Asked About The World Of Mortals

Chapter 45: Cloud Movement

Li Qingjun stood still, holding the jade pendant, feeling lost in her heart.

Qin Yi criticized her for being brainless, but that was not true. In essence, Li Qingjun was not dumber than Qin Yi. As the only princess of Nanli, she was like the center of attention, and no matter what she did, her father and brother would indulge her. She had never been in a situation that required her to think carefully, so she had become reckless over time.

At this moment, holding the jade pendant, a sense of foreboding surged in Li Qingjun's heart. She suddenly realized that the problem she was facing was not about whom she would marry, nor could it be solved by throwing a tantrum. It was about the unprecedented upheaval in Nanli, which could determine the life and death of the country.

Last night, her brother drove her and Qin Yi away from their secret discussion. It must have been something difficult for her to accept.

Unfortunately, for some reason, her brother did not tell her anything about the whole situation, nor did Qin Yi. Now she was completely clueless and didn't know what she could do to help.

Right... there is someone who must know!

Li Qingjun turned around abruptly and ran towards Ye Ling's small courtyard.

Ye Ling was sleeping on the ground, covered with a small blanket. The medicine Qin Yi gave her last night was for treating internal injuries, which didn't quite match her condition, but it had some therapeutic effect. The feeling of recovery and nourishment made her very sleepy, and she had been sleeping for about five or six hours now, still in a deep slumber.

With a loud bang, the door was pushed open, startling Ye Ling. Li Qingjun clearly saw her wings spread out on her back, and her little face looked fierce and almost terrifying.

But the next moment, when she saw that it was Li Qingjun, her wings collapsed and her face became embarrassed. "Prin... Princess..."

"Ye Ling, you're so fierce..." Li Qingjun walked in slowly.

"That... I just woke up and I'm a bit grumpy..." Ye Ling slowly backed away.

"So your wings can move... I used to think they were just a cloak."

Ye Ling retreated to the corner of the wall, and Li Qingjun stood a few feet in front of her, not overly pressuring her, just quietly watching her.

Ye Ling lowered her head and stammered, "I'm a monster, Princess."

"No wonder, with you being such a small guard, having your own courtyard, and being assigned to protect Qin Yi—although you haven't fulfilled your duty at all." Li Qingjun wasn't surprised and whispered, "The Monster Qi in the mansion soared yesterday, it must be because of you. That's why my brother and Qin Yi came to talk to you. So... you should know what my brother and Qin Yi are doing, right?"

"I really don't know what they're doing. Yesterday, Qin Yi disagreed with His Highness's proposal, so His Highness left on his own..."

"What proposal?"

Ye Ling squatted down, covering her head with her wings. "I didn't hear clearly..."

Li Qingjun looked at her black feathers and then looked up at the hole in the roof. The charred edges of the hole were still clearly visible. She looked at it for a long time and slowly said, "Black, monster. The person who killed my eldest brother is you."

Ye Ling jumped up and ran towards the backyard.

"No need to run." Li Qingjun said calmly, "Since it's you, it means the knife is in my second brother's hands."

Ye Ling stopped in her tracks.

"No wonder Qin Yi wanted to hide it from me. He didn't want me to know about these things." Li Qingjun laughed at herself, "It's my own fault for not using my brain. In fact, I should have seen many signs myself."

Ye Ling cautiously looked at her expression and found that she was really calm.

Li Qingjun opened her hand, and in her palm was Li Qinglin's jade pendant. Her expression became even more complicated.

This was the thing that saved Li Qinglin's life, but it was given to her. From the reaction of the corpse insect monster when it touched the jade pendant, it was a real treasure, priceless, perhaps even the entire land of Nanli couldn't be exchanged for it.

"Why is it that you are the biggest flaw in my second brother's plan? Why didn't he kill you?" Li Qingjun suddenly asked.

Ye Ling hesitated for a moment and shook her head.

Actually, the reason Li Qinglin protected her back then, based on her contact with Ming He, now sounds somewhat inexplicable.

