Chapter Eighty-Five: Fortune Favored You

Mei Ji frowned. In any case, there would be no happy ending; why keep her around and drag down that girl, Little Spoon, and the girl before her eyes as well?

Mei Ji turned and strode up to the two of them, flicked her hand, and scattered a handful of powder. Feng Qingxuan collapsed at once. Then Mei Ji struck the acupoint at Yun Ming’s chest with a single finger.

Blood surged up Yun Ming’s throat; with his qi and blood churning violently, he spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground, murmuring over and over, “Xuan’er...”

Mei Ji frowned. He was calling her Xuan’er...

Washed by the torrential rain, the haze and the scent of herbs slowly dispersed.

Ye Eleven awoke amid a cluster of shadow guards. He sprang up at once, searched the area in haste, and found no sign of Yun Ming.

Only at last, beside the carriage, did he see a pale figure lying silently on the ground. Ye Eleven was struck with terror and rushed over.

It was Yun Ming.

The surrounding shadow guards were gradually waking.

Ye Eleven, oblivious to everything, stood frozen, then stiffly extended a finger to test Yun Ming’s breath.

When Ye Nine and Ye Ten arrived, Ye Eleven was slumped on the ground. Yun Ming had lost all signs of life, and Feng Qingxuan had vanished without a trace.

The shadow guards dispersed one after another, forming two ranks. Feng Jinye, his whole body radiating a ruthless chill, walked toward Yun Ming’s corpse like a demon from hell.

Ye Eleven rose woodenly from the ground and, with a thud, dropped to his knees before Feng Jinye.

He had led four squads of shadow guards, yet could not protect Yun Ming and Feng Qingxuan. Ye Eleven lowered his head, unable to face his master.

The rain kept pouring, washing away the blood. Time seemed to freeze in that instant. Yun Ming’s features became even clearer, yet cold and lifeless.

Feng Jinye approached slowly, his eyes blood-red, staring at Yun Ming’s still body on the ground.

The rain seemed to fall in utter silence now; the world around them was dreadfully quiet.

From the direction of Guanlin City, Lu Liyuan arrived with three thousand cavalry, surrounding Feng Jinye and his party.

“By decree of the Empress Dowager, the War King Feng Jinye has plotted against the heir apparent. Seize him and escort him back to the capital at once!” Lu Liyuan cried, holding high the imperial edict.

A buzzing filled Feng Jinye’s head. Then, suddenly, he let out a cold, derisive laugh.

The air froze. His laughter was ghastly, so terrifying that it left everyone breathless and cold to the bone.

Lu Liyuan frowned, rode closer, and said softly, “For Qianyu’s sake, do not resist.”

In the end, Feng Jinye mounted his horse and followed behind Lu Liyuan. He looked back once at Yun Ming and said flatly to Ye Eleven, “Bury him.”

Lu Liyuan did not escort Feng Jinye back to the capital, but instead brought him into Guanlin City under the pretext of taking shelter from the rain.

Feng Jinye dismounted and walked straight toward the tent. Lu Liyuan followed him inside, whereupon Feng Jinye swung his fist and smashed it into Lu Liyuan’s nose.

“You’ve lost your mind!” Lu Liyuan cursed.

“What happened?” Feng Jinye gripped the front of Lu Liyuan’s robe and demanded fiercely.

Lu Liyuan was stunned. “This wasn’t your arrangement?”

Those words from Lu Liyuan caused Feng Jinye to sink helplessly into the chief seat. How could that be?

Lu Liyuan was equally astonished. Could Yun Ming truly be dead? Then what had that body been just now...

Lu Liyuan looked up at Feng Jinye. Having nothing more to say, he withdrew.

In the Duke of Lu’s mansion in the capital, Little Spoon and Lu Yanran faced each other once again.

Ever since Little Spoon had returned to the mansion ten days earlier, Lu Yanran had been avoiding her. Today, however, she could not evade her any longer and was finally cornered.

“I’ve learned to throw darts and want to ask my sister for advice. Let’s go to the training ground,” Little Spoon said in a tone that brooked no refusal.

Lu Yanran looked easy to bully, but after careful thought, Little Spoon only knew that she was skilled with hidden weapons. As for her actual martial arts, that remained unknown. Whether she could slip past the War King’s Manor defenses to shoot arrows into the Herbal Verse Tower still had to be determined.

“Has your injury healed?” Lu Yanran said unhappily. “You should be properly being a princess consort. Why are you practicing darts?”

Little Spoon raised her brows. There was even a hint of concern in Lu Yanran’s words, and Little Spoon felt something was off. It seemed everyone in the Duke’s mansion was paying attention to her injury.

“So, I heard your arm is ruined, and that even if you have children in the future, you won’t be able to hold them!” Lu Yanran said.

Little Spoon paused. “Don’t I still have my left arm? It’s not as though I can’t eat with it.”

She paused again and added, “When Rui’er was little, his mother’s hands weren’t ruined either, and she didn’t hold him many times.”

“You are really hateful!” Lu Yanran said, vexed.

Seeing Lu Yanran’s anger, Little Spoon gave a soft laugh and said, “You really are adorable. Don’t you know that?”

Lu Yanran froze. Suddenly she remembered how, when she was young, Lady Liu often took her outside and happened to meet Little Spoon. Lady Liu would always make her remember Little Spoon, saying that Little Spoon was the one who had stolen her status and place, a usurper who had occupied what belonged to another.

Since childhood, Lu Yanran had harbored deep hatred for Little Spoon. She also knew that she was the Duke of Lu’s daughter, but had been forced into becoming a spy for Western Flame. Other Western Flame spies were still hidden within the Duke’s mansion, and Lu Yanran did not dare reveal anything, fearing that if it leaked out, the Lu family would face annihilation.

