Just as the Fourth Prince was gradually losing the strength to fight, Lu Qianning brought her sword down and severed his head.
Luo Ling called over a male guard to carry the head. It would have to be hung at the palace gates for public display later.
Xi Qingyue held Xi Weilan in her arms, looking almost like a spectator, even though she had contributed the most. She had been the first to arrive at the Fourth Prince’s residence and render the guards unconscious. Lu Qianning’s people had handled the executions. Not a single person in the entire Fourth Prince’s residence had been spared.
Next was the Tenth Prince’s residence. Xi Qingyue arrived first once again.
Holding Xi Weilan, she hovered above the estate. A fierce wind laced with powerful sleeping powder swept through every corner of the residence. Before long, everyone inside had fallen unconscious once more.
By the time Lu Qianning and the others arrived, Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan were sitting on the roof of the Tenth Prince’s room.
Xi Qingyue lifted a roof tile. Through the gap, a tiny ice needle shot down with a whoosh and pierced the Tenth Prince’s body. The man lying on the sickbed slowly woke up.
Lu Qianning nodded gratefully to Xi Qingyue, then opened the door and walked inside.
Luo Ling stood guard outside. Mu Jin and the other guards went to deal with the unconscious people throughout the residence, while Lu Jinshuang flew up to the roof and sat down beside the two of them.
“Yue, should I have Luo Ling take Little Lan’er somewhere nearby to play for a while?” She actually had something she wanted to discuss with Xi Qingyue privately and was asking whether she could take Xi Weilan away.
Xi Qingyue shook her head without hesitation. “There’s no need. This isn’t the Princess’s residence. She’ll be safer by my side. Just say what you want to say.”
With that, she smiled and covered Xi Weilan’s ears with both hands. An invisible wind barrier instantly enclosed the child.
She lowered her hands and looked at Lu Jinshuang. “Sister Jinshuang, go ahead. Lan’er can’t hear us.”
Shock filled Lu Jinshuang’s eyes. Xi Qingyue had merely covered the child’s ears, and she could no longer hear anything?
After thinking it over, Lu Jinshuang spoke anyway. “Yue, Little Lan’er is only three years old. Aren’t you afraid she’ll see these brutal scenes tonight and be traumatized? Can a child so young really handle this?”
At that, Xi Qingyue gave a faint smile. “Sister Jinshuang, it seems you don’t know us very well. When you have time, ask Big Sister Lu or Sister Luo Ling. Lan’er has killed more people than you have. She’s seen scenes far bloodier than this. Does she look frightened to you?”
Lu Jinshuang was stunned. She took a careful look at Xi Weilan. There was not the slightest trace of fear or discomfort on the little girl’s face. If anything, she looked excited.
Not quite certain, Lu Jinshuang rubbed her eyes and looked again. Xi Weilan was lying on her stomach atop the roof, staring intently through the opening below. Down there, Lu Qianning was thrusting her sword through the Tenth Prince’s chest.
Lu Jinshuang was rendered speechless. She really had been meddling in something that was none of her concern.
Xi Qingyue smiled and patted her shoulder, speaking earnestly. “Sister Jinshuang, Lan’er and I have fought and killed our way here. The number of lives on our hands exceeds the combined number of people in your residence. We aren’t good little girls. Thank you for looking after us all this time, and thank you for teaching us the lightness skill. You saved us a great deal of trouble.”
Only then did Lu Jinshuang realize how completely mistaken she had been. What she had thought was caring for them was actually just the sisters being too lazy to deal with unnecessary trouble and wanting a quiet place to play.
Just then, Xi Weilan turned around with her bottom in the air. “Big Sis, why can’t I hear Big Sister Lu?”
Xi Qingyue reached out and rubbed the child’s ears, removing the wind barrier. Xi Weilan immediately twisted around happily to look down below.
Inside the room, Lu Qianning stared coldly at the man lying on the bed. This was the younger brother she had raised herself.
