The most guarded part of the manor – apart from Xie Jingyuan’s – was the Yuheng Pavilion. The moonlight was dim tonight, and the edges of the tiles glowed with a gloomy light. The immortal beasts standing at the corners of the eaves looked up at the moon, but there were only black silhouettes.
Jiu Yong acutely sensed something unusual, tightened the sword around his waist, and patrolled the threshold tirelessly. At that moment, he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, with a cold glint in his eyes, and picked up a stone and slammed it towards the eastern treetops.
Thwack…
Something landed silently in the darkness, fluttering twice. The soldiers ran to check it out but discovered it was a raven, wings still fluttering.
“My lord, it is a bird.”
Jiu Yong’s voice was cold, “Continue the patrol.”
Xie Jingyuan had given the order to kill anyone who dared to set foot in Yuheng Pavilion. Regardless of whether it is a human or an animal, Jiu Yong will treat them equally.
Just now, three spies sent by Prince Jin had entered this place, but unfortunately, they had been killed by Jiu Yong before they could even reach the gate. He did not need to torture them, as they were surely disposable soldiers, there was no need for useless work.
The bloodstains on the floor were still fresh, silently revealing what happened a moment ago.
However, Jiu Yong took all the necessary precautions, but he did not expect an unexpected guest to come to Yuheng Pavilion.
“The General has ordered that anyone who dares to enter here will be executed…”
Jiu Yong looked at Chu Xinian, who had arrived in the middle of the night and unsheathed his sword. The blade of the sword flashed coldly, and directly put it on his neck.
“Audacious! How dare you be rude to my Young Master!” Seeing that he had unsheathed his sword, Yun Que took a step forward and directly blocked Chu Xinian’s body, glaring at Jiu Yong.
Jiu Yong ignored her, his gaze was fixed on Chu Xinian as if looking at a dead object, “One more step, and I will execute you.”
Chu Xinian held a white silk lantern in his hand, which was somehow extremely bright, illuminating the green stone floor with a glowing light. Oblivious to the sword pressing on his neck, he smiled and raised his fingers to push it away, “You want to kill me?”
Due to his status, Jiu Yong was very cautious, and his heart rose with 200% vigilance, “I have orders from the General to guard this place, no one can enter.”
Yun Que snorted, “Since your General has married our Young Master, we have become family, how can he be considered an outsider? The General is your master, and our Young Master is also your master, so why don’t you even listen to your master?”
Jiu Yong sneered, “What a sharp tongue. If you don’t believe me then step forward and see if I dare to kill.”
At his words, Yun Que’s strength weakened for a moment, and she unconsciously glanced at Chu Xinian, only to see that he had already walked straight into the courtyard. In the blink of an eye, Jiu Yong swung his sword, stabbing in front of Chu Xinian’s feet.
“…”
Chu Xinian finally stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked at the crowd waiting in formation around him. With a smile like the breezes and the bright moon, he slowly said, “I have been in the General’s Mansion for several days, but I have yet to enter this place. Why am I not allowed to enter?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ale Tbcu ifv tlr wfc ab atf ogbca, rerqfmalcu wbgf jcv wbgf atja Jte Wlcljc kjr j rqs. Lf vgfk tlr rkbgv ogbw atf ugbecv jcv rjlv mbivis, “Rjaegjiis, sbe jgf cba jiibkfv ab fcafg.”
Po Jte Wlcljc abbx jcbatfg rafq, Ale Tbcu kbeiv rtbk cb wfgms.
Jte Wlcljc ibbxfv vbkc jcv aegcfv atf tjcvif bo atf ijcafgc jr lo atfgf kjr j rwjii qlfmf bo qjqfg tlvvfc lc tlr riffnf, yea la kjr cba nfgs bynlber. Lf rwlifv jcv rjlv, “Zg. Ale Tbcu, sbe jgf kjamtlcu wf jr lo P kfgf j atlfo. Pc mjrf sbe ifa j gfji bcf lc, ktja kbeiv tjqqfc?”
His words were full of hidden meaning, and before Jiu Yong could grasp the implications, Yun Que suddenly pointed at the window and exclaimed, “There’s someone inside!”
Jiu Yong unconsciously glanced at the window, seeing only a black shadow rush past the window, his face immediately changed, no longer caring about Chu Xinian, and directing his men to rush into the room.
