Ever since the puppet spell incident, Su Su had realized that his thoughts were deep. She wasn’t sure if he was tentatively asking or just saying it casually. Su Su quickly adjusted her expression and looked up at him.
“I’m quite nervous actually. I’m afraid I’ll accidentally kill you and my grandmother will be implicated.”
Tantai Jin looked at her for a while, and the young girl’s bright eyes looked honestly back at him, indeed not caring about the commotion outside.
He loosened his hand and asked Nian Baiyu, who was guarding outside, “Did you catch those people?”
“Reporting to Your Majesty, they’ve been arrested,” Nian Baiyu said.
The corners of Tantai Jin’s mouth curved up, his gaze gloomy.
Su Su was anxious inside, but she didn’t dare to show it on the surface.
Tantai Jin turned back and glanced at her, then walked out of the door to go interrogate the prisoners.
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“Nkvvzl Yypvla, esd’v rydkn. Rv xktbv dsv cl Nsae Vydt vbyv vblu nywtbv,” Uwahle Kyel pyke.
Fw Fw dseele.
Fbl rynle yaswde kd vbl byzz voknl, cwv qswde vbyv vblal oyp alyzzu dsvbkdt pbl nswze es.
Tla taydexsvbla oyp kd Mydvyk Kkd’p bydep, ps pbl nswzed’v vyjl ydu akpjp. Rq vbl rlapsd obs oyp nywtbv oypd’v Vydt Zk Hbk, bypvkzu awpbkdt swv oswze byax bla kdpvlye.
Fs Fw Fw alvwadle vs Ubldtikyd Tyzz. Fbl nshlale blaplzq wr okvb y iwkzv yde nzsple bla lulp vs vyjl y dyr.
Gqvla ycswv vos bswap sa xsal, vblal oyp y pvasdt pxlzz sq czsse kd vbl yka.
Tla lulp pdyrrle srld, yde pbl qswde y rlapsd pvydekdt kd qasdv sq bla.
Fbl xlv Mydvyk Kkd’p eyaj lulp, obknb olal zssjkdt yv bla kdvldvzu, obkzl bkp bydep olal nshlale kd czsse.
He ambiguously said, “You slept rather soundly, were you not at all worried?”
Su Su noticed that his eyes were filled with excitement, and even the hem of his clothes was stained with blood.
Reaching out to touch her face, he smiled and said, “Do you want to know what the man said?”
Su Su sat up and slapped his hand away, “Can’t you wash your hands before you come back?”
Tantai Jin was stunned.
Su Su got up, ignoring him, and walked to the entrance of the hall, saying to the eunuch guarding the door, “Fetch a basin of clean water.”
The eunuch wasn’t sure of her identity, but seeing that His Majesty didn’t refute, he could only hurriedly do as he was told.
Not long after, a basin of water was brought over.
Su Su wrung the silk handkerchief dry and said to Tantai Jin, “Hand.”
He pursed his lips, and as he looked at her, Su Su could see a hint of doubt in his eyes. She didn’t talk nonsense with him, just held up the youth’s blood-soaked hands and carefully wiped the blood off them.
The malice on Tantai Jin’s face turned into confusion. He looked at her black hair and his breathing slowed.
The young girl was cleaning his hands very carefully. She wiped off the blood, then taking his hands with hers, submerged them into the water.
In winter, it felt very comfortable to soak your hands in warm water.
Her long lashes hung down, and she said with dissatisfaction, “Don’t touch people with blood all over your hands. It’s very impolite and no one likes it.”
Tantai Jin’s fingers slightly curled.
Su Su sneered in her heart, now you know how to be embarrassed?
But she didn’t express it on the surface. Su Su wiped his fingers off with another clean silk handkerchief.
She looked up and asked him, “What were you going to say to me just now?”
Tantai Jin retracted his hands, “It’s nothing.”
“Oh, I’m going to sleep then.” She covered herself with the quilt again, revealing only a small pale pink face on the outside.
