Chapter 649: Come, eat candy!

"Master, isn't this too risky?" Meng huddled in a narrow passage, anxiously looking at Gu Jiu Ling.

The passage he and Gu Jiu Ling were in resembled a gourd shape, with a tiny exit that only allowed one person to crouch through.

Moreover, only a slender woman could do it; fortunately Meng had practiced Bone Shrinking Technique, so getting in was not difficult.

The inside space was much larger than the passage, but still not large—about half a room.

Gu Jiu Ling leaned against the cold stone wall, caught her breath, and lifted her arm to bandage the wound on her arm.

She had considered using chicken blood or the like to confuse them, but the Eight Great Clans aren't all fools; if the other side noticed anything, all her prior preparations would come to nothing.

Fortunately, when Gu Jiu Ling initially cut her own arm to feign serious injury, she still exercised some restraint—it was merely a superficial wound.

Meng looked at Gu Jiu Ling's wound and said, "Master, you really don't need to do this."

After bandaging her wound, she spoke with a steady gaze: "If it weren't made to look real, how would those people fall for it?"

"The Eight Great Clans schemed against my maternal grandfather; later, on the road, they tried to kill me countless times but failed. Plus there's the Prince's Azure Dragon Army—these debts need to be settled, one by one."

"Meng, have you made contact with Minister Gu?"

Meng hurriedly replied, "Subordinate sent the message ahead; Minister Gu has already received it."

"The Prince doesn't know, does he?" Gu Jiu Ling asked, feeling a little guilty.

"The Prince is unaware, and Minister Gu keeps his mouth shut," Meng said, feeling uneasy—he was a confidant personally cultivated by the Prince, and he didn't want to join the Princess Consort in deceiving the Prince this time.

He also didn't know whether what he was doing was right or wrong, but the Princess Consort always gave him the feeling that following her would not be a mistake.

The Princess Consort simply had this talent for calming people's hearts.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the cave entrance, and then someone arrived at the entrance.

"Princess Consort!" Meng instantly became alert, gripping the knife in his hand tightly.

"Hehe! The prey has finally taken the bait!"

Gu Jiu Ling pushed Meng aside, bent her waist and squatted at the cave entrance; that distance also made it hard for those outside to grab her.

The footsteps outside stopped, and after a moment a hoarse voice sounded.

"Princess Consort of Rui, how are you holding up in there?"

Gu Jiu Ling gave a light laugh: "Yo! Who's this? Your voice changed—are you afraid of the light?"

The black-robed person gave a light laugh: "Even at death's door you're still tough-mouthed!"

"If you come out now, I might still spare your life!"

"Ha!" Gu Jiu Ling seemed to hear the funniest joke in the world: "You'll let me go? You say that, and even ghosts wouldn't believe it! Today I've been blocked here by you lot—at most it's just death; I'll never hand over my head to you."

"Really? Don't you want to see Prince Rui?" the black-robed person said, a chill in their tone, "You've risked life and limb for him, spared no effort to devour tigers with your own body, personally infiltrated Yingzhou, burned our provisions, marked his attack points for him—so what do you gain in the end?"

"If you die, given Xiao Yin's status, wouldn't he surely take another wife?"

"By then your two children might not be the sole legitimate son and daughter; with such a huge sacrifice, who exactly benefits?"

Gu Jiu Ling really froze for a moment, thinking to herself, "This old hand is quite good at psychological warfare; if I didn't have a retreat, I might really have fallen for his words."

She steadied herself and laughed loudly: "I and the Prince are true love! You'd better worry about yourself instead."

The black-robed person's voice instantly turned cold, they slowly stepped back, stared fixedly at the cave mouth, and made a hand signal.

Immediately, several guards used Bone Shrinking Technique to crawl in through the cave mouth; because the opening was too small, they couldn't all go at once, only able to go in one after another in a line.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the first person crawled in, a heart-rending scream rang out—instantly their throat was pierced, their body covered in blood, and they were shoved out of the cave mouth.

Those following behind were each frightened pale, continually retreating.

One after another went in, and each met the same miserable fate.

The black-robed person also couldn't sit still; for them, every moment wasted here reduced their chance of escape.

"Someone! Break open that cave mouth!"

Another batch rushed in, wielding axes, halberds, swords—even the iron hammer was about to spark from swinging—yet the cave mouth remained unmoved.

No one knew what this rock wall was carved with; it was practically harder than mysterious iron.

The black-robed person could no longer stay seated; they rose and walked a few steps toward the cave mouth, wishing they could personally drag out the rat hiding in the cave and tear it to pieces.

He paced back and forth, originally hoping to capture this woman, perhaps then negotiate with Xiao Yin for maximum gain.

Failing that, he'd rather kill her in Xiao Yin's presence, driving him even madder.

Anyway, Qi Sha Gu had already driven that person mad; doing this again would let him watch his beloved die before his eyes.

The black-robed person's footsteps stopped; they stared fixedly at the cave mouth, drew a deep breath, and slowly said, "Gu Jiu Ling! Will you come out or not?"

From inside the cave came Gu Jiu Ling's light laughter.

"If you want this old lady to come out, fine—kneel and beg me!"

The black-robed person's face darkened, then they suddenly laughed—having swallowed a Voice-Changing Pill, their voice sounded hoarse and gloomy, like a night owl's desperate revelry.

"Hahaha... I gave you a chance; since that's the case, you'd better not come out."

The last few words, the black-robed person practically spat out each word.

"Someone! Pour fire oil on me and burn!"

"Master!" Meng heard the outside words, his scalp tingling—there were no other passages where they were, only some just barely wide enough for a bird to pass, still allowing ventilation so they wouldn't suffocate.

Gu Jiu Ling lowered her eyes slightly and said calmly, "Don't panic! Just watch what he does."

Meng also didn't know why he'd followed the Princess Consort to such a frenzy—this was clearly a life-or-death situation, yet the Princess Consort remained so composed.

Soon after, waves of thick smoke seeped in through the cracks, and various fire oils were poured in.

Meng took out the damp cloth he had prepared earlier and handed it to Gu Jiu Ling.

"Princess Consort! Please endure a little; I'll charge out and fight them to the death, then you can seize the opportunity to act."

Gu Jiu Ling smiled faintly: "Don't panic."

She really wasn't panicking; this play had only just reached its crucial point—how could she abandon it halfway?

"Come over, have a piece of candy!"

Gu Jiu Ling smiled and waved at Meng.

"Our hometown's self-invented candy is very delicious, chocolate-flavored; come over and get it!"

Meng froze there, what does this mean?

Although the Princess Consort often makes food for them, this time her act of sending candy somehow makes him feel creepy.

He still forced himself to go over.