The Foolish Agent

Chapter 58

A capable-looking middle-aged man entered in response to the call. He politely greeted the middle-aged scholar:

"Mr. Zhong, please!"

"Prime Minister Leng! I hope you will reconsider!" the middle-aged scholar said personally. Seeing that Prime Minister Leng remained silent, the middle-aged scholar's expression suddenly darkened, and he coldly warned:

"Prime Minister! My young master is now extending a sincere invitation. Now that you know of his plan, it's unlikely you can escape. Not only does the young emperor not trust you, but even if he truly considers you a pillar of the state, he cannot guarantee the safety of your Leng family. I have said all I have to say; please consider this carefully, Prime Minister Leng!" With that, he turned and left.

"So easily losing your composure!" Leng Jie decided to retract her admiration for him and replace it with contempt. She threw a punch into the air as the man left. Only then did she notice a third person in the study. A handsome, tall, scholarly-looking young man with delicate features walked slowly out from behind the bookshelves. He called out to Leng Xiang:

"Father! Are you really not going to take care of my little sister? Back then, with you holding the reins in the court and no other women in the harem, she was able to live peacefully for three years. But now everything has changed. She is so innocent and naive. I really can't bear to leave her alone in the palace! Father! Since the Emperor doesn't trust our Leng family, why don't you take this opportunity to rescue my little sister?"

So he had such a doting older brother! As an only child, Leng Jie felt a pang of envy for the original owner of this body. She thought, even though the original owner was simple-minded, she must have had a happy life before entering the palace! However, this brother seemed a bit reckless. He was sure to get a scolding from the old man.

Sure enough, the old man glared at him angrily and reprimanded him sternly:

"Do you think your father isn't worried about Rui'er? She's our family's darling, your mother's apple. But do you think that Crown Prince is trustworthy? If we're talking about ingrates, this one is the real deal. Think about it, the Second Prince never had any ambition for the throne, never even considered competing with me. Yet, as the Crown Prince, he actually harbored thoughts of killing his brother and father out of jealousy. If not for that, why would he have lost his throne? Do you think someone like that is better than the current emperor?"

The scholar-brother curled his lip and concluded, "In the end, the most despicable one is still the late emperor. Knowing full well that our Rui'er is mentally challenged, he still insisted on dragging her into that fiery pit of the palace. There isn't a single good person in the royal family! They're all a bunch of ingrates. It's just that my poor little sister suffers!"

That last sentence was spoken with utter helplessness. Hearing it, Leng Jie felt a warmth in her heart. It felt so good to be cared for!

"Don't let your mother know about this. If she finds out there's a chance to rescue Rui'er, she'll do anything. We can't let Rui'er cause chaos in the world. As for their brothers' fight, let them be! We'll just pretend we don't know anything," the old man solemnly instructed.

What a heartwarming family! Leng Jie's heart was involuntarily drawn in. Suddenly, she found herself wanting to acknowledge them as her relatives. She longed to go down and call them brother and father. Especially her mother, who would do anything for her, though she had never met her. Yet, the image of her great mother had already entered Leng Jie's heart.

"But that man surnamed Zhong just made some harsh remarks, we have to be careful! If what he said is true, the Dark Guard has been taken over by that Prince Suo who came back from the dead. And if we know this secret but don't cooperate with them, then our Leng family could face annihilation at any moment!" The elder brother of the Leng family reminded him worriedly.

Leng Jie was startled; she realized she had missed part of what she'd heard! The Crown Prince had faked his death and was searching for the Dark Guard to stage a comeback. Leng Jie suddenly felt a sense of clarity. She had stumbled upon the person behind the Shangguan father and son, whom Duanmu and Shi Yu had been unable to find any clues about. Leng Jie guessed that it was entirely possible the Crown Prince knew that the Dark Guard members would be cursed three years later. Therefore, he had been waiting for this opportunity. However, he couldn't find a way to break the curse, so he could only seize the Dark Guard's assets. Then, using that as a base, he could recruit talent…

Leng Jie had to admire this man; he was quite a shrewd character. He had actually thought of trying to win over the Prime Minister, Leng, who held the highest position in the court. If the Prime Minister were truly swayed by him and led an uprising against the current emperor, then Xuanyuan's throne would truly be in jeopardy.

Fortunately, her father wasn't senile. However, the safety of the Leng family was truly insecure. Considering how many martial arts families could be wiped out overnight, what chance did this scholarly family, which valued literature, have?

Leng Jie realized this was why her master had summoned her. Indeed, as her master had said, if the Leng family ultimately succumbed to the Crown Prince's coercion and yielded, the world would inevitably descend into chaos. And the troubles she, the Dark Lord who hadn't even firmly established herself, would face in the future would be truly immeasurable.

