The intruder wore black night clothes and had a strip of black cloth covering his face. He clearly had come with ill intent!
He was no weakling. He vaulted over the Palace of Reflection's wall with ease and landed in the courtyard without making the slightest sound.
When he pushed open the doors to the Palace of Reflection's main hall, he was stunned to find Liu Ling'er standing before him.
Startled, he instinctively took two steps back.
"Who sent you?"
Liu Ling'er's face was cold as she fixed the intruder with a piercing stare.
With her current soul realm, she could sense the slightest stir anywhere in the Palace of Reflection.
"The principal consort sent me!"
The intruder quickly recovered his composure.
He knew that Liu Ling'er was only at the second or third grade of the Spirit Guiding Realm, while he was at the eighth grade of the Body Tempering Realm!
Coming to kill Liu Ling'er was like using an ox cleaver to kill a chicken!
"Was it Consort Su?"
Liu Ling'er sneered. Anything he revealed so readily was surely a lie.
"Who sent me doesn't matter. What matters is that you must die tonight!"
With that, the intruder lunged at Liu Ling'er, a fierce gust of wind swirling around him.
Whoosh!
As he closed in, Liu Ling'er merely turned sideways, easily dodging his fist.
In the next instant, her right hand clamped tightly around his neck!
"It seems I'm not the one who'll die tonight. You are."
Without the slightest hesitation, Liu Ling'er crushed his throat and released him.
He dropped to his knees at once, both hands clutching his neck, his eyes fixed on Liu Ling'er.
His eyes were filled with confusion and shock, along with a trace of regret.
After waiting a while, Liu Ling'er threw the intruder's corpse straight out of the Palace of Reflection.
She knew full well that the palace would never be able to uncover the assassin's identity.
Just like the palace maid who had poisoned her: the maid had killed herself after administering the poison.
And the assassin who had come tonight was clearly a deathsworn. If captured alive, he would surely have had a way to kill himself!
The Fragrance Palace, not far from the Palace of Reflection, was Su Ying's residence.
At the moment, Su Ying was watching her father, Su Song, play a board game with the old eunuch Hong San.
That afternoon, Su Song had come to see the king and discuss matters of state and the military. The king had then asked him to stay for dinner and a few cups of wine.
After dinner, Su Song had asked to see his daughter, and the king had granted his request.
Because Su Song held an esteemed position in the kingdom, the king had specifically ordered the royal palace's chief steward, the old eunuch Hong San, to accompany him to the Fragrance Palace.
"I hear the Devil Race in the west has made another major move. The Lingxi Kingdom is a lone tree struggling to stand and is in imminent danger. Why didn't I hear the grand commander and His Majesty discuss it this afternoon?"
Hong San placed a piece on the board and asked curiously.
"Chief Steward Hong, as you know, the Lingxi Kingdom borders the Devil Race's territory. They're often harassed by the Devil Race, but they also often mistake a bow's reflection in a cup for a snake and see enemy soldiers in every tree and blade of grass, frightening themselves!"
Broadly built and sporting a thick beard, Su Song picked up his teacup and took a large gulp.
Setting the cup down, Su Song added casually, "If the Devil Race really launches a major invasion, the Great Xia Empire won't stand idly by. It's not for our Chishui Kingdom to worry about!"
"That's true."
Hong San nodded and picked up the teacup beside him as well.
"Chief Steward Hong, something terrible has happened! Something terrible!"
Just then, a young eunuch burst in and knelt on the floor, shouting as he kowtowed.
"What are you shouting about? What terrible thing has happened?"
Hong San frowned, drawing his two white brows together, and snorted.
"An... an assassin!"
The young eunuch reported in a trembling voice.
"An assassin?"
Hong San sprang to his feet. "Where is the assassin?"
"Outside the wall of the Palace of Reflection, but he's already dead!"
The young eunuch answered.
"Already dead?"
Hong San was deeply puzzled.
It was rare for an assassin to appear in the palace. After all, there were many powerful experts there, and even an ordinary expert would have trouble getting in, let alone carrying out an assassination.
