The Foolish Agent

Chapter 9

"Don't worry, young ladies, there aren't many people in this world who can hurt me. None of you know kung fu, so just wait for me here. I'll be back to pick you up soon." With that, he turned and headed towards the exit.

Leng Jie was startled by Qingfeng's earnest address of "sister," then couldn't help but chuckle at his excited expression and the way he turned to leave as if going to his death. She thought to herself, "I'm just sending you to scout ahead, not to die. Does he need to be so solemn about it?"

Leng Jie held Qing'er and waited in the dark tunnel for nearly half an hour, but Qingfeng still didn't return. Meanwhile, the fighting outside seemed to be growing increasingly intense. She couldn't help but wonder if Qingfeng had forgotten her instructions and really gone to join the battle, trying to stand up for someone else?

As time ticked by, Leng Jie grew anxious. After settling Qing'er in, she needed to return to the East Palace before dawn. Otherwise, if the palace servants woke up at daybreak and discovered that the person sleeping in the Foolish Empress's bed was the maid Qiu'er, all her efforts would be in vain.

She began to consider whether to wake Qing'er, but she couldn't be sure what kind of expression Qing'er would have when she woke up. So, she didn't dare to wake her rashly and simply placed her against the wall. Then she took off her outer garment and wrapped it around Qing'er.

Because she thought the eunuch's clothes were simpler and easier to walk in than the palace maids', Leng Jie had casually looted a set of eunuch clothes from the West Palace to wear. However, eunuch clothes only consisted of two garments: an inner garment and an outer garment. Now, having taken off her outer garment, Leng Jie was left with only her inner garment. The late autumn night was already chilly, and the dampness in this cold tunnel made Leng Jie's teeth clench, and she shivered violently.

Leng Jie crossed her arms and bounced around a few times until she felt her body stop trembling. She habitually checked her "equipment," glanced at Qing'er on the ground, and headed towards the exit.

As soon as she emerged from the tunnel, a chilling wind, carrying the pungent smell of blood and goat's breath, rushed towards Leng Jie. Under high alert, Leng Jie seemed completely oblivious to the cold. She nimbly found a hiding place and, with her sharp, black eyes, quickly absorbed her surroundings.

The tunnel exit was located inside an artificial hill, which stood within a large garden. Scattered limbs and pieces of blood lay strewn across the garden, appearing eerily vivid under the bright moonlight.

Two or three hundred meters away from the artificial hill, several hundred men in black surrounded the two men, one in red and one in white. Then, wave after wave of men stepped forward to fight the two men, one falling as another rose up.

The red-clad man's disheveled hair clung to his blood-splattered face, obscuring his true features. He had clearly been fighting for a long time; although he was still managing to defeat the black-clad men who came to his aid, his footing was unsteady, indicating that the battle was extremely difficult. Moreover, he had countless wounds on his body, and his red clothes were stained with blood, though it was unclear whether it was his own blood or the blood of the black-clad men who had died on the ground.

The other, however, wielded a soft sword with unparalleled skill and fluidity. Wherever the sword passed, men in black fell to the ground. Yet he remained impeccably dressed in flowing white robes, exuding effortless grace. Who else could this be but Qingfeng, who had just emerged?

It's clear from the current situation that they intend to use overwhelming numbers and a war of attrition to wear down the two men. Although Qingfeng is still handling the situation with ease, being held back by so many people makes it difficult for him to rescue the other injured man and break through the encirclement together.

As she watched, Leng Jie unconsciously frowned. She wasn't confident she could rescue the person safely from so many people. So, she secretly decided to act according to her abilities.

She turned to go back into the tunnel, intending to take Qing'er with her. However, after taking only two steps, she heard Qingfeng exclaim, "Watch out!" Leng Jie instinctively turned back and saw a gleaming sword embedded in the back and chest of the man stained with blood. He seemed oblivious to the danger, as if possessed, still desperately hacking at the man in black.

Leng Jie gasped, genuinely admiring his tenacious will and vitality! Leng Jie had always admired people with such unwavering will, who were fearless and unafraid of death.

[Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Foolish Queen Saves People]

While Leng Jie was praising him, Qing Feng, distracted, was also hit. Seeing that the men in black seemed poised to attack en masse, Leng Jie made a resolute decision—to save them! But how could she rescue two men from hundreds of people when she had no guns or ammunition?

With a blink of her eyes, a glint of shrewdness flashed, and the corners of her mouth turned up. She touched the last half-empty bottle of hallucinogenic drugs and a homemade smoke bomb at her waist. Then, nimbly, she pulled a black outfit from a corpse on the ground and put it on. Then, she swaggered into the group of men in black.

She blended into the crowd, circling the attacking group. Then she pushed forward with all her might; in fact, she didn't need to push, simply not retreating was enough to move forward. At this moment, Qingfeng and the wounded man in blood were both bloodthirsty, like demons from hell, forcing the men in black in front to retreat step by step. Now, Qingfeng and the man in blood were only a few meters apart, with only a few dozen men in black restraining them. Leng Jie found her footing and squeezed between Qingfeng and the man in blood.

Although both were dressed in black, she was unarmed and fearlessly charged into the battle, naturally attracting attention. The men in black, seeing this, assumed he was some important figure and intended to subdue the two men single-handedly. Qingfeng, however, recognized her immediately, despite her constant disguises. Completely ignoring her subtle winks and her current attire, he was only concerned with her and the blood-stained man's safety, desperately charging towards them.

Just as Leng Jie was desperately trying to signal Qing Feng to prepare to retreat, the blood-clad man on the other side had already slaughtered everyone around him. Meanwhile, the black-clad man behind him, seeing Leng Jie alone, unarmed, facing off against two top experts, naturally wouldn't interfere.

Dressed entirely in black, Leng Jie naturally became the next opponent of the blood-clad man, whose eyes were already bloodshot. However, she herself was now facing Qing Feng, completely unaware of the changed situation behind her. On the other side, Qing Feng suddenly saw the blood-clad man's sword about to pierce the foolish woman and hurriedly cried out, "Sister, be careful!"

Hearing Qingfeng's exclamation, Leng Jie barely dodged the attack from the man in blood. However, the cry of "Sister" also reminded the men in black that they were in cahoots. Only the man in blood seemed completely out of his mind, wildly swinging his longsword, slashing and thrusting at Leng Jie. While dodging the attacks of the bewitched man in blood, Leng Jie called out to Qingfeng, "Little brother, stop fighting! Come quickly and take him away!"

Hearing the voice of the woman who had been fooled, Qingfeng became even more anxious. He thought to himself, "Does he think he can decide whether or not to fight? He couldn't even take one person with him earlier, and now there's another woman who doesn't know martial arts. It'll be difficult for him to get out of here alive!" As he thought this, he channeled his strength into his hands, without diminishing it in the slightest.

Suddenly, the situation on the field shifted. Just as the men in black at the front were about to move up to deal with Qingfeng and his group, they were inexplicably killed by the men in black at the back. In an instant, hundreds of men in black began to fight each other in a chaotic frenzy.

Seeing this, Qingfeng immediately guessed that it must have been that clever fool who had done something to create this situation. So, taking advantage of the moment when the black-clad men fighting him were stunned by the sudden change in the scene, Qingfeng annihilated them all in one fell swoop. Then, he flew down to the side of the blood-clad man, touched him, and the blood-clad man immediately stopped swinging his sword and slumped into Qingfeng's arms.

Forced to dodge and weave by the blood-stained man's sword, Leng Jie finally breathed a sigh of relief. She stepped forward, grabbed Qingfeng's collar with her left hand, and whispered, "Come with me!" Then, with a flick of her right hand, she threw the smoke bomb she had been holding. "Bang!" With a loud bang, a cloud of thick black smoke immediately enveloped everyone. Leng Jie quickly pulled Qingfeng and ran towards the artificial hill.

Qingfeng, leading the blood-stained man, followed the fool all the way to the entrance of the tunnel beneath the artificial hill before turning back anxiously. He discovered that none of the men in black had pursued them; they were still shrouded in thick smoke. Though he couldn't see them, he could hear the sounds of their continued fighting. Qingfeng was somewhat bewildered.

