Chapter 13: Is This Guy a Freaking Troll?
"Xuanyang, I have something to say to you."
Xiao Li was a head taller than Liu Xueyin. She lowered her gaze slightly, looking down at her condescendingly. "But I have nothing to say to you."
Liu Xueyin’s anger flared. "Can’t you just speak to me properly? You slandered me and twisted right and wrong... How can you be so vicious?"
’What a psycho.’
’Are we really on terms to speak properly?’
’A bitch who tries to convince someone to divorce their husband while shamelessly making eyes and acting all lovey-dovey with that person’s husband right in front of them—does she deserve anyone’s kindness?’
"Yes, I’m vicious, and you’re kind. You’re the kindest person in the whole world."
Xiao Li grabbed her hand, yanked it off, and then shoved her away.
Gu Ling caught her, then turned to Xiao Li with a dark expression. "The Princess Consort is your Imperial Sister-in-law. How can you be so disrespectful?"
Xiao Li stared at him with a chilling gaze. "Who the hell does she think she is to deserve my respect? And who the hell are you to dare bark before this Princess?"
Gu Ling’s face turned even uglier. "As a Princess, your language is vulgar and you have no manners. You’re a disgrace to the Imperial Family."
Xiao Li: "..." ’Is this guy a fucking troll?’
"Jing Yi, go tell my Brother that the Heir of Pingnan Marquis wants to discipline me in his place."
Xiao Jingyi: "...Alright." ’What can I say?’ he thought. ’Whoever provokes my Imperial Sister now is bound to suffer. Of that, I have no doubt.’
Liu Xueyin frowned as if she couldn’t comprehend it. "Xuanyang, how could you do this? When did the Princely Heir ever discipline you? How can you be so unreasonable?"
Xiao Li felt she wasn’t suited for reasoning. She looked at her with a smirk that wasn’t quite a smile. "You can keep talking. But if I get into a bad mood, I’ll just slap Lu Yanzhi."
"And right now, I’m in a very bad mood."
Liu Xueyin’s words caught in her throat. She was utterly speechless, her eyes wide with shock, as if she couldn’t believe Xiao Li could be so vicious.
Xiao Li left, and Xiao Jingyi hurried to follow. After walking a short distance, he couldn’t help but look back at the trio, his brow deeply furrowed.
’Fourth Brother’s Princess Consort... is really something else,’ he thought. ’It’s like she’s afraid people *don’t* know how much she cares about the Prince Consort.’
When Xiao Li said she would file a complaint, she meant it. It wasn’t enough for Xiao Jingyi to report it for her at the palace; she also personally wrote a letter listing the ten cardinal sins of the Heir of Pingnan Marquis.
For example, he didn’t look at people directly. He acted so high and mighty you’d think he was the Emperor. He dared to look down on a Princess. And he wanted to discipline her in her Brother’s place, and so on.
Anyone reading the letter would know she was just being deliberately unreasonable, but they could also feel that she was genuinely angry.
The line about the Heir of Pingnan Marquis wanting to discipline her in the Emperor’s place, in particular, made the Emperor deeply uncomfortable.
The Marquis Ping Nan title was granted for ancestral merits, but now the family was in decline with each generation. The current Marquis Ping Nan, especially, had caused a scandal by officially recognizing a son born to a mistress. And as for how his official, primary wife had died... although no one investigated, it didn’t mean no one knew.
The Emperor himself was the legitimate heir from the primary wife and loathed such behavior more than anything.
"Guards! Summon Marquis Ping Nan to the palace."
Marquis Ping Nan never expected to be summoned. He had thought the Emperor had finally remembered him and had an assignment for him. Instead, he got a harsh lecture because of his son. The very first thing he did upon returning was to go and beat his son.
The Marquis Ping Nan was reluctant to strike his son, but the Emperor had made himself clear: if the Marquis couldn’t educate him properly, then the Emperor would personally take over his tutelage.
Disrespecting a Princess and showing contempt for imperial authority was enough to have his Pingnan Marquis Mansion erased from the ranks of the nobility.
