most dealings with this Miss Qi were handled by Babao and Liujin. So every time they spoke about Qi Yuan, their exaggerated tone always made him skeptical. He always thought the two were exaggerating.
But now that he was handling Qi Yuan’s affairs personally, he finally realized that what Babao and Liujin said had actually been greatly understated.
This girl… she truly had divine foresight!
She had even anticipated that Huang Wenjun would betray them.
Xiao Yunting, however, found it all very natural. He had spent enough time with Qi Yuan to accept all of this as a matter of course.
Hearing Lihua’s words, he raised his brows and let out a faint laugh. “So, she wasn’t sure if Huang Wenjun knew about Liu Jinghong’s identity during the operation, and to be safe, she had you come tell me just in case something went wrong. Is that it?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Lihua finally let out a breath of relief. This Highness really was clever—she didn’t even have to explain in detail for him to understand exactly what the young lady meant.
Xiao Yunting couldn’t quite describe the feeling in his heart.
Qi Yuan had even fooled him!
She told him she was luring Qi Wang and Liu Jinghong to Fujian to buy time for Qi Zhen to rescue Liu Wangfei.
But in fact, she had Babao and Liujin lure Qi Wang away while she ambushed Liu Jinghong and killed him.
She was ruthlessly accurate—vicious to others, even more ruthless to herself!
He asked lightly, “Was she injured?”
At the mention of this, Lihua quickly nodded. “Yes, the young lady was injured! She was badly scratched by wolves, but she wouldn’t let me tend to her…”
As expected, just as fierce as always.
Xiao Yunting had already given up hope that Qi Yuan would know how to properly protect herself.
He had come to see it clearly—Qi Yuan was merciless to others, but just as merciless to herself. She completely lived by the principle of If I say I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you—if worst comes to worst, I’ll drag you down with me. She never left herself a retreat.
No one could go further than her in risking everything.
Normal people always have fear.
But Qi Yuan didn’t.
It was as if someone had stripped away all other emotions from her—charging forward, utterly fearless.
To put it bluntly, she was a pure lunatic.
And people should, by all rights, be terrified of such lunatics.
He pulled his thoughts back and instructed Old Zhao: “Send Lihua back.”
Lihua grew a little anxious. “Your Highness, you’re not going to follow the young lady’s instructions? The young lady said if Huang Wenjun really betrayed us, then we must…”
“Don’t worry.” Xiao Yunting glanced at her calmly. “I know what I’m doing.”
Lihua was still somewhat afraid of him, and when he said that, she dared not press the matter further.
Old Zhao escorted Lihua away and handed her over to reliable people, then quickly returned to Xiao Yunting. “Your Highness, let me go instead.”
Lihua had already passed along Qi Yuan’s instructions.
If Huang Wenjun betrayed them, with Duke Chu’s usual ruthless methods, they would surely dispatch secret guards to hunt her down.
This would be the perfect moment to strike.
Training these secret guards had cost Qi Wang and Duke Chu’s household untold resources and wealth. So much silver had been poured in every year just to maintain them that even a royal prince had been forced to open brothels to cover the expenses.
Destroying these secret guards would be even more painful for them than death itself.
Old Zhao volunteered, thinking that after killing these men, he would track down Babao and Liujin and see what else this extraordinary Miss Qi was planning to do next.
She truly was such a fascinating person.
But Xiao Yunting shook his head. “No. I’ll go myself.”
Old Zhao immediately objected.
“Your Highness, this is improper! The Crown Prince’s health is poor—these days, the Commandery Princess has been personally attending to him, not to mention the side consort…”
The side consort would surely whisper in his ear.
Old Zhao lowered his voice even more. “Besides, His Majesty is especially fond of you right now.”
How could you leave the capital at such a critical time?
Who knew how long you would be gone?
Setting aside how to fabricate a proper excuse, being gone for so long would surely cool His Majesty’s affections.
But Xiao Yunting was unmoved. “Enough talk. Let’s go!”
When he gave the order, Old Zhao could say no more. He followed Xiao Yunting, gathered their men, and raced along the route Qi Yuan had taken.
At this time, Qi Yuan was by a riverside, washing her face.
She had been traveling day and night without rest for six or seven days and had already entered the territory of Anhui. Just a little further ahead, she would reach Hongdu.
Once in Hongdu, she would go to Song City, and then to Huichang.
In total, it would still take about ten more days of travel.
Although she was an excellent rider, such an intense journey had taken a toll on her body.
She had, for once, rested for a night.
Looking at her reflection on the river’s surface, she frowned slightly and reached out to disturb the image.
She wondered how things were going in the capital.
As for Huang Wenjun…
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