Festival Gifts Intercepted, the Male Lead Finally Appears

"Ah, ow, ow, ow! Sis, easy!"

Gu Yuan lay on the bed, his back covered in bruises, crying out nonstop.

"Little brother, what exactly did you do last night?" Gu Shu warmed the medicinal ointment between her palms, then pressed it directly onto Gu Yuan's wounds.

"Practiced martial arts, of course."

"Practicing martial arts left you like this? You were far too careless... I thought you'd finally caught on and climbed into some girl's bed..."

"Sis, you haven't married yet. Even if I climbed into her bed, I couldn't marry her and bring her home... Hiss-!"

"Sis, easy."

Gu Shu gave a heavy snort.

"This medicine is strong, so bear with it."

"This is a precious medicine bestowed by the throne. Her Majesty sent it especially for Father's injuries. It only arrived today, so you're in luck, brat."

"Her Majesty sent it?" Gu Yuan wondered. "Was Father injured recently?"

"No, it's an old injury from many years ago. I didn't expect Her Majesty to remember it."

An old injury?

Something doesn't seem quite right...

Qi Yueli blinked her beautiful eyes, in a very good mood.

"In just a few days, his Vajra Indestructible Body has reached the pinnacle of mastery."

"At this rate, it may not be impossible for him to learn every technique in the martial repository."

"For an ordinary person, too many techniques would mean breadth without mastery, which would surely become a burden."

"But the Martial God Physique... might be able to gather the essence of countless techniques and reach heights even I have never attained."

"A man who could surpass me..."

Her lips gradually curved.

Just then, the diary in her robes suddenly trembled.

[Something's not right! What does the empress mean by sending these medicines for injuries?]

[I was injured practicing martial arts with Senior Sister, and the medicine arrived the very next day. It's as though she knew beforehand...]

[Could Senior Sister be the empress?]

Qi Yueli's heart tightened.

Was it too obvious?

[That's unlikely... I met Senior Sister in the tomb, and she risked her life to save me twice. As the ruler of a nation, the empress had no reason to enter the tomb, much less save me.]

[Besides, if she wanted to teach me, she could simply issue an imperial decree. Why go to the trouble of disguising herself as Senior Sister? Unless the empress knows a secret even I don't... but the chances of that are extremely slim.]

[Perhaps it really is a coincidence... Still, even if the chances are slim, I should go to the palace tomorrow and sound out the empress. Only then can I put my mind at ease.]

"It seems I can't be so direct next time..." Qi Yueli breathed a sigh of relief. "If he learned that Lin Yao and Qi Yueli were the same person, he would probably take the Gu family and disappear at once, wouldn't he?"

"Until he is willing to stay by my side, I must never let him find out!"

"But how can I make him willing?"

Qi Yueli's gaze drifted unconsciously to her shapely legs... and a faint blush inexplicably flashed across her face...

Hmph! He's getting a bargain!

"Report!"

A Mystic Shadow Guard rushed into the hall.

Qi Yueli put away the diary and said gravely, "What has you so alarmed?"

"Your Majesty, something has happened."

"The heir of Mozhou encountered bandits on his way to the capital. The festival gifts were seized, and the heir is missing. I fear the worst!"

The air in the hall abruptly turned frigid.

Qi Yueli's gaze grew grave, and her brows knitted tightly.

"Bandits robbed and attacked them... Where would bandits get the ability to do something like that?!"

"Convey my decree. Dong Wuj iu is to lead the Mystic Shadow Guard out at once to investigate the seizure of Mozhou's festival gifts and search for the heir of Mozhou with all their strength. There must be no mistakes."

"Your subject obeys."

Qi Yueli looked up toward the outside of the hall, her expression grave as she murmured:

"They struck before he even entered the capital. It seems they can't wait any longer..."

On the official road connecting Qingzhou to the Qi Capital.

A handsome, refined young man sat in a carriage, resting with his eyes closed.

He was Xiao Chen, the heir to the King of Qingzhou.

Beside him, two young women, one dressed in red and the other in green, attended to him diligently.