Seeing that Qingfeng had stopped, Leng Jie quickly nudged him and said:

"Hurry up and go, the person in your arms is almost drained of blood, isn't he?"

Reminded by Sha Hou, Qingfeng immediately tensed up and hurriedly rushed into the tunnel with the person in his arms. Leng Jie, however, was in no hurry to go in. Instead, she carefully cleaned up the bloodstains left by Qingfeng before returning to the tunnel. She then carefully sealed the tunnel entrance before taking out the luminous pearl. The tunnel was instantly illuminated again.

Because the sword was still embedded in the blood-clad man's body, he couldn't lie flat. Qingfeng helped him sit cross-legged and straightened him with his hands. However, this prevented Qingfeng from treating his wounds and applying medicine. Seeing the man in shock approaching with the luminous pearl, Qingfeng said urgently:

"Come quickly and help me support him!"

Leng Jie remained silent, quickly approaching them. She placed the luminous pearl on the ground and took the unconscious, injured man from Qingfeng's arms. She watched quietly as Qingfeng took out a medicine bottle, poured out two black pills, pried open the man's mouth, placed them in his mouth, and then gently patted his back, thus administering the pills. Next, she took out another medicine bottle and poured powder onto the deep, bleeding wounds on the blood-clad man's body. The powder was miraculous; the blood immediately congealed and stopped flowing.

Following suit, Qingfeng sat cross-legged on the ground, palms facing the blood-stained man. Leng Jie naturally thought of healing scenes in martial arts dramas, guessing that this might be the so-called internal energy healing method. A quarter of an hour later, seeing Qingfeng's forehead covered in cold sweat and his face deathly pale as he slowly withdrew his palms and exhaled, Leng Jie hurriedly asked:

"How are you? Are you alright?"

Qingfeng shook his head and pointed to the sword inside the blood-stained body, replying:

“This thing hasn’t been removed. Although I’ve given him two Blood Ginseng Pills and protected his heart meridian with my true energy, I still can’t guarantee he’ll survive. So, we need to go back to the palace immediately to remove the sword from his body. You should all come back with me. Leave Qing’er with me for now, and we’ll send her out in a few days.” Seeing that Shen didn’t answer, Qingfeng continued, “I really have to thank you tonight. Otherwise, the world would have been in chaos.”

"You know him? Who is he?" Leng Jie had initially thought Qingfeng had simply intervened to help someone in need. However, she sensed from Qingfeng's last words that this person seemed very important, and blurted out the question.

Qingfeng seemed completely unprepared for the silly queen's question. He stared at her wide-eyed, bewildered, for a long while before asking in astonishment:

"You don't know him? Then why did you risk your life to save him?"

"Should I know him? I didn't intend to save him; you were the one who saved him." Leng Jie was equally puzzled by Qingfeng's expression.

“He is your husband! How could you not recognize him?” Qingfeng asked again in surprise.

What? Husband? Then isn't he the wicked emperor who wanted to poison the foolish empress? The last vestige of admiration Leng Jie felt for the man in blood-red robes' unwavering will vanished instantly. She coldly asked instead:

"Isn't he the emperor? Why doesn't he have any secret guards, bodyguards, or shadow guards protecting him?"

Seeing the Empress's sudden change in attitude, Qingfeng realized that because of what had happened that day, he had completely forgotten that the Empress was mentally challenged, which was why he had asked such a foolish question. Remembering how much he, like the Emperor, had disliked the Empress a few days ago, he felt ashamed. But then he worried that the Empress might take this opportunity to avenge her father and himself.

Seeing that Qingfeng did not answer, Leng Jie continued:

"Sigh! Forget it, you should take him back to heal his wounds quickly! Although I have no interest in whether he lives or dies, if he really dies, just as you said, the world will be in chaos. The most unfortunate ones will be the common people living at the bottom of society."

"Don't you hate him for treating you and your father like that?" Seeing that the fool treated the emperor as a complete stranger, Qingfeng asked again in surprise.

"Are you worried I might take advantage of this to harm him? Haha, don't worry. Although I'm not a good person, I have a strong sense of right and wrong. I'll make him regret what he did to the foolish empress, but I won't let personal grudges affect the interests of the people. He should be grateful he's the emperor, otherwise..."

