Unedited. Will be updated in a few hours.
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When Lily and Zhou Jingren arrived in the Palace, they were immediately welcomed by the Duke and Duchess. However, instead of asking questions, the two asked Zhou Jingren and Lily to follow them into the underground area of the palace.
When Lily entered the underground facility of the palace, she let out a surprised gasp. She eyed the white walls, bright lights, and tiled from, clear surprise written on her face.
“What? Did you expect a dark dungeon with dying people?” the Duchess laughed when she Lily act that way. However, this glee didn’t last too long. Her smile soon turned sour as she thought of Lily’s request for a secret medical facility. While the Duke and Duchess immediately complied without asking questions, they still could not help but feel nervous about this request.
Was Lily planning to kidnap someone? Was she planning on doing something dangerous? Questions piled up in the Duchess’ brain as she looked at Zhou Jingren and Lily’s calm appearance as they started walking inside the secret underground facility that only royals had access to.
“This is a complete underground facility for the Royals.” The Duke explained while giving Lily a wry smile. She was Royalty, and yet she says she’s not and now… she is requesting something that only Royal’s had accessed. Honestly, this is starting to confuse the Duke…
Lily pursed her lips in response. She eyed the beds next to the machines that can only be seen in the hospitals. Along with the smell of disinfectants, this space really looked like a hospital. “This is just a precaution.” She said. “Is this place secured?”
The Duke nodded. “I have… I already made sure that everyone here can be trusted.” He made sure to send the traitors that Zhou Jingren told him about out of the palace before they arrived. “Do you need to tell me something?”
Lily and Zhou Jingren looked at each other before Lily nodded. Almost immediately Zhou Jingren started speaking, “We have a reason to believe that someone is after Madam Luo’s life. We don’t know who they are. But after Lily talked to the older woman earlier, she noticed that there was something wrong. We already sent our people to Madam Luo’s house. But we discovered that she was not in the house. So… we took his grandson instead. He will be coming to the palace in a couple of minutes. As for Madam Luo— we can’t locate her yet.”
Horror flashed in the Duchess’ eyes. She staggered, face paled. ‘Grandma Luo? Are you sure? Then… we should call the— “
“Calm down.” The Duke immediately patted his wife’s back. “Calm down. Don’t panic.” The Duke knew that Zhou Jingren and Lily were holding some information from him. But the words that he just heard just now are better than nothing. Especially from the man that already promised to help him deal with the people who are planning to revolt.
“This is the safest place in the country. So we chose to bring them here. I hope you don’t mind.”
The Duke immediately shook his head. Of course, he understood why they chose this place as not many people would have the courage to attack a highly secured facility like this. After all, not many would want to deal with a country’s whole military force. “Do you want me to ask my men to— “
“No.” Zhou Jingren shook his head. “Our people could handle it.” Both men stopped talking when Lily asked the Duchess to sit down. The two women then walked towards one of the beds and took a seat, with Lily comforting the Duchess. “Does she know?” Zhou Jingren asked.
“I was trying to tell her earlier when you called me.” The Duke’s expression turned grave. “Grandma Luo… This scheme…. Does this have anything to do with the Activists?” It was known that the older woman is loved in Luxembourg.
She was well known and most people would always invite her in gatherings and would even send her flowers every day. In return, the older woman would send her pastries to her neighbors and some other nobles who loved her.
Madam Luo’s death would surely stir up a lot of people. What if the left party would find a way to use this against the government? With the power of the media and people, this is a very easy thing to do.
“No. I don’t think so.” Zhou Jingren said. “Lily noticed that some people were watching her house earlier but… we don’t think they were from the left group. Moreover, that Pierre might be stupid but I honestly don’t think he had the guts to hurt an old woman.”
“He hurt himself and his wife.” The Duke said. “A person who is hell-bent on gaining power would hurt anyone that is on their way.”
“You have a point.” Zhou Jingren smiled. “Still… I don’t think he would do something that could expose him. A person like him who acts like a fool in front of many people but managed to poison the whole royal family is not someone that would send assassins to kill an older woman.”
“Fair enough.” The Duke nodded. Pierre is a very cautious man. If he wanted to kill Madam Luo, he would surely utilize poison instead of kidnapping which would attract the attention of the media.
The sound of Zhou Jingren’s phone interrupted the silence inside the facility. He immediately answered the call. Slowly, his face turned dark, his jaws clenched.
“I see.” He nodded. “Bring everyone in the palace. I already asked Yuanfeng to help us out with any surveillance cameras or recordings near the place. Yes. Alright. Be careful.” He ended the call and looked at Lily.
“We found her.” He said. “Jichen was able to arrive right before they attacked Madam Luo in an Alley. Jichen said… they were professionals. He sustained a couple of injuries but was not able to kill one of them.”
“And… Madam Luo?” The Duchess asked as tears started pooling in her eyes. “Grandmother Luo?”
“She tried to kick one assassin, attracting the man’s attention. She sustained a knife wound in her stomach. They are already on their way here. Prepare yourselves. We need to save the older woman.”
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Mass Release: Sunday or Monday? I am still thinking. But there will be a mass release to save you from the cliffhanger! hehehhe
