Chapter 42: It Is the Eastern Palace Searching for Someone

Nan Xueyin merely sneered and said, "You want to be the Duan Prince Consort yourself, and having discovered that the Prince and Yan Zhirong are close, you deliberately came before me to say these things. What is it? Are you hoping I will kill Yan Zhirong?"

Hua Lianying assumed a frail posture: "Sister, that is not what I meant."

"Whether you meant it or not," Nan Xueyin stared at her, "I will say it again: whether the Prince marries you or Yan Zhirong in the future has nothing to do with me, an Assassin. Do not bother me with these matters of love and affection again; I have not the slightest interest."

Having finished speaking, she said no more, turned, and strode away.

Wu Zhui followed behind her, cautioning her with some unease: "This mission is quite dangerous, you... take care in everything."

After all, it was to infiltrate the Dali Temple Prison and commit murder within the prison walls.

Nan Xueyin lifted her chin slightly, "It is nothing here; you just remember to provide cover."

Wu Zhui smiled, "That is a certainty!"

After leaving Jiaoyuan, Nan Xueyin realized in hindsight that she had forgotten to tell Xiao Mingyu the most important thing: that the current Crown Prince suffered from Face Blindness.

However, the most pressing matter was still the mission to assassinate Wang Yong.

According to the plan, Nan Xueyin needed to disguise herself as a jailer to infiltrate the prison.

She was a woman, and her physique was naturally smaller than a man's, so there was only one target she could disguise herself as: a man surnamed Zhou, given name Lü, whose home was in the north of the city.

The Dali Temple Prison of the Ye Dynasty was guarded twenty-four hours a day, and this Zhou Lü generally arrived at the prison at the beginning of the Wei hour and finished at the end of the Hai hour.

When Nan Xueyin arrived at the Zhou residence, she heard Zhou Lü's wife calling him to get up for breakfast from across the courtyard gate.

Zhou Lü cursed, "Can't you see I'm sleeping! Eat, eat, eat—if you're hungry, eat it yourself!"

His wife shouted, "Why are you being so fierce? I was only worried you'd be hungry."

"I'm not hungry! I'm sleepy!"

Having said that, Zhou Lü turned over and continued to sleep.

Before long, Nan Xueyin heard the sound of uniform and heavy marching footsteps coming from the street, accompanied by the clashing of armor and iron weapons.

She hid in the shadows and saw the Crown Prince's personal guards walking aggressively down the street, led by Shu Yu; the Fengdu garrison had also arrived, and Shu Yu, with a solemn expression, spoke with them to hand over duties.

Being too far away, Nan Xueyin could not hear their conversation.

A few of the commoners living nearby who were not afraid of death snuck over to watch the excitement, then returned to gather and discuss it animatedly.

"It's the Eastern Palace looking for someone."

"Who is lost?"

"I heard it's a little palace maid."

"They say the Crown Prince didn't even go to the morning court today; he asked for leave and came out to look for her himself!"

"Hey! That's strange! For all these years, no matter how hard the wind or snow, the Crown Prince has always gone to court, more diligent than anyone, and this time he actually asked for leave?"

Nan Xueyin lowered her head, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

Near noon, the sound of Zhou Lü yawning came from the Zhou courtyard.

He had woken up.

He got up to eat, still cursing and swearing: "Hurry up and bring the food over! I'm starving! Where's the wine? I work hard every day, and I can't even have a cup of wine? I don't know what I married you for!"

It was also at this moment that Nan Xueyin ruffled her hair and knocked on the Zhou family's courtyard gate.

She had slightly adjusted her features, and now she had the face of an ordinary woman. Zhou Lü's wife came to open the gate and asked, "Miss, is there something you need?"

Nan Xueyin gave a shy smile: "I am from out of town, here to visit relatives. I have been on the road for a long time and am truly parched; I was hoping to beg for a bowl of water."

Zhou Lü's wife was kind-hearted and said gently, "Miss, come in."

Nan Xueyin thanked her.

Zhou Lü's wife went to fetch water, while Zhou Lü sat at a bamboo table in the courtyard eating; he was a man in his early twenties with decent features, squinting as he scrutinized Nan Xueyin, his gaze drifting mostly toward her waist and chest.

Zhou Lü asked with a smirk: "Miss, are you here to visit relatives all by yourself?"

Nan Xueyin replied in a weak voice: "My father passed away and told me to come to Fengdu to find my cousin; we were originally betrothed."

