Chapter 151: He Guessed It

Soon, some faint, rustling sounds arose once again, which seemed to be the noise of someone shifting the roof tiles.

Judging by the sound, the intruder appeared to be directly above her head.

As the tiles were pushed aside, Tan Qingjiu almost instinctively held her breath.

Sure enough, the sound of blowing quickly followed.

Though her eyes were closed, Tan Qingjiu could easily guess what the intruder was doing from these sounds.

It was sleeping powder.

Moments later, the person above seemed to press an ear against the roof to listen to the movement below, and then proceeded to remove even more tiles.

After that, someone leaped down from above.

In broad daylight, these people certainly had a lot of nerve.

"She is indeed still unconscious."

"Our master's orders are to kill this woman directly to prevent her from curing Shen Yingjue's illness and poison, thereby cutting off any future trouble."

"Understood."

Immediately, the sound of a dagger being drawn rang out.

A faint gleam reflected by the blade swept across Tan Qingjiu's eyelids. The dagger was raised high and then brought down.

On the bed, Tan Qingjiu remained completely motionless.

The dagger descended swiftly, stopping right above Tan Qingjiu's eyes—a mere finger's width away—when she suddenly opened her eyes.

The assassin was startled by Tan Qingjiu's sudden open eyes, and the blade paused slightly.

At that very moment, a dark shadow suddenly dropped through the opened roof tiles and kicked the dagger out of the assassin's hand with a single blow.

The newcomer was dressed in a black night-walker outfit and quickly engaged in close combat with the earlier assassins.

There had been a total of seven or eight assassins, but despite their numbers, they were no match for the figure in black. Before long, the assassins found themselves at a disadvantage.

The person in the black night-walker outfit moved with extreme precision, and every single move was fatal.

After a brief flurry of fighting and muffled groans, several corpses were already sprawled across the floor in disarray.

Some of the assassins, realizing the situation was turning against them, turned to flee.

However, they were swiftly hunted down by the figure in black...

In the end, only one person remained. That individual managed to scramble out through the window. The figure in black was about in hot pursuit when Tan Qingjiu suddenly spoke up: "Do not pursue a desperate foe."

Hearing this, the figure in black paused, gaze lingering on the swiftly retreating silhouette until it vanished from sight, before turning around.

"This subordinate, Yebei, under the orders of Prince Duan to secretly protect the Princess Consort, pays my respects to the Princess Consort."

Tan Qingjiu narrowed her eyes to appraise Yebei, thinking inwardly that this man named Yebei possessed extraordinary martial arts skills and was exceptionally skilled in concealment. He was entirely different from the domestic servants and guards of the estate. More likely than not, he belonged to the class of hidden guards secretly trained by Shen Yingjue.

Shen Yingjue had indeed cultivated a faction in secret, just as she had anticipated.

Seeing that Tan Qingjiu remained silent for a long time, Yebei continued, "This subordinate could actually have caught the last person who fled just now. Why did the Princess Consort..."

Tan Qingjiu curled the corners of her lips into a smile. "I deliberately let him go."

"Deliberately?" Having spent a considerable amount of time by Shen Yingjue's side, Yebei could be considered exceptionally clever, yet he still struggled to understand what purpose Tan Qingjiu could possibly have in doing this.

Tan Qingjiu nodded. "Yes, I deliberately let him escape."

"After Prince Duan left earlier, I anticipated that someone might take advantage of the chaos to make a move. Therefore, I left some poison in this room. That person stayed in this room just now, so he has naturally been poisoned."

"And where do you think he will go after leaving this place?"

Yebei raised his eyes and guessed, "To report to the person who ordered him to carry out the assassination."

"Mhm." Tan Qingjiu curved her lips. "This poison will remain on him for a period of time. Within the span of an hour, anyone who shares a room with him and speaks even a few words to him will be contaminated by the poison."

"If, after leaving here, he goes to see his mastermind, then the person behind this assassination will also be poisoned."

"Not only is this poison treacherous, but the symptoms when it flares up are also very distinct and obvious. As long as he seeks a medical consultation, I will know. Won't we be able to find out who that person is?"

Hearing this, Yebei's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.

He had not expected Tan Qingjiu to be so far-sighted and have everything arranged in advance...

Yebei looked at Tan Qingjiu thoughtfully. "This subordinate understands. It was this subordinate who was shortsighted and misunderstood."

Tan Qingjiu smiled. "It's nothing."

A look of utter nonchalance rested on Tan Qingjiu's face. "Go ahead, nothing more will happen here."

Yebei acknowledged the order and silently retreated. Before leaving, he even carefully restored the disarrayed roof tiles back to their original state.

Tan Qingjiu raised her head to watch Yebei fixing the roof above and couldn't help but chuckle.

Shen Yingjue's hidden guard was quite an interesting character indeed.

However, those assassins earlier had seemingly come for her on the surface, yet their attempt to kill her was actually meant to ensure she could not treat Shen Yingjue's illness.

Their true target was still Shen Yingjue.

They wanted Shen Yingjue dead...

Tan Qingjiu rubbed her fingertips along the edge of the bed, wondering why this Prince Duan seemed to have far more enemies than she had imagined.

There were truly no small number of people wishing for his life, both in the open and in the dark.

Tan Qingjiu pressed her lips together, realizing that she seemed to have been inadvertently dragged into a conflict she had no business being a part of.

Tan Qingjiu frowned. If that was the case, things were going to be troublesome.

Just as she was pondering this, she heard the loud voice of the estate steward echoing from the courtyard entrance.

The steward?

Tan Qingjiu found it somewhat peculiar. Why was the steward speaking in such a loud voice right at the courtyard entrance?

As she wondered, she heard the steward's voice: "Our Princess Consort's esteemed father came again just now, claiming that he has persuaded Tan Yunge, and that Tan Yunge is now willing to hand over the antidote, saying she wants to see our Prince."

"I reckon that Master Tan only came to plead on Tan Yunge's behalf, which is simply out of the question. Fortunately, His Majesty summoned our Prince into the palace."

"So I told Master Tan the truth, and he even asked me when Prince Duan would be able to return."

"How on earth would I know that? Is that something a lowly servant like me can concern myself with? Besides, since he was summoned by His Majesty, even the Prince himself cannot say when he will return, let alone someone like me. So I told him the straight truth, and since Tan Yunge's father has no patience, after hearing what I said, he simply left."

Hearing the steward's words, Tan Qingjiu couldn't help but curve her lips into a smile. Surely the steward was saying all this on purpose for her to hear?

He had indeed guessed correctly; he had figured out that she was awake.