Chapter 69: Hua Lianying, is that really your name?

Hua Lianying vaguely guessed something, her heart beating wildly, but she could not struggle free from her restraints, and with her mouth tightly gagged, she could not make a single sound.

She slumped in the carriage, struggling to lift her head to look at Xiao Mingyu, who sat upright opposite her; her eyes were red and moist, pitiful to the extreme.

Xiao Mingyu's gaze lingered on her face for a brief moment before he spoke slowly: "I am taking you to the Yan Family today not to take your life, but to have you lower your posture. You must remember, whether it is kneeling, slapping your own face, or anything else, you are only to do exactly as told; making Miss Yan vent her anger is the top priority."

Tears gushed out from Hua Lianying's eyes, gradually soaking more than half of her face.

Xiao Mingyu's expression, however, did not waver or soften in the slightest; he merely leaned forward slightly, raised his hand, and touched her cheek, making a gesture to wipe away those tears. "Once everything returns to normal, considering you are Nan Xueyin's cousin, this Prince will not make things difficult for you; I will keep you at the Duan Prince Mansion, with fine clothes and food..."

"Bang!"

A loud noise interrupted Xiao Mingyu's unfinished words.

The carriage stopped abruptly, and Xiao Mingyu nearly bumped his head; he frowned, hearing the sound of weapons clashing and the noise of a slaughter outside.

"What is going on?" Xiao Mingyu asked, pushing open the wooden door with one hand.

Below the carriage, it was already a scene of chaos.

Bai Sheng led several Guards to stand watch around the carriage, taking a moment to reply: "Reporting to the Prince, we have been attacked!"

Xiao Mingyu's brow furrowed even tighter.

He had been attacked last time, and the wound on his arm had not yet healed; were there assassins coming again?

"Prince, watch out!"

Bai Sheng had sharp eyes and noticed two Assassins lunging from the side.

But the two's offensive was too urgent and fierce, and Bai Sheng's reaction was still half a beat too slow.

Fortunately, Xiao Mingyu was still able to move himself; he exerted force with his feet and flipped off the carriage, being successfully caught by a Guard.

"Ah!"

A miserable scream rang out from behind.

Xiao Mingyu suddenly remembered that Hua Lianying was still in the carriage!

The Guards quickly subdued the Assassins, and Bai Sheng led men to move the carriage wreckage away, finally revealing Hua Lianying, who had been pinned underneath.

The moment he saw her, Xiao Mingyu's pupils dilated sharply—

She was in a wretched state, her face impossibly pale, a large patch of blood staining her skirt, and her legs trembling helplessly.

"Save her..."

Xiao Mingyu's lips moved, "Quickly find a doctor! Save her!"

The carriage was ruined, and the Guards were either dead or injured; Xiao Mingyu did not immediately set off to continue to the Yan Family, but stopped to rest temporarily at a nearby teahouse.

Bai Sheng was outside cleaning up the aftermath.

The assassins were basically all dead, with only one left.

A Guard timely gripped his chin, not letting him commit suicide.

Bai Sheng squatted down and interrogated: "Who sent you? The Kang Prince, the Jing Prince, or the Eastern Palace?"

The Assassin looked up at him, revealing an extremely young face.

Bai Sheng sighed and softened his tone, "You look like you're only ten or so; to throw your life away to this extent, why bother? Isn't it better to be alive?"

The Assassin curled his lips and said nonsensically: "That very powerful Assassin is no longer here, is she?"

Bai Sheng thought of Nan Xueyin for a split second.

But he did not show it on his face, "You care about this?"

The Assassin then laughed: "She really has already left."

He seemed very happy, "Without her, the Duan Prince is nothing but a paper tiger; none of you people can protect him. Not one!"

After saying this, he used almost all his remaining strength to lunge violently toward the sword in the Guard's hand.

By the time Bai Sheng acted, it was already too late; the young Assassin's throat had been sliced open by the blade, blood flowing like a fountain, yet a happy smile still hung on his lips.

Bai Sheng frowned and watched for a while, sighed silently, and gave orders to clean up the street.

After finishing, he entered the teahouse to report.

Xiao Mingyu sat on a chair, staring at the unconscious Hua Lianying on the daybed, wondering what he was thinking.

"Prince, everything outside has been cleaned up," Bai Sheng said, emboldening himself, "About Miss Hua Lianying..."

"The child is gone." Xiao Mingyu's voice was flat.

Bai Sheng let out an 'ah', "Prince, please accept my condolences..."

Xiao Mingyu paused, then suddenly said: "It is not necessarily a bad thing."

Bai Sheng was stunned.

"I will not go to the Yan Family later; remember to spread the news of today's attack, just say my injuries have worsened and Hua Lianying lost the child."

Bai Sheng could not speak for a long while.

He had not expected that the Prince could remain this calm at a time like this.

That was his woman, that was his child, yet he had not had time to grieve, but instead began to use them to plot his next move.

"Did you understand?" After not hearing a reply from Bai Sheng for a long time, Xiao Mingyu frowned and looked sideways.

Bai Sheng came back to his senses and responded, "This subordinate understands."

Hesitating for a moment, Bai Sheng did not rush to withdraw; after thinking it over, he still spoke up: "Just now, when interrogating the assassin, he mentioned Miss Nan."

Hearing this name, Xiao Mingyu's fingers twitched unconsciously twice.

He asked: "What did he say?"

Bai Sheng said truthfully: "He said that Miss Nan is no longer here, and that the assassins and killers only dared to be so rampant after hearing this news."

Xiao Mingyu suddenly frowned.

Bai Sheng was just about to tentatively ask if he should send people out to look for Miss Nan again?

Before he could speak, Xiao Mingyu sneered: "This Prince has more than just one Assassin Hidden Guard by my side; without her, could it be that this Prince would die in Fengdu?"

Bai Sheng had no choice but to swallow his words.

"If she is truly capable, she will return to this Prince's side just as she has countless times in the past; if she is not capable enough and dies," Xiao Mingyu's gaze deepened, "then she is not worthy of standing by this Prince's side any longer."

News of the attack on the Prince of Duan reached the Eastern Palace that very afternoon.

Xiao Youlan was in the study and specifically had someone invite Nan Xueyin over to "kindly" inform her of this matter.

After finishing, Xiao Youlan's fingers slowly tapped against the tabletop as he said slowly, "In just two short days, the Prince of Duan has been attacked twice. I fear he will greatly miss the time when you were by his side protecting him."

Nan Xueyin's expression was cold and detached as she denied it: "He will not."

"Oh?"

Nan Xueyin said calmly: "He will only feel that my presence makes no difference, and my absence makes no difference. He will not miss me."

Xiao Youlan's gaze was profound; she seemed to understand the Prince of Duan very well.

But Nan Xueyin no longer wished to discuss Xiao Mingyu's affairs, so she changed the subject and asked: "Where is Wu Zhui?"

"You want to see him?"

Nan Xueyin did not speak, taking her silence as an admission.

Xiao Youlan suddenly stood up and walked toward the inner room of the study.

"Come here."

Nan Xueyin followed.

The inner room was not large, and Nan Xueyin scanned the entire space at a glance.

There was only a cabinet on the west side and an arhat bed placed beneath the east window, where Xiao Youlan would take a short nap when he was tired from handling government affairs.

She frowned: "Wu Zhui is not here."

Xiao Youlan stood still not far in front of her, his voice clear and mellow as it fell from above her head, "He is not here."

"Then why did you bring me in here?"

After Nan Xueyin finished speaking, she turned to leave.

Xiao Youlan, however, grabbed her wrist, "Is Hua Lianying truly your name?"