Chapter 33: Further Complications

Cui'er furrowed her brows. "Has something happened?"

Yu Qingyan suddenly turned to look at Xique. "What is your take on today's events?"

Xique knelt down. "Lady Lin is treacherous and intended to frame Your Highness. I wonder if Your Highness has a countermeasure."

Yu Qingyan did not reply, nor did she bid her to rise. Since arriving here, she had rarely stood on ceremony. After all, her roots were in the modern era, where the ideology of equality was deeply ingrained. Yet, this was an ancient world, and using such methods was merely a matter of convenience—who could blame her when she was sent by Chu Yuheng?

After Yu Qingyan finished her meal, Chu Yuchuan still had not appeared. Was he too busy tending to his delicate, sickly beauty to deal with the one who had "started it all"?

Yu Qingyan retrieved the manual. Having already memorized its contents, she thought for a moment and decided to burn the copy transcribed by Gu Jinshi to avoid discovery. It was a pity, though, given such elegant penmanship.

By evening, Chu Yuchuan had still not arrived. Xique had been kneeling outside all afternoon.

"My Lady."

"What is it?"

"Young Master Gu asked me to give this to you."

Yu Qingyan took it and opened it. It was indeed in Gu Jinshi’s handwriting: "Lady Rou is unharmed."

"My Lady, where are you going?"

"To the bamboo grove."

As night fell, a crescent moon hung in the sky. Yu Qingyan’s exquisite face was beaded with sweat, her eyes devoid of any emotion. Had it not been for her faint, rhythmic breathing, she would have looked more like a specter than a living being in the cold, dark bamboo grove.

This manual was truly miraculous; she was becoming increasingly proficient with it.

A faint smile touched the corner of Yu Qingyan’s lips as she suddenly moved, appearing ten meters away by a cluster of bamboo in an instant. The blade in her hand swept across the stalks, and more than a dozen of them were sliced clean through at the waist.

Yu Qingyan’s brow flickered, and she vanished from her spot once more.

Xique was startled. By the time she regained her senses, Yu Qingyan’s blade was already at her throat. Xique closed her eyes, but the expected pain never came.

"Your Highness..."

The moon had slipped behind the clouds. Yu Qingyan’s dark eyes shone even brighter in the night. "Have you found out clearly this time?"

Xique trembled. "I... I just saw that it was getting late and Your Highness had not returned, so I came to look for..."

Yu Qingyan looked at her with a cryptic smile. "You had best think carefully before you speak. The blade in my hand does not recognize anyone!"

Xique squeezed her eyes shut. Of course, she wanted to live! She had known the woman before her was not easy to deal with, but she never imagined she could have practiced to this level in just a few days!

"Xique... knows her wrong."

"Oh? And where did you go wrong?"

"I should not have spied on Your Highness."

"And what else?"

"I should not have... disclosed Your Highness’s recent situation..."

Yu Qingyan released her. Xique scrambled to kneel, then slowly looked up at her. Her expression shifted repeatedly before she finally said cautiously, "If Your Highness kills me here, wouldn't it cause trouble?"

"And so?"

Upon hearing this, Xique hurriedly knelt properly and replied, "Xique knows her wrong. I beg Your Highness to give me one chance."

"Very well. But I am curious, how do you intend to use this chance?"

"Xique will certainly do a good job!"

Yu Qingyan lowered her eyes and stared at her for a long while. Xique’s heart hung in her throat; the murderous aura radiating from the person before her was far too heavy, and her life was still in her hands...

"Do you have family in his clutches?"

Xique lowered her head, speaking cautiously, "I am alone in this world, with no ties or burdens."

"Then why do you work for him?"

"...He is the Emperor."

"Yes, he is the Emperor."

Xique was startled. "I am one who cherishes my life!"

Yu Qingyan merely offered a faint smile, leaving it unclear whether she believed her or not.