Chapter 30

Chapter 30

While everyone was still in shock and uncertainty, a terrified scream suddenly came from the tent behind them.

“Ah, someone’s… someone’s dead!”

“Adjutant Liu is dead!”

Li Ping’s heart lurched, and he felt dizzy. He staggered, forced down his frantic heartbeat, clenched his fists tightly, his face pale as he walked out of the tent, each step incredibly heavy.

Amidst his rapid breathing, the scene before him gradually became clear. He saw Liu Qi lying on his back in the muddy ground mixed with sand and water, his widened eyes bloodshot, his mouth agape as if in a scream cut short. Blood gushed from his chest, a short, sharp arrow precisely embedded in his heart; the wound edges and the blood seeping out were dark, clearly indicating poison. With such an injury, even if it hadn’t hit a vital point, there would be no hope of saving him! The assassin had come fully prepared, determined to kill.

Li Ping forced himself to calm down. He slowly crouched, reached out with trembling hands, and closed Liu Qi’s eyes.

“The blood is still warm; the assassin can’t have gone far. Search thoroughly!” Li Ping ordered, his eyes red with fury.

The soldiers responded in grief and anger.

No one noticed that at the edge of the crowd, a soldier silently backed away.

Liu Qi was dead; the mission was accomplished.

Sheng Zhaoning retracted the Sleeve Crossbow on her wrist, expressionless, and turned to leave. But as she turned around, she came face-to-face with a pair of dark, sinister eyes.

“Trying to run?”

The man laughed viciously and lunged to grab her shoulder. Sheng Zhaoning’s gaze turned cold. She swiftly dodged sideways, drew her dagger, and stabbed at his vitals. Her strike missed, blocked, and they gained some distance.

She looked up, using the firelight and moonlight to identify him. She recognized him: Ao Chun.

“Seize the assassin!” Ao Chun shouted toward the camp, a smirk on his face.

The commotion here was not small; their fight had already drawn attention, and now it drew even more, as people surged aggressively toward them.

Sheng Zhaoning didn’t linger in the fight. She turned and dashed toward the camp exit, but just as she was about to run out, she froze.

In front, a dense mass of people blocked her path, and behind, pursuers were closing in. Crowds swarmed from all directions, surrounding her tightly, leaving not a gap.

“She killed the general! Get her!”

Sheng Zhaoning was now trapped like a caged beast, countless sharp arrows aimed at her.

This time, there was truly no escape.

She straightened up, facing the cold gleam of weapons under the moonlight, her eyes dark and calm.

Fear? She clearly felt none.

As a Shadow Guard, the first lesson was to be unafraid of life or death.

What was that strange feeling in her heart, then?

She thought, perhaps it was reluctance.

Even though she’d known this mission would likely end in death, she still foolishly hoped to see him one more time.

It was her own indulgence.

Sheng Zhaoning suppressed her emotions, raised her hand with the blade, aimed at her own throat, and stabbed without hesitation.

“Whoosh-”

A hidden dart flew in swiftly, clanging against the dagger. The blade snapped, and the force cracked the skin between her thumb and forefinger, blood oozing out immediately.

“Capture her alive!”

Ao Chun stared at her coldly and shouted.

……

News of Liu Qi’s death spread quickly.

Sheng Zhaoning was taken away by Ao Chun; no one knew where she was imprisoned.

The military camp didn’t know her identity last night, and the Shadow Pavilion didn’t even know she had gone to kill Liu Qi. Now, with her whereabouts a mystery, naturally no one paid attention.

Except, Dai Rong.

“Your Highness the Heir, Dai Rong requests an audience!”

When Zhao Quan led her inside, the pipa music paused briefly. Yunyan glanced back with a puzzled look, then quickly adjusted, and seeing no sign from Wei Yi to stop, continued the tune.

Dai Rong was already frantic with worry, and now her glare at the two of them seemed hot enough to burn holes through them.

Sheng Zhaoning had been handling matters for Wei Yi and had defied the Prince’s will; now her life hung in the balance, her whereabouts unknown-yet Wei Yi was still in the mood to summon a songstress to amuse himself?

She instantly felt it was unfair for Sheng Zhaoning!

“Your Highness the Heir, your servant has urgent matters to report. Please dismiss those around you!”

Dai Rong’s tone was unfriendly, and her face showed anger and sharpness.

This gave Zhao Quan quite a start.

The pipa music stopped.

Wei Yi, half-reclining on a soft couch by the window, slowly raised his eyes at these words and looked at Dai Rong.

“Considering you have served my father for many years, I will overlook this transgression. But if you overstep again, you will be dealt with by military law.”

His tone was flat, betraying no emotion, but his entire demeanor turned noticeably cold and stern.

Zhao Quan’s heart tensed.

Dai Rong was the most trusted person by the Prince besides Steward Wu; with no lady of the house in the Zhenbei Prince’s Mansion, all important and trivial matters of the inner residence-including servant assignments, supplies purchasing, and financial expenditures-were managed by Dai Rong.

Even he had once received her patronage and kindness.

So Zhao Quan quickly tried to cover for her: “Auntie Dai Rong must have been overwhelmed with urgency and forgotten propriety. If there’s nothing pressing, please come away with me first.”

Dai Rong ignored the frantic winks Zhao Quan kept giving her.

She gave a cold laugh. “Since I’ve come to Your Highness, naturally it’s an extremely urgent matter. But I wonder if what is a life-and-death matter to me is also urgent to Your Highness.”

Yunyan saw the situation turning sour and, catching Zhao Quan’s signal, discreetly picked up her pipa, bowed, and withdrew.

Seeing that Wei Yi did not object, Zhao Quan dismissed the few attendants nearby, then himself turned and left, closing the door tightly behind him.

For a moment, only the two of them were in the room.

“Shadow Ten Guard has not returned all night. Does Your Highness know where she went?” Dai Rong asked, though she already knew the answer.

Her eyes were fixed intently on Wei Yi, not missing any flicker of expression.

Unfortunately, Wei Yi only gave a mocking laugh.

“What does a missing Shadow Guard have to do with me?”

Dai Rong’s eyes instantly reddened. “Does Your Highness truly know nothing, and not even bother to inquire?”

Wei Yi’s fingertips tapped idly on the armrest, but his words were icy cold.

“I will say it once more: What does it have to do with me.”

Dai Rong staggered back a step.

She clenched her fists, nails digging deep into her palms, the pain barely keeping a shred of sanity so she wouldn’t forget her station and curse aloud.

In her grief and fury, she completely missed that Wei Yi’s fists were also clenched tight. She merely laughed bitterly: “Indeed. If she had known that sooner, why would she have thrown herself like a moth into the flame, willingly risking her life for someone forever out of reach-and utterly unworthy.”

Dai Rong had come today only to probe Sheng Zhaoning’s place in Wei Yi’s heart, hoping he would intervene to save her life.

But she never expected that Wei Yi’s heart held no emotion at all.

She had thought, at the very least, even if it wasn’t love, there would be a trace of reluctance to let go.

But no-there was none.

Wei Yi did not love Sheng Zhaoning at all.

Not even a shred of liking.