Yun Que had a stone hidden in her fingertips, and the moment Jiu Yong rushed in, she struck the window frame. The window opened with a crisp sound as if the thief had just escaped through the window.
The dark room lit up and the room came into view. Jiu Yong rushed in and saw the window wide open, and was deceived by the illusion. He immediately sent a team of men after the thief while he checked to see if anything was missing from inside.
Yun Que looked nervous and unconsciously looked at Chu Xinian, “My lord, what do we do now?”
Chu Xinian calmly switched off the lantern in his hand, tore the human-shaped paper, and threw it away. What do we do now? Naturally, it was best to go back the way they came, but someone stopped them.
“Stop!”
Indeed, they were stopped by the guards before they could take two steps.
Chu Xinian had foreseen that they would not be able to escape, as Yuheng Pavilion had just been lurked by thieves, and they happened to be here, so they were too suspicious. He said to Yun Que, “It’s all right, we’ll stay here.”
No one knows what he is up to.
After such a big incident, Xie Jingyuan became alarmed. However, when he hurriedly arrived at the courtyard late at night, he saw Chu Xinian standing in the courtyard. The moment he recalled the information about thieves breaking into the mansion, his face darkened imperceptibly.
He clenched his fingertips silently, and approached Chu Xinian in a calm but chill-inducing voice, “Why are you here?”
Xie Jingyuan’s eyes contracted as he recalled what he had said to the Crown Prince today. He couldn’t say why, but suddenly a nameless anger surged in his heart.
Chu Xinian was still calm as if he had everything under control. He frowned and looked worried, “I couldn’t sleep well, so I decided to go for a walk. Who would have thought I’d be mistaken for a thief, General. I’m really… aggrieved.”
The last word was said in a soft tone, with a hint of indifference, as if it was not “aggrieved”, but “very well”.
Of course, Xie Jingyuan would not believe Chu Xinian’s one-sided words. His eyes behind the mask were hollow and coal-black, with no bottom to be seen with a single glance. The corners of his lips slowly curved into a cruel smile as he whispered in Chu Xinian’s ear, “Are you sure the thief is not you?”
His breath was icy.
Chu Xinian was deliberately startled, “General, are you suspecting me?”
Xie Jingyuan now looked like a bloodthirsty snake, staring intently at his prey, ready to strike and kill at any slight movement. He spoke slowly, enunciating word by word, “It better not be you.”
After saying this, he turned around and entered Yuheng Pavilion. Jiu Yong ordered everyone to leave and closed the door. Whispering in Xie Jingyuan’s ear everything that had just happened, he frowned as he concluded, “General, they must be involved.”
Xie Jingyuan did not reply. He walked over to the shelf and turned one of the vases, which caused a faint sound to be heard coming from the floor tiles under the desk. He bent down, opened a hidden compartment, and pulled out a stack of papers. He looked at them sharply and said coldly, “The stuff is still here.”
Jiu Yong, “The thief escaped so quickly that he probably didn’t have time to find the mechanism”.
Xie Jingyuan put things back as they were and slowly wiped the dust off his fingertips with a handkerchief, “Did you see what he looks like?”
Jiu Yong shook his head. “I didn’t see it clearly, but none of the servants brought in by Chu Xinian have shown any abnormality.”
“Find him…” Xie Jingyuan only said this word.
He turned around and walked out. Xie Jingyuan put his fist against his lips and let out a low cough, closed his eyes, and said slowly, “I’d rather kill by mistake than let him go.”
Jiu Yong looked towards the courtyard, “Then, Chu Xinian…”
“I’ll take care of it.”
After Xie Jingyuan finished speaking, he walked straight toward the man in white in the courtyard, and then slowly stopped in front of him. He smiled slightly, but the more he smiled, the more serious the consequences became.
Xie Jingyuan said in a low tone, “Chu Xinian, I will ask you for the last time. Why did you come here?”
Chu Xinian did not speak, he seemed to be doing a lot of suspicious actions on purpose, before asking rhetorically a moment later, “Does the General suspect me?”
Xie Jingyuan glared at him, “So what if it is, so what if it isn’t?”
“Never mind, if the General doubts me, he can deal with me however he wants, even kill me.”
When Chu Xinian said these words, he slowly faded his smile and seemed to become quiet and silent. He pulled out a stack of papers from his sleeve that were filled with dense words.
