Holding the jade pendant, Li Qingjun stood completely still and felt perplexed.
Qin Yi was very wrong to have called her dumb, as essentially, Li Qingjun wasn’t any dumber than Qin Yi himself. However, as the only princess of Nanli, she was used to living like the center of the world. No matter what trouble she made, her father and older brothers would always dote on her. Growing up, she had never needed to think over anything carefully, and with time, she became a reckless girl.
The moment she was given the jade pendant, she was overwhelmed with an ominous feeling. It suddenly occurred to her that she was only facing the problem of who to marry, and her unreasonable behavior wouldn’t be able to solve it. Instead, the greatest change that Nanli had ever seen was upon her, and it could determine the kingdom’s fate.
Her brother had chased her off the night before because they had to discuss something she found unacceptable.
Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, her brother had kept both her and Qin Yi in the dark. As a result, she didn’t have a clue what to do and didn’t know what she could do to help him.
Wait… She knew someone who must have the answer!
Li Qingjun spun around and ran toward Night Wing’s little courtyard.
Night Wing was lying flat on her stomach on the floor and taking a nap under a small duvet. The pill Qin Yi gave her the day before was used to treat internal injuries in humans and wasn’t exactly meant to treat her symptoms. But it still had some healing properties, and the feeling of her wounds healing made her very sleepy. She had been sleeping for 10 or 12 hours but still didn’t feel like waking up.
The door was smashed open with a loud clang, and Night Wing bolted up. Li Qingjun immediately noticed the wings snapping open on her back and the fierce, murderous look on her little face.
The next second, she recognized Li Qingjun, and the wings sagged. She looked rather embarrassed when she said, “Y- Your Royal Highness…”
“Night Wing, you’re very scary…” Li Qingjun slowly walked into the room.
“Well, that… I’m just grumpy when I get up…” Night Wing slowly backed away.
“So, those are your wings… I used to think they were only your cape.”
Night Wing had backed into a corner, and Li Qingjun stopped a short distance away from her. She didn’t put a lot of pressure on Night Wing but only watched her quietly.
Lowering her head, Night Wing murmured, “Your Royal Highness, I’m a demon.”
“That explains a lot of things: you’re only a young guard, but not only do you have a courtyard of your own, you were also given the task of protecting Qin Yi—although you didn’t carry out your duty at all.” Li Qingjun didn’t sound surprised and only spoke in a low voice. “That surging demonic energy yesterday was because of you, wasn’t it? That was why my brother and Qin Yi came to your place when they wanted to talk. So… you know very well what my brother and Qin Yi are up to, don’t you?”
“I really have no idea. Qin Yi didn’t agree with your brother’s proposal, so His Royal Highness left on his own…”
“What proposal?”
Night Wing crouched down and wrapped her wings around her head. “I didn’t hear them clearly…”
Looking from her black feathers to the hole in the ceiling, which was still charred around the edges, Li Qingjun studied them for a long while before she slowly said, “A black demon. You were the one who killed my oldest brother.”
Night Wing jumped to her feet and ran towards the backyard.
“Don’t run,” Li Qingjun said calmly. “If it was you, then you’re my second brother’s weapon.”
Night Wing halted.
“That’s why even Qin Yi has been keeping secrets. He didn’t want me to know this.” Li Qingjun smiled in a self-mocking way. “I was such a fool. There were so many signs, and I should have recognized them.”
Night Wing studied her face carefully and realized that her calmness was genuine.
Li Qingjun opened her palm, revealing Li Qinglin’s jade pendant, and the look on her face became even more indescribable.
That was Li Qinglin’s last resort, and he had given it to her. Judging by how the necro bug reacted when it touched the pendant, it was a real treasure which was probably more valuable than all of entire Nanli.
“You’re my brother’s biggest loophole now, so why didn’t he kill you?” Li Qingjun suddenly asked.
Night Wing hesitated and shook her head.
As a matter of fact, she still didn’t think Li Qinglin’s reason made sense when he let her live, saying that it was because of her interaction with Minghe.
