Chapter 24 Chapter 24 The Prince Has Been Waiting for the Girl for a Long Time.

Qin Xiao's face froze for a moment, his fingertips clinging to the chess piece pausing for a long moment above the board.

Such harsh and heartbreaking words, not only for Qin Xiao, but even Su Ci, standing beside him, could not help but feel a pang of pain. He had finally met a girl he loved, only to learn in the blink of an eye that she was his own sister—how could anyone withstand such a blow?

He glanced at Fu Huaiqing with mixed feelings, his lips parted as he saw the turbulent obsession swirling in the man's eyes.

They had known each other for nearly twenty years. Su Ci had witnessed Fu Huaiqing's youthful spirit, his decisive tactics against his relatives at court at the age of nineteen, and his aloof and distant demeanor in private. But this was the first time he had ever seen him so out of control.

A flicker of hesitation crossed Su Ci's eyes, and a fleeting flash of inspiration suddenly struck him. A thought flooded his mind, and he frowned.

Could it be that Fu Huaiqing also had feelings for the second daughter of the Qin family?

Su Ci raised his gaze, looking at Fu Huaiqing, who was leisurely fiddling with chess pieces.

Fu Huaiqing's eyes dropped slightly, his gaze fixed on Qin Xiao, who had been silent for a long time. He gently raised his knuckles, tapped the table lightly, and said calmly, "Your turn."

The dull sound, accompanied by the man's clear voice, suddenly brought Qin Xiao, whose mind was wandering, back to his senses. He frowned slightly, dropped the chess piece he had been holding between his fingers, and said, "I know."

His words seemed to be a response to the current chess game, but also a response to his previous words. Fu Huaiqing's lips, stretched into a straight line, relaxed slightly, and he picked up the chess piece from the box and put it down.

In an instant, the chess game, which had been undercurrents for so long, was settled.

Qin Xiao glanced at Wei Shi and dropped the chess piece in his hand back into the box: "I lost."

"Rather than saying I lost," Fu Huaiqing said, raising his hand to pick up the chess piece he had just dropped on the board, "it's more like I was distracted."

It was like his first encounter with Biezhi.

If Qin Xiao had paid a little more attention to it at the time, he wouldn't have returned to Beijing to look for her. A moment later, the place was empty.

Qin Xiao heard the implication in these words and smiled indifferently, saying, "What if I wasn't distracted? How can you change the established facts?"

Regardless of his speed, what awaited him was only the current facts. Biezhi was his biological sister, and that was not a fact he could change.

Perhaps, he should be grateful for that moment of hesitation.

Without that moment of hesitation, the ending would have been difficult.

Su Ci raised an eyebrow as he listened to the conversation. He suddenly wanted to meet the second daughter of the Qin family to see who she was, the one who could so easily cause such confusion in the heart of the stern-faced Dali Temple Junior Official. And—

he glanced sideways at Fu Huaiqing, feeling something was amiss.

Biezhi, who had only just returned to the mansion in the middle of the night, listened to them chat about the Imperial College. She had little interest in the whirlwind of officialdom, and bored, she fiddled with the beads on her wrist, wondering how she would find an excuse to leave today.

She wondered when the party would end.

She felt a little uneasy after not being with Xu Wenche for half a day. If anything unexpected happened, all her efforts would be in vain.

"Sister." Bie Zhi pinched Qin Wan's sleeve with her fingertips and tugged, whispering, "I have something to do. I need to go out for a while."

"Go out?" Qin Wan frowned slightly. The banquet wasn't over yet, and if there was anything else that required her presence later, it wouldn't be appropriate. "Do I have to go out now?"

Bie Zhi nodded. "Yes."

Her eyes rolled around, and her voice dropped even lower. "I have an appointment with someone else."

Qin Wan was puzzled. "Someone else?"

Bie Zhi's eyes curved, and she said, "Xu Wen Che."

Qin Wan blinked at this, looking at her younger sister in disbelief.

Bie Zhi didn't understand what it felt like to fall in love for the first time, so she bit her lower lip, imitating the descriptions in the storybooks. She didn't know if her smile was shy, but she lowered her eyelids.