Although the silly woman didn't say the rest, Qingfeng was horrified when he heard it. His hair stood on end, and he shivered.

[Main Text: Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Nameless Eagle]

The following day, the chaotic palace returned to calm thanks to the Empress Dowager's edict of silence. No one spoke of the previous night's events, but the incident had left an indelible shadow on the hearts of all the palace servants. The East Palace, West Palace, and Maple Forest, where the incident had occurred, naturally became forbidden zones in everyone's minds. Consort Shui of the West Palace found a place called Luoyue Palace next to Cining Palace and settled there, declaring she would never return to the West Palace.

Only the palace servants of the Eastern Palace remained oblivious, continuing their usual routines of going through the maple forest to run errands throughout the palace. They couldn't understand why all the servants' attitudes towards them had changed overnight. Previously, when they went to the Imperial Household Department, they were always the last to get their food, and it was always a meager, cold meal. But today, when they went to the Imperial Household Department, not only was there twice as much food as usual, but they didn't have to queue. As soon as they arrived, the food was already prepared and placed on the table by the door, ready for them to take.

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince's staff who went to other places to handle business or collect items received the same preferential treatment. For the first few days, they were very happy, but as time went on, they gradually discovered that the Crown Prince's staff were inexplicably being isolated. They were no longer bullied, but no one dared to communicate with them; everyone who saw someone from the Crown Prince's staff either turned and ran or took a long detour.

Three days later, Xiao Chunzi, who had gone out to gather information, finally learned what had happened. When everyone heard the news, they were all stunned. How could they, as the parties involved, be completely unaware of such a serious matter? In their memories, there was only the painful departure of Consort Shui; there was no mention of Qing'er being captured. Although in their hearts, from the first day they didn't see Qing'er, they had already concluded that she had been harmed by Consort Shui. After all, who told her to risk her life to provoke Consort Shui for that fool?

Leng Jie had been observing their expressions for the past few days. Not a single one of them had asked about Qing'er's sudden disappearance. It was as if her disappearance was perfectly normal. When they learned of Qing'er's arrest, they showed absolutely no pity or sadness, not even a hint of sympathy for her loss. Leng Jie couldn't understand if it was because their hearts were inherently cold, or because, living in the palace, they had become accustomed to similar things and their hearts had become numb. After all, Qing'er was their colleague who had worked with them for so long. What angered Leng Jie most was that Qing'er kept talking about how good they had been to her. Leng Jie glared at them fiercely behind her back, then turned and left.

Events unfolded much as Leng Jie had predicted, except for the Emperor, whom she had rescued along the way, and Qing'er, who was still at Qingfeng Pharmacy and hadn't left the palace—things she hadn't anticipated. With so many men in black outside, taking Qing'er out would have been tantamount to suicide. Therefore, she had no choice but to follow Qingfeng's advice, change back into eunuch clothes, and take Qing'er back to the palace.

However, as soon as they returned to Qingfeng's medicine hut, they ran into Eunuch Fu, who had come to ask Qingfeng for help in finding the emperor. Upon seeing the emperor, covered in blood and on the verge of death, in Qingfeng's arms, Eunuch Fu immediately fainted.

Leng Jie, who originally intended to leave Qing'er behind and return to the East Palace, decided to stay because of the inexplicable pity she felt for the foolish Empress when she first met Eunuch Fu. She performed first aid and brought Eunuch Fu back to life.

When Eunuch Fu woke up, he saw a strange eunuch standing before him and naturally asked nervously about his background. In a moment of panic, Leng Jie made up an identity on the spot. Thus, he became Qingfeng's junior brother, the emperor's savior, and the nameless young master known in the martial arts world as Flying Eagle. Flying Eagle was Leng Jie's code name when she was a special agent, which is why she could use it so easily.

Of course, his successful acquisition of this new identity was inseparable from Qingfeng's approval and cooperation. She agreed to teach Qingfeng how to make poisons and elixirs he had never seen before, and in return, Qingfeng not only helped her conceal her identity but also had to teach her the martial arts of his sect. That way, wouldn't he truly be a good junior brother?