The most convincing explanation seemed to be that Li Qinglin had been moved with compassion and tried to protect her, even if at the price of leaving a huge loose end.
Studying the jade pendant, Li Qingjun murmured, “No matter what they discussed last night, since Qin Yi didn’t agree, I don’t want to know. But I do want to know what my brother is doing now?”
Night Wing pursed her lips. At first, she thought she knew more but didn’t want to talk about it, but now, she realized she didn’t necessarily know more because she didn’t know the answer to that question either.
Something suddenly clicked in Li Qingjun’s head. “Sh*t! Qin Yi has gone to court all by himself! He’s in danger!”
She then grabbed her spear and headed out, forgetting all about her unanswered questions.
A shadow flashed across the room, and Night Wing blocked her way. There was a very serious look on her adorable little face. “If you go out now, you’ll be all by yourself.”
Her speed made Li Qingjun narrow her eyes, but she didn’t blame Night Wing for stopping her and only said, “Come with me, then. Aren’t you Qin Yi’s guard?”
Night Wing said solemnly, “I can, but you can’t. Right now, to both His Royal Highness and Qin Yi, your safety is the top priority. The only place you should go now is to Qin Yi’s backyard and stand right next to the wooden sword formation. Apart from Minghe, no one can touch you when you’re there.”
Li Qingjun glared at her. “I didn’t become a warrior so that I could hide somewhere like a sewing noble lady and have other people protect me.”
Night Wing pursed her lips. “Unfortunately, in this game, your skills aren’t much more effective than embroidery.”
She looked up at the sky through the hole in the ceiling. White clouds were floating in the sky, and the wind changed their shape.
“Your Royal Highness, it’ll probably take me one stance to kill you,” she said quietly, “But Donghuazi has countless demons like me in his service.”
…
Qin Yi was running aimlessly in the crowd, making a mess wherever he went. He felt like he was in a Jackie Chan movie.
He had to. Although the first scuffle looked rather impressive, the other side still had a lot of people, and he would be doomed if they caught up with him. They were even waiting for him on the way to the crown prince’s residence, making it impossible to go back.
They actually had a solid plan for their attack, which had covered the possibility of him running away. They wanted to make sure that they would take him out.
However, the last thing they expected was that Qin Yi would recognize one of them, which led to their downfall.
The spiked club smashed down and the sound resembled the roar of a tiger, hitting a stalwart man in the waist and almost cutting him in half. Qin Yi stepped over the dead body without hesitation. Instead of going to Li Qinglin’s residence, he headed for the princess’s.
He didn’t know that Li Qingjun hadn’t gone back, but he knew that if Li Qingjun was at her own place at the moment, she would be in danger and he had to meet up with her.
It was easy to guess why Donghuazi and Mang Zhan wanted to kill him—they wanted to settle the marriage between Li Qingjun and Mang Zhan before the king died. With Qin Yi dead, the king might be angry, but he wouldn’t have to make a difficult choice anymore.
But there was another way to achieve that, which was an open secret. They could always drug Li Qingjun.
If Mang Zhan got to Li Qingjun first, all would be doomed. Nanli might be a remote little kingdom, but it was a civilized place. Judging by how shy Li Qingjun was when she was in love, she must be quite concerned about her chastity. If it got to that point, she would either kill herself or give in to fate.
Therefore, if an ambush had been planned for Qin Yi, someone might try to snatch her from her residence as well.
Maybe they had heard of Li Qingjun’s staunchness in her moral integrity and feared that she might kill herself if they forced her. However, since they had failed to kill Qin Yi during the ambush, they might have to turn to their last resort.
The king could die any day, and they had to settle things before that happened. They didn’t have time to waste.
Qin Yi ran faster when he figured that out, but his mind only became calmer.
There was a commotion up ahead when another team arrived to cut him off. One of them said, “Hey, why does this Qin Yi look so familiar?”
That was the other man who was responsible for the original Qin Yi’s death.
Qin Yi remained unperturbed. He quickened his footsteps and dashed into an alley on the side.