“Motherfucker, that bastard was hiding his real strength! He had evil designs after all!” Zhao Xi tried to run after him, but he couldn’t catch up. Spittle flew everywhere as he cursed out.
“Don’t chase after him. The mountain depths are full of dangers. It’ll be bad if he guides us into another beast’s territory.” Bi Linglong gave the order, “Lock up all the Pei clan’s people first.”
The Pei clan’s warriors were alarmed. While facing the encirclement of the other clans, all of them looked as if they were going to fight to the death.
Fortunately, Bi Linglong said, “I believe that you didn’t know about the matter of Pei You. As long as you lower your weapons, I guarantee your safety on my name. Once we leave this dungeon, you will be tried by the court.”
The Pei clan’s warriors looked at each other in dismay. In the end, they gave up their resistance out of respect for the crown princess’ usual prestige. After all, now that the Pei clan’s young master had fled, they were without a leader. They would undoubtedly die if they really fought and would only be able to drag some people down with them at most. Since the crown princess had already given them this promise, they wanted to keep their lives as well.
After the Pei clan’s people were locked up, the other young masters went to the crown prince’s tent to discuss what to do.
“It’s really just one disaster after another.” Liu Xian fanned himself with his already somewhat tattered fan. He released a heavy sigh.
Gao Xing also said with a frown, “There’s another matter that’s more important. In our group, only Pei You alone had a way of tracking the Jade Moon Serpent. There’s no way any of us could find it in such a huge mountain, so how can we even complete this mission?”
Gu Heng asked, “How about we find Sir Zu again? Since he could accurately avoid these beasts’ nests, he’s probably familiar with this mountain. He should have a way.”
When they heard Gu Heng, the others looked at him with raised eyebrows. Even Bi Linglong gave him a few odd looks.
Gu Heng’s face heated up. “I was indeed a bit dissatisfied with Sir Zu before, and jealous that he was able to obtain the crown princess’ trust. But now that I know he really has the skill, and this trip is related to the crown prince’s great exam, how can I let my own private grievances affect the greater situation?”
Bi Linglong couldn’t help but say, “Big brother Gu, thank you!”
Gu Heng’s entire body seemed to weaken when he heard her call him ‘big brother Gu’. She had only called him that when they were still young. It had already been a long time since he had heard her call him that.
“We don’t dare to receive gratitude for doing our job in helping the crown princess.” Gu Xing quickly spoke up. He couldn’t just let his big brother take all the spotlight.
The group discussed things a bit longer, and then decided to act when the sky brightened again. It was too dangerous to move at night in the mountains. They would send some people to look for Zu An during the day.
Then, they returned to their tents to rest. After multiple successive days of great battles, all of them were wounded. Loud snoring quickly echoed through the tents.
Even though Bi Linglong was tired, she was worried about the results of the mission, so she couldn’t sleep at all.
Suddenly she heard footsteps outside her tent. She turned around and asked, “Who is it?”
“It’s us.” The Gu brothers both spoke simultaneously.
“Is there something you need?” Bi Linglong frowned.
“We have something to report to the crown princess,” Gu Heng said.
Bi Linglong tightened her collar and said sternly, “It’s already late. Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”
“This matter is related to everyone’s safety. It’ll be too late if we talk about it tomorrow,” Gu Xing said.
After some hesitation, Bi Linglong picked up the cloak next to her, and then wrapped it around herself. “Come in then.”
The Gu clan brothers quickly entered. When they went inside, they immediately looked around. They saw that Bi Linglong was the only one inside.
“The crown prince doesn’t sleep here?” Gu Xing exclaimed, shocked.
After all, Bi Linglong and the crown prince sleeping separately was a secret that only a few in the Eastern Palace knew about. In order to prevent others from knowing their secret, she had always pretended to sleep in the same tent as the crown prince.
Bi Linglong’s expression turned cold as she said, “That’s not something you should be asking about.”
“Of course, of course. I was too rude,” Gu Xing said with a chuckle.
Bi Linglong didn’t want to continue talking about that subject and instead asked, “What did you want to tell me?”
Gu Heng asked, “Does the crown princess feel that the main culprit this time really was Pei You?”
“Why would you suddenly say that now?” Bi Linglong’s beautiful brows furrowed.
Gu Xing said, “Let me explain. When us brothers went back and discussed this matter, we felt that the situation was too strange. Zu An was chased away, and all of the proof pointed at him back then, yet we ended up wronging him. That means we might have made the same mistake with Pei You today. It looks like he’s the mastermind, but it might very well be someone else.”
He secretly sized up Bi Linglong while speaking. This was the first time he had seen her in her ‘inner chambers’. Even though she had a cloak wrapped around her, he could still vaguely see her clothes underneath. It looked as if she didn’t even have time to change. Her clothes had been damaged during the battles, so there were areas that exposed her fair skin.
