Chapter 356: Bloodbath at the Princess's Manor? Capture Her Alive!

"Yu'er!"

Zongzheng Wuheng, who had just stepped through the door, saw this scene; his face instantly changed, and he rushed over to her anxiously.

He grabbed the falling Princess Qinyu in his arms, "Yu'er, Yu'er?"

Ku Lianqiao quickly followed and gave her a pill.

"Princess? Princess?"

Qinyu slowly recovered.

But the pain all over her body and the suffocating anger in her chest filled her eyes with icy, towering hatred: "No matter which ghost it is—tonight, this palace will seize her and reduce her to ashes!!"

Zongzheng Wuheng: "Yu'er, who is causing trouble in your palace tonight? Do you even know?"

Princess Qinyu gave a silent bitter smile: "Sixth Brother, I have always been open and upright; in DaLiang I have no grudges with anyone. When the common folk hear my proclamation as Princess Qinyu, who does not respect and cherish me a little?"

"Only Li Qingluo......"

"I have only now formed a deadly, irreconcilable blood feud with her!"

Whenever Li Qingluo is mentioned, Princess Qinyu can't help but grind her teeth.

This Li Qingluo first seduced Duan Rongshi, then, with a foolish appearance, deceived me.

I kindly wanted to give her a way out, but she actually repaid kindness with enmity and destroyed my Spring Banquet Pavilion, which I had painstakingly operated for years!

After the Macau Gambling House was destroyed, this Spring Banquet Pavilion became her last treasury; without it, how could she still support the Crown Prince in the future?

The Crown Prince will only grow colder and more distant toward her.

How could Qinyu not hate?

This is all the painstaking effort of many years she poured into it!

Her maidens have been lost one after another... now not a single one remains.

As for the remaining thugs, jailers, and old wet nurses, I won't mention them.

But the losses Li Qingluo has caused me this time are immeasurable and irreparably devastating!

"Could it really be her......"

From the Spring Banquet Pavilion incident, she certainly has the means to destroy these, but how exactly did she do it?

Could it again be Prince Su Duan Rongshi helping her behind the scenes?

She said, "How could Duan Rongshi suddenly come to the palace to see me yesterday?"

And I simply lack the energy to confront him and keep up the act, so I still...

But today something happened in the palace; Prince Su Duan Rongshi couldn't possibly be in two places at once and still come to the palace to help her stir things up, could he?

Zongzheng Wuheng suddenly said: "Actually... it might not necessarily be her."

Princess Qinyu quickly lifted her head, her sharp gaze fixed on her elder brother.

"What did you say?"

"You surely have something you're hiding from me?"

She sensed something was off.

Zongzheng Wuheng and Zuliya did not confess to Qinyu that Qin Ling had already been captured by Prince Su.

The two exchanged a glance without leaving a trace.

Zongzheng Wuheng first held Princess Qinyu and half-laid her on the bed, then coldly said in her embrace: "Sixth Brother also wants to help you; do you still suspect me?"

"This Prince used some methods on her a few days ago; surely she can't even recover her own identity now, so how could she have the ability to scheme this against you?"

Zongzheng Wuheng certainly wouldn't say it too clearly.

If he spoke, Zongzheng Wuheng's bribery and use of Qin Ling would inevitably become a thorn forever in Qinyu's heart; although he wanted to use this sister again, it would no longer be easy.

Moreover, Zongzheng Wuheng now also has some understanding of Qinyu's ambition.

She still thought Zuliya was sincerely helping her succeed, unaware that Zuliya originally helped her obtain the Pei Family Military Manual not for her DaLiang Crown Prince at all.

Zuliya, at heart, is still a person of Great Chu.

Who is like his sister?

Two hearts!

Zongzheng Wuheng knows Qinyu still wants to become the DaLiang Empress.

How could I let her know that I am now eyeing the underground city defense map of Jinling City?

At this moment, the three people in Qinyu's bedchamber each harbor their own hidden agendas, and none is frank with another.

Qinyu doesn't want to quarrel with Zongzheng Wuheng, knowing her palace is now perilous, and secretly unaware what other dangers may lurk.

Even though she has already determined in her heart that he definitely has ulterior motives in Jinling.

But exposing him would also bring her absolutely no benefit.

She could only suppress her anger and say: "Sixth Brother, you must help me now!"

"If it weren't for you meddling that day at the Spring Banquet Pavilion, Li Qingluo would already be dead in my hands; this is also your debt to me."

"So no matter who this ghost is tonight, you must help this palace capture her!!"

Zongzheng Wuheng and Zuliya walked out of Qinyu's bedchamber together.

Outside was in utter chaos.

The servants' faces were all written with panic.

The guards were also uneasy, not knowing whether the next bloodbath would fall upon them.

Although some were angry, in this darkness it seemed as if an invisible hand were constantly preparing to seize them.

Zongzheng Wuheng could only step forward to take charge of the overall situation.

Patrol guards, palace troops, each performing their duties, inspected and guarded strictly.

Soon, under Zongzheng Wuheng's command, the chaotic situation finally restored order.

Strangely, the 'ghost fire' near the princess's bedchamber suddenly vanished completely, with no further movement.

The whole princess manor was practically turned upside down, yet no suspicious trace was found.

"In Jinling City, is there really someone who can go from heaven to earth in the blink of an eye?"

Zong Zheng Wuheng stood in a high place, murmuring softly.

In his mind flashed Li Qingluo's ugly face.

Is it really her?

Although he truly looked down on Li Qingluo and those young girls from the bottom of his heart, if she truly had that underground city defense map in her hand, then even if she indeed had some ability and use.

