The moment Nightshadow's body flew out of the courtyard, he was blocked by an invisible barrier, as if he had crashed straight into a solid stone wall.
With a loud thud, he immediately started plummeting toward the ground.
His heart lurched in alarm. He twisted mid-air to barely steady himself and land on his feet, only to feel a gust of icy wind wrap around his entire body. With a "pfft", he spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent crashing face-first onto the ground.
What filled him with even greater dread was that Mu Jin's voice drifted from the end of the alley. "I think I heard an assassin up ahead. Hurry over to take a look."
A flurry of chaotic footsteps followed, and before long, Mu Jin arrived with Xi Qingyue's guards.
Nightshadow lay sprawled on the ground like a dying dog, not moving an inch, blood gushing wildly from his mouth.
At that moment, he felt as if he was being flayed alive, the pain so searing he could not utter a single word. Invisible sharp gales sliced across his body like razor blades, and to the shock of everyone watching, his clothes tore apart piece by piece, followed by strips of his flesh. He was not hacked to bits, but layer after layer of skin and muscle was scraped from his frame.
Mu Jin's mouth twitched as she stared at the writhing, pain-stricken man on the ground. She had only come to this area after following the Ninth Prince earlier, just as a precaution. When she heard Xi Qingyue's voice a moment ago, she immediately realized things had taken an unexpected turn and rushed over at once.
She had never expected this pleasant surprise. This assassin must have come here to kill the Ninth Prince, no doubt about it.
Xi Qingyue landed lightly at the entrance of the small courtyard with Lu Jinshuang, turning to the approaching Mu Jin and her men. "Mu Jin, I thought I heard the sounds of a struggle and a man's screams coming from this direction. By the time we got here, this person was already trying to flee the courtyard. The whole place reeks of blood. Go inside and see exactly who he killed. I've already crippled his martial arts skills. Drag him back and interrogate him thoroughly."
"Yes, Commandery Princess."
Mu Jin ordered several guards to drag the unconscious Nightshadow to the side, tie him up tightly, then led a few trusted men into the courtyard.
Everyone who stepped into the courtyard was someone she could rely on. After sweeping her gaze across the scene, Mu Jin's eyes lit up. It was like the gods had sent her a pillow right when she was sleepy.
She walked over to the Ninth Prince's corpse, drew her sword, and deftly dug the bullet out of his body. Then she stabbed the wound several more times, until not a trace of the gunshot wound could be seen.
Once she had finished altering the body, she hurried back outside. "Commandery Princess, it's terrible. It's the Ninth Prince. The Ninth Prince has been killed."
At her words, Lu Jinshuang flew into a fury. "What did you say? My Ninth Brother is dead?"
She dashed into the courtyard in a flash, putting on a perfect show of being consumed by grief and rage over her younger brother's death.
Even Xi Qingyue looked utterly astonished. "But the Ninth Prince was supposed to be at the county yamen. How did he end up here? What on earth is going on?"
Mu Jin snuck a quick glance at the local villagers who had wandered over to see what the commotion was about, then spoke with a confused look on her face. "Forgive me, Commandery Princess, but this subordinate truly has no idea. Many people saw the Ninth Prince leave this morning saying he wanted to go out for breakfast. No one knows why he came to this place. There are over a dozen other corpses inside too, we don't know if they were the Ninth Prince's men."
Xi Qingyue stood with her hands behind her back, her face etched with regret. "Alas, Sister Jinshuang and I were on our way out of the city to run some errands. If we hadn't heard the strange noises and come to investigate, the assassin would have gotten clean away. Take the man back and interrogate him carefully. We must find out who is the mastermind behind the Ninth Prince's murder."
She glanced toward the courtyard and sighed. "Sister Jinshuang is distraught, I should go in and comfort her. You all bring the assassin and the bodies back to the yamen. Question every household nearby too, ask if anyone saw the Ninth Prince or any suspicious people around here."
With that, she turned and walked into the courtyard.
Mu Jin immediately had her men start the routine questioning of nearby residents, and sure enough, several villagers had seen the Ninth Prince knocking on the door of that very house. Their testimony confirmed the Ninth Prince had come to this place of his own accord.