After a while, she opened her eyes and asked, “Can I go see my grandmother tomorrow?”
Her big eyes were moist, which suddenly reminded Tantai Jin of that little pink rabbit from the evening.
The word “can” was contained between his lips, but his heart tightened as he thought of her endless1层出不穷 (céngchū-bùqióng) – breeding like flies (idiom); innumerable succession; more and more emerge tricks, and he said, “When you’re obedient, then you can go.”
She pursed her lips, dispirited, then turned over with her back to him.
Tantai Jin stared at the back of her head, then glanced at his own hands in a daze.
Su Su rarely treated him with a good attitude, so he subconsciously wanted to think about what she could be scheming, but after thinking about it for a long time, he could only remember the warm and soft touch of the young girl’s fingertips.
The bedchamber suddenly fell silent.
Su Su sighed in her heart. She had to see this act through until the end2If you want someone to believe something that is fake, you’ll have to make it as real as possible.. She didn’t dare to look at Tantai Jin’s current expression.
She asked Curved Jade, “He’s not covered in Lord Pang’s blood, is he?”
Curved Jade said, “Little Master, I think he’s tricking you.”
“I think so too. Luckily, I reacted quickly. Just now, I didn’t mess up3露馅儿 (lòu//xiànr) – let the cat out of the bag; spill the beans; to leak; to expose somebody’s secret, did I?” Su Su asked.
“No, you were very natural, you weren’t nervous or curious at all.”
“That’s good then.”
Curved Jade paused for a while, then slowly said, “I feel like he was quite happy just now.”
Su Su didn’t speak, but the corners of her mouth curved up.
She gripped the Soul Extinguishing Tear, and the temperature of the pearl really felt like it was going to burn her.
After midnight, Su Su fell asleep in a daze. When it was almost dawn, she sensed someone watching her and opened her eyes, only to find the hall empty and Tantai Jin already gone.
Her feeling just now seemed to be an illusion.
She didn’t know where the tiger had fled to. Su Su was about to go out when a dancer clad in yellow and a dancer clad in green4舞姬 (wǔjī) – professional female dancer suddenly appeared out of nowhere in Chengqian Hall.
The yellow-clad dancer looked pale, and the green-clad dancer was supporting ‘her’.
The familiar scene instantly sobered Su Su up, and she lowered her voice to say, “Lord Pang!”
The yellow-clad dancer looked up, and it was indeed Pang Yi Zhi. A dancing girl’s clothing was much more enchanting than a palace maid’s. Su Su could feel that he was very upset. He glanced at Su Su twice, then quickly looked away, his ears so red that they could bleed.
Instead, it was the ‘woman in green’ who was supporting him from the side who said, “Third Miss Ye, we didn’t scare you, right?”
Her voice was deep and low when it came out, obviously revealing that ‘she’ was a man.
This man was just much more successful than Lord Pang, as his body looked more feminine and delicate.
Su Su thought to herself, this person is probably one of the Hidden Dragon Guards that Pang Yi Zhi spoke of.
Such hidden guards were difficult to train. Most of them knew martial arts and poison, and the Hidden Dragon Guard in front of her probably also knew the art of disguise.
They hid their presence when they arrived. The strength of the Hidden Dragon Guards was indeed different, and shouldn’t be underestimated.
Thinking of this, Su Su’s eyes dimmed. If Xiao Lin was alive, then with the Hidden Dragon Guards on hand, he wouldn’t have necessarily lost to Tantai Jin.
Su Su asked, “How did you get here? Last night, it was said that there were assassins. Did Tantai Jin discover you?”
Pang Yi Zhi realized that this wasn’t the time to be embarrassed and spoke, “I don’t know why Tantai Jin knew that our people were in the palace. There are many dancers and musicians in the Zhou Kingdom, so logically speaking, the Hidden Dragon Guards shouldn’t be discovered. Luckily, before we came, Daoist priest Ji gave us a spiritual weapon that could hide our breath.”
