Lu Jinshuang knew Lu Qianning's martial arts skills very well. If even she had been beaten, it could only mean these two sisters were truly formidable—at least far more capable than she had guessed. Even without martial arts, they must possess deadly concealed weapons skilled enough to take down masters.
Then another question occurred to her. "By the way, where did you part ways with Little Nine?"
Xi Qingyue shook her head at her. "I don't know. I've forgotten. And even if I remembered, I wouldn't tell you. Your estate leaks like a sieve—best not to ask."
Lu Jinshuang was so angry at these words she nearly jumped out of her skin. This was pure contempt for the two of them.
She shot Xi Qingyue a glare and warned, "Don't think you can strut around the capital just because you have concealed weapons. News of my house arrest will spread across the city by tonight. The moment you two show your faces on the streets tomorrow, you'll be watched. You've made plenty of enemies today—don't get yourselves ambushed."
Lu Shiwan also thought this made sense and nodded in agreement. "That's right. Be careful. Plenty of people in the capital aren't afraid of Xiao Qi, and someone will definitely make a move against you. Bring guards when you go out. Don't let yourselves end up in prison before Little Nine even returns. If we don't rescue you in time, you'll be in for a rough time."
Xi Qingyue was entirely unbothered. "Don't worry. We're just two kids. The people of the capital are magnanimous—they won't hold a grudge against children like us."
As for those who weren't so magnanimous... if they insisted on harming her and her sister, she wouldn't show any mercy either.
Lu Shiwan gave a few more words of caution before leaving. Lu Jinshuang was under house arrest, but that didn't bar other siblings from visiting, and Xi Qingyue and her sister were free to come and go as they pleased.
After Lu Shiwan left, Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan began learning qinggong from Lu Jinshuang.
Lu Jinshuang carefully taught them the inner cultivation method and demonstrated it several times, only stopping when she was sure they understood how to practice.
Xi Weilan's little face was flushed with excitement. She was going to fly soon too!
Her joy was so excessive that Lu Jinshuang couldn't help furrowing her brow and scolding her sternly. "Little Lan'er, you've only just started—what's there to be so happy about? It'll take at least a year to master this, even with extraordinary talent it takes months. It's your first day, not your flying day. Focus!"
She was afraid the child wouldn't take it seriously, end up with a half-baked technique, and hurt herself. Since she was teaching them, she bore responsibility for their safety.
Xi Weilan quickly nodded. "Mm, I'll study hard. My sister says I'm gifted. I've already learned lots of the sword forms Sister Lu gave me."
Upon hearing this, Lu Jinshuang was dumbfounded.
She walked around Xi Weilan in a circle, muttering to herself, "You're only three years old... and you practice swordplay? Little Nine actually let you two kids learn sword fighting?"
She racked her brain trying to figure out what Lu Qianning had been thinking. When she herself was young, she'd pestered Little Nine for over half a year to teach her martial arts—solely because she'd nearly chopped her own leg off with a sword, and Little Nine was afraid she'd end up hacking herself to death before ever learning properly.
Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan naturally had no idea about her inner thoughts. Both of them studied with total focus.
One wanted to experience the difference between qinggong and her wind-based abilities—to know her enemy when fighting. The other just wanted to fly as soon as possible, so nobody could ever bully her using height again.
To focus on their qinggong, the two stayed inside Princess Wenyang's estate the entire next day, which greatly reassured Lu Jinshuang.
Outside the princess's residence, many spies from various estates wore disappointed expressions. They had all been waiting for the Xi sisters to emerge.
The Tenth Prince and the Fourth Prince had both stationed people nearby. Not only them—the Duke of Anguo's estate, the Right Vice Minister of Rites, and several others all had people waiting.
They couldn't barge in to seize the girls, so they waited outside for them to come out. Once they appeared, they'd drag them to the yamen. Lu Jinshuang was under house arrest and couldn't come rescue them.
Two common brats—dead is dead. Even if Lu Jinshuang were furious, she wouldn't kill them over it. Worst case, they'd take a beating and lie in bed for a few days.
These schemers had their plans all worked out, but Xi Qingyue had no intention of letting them succeed.
She and Xi Weilan sat resting in the pavilion, with no servants in sight besides the two of them and the tea and snacks on the table.
"Lan'er, there's a crowd outside all waiting to bully us. Tonight, we're going to clean out their estates, especially the Fourth and Tenth Princes. I hear princes are very rich."
Xi Weilan's eyes widened with excitement, her little face beaming. "Sister, do they have even more money than the prefect?"
Xi Qingyue nodded with a smile. "Of course. I hear the Fourth Prince is the most favored—he's got at least a few million taels of silver. He's about to die anyway, so what use does he have for all that money? We're still young and have lots of living to do, so we might as well spend it for him."
She'd never even seen the Fourth Prince since arriving in the capital, yet the man had sent people to spy on her and her sister's movements and wanted to throw them in prison. Absolutely hateful.
She had abilities; don't think she didn't know who was scheming against her just because she hadn't left the estate. Tonight, she'd collect a little interest first.
She could cripple them now, then kill them properly once Lu Qianning returned.
When Lu Jinshuang walked over from the distance, all she saw was the two sisters huddled together in the pavilion, heads bowed, whispering and giggling in an odd way. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but their smiles seemed unusual.
"What are you two whispering about so happily? Let me in on the fun." She asked casually as she stepped into the pavilion.
At her words, Xi Weilan just giggled and refused to speak.
Xi Qingyue, meanwhile, gave a mysterious smile. "Jinshuang-jie, it's a children's secret."
Lu Jinshuang rolled her eyes at this but couldn't be bothered to press further. Two strange children, strange through and through.
She resumed guiding them through their training and by now fully believed what Xi Weilan said about being gifted.
Her talent wasn't just a little better than Lu Jinshuang's own—it was several times, even dozens of times greater. In a single day, she could leap from the ground onto the table, brief as it was, but that was not something ordinary people could do.
Xi Qingyue, too, privately regretted not having Lu Qianning teach them back on the road. All she'd needed to do was knock them out and take a similar official road instead. Thank goodness they ran into Lu Jinshuang when they did—what a shame it would have been to miss out on learning qinggong.
Hundreds of li away, Lu Qianning inexplicably sneezed.
Luo Ling wiped the sweat from her brow and glanced up at the blazing sun. "Princess, we haven't run into those two little gremlins in days. Do you think they're ahead of us or behind us?"
Even as she said it, she wasn't entirely sure herself—either was possible.
Lu Qianning smiled slightly. "I don't know. In this heat, they might have found a shady spot to laze about and sleep. Or they might have already shot ahead of us. Can't say."
Something occurred to Luo Ling and her face lit up with curiosity. "Princess, do you think they'll go to the princess's residence when they reach the capital? They're a bit frightening, sure, but I sort of like them. I hope we get to see them again."
Lu Qianning didn't answer, but instead thought of another question. "Luo Ling, have you noticed anything strange? Why is it that all along the way, we keep hearing people talk about hauntings at night, and some even say the gates of the underworld have opened? One after another, they all claim to have seen ghost fires darting around after dark."