For a moment, she felt that giving her all the ten thousand taels wasn't a mercy from her master, but rather the right thing to do.

She was used to fighting and killing in her daily life, so how could she know how to sing opera, and she had to sing it in a way that people could believe it. It seemed like one task, but in fact it was two jobs, which really made it difficult for her.

After a long time without hearing Qin Wan's reply, Bie Zhi quietly raised her eyelids.

There was a hint of timidity in Qin Wan's eyes. It seemed that she knew that her request was unreasonable, but she had an appointment with someone else and it was inconvenient to break it. Her silence made Bie Zhi even more timid.

It was just a banquet, mostly used as a pretext for other things. Even if the person involved was not present, it would not be a problem. Qin Wan said: "Go if you have an appointment with others. Don't waste time. If your parents ask, I will explain it to you."

Bie Zhi's eyes suddenly lit up.

Her twinkling eyes made her delicate face even more charming and lively. Seeing this, Qin Wan's lips curled up slightly, and she couldn't help but smile, "Go quickly."

Biezhi smiled brightly, "Thank you, sister."

She nodded slightly to the other two and hurried towards her courtyard.

Hearing the sound of trotting behind her, Biezhi slowed down a little. She looked back at Hua Chao, who was trotting along with her. After a moment's hesitation, she said, "You stay in the courtyard. If anyone comes looking for me, tell them I was too excited to sleep last night and have retired now."

Hua Chao nodded in surprise, not surprised.

She had been with the second young lady for nearly ten days and had gradually realized that she didn't seem to like being followed or served by others. She mostly kept to herself.

Biezhi changed into more comfortable clothes. Before leaving, she once again instructed Hua Chao on how to respond to any visitors' questions before pushing open the side door of the courtyard and leaving.

If she hadn't heard wrong last night, Xu Wenche was hosting a banquet on the second floor of Wanghe Tower today.

Biezhi rushed to the courtyard where he was staying, quietly climbed over the wall and entered the courtyard. After a while, she made sure that he was not in the courtyard and then rushed to the direction of Wanghe Tower. She had been to Wanghe Tower no less than twenty times before, and in order to avoid being recognized, she bought a veil hat on the street.

But what she didn't expect was to run into Prince Su.

The moment their eyes met through the veil hat, Biezhi's body stiffened slightly. Fortunately, his gaze only lingered for half a breath before moving to the inside of Wanghe Tower. She watched Prince Su and Su Ci enter the Wanghe Tower, and then stood on the street waiting for nearly half a cup of tea before going to the counter to ask if there were any rooms on the second floor.

Wanghe Tower, which usually requires advance reservations, was unexpectedly empty today, with only three rooms remaining on the second floor. Biezhi glanced at the scrolls on the counter, found a spot closest to Xu Wenche's reserved room, and took out a silver ingot, handing it to the shopkeeper. "I want the signature dish from the building. It will be served within half an hour. Don't bother me unless I'm looking for you."

The shopkeeper took the ingot with a smile and said, "It's all up to you, young lady."

Within half an hour, the empty table was filled with fragrant dishes.

Watching the servant leave, Biezhi stepped forward to test the door's tightness. Her eyes flicked to the nineteen-foot-tall cabinet in the side room, pushing it against the door.

When she was done, she walked to the window, glanced at the dim street below, climbed over the window, stepped on the protruding tiles, and swiftly leaped under the window of the next room.

Biezhi listened from room to room, and breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Xu Wenche's voice. She bent down and sat on the wooden eaves, idly watching outside. The person Xu Wenche had arranged to meet with didn't seem to have arrived yet. Aside from Xu Wenche's occasional inquiries, there was no other sound.

It was a quarter of an hour later when the door creaked.

"Mr. Xu, I've been waiting for

a long time," the familiar voice said. Biezhi frowned slightly at the sound. Just as she wondered if she had misheard, Xu Wenche said, "Lord Zhang, you're too polite."

