Ning Xueyan subconsciously wanted to hide, but she had no strength to do so because she was out of breath after running for such a long distance. She was immediately pulled back by someone, dragged back two steps, and stumbled into the arms of the man in black.
Ning Xueyan bit her lower lip hard and used her remaining strength to push the person aside. Her sleeve came apart with a tearing sound, and she stumbled to the side.
Seeing this, the man in black pulled a part of her sleeve and threw it away. He ran a few steps and reached out to pull Ning Xueyan again. When he reached out halfway, he suddenly felt a sharp pain. Before he could scream, his arm had been cut off.
“Don’t let him commit suicide. Take him back. Cut him into pieces!” His voice was icy and filled with bloodthirsty hostility. The vast, black cloak flapped in the wind and enveloped the shadow. On his handsome and mysterious face, his eyes seemed to be blood-red under his long eyelashes.
“Yes.” A shadow behind him rushed up, kicked the man in black, who was about to commit suicide, to the ground, and punched him a few times. The man in black spat out mouthfuls of blood and fainted.
“Your Highness.”
“Take her away.” Ao Chenyi’s eyes fell quietly on Ning Xueyan, who had slumped to the ground. She looked very embarrassed, with a missing sleeve, and other parts of her clothes ripped apart. The moonlight shone on her pale face, and the blood at the corners of the mouth was reflected on her face. She bit her lips tightly.
Her long hair was in a mess. At this moment, her long black hair, white face, red blood, and the cold light on her hands, indicated her decisiveness, cruelty, hostility, and indifference, which was completely different from her weakness.
Looking at Ning Xueyan for a while, Ao Chenyi slowly walked over, squatted down, took off his cloak and held her in his arms with great care. Under the moonlight, the handsome man’s eyes were cold and unfathomable. As he walked, the Manjusaka from hell became more and more bloody.
“Your Highness, there are several noble ladies over there. What should we do?” A guard appeared in the dark and knelt in front of him.
“Kill a few, leave a few.” With hostility in his slanted eyes, he reached out to check the girl’s breath. “Go and save that girl.”
“Your Highness…” The guards were confused. They were here to meet trick with a trick. How could they focus on a maid? But when they saw the Prince’s look, the guards sensibly shut up and turned around to find the maid from the Lord Protector’s Manor.
Lotus Pond, drowning, burning, collapsing, screaming, chaos, the feeling of the skin burning, painful struggles… The scenes in front of her changed again and again, like a trotting horse lamp. As if she had been trapped in a circle of endless dreams, she could not escape from this cycle.
She was almost sure that it was true. She was dreaming, but she was powerless to struggle. She seemed to be suppressed by something, so she had no strength at all. Even though she felt a piercing pain, it was still useless. Sometimes, she also thought that she was just a bystander.
Seeing the tall tower collapsing over and over again, and the flames shooting up to the sky, everyone was running away in panic. A huge pillar of fire fell from the sky and hit her on the head.
“Ah!” Ning Xueyan suddenly opened her eyes and stared blankly at the handsome face above her head. The man was gazing at her intently. She looked into his filmy jet-black eyes.
Ning Xueyan stared blankly at Ao Chenyi without blinking. Her mind was blank. Then, she closed her eyes, tilted her head and fainted again.
“Imperial physician, what’s wrong with her?” Ao Chenyi stood up and sat on the nanmu wood chair. A wild gleam came into his black eyes. He asked Master Mingyue, who was standing by the bed, with a strange smile at the corners of his mouth.
“Prince, don’t worry. The Fifth Young Lady has recovered. She has to rest for a while. It’s okay.” The imperial physician looked at Ning Xueyan’s face. Although she looked still pale, she looked much more serene. It showed that she was out of danger, so he answered carefully.
Hearing that Ning Xueyan was fine, Ao Chenyi waved his hand casually. Then, the imperial physician sensibly left.
Sitting in the chair, Ao Chenyi looked at Ning Xueyan, who was lying quietly on the bed. When he saw cold sweat appearing on her forehead, a trace of complexity flashed across his eyes. Then, he got up again and took out a handkerchief from under his cuff. He narrowed his eyes and gently wiped the sweat on her forehead.
“If you’re not strong enough, don’t risk your life. I thought you were smart, but you are so stupid.” Seeing her frown uneasily and her hand twitch convulsively, he snorted and reached out to hold her hand reluctantly. Even though his hand had always been cold, he could still feel the coldness in her hand.
He lowered his head and looked at the hand in his hand. Her hand was slender and powerless. It was so transparent that he could see her veins. When it lay stiffly in his thin and big hand, it was almost half the size of his hand. He held her hand in his cold palm to warm her hand.
The hand in his palm slowly relaxed.
“Prince, the Third Prince asks to see you.” A eunuch reported respectfully at the door of the outer room.
