Chapter 39: Unworthy of Lord Chief Incense’s Service?
The gunshots that night rattled half the Capital City.
The bodies that were carried out were a particularly gruesome sight—mangled flesh and blood, some with their heads blown apart. It wasn’t just too horrible to look at; it was an inhuman atrocity.
Those who witnessed it firsthand were terrified, with a dozen or so fainting on the spot. Even those who only heard about it later were utterly horrified, paling at the mere mention of the incident.
In an instant, the image of a fiendish assassin who slaughtered people without a second thought was seared into the public’s mind.
His infamy was so great it could stop a child’s nighttime tears.
The Princess Mansion had been investigating for ages without turning up a single clue. The Ministry of Justice was at its wits’ end when the killer struck again—a welcome breakthrough, like a pillow arriving just as one is about to doze off.
All the other kidnappers were dead, yet the Princess Consort remained completely unharmed. No one would believe that was a coincidence.
The assassin had been so well-hidden, yet he chose to act the moment the Princess Consort was kidnapped.
If he dared to try and kill Mr. Lu, the reigning Prince Consort, what’s to stop him from killing a kidnapped Princess Consort?
Therefore, whether he specifically went to save the Princess Consort or acted out of deference to Prince Chen, the assassin had to be connected to the couple!
The Ministry of Justice had practically worn a path to the Chen Prince Mansion’s door. If they couldn’t find the killer soon, their careers would be on the line.
But Prince Chen was completely in the dark. After having his name dragged through the mud, his usually icy face turned sinister and ruthless.
To the public, Prince Chen certainly didn’t look like a good man.
As for Liu Xueyin, she slowly regained consciousness after Xiao Li had left. A stinging pain on her face immediately brought tears to her eyes, but before she could even let out a sob, she saw that she was surrounded by a pile of mangled corpses. The scene was a vision of hell itself.
She screamed and fainted from sheer terror. Even after being rescued, she was plagued by one nightmare after another.
She couldn’t get a single good night’s sleep, yet officials from the Ministry of Justice showed up every day, begging her to recall the events of that night in detail.
Liu Xueyin did recall what she could and told them, but they refused to believe she had been unconscious the entire time, much less that she hadn’t seen the killer’s face.
Liu Xueyin, at the end of her rope, grabbed the nearest object and hurled it at them.
The onlookers thought: ’Huh, flying into a rage out of shame. Princess Chen must be hiding something.’
Meanwhile, the real killer, Xiao Li, savored her anonymity. ’This is an unexpected development. Aside from the massive drawback of failing to kill Liu Xueyin, it’s absolutely perfect.’
"Princess, Mr. Lou requests an audience."
Xiao Li’s good mood vanished.
Seeing Lou Yan again after so many days, she was once more struck by his stunning looks.
’Xiao Li liked Feng Yin, but only in the way one finds something cute. She enjoyed looking at him, a purely aesthetic appreciation for a beautiful creature. She just wanted to squish his cheeks.’
’But Lou Yan was different. Those broad shoulders, that narrow waist, those long legs... all wrapped in a cold, dangerous, and wickedly charming aura. Just looking at him made her want to do things *to* him.’
’This dangerous bad boy hit every single one of her buttons.’
’And the man was a eunuch!!!’
’What’s the point of a eunuch being so damn handsome?’
’This world really held too much malice for her. It deserved to be destroyed!’
Lou Yan watched, baffled, as Xiao Li, who had been in high spirits just a moment ago, suddenly wilted. Her face turned pale and weak as she leaned her head back against the chair, her eyes hollow, the very picture of someone who had lost all will to live.
Lou Yan: "?"
"Greetings, Princess."
Xiao Li waved a listless hand. "Dispense with the formalities. What are you doing here?"
Lou Yan replied, "To pay my respects to the Princess, and to close the case."
Xiao Li deliberately ignored the first part of his sentence. "Close the case? What case?"
Seeing the light finally return to Xiao Li’s eyes, Lou Yan lowered his gaze. "The Lu family has unilaterally withdrawn the case. The Prince Consort petitioned His Majesty, stating that he no longer wishes to pursue the assassin."