Zhou Lü took a sip of wine and said deliberately: "Our Fengdu is famous for its beauties; your cousin might have already found someone else."

Nan Xueyin seemed to be stunned; she looked up at him, her eyes reddening as if she were about to cry.

Zhou Lü's wife brought the water over and glared at him crossly, "What nonsense are you spouting!"

Zhou Lü did not care at all, "Can't I even make a joke?"

His wife could not be bothered to pay him any mind and walked toward Nan Xueyin, comforting her gently: "That won't happen; your cousin must still be waiting for you. Come, have some water."

Nan Xueyin had already memorized Zhou Lü's facial features while under his gaze; she withdrew her eyes and took the bowl of water: "Thank you, Madam."

After drinking the water and offering her thanks, Nan Xueyin took her leave.

As she walked out of the courtyard gate, she heard Zhou Lü snort: "It's true anyway, she's not even pretty..."

Nan Xueyin did not go far, but instead waited on the road Zhou Lü would take to the Dali Temple Prison.

The place was secluded; Nan Xueyin chose a tall locust tree and, under its shade, focused on crafting a brand-new Human Skin Mask.

She heard Zhou Lü's voice; he was humming an off-key tune, and upon seeing her, he became somewhat interested: "Yo, Miss, we meet again; we truly are fated."

Nan Xueyin did not even look up.

"Did you get lost looking for your cousin?" Zhou Lü leered as he walked closer, "How about you let your brother touch your bottom, and I'll take you there?"

Nan Xueyin finished the final detail of the Human Skin Mask, looked up, and spoke slowly: "How about you let your brother touch your bottom, and I'll take you there?"

Zhou Lü's expression changed instantly.

Because her voice and tone were exactly his own.

Wearing such a woman's face and using his own voice to repeat what he had just said—the scene was eerie no matter how one looked at it.

Zhou Lü turned to run.

Nan Xueyin rose quickly, grabbed his shoulder, and stomped him firmly underfoot.

Zhou Lü could not break free from her pressure, "Who are you! You dare to lay hands on me? Do you know who I am?!"

Nan Xueyin was unhurried; she put on the Human Skin Mask, bent down, and continued to mimic his voice: "Me? I am Zhou Lü."

Zhou Lü saw his own face, exactly the same, it was just like looking into a mirror; he was so scared his face turned ashen—to run into a ghost in broad daylight!

Nan Xueyin felt his trembling, and looking down, sure enough, he had wet his pants.

She frowned in disgust, brought her hand down in a chop, and knocked him unconscious.

Nan Xueyin grabbed Zhou Lü and hid to the side, stripped off his outer robe and waist token to put on herself, and then shoved a pill into Zhou Lü's mouth.

After taking this, he would remain unconscious for at least a day and a night, and his mind would be muddled for quite a long time. In this way, even if the matter were exposed, when faced with questioning from others, he would be unable to clarify whether he had actually done such a thing or not.

Having finished this, Nan Xueyin strode away, hurrying toward the Dali Temple Prison.

Outside the Dali Temple Prison, there were actually Eastern Palace personal guards surrounding it, and there were even more of them.

Nan Xueyin remained calm and composed, brushing past the crowd to walk inside.

The Dali Temple Prison was strictly guarded, and every jailer needed to verify their identity with a waist token.

Nan Xueyin took hers and handed it to the guard for inspection.

The guard took it, still muttering to the person beside him: "What kind of palace maid is so formidable, to have bewitched our Crown Prince to such an extent that he even has to come out and look for her himself?"

That person hurriedly whispered a reminder: "Keep your voice down! His Highness is right over there!"

The guard shrugged, returned the waist token to Nan Xueyin, and asked casually: "Zhou Lü, how come you're here so early today?"

Nan Xueyin acted nonchalant, took the waist token, and said: "It's all because of our Crown Prince; he's searching the whole city for someone, he even searched right up to my doorstep. It was so noisy, who could still sleep?"

The guard did not suspect anything and laughed: "Come here to catch up on sleep then, our Dali Temple Prison is still quiet."

"I wouldn't dare! If my pay gets docked, my old woman at home would tear me apart!"

With this banter, Nan Xueyin lifted her leg and walked inside.

At this moment, Xiao Youlan, who was on horseback not far away, seemed to sense something and turned his head to look at the gate of the Dali Temple Prison.