Chapter 41 The Killing Intent in the Palace

Chapter 41 The Killing Intent in the Palace

As Xie Yan left, he frowned as he looked at the carriages of Shen Nanzi and Xie Yu side by side.

Are they really just like Xie Yu said?

He doesn't believe it!

Xie Yan turned his head and looked behind him.

Shen Nanzi didn't come out. If it were before, she would definitely have followed him out, or pestered him to come with her!

Just like when she went to the Prince's mansion before, she racked her brains to be with him.

She really is quite different from before.

Xie Yan looked at the gate of the Flower and Bird Cottage, and perhaps because he was used to being pestered by Shen Nanzi, he actually felt a little lost.

Isn't he most disgusted by her being around him?

Now that she's gone, why doesn't it feel as liberating as I imagined?

He rode on horseback and, through the sparse fence, saw Shen Nanzi and Xie Yu leaning against the fence at a distance.

They were all looking up at the sky, and he couldn't hear what they were saying, but he felt uncomfortable with their interaction.

He rode away, walking slowly through the mountains and forests, where birds flitted across the branches, shaking off some of the accumulated snow.

Occasionally, it would fall to the ground.

Xie Yan thought that she probably didn't kill Bitao and Douzi.

These two incidents changed his opinion of her somewhat.

To his surprise, Shen Nanzi's extreme personality did not lead to madness.

Then I thought of Xiao Wan.

They were nowhere to be found, neither alive nor dead.

She wrote on the wall in blood, "Save her!"

The blood was so glaring!

My understanding of Shen Nanzi vanished in an instant.

Unless Xiao Wan and the others are still alive, perhaps he would...

Perhaps? Xie Yan couldn't say for sure.

And then there's Xue Qingning, and his mother—how could he possibly forgive her?

A sharp sword suddenly shot out from the forest, and Xie Yan leaned back to dodge it.

He broke out in a cold sweat; someone actually wanted to assassinate him?

He immediately spurred the horse's belly, flicked the whip, and galloped wildly along the mountain road.

Arrows rained down on him, but Wuying blocked them all with a flick of his sword.

The two left the forest and came to the official road back to the city, where the hidden man did not follow.

Xie Yan pulled on the reins, turned around, and looked at the mountains and forests behind him.

Wuying followed, holding an arrow in his hand.

"Your Highness, I am incompetent and only managed to obtain one arrow."

"It's alright, the enemy outnumbers us." Xie Yan knew that if he hadn't spent two years on the battlefield, he would probably have been assassinated.

He took the arrow from Wuying's hand and examined it carefully, from the fletching to the arrowhead.

"These are arrows from the palace!"

Wu Ying was shocked. "Impossible! Your Highness?"

Xie Yan remained silent.

Wuying looked at her master with heartache.

*

A group of three people stood in the palace square.

"His Majesty's birthday is in a few days. I'd like to give a gift and also play a piece of music. Brother, come with me to pick out a pipa; my old one is broken."

Xue Qingning spoke to Xue Yubai in a calm voice.

Xue Yubai immediately waved his hand, "I don't know anything about the pipa!"

Xue Qingning sighed, seemingly disappointed.

Xue Yubai immediately said, "Okay, okay, I'll go with you to choose."

A faint smile appeared on Xue Qingning's face.

Xue Yubai added, "Perfect, Xie Yan knows a bit about music, let him choose one for you."

Xue Qingning looked at Xie Yan.

If Xie Yan remains silent, that means he agrees.

"Let's go, let's go!" Xue Yubai grabbed Xie Yan and headed towards the palace gate. "Let's go together!"

The three changed out of their everyday clothes in the carriage and arrived at the most bustling street in Luoyang.

There is one of the best musical instrument shops here.

"Hey! Wasn't there a musical instrument shop here before? What happened to it?"

Xue Qingning stood in front of a restaurant, her face full of disappointment.

"How did it turn into a restaurant?"

Xie Yan frowned. This row of shops all belonged to the Jing Prince's Mansion, including the properties above it.