"This servant was ordered to assist with the investigation. It is my failure that we could not find the culprit. Now that His Majesty has granted the Prince Consort’s request, this servant has come to inform you, Princess."
’I could figure that out with my eyes closed,’ Xiao Li thought. ’Lu Yanzhi dropped the case for Liu Xueyin. What a grand romance. He’s willing to let the person who nearly killed him go free, all to get his beloved out of a tight spot.’
"But surely His Majesty won’t actually drop the investigation?"
Lou Yan said, "Of course, the investigation will continue. Even setting aside the attempted assassination of the Prince Consort, an assassin is running rampant in the Capital City using such brutal methods. His Majesty must eliminate this threat, lest it cause public unrest and destabilize the court."
’So... he’s hinting at me.’
"Oh." Xiao Li’s eyes crinkled in a fake smile. "Then Mr. Lou will have his work cut out for him."
Lou Yan slowly raised his gaze. A box had appeared in his hands. He opened the lid and presented it with both hands. "The Princess dropped this. I am returning it to its rightful owner."
Inside the box lay a very familiar-looking orchid gold hairpin.
’When Xiao Li killed Gu Ling, she had used a golden hairpin. She hadn’t paid close attention to it at the time, but this had to be it.’
Xiao Li didn’t move. She suddenly smiled. "That isn’t mine."
His long, narrow, chillingly dark eyes stared at her, his thin lips pursed. "It was pulled from Gu Ling’s chest. It had pierced his heart."
"What do you mean by that, Lord Chief Incense? You were the one who killed Gu Ling and saved me, so where did this golden hairpin come from?"
Her tone was innocent, but her face held an undisguised smile, and her eyes were brimming with playful mockery.
Caught red-handed, she showed not a hint of fear or timidity. Instead, she was perfectly composed, her eyes shimmering as she smiled, looking both wicked and breathtakingly beautiful.
She was bewitching and devilish, captivating the hearts of men like a poisonous Peony.
Lou Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly. "This servant was mistaken."
He started to put the golden hairpin away, but Xiao Li raised a hand to stop him. "You came to visit the sick without a gift. This will have to do."
Lou Yan assumed she wanted to take the golden hairpin back. But in the next moment, Xiao Li withdrew her hand, tilted her chin, and looked at him with an arrogant, smiling gaze. "Put it in my hair for me."
Lou Yan didn’t move.
Xiao Li asked with a laugh, "Is a mere Princess such as myself unworthy of the Lord Chief Incense’s service?"
"The Princess speaks too gravely. It is this servant’s honor to attend to you."
Lou Yan picked up the golden hairpin, his cold, impassive face showing no emotion. He took two steps forward to Xiao Li’s side. His gaze swept over her cloud-like coiffure before he hesitantly placed the pin in her hair.
Just as he was about to pull his hand back, she seized his wrist.
He glanced down and met her bright eyes, which held a slyly wicked smile. "A clerk at one of my shops fell into a water vat and drowned, and two of my errand boys have vanished without a trace. Might I trouble the Lord Chief Incense to look into it for me?"
Lou Yan’s throat bobbed. It was a long moment before he answered, "...This servant... will obey..."
Xiao Li’s gaze drifted down to his neck. The bob of his prominent Adam’s apple was incredibly sexy.
The next moment, Lou Yan stepped back, smoothly pulling his hand from her grasp. "This servant takes his leave."
His pace, though seemingly composed, was a little more hurried than usual. ’Is he running away?’
Xiao Li chuckled. ’He’s already a eunuch, yet he gets flustered so easily. Didn’t they cut it all off?’
Only when he was out of Xiao Li’s line of sight did Lou Yan finally stop, allowing his ramrod-straight back to relax.
’The Princess is far more perceptive and intelligent than he had imagined. She knows he killed those hidden threats for her, and she knows that he knows everything she’s done.’
’He didn’t know where she got the confidence that he would never expose her, allowing her to so brazenly display her wickedness and madness before him.’
’A poison-laced flower—deadly, dangerous, and utterly bewitching.’
’The rich, enchanting scent of her hair still lingered on his fingertips.’
Lou Yan slowly clenched his fist, then strode away.