He opened his hand, and there was a beautiful silver ring in it.
No wonder, they could be invisible for a short period of time. It was also because of this item that Pang Yi Zhi and the green-clad dancer weren’t discovered.
“Are you injured?” Su Su asked Pang Yi Zhi.
Pang Yi Zhi shook his head, but his expression was a little solemn, “But the other Hidden Dragon Guards have been exposed, now the palace is impregnable5固若金汤 (gùruòjīntāng) – secure as a city protected by a wall of metal and a moat of boiling water (idiom); impregnable; invulnerable to attack and we can’t get out.”
It turned out that the blood on Tantai Jin last night belonged to the other Hidden Dragon Guards.
The hidden guards were loyal, so it was impossible for them to betray Lord Pang. With the silver ring, Lord Pang wouldn’t be discovered for the time being, but how to leave was indeed a problem.
Pang Yi Zhi said, “Before we came in, we agreed with the other Hidden Dragon Guards that if we didn’t get out in five days, they would find a way to rescue us. When the time comes, as long as the defense of Zhou Kingdom Palace is loosened, we will find a way to escape. Third Miss Ye, we need your help.”
“Are you not afraid of me telling someone?”
Pang Yi Zhi was stunned, and he whispered, “I know you won’t.”
Not only did he know, but even Martial Uncle Ji and the dead King Xuan knew, so when they had nowhere else to go, they could only ask Su Su for help.
Su Su was surprised by their unconditional trust in her, and she felt a little warm inside.
“How many more days until the five-day deadline?” She asked.
“Three days,” Pang Yi Zhi said.
Su Su thought for a moment, then said, “Alright, three days later at this hour, I’ll find a way to create a commotion in Chengqian Hall. At that time, the stationed Night Shadow Guards will all rush over. Can you guys evade the palace’s ordinary guards?”
The green-clad man said, “No problem, thank you Miss.”
Su Su thought for a moment, and still couldn’t help but ask Pang Yi Zhi, “Has Ye Bing Shang agreed to leave with you guys?”
Pang Yi Zhi was stunned, then nodded, “She agreed, but recently, something happened, and the outside of her palace was heavily guarded, so we couldn’t bring her away yet.”
Su Su didn’t expect Ye Bing Shang to agree. She thought to herself, did I think too badly of her?
“Lord Pang, these next few days, you guys have to be careful in the palace.”
Su Su pushed open the window, the silver ring flashed and the man in green left with Pang Yi Zhi.
Pang Yi Zhi couldn’t help but look back.
“Lord?” The green-clad man asked. He shook his head, “It’s nothing.”
Actually, he had many things he wanted to ask, such as why was Su Su living in Chengqian Hall? Had Tantai Jin treated her badly?
But his identity didn’t allow him to do so.
He had screwed everything up, and even needed a weak woman to cover for them.
An indescribable sadness suddenly surged in Pang Yi Zhi’s heart.
But thinking of the pitiful Ye Bing Shang, he gritted his teeth. It didn’t matter. If there was a chance, they would still come back. Whether it was the Eldest Lady or the Third Lady of Ye family, sooner or later, both of them would be able to leave.
*****
After seeing Pang Yi Zhi, Su Su knew that Tantai Jin was indeed tricking her last night.
As Pang Yi Zhi had said, the palace was indeed heavily guarded these past couple days. Sometimes, when Su Su was walking outside, Curved Jade would inform6报备 (bàobèi) – to report a proposed activity to an authority (to obtain approval or register one’s intentions) her about the people hidden in the shadows.
“Behind the eaves, there’s a group of people with bows and arrows, and Little Master has seen these bows and arrows before. They’re identical to the one that put you unconscious last time.”
“Made of weak water?” Su Su asked.
“Yes.”
Last time, Su Su was shot into her shoulder by weak water, which caused her to lose consciousness and be hit by the puppet spell.
The Yiyue Tribe was indeed an expert at weapons and poison techniques. The ancient God Clan had possessed weak water for tens of thousands of years and had never thought of using it for anything.
