C33

The emperor immediately rose and bowed to the empress dowager. "How can Imperial Mother have the time to come?"

The empress dowager glanced at Xiao Yu and smiled. "This Dowager heard that Prince Ling had arrived, so I came to take a look."

"We were just talking to Duke Ling." As the emperor spoke, he waved his hand at the young girl. On the surface, he no longer spoke with the dignity of a bystander. Instead, he looked at the young girl affectionately, "Why is Qian Yang free to come?"

The young girl was none other than the emperor's Tenth Princess, Qian Yang.

Qian Yang shyly glanced at Xiao Yu, his face flushed red. "I've missed my father."

"Oh?" The emperor showed a face of disbelief as he raised his eyebrows. He turned around and said to the crowd, "There are martial arts duels in the palace today. Everyone should stay behind to watch."

How could they dare to say no? They all agreed.

The martial arts competition was held in the evening and it was not even noon yet. After Mu Xiaoling and the others left the Imperial Study, they were sent to a side hall to rest. However, she was still a girl so she didn't stay with others.

Just as she was about to meditate, Ah Xiu suddenly opened his mouth and said, "Master, I feel the aura of the Crimson Gold Rat."

Mu Xiaoling was slightly surprised as she didn't expect that the Crimson Gold-Mice would be hidden within the imperial palace. "In which direction?"

Ah Xiu closed his eyes and sensed his surroundings. With a slight frown, he replied, "I don't feel it very clearly here. Master, please call me out first."

"Alright." Mu Xiaoling chanted the incantation and in the next second, Ah Xiu's slender figure appeared in front of him. Perhaps it was to avoid attracting too much attention, but Ah Xiu had already turned his white hair black and his furry fox ears disappeared.

"Master, follow me." Ah Xiu's voice was as cold as his voice, but the alma mater could feel the urgency in his voice. Nodding, he followed Ah Xiu's figure westward.

The two did not dare to move too quickly, but they were not slow either. They directly dove into the imperial garden and arrived next to a lotus pond.

At this moment, the sound of footsteps came from afar.

Mu Xiaoling and Ah Xiu looked at each other before they took aim at a cave underneath a rock by the side of the pond and hid inside.

After a short while, the footsteps came closer and stopped by the pond not far from the fake mountain.

Mu Xiaoling stuck her head out and saw that it was Princess Qian Yang and her servant Die'er.

Princess Qian Yang gazed at the pond as hesitation flashed across her face. "Die'er, do you think Prince Ling will really marry me?"

Die'er said, "The princess is a natural born beauty with a pure heart of orchids. She is the best in my Yan Kingdom. Don't tell me that Prince Ling is blind to leave a great beauty like the princess unchosen?"

"True." "Right now, the only princesses that are suitable for marriage in the Yan Nation are the eighth princess and me." Princess Qian Yang seemed to be comforted, "Right now, the princesses of the Yan Nation that are suitable for marriage are only me and the eighth princess.

Die'er smiled and bowed. "This servant congratulates Princess and Prince Ling on their eternal friendship."

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Qian Yang's face turned red with embarrassment as he heard these words. He turned around and ran away shyly.

Mu Xiaoling listened attentively to Princess Qian Yang's words. She felt that this princess was thinking too simply. Although she didn't know how Xiao Yu became Ling Wang, she couldn't deal with Xiao Yu. "Let's go."

The two of them walked out of the fake mountain. Ah Xiu looked around and sniffed. He shook his head and said, "It disappeared."

"It doesn't matter, I will appear again eventually." Mu Xiaoling didn't insist and brought Ah Xiu back to his room.

However, just as she reached the door to her room, she saw a figure sneakily entering her room.

Mu Xiaoling shot a glance at Ah Xiu. "Go take a look."

The two slowly approached the window and peered through the crack. The one who entered the room was none other than Du Lun.

Duolun had stripped him of his clothes and hidden him in the bed.

Du Lun had already made up his mind. As long as Mu Xiaoling was back, he would force himself on her. He would first bring her to bed before doing anything else. Then, he would lie on the bed and wait happily, just waiting for the beauty to throw herself into his arms.

Mu Xiaoling felt disgusted by Du Lun.

Since that was the case, he didn't want to stay any longer.

"Kill him."

Gu Xiu nodded. His amber eyes immediately contained killing intent. He placed it into the room and grabbed Du Lun's neck.

However, he was caught off guard. When he regained his senses, he saw a man grabbing onto his neck. The blood in his body immediately flowed back, quickly flowing out of his body.

He wanted to struggle out of his fear, but at this moment, he discovered that he couldn't move at all. He could only watch as the flesh all over his body shriveled up bit by bit.

Mu Xiaoling walked into the room and sat on a chair. She didn't want to touch the bed before leaving the palace. "Clean up the corpses."

Gu Xiu replied, grabbed Du Lun's corpse and floated out like a gust of wind.

At dusk, the four members of the Meng Clan were led to a wide platform by eunuchs.

On both sides of the platform, there were short tables and chairs. At the very front, there was the Emperor's Dragon Throne. Beside the Dragon Throne, there were two seats, one for the Empress and the Empress Dowager.

As he turned his head to look, he discovered that Xiao Yu was sitting in the first seat of the right row, drinking wine by himself. As if he had felt Mu Xiaoling's gaze, he turned around and glanced at her.

Mu Xiaoling didn't even want to bother with him and directly focused on the task at hand.

After everyone took their seats, the emperor brought the empress dowager to the throne not long after.

This was a martial arts competition, but it was not a true competition between the common folk. Rather, it was a type of entertainment.

As such, they didn't start off with a fight. Instead, they started out with wine, food, fruits, and a team of dancers dancing on stage.

The scene was very lively.

After a long while, the emperor seemed to have found something. He looked at Mu Xiaoling and asked, "Eh, where did Du Qing go?"

Mu Xiaoling replied directly, "I don't know."

Meng Yifan and the others shook their heads. "Never seen him before."

The emperor frowned. If something really happened to Du Lun, it would be hard to explain, so he sent people to find him.

When the drinking and dancing stopped, the martial arts competition began.

At this moment, a man who was already in doubt stood up and stroked the small mustache on his face. He said, "Your majesty, let's change our method today, okay?"

The emperor's interest was piqued by Li Qing's words. "Just say it directly."

The person who was addressed as Li Qing continued, "In the past, we were all people who fought against humans. How about we fight against beasts today? What does Your Majesty think?"