It was bright and sunny, but many people were woken up by screams.
The capital was in a mess. The guards were so busy that their feet barely touched the ground and their legs were about to break. For some reason, many young ladies and young masters of aristocratic families had chickenpox overnight.
The people were all in a panic. If not for the emperor’s timely order to appease them and the closure of the city gates, the capital would probably have become an empty city by now.
Baili Qingcang ordered the court meeting to stop. He ordered all the officials to stay in their mansions and not to move around freely. Then, he dispatched the imperial doctors and the Governor of Capital Guards to find out the cause of the chickenpox outbreak.
The Governor of Capital Guards accompanied Chen Yun to visit the families, but they did not find any useful information. Instead, they helped those officials discover the methods used by many women in their backyard to frame each other and caused another storm in the capital.
Prefectural Princess Zhaohua’s mansion, however, was uniquely peaceful because it was sealed off.
In the Xiao Mansion, Xiao Huanxi was sitting in her room trembling. Her entire face was pale without a trace of blood. She didn’t know how she got through this night. In order for the assassination to proceed smoothly, she secretly stole the command token of the assassins from Xiao Fengjue and mobilized 22 assassins of sacrifice. However, after these people went to Prefectural Princess Zhaohua’s mansion, they were like a rock sinking into the sea. There was no news coming back after the whole night.
This was something that never happened to the Xiao family assassins. In the capital, they had never failed in their missions. Normally, news would definitely be sent back within four hours, but this time, an entire night had passed!
The door was suddenly kicked open, and Xiao Huanxi almost jumped up like a frightened bird. She looked at the door in panic, and saw Xiao Fengjue’s face which was filled with killing intent.
“Eldest Brother, you…why are you here?”
Xiao Fengjue strode in and the veins on his forehead kept popping out. “Did you steal the command token to mobilize the assassins of sacrifice?”
Xiao Huanxi suddenly trembled, and she felt a bone-chilling chill when she was looked at by that pair of emotionless eyes. “Eldest Brother, what token? I don’t understand.”
Xiao Fengjue suddenly restored his senses and kicked the table at the head of the bed. The thick wooden table was kicked to the ground and one of its legs was broken.
Xiao Huanxi covered her ears and screamed in fright as the table flipped over with a loud noise.
Xiao Fengjue tried his best to resist the urge to slap her. He gritted his teeth and said, “Do you know that you’ve caused a calamity?”
Xiao Huanxi took two steps back and leaned against the wall. Her eyes were filled with panic. “Calamity, what calamity?”
“This morning, His Majesty announced to stop the court meeting. He ordered that all the officials should not leave their houses unless necessary, because sixteen people caught chickenpox this morning.”
“What?” Xiao Huanxi’s eyes widened. “Only Shen Ninghua’s younger brother had chickenpox. How could it spread so quickly?”
“This is what you did!” If Xiao Huanxi weren’t his sister, he would have ordered someone to drag her out and beat her to death. “The place where these sixteen people live is also very interesting. They happen to be between Prefectural Princess Zhaohua’s mansion and our Xiao Mansion. It can faintly be connected in a straight line.”
Connect in a straight line?
Xiao Huanxi slyly argued, “This doesn’t mean anything.”
“Are you really confused, or are you pretending not to understand? Last night, someone saw more than a dozen black-clothed men escaping from Prefectural Princess Zhaohua’s mansion and heading towards our Xiao Mansion. One night later, there was chickenpox on the escape route of these black-clothed men. Isn’t it obvious enough? Do you need me to say anything else?”
Xiao Huanxi’s heart was beating wildly, and her eyes were filled with despair. “Even so, they can’t say that those black-clothed people are from our Xiao family. Maybe someone framed us. Right, it must be Shen Ninghua. She must have framed us.”
Xiao Fengjue narrowed his eyes which were filled with ridicule. “You know best whether someone framed us. Hand over the command token to mobilize the assassins!”
Xiao Huanxi’s complexion became even paler, and even her lips started to tremble. She knew that it was useless to hide anything at this time, so she could only truthfully tell him, “Eldest Brother, I was confused for a moment…”
Xiao Fengjue said impatiently, “I don’t want to talk to you right now. Give me the token!”
Xiao Huanxi bit her lip and took out the token from under the pillow. Her face was full of panic. “Eldest Brother, it’s been a night. The assassins haven’t sent back any news yet. They should be fine, right? Didn’t someone see some black-clothed men escape last night? Did they come back?”
Xiao Fengjue threw her away and turned to walk towards the door.
Suddenly, a loud noise came from the courtyard.
“Master, please spare my life. I’m innocent.”
“Ah, help!”
Immediately after was the muffled sound of the stick hitting the flesh.
Xiao Fengjue’s expression changed. He quickly walked out of the door and saw that the courtyard was in a mess. A group of guards surrounded Xiao Huanxi’s courtyard. All the maids and nurses of her courtyard were caught and detained on the ground. Two of them had been knocked unconscious by the clubs.
“Father, what are you doing?”
Xiao Jingran stood at the side with his hands behind his back. Hearing this, he turned to look at him and said, “Someone just heard your conversation with Huanxi.”
Xiao Fengjue’s expression changed. “Then kill him.”
“Feminine benevolence!” Xiao Jingran frowned and his expression sank. “Kill all of these people. Just say that they were killed because they got chickenpox.”
“Father!” Xiao Fengjue was annoyed in his heart. At this time, countless people were focusing their attention on them. Suddenly executing these people was equivalent to telling others that something had happened to the Xiao family. Even with the excuse of chickenpox, some people might believe it, but others, especially the emperor…
Xiao Jingran didn’t care. Xiao Huanxi’s movements weren’t a secret. He didn’t dare to believe that none of these servants knew about her movements. Therefore, they had to die to protect the secret.
At the beginning, there were still cries. After about fifteen minutes, the eighteen servants in the courtyard were all silent.
Xiao Fengjue felt surging headache. When did his father become so reckless! Was he trying to force the Xiao family to a dead end?
However, Xiao Jingran ignored his worries. “Our Xiao family has stood tall for over a hundred years and has experienced countless storms. This time, it is not enough to shake our foundation.”
Xiao Fengjue clenched his fists tightly. The token in his hand hurt, but he didn’t care at all. He strode out of the courtyard filled with blood.
When Chu Junyi arrived at the Prefectural Pincess Mansion, Shen Ninghua had already received the news.
Hearing Xiao Jingran clubbed all the servants in Xiao Huanxi’s courtyard to death, she mocked, “Patriarch Xiao is truly unscrupulous. Since he wants to die, then no one can stop him!”
If it had been twenty years ago, not to mention killing a courtyard of servants, even if he killed half of the civilians in the city, no one would have dared to say that he was wrong.
It was because at that time, the Xiao family was the guardian god of Da’an, protecting the peace of hundreds of thousands of civilians. Twenty years ago, Xiao Jingran was still the general of the army, and the cheering of the soldiers was louder than when the emperor rewarded the armies.
However, twenty years had passed, and Da’an had not experienced war for a long time. Although the Xiao family’s status was still aloof, they no longer had the qualifications to do whatever they wished.
The emperor would not allow his officials to publicize their special statuses under his nose.
Chu Junyi walked through the door and lay down on a soft couch at the side. He heaved a deep sigh of relief. “I didn’t expect my foster father to actually do that…” This was simply putting the Xiao family on the fire to roast.
Shen Ninghua put down the brush in her hand and frowned slightly. If something happened to the Xiao family now, it would definitely implicate Chu Junyi and be extremely disadvantageous to him.
“Ninghua, what do you plan next?”
Shen Ninghua raised her eyes and said, “Right now, His Majesty must have suspected the Xiao family. Adding on the fact that Xiao Jingran killed so many servants, there is no need for me to do anything else. His Majesty will definitely take this opportunity to investigate the Xiao family. Although due to the Xiao family’s status, he will not deal with it recklessly, but once this suspicion is anchored in his heart, it will erupt some time.”
“Yes.” Knowing that what she said was reasonable, Chu Junyi replied in a dull tone.
“When His Majesy gets suspicious, I will send the assassins I captured last night back to the Xiao family. Then the Imperial Health Institute will give out the prescription and find a cure for chickenpox. Those who were infected with chickenpox before will recover.”
Chu Junyi’s heart skipped a beat. He revealed a bitter smile. “Ninghua, this move is really…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but Shen Ninghua understood what he meant. The Xiao family killed the servants with the excuse that they had chickenpox. Now, it seemed that there was nothing wrong. But after she cured all the people infected with chickenpox, the Xiao family’s actions would seem exceptionally ruthless.
Just as the two of them were talking, the sound of weapons clashing suddenly came from the courtyard.
Chu Junyi hurriedly stood up and saw the person in the courtyard. He suddenly furrowed. “Eldest Brother?”
In the courtyard, Xiao Fengjue and Qing Que were in a heated battle.
Shen Ninghua called Qing Que. “Stop.”
Chu Junyi’s expression was not very good. “Eldest Brother, why are you here?”
Xiao Fengjue tidied up his clothes and looked coldly at Shen Ninghua. His resolute lips were tightly pursed without the slightest trace of a smile. He said stiffly, “The Prefectural Princess Mansion is completely sealed off, so I use this method to enter. Please forgive me.”
“Master Xiao, you’re too polite. Why do you barge in?”
“I’m here to find Chu Junyi.”
Chu Junyi stepped forward and stood in front of Shen Ninghua with a cold expression. “Eldest Brother, what do you want to do?”
Xiao Fengjue took out the command token. “To give you the command token.” Giving him the command token also implied that those who were captured could be dealt with at will.
However, Chu Junyi did not take it. “Eldest Brother, what do you mean?”
“Those assassins offended your sweetheart. Naturally, you should be the one to deal with them.”
Shen Ninghua sneered in her heart. He seemed to have good intentions, but he actually had hidden evil intentions. Originally, she wanted to deprive the assassins of their martial arts and then throw them back to the Xiao Mansion while the emperor was investigating the matter. However, Xiao Fengjue handed over the command token of the assassins to Chu Junyi. That meant depriving them of their martial arts would be a waste of talent. After all, the cultivation of assassins of sacrifice was not easy.
If she could not use the assassins, she would lose a handle over the Xiao family, and there might even cause a dispute with Chu Junyi…
Chu Junyi shook his head and refused. “Eldest Brother, these people want to hurt Ninghua. I won’t take them.” Ninghua was his bottom line. Once someone touched it, there would be a non-stop fight until one party died!