“Let him in!” Ao Chenyi slowly let go of Ning Xueyan’s hand, straightened his robe sleeve, lifted the curtain, and strolled to the outer room. He sat down on the chair in the middle and looked coldly at Ao Mingyu, the Third Prince, who was walking in.
“Uncle.” Ao Mingyu came in and bowed to Ao Chenyi respectfully.
“What’s the matter?” Ao Chenyi narrowed his eyes, picked up the tea on the table, and took a sip. His eyes were full of arrogance and bloodlust. He looked at him with disdain.
“Uncle, it’s lucky that you’re here today. Otherwise, all these noble ladies would be dead. I want to express my gratitude to you”. Ao Mingyu clenched his hands tightly under his sleeves, but then he relaxed. The killing intent in his eyes turned into a warm smile. When he raised his head, he was still the gentle Third Prince.
He was the most valued son of the emperor these days.
“Mingyu, weren’t you here too? What are your guards doing, leaving such a big loophole? How many people are still missing?” Ao Chenyi said impatiently.
“There are two or three. The road at the back of the mountain is complicated, so we can’t find them in such a short time, and they may have fallen somewhere.” Ao Mingyu’s eyes were full of respect, as if he admired Ao Chenyi.
“Then go and find them as soon as possible. Otherwise, they might die as well.” Ao Chenyi waved his hand impatiently, as if he was driving a fly away. His tone was lazy and indifferent.
Ao Mingyu, of course, recognized the sarcasm in Ao Chenyi’s words. He could not help clenching his fists, his blue veins exposed.
There were about ten daughters of aristocratic families who had gone to the Cold Mountain Temple to burn the first incense stick of the day. Now, only six of them had been found. Three of them were dead, and the whereabouts of four of them, were uncertain.
“Yes, I’ll ask my guards to find them now. If I get any information, I’ll let you know.” Ao Mingyu suppressed his anger, kept his gentle smile, bowed to Ao Chenyi respectfully, and left.
“Go ahead. I hope those people are still alive.” Ao Chenyi had a sinister smile on his handsome face, which made Ao Mingyu’s heart twitch.
He did not know how things had turned out this way. He needed to kill only one or two noble ladies. Unexpectedly, not only had three of them died, but also, some of them were missing, including the Third Young Lady and the Fifth Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor, the Young Lady of Minister Xia’s Manor, and a man from the Vice Minister of Justice Ling’s Manor. Either way, all the ladies had high statuses.
However, they were all missing. How could Ao Mingyu not be frightened?
Now he only hoped that all of them would be safe. Nobody could be blamed because this thing happened so suddenly. Everyone ran away and stood on their own merits. No one could blame others. Even if he was there at that time, others could not blame him. Since it was so chaotic, it was good enough that he sought to protect himself.
But now, Ao Mingyu felt a sense of crisis. Why did Ao Chenyi suddenly appear? He even saved a few people and sent people to help put out the big fire in the main hall. Compared with Ao Chenyi, he was a good-for-nothing. However, others would only compare him with Ao Chenyi.
In comparison, Ao Mingyu was inferior to Ao Chenyi. How could Ao Mingyu be willing to be inferior to Ao Chenyi all the time?
So now, he was determined to do something. He strode out and immediately led his guards to search the back of the mountain again, because most of the people had fled there.
Seeing Ao Mingyu leave, Ao Chenyi got up and went inside. When he lifted the bead curtain, he saw Ning Xueyan leaning against the bed with a pale face.
“Your Highness, did the Third Prince do it?” Ning Xueyan raised her head and looked at Ao Chenyi quietly, clutching the quilt tightly.
It sounded like a question, but there was a firm look on her face.
Ao Chenyi suddenly chuckled. Although his laughter was pleasing, it was ice-cold, as if a sharp sword had pierced into one’s heart, which was appalling. Then, he stopped laughing and said coldly, “Yan’er, do you know that your whole clan will be implicated if you try to frame the royal family?”
“Your Highness, don’t worry. I won’t get you into trouble.” Ning Xueyan looked at Ao Chenyi quietly, with a hint of stubbornness on her delicate face. “First, when I spoke about the Fifth Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor, the man in black was stunned. He was afraid of the young ladies of the Lord Protector’s Manor. But later, according to my experience, I confirmed that I was not the person they were looking for. I’m the only one who came here today. Since he was not looking for me, he must be looking for Ning Qingshan.”
“You think he did it just because of that?” Ao Mingyu’s eyes were as cold as ice chips.
“Yes, that’s enough,” Ning Xueyan said coldly. She was hiding something. Ao Mingyu must have heard clearly that Ning Qingshan had plotted against him. Ao Mingyu, a high-ranking prince, had always thought highly of himself. Now he found that he had been framed by Ning Qingshan three years ago. How could he not be angry? Besides, when she entered the Buddha Hall, Ao Mingyu had other intentions.