"Young master, the tea is ready."

Xiao Chen looked up and smiled faintly. "Sorry for the trouble, Hong Ni."

"Young master, Lü Luo and I are both maids here to serve you. There's no need to be so courteous."

"Treating others with courtesy is a gentleman's duty. Though you are maids, you are also unmarried young women. Since you serve me like this, it is only right that I say sorry for the trouble."

"Pfft. Young master, you look nothing like the prince when you're being so serious," the woman in green teased.

"Father came from the military, but I am different. We grew up in different circumstances, so naturally our personalities are very different as well."

"Yes, yes, yes. Young master, you always make sense." Lü Luo picked up a pastry. "Young master, this is your favorite magnolia cake. Let me feed you."

Xiao Chen paused.

"I'm afraid there's no time to eat now."

Hong Ni and Lü Luo's expressions darkened at the same time.

"Yes, these petty thieves really don't know how to pick their moment."

"Young master, how do you intend to deal with them?"

Xiao Chen said slowly, "Under the laws of Great Qi, robbers are to receive a hundred strokes of the rod and be sentenced to exile. Now that they are robbing and attacking a prince's heir, their crime is one degree more serious."

"They should be executed."

"Hong Ni understands."

At the same time, dozens of masked robbers rushed out around the carriage, horizontal sabers in hand, and shouted:

"People in the carriage, listen up! I built this road and planted this tree. If you want to pass, leave the toll money!

"Be good and hand over your valuables, and we grandpas might just spare your lives!"

The carriage curtain lifted.

Hong Ni stepped out gracefully.

"Well, well, such a pretty little lady! We grandpas have changed our minds. Leave the money, and the little lady stays too!"

"How noisy."

Hong Ni's voice turned cold, and countless threads shot out from her in every direction.

The next moment.

Every robber stared blankly at his own chest in shock.

At some point, their chests had been pierced clean through.

With a single strike.

She had killed dozens of them in an instant. Not one of the robbers survived.

Hong Ni's expression did not change.

"Young master, it's dealt with."

Xiao Chen nodded. "They got what they deserved. Let's continue."

From beginning to end, he had not stepped out of the carriage to spare the robbers a glance.

Lü Luo asked, puzzled, "Their breathing was long and steady. They didn't seem like ordinary robbers, but rather well-trained martial artists."

"Perhaps our encounter with them was no coincidence. Someone may have arranged it deliberately."

Hong Ni nodded. "I'm afraid we weren't the only ones attacked."

"There's no need to concern ourselves with it. On to the capital."

The official road through Shu Ridge.

Lu Zhaoming held a spear, piercing a robber's head.

"Little sister, protect eldest sister!"

"Got it!"

Lu Ling shook both hands, and bells rang out. Countless venomous insects swarmed from beneath the carriage and rushed at the robbers.

After a bitter fight, all the dozens of robbers finally lay dead.

"Eldest sister, are you all right?"

The gentle woman shook her head. "I'm fine."

Lu Ling said gloomily, "Who on earth were those people? They even dared to attack the heir to the King of Shuzhou's carriage. They must have a death wish."

"And they made me waste so many of my little insects. When I find the mastermind, I'll skin him, pull out his tendons, and feed him to my insects."

Lu Zhaoming wiped the blood from his spear and said, puzzled, "Eldest sister, those people weren't ordinary robbers. Their formations were orderly in battle, and they worked together seamlessly. They were like professionally trained assassins."

"I could tell." The gentle woman sighed softly. "Though there were many of them, they weren't very strong, and they made far too much commotion. Perhaps they weren't really trying to take our lives, but putting on a show for someone."

"A show? For whom?" Lu Ling asked curiously.

"Naturally, the one in the capital."

"We surely weren't the only province attacked. The heirs of the Nine Provinces were attacked on their way to the capital, just as they were about to reach the Qi Capital. This is a show of defiance against the empress..."

Lu Zhaoming did not quite understand. "Eldest sister, just tell us what we should do next."

"For now, there's no need to do anything in particular. Let's hurry to the capital and see how Her Majesty the Empress responds..."