Wanyan Ba withdrew his glaring eyes immediately and glimpsed at Leng Changxi disdainfully, “I just disdain a dog barks under the protection of its master.”
Leng Changxi smiled and said nothing. Looking at Maomu on the ground in the bloody woolen gown, he did not sympathize with the man at all. He turned and went back behind Wanyan Su. The Grand Khan of North Di noticed this ugly but competent stranger, and then he said to Wanyan Su, “The respected guest beside you has excellent eyesight. He even could find such a small silver needle in the waist of Maomu.”
What the Grand Khan said was not only praise and also a tentative to Leng Changxi. Wanyan Su gave a respectful salute to Grand Khan of North Di, “Young Master Tuoba has some extraordinary capacities, indeed.”
Prince Regent glimpsed at the bloody Maomu and then ordered people to drag him away. Maomu had worked for Prince Regent for over two years, who got a great reputation by many contests. It cost a whole life of a hero to gain his fame but only a while for him to be ruined. Now Maomu lost his life and fame. Prince Regent urged to get rid of Maomu because he just wanted to keep himself clear.
“It seems to be disappointing today,” Prince Regent laughed, but Qin Yunuan could feel clearly his uneasiness by the rapid pulse, “Brother, you look a little bit tired, and you need to have a rest. Shall we postpone the contest?”
The Grand Khan of North Di nodded. Those servants had entirely cleaned the arena. The audience had never thought such an end. Prince Regent knew well how to comfort people. They had dispatched people to explain to the ordinary people early.
Qin Yunuan, covered by a filmy white veil, saw that the followers of Prince Regent were persuading those common people not to be so urgent. She thought something. It could be concluded that Prince Regent and the Grand Prince were in the same group, and at least they did not oppose each other, judging by the Grand Prince’s aid for Prince Regent. Compared with Grand Prince, who was very reckless and impatient, Prince Regent gained not only the trust of Grand Khan of North Di, but also the trust of his followers and ordinary people.
Prince Regent was the one who was more terrible than the Grand Prince. What was awful was that Prince Regent had never shown that he was eager and ambitious to gain the position of the emperor, which made the ordinary people and Grand Khan of North Di believe in him more.
The most trusted man might not be the man with the least ambition. He might hide himself deeply. Qin Yunuan knew this clearly.
Many people left the feast. Prince Regent arranged considerate singing and dancing show at the arena. The wild singing and dancing of North Di did not attract Qin Yunuan and Leng Changxi. Quickly, there was only Wanyan Su in his seats who was drinking koumiss alone.
At a nook, four servants of North Di were wrapping an adult man by a piece of old cowhide quickly. There was already a big hole near the corpse. They threw the man into the hole and filled in soil. In the end, they treaded the ground to tamp the hole. The four people should leave quickly as usual, but they were reluctant to go in front of the simple grave. They left until they paid the respects to the buried man according to the tradition of North Di.
The moment the four people left, several men in black jumped from the wall. They targeted this corpse.
…
The dim light made people sleepy. The waist of a man on the bed was wrapped by white gauze. He had been sleeping and seemed not to wake up anymore.
The room had its back to the sun and was a little bit damp. The door was opened, and a woman in black cloak approached slowly. She glimpsed at the man on the bed coldly and frowned. And then she just said to the man sideways who entered the room together with her, “Splash water to wake him up.”
A barrel of cold water was splashed to the man, drenching the clothes and white gauze of the man on the bed. The cold stimulation of the wound made the man sit up, and the man’s face was exposed to the orange sunset. He was Maomu who was killed by Leng Changxi publicly.
“You are awake finally.” The woman in a cloak took off her hat, which covered her face. A candlestick with a light on was taken into the room.
Maomu on the bed looked at the man behind the woman in surprise. He said, “You are from Bochaerji. I remember you have been poisoned.”
Qin Yunuan took off the cloak and sat down with a smile. She poured a cup of tea, “Warrior Maomu, you should have been dead now originally.”
“Who are you?” Maomu looked at Qin Yunuan doubtfully, “Was it you who saved me?” And then he denied his guess, “No. I remember you are from the Fourth Prince. It was the ugly monster beside the Fourth Prince who poked me by a dagger. You are from his group. Who on earth are you?”
Qin Yunuan sipped the tea. Cool tea made her eyes clearer, “I was the woman who framed you, and the woman who killed you, but the woman who saved you.”
Maomu suddenly understood. That was a circle designed early, and he was just the one utilized in those tricks.