“I saw the General afflicted with an old illness, increasingly agitated and worried. I feared that someone had poisoned him, so I inspected the manor. Unexpectedly, the illness is linked to the trees in the courtyard…”
Every time he said a word, Xie Jingyuan’s face changed, and finally the smile at the corner of his mouth gradually disappeared, turning grim and terrifying.
Chu Xinian paused and continued, “However, I’m not sure if it’s the cause. I heard that the General used to live in Yuheng Pavilion, so I wanted to see if there were also those trees planted here, but I was mistaken for a thief…”
As the breeze blew, the shadows of the trees swayed, and the trees planted in the courtyard silently dropped many unknown black fruits, rolling on the ground.
Chu Xinian finished with a sigh, his tone low, seemingly cold, “I know the General has always suspected me, that I support Prince Jin. I have never intended to get involved in court affairs, I only want to live a good life with the General. I never imagined that it would be a foolish and unrealistic fantasy after all.”
After finishing, he handed the stack of papers to the stunned Xie Jingyuan and smiled expressionlessly, “But I still hope this can cure your body, and as for the thief, if you don’t believe me, I won’t resist if you want to execute me.”
Chu Xinian had always been a person with a light-as-a-cloud smile, when had he ever been in such an abnormal mood? Yun Que stood to the side and deeply bowed her head, not even daring to utter a sound.
Jiu Yong frowned and said earnestly, “General, you must not heed his words…”
However, Xie Jingyuan raised his hand to interrupt him and said, “Go, invite Doctor Wan here.”
He crumpled the papers in his hand, almost tearing them. If Chu Xinian’s words were true, then he had been a fool for a year, almost being poisoned to death without even knowing it.
Xie Jingyuan’s expression was ugly, and when he saw that Jiu Yong did not move, his tone turned sullen, “Hurry up!”
When Jiu Yong heard this, he had to go find the doctor, but when he passed by Yun Que, he saw her sneering at him. He was furious, but could only grit his teeth and bear it.
When Jiu Yong took the others away, the courtyard was almost empty.
Chu Xinian did not mind the dust on the ground and lifted his robe to sit down, under the shade of a large tree above his head. He casually picked up a black fruit that fell to the ground and said to himself, “General, don’t believe me, I am a thief. Not only will I steal your secrets, but I will also harm your life, hmm?”
He finished with a smile. Tonight the moon was dim. Chu Xinian was dressed in white, much brighter than the full moon in the sky.
Xie Jingyuan quickly skimmed the first few lines of the “experimental manuscript” and was 80% convinced of the information. He squatted down in front of Chu Xinian, asking with a puzzled expression, “Did you come here late at night just to analyze the poison?”
“No.”
Chu Xinian shook his sleeve, and shook his head slowly, “I came to steal the General’s secrets, and I was captured by Jiu Yong. The General had better kill me on the spot to avoid endless trouble.”
Xie Jingyuan frowned, narrowed his eyes, and said in an angry voice, “Chu Xinian, you think I’m reluctant to kill you, don’t you?”
Reluctant…?
Hearing this word, Chu Xinian frowned in confusion but did not dwell too much on its meaning and quickly ignored it, “If the General wants to kill, then let him do it. I will not defend myself. Even if I manage to survive, I will only remain a suspect. If in the future another thief comes, I will be framed again. What should I do then?”
Xie Jingyuan struggled to come up with an answer. When it came to eloquence, he was no match for Chu Xinian.
Seeing Xie Jingyuan’s lack of action, Chu Xinian smiled and said, “Isn’t the General going to kill me? If he doesn’t kill me, then I will leave first.”
After speaking, he got up from under the tree, dusted off his body, and walked back.
Xie Jingyuan, relieved that Chu Xinian was no longer causing trouble, sighed inwardly. However, before he could say anything, Chu Xinian instructed Yun Que with a calm tone, “Go, pack up our things. We will return to the Marquis of Quyang Manor.”
Xie Jingyuan, “…”
Ty for the chapter!
Chu Xinian is acting so fast and not giving Xie a moment to respond haha
Thanks for the chapter~
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
Hahaha, Chu Xinian caught me off guard as well!! 😂
Lol man can’t even catch a break 😂
Lmao he decided to evacuate😂 the General is so shocked. His husband is leaving!
haha welp.. that’s one way of doing things?