Chapter 90: Motive Revealed

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

With an unreadable expression on her face, Meng Fuyao stammered, “Wh.. what mark?”

“Team down, Miss Meng cut throat…”

Meng Fuyao slammed her head against the window, startling the guard. Almost bursting into tears, she sighed. “No… how horrible…”

“Quick, pass the news and tell him not to come back then,” Meng Fuyao blurted, grabbing her hair. “What’s this… the fighting won’t stop yet. It seems King De is about to rebel. He mustn’t leave camp now. Oh no, oh no.”

“I made contact upon waking up, but communication is one-way, and I can only pass the news back to the camp. News came back saying that Master had already left the camp, and was in a hurry. For safety reasons, he hadn’t told anyone about his route, and the guards at the camp weren’t able to catch up to him. Now, no one knows his whereabouts.”

“The world is in a mess now…” Meng Fuyao ruffled her hair, turning in circles. After a long thought, she asked, “Won’t his sudden disappearance cause a disturbance?”

“He must have made his arrangements, so do not worry Miss Meng,” the guard reassured in a low voice. “Just… things are different from before. King De’s scouting team, Scarlet Wind, is all over the place, and Master will certainly be ambushed…”

Upon hearing his words, Meng Fuyao’s heart thumped loudly, a light going off in her head.

She finally understood King De’s motive for abandoning Yaocheng.

It was neither to deal with the city nor to butter up the Rongs. He wanted to take Zhangsun Wuji down.

He colluded with Gaoluo to revolt, causing Zhangsun Wuji to leave the southern border. He then trapped her in a dangerous situation to lure him all the way back alone. There would be plenty of chances for him to take action.

King De couldn’t let Zhangsun Wuji die in the southern border as it belonged under his influence. If anything happened there, he would have to bear the blame, and ascending to greater heights would become more challenging in the future since Zhangsun Wuji was an extremely prestigious man. But, if the latter were to die in any location outside of the southern border, King De could easily push the blame to someone else and even use the chance to gather his army to “avenge” him.”

That way, he would gain both status and commendation. Coupled with the reputable image he had garnered over time, reigning the world would be a piece of cake.

But how did he know about her identity and her relationship with Zhangsun Wuji? Zhangsun Wuji must have kept it really confidential, and Meng Fuyao found it fishy. Things were already complicated, but the truth and overall situation were still concealed by a thick fog that she couldn’t blow away.

“This is it, this is it…” Meng Fuyao was on the verge of exploding as she paced about anxiously, accidentally bumping into a solid chest. Grabbing her burning nose, she cursed, “Are you a ghost? Sneaking behind like that.”

“Why do you look like you’re in heavy debts?” Zhan Beiye asked, his eyes brightly lit. “Haven’t seen you being this worried for me before.”

“How are you still spouting nonsense?” Meng Fuyao pushed him aside, staring at him before turning to Zong Yue. While she had a lot of questions to ask these political figures, she decided to keep quiet after some consideration. No matter what, Zhangsun Wuji’s departure was a national secret that she had no right to divulge.

Pretending as though nothing had happened, she continued entertaining the few fellows, throughout which many quarrels and mockery and verbal attacks were involved. With a tongue as spear and eyes as shield the holy physician and prince exchanged jolting gazes.

Meng Fuyao had tried advising them initially but lost motivation after some time. A catastrophe was inevitable when a poisonous-tongued and a feisty man came together. She was going to let them be.

It was Ya Lanzhu that she had difficulty handling. She was acting like a puppy, following her everywhere. “I’m going to watch you adulterous pair,” she declared. Meng Fuyao questioned her definition of adulterous, to which she answered while blinking her innocent princessy eyes, “A man and woman sleeping together.”

‘Oh, so her parents are an adulterous pair.’

That night, Meng Fuyao finally kicked Zhan Beiye out. With Ya Lanzhu, a living alarm that went off every second, around, Zhan Beiye need not hope to sleep by her side.

Upon settling their respective sleeping arrangements, Meng Fuyao shut her door and sat down under the light, letting out a sigh.

Zhangsun Wuji had thrown aside his big army of a few hundred thousand men and was rushing to meet her. All because of the mark his guard had left. ‘Oh my god, I am a sinner.’

Meng Fuyao twisted her fingers together, falling into a daze beneath the hazy light. In order not to alarm the army, he must have only brought a limited number of men with him. King De, on the other hand, would be waiting for him, fully prepared. When that time came…

The more she thought, the worse she felt. She couldn’t help but ask Lord Yuan Bao, who was chewing on a fruit, “Eh, guinea pig, a thing like you is made once a hundred years, so you must be magical in some sense, right? Can you see where your owner is?”