After a long silence, the Prime Minister's father said gravely:

“You’re right, so you’ll set off for your Uncle Fang’s house in the capital tomorrow. Don’t come back without my orders. Rui’er will suffer a bit while trapped in the palace, but she shouldn’t be in any danger. As long as you two are here, the Leng family will be here. Your mother and I are getting old, so we don’t mind going on our way sooner.”

The elder brother from the Leng family answered resolutely:

"No, how can I abandon my parents and escape alone? We'll go together, we'll die together. Just like Father said, no matter what, our Leng family still has our little sister!"

"No, you have to leave..."

"If we're going to leave, we'll go together..."

Seeing the father and son arguing heatedly without reaching a conclusion, Leng Jie, who had initially not wanted to show herself, suddenly changed her mind. She reasoned that since the Crown Prince had already sent people to openly negotiate, he would definitely keep a close eye on the Leng family, especially their only son. If she couldn't put their minds at ease, she would find it difficult to protect them. Especially if they were separated, it would be even more difficult for her to safeguard them.

Moreover, she needed her prime minister father's cooperation to find the mysterious crown prince. So, she suddenly leaped through the window and gracefully landed between the still-arguing father and son, interrupting them:

"Stop arguing, you two! Please hear me out!"

"Who are you?"

How did you get in?

Two cold, sharp questions rang out simultaneously.

Leng Jie saw surprise in their eyes, but not a trace of fear. Her impression of her two relatives deepened. To gain their trust, and to prevent them from mistaking her for an assassin, she directly pulled out the plaque from Xuanyuan, engraved with "As if the Emperor were present," and flashed it.

After a moment of stunned silence, the two were about to kneel down and pay their respects.

Leng Jie dared not accept their generous gesture! She quickly used her inner strength to lift them both up. At the same time, she politely explained:

"I am so sorry to have startled you both! My daughter is here on the Emperor's orders to protect Lord Leng and his family."

The older brother from the Leng family immediately snorted coldly, sneering with disdain:

"Hmph! How did the Emperor know that our Leng family was in danger? I bet you were sent by the Emperor to monitor us! If we had agreed to that person's request just now, our heads would probably be in your hands by now!"

"Hehe, this older brother is so cute," Leng Jie thought to herself.

The Prime Minister's father spoke up to stop him:

"Tian'er! Do not be rude! Whatever the Emperor's intentions may be, as long as our Leng family has a clear conscience, that's enough."

As expected of a hunter, his words are truly masterful. He's clearly blaming the emperor, yet he speaks with such understanding.

Then he turned to Leng Jie and said:

"Since this young lady is the Emperor's special envoy, I would like to trouble you to truthfully convey the whole matter to the Emperor so that he can make preparations in advance. As for my family, there is no need for the Emperor to worry about us."

Leng Jie quickly composed herself and replied:

"Your Excellency and Young Master have misunderstood His Majesty's intentions. His Majesty did receive information that the Crown Prince intended to target Your Excellency's family, but His Majesty has always believed that Your Excellency would never cooperate with him. Given that the recent massacres in Jinghe are all intricately linked to that Crown Prince, he sent my daughter to protect your family's safety as a precaution."

Upon hearing that the several massacres were related to the Crown Prince, both Leng father and son trembled. However, as expected of a veteran official of three reigns, Prime Minister Leng immediately composed himself and asked:

"Wasn't it said that the case was committed by Shangguan Shijie, the number one martial artist in the world? If that's true, how many people did you bring, young lady?"

The implication is that you, a woman, don't think you can protect them.

If anyone else had said those words, Leng Jie would definitely have glared at him. But coming from Leng Xiang, she didn't feel awkward at all. Instead, she replied earnestly:

"I am the only one here so far. Please rest assured, Your Excellency, as long as you follow my instructions, I guarantee the safety of the Leng family with my own head and this gold medal!"

"What do you want us to do?" Leng Xiang blurted out. Even he himself couldn't believe it; he actually believed that this girl, whose face was veiled in blue gauze and dressed in black, whose face he hadn't even seen, truly had the ability to protect them.

“Father! How can you believe her? Judging from her voice, she’s no more than a teenager. What ability does she have to protect the Leng family?” Leng’s older brother immediately retorted.

Leng Jie once again ignored the disparaging words and met Leng Xiang's probing eyes with sincere gaze. She replied earnestly:

"The Shangguan family did indeed pledge allegiance to the Crown Prince long ago. However, both father and son were silenced. Therefore, we are currently unable to locate the Crown Prince. So, I would like to ask the Prime Minister for your assistance..."

