Chapter 3

After more than half a month of painstaking investigation, I had already grasped the patrol patterns of the hidden guards in Prince Jin Manor. I knew that during this period tonight, one corner would become a blind spot in their field of vision. I changed into night-traveling clothes, avoided pedestrians, and arrived at the corner I had chosen earlier. Using qinggong, I silently flew over the high wall, hid in a nearby tree, and briefly surveyed the area, preparing to sneak in.

There was only one tree in this area to serve as cover. To reach the distant rockery would take at least twenty steps or so. Then, from the long corridor, I would enter through an arched gate. Turning left would lead to the courtyard where the princess lived. I only had half a quarter of an hour, and the area beyond that gate was still unknown. I could only take a gamble. With my qinggong, if something unexpected happened, I should still be able to escape safely.

After settling my plan, I was just about to fly down when, out of the corner of my eye, I discovered that I was not the only uninvited guest! Two zhang away, on the other side of the outer wall, there were actually several figures crouching there. Who were they? When had they appeared there?! They knew how to seize this timing and were acting in an organized, planned manner. Perhaps their abilities were not beneath mine.

To be safe, I decided to remain in the tree for now and watch what happened.

At that moment, I heard a low cry from among those people, followed by the muffled thud of someone landing. A man’s lowered voice called, “Are you all right, Hall Master?”

Hall Master? Was it an assassin organization? Even the hall master had personally come? I focused and tried to distinguish their movements. Roughly estimating, there were at least forty more people behind that wall. It seemed they had been lying in ambush there before I arrived.

“I’m fine. My foot went numb, and I accidentally fell. Hiss… I think I twisted it, but I can still climb in. You, you all, hurry and light the torches. Everyone, move quickly too. Hurry.” That hall master endured the pain and spoke in a trembling voice.

I could not help feeling puzzled. Did he not know martial arts? And even if he had broken his leg from falling, he still wanted to crawl inside to carry out an assassination? These people were even more desperate than I was. They must have already embraced the determination to die. But strangely… I did not sense any killing intent. By the light of their fire sticks, I even saw blissful, rippling smiles on the faces of the people atop the wall.

What was going on? Could it be that they were not assassins? Or was that rippling smile actually some superb disguise?

But no matter what, their firelight would undoubtedly draw people from the prince’s manor and obstruct my plan. Realizing something was wrong, I wanted to act before they did, but I was still one step too late. The hidden guards of the manor quickly noticed the movement here and had already rushed over. Five black shadows moved freely through the night, each with elegant qinggong and extraordinary skills.

I had underestimated their abilities.

And in this short span of time, that group outside the wall had actually all climbed in using ladders. So fast! They clearly did not know martial arts. The sound they made upon landing was very loud, and their movements were somewhat clumsy, but they won through fearlessness and extreme persistence. Just what reason could have made them—

“Princess! Princess! We love you!!” Suddenly, that group raised signs and shouted loudly.

What?! A clap of thunder exploded in my mind, and I froze. But the guards who had arrived seemed to be used to this. They calmly began packing them up and sending them back over the wall, confiscating the ladders along the way.

“Today is the princess’s birthday! We want to celebrate for the princess!” someone who had been caught shouted while struggling. “Let us go! We’re not leaving!”
“Princess! Princess!”
“Princess, we won’t believe that slander from the Third Prince!”
“Princess, we’ll always stand on your side!”

A chaotic wave of shouting rang out, with both men and women among them. As they pushed and shoved, the crowd had already moved beneath the tree where I was hiding.

These people were actually that princess’s admirers! It seemed that the remark made in public the day before yesterday by that elegant and romantic Third Prince—“Princess Jin’an is simply so vicious”—had sparked public outrage. These ignorant people had mistakenly thought that the princess they admired had suffered a blow, shut herself indoors in sadness, and even canceled her birthday banquet. That was why they had run over in the middle of the night, intending to celebrate her birthday while expressing their feelings…

An idea suddenly flashed through my mind. Since there was no cover nearby and I could not run, I might as well jump into this group. If I blended in among them, I would not draw too much attention, and I could also take advantage of the chaos to sneak toward the corridor.