As soon as Leng Jie, dressed in a dark green satin men's suit, stepped into the medicine shop, Qing'er greeted her excitedly:

"Young Master Wuming, you're finally back! Did you see Her Majesty the Empress? How is she? Did Sister Qiu'er and the others feed her on time? It's getting cold; did they add some clothes for her?"

Leng Jie looked at Qing'er's rosy cheeks, brimming with sweet smiles and excitement, and at her undisguised, genuine concern for the foolish Empress. The gloom that had arisen in the Eastern Palace because of her vanished instantly. A warm current slowly flowed through her body, and she couldn't help but pinch her soft, tender cheek, teasingly saying:

"Little Qing'er was so happy to see me, I thought you missed me? But it turns out you missed that silly empress!"

Qing'er's already rosy cheeks immediately turned red to her ears. She shyly turned her head to the side and said in a soft, coquettish voice, "Young Master is teasing me again."

Seeing the little girl's shy expression, Leng Jie found it even more amusing, so she pressed on with the question:

"I really don't understand. That foolish empress can't even protect herself, let alone you. Why do you like her so much? You're even willing to be enemies with Consort Shui for her? Don't you know that Shui Rong'er is the true mistress of the harem? Weren't you afraid when you rushed up to protect her and confronted Consort Shui?"

Qing'er was somewhat flustered by Leng Jie's question. She lowered her head and thought seriously for a moment before looking up at Leng Jie and saying:

"I've never thought about the questions you asked, young master. I thought about it carefully just now, and I don't know why, but the moment I saw Her Majesty the Empress, I liked her very much and wanted to take care of her. When I saw others bullying her, I wanted to protect her. To be honest, I'm really afraid of that Consort Shui and her sister Xiao Lian. I don't know why I dared to rush up and stop them from bullying Her Majesty the Empress."

Leng Jie looked at the only girl in the palace whose kind nature had not been extinguished, and was about to say something when Qingfeng's voice came from inside the room.

"Junior brother, come in quickly! The Emperor has woken up and wants to see you." Qingfeng was quite satisfied with the body he had created for the foolish empress. He found calling someone younger than himself "sister" to be torture. Now, calling her "junior brother" came naturally to him. Although he had to keep his promise to pass on his sect's skills, he was still excited to be her senior brother instead of her junior brother. Besides, he had learned quite a few powerful skills from her, such as the smoke bomb that only emitted smoke and the strong acid that could burn people.

"Oh, coming." Leng Jie responded to the door, then said to Qing'er, "Well, Her Majesty the Empress is doing very well. Anyway, she doesn't know what sadness or grief is, so don't worry about her." After saying that, she turned and went into the house.

"Nameless greets Your Majesty!" Leng Jie walked to the bed where the emperor was reclining, and respectfully bowed her hands in a traditional martial arts greeting. Then she stepped aside, stood with her head bowed, and waited quietly for the emperor to speak.

The moment Leng Jie stepped through the door, Xuan Yuan Yunli's eyes lit up. He carefully observed this young man who had rescued him and Qingfeng from an encirclement of hundreds of top assassins. Fifteen or sixteen years old, with thick eyebrows, large eyes, a straight nose, and a small mouth, his features were delicate, and his physique was slightly slender. From his appearance alone, he seemed like just an ordinary boy with no strength, but his calm and aloof demeanor immediately revealed his extraordinary and unique handsomeness.

[Main Text: Chapter Twenty-Nine - Offending the Emperor]

Seeing the Emperor staring intently at the simple-minded Empress for a long time without speaking, Qingfeng felt extremely nervous. He probably didn't even realize how subconsciously he didn't want the Emperor to recognize her. Qingfeng broke the silence and introduced her:

"Li, Wuming is my junior brother, he..."

"I already know his name is Wuming." The emperor interrupted Qingfeng, then turned to Leng Jie and asked gently, "How is your teacher?"

Having already rehearsed her lines with Qingfeng, Leng Jie immediately replied respectfully and smoothly, "Thanks to His Majesty's grace, my master is in good health. He just misses my senior brother terribly, so he sent Wuming to see how he is doing and whether he has disgraced our master."

"I heard from Qingfeng that you are your master's last disciple, so your medical skills and martial arts must be no less than your senior brother's, right? Tell me, what are your ambitions?" Xuanyuan felt more and more that this nameless person was a promising talent, so he probed.

Upon hearing this, Qingfeng nervously stared at Leng Jie. He gestured with his lips and blinked at her, afraid that she might answer incorrectly and be kept by the emperor for an official position, which would be troublesome. Deceiving the emperor was a capital offense, punishable by death.

Leng Jie understood the emperor's implication perfectly! Although she desperately needed a job, she didn't want to get too involved with him. Leaving aside her current status as a mentally challenged empress, the mere phrase "serving a ruler is like serving a tiger" wouldn't foolishly lead her to throw her hard-won freedom back into the tiger's den. Besides, the things she'd smuggled from the West Palace should be enough for her and Qing'er to live on for a while. Leng Jie immediately put on a shameful expression and answered softly:

"Your Majesty, although I am Master's last disciple, I am truly ashamed. To this day, Master only uses one phrase to describe my studies: 'Neither good in literature nor in martial arts.' The reason Master sent me to see my senior brother this time, besides visiting him on his behalf, is mainly because Master could no longer tolerate my unruly and unambitious nature. Therefore, he recommended me to my senior brother, letting me learn our sect's martial arts and medicine from him." This wasn't entirely a lie, as she was indeed practicing martial arts with Qingfeng. This provided a legitimate reason for their actions.

“Yes, Junior Brother only knows some fist and foot skills, he doesn’t even know light footwork!” Qingfeng quickly chimed in.

Xuanyuan looked at Wuming, then at Qingfeng, his face full of disbelief, and asked with a half-smile:

"Is that so? You're really 'incompetent in both literature and martial arts'? Then can you tell me how you managed to rescue me and your senior brother from the encirclement of hundreds of top assassins?"

“Well, while Wuming hasn’t mastered proper martial arts and medicine, he’s become quite adept at unorthodox methods like poisons due to his playfulness. Although they’re not exactly respectable, they could be quite useful in times of crisis. But, Your Majesty, are those men in black really assassins? What kind of assassins would dare to openly hunt down the Emperor? Isn’t this blatant rebellion?” Leng Jie cleverly presented her answer and question simultaneously, but shifted the focus.

As expected, Xuanyuan had already shifted his attention to the assassin. His handsome, sword-like eyebrows furrowed instantly, his dark, star-like eyes dimmed, and his face, pale as paper from blood loss, was etched with a sinister aura. His delicate nostrils trembled slightly with uneven breathing, and his tightly clenched lips were stained with blood. His body, wrapped in white cloth, lay on its side, unable to move. He appeared utterly emaciated. However, in an instant, he regained his regal bearing, his gaze sharp as he stared at Wuming, and he answered in a somber tone:

"Those assassins didn't know they were going to kill the current emperor, and even their patron didn't know that the opponent he wanted to eliminate was me. Cough, cough." Because the emperor spoke too excitedly, it aggravated his wounds, and the excruciating pain forced the stubborn emperor to use coughing to cover up the pain.

"Stop talking, you need to rest now. Let's discuss other things after you've recovered from your injuries," Qingfeng quickly said, supporting his trembling body. He then turned to Leng Jie and said, "Junior brother, go and have Qing'er bring in the medicine. It's time for him to take it."

"Young Master, the medicine has arrived." Before Qingfeng finished speaking, Qing'er's medicine was already placed in his hands. Qingfeng gave Qing'er an appreciative look, took the medicine, tested its temperature, and then brought it to Xuanyuan's lips.

Xuanyuan tilted his head back and drank the medicine in one gulp. Qing'er quickly handed him a towel she had prepared, and Qingfeng took it and carefully wiped the remaining liquid from the corners of his mouth. Qing'er took the empty bowl and towel and turned to leave.

Qingfeng turned around and saw Leng Jie staring blankly at the emperor, knowing she was still thinking about what he had just said. So, he answered her:

"The courtyard we went to was the capital's branch of the Dragon Gate. The Dragon Gate is a martial arts organization that specializes in collecting and selling all kinds of intelligence. Those people wanted to kill the leader of the Dragon Gate, not the emperor."