Lord Yuan Bao bit on his fruit ferociously, having no desire to answer a retarded question like that. His powers weren’t meant to assist an ordinary girl like her.

Meng Fuyao fixed her eyes on him, suddenly noticing that he was exceptionally well-groomed and dressed. His robe was a bright red and fastened at the front by pearl black buttons. It was even filled with colorful gemstones that outshone any of Meng Fuyao’s dull outfit. This guinea pig had his own special wardrobe, and Meng Fuyao hadn’t seen him in an outfit this luxurious. Did he know about his owner’s impending return?

Sensing her thoughts Lord Yuan Bao strutted before her, raising all fury within her. She picked him up by his robe and threw him out immediately.

A bright ball flew toward the door, and Lord Yuan Bao caught sight of an approaching white figure. Before he could rejoice, his savior had already walked to a side, while he slammed onto the door, sliding down…

Zong Yue was the one who entered, of course, and he was dressed in a snow-white robe that contrasted against the black night perfectly.

Meng Fuyao looked at him, bitter-faced, saying, “I’ve taken my medicine. You don’t have to guard…”

He ignored her and said, “Got something for you.”

He retrieved a small bundle from his robe and opened it to reveal a transfer warrant, office warrant, keys and a command tablet with a “Liang” engraved on it.

Meng Fuyao flipped around, her eyes lighting up. “These are the official seals of King De’s provision transportation office in Wuling. Where did you get them from?

“I passed by the storage on the way back. The new official in charge, Tang Jian, wasn’t good to me, and I took these away. If it had been convenient, I would’ve gotten rid of him as well.”

“Are you really a physician?” Meng Fuyao mumbled. “Do you kill more than you save?”

Zong Yue raised his brows, reaching his hand out. “Return them.”

Meng Fuyao kept the bundle of items, giggling. “It’s easy now. I need an identity to blend into his army. Transportation officer is just right. Not a big post nor a lot of connections. But it is the key to the army’s lifeline.”

She made a strangling gesture, thinking about how she had wreaked havoc, causing Zhangsun Wuji to rush back and to become uncontactable. Without a choice, she had to go straight to the mastermind.

‘Strangle the mastermind and Zhangsun Wuji will be safe, naturally.’

She kept the cloth bag and pulled Zong Yue along. “Let’s go.”

“Eh?”

“Kill someone.”

…

That night, Tang Jian and his subordinates in Wuling provision transportation office, 10 kilometers away from Suishui, experienced an unspeakably cruel attack.

Tang Jian had lost his warrants and keys to the storage in the day and had been searching high and low for them. He had even engaged everyone inside, including his assistant official and two servants, to look in every nook and cranny.

As a servant probed about, he felt a pair of boots.

He looked down in shock, a white light flashing across his eyes before being replaced by fresh red, ribbon-like blood streaks. He subconsciously reached out to grab something, only to feel his hand burning.

Someone had smacked it forcefully. “Still groping about when you’re breathing your last.”

A crisp voice could be heard next. “Zhan Beiye, you swine.”

Those were the last words he could process before collapsing.

As he went down, Tang Jian was feeling about behind the screen. Upon hearing the commotion, he straightened his back and came to face a pair of deep black eyes floating across him.

The next moment he felt his chest turning hot, and then cold.

When he collapsed Tang Jian heard someone commenting behind, “The prince kills men as if they’re chickens. Look at the blooming bloodflowers all over the ground. Good skills.”

The man with black pupils stepped down hard, and Tang Jian heard a snap coming from his chest as if something had exploded within.

Upon hearing the splitting sound, the assistant official made a wise decision to sprint far away instead of turning around to investigate. Yet, he wasn’t ready to face the man in white, who was standing in a corner and waiting for him.

He then saw his own hands turn green, resembling the unusually high-hung moon. Following that his body turned stiff and he fell over.

“Mister Zong kills like an expert. They look just like you, zombie-like.”

“How courteous,” a calm, night breeze-like voice was what the assistant official last heard as a hazy white fabric glazed past the corner of his eye.

“Slightly more graceful than you, Sir.”

The smell of blood served as a warning for the last servant, who had overheard the ongoing conversations. In an instant, they had killed three men, all while bickering simultaneously. He opened his mouth, wanting to shout when a colorful figure appeared overhead.

The person brushed past him, a snow-white arc slashing by like electricity and tearing his throat apart. While in action the culprit grumbled, “One more. I need to watch the adulterous couple.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep