Chapter 699

At that moment Jiu Yue felt a bit dazed; the master had always been pleasant with them, and even though the master's actions were strict and demanding, she would never lose composure and scold them like this.

Something must have happened.

The master was probably seeking help in disguise; Jiu Yue glanced at Yun Duo standing to the side and felt that Yun Duo had changed a lot.

But she couldn't pinpoint what had changed.

Or perhaps they had been different for a while; these days they followed the master east and west, and hadn't paid much attention to these subtle details.

"Yes!" Jiu Yue stepped back slowly, then gently closed the door of the main hall.

The moment the door shut, Jiu Yue turned and hurried toward the front courtyard; just as she passed the moon gate, she saw Ling Feng walking toward her and quickly went to meet him.

"Ling elder brother!"

"Jiu Yue?" Ling Feng still held some children's items in his hands, preparing to take them to the rear courtyard.

The two young princes and princesses were of noble birth; he had followed Xiao Yin for many years, felt happy for the master, and had privately prepared a gift for them.

He had just walked halfway when he unexpectedly encountered the panicked Jiu Yue; he froze for a moment, then quickly grabbed her arm.

Jiu Yue had been running hastily, stumbled and almost fell, but Ling Feng steadied her.

Jiu Yue clung tightly to Ling Feng's arm and whispered, "Something has happened to the master."

"What are you saying?" Ling Feng was bewildered; the young princes and princesses had just returned, everyone was happy—how could something be wrong?

Jiu Yue urgently said, "I can't explain it clearly right now; the master's behavior just now was especially strange—I sense something happened, but I can't say what."

"And Yun Duo also seems odd, giving a different feeling; you must immediately order people to redeploy the defenses around the yamen, and if necessary, inform the emperor!"

Ling Feng then calmed down, recalling that when he had received the young master at the yamen gate earlier, the empress dow indeed showed abnormal behavior.

He had thought then that the empress dow missed the children too much and had lost composure upon seeing them, but recalling the scene, even if she had lost composure she wouldn't have pushed the children away.

Ling Feng's face darkened; he handed the children's belongings to Jiu Yue, turned and walked away, then suddenly remembered something, turned back and embraced Jiu Yue: "Be careful in everything!"

Jiu Yue nodded; the two had originally been engaged, waiting for the court to stabilize before holding the wedding, but one thing after another had delayed it.

Although the main hall was brightly lit, the atmosphere had frozen to an extreme.

Gu Jiu Ling sat upright in the chief seat, coldly staring at "Yun Duo" standing before her; beside her, the two little dolls stood frozen, timidly looking at the two adults.

"Where are my children?" Gu Jiu Ling's voice was chillingly cold.

"Yun Duo" slowly said, "If the mistress follows this servant, she will see them."

Gu Jiu Ling sneered, "Why should I trust you?"

"Yun Duo" took out two exquisitely polished jade ruyi, the size of a baby's fist, with holes threaded through with red silk cords.

Originally, Gu Yi and Gu Er liked to play with jade ruyi, carved from fine mutton-fat jade, warm and smooth, a toy the children loved.

Gu Jiu Ling then ordered artisans to polish a pair of jade ruyi for the children to play with, hanging them on their bodies; seeing "Yun Duo" produce this item, Gu Jiu Ling could no longer stay seated and rushed toward her.

"Yun Duo" sneered and withdrew it; Gu Jiu Ling failed to grab it, raised her hand and slapped "Yun Duo" hard across the face, lowly growling, "Innocent children—what do you want from me and Xiao Yin? Why won't you even spare a pair of children?"

"Yun Duo" was dazed by Gu Jiu Ling's slap, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth; just as she was about to counterattack, Gu Jiu Ling raised her arm, and some mechanism at her cuff released a sleeve arrow that shot straight at her.

"Yun Duo" hadn't expected that Gu Jiu Ling, as empress, carried concealed weapons; though her martial arts were strong, she could only dodge slightly, and the sleeve arrow pierced deeply into her shoulder blade.

"Yun Duo" stumbled back repeatedly, hitting the cold wall, clutching her wound and gasping as she looked at Gu Jiu Ling; a flash of hatred crossed her eyes, mixed with some fear.

Gu Jiu Ling stepped forward, coldly fixing her gaze and said, "I won't kill you; killing you would make it impossible to find my children."

"But don't get complacent—behave and lead me to see the children; when the time comes, whatever ghosts and monsters you conjure up one by one, I'll accompany you to the end!"

"Yun Duo" lowered her head, suddenly feeling that her own master shouldn't try to subdue this woman—after all, she was someone who had survived bloody battles in Yingzhou City, not someone easily controlled.

Having been reprimanded by Gu Jiu Ling, "Yun Duo" lost some of her former arrogance, gritted her teeth and struggled to rise.

Gu Jiu Ling called out coldly to the outside, "Jiu Yue, bring a change of clothes."

The anxious Jiu Yue outside hurriedly brought in the clothes; the faint smell of blood in the room made her heart tremble slightly, she glanced at "Yun Duo", set the clothes down, and retreated.

Soon after, an order came from the inner chambers: the empress wanted to take the children back to Shang Jing as quickly as possible, preparing to leave Yunzhou City overnight.

Jiu Yue grew even more panicked, standing at the inner hall door: "Servant will help the mistress pack her belongings."

From inside came Gu Jiu Ling's calm voice: "No need; Yun Duo will pack, you may withdraw."

Jiu Yue had no choice but to reply "yes," her palms already soaked with sweat.

Not long after, Gu Jiu Ling, with the children and Yun Duo, boarded the carriage directly, without taking Jiu Yue; as Jiu Yue was about to chase after them, Ling Feng grabbed her wrist.

"Jiu Yue, I have something to say," Ling Feng whispered, "come with me."

Jiu Yue knew the master didn't want her to follow, so she had to go with Ling Feng to a secluded side chamber in the outer courtyard.

At that moment, several corpses lay scattered in the side chamber, each having died of poison, black blood seeping from the corners of their mouths.

Ling Feng grabbed the nearest corpse, pulled up his hand, and tore off a human-skin mask from behind his ear; the face revealed had been ground smooth of its features, so that the mask would fit closely without exposure.

Seeing this, Jiu Yue's face drained of color; she opened her mouth and stared fearfully at Ling Feng beside her.

"This is..."

Ling Feng gritted his teeth and whispered, "Puppetry! The most infamous practice in the martial world!"

"They take four- or five-year-old children, grind away their facial features from childhood, make them wear human-skin masks, and poison their bodies; these warriors, once trained, are sent to various places."

"Because they lie in wait for a long time, and the masks on their faces can be changed at any moment; once discovered, these people will explode the poison in their bodies and die—they are not human at all, but emotionless puppets."

Jiu Yue drew a breath and looked at these guards before her; Ling Feng's eyes showed an unprecedented heaviness and killing intent—these people were orphans selected from all over when Xiao Yin was still a prince, recruited into the training camp of the Prince Rui's mansion; who would have thought that this jianghu sect's influence would reach Xiao Yin as well.

If Jiu Yue hadn't reminded him, Ling Feng would never have suspected that an insider had infiltrated their ranks; he has only just uncovered a few, and it's unknown how many more there are.

Moreover, these people can infiltrate anywhere; at this moment Ling Feng doesn't know whom to trust or rely on.

"Ling Feng, what should we do?" Jiu Yue was truly panicked.

Ling Feng furrowed his brows: "You go report to the emperor; you must go yourself, and trust no one."

"I'll take a few reliable men to follow the mistress, and Meng will come along as well; this is of utmost importance—we cannot afford any mistake."