The Ninth Prince made his way to Nan Yun’s courtyard without a hitch. He encountered several patrolling guards along the way, but they were all ordinary sentries, and none of them noticed him.
Standing outside Nan Yun’s room, he wore a smile that suggested victory was already within his grasp. Then he took a tiny bamboo tube from his sleeve, pressed it against the paper-covered window, and gently blew into it. He quickly stepped aside afterward.
As far as martial arts were concerned, he was certain Nan Yun was no match for him. But he only wanted the hidden weapon and had no intention of making a great commotion. As long as he could take it without being noticed, that would be enough.
Xi Qingyue silently watched his movements without intervening. She had noticed long ago that there was no one inside the room. Nan Yun was currently in the room next door.
After waiting for a while, the Ninth Prince took out a black face covering and put it on, concealing his nose and mouth. Only then did he confidently push open the door.
The moment he opened it, Nan Yun also opened the door to the adjoining room and walked out. The two doors opened at the same time, and he did not notice anything unusual.
The Ninth Prince headed straight for the bed at the innermost part of the room. He glanced at the person on the bed and, seeing that they were still sleeping with their head covered, relaxed. He began searching everywhere, checking beneath the table and under the bed. He even rummaged through the outer robes hanging in the room.
Only after searching everywhere did he turn his attention to the person sleeping under the covers. He let out a cold laugh. “You even keep it beside you while sleeping. That hidden weapon must be very precious.”
He suddenly yanked off the quilt. When he saw that there was nothing beneath it but thick cotton padding, his expression changed dramatically. He spun around and ran for the door, cursing, “Damn it! It’s a trap!”
He had barely rushed out of the room before a shot struck him in the knee, stopping him from leaping into the air.
Immediately afterward, Nan Yun’s furious shout rang out. “How dare you! What kind of thief are you? Guards! Catch the thief!”
As she shouted, she fired several shots at him in succession. The Ninth Prince endured the pain in his knee and swiftly dodged, but one of the bullets still struck him in the chest.
He was so furious that he nearly revealed his identity as a prince on the spot. But when he saw how ruthlessly Nan Yun was attacking, he forced himself to hold back. This was clearly a trap aimed at him, and his most urgent task now was to escape the courtyard.
At the critical moment, he took several small hidden weapons unique to the Guangling Pavilion from his sleeve and hurled them at Nan Yun. She hurriedly leaped into the air, twisting and turning several times to evade the attack.
In that brief instant, the Ninth Prince fled from the courtyard.
The other guards came rushing over after hearing the commotion. Nan Yun pointed in one direction and shouted, “A thief just broke in! Spread the order—search the entire residence! Also, send someone to the Ninth Prince and have guards keep watch outside his courtyard all night, so no assassin can disturb his rest.”
After giving orders for the others to pursue the thief, Nan Yun instead sat down calmly in the courtyard. She had deliberately let the man escape. Why would she bother chasing him?
Xi Qingyue smiled in satisfaction. “Not bad. You shot him twice and still made him afraid to say a word. Nan Yun, well done.”
Hearing the voice, Nan Yun looked up and saw Xi Qingyue flying over with Xi Weilan and Lu Jinshuang.
“Princess, Commandery Princess, when did you arrive?” Nan Yun asked, clearly surprised by their appearance.
Xi Qingyue replied calmly, “We’ve been here for quite some time. We happened to see a thief enter your courtyard, and we also saw you shoot him twice before deliberately letting him escape.”
Xi Weilan asked in confusion, “Sister Nan Yun, why didn’t you kill him just now? He was trying to steal something.”
Nan Yun froze when she heard the sisters’ words. They had known from the beginning that the thief was the Ninth Prince—one had simply been watching the show, while the other had even been thinking about killing him.
She glanced at Lu Jinshuang. Seeing the calm expression on her face, Nan Yun finally answered their questions.
“Princess, Commandery Princess, it was like this. After the Ninth Prince arrived at the county office during the day, he went around with our people asking questions. He also kept staring at the gun in my hand. I felt that he must have another purpose for coming here. But killing him openly would have been inappropriate, so I decided to turn the tables on him. I waited for him to make his move, pretended not to know who he was, and wounded him so that he would take the initiative to leave the county office. Once he left, we could deal with him without damaging the princess’s or the Commandery Princess’s reputations.”
She had considered killing him outright that night, but everyone knew that the Ninth Prince had entered the county office. If he died there, others might frame them for his death, which would be troublesome. It would be better to drive him out first and kill him afterward.
Xi Qingyue nodded approvingly. “You handled it well. Even if you had exposed his identity in front of everyone and said he had been killed by mistake while trying to steal something, it wouldn’t have helped. The county office is filled with our people, so no one would believe such an explanation. He was wounded by a gunshot, and now that people are watching him, he has no way to leave tonight. He’ll certainly find an excuse to leave tomorrow. If he doesn’t, he won’t survive long without treating his injuries.”
Hearing Xi Qingyue’s praise, Nan Yun smiled shyly. “Commandery Princess, I’m just glad you aren’t angry that I acted on my own.”
Xi Qingyue smiled and shook her head. “Why would I be angry? If you had sent someone to notify me beforehand and he had discovered it, how could you have sprung the trap? This worked perfectly. I’ll cripple his martial arts later. If he doesn’t leave the county office tomorrow, he certainly won’t survive.”
As for seeking treatment from a physician inside the county office, the Ninth Prince probably would not have the nerve to do that.
Once he left the county office openly, it would be the end of him.
Xi Qingyue said regretfully, “It’s a pity we didn’t expose his true identity. That was letting him off too easily.”
Lu Jinshuang patted her on the head and gently urged her, “Forget it. What would exposing him accomplish? If you killed him in front of everyone, you would leave others with something to use against you. If you didn’t kill him, the imperial court wouldn’t punish him either. In the eyes of certain people, those children don’t matter at all. At most, they would order him to remain confined at home for a while. Once he leaves this place, just kill him.”
She understood Nan Yun’s intentions very well. Nan Yun simply did not want Xi Qingyue to bear all kinds of undeserved accusations. Her Ninth Sister’s subordinate was indeed extraordinary—both considerate and ruthless.
Xi Qingyue naturally understood this as well. She had never cared about her reputation, yet someone else had thought it through on her behalf.
Generously, she took out a banknote worth one hundred taels and handed it to Nan Yun. “Here. This is your reward. Spend it as you like.”
Nan Yun stared at the banknote in astonishment. That was far too generous. She had merely paused for a moment before smiling and accepting it.
“This subordinate thanks the Commandery Princess for the reward!”
While they were speaking, the Ninth Prince was pursued by the other guards all the way to the vicinity of the courtyard where he was staying. Only then did they stop.
He entered the room, shut the door, and collapsed onto the floor. The pain in his chest and knee reminded him of the humiliation he had suffered that night.
He slammed his fist against the ground in fury. “How dare they fire at this prince? Just wait!”
He had originally planned to rest for a while before leaving the county office. He had to get out quickly, find his subordinates, and have the hidden weapons removed from his body.
However, not long afterward, the guards’ voices sounded from outside.
“Ninth Prince, a thief came into the county office just now and seems to have fled in this direction. Is everything all right on your end?”
Hearing the shout outside, he did his best to keep his voice steady as he replied, “This prince is fine. Go search somewhere else.”
Hearing this, the guard seemed relieved. “It’s good that nothing happened, Ninth Prince. We’ll take turns standing guard outside tonight, so no one will be able to enter. You can rest easy.”
At those words, the Ninth Prince was practically livid. He cursed inwardly, “You bunch of bastards! How am I supposed to leave with you guarding this place?”