After listening to Leng Jie's account, Leng Xiang pondered for a moment and then asked:

"How can you guarantee that the Emperor won't use this as an excuse to kill two birds with one stone? Since you are someone the Emperor trusts, you should also know how deeply he misunderstands my Leng family..."

“Exactly! The Emperor has gone to great lengths to fabricate charges against my father. Besides, he's always suspected that our Leng family has taken over the secrets of the Dark Guard. If we're really linked to the Dark Guard now, who knows if he'll turn on us again and accuse our Leng family of treason? So, our Leng family will never do such a thing. At worst, we'll die, but at least we'll die with a clear conscience. We won't become someone else's pawns to be slaughtered.” The elder brother of the Leng family said excitedly.

Their concerns were valid. She would have had the same questions if she were in their shoes. Leng Jie thought for a moment, then placed the gold medal in Leng Xiang's hand, saying, "This gold medal can serve as an imperial edict, right? I'll give it to you for safekeeping now. You can give it back to me after this matter is resolved. Also, starting tomorrow, I will move into the Leng family as your adopted daughter, and I will bring two servants with me. I think they won't suspect anything that way."

Seeing that they still had reservations, Leng Jie had no choice but to use her last resort. She dramatically brought out her senior brother.

"Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself. My surname is Leng, and my given name is Jie. I am the junior sister of the legendary doctor Hu Qingfeng."

Upon hearing that she was Qingfeng's junior sister, Leng Xiang's doubts vanished instantly. He knew the emperor all too well; given his aversion to women, there was no way he would have a maid he trusted so much, much less entrust such an important token to a girl. Especially since her arrival was so perfectly timed. The crown prince had barely arrived when she followed. This made him suspect that this was all a charade orchestrated by the crown prince.

However, if she were Qingfeng Gongzi's junior sister, it wouldn't seem impossible. Given the Emperor's relationship with Qingfeng Gongzi, he frequently bestowed titles of nobility upon Qingfeng Gongzi's junior brothers. Giving his junior sister a gold medal now seemed like a small matter. So, he politely said:

"So Miss Leng is Young Master Qingfeng's junior sister! I am truly apologies for any disrespect! Please forgive me if I have offended you! I am an old acquaintance of your senior brother, and he even cured my wife of a chronic illness that had lingered for many years!"

He then handed the gold medal back to Leng Jie, saying, "Since this gold medal is a token given to you by the Emperor, it should be kept by you. I will follow your orders!"

Seeing that Qingfeng's influence was indeed effective, Leng Jie was secretly pleased. She then said earnestly:

"If Your Excellency doesn't mind, please call my daughter Xiao Jie! Although it would be a great honor for Xiao Jie to recognize Your Excellency as her godfather, for the sake of our work, please do me the honor of being my daughter's father for a few days!"

Leng Jie spoke with extreme humility, as if she were truly incredibly self-conscious. This moved both Leng Xiang and his son.

The Prime Minister's father hurriedly replied:

"What are you saying, Xiao Jie! I'm just an old man with nothing to do at home. To be able to have the divine doctor's junior sister as my adopted daughter is like a gift from heaven. As long as Xiao Jie doesn't feel wronged, I've decided to accept you as my adopted daughter."

“That’s right! If I had a little sister who could fly over rooftops and climb walls, I’d wake up laughing in my sleep,” the older brother from the Leng family agreed.

“Godfather, Godbrother is very capable in Sahara, please accept my bow!” Leng Jie seized the opportunity and immediately bowed.

The Prime Minister's father quickly helped her up and laughed, "Good! Good! I have gained another wonderful daughter!"

“My dear sister! Now that you’ve acknowledged us as your family, shouldn’t you let us see your true colors?” the Leng family brother asked with a smile.

"If they see it now, the whole thing will be exposed soon." Leng Jie replied with a smile:

"It was truly difficult for Xiaojie to see her father and brothers today. Xiaojie will formally pay her respects to her parents and brothers tomorrow at noon."

The Leng father and son assumed he was just a shy girl and didn't think much of it. They nodded and smiled.

"That's good! When you see your mother tomorrow, she'll be overjoyed."

Leng Jie suddenly recalled the look of guilt and helplessness that had flashed across Prime Minister Leng's face when that person described the Empress's tragic state. She felt she should reassure them. So she told them:

"By the way! Don't worry about the Empress. I even went to see her at the East Palace before I left the palace! She's doing very well now! Although the Emperor still ignores her, it might be a good thing for her. The palace servants around her were all personally selected by me, and they would never dare to cause trouble. As for that Consort Leng, she's not as favored as everyone imagines. She's in a precarious situation herself, so she wouldn't dare to cause trouble for my sister."