Why did he remember it so clearly? These were the shops his mother left him.

When he left the palace as a child, his mother had specifically told him about it, so he remembered that this place was indeed a musical instrument shop.

"The shop sometimes makes a profit and sometimes a loss. It probably wasn't making any money, so it changed owners," Xue Yubai said nonchalantly.

"Then where should we buy a pipa?" Xue Qingning asked, somewhat disappointed.

"I'll ask around tomorrow, so let's not buy anything today!" Xue Yubai said.

"But I bought my last pipa from this store, and I want to know where they moved to!"

Xue Qingning was unusually persistent.

"I'll go in and ask the manager! See if anyone knows the new address," Xie Yan said, and then walked into the restaurant.

The innkeeper, seeing a customer arrive, quickly greeted him with a smile, "Sir, how many are in your party?"

"I'm not here for food. I've come to ask you where the old musical instrument shop moved to?"

The manager shook his head. "I only took over this place this year. Our restaurant has been here for many years. I really don't know the previous owner."

Xie Yan then asked, "Does anyone else know?"

Seeing Xie Yan's handsome appearance and dignified bearing, the innkeeper said, "You've come at the right time. We have a distinguished guest in our private room who surely knows this."

"Then I'll trouble you to take me there and ask," Xie Yan said, not minding the trouble.

"Please come with me!" The shopkeeper got up and went upstairs, with Xie Yan following behind.

"I'll go ask that guest if she minds!"

"Thank you for your trouble!"

And so the two of them went to a private room on the second floor.

The shopkeeper went inside, and Xie Yan heard the person inside say it was alright.

Hearing the sounds inside, Xie Yan's expression darkened.

She was actually at the restaurant!

As soon as the shopkeeper came out, he stepped inside.

In the private room, only she and Lie Feng were present.

The two sat at the same table, but only one seat apart to avoid suspicion.

At that moment, Lie Feng was serving her food with chopsticks.

"Miss! This is your favorite coconut meat."

He smiled, his movements gentle, and the tenderness in his eyes was undisguised.

"Mmm, Liefeng, you eat too!" Shen Nanzi said with her back to her, her voice full of satisfaction and joy.

He was clearly extremely happy.

Lie Feng put down the coconut meat before raising his eyelids to look at the newcomer.

The moment he saw Xie Yan, the tenderness in his eyes vanished, leaving only an indifferent expression.

Shen Nanzi also noticed the change in Lie Feng and immediately turned her head.

...and then I saw Xie Yan's icy, piercing gaze.

What brings you here?

She asked the question so naturally that she didn't realize there was anything wrong with it.

Xie Yan looked at the two of them, his gaze shifting back and forth several times, a feeling of inexplicable tightness in his chest. "Why are there only the two of you?"

Shen Nanzi tilted her head back slightly, looking completely at ease.

"He's my bodyguard? He always accompanies me when I go out. Your question is a bit strange. Doesn't Wuying accompany you too?"

Is "Shadowless" the same as "Invisible"?

Shen Nanzi understood what was going on and immediately said to Lie Feng, "You go out first."

Lie Feng, holding his chopsticks, stiffly put them down, but stubbornly stared at Shen Nanzi.

"It's alright!" she reassured her.

Xie Yan sneered, unsure of his own feelings at that moment, only feeling a tightness in his chest that made him want to explode.

Lie Feng stood up. "Miss, I'm right outside!"

"Me?" Xie Yan blocked Lie Feng's path with his body. "Say it again, how should I refer to myself?"

Lie Feng's back stiffened, his expression stubborn, and he pursed his lips, unsure of what to do.

Xie Yan looked away. "Shen Nanzi, Wuying would never refer to himself as 'I' in front of me!"

As Xie Yan spoke, he realized he was being too petty.

He could have easily ignored it, but he still minded!

I suppose he was afraid of losing face.

"Xie Yan, are you deliberately here to cause trouble?" Shen Nanzi was annoyed; he had ruined her appetite for a perfectly good meal.