“What exactly do you want? Kindness with no cause is suspicious,” Lu Yanran asked warily.

Little Spoon took a dart from her sleeve and said slowly, “I only wanted to discuss this with you, cousin...”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she reversed her hand and sent the dart straight at Lu Yanran.

“Hah.” Lu Yanran gave a cold sneer. When the dart reached her, she caught it with just two fingers. With a flick of her wrist, she sent it flying back toward Little Spoon.

Who would have thought Little Spoon would refuse to engage? She ran while shouting, “Grandfather, Lu Yanran is bullying me...”

Lu Yanran stiffened. Was this person born without shame?

At this hour every day, the Duke of Lu would come to the training ground to exercise. Little Spoon had calculated the timing perfectly. The moment she shouted, the Duke turned his head and saw Lu Yanran throwing a dart at Little Spoon.

In the end, the dart was knocked away by Dong Nuan. Yet when the Duke saw this, he burst out laughing.

“You sisters are merely playing. Don’t drag this old man’s bones into it,” the Duke of Lu said with a smile as he came over.

Those words clearly sided with Lu Yanran. She paused, expecting a reprimand, but the Duke of Lu instead said with a beaming smile, “To me, it is plainly Qianyu bullying Yanran. Yanran is by nature quiet and reserved. The moment she sees Grandfather, she complains, and then she admits to everything!”

“Who told her not to say anything and just go around causing trouble!” Little Spoon kept complaining. “Grandfather, look at her dart...”

Little Spoon knew Lu Yanran’s awkward nature well enough; one had to force her before she would speak about anything.

“Little Spoon, don’t slander me. That clearly was your dart!” Lu Yanran said anxiously.

In truth, without close inspection, the dart looked no different from an ordinary one. But upon careful study, one could see that the pattern on its shaft was shaped like a door.

The few words Little Spoon said to the Duke of Lu were enough to test that Lu Yanran knew this dart was unusual and was eager to distance herself from it.

“It’s only a dart. Why are you so nervous?” Little Spoon suddenly said coldly.

Lu Yanran instantly realized she had been tricked again by Little Spoon.

“You...” Lu Yanran said furiously, “Even if it is my dart, so what? From beginning to end, I have said everything I ought to say. What I do not wish to say is my own affair and has nothing to do with you!”

“Was it you who snuck into the War King’s Manor at night?” Little Spoon asked.

Lu Yanran gave a cold laugh. “Yes. I simply saw you holding my son too often, so I ruined your arm, so that you would never again be able to hold your own child. How about that?”

Little Spoon frowned. After Lu Yanran finished speaking, she turned and left.

The Duke of Lu stared after Lu Yanran in utter shock.

Lu Yanran returned to the courtyard where she was temporarily staying and began packing her belongings. Since she had laid a hand on Little Spoon, it seemed the Duke’s mansion would no longer tolerate her.

“Mother...” Lin Rui tugged at Lu Yanran’s sleeve and called out in a soft, childish voice.

Guilt filled Lu Yanran’s heart. She bent down and lifted Lin Rui into her arms. It was true that she had not often held a child before.

After comforting the Duke of Lu a few words, Little Spoon followed Lu Yanran to her courtyard, knocked on the door, and said, “Rui’er, Aunt has come to see you. Can you open the door for Aunt?”

Lin Rui immediately climbed down from Lu Yanran and ran to open the door with waving arms and legs.

Lu Yanran’s eyes turned red at once. She wanted very much to settle down here. Rui’er liked everyone here who was kind to him.

“Aunt is talking with Mother. Rui’er, go eat pastries with Sister Qingxia...” Little Spoon dismissed Lin Rui as soon as he opened the door.

Little Spoon entered the room, glanced at the bundle of belongings Lu Yanran had packed to one side, and frowned. “Are you leaving?”

“Hmph...” Lu Yanran snorted and turned her head away, ignoring Little Spoon.

Little Spoon did not mind. “Let me ask you this: do you want to kill me and simply haven’t been allowed to? Or is someone else trying to kill me, and you cannot bring yourself to do it?”

Lu Yanran looked at Little Spoon for a long while, then gave a faint laugh. “Of course I want to kill you!”

“You will never know how much I hate you.”

“I watched you grow up since childhood. Every one of my family members and relatives cherished you in the palm of their hands, and what about me?”

“From the age of six, I was dealing with assassins, forced to kill, living in endless darkness...”

“I had a home, family, and relatives, and yet all of them became yours. No matter how bitter, how tired, how painful it was, I had to endure alone...” Lu Yanran said through gritted teeth.

Little Spoon found it rather absurd. She also knew Lu Yanran had a dark past. The Duke’s family had indeed treated Little Spoon very well. If Lu Yanran wished to hate her, it would not have been unreasonable. What was strange was that the one who had truly stolen Lu Yanran’s identity as the legitimate young lady of the duke’s household was not Lu Huiran?

Noticing that Lu Yanran seemed desperately avoiding something, Little Spoon asked bluntly, “Then why not simply poison me to death?”

“It’s because you were lucky!” Lu Yanran said indifferently.

“The poison of Western Flame, the poison of Misty Dawn Pavilion—are they not supposed to be incurable? Why not use one of them?” Little Spoon asked again.

At the words “Misty Dawn Pavilion,” Lu Yanran trembled all over and said shakily, “Little Spoon, you are truly terrifying!”

“Lu Yanran, you are a member of Misty Dawn Pavilion!” Little Spoon said with certainty.

The moment those words left her mouth, Lu Yanran’s face turned ashen.