"Is what Xiaojie said true? You really went to see Ruier?" Leng Xiang asked incredulously.

"Is my little sister really not being bullied?" the Leng family brother asked excitedly.

Leng Jie nodded earnestly in response:

"I swear in my senior brother's name that Sister Rui'er is indeed doing very well! Perhaps it's fate that I'm with her! When I went to the palace to find my senior brother, I happened to find that Sister Rui'er was sick. The Emperor asked my senior brother to treat her, so I went with him to the East Palace. As a result, I fell in love with Sister Rui'er at first sight. Later, when I saw that none of the servants were truly sincere to her, I asked my senior brother to find Eunuch Fu to replace them all. When we left, we specifically instructed Eunuch Fu to take care of Sister Rui'er."

Leng Jie's half-truths and half-lies left the Leng family father and son with no choice but to believe her. They were also deeply moved and unconsciously began to regard Leng Jie as a member of their family.

Chapter Ninety-Three: A Letter with Two Views

On a winter morning, frost covered the sky. The lazy sun hid behind layers of frost and mist, reluctant to peek out.

In the spacious training ground, two beautiful women, similar in appearance and with outstanding bearing, were practicing their swordplay against the wind, creating graceful sword shadows. A row of maids and servants stood watching from the sidelines.

The girl, dressed in a bright red silk outfit with a front opening, had an extremely ordinary appearance, but her eyes, brighter than the stars, were exceptionally bright and lively. Though only fifteen or sixteen, she appeared mature and composed. This was none other than Leng Jie, the third young lady of the Leng family.

The woman confronting her, wielding a gleaming three-foot-long sword, with her long black hair simply styled in a pearl hairnet at the back of her head, and dressed in a white, front-opening martial arts uniform, possessed a beautiful face, delicate eyebrows, and red lips that belied her age—none other than her mother, Madam Leng.

Leng Jie had been living in the Leng residence as an adopted daughter for five days. To Leng Jie's surprise, her mother, Madam Leng, was not the gentle and virtuous middle-aged noblewoman she had imagined, like the Princess of Ying. Instead, she was a cheerful, witty, and highly skilled female warrior. Perhaps because of the mother-daughter bond, Leng Jie felt an immediate connection with her.

She seemed particularly fond of Leng Jie. Although she only knew that Leng Jie was a distant relative who had come to the Leng family seeking refuge because she was alone and destitute, she was overjoyed to hear that her husband wanted to adopt her as his goddaughter. She readily accepted this daughter who had appeared out of nowhere. She was especially delighted to learn that Leng Jie also practiced martial arts and immediately wanted to test her skills and swordsmanship.

Leng Jie had only just learned the swordsmanship from her master, and she hadn't truly integrated the swordsmanship with her mind, body, and internal energy. She had simply memorized the moves thanks to her extraordinary memory. Compared to Madam Leng, who had practiced swordsmanship for decades, Leng Jie's swordsmanship was undeniably like that of a primary school student.

Therefore, Madam Leng naturally took on the role of temporary instructor and sparring partner to supervise her sword practice. Every morning, they would spar for one or two hours in the training ground.

"Alright! Xiao Jie, that's enough for today!" Madam Leng leaped out of the sword shadows and sheathed her sword, saying.

"Good!" Leng Jie also sheathed her sword and landed on the ground, clasping her hands in a fist and asking, "Mother! Do you think my swordsmanship has improved?"

Madam Leng stepped forward and gently wiped the sweat from Leng Jie's forehead with a handkerchief. She replied with a smile:

"Of course you've improved! The sword technique your master taught you is the best I've ever seen, and our Xiaojie is the smartest, cutest, and most suitable martial arts prodigy I've ever met. I never expected you to make such great progress in just a few days. If you keep practicing like this, your mother will be defeated in less than half a month!"

"Hehe! I knew Mother was the best! Although I know Mother is just letting Xiao Jie win, being able to beat Mother by a move or two in swordsmanship is Xiao Jie's grand goal in practicing swordsmanship!" Leng Jie held Madam Leng's hand and said with a smile and coquettishness like a little girl.

Leng Jie loved this feeling—the feeling of her mother wiping her sweat, the feeling of her mother praising her. These were things she had never experienced in her previous life. In her past life, her family only taught her self-reliance and independence, not warmth and romance. So now, under the guise of work, she desperately tried to absorb and feel this warmth of home. Although she felt this idea was naive, she couldn't help but want to be close to them.