But then his next thought is that Wei Zhi would be done for after today so what does he care what Wei Zhi thinks? 

“Safe or not, Official Wei should come out and let us see for ourselves.” Scholar Wu calmed down, stepped back and assumed Wei Zhi must be on his way to open the door when he heard some sounds of steps but who would’ve thought that for a bit, the stepping sounds continued yet no one showed up at the door. 

With shoes on her hands, Feng Zhi Wei made footstep sounds while Chen Ma Ma continued with her work. Soon, a young eunuch with tan color skin whose face is covered with white pockmarks gradually appeared. 

Scholar Wu stood outside of the door fretting, wondering why His Majesty hasn’t shown up yet or if the men out front was able to keep Prince Chu occupied? After a quick glance up at the sky, the expression on Scholar Wu’s face turned cold as he raised a hand and ordered “Break the door down!”

“Stop!”

The voice that came was elegant and cold, with a bit of aloofness and danger in it. Two rows of torches approached quickly like a long dragon accompanied by the sounds of their uniformed marching footsteps on the stone floor. The two teams of green and white guards with long spears soon encircled Scholar Wu’s small number of Imperial Palace Guards and inner palace eunuchs. 

The torch lights separated to either side. Coming through the midst of light at a fast pace was none other than Ning Yi, Prince Chu in a moon-white robe with a dark black cloak. Under the light of the torch, his face was as bright and distinct as the color of his clothes. Ink black, piercing eyes. Skin as crystal clear as the snow. Red lips that remind one of the flashing red across the night sky on high tops of the snowy mountain. 

Ning Yi stood down in front of the steps while Scholar Wu stood on the top of the steps. Ning Yi was clearly the one looking up at him, but for some reason, everyone felt Wu Wenming was the one being looked down upon. Looked down upon by Prince Chu with eyes that were one of indifference and mockery. 

When Wu Wenming met that gaze, his heart trembled, His Highness came so quickly! 

The fingers that had started to push the door very reluctantly retracted. Wu Wenming had no choice but to turn around quickly to bow to Ning Yi but he didn’t come down the steps. 

“What is Scholar Wu doing here?” Ning Yi asked slowly. 

Inside, Feng Zhi Wei was in the middle of changing Shao Ning’s outfit. Shao Ning was wearing embroidered shoes. The eunuch’s robe does not go down all the way to the floor so the shoes had to be changed. Feng Zhi Wei took off her own boots. Liu Ma Ma took the boots she had taken off and pulled out two balls of cotton. 

Feng Zhi Wei stared at Liu Ma Ma’s expression but her expression didn’t change at all as she stuffed the two balls of cotton in and added some fabric as well– Shao Ning is shorter than Feng Zhi Wei, and her feet were smaller than hers. 

Feng Zhi Wei let out a long silent breath. 

Obviously, this Ma Ma knows her double identity. 

The conversation outside could be heard faintly. 

“Your Highness, Concubine Yu and Concubine Xiu sent their palace servants over to report that an assassin had entered the eighth alley of the inner palace and was heading towards the west so I had come here to apprehend them.” 

Wu Wenming’s voice was calm and unafraid. 

“There are hundreds of individual courtyards on the west side, how are you certain it is Jingshen Hall (the name of the courtyard Feng Zhi Wei is in)?”

“Only Jingshen Hall is in the due west direction.” 

“Who told you that the assassin must be in the due west location?” 

“… Palace maid, Qiong Er of Cuixi Palace…” 

“Summon Qiong Er!”

“Your Highness! It’s more crucial to capture the assassin first!”

“It’s more important to figure out where the assassin is hiding! If the panicked palace servants had made a mistake in observations and gave the wrong message, it would mean the assassin is not here but could very well be heading for His Majesty’s bedchamber. Can you take that responsibility?” 

“Additional men have already been sent to His Majesty’s bedchamber for extra protection…”

“Official Wu! Your duty and mine are solely for His Majesty’s safety. There is an assassin in the palace. Instead of going to His Majesty’s bedchamber to oversee the command of the guards, you are here pestering the wounded Official Wei, what are your intentions?” 

“Your Highness!” Questioned until he was tongue-tied, Wu Wenming tossed caution to the wind and said angrily through gritted teeth, “Aren’t you not staying by His Majesty’s bedchamber either but is here arguing with me?” 

… Inside, Feng Zhi Wei lit a sandalwood incent to cover up the unique smell after that certain deed while Liu Ma Ma quickly changed the bed sheets. 

Outside, facing Wu Wenming, Ning Yi gave him a chilling smile. 

“That’s because…” Ning Yi’s next words caused the color to drain from Wu Wenming’s face, “It was His Majesty who asked me to come!” 

*Bang!* There was a muffled sound as if someone was thrown to the ground, followed immediately by a woman’s panicked trembling voice. 

“…..Y..yyy…your…hiiighness….and Oo..official Wu…” 

“How do you know this official’s last name is Wu?” Ning Yi reacted with lightning speed, causing both the palace maid and Wu Wenming to look back at him dumbfounded. 

“As a maid of the inner palace, how would you know Scholar Wu?” Ning Yi pressed aggressively, not backing down at all. 

“She was the one who reported about the assassin just now. I was the one who questioned her.” Seeing the situation getting worse, Wu Wenming quickly explains. 

“Official Wu seems to have a lot of time on his hands.” Ning Yi sneered, “With an assassin on the loose, the palace in danger, you had the time to personally interrogate a palace maid and even had the leisure to exchange names with this palace maid?!”

Wu Wenming’s face flushed bright red, opened his mouth but nothing came out. Not giving him an opportunity to respond, Ning Yi went straight for the attack.

“Someone–” He pointed at the trembling palace maid, “strip her of her clothes and then interrogate her thoroughly. I heard that the fewer clothes a person is wearing, the more truthful they are. I would certainly like to know how many more lies this woman can tell?” 

*rip–*

The sound of clothes tearing was interspersed by the woman’s cries and Ning Yi saying offhandedly, “If there are still lies once all the clothes are gone, then I guess we are left with stripping skin.” 

Inside, Liu Ma Ma coiled up Shao Ning’s loose long hair and found a hat to put on her. 

Outside, come ear-piercing cries of pleading. 

“Forgive me…Your Highness…forgive me…” The palace maid rolled around on the ground, desperately trying to avoid the hands that were tearing her clothes. She had long been mentally prepared to be tortured but she can’t handle being stripped naked before hundred of eyes for interrogation. Seeing Prince Chu’s expression of indifference, not bothering to spare one single glance in her direction, the palace maid knew in her heart that if she insisted on resisting, then her skin, and perhaps including her very bones will be flayed bit by bit from her body. 

Even if she was prepared to die, she couldn’t accept such an unending humiliating death. In desperation, the palace maid shouted, “I didn’t see clearly…I only said it was toward the west direction. It was only when Official Wu asked if it was the direction Jingshen Palace that I had…had said yes…”

Ning Yi smiled. 

Under the torch lights, that smile could almost be called gentle, but it was also a sinister smile filled with cold viciousness, like a scorchingly gorgeous Devil’s Snare Flower that was so dazzling and mesmerizing because it bloomed in pools of blood. 

Wu Wengming’s heart sank. 

The last time he saw such a smile was in the hall of the Ministry of Punishment, where Wei Zhi was interrogated by the three-justice departments. After that smile appeared, then Peng Pei was backed into the corner with nowhere to escape. 

His fingers trembled.

But Ning Yi had already stretched out his hand, pointed at him, and burst out with a shout. 

“Take him!”

The guards rushed forward without any hesitation. 

All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com

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