That Qin Ling had been captured; it's unknown whether he will divulge those secrets concerning her.

"How many of the people sent to Prince Su's manor have returned?"

Zong Zheng Wuheng, with half-closed eyes, looked toward Zu Li Ya behind him and asked.

Zu Li Ya: "Your Highness the Sixth… not a single one returned."

They naturally wanted to fish Qin Ling out.

If they couldn't get him out, they had resolved to silence him.

But they didn't expect Prince Su's manor to be so hard to enter.

The people they sent out actually came back without a single survivor.

Zong Zheng Wuheng's complexion turned extremely grim.

"This prince's foreign cousin is actually quite a formidable figure."

"You say, he suddenly came to the princess's manor yesterday—could it be that he suspects this prince's whereabouts?"

Zu Li Ya had suffered greatly at the hands of Duan Rongshi.

If not driven to desperation, she would not have so quickly used this body of bitter forsythia to escape.

Zu Li Ya spat hatefully: "This person is surely a huge stumbling block on our journey in DaLiang. Your Highness the Sixth, we must kill him!"

Zong Zheng Wuheng recalled that day at the Spring Banquet Pavilion.

Although that person also wore a mask, the Jade Maiden later said he was Duan Rongshi.

If not for his appearance, I would have easily deceived the Li family's daughter.

Zong Zheng Wuheng's handsome face also openly showed a sinister look: "Kill him, it is imperative."

His cold gaze fell upon the neighboring Prince Su's manor, which had only a faint light.

Tonight the princess's manor is in such an uproar, yet they showed no movement at all.

It seems, just as he had guessed, the outside world's conjectures about Prince Su and Zong Zheng Jade Maiden are all mistaken rumors.

That Prince Su simply looks down on Zong Zheng Jade Maiden.

Zong Zheng Wuheng: "Right, that poison you've been refining for five years—is it about to take effect on the Li family's daughter?"

Zu Li Ya: "Yes. At most two more days. This time, I will make her wish she were dead."

Zong Zheng Wuheng: "If it weren't for that stupid pig Qin Ling acting on his own and letting her go down the mountain, this girl would already be in this prince's hands."

"Have you found her trace?"

"Be careful—if you find her, don't actually kill her. She is still of great use to this prince!"

Zu Li Ya hesitated a moment before replying: "Your Highness the Sixth, although given Qin Ling's abilities, Li Qingluo now should not only have changed her face through disguise and altered her voice, but even someone as close as possible in this world would surely not recognize her."

"But… the Xiuli Jiangjun Fu has indeed shown some abnormalities these past two days."

Zong Zheng Wuyou raised his eyebrows: "Oh? How so?"

"Originally, after the princess took Li Qingluo away, they had the whole manor in an uproar searching for her."

"Although they had assistance from Prince Su's manor, and the two mansions indeed had close contact, but… two days ago, they suddenly called off their search efforts and manpower."

Zong Zheng Wuheng: "You suspect that this girl has already returned home wearing a face no one recognizes?"

"Heh, Zu Li Ya, you didn't know this: this prince had Qin Ling create a woman identical in appearance and figure to the real Li Qingluo, and at the foot of Qishan staged a stunning reunion with that Prince Su."

"If that Prince Su does not keep her hidden in a golden house, he will naturally send her back to the Xiuli Jiangjun Fu."

"Since they found the person and called off their search, it's not surprising at all."

However, in Zu Li Ya's mind, Li Qingluo is an ugly woman with two big dark circles under her eyes and a large mole on her face; even knowing that's her disguise, she still cannot imagine what her true appearance could look like.

That Prince Su not keeping her hidden in a golden house is also quite normal.

Zu Li Ya indeed did not know that such a thing existed.

That day, upon seeing Qin Ling, in the hurry he hadn't even finished speaking clearly when the people from Prince Su's manor arrived.

"Could it be that Prince Su's manor captured Qin Ling because the fake Li Qingluo revealed a flaw?"

Zong Zheng Wuheng also couldn't be certain about that, so he said: "Since you're so doubtful, I'll leave it to you to personally verify—see whether what the Xiuli Jiangjun Fu brings back is real or fake…"

Before his words had even finished, another clamor and disturbance came from within the princess's manor.

"An assassin has been found——the assassin is here——"

"Seize the assassin——"

"Pursue——"

"Catch them!"

Several black shadows darted swiftly inside the princess's manor, in the blink of an eye leaping onto the roofs, then descending from the roofs into the pitch-black courtyard.

However, since they had been discovered, aside from leaving a few guards to continue watching around the princess's bedchamber, the rest of the personnel almost all launched a full-courtyard pursuit of the assassin.

But that black shadow slipped like a loach, appearing and disappearing intermittently, just like a real ghost, making everyone run around in circles.

After all, the people of the princess's manor are not truly just vegetarians.

They took the opposite approach, using fire to force the assassin to reveal himself.

Then, under the collective force, all the guards leapt forward to surround him completely, after which the two sides began to fight—

Two black shadows actually carved a bloody path through a sea of people; within that radius no one could truly approach.

Their skill left even Zongzheng Wuheng astonished.

"Just what is their background? So formidable!"

"Looks like we need to take a live prisoner!"

Zongzheng Wuheng let out a cold snort, tapped the tip of their foot, and darted toward the black shadow.

Zulya had no lightness skill, so they immediately turned and ran down the stairs at full speed.

Soon after the two had left the highest point of the princess's mansion, another two black shadows silently climbed up from below.

The newcomers were none other than Li Qingluo and Sha Yi.