Biezhi's thoughts faltered, somewhat unsure of Xu Wenche's purpose.

The news she had gathered in the mountain retreat couldn't be false. Xu Wenche's target in Beijing was the Qin and Su families, an opportunity to expand the Xu family's holdings by establishing a presence there. Zhang Yan was merely the Minister of Works, unconnected to the Xu family's wealth.

As she pondered, her peripheral vision caught a glimpse of reflected light, and Biezhi abruptly snapped back to her thoughts, stepping onto the wooden eaves to avoid the arrow that streaked through the night sky.

The dodged arrow pierced the beam, echoing a dull sound.

Xu Wenche's voice suddenly stopped. He paused for a moment, then said, "Let's go check it out—"

"Don't worry, Mr. Xu," Zhang Yan interrupted, smiling. "I'll clean your tail for you. Consider it a gift from me."

Biezhi's gaze froze for a moment.

She didn't have time to consider how Zhang Yan had known Xu Wenche was accompanied by someone. She quickly glanced in the direction of the arrow, and in an instant, her gaze fell on the roof of the mansion, thirty feet away.

There was only one person.

Before she could even make out the assassin on the eaves, she saw three figures rushing towards her.

Biezhi frowned slightly, quickly took out her mask and put it on, then leaped onto the dark street. She had hurriedly left the Qin family today and didn't have a sword with her, not wanting to get entangled with the newcomer.

She quickened her pace, and the sound of footsteps followed closely behind.

One, two, three, four, five, six!

In an instant, Biezhi's eyes tightened. She had clearly only seen three people just now, but how could three more people suddenly appear out of nowhere in a distance of only half a street!

Her breathing slowed down a bit, and her eyes swept across the ends of the street.

To the west was Ning'an Street, which was brightly lit, and to the east was a quiet and secluded house. Biezhi took a slight turn and walked towards Ning'an Street. When she bumped into the newcomer, she pursed her lips and took a few steps back slowly. Just as she was about to turn around and leave, she suddenly saw a tall figure coming from behind the newcomer.

She fixed her gaze, and in an instant, it met the depths of the deep and dark pupils of the King Su. The sharp and cold eyes cut through the mask and fell on her face.

Biezhi didn't know the King Su's intention, nor was she sure whether he recognized her. She only saw him raise his hand and slowly pull the sword out of the sheath. Her eyes suddenly shrank a few inches.

The next moment, the raised hand drew an arc, and she raised her hand to take the sword he threw.

Biezhi gripped the hilt of the sword, silently bowed to the man ten steps away, and turned around with the long sword in hand and ran towards the figure following behind her.

She didn't want to attract the attention of others, and kept retreating deeper during the confrontation. The people sent by Zhang Yan were obviously determined to achieve their goal, so they also followed in.

But when they got to the depths, they couldn't see the woman anymore.

The three of them looked at each other, and then split into three groups to search for the figure that suddenly disappeared.

Biezhi, who had been hiding high up in the treetops, quietly leaped down and silently dealt with the figure closest to her. She caught his falling body and casually placed him under the treetop. Then she slowly moved towards the figures on the southwest side, defeating them one by one.

Looking at the figure collapsed under the tree, her tense mind relaxed a little, and then she glimpsed the blood-stained sword in her hand.

How much had he seen, and why did he help?

Biezhi couldn't figure it out.

After standing silently under the treetop for a moment, she sighed.

When Biezhi went back, the empty street had no trace of anyone passing by. He was gone, and no one knew where he had gone.

Ning'an Street was some distance away from the palace.

The streets outside the palace were all guarded by guards. As Biezhi walked on the street, the guards stood quietly on both sides, as if they didn't see her.

She walked to the gate of the palace and looked at the plaque on the door.

Prince Su's Palace.

I heard that this plaque was written by the late emperor himself when Prince Su was conferred the title of Prince at the age of sixteen.

Standing beneath the plaque was a figure that Biezhi had just seen.

Not long after, a man came up, bowed slightly, and made a gesture of invitation, saying, "Your Highness has been waiting for you, young lady, for a long time."