And an exceptionally capable assassin with sufficient strength would not have lost his life without causing a major commotion.
"Is Consort Liu all right?"
"She is!"
The young eunuch answered, "We called out from outside the Palace of Reflection, and Consort Liu answered."
"Grand Commander, Consort Su, Consort Liu lives in the Palace of Reflection, and she carries the king's child. This is a matter of great importance, so I must go and take a look myself."
After addressing them, Hong San left the Fragrance Palace with the young eunuch.
Su Ying waved to the two palace maids beside her, and they bowed and withdrew.
"Father, how could the assassination have failed?"
Su Ying asked urgently.
"How should I know?"
Su Song scratched his thick beard. "The royal palace is full of experts. Since our man died outside the Palace of Reflection's wall, I'd guess he was killed by one of the palace experts. In other words, the king has ordered someone to guard the Palace of Reflection in secret."
The assassin was a deathsworn the Su Clan had trained in secret.
Before entering the palace that afternoon, Su Song had prepared a large chest. Besides a great deal of fresh seasonal fruit, the chest had also concealed the deathsworn.
Because of his special status, the guards at the palace gates did not suspect him, nor did they dare search anything he wanted to bring into the palace.
The large chest had been delivered to the Fragrance Palace, where Su Ying had opened it herself when no one was around.
The Fragrance Palace was relatively close to the Palace of Reflection, making it convenient to carry out the assassination without being discovered beforehand.
"That shouldn't have happened!"
Su Ying was deeply frustrated.
The king had actually sent an expert to guard Liu Ling'er in secret, making Su Ying even more jealous and resentful.
"Although we left no evidence this time, with the king's wisdom, he'll surely think of me."
Su Song slowly rose to his feet and continued, "We can't make another move after this, at least not in the palace. If you really can't swallow this insult, find a way to make the principal consort do it. In fact, it would be best if she did. If she failed and left evidence behind, the king might depose her, and you'd have a chance to take her place."
"That's right. The principal consort hates that little slut too!"
Su Ying's eyes lit up.
"The reason the principal consort has managed to keep her composure all this time is that she saw clearly that you couldn't keep yours."
After saying this, Su Song left as well.
The next day.
Early in the morning.
Hong San entered the Palace of Reflection with two eunuchs.
"The king has decreed that Consort Liu's time to give birth is near, and it is no longer suitable for her to remain in the Palace of Reflection. She is hereby permitted to move into the Heartwarming Pavilion to recuperate and await the birth!"
"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!"
Liu Ling'er bowed slightly.
Hong San directed the two eunuchs to help carry Liu Ling'er's personal belongings.
On the way to the Heartwarming Pavilion, Liu Ling'er took the initiative to ask, "Chief Steward Hong, I heard an assassin broke into the palace last night and died outside the Palace of Reflection's wall. Has his background been discovered?"
"In reply to Consort Liu, it has not yet been determined."
Hong San shook his head and added, "Not only have we failed to uncover the assassin's identity, we haven't even found out who killed him."
Liu Ling'er knew that Hong San and the king would never imagine that she had killed the assassin.
Even she felt that everything she had experienced during this time was too incredible.
For now, she did not want to reveal anything, because she did not want to be constantly disturbed. She only wanted to give birth to her child in peace and safety, then explain everything to the king.
Before long, Liu Ling'er moved into the Heartwarming Pavilion.
For the consorts in the palace, the Heartwarming Pavilion was a fine place. The previous king had built it especially for a favored consort, Lu Feiqing.
Although Lu Feiqing could not compare to Mu Wanqing's peerless beauty and bearing, she was an alchemy genius. She had refined countless pills in her lifetime and had even refined a quasi-divine pill.
Unfortunately, Lu Feiqing had been too obsessed with refining a true divine pill, and had died when her furnace exploded.
As soon as Liu Ling'er settled into the Heartwarming Pavilion, Lin Heng couldn't wait to check in.
"Congratulations, host, on successfully checking in at the Heartwarming Pavilion in the Chishui Royal Palace. System reward: one Nine-Pattern Sun Pill!"