Villain Lady

Under Yang Xian's lead, Wei Liuying got into the house and looked around in curiosity. She still didn't stop her legs even though she was curious about the place where Prince Ji Sheng stayed. After all, aside from the main palace where the Emperor held his banquet from time to time, she had never visited other palaces.     

The palace wall was brown in color because of the wood. There were many decorations on the wall with various type. It was beautiful and at the same time giving sense of elegance yet valiant.     

Yang Xian brought her to a separate small building on the side. "This is an unused building, but I usually stay here most of the time."     

"There are so many buildings in Prince Ji Sheng's palace?" Wei Liuying asked.     

"Yes. However, you're not allowed to visit most of them. I'll give you detailed information tomorrow regarding the places that you're not allowed to visit," Yang Xian replied and pushed the door open.     

The room was decorated simply and the size of the room itself was not that big. It was only enough for two people to stay inside at most. However, Wei Liuying was not picky as she had been staying in an annoying hut for a long period of time.     

What could this place compare to that place?     

"There's only one bed," Yang Xian pointed to his bed. "You can sleep there and I'll sleep on the floor."     

Wei Liuying frowned. "How can I take your place, Strategist Yang?"     

"Just for today. It's unlikely that I'll sleep for long too, so it's fine," Yang Xian said with a bright smile. He noticed that Wei Liuying was about to refute, so he spoke out again, "If you're dissatisfied with this arrangement, I don't mind sharing the same bed with you."     

"Hooligan," Wei Liuying muttered and walked to the bed, not protesting anymore.     

Yang Xian shook his head in amusement. His eyes lowered to Wei Liuying's left arm and frowned as he noticed the blood. "Wait here until I find some herbs to patch the wound."     

"It's fine."     

"If it's not treated, it'll get infection. I might not be a doctor, but I know first aid."     

Wei Liuying looked at her own arm and nodded obediently. She also knew some of the first aid, but she rarely wounded due to blade like this, so she was quite clueless about what she was supposed to do.     

It didn't take long for Yang Xian to find the needed herbs and started to treat her arm. He patched it up nicely so that it wouldn't give her infection. Wei Liuying silently watched him doing his work and not said anything out loudly at all.     

"Is it not hurt?" Yang Xian asked after he had finished.     

Wei Liuying lifted her legs to the bed. "It hurts."     

"Then why don't you say anything?"     

"Is it important?"     

Yang Xian was stunned. He looked at Wei Liuying with bewilderment. Did it mean she would only say something when it was important? But looking at her gaze, he knew that she truly meant what she said just now. Sighing, Yang Xian raised his hand and patted Wei Liuying's head.     

"Sleep and have some rest now."     

"I still want to…"     

"I'll tell you everything that occurred outside when you wake up," Yang Xian interrupted before Wei Liuying could finish.     

Wei Liuying frowned, but she nodded her head. She lied on the bed quietly. Before long, sleepiness kicked in, and she had drifted to sleep.     

Yang Xian watched from the side until Wei Liuying had fallen asleep before he walked out. He washed his bloodstained hand outside the building. By this time, the sky had brightened, and there were a lot of people who had started working in Prince Ji Sheng's residence.     

They saw Yang Xian, but neither one of them came to greet him. They were already ordered to ignore Yang Xian unless he was in the main building because it was just unnecessary greetings. As a former commoner, Yang Xian disliked those kind of greetings.     

"Yang Xian, can you tell me exactly why I have to sacrifice so much of my sleep time tonight?"     

The sound of an indignant young man could be heard. Yang Xian turned his head and frowned. "You have already sacrificed so much of your sleep for trade in the past. What's the difference with just adding another day to it?"     

The young man, Shi Yan, groaned. "That's different! Also, do you know how much of a mess that the incident caused?"     

"No one will be able to relate it to us."     

Besides, their letters were always coded. Even if others found it, they could just deflect it by saying that they were writing poetry and didn't know how it could end in the other party's hand. It was a bit of petty scheme, but then again, they could also say that it was not them and other people faked their writing.     

There were too many options for them to escape from suspicion list.     

 Shi Yan glowered. "I'm not your errand boy, Yang Xian."     

"Yes, you're His Highness's errand boy."     

Shi Yan: "…" what's the difference?     

Yang Xian ignored Shi Yan's death glare and leisurely wiped his hand on the cloth. He glanced over in Shi Yan's direction and smiled. "I'm sure you don't come to me just because you want to complaint."     

"Can't you speak more straightforward?" Shi Yan frowned in displeasure. However, what he got was simply another shrug from Yang Xian.     

"So?"     

"Fine. I found out that most of the soldiers that was sent to guard the prison yesterday and chased after her are the Fourth Prince's people. He's sending so many people to chase after one young girl," Shi Yan stressed out the word 'young girl.'     

Yang Xian pursed his lips. "That must be because he knew her abilities."     

"Huh? Just having a little bit more intelligence and martial arts can make people chase after her?" Shi Yan was stumped. There were some other women commoners who also learnt martial arts in order to serve some mater. Not many people chased after them.      

"Do you really think she's just a bit smarter?"     

"Am I wrong?"     

Yang Xian looked at Shi Yan and shook his head. Even though Shi Yan was good at making people want to do trades with him, he was bad at judging the overall situation of everything. This was what limited him to only do some trades on his own to make sure that he was not suffering any loss.     

"When Prince Ji Shu send more people to kill her, can't you make the connection?"     

"Uh…" Shi Yan scratched his head. He couldn't understand politics at all, but he knew that Prince Ji Shu must be thinking of Wei Liuying as a threat. If not, he wouldn't have sent so many people to chase after her like this.     

"The answer is Wei Family Household."     

"What?"     

However, Yang Xian was not in the mood to explain everything to the slow witted Shi Yan. It would be better for him to just rely on Shi Yan to gather more money rather than asking him to understand the overall situation.     

He hoped that Shi Yan wouldn't put himself in difficult situation by making trades with opposing party…     

As he had expected, it would be better for Shi Yan to just stay at the north.     

…     

Meanwhile, Prince Ji Shu's Residence.     

"What did you say?"     

"We lost her trace. There's blood on the water that has diffused but based on the amount, it's possible that she has lost a lot of blood," a servant said while bowing. He was dressed in black cloth, covering him from top to bottom.     

In front of him, Prince Ji Shu was sitting on a large chair. He was looking at the people in front of him with a cold and detached expression. It was clear that he was displeased with what he had heard.     

"Then, where's the corpse?"     

"This…"     

"You didn't find her, did you?" Prince Ji Shu asked again. His tone was harsh and unfeeling.     

His servant knew that they were facing a death reaper as they banged their head to the ground in kowtow. "This servant had sinned, Master! This servant deserved to be punished!"     

Prince Ji Shu scoffed. He tapped the armrest on the chair with slow movement. There was solemn expression on his face. "Search for her and do your work covertly. If you can't find her in a weeks' time, your whole family will be waiting for you in the underworld."     

The servant was startled, but he kowtowed. "This servant understands! Master is benevolent."     

"Leave."     

"Yes, Master."     

Inside the room, Prince Ji Shu tapped the armrest a few more times. His eyes were staring to the front as thoughts swirled inside his mind. From the moment Wei Liuying appeared on the day Wei Xiao Hua wished to scheme against her, he had sensed that there was something off from her.     

The originally ordinary young girl that could be overlooked so easily didn't seem to be that simple.     

"Heh."