Chapter 16: The First Prince Can’t Sit Still
“So Your Highness encountered an assassination attempt and was kicked into the water by Hong Que who thought it was a hallucination.”
At the tea table in the living room, after hearing the whole story, Cang Jiu began to voice his indignation. “That stupid bird, how could he treat Your Highness like that! Didn’t Your Highness punish him?”
Xie Qiang shook her head. “No. It was my fault for torturing Mo Yin so long, which caused Hong Que to be sick and weak, unable to distinguish reality from hallucination.”
“Besides, thanks to him, I didn’t die at the assassin’s hands.” Xie Qiang propped up her face with her hands, looking puzzled. “I just don’t know who the savior was that pulled me out of the water prison. I haven’t been able to properly thank them.”
Cang Jiu glanced at Mo Yin, who was buried in his food. From her description, only he and Xie Qiang were in the water prison at the time. Therefore, the savior was definitely Mo Yin.
Although he wasn’t sure why Xie Qiang hadn’t realized this, still… “Your Highness, forget it. If the person won’t reveal their identity, they’re likely afraid of being targeted and then being deliberately humiliated by Your Highness.”
The youth’s clear voice was full of righteous indignation. “Thinking Your Highness is so bad—we don’t need a savior with such prejudices!”
Mo Yin looked up at him: He’s scolding me.
Xie Qiang also looked at him: He seems to be scolding me too.
“By the way, Your Highness, isn’t it time you told me about that reform plan?” Cang Jiu urged. This was his real business here.
To his surprise, his next words made his smile falter.
“Why should I say it?” Xie Qiang tilted her head, clutching a warm tea cup. “Didn’t Tactical Officer Cang come to my room because he wanted to share my burdens?”
“Is the reform not a burden for Your Highness?” Cang Jiu blinked.
“No.” Xie Qiang blew on the tea leaves in her cup, thinking seriously: I haven’t even started thinking about it yet, what’s there to be burdened about?
Cang Jiu finally realized he had been played.
“Your Highness!” Cang Jiu looked at her aggrievedly. “Are you teasing me on purpose?”
Not really.
Xie Qiang sipped her tea like a little kitten, thinking to herself that she wasn’t a fool; she could see Cang Jiu had other motives. Since Cang Jiu hadn’t actually harmed her, she decided to play along and “use” him a little.
“Speaking of which, Your Highness, I still have one burden that hasn’t been solved.”
Xie Qiang looked at this “volunteer” who had delivered himself to her door with expectant and sly eyes. “Tactical Officer Cang, tomorrow, find some Sentinels and send them over for me to purify!”
Cang Jiu: …
She really is treating him like unpaid labor!
“Your Highness is really something…” He toyed with the silver hair at his neck, looking gloomy. “Don’t you have even a little pity for me?”
“I’ll give you a reward.” Xie Qiang patted her chest and promised, “You can look forward to it.”
A promise with no actual reward specified sounded like a classic “drawing a big pie” (empty promise). Yet, looking at Xie Qiang’s confident and clean little face, Cang Jiu actually didn’t find it annoying.
“Then I’ll look forward to it, Your Highness.”
After leaving Xie Qiang’s home, Cang Jiu walked toward the end of the corridor, looking thoughtful.
How strange. He thought there was only one assassin, but it turned out another was hiding outside. And it happened exactly when Sen Ji was about to go manic, only to be purified by Xie Qiang.
Is the First Prince unable to sit still?
Thinking with his finger tapping his cheek, Cang Jiu arrived at Hong Que’s door. A faint, lingering scent of blood in the air proved Xie Qiang wasn’t lying; she had indeed encountered a second assassination attempt.
Cang Jiu knocked on the door, his voice lazy. “Hey, Bird of the Vermilion Bird family, come out and chat.”
After a while, the door opened a crack, and Hong Que’s rebellious, handsome face was partially revealed. His sharp golden eyes swept down. Seeing it was Cang Jiu, he sneered. “As expected of the Heavenly Fox family—not a single one of you from old to young has any manners!”
Cang Jiu wore a smile. “Hardly comparable to the hundreds in the Vermilion Bird family, chirping and annoying ten thousand people.”
“What do you want?” Hong Que didn’t want to chat. He looked outside cautiously to make sure a certain familiar petite figure wasn’t around. Relieved, he opened the door and said crossly, “Say it and get lost!”
“Any clues about the assassin you killed yesterday?” Cang Jiu asked faintly.
Hong Que gave him a suspicious look. “Why do you care? Did you send the assassin?”
“Can you talk without dropping your IQ?” Cang Jiu backed away a few steps, looking disgusted, as if the air was being polluted by his stupidity. “What benefit would I get from killing her?”
Hong Que sneered. “Xie Qiang’s three-year trial period is about over. As long as she gets the support of four S-class Sentinels besides Sen Ji, she can rightfully become the next successor.”
“The First Prince, who covets the throne, won’t sit by and watch. He will definitely try to win over the Heavenly Fox family, asking you to refuse support for Xie Qiang, and will likely promise your family massive benefits.”
Hong Que snorted. “I don’t believe the cunning and greedy Fox clan wouldn’t be tempted.”
“And the Vermilion Bird family hasn’t received any overtures from the First Prince?” Cang Jiu crossed his arms and smiled, seeing through it all. “Otherwise, why did you kill the assassin directly instead of leaving him alive to interrogate him for the mastermind?”
Hong Que was silent for a moment.
“It seems the two of us… no, the three of us—Mo Yin definitely listens to you—haven’t decided who to support yet.” Cang Jiu’s voice was full of playfulness. “As for the one in the palace, hehe, it’s hard to say.”
Our Princess is truly pitiful.
But who could she blame? She was too stupid before, useless for anything but being beautiful.
Hong Que muttered, “As long as her engagement with Sen Ji stands and she’s willing to purify him, there will always be other S-class Sentinels willing to support her.” In the Star-Sea Empire, the Third War Zone wasn’t the only place with S-class Sentinels.
“True. If she ascends, we should seize the opportunity and not let others get ahead of us.”
Cang Jiu clasped his hands behind his head and waved lazily. “Fine, I’m leaving. Be alert; there might be more assassins waiting to kill our Princess.”
This trip wasn’t for nothing. At least he knew that the promises the First Prince made to the Vermilion Bird family were a pile of flashy but empty things.
Unlike the promise to the Heavenly Fox family—that if he took the throne, the Princess as an S-class Guide, along with the status of all Guides in the Empire, would drop to the bottom, becoming nothing more than healing machines for Sentinels.
“Pfft.” Cang Jiu laughed at the stupidity. “What kind of low-quality genes does the Emperor have to produce two idiots?”
Luckily, one of them seemed to have become smarter recently. He could look forward to it a little.
As Hong Que watched Cang Jiu leave, he scratched his head irritably. “So much trouble. I planned to never see her again.”
That girl had zero street smarts and never showed up for the mandatory palace self-defense classes. If he didn’t watch her constantly, she might really end up like last night—murdered in some corner without anyone knowing.
Thinking of the girl’s watery eyes filled with affection, Hong Que slammed the door and muttered, “Just when exactly did she fall for me…”
Xie Qiang felt as if someone were stalking her today. But whenever she turned back, there was no one in sight.
Strange… did I have a stress reaction from the assassination attempt?
Xie Qiang shook her head and walked into her office.
In a corner of the hallway, a large, red, fluffy head poked out cautiously. A tiny voice muttered in a low curse, “Tsk, how is she so sharp?”
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