But after the weak water flowed to the mortal realm, it only took a thousand years for mortals to learn how to use weak water to make weapons and sustain puppet spells.
Fortunately, there wasn’t much weak water in Tantai Jin’s hands, otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Su Su strolled around a few times and discovered that the situation for Pang Yi Zhi and the others was really not good.
Tantai Jin was a madman who would kill them once he caught them, and they had already alarmed him, so he wouldn’t give up until he found them.
But there was a reason why Pang Yi Zhi and the others were able to take a breather and hide.
Something else had happened in the palace——
Rumor had it that the Zhou Kingdom’s Eighth Prince was still alive.
The people began to support the Eighth Prince as emperor.
Tantai Jin’s throne was unstable, and after being a hostage in Great Xia for fourteen years, few people were convinced by him. The appearance of an eighth prince was enough to cause chaos among the people, but with his iron-handed7ruthless rule, not many dared to comment on it.
But the existence of the Eighth Prince was always a lurking danger.
Over the past few days, not only did Tantai Jin have to search for Pang Yi Zhi and the others, but he also had to look inside and outside of the palace to find and kill the Eighth Prince.
He often came back very late, and by then, Su Su was already asleep. She was supposed to be his maidservant, but even when she did nothing, he didn’t say anything.
Su Su had been thinking over a question for the past two days, on the third day, how to attract all the Shadow Night Guards over?
Without much time to think, it was already the third day.
The last rays of sunlight set on the horizon.
Su Su rolled up her sleeves and headed towards the imperial kitchen.
Curved Jade was puzzled and asked, “Little Master, what are you going to do?”
Su Su smiled and answered, “Cooking for Tantai Jin.”
“You can cook?”
Su Su shook her head.
“Then you……”
“It’s because I can’t, that’s why I want him to eat it.”
“What if he doesn’t eat it?”
Su Su took out the Soul Extinguishing Tear.
The pearl had become extremely bright, and it seemed to contain a pool of water flowing inside, as if with just a little more effort, it would transform into nine nails.
Curved Jade looked at it in shock, “When did it change?”
“A few nights ago,” Su Su said.
Curved Jade recalled what had happened that night, and it seemed to be when Little Master wiped the blood off Tantai Jin’s hands. Over the past few days, it noticed that when he returned, he no longer had blood on him.
Its heartbeat faintly quickened.
Su Su picked up a hot pepper and said, “So, he’ll eat it.”
Tantai Jin was in Zhaohe Hall, asking the old Daoist to discover the Eight Prince’s whereabouts. Remembering something, he nonchalantly asked the old eunuch——
“Where is she?”
The old eunuch knew who His Majesty was asking about.
These days, he had people keep an eye on that lady in Chengqian Hall. He didn’t restrict her much, but was always waiting for her betrayal and escape, so from time to time, he would have people report on her whereabouts.
“Young lady went to the imperial kitchen,” the old eunuch answered.
“What did she go there for?”
The old eunuch paused, and said with uncertainty, “It seems like…… she’s going to make dinner for Your Majesty.”
Tantai Jin thought he had misheard and abruptly turned around, “What did you say?”
The old eunuch couldn’t read His Majesty’s mood and anxiously repeated his words.
Edited by: Gaze
Does Susu think he’ll trust her sudden cooking?!
The cleaning hands scene was kinda touching even though she was faking it, but maybe she isn’t and is getting soft for him too? 🥹
Thank you for the update!
As smart as Tantai Jin, he knows Su Su is up to something. He will find it more suspicious if she did it without any reason.
Sigh their feelings and relationship are really complicated 😭😭😭😭😭
Thank you for reading!!!
*Insert Fire Elmo Emote*
Thanks for translating!!!~💕
Thank you for reading \(￣︶￣*\)) *insert lovepikachu emote*
Both of them such incurable schemers 😂😭 thanks so much for the wonderful translation!!