Chapter 68

After comforting the young girl’s mood, Meng Xin Yi returned to her own room. Upon opening the door, she saw the figure who had just escaped sitting in front of the tea table. She glanced at the neighboring door before closing her own and walking in.

If Shen Yao Xing were here, she would certainly recognize the woman who had just attacked her as the one she had briefly encountered in the hall earlier that day.

The candlelight illuminated the small room. Meng Xin Yi, usually calm, looked at the woman sitting opposite her with a gloomy gaze. Her deliberately lowered voice carried a hint of coldness, “You almost ruined my plans.”

Di Ran casually wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her thumb, her expression not much better, “If you had helped me earlier, that Shen girl would already be a soul under my blade.”

“Heh,” Meng Xin Yi’s lips curled coldly, “Has Lady Di forgotten the original purpose of coming here with such recklessness?”

“The Second Princess sent you here to assist me, not to ruin my plans.”

“Is Miss Meng’s so-called plan to let that Shen girl return to the capital unharmed? Now that the Second Princess is in power at court, the Shen family is a big problem. The Second Princess sent me not only to assist you in obtaining the map but also to eliminate the trouble of the Shen family.”

Di Ran’s face turned cold as she continued to look at her, “The three maps were within easy reach, yet you let them go. I seriously doubt your intentions.”

“Heh,” Meng Xin Yi laughed coldly, “Does Lady Di only want these three maps and not care about the remaining one?”

The woman’s sarcasm was not at all concealed. Di Ran narrowed her eyes, “What do you mean by that?”

Meng Xin Yi tiredly rubbed the corner of her eye, “We didn’t get the map from the mountain stronghold, so it must have fallen into the hands of Young Master Ming Yue. Now he’s using the two maps he originally had to undoubtedly expose my true colors in front of Yao Xing. The difficulty now isn’t the three maps in Yao Xing’s hands, but the last one in his possession.”

She was determined to obtain the three maps in Yao Xing’s possession. The Second Princess held one, and now the most difficult one was indeed the one in Jiang Ming Yue’s hands. The key question was how to snatch it from him.

Jiang Ming Yue was not easy to deal with, and the Long Life Pavilion behind him was even more formidable. But who would have thought that the high and mighty Young Master Ming Yue would also be moved by love? Now, approaching through Yao Xing was the best course of action.

Unaware of the entanglement between the two, Di Ran seemed puzzled. She had certainly heard of Jiang Ming Yue’s reputation. Besides his beauty, his ruthlessness was also well-known. It was hard to imagine such a person would willingly hand over a treasure coveted by the world to someone else.

“Why would he do that?”

Meng Xin Yi sighed softly, “Because of love.”

“……”

……

Having not slept well the entire night, Shen Yao Xing was in a terrible mood the next day, lacking appetite even when faced with a table full of delicacies.

Bai Sha, observing her carefully, asked cautiously, “Young Miss, did you not sleep well last night?”

“Mm,” Shen Yao Xing’s face was gloomy.

“Since we’re still resting here today, why don’t you go back upstairs for a nap after eating, Young Miss?”

Shen Yao Xing neither agreed nor disagreed, eating quietly with lowered eyelids.

Bai Sha didn’t dare to speak further, diligently using clean chopsticks to serve dishes to the young girl.

After finishing the meal, Shen Yao Xing indeed planned to return to her room for a nap. However, just as she lay down, she heard a sharp cry from outside the window. She quickly flipped out of bed and rushed to the window.

Looking at the golden eagle soaring in the sky, she suddenly felt a sense of unease in her heart.

Bai Sha, who had also heard the bird’s cry outside, ran in. Seeing the golden eagle landing on her young miss’s arm, her face showed joy, “Is it the Master calling us back?”

Having been away for quite some days, Bai Sha dreamed of returning to the capital soon.

Shen Yao Xing seemed not to have heard her words, fixedly reading the words on the message, her face turning slightly pale.

Bai Sha noticed the young girl’s unusual expression and stepped over to look at the contents of the message. The specific situation was that the Emperor was critically ill, and now the Crown Princess and the Second Princess were vying for power. In the end, the Second Princess had gained the upper hand and controlled the capital. The Shen family, who stood on the Crown Princess’s side, was under house arrest in their mansion. They were instructed to ride quickly to the border to request the Great General to lead troops back to the capital.

Their gaze moved to the neck of the golden eagle, where a bronze tiger tally hung.

“Young Miss, what… what should we do! Everything was fine when we left, how could this happen in just over ten days……” This bad news left Bai Sha at a loss.

Shen Yao Xing remained relatively calm. She removed the tiger tally from the eagle’s neck and kept it safe, then immediately began packing her things. Bai Sha understood and returned to her own room to pack as well.

When the two were ready to leave, Meng Xin Yi came to meet them. Shen Yao Xing unconsciously touched the tiger tally in her pocket and said to her, “Xin Yi, I can’t go to Jiao Huang City with you. Something came up at home, and I need to go back to check.”

Bai Sha, standing nearby, was startled upon hearing this. She looked at the young girl and blinked in confusion. Weren’t they supposed to go to the border to request the Great General to lead troops back to the capital?

Meng Xin Yi’s gaze swept between the two, finally settling on her friend. With concern in her voice, she asked, “What happened?”

“Just… some things,” Shen Yao Xing said vaguely, still remembering the words in the man’s message and recalling last night’s assassination attempt, feeling that everything was strange.