The most plausible explanation seems to be that Li Qinglin was moved by compassion and protected her, even at the cost of exposing a huge flaw.

Li Qingjun looked at the jade pendant in contemplation. "No matter what they conspired about last night, since Qin Yi didn't agree, I don't want to know either. I just want to know what Second Brother is doing now."

Ye Ling pouted. She had initially thought that she knew more than Li Qingjun and didn't want to answer, but now she realized that she might not know more than him after all, because she didn't know the answer to this question either.

A sudden thought crossed Li Qingjun's mind. "Oh no! Qin Yi went into the palace alone, he's in danger!"

After saying that, he grabbed his spear and was about to leave, no longer interested in investigating further.

A black light flashed, and Ye Ling stood in front of him. Her usually cute face became serious. "If you go out now, then you truly will be alone."

Li Qingjun narrowed his eyes at her speed but didn't blame her for stopping him. He simply said, "Then come with me. Aren't you Qin Yi's bodyguard?"

Ye Ling said seriously, "I can go, but you can't. Whether it's His Highness or Qin Yi, your safety is their top priority at this moment. The place you should go is Qin Yi's backyard. Just stand by the wooden sword formation and don't go anywhere else. In that place, besides Ming He, no one else can harm you."

Li Qingjun stared at her. "I have dedicated my life to martial arts, not to wait for protection like a delicate lady."

Ye Ling pursed her lips. "Unfortunately, in this situation, your martial arts skills are no different from embroidery."

She looked up and through the hole in the roof, she looked at the sky where white clouds floated leisurely, changing shape when blown by the strong wind.

"Princess, if I wanted to kill you, it would probably only take one move," she said softly. "But in Donghua Zi's hands, there are many monsters like me. I don't even know how many."

...

Qin Yi was running through the crowd, jumping and dodging like he was in a Jackie Chan movie.

There was no other way. Although the fight earlier seemed impressive, there were still too many people on the other side. If they caught up with him, it would be game over. There were even people lying in ambush on the way back to the Prince's Mansion, making it difficult for him to return.

The setup for this assassination was actually very meticulous, even accounting for the possibility of him escaping. They aimed to achieve complete success.

But the other side couldn't have anticipated that he would recognize one of them, causing their entire plan to collapse.

The wolf-toothed club swung with a thunderous roar, bringing forth a tiger's roar. A burly man in front was smashed in, his body folding in half. Qin Yi didn't hesitate and rushed past his corpse, not heading back to the Prince's Mansion but towards the Princess's Mansion.

He didn't know that Li Qingjun hadn't returned to the mansion. Given the current situation, he believed that if Li Qingjun was in the Princess's Mansion, she would definitely be in danger and he needed to meet up with her.

Donghua Zi and Mang Zhan wanted to assassinate him, which was easy to understand. They still hoped to establish Li Qingjun's and Mang Zhan's status before the king died. As long as he, Qin Yi, died, the king wouldn't have any wavering choices anymore, even if he got angry.

But there was another way to handle this, and that was the well-known "drug her."

If Mang Zhan managed to get Li Qingjun first, then it would be over. Although Nanli was a remote and small country, they had known the rules of propriety for many years. Just by looking at Li Qingjun's shy appearance when she was dating Qin Yi, it was clear that she valued her purity. Once that situation arose, she would either commit suicide or accept her fate without a third option.

So since someone had set an ambush for him, would someone go to the Princess's Mansion to abduct her?

Perhaps they were originally afraid of Li Qingjun's famous stubbornness, and the probability of her committing suicide was high, so that was not a good plan to use. But since the assassination of Qin Yi had failed, they might have no choice but to use that plan.

Because the king didn't have many days left to live, they couldn't afford to delay.

Having figured all this out, Qin Yi became even more anxious, but his mind remained calm.

There was a commotion up ahead, and another group of people intercepted him. Someone exclaimed, "This Qin Yi, why do I feel like I've seen him before?"

One of the people seeking revenge.

Qin Yi remained calm. He accelerated with a "whoosh" and darted into a side alley.

(End of this chapter)