Chapter 2

Since I had accepted the job, there was no turning back.

After making all the necessary preparations, at noon that day, I lit incense and solemnly wiped down Mingfeng, which had not tasted blood for a long time. I polished it until the short sword that had followed me for ten years once again regained the cold, chilling gleam a killing weapon ought to have. Once the sharp blade was sheathed and my travel belongings were packed, I bought a fast horse at the foot of the mountain and set off for Shuntian City.

The mountain where I lived in seclusion did not belong to Jin’an Commandery. It was still very far from there. Even if I rode day and night without stopping, it would still take five or six days to reach Shuntian City. Along the way, whether intentionally or unintentionally, I heard many rumors about this commandery princess.

After all, she was the object of countless people’s admiration. It was only natural for people to talk about her after meals and over tea. I had never paid much attention to her before, but now that I cared a little, I realized she was practically everywhere.

Of course, most of them were stories praising her. For example, at a certain poetry competition, she had once again elegantly defeated all the talented participants and taken first place. At the end of the year, she had played chess against foreign envoys and made them concede defeat wholeheartedly. Another example was the recent Mulberry-Picking Festival, when she went boating on Yuming Lake at night with noble young ladies and gentlemen, and a single pipa performance stunned countless sightseers… There was almost no negative criticism of her, no bad habits, and no romantic scandals with any young master. Learned, courteous, intelligent, pure-hearted, and self-disciplined, she was truly the perfect model among the noble sons and daughters of the dynasty.

I thought these beautiful tales had probably been exaggerated several times over. Of course, there could not possibly be such a perfect person in this world. Often, the more flawless a person appeared on the outside, the more likely it was that something inside them was incomplete and terrifying. I could not help maliciously speculating about a certain commandery princess’s unknown side.

As for the things I heard in ordinary teahouses and marketplaces, I secretly filtered out the useful information and memorized it one by one.

Along the road, there were even many portraits of her being sold. They seemed rather popular. Once I arrived in Shuntian City, this phenomenon became even more common. Whenever I stopped to rest, I casually bought a few from several stalls. The hateful thing was that none of them looked the same!

But overall, they were all of the gentle beauty type: a delicate forehead, curved brows, skin bright as snow, and watery eyes carrying an alluring charm. A beauty capable of bringing ruin to a nation, like a fox spirit.

“Guest, I’ve brought the food you ordered.” A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. The waiter was respectfully waiting outside. At this time, I had already settled into an ordinary, inconspicuous inn in Shuntian City. Of course, I could not stay there for long. In two days, I would have to find another place.

“Come in.” I deliberately lowered my voice to make myself sound rougher.

The waiter pushed the door open and entered, smiling as he placed the food neatly on the table. When he looked up and stolen contentsaw what I was holding, his expression suddenly turned much more ambiguous. Holding the old wooden tray, he chuckled and said, “Hehe, so the guest also admires Princess Jin’an.”

There was even a sense of pride in his words, as though he had discovered a fellow enthusiast.

Without changing expression, I rolled up the portrait. “I was only curious for a moment and bought a few at random.”

“Hehe.” He scratched his head, revealing a bit of bashfulness and regret. “Actually, I’m curious too. Although I’ve never seen her, I heard that during the Mulberry-Picking Festival not long ago, the princess showed her true face in public while traveling outside. They say she was truly beautiful enough to topple cities and kingdoms. What a pity I wasn’t there.”

This person was rather familiar with strangers. Or was it that after I disguised myself as a frail scholar, I looked too approachable? I sat down and pretended to say casually, “Then when that princess goes out again in the future, you can just run over to see her. It’s not as though there will never be another chance.”

“Eh, guest, you may not know this.” His round eyes widened. “The princess rarely goes out. Even when she does, her trips are very secretive, and guards follow on both sides to protect her. How rare would it be to see her walking among coarse commoners like us? For example, every eighth day of the month, when she goes to Maple Leaf Temple to offer incense, who knows how many people wait by the road? But they can only watch the shadow of her carriage from far away. No one is allowed to get close.”

And you people still like her?! I held my forehead. “Princess Jin’an goes to Maple Leaf Temple every eighth day of the month?”

“Yes. I heard she goes there to pray for marriage, hehe.” The waiter chuckled honestly, then sighed in intoxicated admiration. “Ah, the princess is so beautiful. Even peonies cannot compare to her splendor and radiance. Why would she need to worry about her own marriage? Eh, but then again, no man has been found who is worthy of her.”

Like a peony, was she? I lowered my head and took a sip of tea, the corners of my lips lifting slightly.

A face dazzling and radiant, bright and beautiful beyond compare. So this was how Princess Jin’an’s beauty appeared in everyone’s eyes. I had originally thought she would be a cold beauty, because I had heard that she had rejected the pursuit of many foreign princes, and countless domestic suitors had failed to move her heart. All this time, she had never had any overly close dealings with any man either.

Now she was already of marriageable age, but if this princess did not nod, even the current emperor did not dare say she was wrong.

Seeing that I had begun eating, the waiter tactfully withdrew, not forgetting to close the door behind him. I casually threw those few portraits onto the bed behind me. After five or six days of traveling day and night, I was already extremely exhausted and needed a good rest.

I was not in a hurry to act. Instead, I would conserve my energy and first read the original at bailiantales.cominvestigate Princess Jin’an thoroughly, including her interests, likes and dislikes, what she was skilled at, the places she often went, and even more unknown parts of her—hehehe… Huh? Why was I laughing?

Although the preparation work was somewhat tedious and difficult, once I had fully grasped her information, I would be able to devise a perfect assassination plan. I would lay a beautiful hunting net while she was completely unguarded, lure her into a dead end, then elegantly take her life, adding another brilliant stroke to my career as an assassin.

Pursuing magnificence and perfection had always been my style of assassination.

Thus, after resting for half a day, I began investigating.

In the days that followed, I lay low in the shadows or roamed the marketplace. I disguised myself as a vendor, waiting for people from the prince’s manor to come out and buy things so I could seize the chance to draw out some information. I even repeatedly scouted every road section where the princess might possibly travel, drawing maps of the terrain and routes in that area, then committing them firmly to memory. As an assassin, the thing I lacked least was perseverance and patience.

However, the more I investigated, the more alarmed I became. This princess was not simple. No, it could be said that the entire Prince Jin Manor was not simple.

The manor could truly be called a place where hidden dragons and crouching tigers gathered. The guards’ martial arts were all of a high level, and the security was extremely strict. At night, hidden guards also kept watch in various concealed corners, as though forming an iron wall. It was difficult to find any opening to sneak in. Moreover, this princess’s whereabouts had always been secretive, and she was very much a homebody. She rarely went out. Up until now, I had not even seen her face.

The princess was so cautious, and the servants in the manor were also tight-lipped. Even the well-informed hidden brokers who sold information in the martial world did not know too many details about her. I also did not know whether she knew martial arts, or how strong she was if she did… It seemed I absolutely could not act rashly. Otherwise, if I was not careful, I would alert the snake by beating the grass, and the loss would outweigh the gain.

This mission was indeed very troublesome. Half a month passed, yet there was almost no major progress. I could not find any breakthrough.

But hard work does not betray the diligent. Tonight, I finally waited for an opportunity and could take action.