’And he dared to lecture a Princess about her lack of manners? How could he be so bold?’
* * *
At night, a black-clad figure darted swiftly through the shadows, rushing toward its target.
It landed silently on the roof. After confirming there was no one else in the room, it slid down a pillar from the eaves and slipped through a window like a phantom.
He slowly drew a dagger and walked toward the large bed. Seeing the raised curve under the covers, a murderous glint appeared in his eyes. Without hesitation, he plunged the dagger toward the pillow.
The dagger pierced the quilt and the pillow, but nothing else.
He quickly threw back the covers and, sure enough, saw only a pillow.
"Where is she?"
He staggered back in alarm. His instincts screamed at him to leave immediately.
He scrambled back out the window and vaulted onto the roof. In that very instant, he heard a SWOOSH.
Before he could even register what was happening, an arrow pierced through his back.
He whipped his head toward the direction the arrow came from. On a three-story pavilion in the distance, a figure was shrouded in darkness. The only thing visible was the cold, gleaming tip of an arrowhead.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
A volley of sharp arrows sliced through the air, carrying a chilling killing intent.
The man in black rolled frantically across the roof, sending tiles flying. He finally leaped down from a corner and fled the mansion, and only then did the murderous aura vanish.
"Assassin!"
"Guards, catch the assassin!"
The guards inside the mansion only noticed the intruder because of the falling tiles and immediately began shouting to catch him.
Yang Jun led his men into the room. Seeing the shredded bedding, he remembered that the Princess had not yet returned to rest. He glanced at the tall pavilion and rushed over.
He charged up to the third floor—THUMP THUMP THUMP—but stopped at the top of the stairs. The Princess had given an order: no one was to set foot up here.
"Princess, an assassin was just here! Were you frightened, Princess?"
Inside the pavilion, Xiao Li lit a lamp. She sat at a table, fiddling with a pile of wooden pieces.
Hearing him, she said calmly, "Have someone go to the palace and report to His Majesty. I saw the man’s face. It was the Heir of Pingnan Marquis, Gu Ling. Tell him to arrest him."
’The Heir of Pingnan Marquis?’
Yang Jun was so shocked by the assassin’s identity that he didn’t even stop to wonder how Xiao Li could have clearly seen the person’s face from so far away.
"Your subordinate will see to it at once."
Yang Jun sent a man out, then personally led the others to patrol the grounds. Hong Yue and the others didn’t dare to sleep either and got up to stand guard. But without Xiao Li’s command, no one dared go up to the third floor.
Xiao Li glanced down. Her Princess Mansion had over a hundred guards. Although they were trained, their martial arts skills were nothing to speak of. Only Yang Jun came from a family of martial artists, but even he was no match for a true expert.
’Seeing how Gu Ling snuck into my room to kill me so silently, it’s obvious these guards are completely useless.’
’But while their abilities are mediocre, their loyalty is their strong suit. After all, their lives and their families’ lives are in my hands.’
Xiao Li had no intention of finding more capable subordinates. She felt no sense of belonging to this world. To put it bluntly, she only trusted herself.
She was already figuring out how to learn Internal Energy and martial arts, but those things couldn’t be mastered overnight. Besides, even with Internal Energy, she wouldn’t be invincible.
’There’s always a higher mountain. You’ll always meet someone stronger than you.’
’So, if I want to be able to walk all over this world, I’ll just have to hit them with... a crushing, higher-level blow.’
A pile of carved wooden objects on the table was quickly assembled in her hands: a barrel, a trigger, a magazine, and a stock.
Soon, a wooden shotgun took shape in her hands.
"BANG!"
She made the sound with her mouth.
’A pity this is just a model. I’ll need professional blacksmiths and carpenters to craft it, plus bullets made from flint, brass, and black gunpowder before it’s usable.’
She inspected it carefully. Once she was sure there were no problems, she disassembled it to be forged at different blacksmith shops.
All she had to do now was wait for the finished product.