Chapter 187: The Murderer Appears

The officials beside Ling Zhen were also shocked when they heard this, and they all came out to protest:

"What? You actually implemented hypnosis on our country's prince? This is contempt for the diplomatic relations between the two countries!"

"First Prince, don't talk to them anymore, let's go to the Imperial Palace together and ask the Emperor of Qi, is this the hospitality of the Qi Kingdom?"

Dongfang Qi bowed with both hands and bowed deeply: "First Prince Ling Zhen, I am really sorry. Because the matter of the corpse silkworm concerns the safety of the Imperial City, I had to take this extreme measure. I am willing to apologize for the shock to the First Prince. If any other explanation is needed, I am willing to bear it alone."

Seeing him apologize so sincerely, Ling Zhen was a bit unable to get angry.

He snorted coldly: "I am a bit uncomfortable today and will not entertain you, Your Highness the Crown Prince, please go back."

Considering the relationship between the two countries, Dongfang Qi did not want to offend Ling Zhen completely.

Seeing Lin Qingyue's gaze, Dongfang Qi shook his head.

"Since First Prince Ling Zhen is unwell, let's go back first."

After Lin Qingyue and Dongfang Qi left the Honglu Temple with people, Ling

He first dismissed everyone around him, not even leaving the guards, and then walked toward the back courtyard without saying a word.

"Bang!" He kicked open the door to Ling Xue's room.

Ling Xue was in the middle of drawing her eyebrows in the mirror and was startled into jumping up. She questioned him with dissatisfaction: "Who is it, daring to..."

When she saw it was her own Eldest Prince brother, the anger on her face faded, revealing a bit of confusion:

"Imperial Brother, why didn't you knock when you came in? You scared me to death! I heard the Crown Prince came, where is he?"

Ling Zhen said, "He left."

Ling Xue glanced outside and asked eagerly, "Why did he leave? As soon as I heard he came, I hurriedly washed up and dressed, wanting him to see my beautiful appearance. My makeup isn't even finished yet, how could he leave? Imperial Brother, why didn't you keep him?"

The young girl's tone was coquettish and naive; no matter how one looked at it, she was a girl in the throes of first love, completely devoid of schemes.

In the past, Ling Zhen had always thought his younger sister was just that kind of simple and naive girl.

But at this moment, looking at the person before him again, his gaze held a trace of scrutiny: "A-Xue, do you know about eating Flying Sky Corpse Silkworms?"

Ling Xue tilted her head and asked, "Flying what silkworms? What is that?"

Ling Zhen countered, "You really don't know? Then what about that maid by your side? She seems to be called... Qiu'er?"

Ling Xue sat down slowly and reached for her eyebrow pencil to start drawing her eyebrows again.

Her eyebrows were very beautiful, curved like a new moon, setting off her face to be even more delicate and lovely.

"Why is Imperial Brother concerned about my maid?"

"Why am I concerned about her? Do you know that the Crown Prince of Qi just now brought her portrait and came to me demanding the person!"

"That maid called Qiu'er—if Imperial Brother remembers correctly, you brought her back from outside three years ago and have kept her by your side ever since."

"But last year she suddenly disappeared. When I occasionally asked about it, you said she went back to her hometown to visit the sick. It wasn't until two days ago that she suddenly appeared by your side again."

"You couldn't possibly not know what she has been doing, could you?"

"Imperial Brother, I really don't know!" Ling Xue was still quibbling. "Oh, that's right, I remember now. Qiu'er's hometown is in Qi Guo, so I met her again later."

"Liar! Since you were small, Imperial Brother has always doted on you! Even when the Crown Prince of Qi came to the door, even when they used sorcery on me, I tried every possible way to protect you. But what exactly have you been doing?"

Ling Xue turned back in surprise: "They used sorcery on you? What kind of sorcery? Did you tell them Qiu'er is my person?"

"It should have been a technique like hypnosis, invading my mind."

As Ling Zhen spoke, he took a green jade pendant from his neck. The jade was translucent and lustrous throughout, carved into the image of a Three-Legged Golden Crow, looking very spiritual.

"Fortunately, before I set out, Father Emperor gave me this Golden Crow Jade Pendant, which can ward off all intrusions of sorcery."

"So at that time, when Prince Chaolan wanted to probe my memories, I tried my best not to think about anything related to Qiu'er, and finally managed to muddle through."

Ling Xue stared straight at the jade pendant and murmured, "So this is the supreme treasure of our Feng Kingdom's royal family, the Golden Crow Jade Pendant. Father Emperor really dotes on Imperial Brother."

"A-Xue! We have reached this point, are you still unwilling to tell Imperial Brother the truth?"

"Imperial Brother, there are some things that are better for you not to know."

After she finished speaking, she turned and was about to leave.

"A-Xue, stop!" Ling Zhen wanted to pull Ling Xue back, but in the struggle, he accidentally pulled off the outer garment draped over her shoulders, revealing her smooth shoulders and a black snake-shaped mark on her shoulder.

"This is—the mark of the Guiyuan Sect!" Ling Zhen's expression was horrified. "You actually have the mark of the Guiyuan Sect on you? Are you... a member of the Guiyuan Sect?"

"Slap!" He slapped her across the face, furious beyond control. "You are a dignified Princess of Feng Kingdom, how can you associate with those evil paths? You..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Yan Qiu'er suddenly flashed out from behind the screen. Then, a cold light flashed by, and the knife was about to slit Ling Zhen's throat.

Ling Xue hurriedly acted, knocking away Yan Qiu'er's dagger, and before Ling Zhen could react, she struck his immobilization point.

Yan Qiu'er hurriedly closed the door and said in a cold tone, "Princess, he has already discovered your identity; he cannot be left alive."

Ling Xue gave her a "slap" across the face: "You have a lot of nerve, daring to lay a hand on my Imperial Brother!"

Yan Qiu'er's head was knocked to the side; there was no cowardice of a servant in the depths of her eyes, but rather an added layer of resentment.

"This servant is also doing this for the Princess's sake. These past two years, due to the Eldest Prince's interference, our Guiyuan Sect has almost been unable to gain a foothold in Feng Kingdom. Now that he has seen through your identity, he will certainly not let us go!"

"Princess Ling Xue, you are a smart person; you must not let the Guiyuan Sect fall into danger because of a moment of soft-heartedness!"

"Soft-hearted?" Ling Xue laughed. "How could that be?"

She touched Ling Zhen's cheek: "Imperial Brother, oh Imperial Brother, although I have been able to live a decent life thanks to your care all these years. But... but why did you have to expose all of this?"

"Since you didn't expose me in front of the Crown Prince of Qi, why couldn't you just pretend to the end? It would have been so good if you had just pretended to know nothing; then we siblings could still be as loving as before."

She removed the Golden Crow Jade Pendant from Ling Zhen's neck and sighed, "What a treasure, I heard it was passed down from ancient times. It's a pity it cannot neutralize ordinary physical attacks."

Ling Zhen was currently immobilized and could neither move nor say a word.

Just now, to prevent news from leaking, he hadn't brought a single guard. But he never expected that the younger sister he had raised since childhood, with whom he was so intimate, would actually turn against him.

He wanted to ask Ling Xue what exactly she wanted to do, but he couldn't say a thing. Only his eyes kept blinking.