The Tenth Prince had been stabbed in the chest, and blood continued to flow from the wound. Enduring the pain, he pleaded with tears in his eyes, looking utterly pitiful.
“Elder Sister, I didn’t do it on purpose. The Fourth Prince forced me to. You have to believe me! I never wanted to harm you!”
Lu Qianning gazed at him and shook her head in disappointment. “Do you remember why Seventh Sister beat Fourth Prince? Did you think I wouldn’t investigate anything after I returned? You two were using my life and death as something to boast about. That was why she beat him. You were the one who told Fourth Prince about the extent of my martial arts abilities, weren’t you? Because of you, I was hunted all the way here.”
“Elder Sister, I…” The Tenth Prince tried to argue. He didn’t want to die. He attempted to win her sympathy by acting pitiful, hoping she would still care about their bond as siblings.
Lu Qianning’s eyes grew even colder. “Do you remember what I told you before? If you wanted to compete for the throne, you could have told me. I would have done everything I could to help you. But you sold me out like a heartless beast. Don’t call me Elder Sister. I don’t have a brother like you. Even raising a dog would have been better.”
A flash of resentment and unwillingness crossed the Tenth Prince’s eyes. “What good would telling you have done? Could you really have helped me? Weren’t you forced by Fourth Prince to go to Northern Yue for a political marriage? Aside from being good at martial arts, what use were you?”
The few people on the roof felt indignant on Lu Qianning’s behalf. She had protected him and raised him safely, yet he had repaid her kindness with betrayal.
Lu Qianning merely let out a cold laugh. “Do you really think I had no choice but to marry into Northern Yue? You were the one who said you had no interest in fighting for power. I simply didn’t want to remain bound by my status as a princess. I wanted to go somewhere else and live a different life. I had already made all the arrangements. Even if I faked my death in Northern Yue, none of my other sisters would have had to suffer in my place. I never expected that the two of you had other schemes in mind. Mother was right to warn me. No matter the circumstances, you must always keep something hidden.”
“What did you say?” The Tenth Prince was so startled that he nearly forgot the pain of his wound.
Lu Qianning said nothing more. Her mother had been wounded by the Emperor and had come to distrust all men. Before she died, she had warned Lu Qianning never to trust any man, including her own younger brother. Lu Qianning had listened—but only halfway.
She had not revealed the forces she had secretly cultivated to the Tenth Prince. Aside from that, however, she had held nothing back about her martial arts and abilities. That was why she had encountered so many assassins on her journey from Northern Yue back to the capital.
She gave the Tenth Prince no further chance to speak. With one stroke, she sliced open his throat.
“For the sake of our relationship as siblings, I’ll at least leave you with your whole body.”
The Tenth Prince stared wide-eyed, dying with his grievance unresolved.
After killing him, Lu Qianning left the room without the slightest hesitation, sword in hand. She was deeply grateful that she had kept one final trump card hidden. Otherwise, her fate would have been even worse.
Xi Qingyue carried Xi Weilan down from the roof, and Lu Jinshuang followed close behind. Seeing that Lu Qianning’s expression was calm, the others said nothing.
Mu Jin and the guards killed everyone in the Tenth Prince’s residence. Many of them had once received favors from Lu Qianning, yet they had all repaid her kindness with betrayal. The guards showed them no mercy as they killed them.
Lu Qianning lifted her eyes toward the vast, star-filled sky and smiled in relief. “The Emperor could kill Mother and abandon his own daughter. Compared to that, being betrayed by my younger brother doesn’t seem like much. Let’s go hang Fourth Prince’s head at the palace gates and let Father admire what a fine son he raised.”
The moment she finished speaking, Xi Qingyue took Xi Weilan in her arms and flew away, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
She loved nothing more than punishing evil and upholding justice. A prince like the Fourth Prince, who had betrayed his country, deserved to be condemned by everyone. She was off to do another good deed.