Meng Xin Yi silently looked at the young girl for a while, then slowly nodded, “Alright then, if that’s the case, you should go back.”

Shen Yao Xing nodded, leading the horse she had recently bought. Just before mounting, she couldn’t help but look back at the woman. Her expression seemed even colder than usual, with no ripples in her eyes.

For a moment, Shen Yao Xing felt like a heartless person. She tugged at the horse’s reins, her lips slightly parting as if about to say something, when suddenly a cry came from beside her.

“Young Miss, watch out!”

Almost as soon as the words were uttered, Shen Yao Xing reacted. She forcefully kicked away the horse at her side, her foot touching the ground as she performed a sideways flip to dodge the approaching chill. As soon as she landed, she drew the saber at her waist to block the aggressive attack.

The people originally shopping on the street instantly scattered in fear, with some braver ones hiding in the distance to watch.

Shen Yao Xing, already in an extremely bad mood, became even more fierce when she recognized the attacker. Last night they had been evenly matched one-on-one, but now after more than a dozen moves, Di Ran was already at a disadvantage. She gritted her teeth, her face vicious, “Aren’t you going to help?”

Meng Xin Yi stood silently watching from a distance, not moving until the woman was bleeding. Only then did she draw her long sword and join the battle.

“Bai Sha!” Shen Yao Xing felt that her mood in this life had never been worse than at this moment.

The friend she trusted the most had been using her all along, and she had been foolishly following wherever she was led like an idiot.

Bai Sha, who had been itching to act, immediately raised her blade to block Meng Xin Yi’s path, maintaining the one-on-one situation.

While these two were evenly matched, Shen Yao Xing’s side was already showing signs of victory. Realizing the situation was unfavorable, Meng Xin Yi raised her sword to deflect the incoming cleaver, calling out to the young girl, “Yao Xing, I know why you’re returning to the capital. Now that the Second Princess controls the capital…” She paused here, then continued, “As well as the fate of your Shen family. Why don’t we make a deal?”

Meng Xin Yi knew the young girl’s weakness. As long as it involved people she cared about, she would agree to anything.

Sure enough, as soon as the words were spoken, Shen Yao Xing’s hand, poised to stab the woman’s vital point, froze. Di Ran seized the opportunity, her eyes flashing with killing intent, and struck the young girl’s chest hard with her palm.

Shen Yao Xing’s seemingly delicate body was sent flying, her back crashing into a jewelry stall before falling to the ground, unable to rise. A dull pain spread throughout her body, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood as she lay on the ground.

Bai Sha’s face showed shock. Disregarding her opponent, she quickly ran over to help the young girl sit up. Never having seen her young miss in such a sorry state, tears welled up in her eyes, “Young Miss…”

Shen Yao Xing weakly shook her head to indicate she was fine, raising her eyes to calmly look at the woman in the distance, only softly saying, “Alright.”

This was her agreement.

Meng Xin Yi lowered her eyelids to avoid the young girl’s gaze, her hand gripping the sword hilt trembling slightly.

……

The group moved their conversation to the room where Shen Yao Xing had stayed.

At this moment, Shen Yao Xing had suffered internal injuries and couldn’t stop coughing. Her face was completely drained of color, making her already youthful face look even more frail and vulnerable.

“If I didn’t know that Minister Shen only had one daughter, I would have thought Miss Shen was Young Master Shen,” Di Ran said mockingly, standing by the window with her arms crossed.

Unfortunately, such words couldn’t affect Shen Yao Xing, who came from the 21st century. She turned her head to look at the woman and asked seriously, “Then are you happy about being beaten like a dog by Young Master Shen?”

Di Ran narrowed her eyes and sneered, “You certainly have a sharp tongue.”

Shen Yao Xing nodded nonchalantly, “At least it’s sharper than your sword.” She paused, then added, “You couldn’t do much to me even with two chances to ambush.”

These words from the young girl were like an insult to Di Ran, who was overly confident in her martial arts. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped her sword, her poisonous gaze scanning the young girl’s body. It wasn’t until Meng Xin Yi shot her a warning look that she coldly snorted and looked away.

Now was not the time. When the opportunity was ripe, she would definitely make this ignorant little brat die by her hand.

Meng Xin Yi said, “Yao Xing, I’ll accompany you to see a doctor later.”

“No need. Just say what you have to say,” Shen Yao Xing didn’t want to play the good friend game with her anymore. Her pale face showed obvious impatience.

Meng Xin Yi pursed her lips, her fingers lightly tapping the table as she hid the concern in her eyes, “The deal is simple. You go and retrieve the last deerskin map from Young Master Ming Yue’s hands, and I can ensure the safety of the Shen family.”

“Ensure? In what capacity do you ensure this?”

“The Second Princess will be the ruler of this land in the future, and I am considered an old acquaintance of hers. In the future, I will naturally follow her into court as an official.” Meng Xin Yi looked at her, her voice slightly deepening, “At this point, you have no choice.”

Shen Yao Xing calmly looked at the person opposite her. Until today, she had always felt that although their friendship might not be thoroughly understood, they could at least tell each other everything. But only now did she realize how terribly wrong she was. Everything had been one-sided on her part; she had never truly seen through this person from the beginning.

What good friends, what best friends, they were all just fake sisters.

Unfortunately, what they never expected was that she would have the tiger tally on her.

The road to the border happened to be the same as the one to Jiao Huang City. Her original plan was to use the excuse of returning to the capital to deceive them, then ride quickly to the border. Now, it had become “above board.”