So I swiftly stripped off that thin black outer garment and tucked it away, revealing my ordinary clothes underneath. After seizing the right moment, I leapt lightly down. At this moment, those hidden guards had no time to pay attention to me. It was a good opportunity. I estimated the distance and prepared to use qinggong to run toward the corridor.

Unfortunately, before I could even take a step, several figures suddenly crashed into me from the side. I nimbly turned sideways and dodged them, but unexpectedly, unauthorized copyjust as I steadied myself, two people who had fallen grabbed tightly onto me, trying to use me as support to stand up.

How could this happen! I could barely stop myself from roaring. This brief delay had already made me miss the best timing. Moreover, while I was avoiding those men and women who kept bumping into me one after another, a hidden guard had already noticed this side. I could only stop moving and did not dare reveal my martial arts again. Otherwise, if I aroused their vigilance, it would become even harder to sneak in and carry out an assassination in the future.

I could only pretend to struggle as I pulled away the troublesome people and moved bit by bit toward the distance. Helplessly, these men and women were far too persistent. They desperately flailed and resisted, their emotions running high. Relying on the manor guards’ mercy, they tugged and pulled wildly. Someone even tore off the mask of a black-clothed hidden guard. Worse still, amid the chaos, that mask was actually thrown toward me, and I instinctively caught it.

Mm, while I was at it, I lifted my head and glanced over, discovering that the hidden guard was a rather good-looking woman.

The female hidden guard cleanly knocked out a handsy man with a chop of her hand, then raised her eyes and looked toward me. Such heavy killing intent! I hurriedly retreated to a corner, but she had already swept over in a few steps, grabbed my collar, dragged me to the wall, and then leapt up, carrying me over the enclosing wall.

I went along with the situation and did not resist. After we landed, she pushed me away.

“I really don’t know what exactly you people are trying to do!” She glared at me fiercely with almond-shaped eyes, her tone full of disdain.

Typical misplaced anger. I clearly had not done anything, so why was I the only one she had dragged out…? But acting too calm would arouse suspicion, so I forced myself to shout at the top of my voice, “We just want to express our feelings and let the princess understand that no matter when, we will always stand on her side! In our hearts, she will always be the best!”

It felt so stiff. After not going on missions for so long, my acting skills could not be any worse.

However, the person in front of me was in no mood to distinguish too much. She only warned me fiercely, “Leave quickly, or I won’t be polite to you!” After saying that, she impatiently wanted to abandon me and turn around to fly back inside. But just as she turned, she belatedly reacted, snatched back the mask I was still holding, and finally, accompanied by a heavy “hmph,” leapt back over the wall.

She was simply so proud and tsundere. I rolled my eyes at her back.

At this time, the shouting inside the wall still continued, startling several households on the distant street into lighting their lamps. The hidden guards had no choice but to send a signal and summon more helpers.

It seemed that carrying out the assassination tonight was no longer possible. I brushed off the messy shoe prints and claw marks on my clothes, feeling so disheveled for the first time in my life.

The next morning, I heard that last night, the princess’s personal senior maidservant had come forward to convey the princess’s thanks and tactfully comforted everyone, finally bringing that farce to an end. I had once seen that senior maidservant on the street before. She was quite a capable martial artist.

Alas, why did this princess have to be so popular? Sitting in the inn’s main hall and eating breakfast, I clenched my teacup and frowned.

The people I had killed in the past had always been brutal villains who deserved death and were hated by others. It was equivalent to eliminating harm for the people. But now, if I were to assassinate someone like this and succeed, would it stir up overwhelming public outrage and lead many people to hate me, take revenge, and hunt me down?

I actually felt a little regretful.

But there was no time for me to hesitate. Another opportunity quickly arrived. That afternoon, the main street became noisy and bustling because of a notice, drawing countless people to watch. Every one of them looked eager to try.

And the content of that notice was—

Prince Jin Manor was hiring servants.

To be precise, they were hiring Princess Jin’an’s second personal maidservant.