As for the other dozen corpses, people quickly recognized who they were.
When the bodies were carried out to the street, one man pointed at a corpse and exclaimed out loud.
"I know him! That's Xiao Wu. He showed up here yesterday, and he even asked me where he could find the Commandery Princess."
"I recognize this one too, that's Old Seven. Yesterday he was at the tea house badmouthing the Commandery Princess, saying she was ruthless for executing the county magistrate. I even got into an argument with him over it. That man was no good."
"Wait a minute, all these people clearly hated the Commandery Princess. Why would the Ninth Prince come here to meet them? Did he come to give the Commandery Princess a piece of his mind?" One villager scratched his head, completely confused.
A woman suddenly slapped her forehead. "No, what if he came here on purpose because he's the boss of all these people?"
The second the words left her mouth, she clapped her hands over her mouth in shock and stumbled back a few steps. The rest of the crowd broke out in cold sweat.
If the Ninth Prince was in cahoots with all these men, could the assassin actually have been sent by the Commandery Princess?
But then they remembered how calm Xi Qingyue had been a moment ago, and quickly dismissed the thought. If that had been the case, she could have just had them killed somewhere far away and hidden the bodies. There was no reason to go through all this trouble. They were being absurdly suspicious for no reason.
Just then, Xi Qingyue walked out of the courtyard leading Lu Jinshuang, whose eyes were red and puffy from crying.
She turned to Mu Jin and gave her instructions. "Mu Jin, splash the assassin awake and interrogate him at the county yamen later. I'm taking Sister Jinshuang out for a little while. Leave everything at the yamen in your hands."
She knew exactly how capable Mu Jin was. Without his martial arts skills, and after all the excruciating torture he had already endured, Nightshadow would be terrified out of his wits. He would never hold out for long, and he was sure to confess under questioning.
Then as if remembering something, she gestured for Mu Jin to lean down, and whispered something in her ear. Mu Jin nodded again and again.
After that, Xi Qingyue pulled Lu Jinshuang along, and the two of them vanished in a flash of light.
Mu Jin turned to the crowd of villagers, her expression warm and gentle. "If any of you have unresolved grievances, you can come to the county yamen any time. We will record every case and handle them one by one. With the Commandery Princess looking out for you all, you have nothing to fear, no need to worry about anyone taking revenge on you."
"Long live the just Commandery Princess! We are forever grateful!" The crowd of villagers was so moved their eyes filled with tears.
Outside the city gates, Xi Qingyue could no longer hold back and burst into peals of laughter, laughing so hard tears streamed down her face.
Lu Jinshuang playfully smacked her on the head. "Stop laughing. Fix my eyes first."
That was right—her puffy red eyes had been caused by Xi Qingyue's trick, not from actual crying.
Xi Qingyue coughed lightly to compose herself. "I just can't help it, I'm so happy. The Ninth Prince is dead, and everyone will think Prince Kang is the one who had him killed. This is perfect!"
She held up a finger, and a flash of green light swept across Lu Jinshuang's face. In an instant, the swelling and redness around her eyes was completely gone.
Lu Jinshuang touched her own face, looking utterly amazed. "Yue, your power is absolutely incredible. But you have to be careful, don't use it in front of other people too often. Don't let too many people find out about it."
As a royal princess, she knew better than anyone how dangerous it was to possess something others would covet.
Xi Qingyue nodded with a smile. "Don't worry. I wouldn't dare use it unless I was sure I could handle any consequences. Besides, no one else here is worth wasting my power on."
She waved a hand, and Tafeng and a white horse appeared out of thin air.
"Come on, let's head to Golden Crow Mountain. We might just stumble on some great treasures while we're there."
With that, she landed squarely on Tafeng's back, while Lu Jinshuang took her seat on the white horse. She stroked Tafeng's head and chuckled softly, "I bet you've been awfully bored lately, haven't you, Tafeng? You have to do me proud in a bit, don't get outrun by a plain white horse of all things." Tafeng let out a cheerful whinny, reared its hooves, and shot forward like an arrow the next instant.