Bi Linglong hesitated and said, “But Pei You has a motive, and there were suspicious actions. He even left with a guilty conscience…”
Gu Heng asked, “Wasn’t Zu An the same before?”
Bi Linglong asked seriously, “Then who do you two think is the real perpetrator?”
“We suspect Meng Pan. That fella has always been targeting Zu An, and he took part in chasing away Pei You too. It’s hard to not suspect his motives.”
“Meng Pan?” Bi Linglong began to think to herself.
Gu Heng used this chance to examine her up close. Her slightly furrowed brows really tugged at his heart. Sigh, that fat pig of a crown prince is really neglecting a woman as stunning as her? The desire in his eyes burned stronger and stronger.
Bi Linglong seemed to have sensed something. Her bright red lips opened and she said, “I understand. You two can go back first. I’ll think this matter over.”
The Gu clan brothers exchanged a look, and then they quickly asked, “How about we call over Gao Ying and King Liang’s people to detain Meng Pan first?”
Bi Linglong calmly replied, “I still need to think over this matter. The two of you should go back for now. It’s already quite late.”
The Gu clan brothers exclaimed, “But the situation is pressing. We should act now!”
Bi Linglong’s voice grew cold. “Are you two trying to teach me how to make decisions? Truth be told, even though Meng Pan is suspicious, the two of you aren’t completely free from suspicion either. The two of you took part in chasing away Zu An, as well as Pei You.”
Gu Heng’s expression changed. “The crown princess actually suspects us?”
Bi Linglong said, “I obviously don’t suspect you; it’s just that it is already late. It’s not proper for the two of you to be here. If there’s anything else, we should talk about it tomorrow.”
A conflicted expression flickered across Gu Heng’s face. He was clearly hesitating over something.
Gu Xing snickered and asked, “Big bro, aren’t you a bit too indecisive? You want to taste flesh, yet you still want to seem honorable doing it? Once we go back, I guarantee that she’ll immediately order the others to arrest us.”
Gu Heng sighed. “If not because there was no other choice, I wouldn’t want it to be like this either.”
Bi Linglong was alarmed. “What are you two saying?”
Gu Xing chuckled. “Linglong, you’ve always been rather smart ever since you were little. We know that as well. That’s why there’s no need for you to pretend in front of us.”
Bi Linglong finally dropped the pretense and quickly shouted, “Guards! Hurry and come in!” Unfortunately, not a single one of the guards that should have been standing outside heeded her call.
Gu Heng shook his head. “Crown princess, there’s no need for you to tire yourself out. They won’t come.”
“What did you do to them?” Bi Linglong wanted to go out and take a look, but Gu Xing stood in her way.
“It’s nothing much, really. We just placed some sleeping powder in the bonfire earlier, so they’re probably snoring away like pigs right now.” Gu Xing said, “Forget about them; even the Liu clan, Meng clan, and King Liang Manor’s people should be the same.”
Gu Heng sighed. “If you had agreed with us to arrest Meng Pan, then we wouldn’t have been forced to do this. After all, we were childhood friends who grew up together.”
“Why? Why would you two betray me?!” Bi Linglong slowly backed up.
When he heard her words, the usually steadfast Gu Heng immediately felt excited. “Linglong, do you really not know? You’re an intelligent person, so you probably knew how we felt about you a long time ago. However, you’ve always pretended to not know a thing all these years! Instead, you only used our affection for you to help you accomplish what you needed.”
Bi Linglong’s expression sank. “You two should understand the difference in our statuses! There’s no way that could happen!”
“Why can’t it happen?” Gu Heng’s face became a bit sinister. It was no longer as calm as usual. “Even that idiotic pig bastard was able to obtain you, so why can’t we? Which part of us isn’t a hundred times better than him? Is it only because we were born under your Bi clan’s branch clan? Is that why you’ve never even considered us?”
Bi Linglong sighed. “I always saw the two of you as brothers. I’ve never had any other feelings.”
“Isn’t it because you look down on our backgrounds?” Gu Xing sneered. “Since you have contempt for the Gu clan, a second-rate branch clan, we’ll turn the Gu clan into a first rate clan just like your Bi clan. Wouldn’t we be of equal status then?”
Bi Linglong harrumphed. “Have you still not woken up from your delusions?”
Gu Xing roared with laughter. “Indeed, in a normal situation, an auxiliary clan like ours is nothing to your Bi clan. Of course there’s no way we could be of equal status as you. That’s why we could only try a different method.
“Fortunately, King Qi is incredibly wise and capable, and he also recruits talents from everywhere. As long as we could help him accomplish this mission, that would be a tremendous feat. The Gu clan would obviously be able to rise up to the ranks of a first-rate clan, while your Bi clan would become our Gu clan’s branch clan.
“Linglong, don’t worry. Even after King Qi rises to the throne, you still won’t be in danger. Instead, you’ll become our Gu clan’s madam. That’s also one of the conditions King Qi promised us.
“The more important question right now is, which of us brothers will you choose?”