Qin Yunuan decided to tell the truth. She took out the silver needle in her waist, which was identical to the one in the waist of Maomu, “You did not assassinate the warrior of Bochaerji. His wound was made by the people I dispatched. The poison of Tripterygium wilfordii was just smeared on the surface of his wound. Song Lian did not think that the inside of the wound was not poisoned when he was checking. Warriors always carry magnets in their waists for their safety. He just hid the silver needle on the magnet in his waist. The silver needle would be attracted by the bigger magnet in your waist when you two were battling. And as for your wound…”
Qi Yunuan glimpsed at Maomu, “Don’t you know that the place of three inches below of the rip would cause much bleeding but no life threat?”
“Why did you do that?” Maomu would rush to tear Qin Yunuan up if he was OK. How come this woman made fun of her?
“Because we need you.” Qin Yunuan smiled. Her smile seemed to make sure that Maomu would not act easily, “But I should not expose our relationship. So you should be dead once, and by the way, I could check more details about Prince Regent. Judging by his reactions later, I think he is a nice prince and a good rival.”
Maomu sneered, “The prince is the most powerful man. In North Di, nobody dares to irritate the prince. He loves his people in this country, and he is very sincere and kindly…”
“Don’t say those words that you even don’t believe,” Qin Yunuan glimpsed at Maomu disdainfully, “If he loved his people really, why would he have poisoned you?”
Maomu felt so astonished and then distracted the topic, “You have not told you who you are. You are the person dispatched by the Fourth Prince, so was it he who dispatched you to loot me?”
Facing the outrageous Maomu, Qin Yunuan just smiled slightly. Her smiled was like a tranquil seven-color flower in the middle of a desert, which made people quiet. But for Maomu, her smile was a bigger provocation.
Maomu looked at Qin Yunuan, gritting his teeth. With the pain of the open wounds, he suddenly jumped up from the bed, and then reached his hands and was about to drag the neck of Qin Yunuan. The guards for protecting Qin Yunuan had withdrawn, so now there was only one feeble woman in this room. For Maomu, it was the best chance to strike her, but he was stopped by hands from the dark suddenly.
The strong hand pinched the right hand of Maomu heavily. Maomu’s thick wrist was like a toothpick, which was easy to be broken, compared with the arm. In the dark, a man with an ironic mask walked out. Maomu recognized that he was the ugly monster beside the Fourth Prince.
“You guys!”
Qin Yunuan smiled quietly. She had never worried about her safety when Leng Changxi was protecting her closely.
“I have told you that you have been poisoned for about three to four years. You have met with Prince Regent for about three to four years too.”
Qin Yunuan’s words were exact, but Maomu was still stubborn, “Prince can’t hurt me.”
“You do not believe my words. But if the most competent poison-maker told you the truth, would you believe?”
Maomu was a little bit stunned. Qin Yunuan had turned back to introduce another person. The man was in Central Plains dress but had the facial features in North Di, deep eyeholes and tall nose, which made her handsome face more charming.
The man was very elegant. One who had worked for Qin Yunuan for a long time seemed to gain some calm and unique characteristics of the lady.
“I am Lu Wuyi.”
Lu Wuyi, the first inheritor of Lu Family, was good at detoxification and poison-utilization. His high medical skills had been well known by all countries.
Qin Yunuan smiled at Lu Wuyi. After Lu Wuyi escaped from Third Prince Sima Ray, he took the silk bag given by Qin Yunuan and went to the east of the city and found Yuanyang successfully who was an ordinary person now. After Yuanyang went to Qingzhou with the commander’s seal in the silk bag by herself, Lu Wuyi stayed at the courtyard to take care of injured Maner and Ting Xue for a time. When the two people were healed, Sima Ray had controlled the Royal City completely. He knew that he should not stay in the city any longer and then went to North Di because he had some life experience in North Di from his study tour before. The moment he came to North Di, he received the invitation from the Fourth Prince of North Di, Wanyan Su.
He was curious that he had no acquaintance with the prince of North Di. Later he knew that Qin Yunuan had been out of the woods. People in the Royal City believed the First General in Qi, Leng Changxi, and his wife Qin Yunuan had died in the fire.
The reason why Lu Wuyi decided to help Qin Yunuan was the magical treasure Qin Yunuan mentioned. He was not eager to be rich, but he agreed to help Qin Yunuan after he knew that the treasure could help him go back to Qi, and he could kill Sima Ray to revenge for his respected master Su Chenghai. He tried his best to detoxify the warrior from North Di, Maomu, because this man was the key to find the treasure.
