The palace servants who had mistreated him in the past all died at his hands as he grew older.
Those who insult or bully him will pay with their lives; only then will the matter be considered closed.
Huan Changming smiled and hugged Lu Pianpian even tighter, "Senior brother, Pianpian senior brother. I'm so glad I woke up and you were here with me..."
Lu Pianpian only left after Huan Changming's fever subsided and he fell asleep.
Snow began to fall at night, and Lu Pianpian used her spiritual power to cover Huan Changming's entire palace outside, insulating it from the cold.
He turned around, and in the long, dilapidated palace alley, Huan Juntian stood at the end, his shoulders covered with a thin layer of snow.
"Junior brother," Lu Pianpian walked over quickly, "Why are you here so late?"
"I just finished discussing matters with my father and was passing by when I thought I'd take a look." Huan Juntian looked up and examined the palace where Huan Changming lived. "I had no idea that such a place existed in the Li Palace."
"Is Junior Sister Changming alright?"
"Yes, it's all over now."
Huan Juntian paused for a moment before continuing, "Her identity is special. My father has given me a task. If I can resolve it successfully this time, I will ask my father for credit and have my junior sister Changming move out of here."
The junior brother had thought things through deeply and even come up with a solution for Huan Changming, which left Lu Pianpian somewhat stunned. "Junior brother, don't you dislike her?"
"When the Queen of Xiye assassinated my father, she was still in her mother's womb. It would be absurd for me to blame her for this."
But the people of Liguo do not think so, otherwise Huan Changming would not have lived in such a place all these years.
"Let's go, senior brother, the snow is getting heavier."
“Okay.” Lu Pianpian walked alongside Huan Juntian. “By the way, junior brother, is that task you mentioned difficult? Do you need my assistance?”
Huan Juntian didn't mind telling him about this at all. "Recently, there have been dozens of cases of infants going missing in the capital. The government has reported them to the authorities, but the people we sent have been searching everywhere for more than two months. They have not only failed to find the missing infants, but they haven't even found a single clue."
Upon hearing Huan Juntian's mention, Lu Pianpian immediately recalled what had happened in front of the government office the previous night. After telling Huan Juntian about it, Huan Juntian asked him, "Senior brother, do you feel that something is amiss?"
"That night, I smelled a faint demonic aura in the government office, but I'm not sure if it came from inside the government office."
"In that case, let's go to the government office again."
Even the most meticulous ordinary person will leave some clues when doing things. To be able to act recklessly for more than two months right under the feet of the capital without anyone being able to catch him in the act certainly seems more like inhuman behavior.
"Okay, when should we go?"
Huan Juntian said, "See you at the government office at 5:00 AM tomorrow."
After making the appointment with Huan Juntian, Lu Pianpian returned to the Lu residence.
Lu Zhongjing was still awake and was sitting in his room waiting. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him. "You've been in the palace for a whole day. I was so worried about you."
"Father, don't worry. The prince and I are from the same school. He summoned me to the palace today to find out if I am safe and sound."
Lu Pianpian told Lu Zhong about her relationship with Huan Juntian and Qu Surou. After listening, Lu Zhong sighed and said, "I thought that Master Qu was just an ordinary Taoist priest. I never expected that he was a real immortal who gave you such an extraordinary encounter."
“But since you and His Highness the Crown Prince are from the same school, then I have nothing to worry about.” Lu Zhong sat up. “Go to sleep early. By the way, I’ve had someone take care of the rabbit you brought back in your yard.”
"Okay, thank you, Dad."
After Lu Zhong left, Lu Pianpian went to the backyard to check on the rabbits.
The little white rabbit was surrounded by a fence, with clean water and carrots beside it. It was curled up and sleeping peacefully.
Lu Pianpian was relieved and went back to her room to sleep for the night. The next day, she met with Huan Juntian as promised.
Qu Surou was also there, unsurprisingly, having shed her elaborate and sacred robes and donned a dashing dress, looking radiant.
"Fine, if I hadn't gotten up early today, would you two have wanted to leave me behind and go play by myself?"
"Senior sister, we're going there on business." Lu Pianpian stepped forward and saw the tightly closed government office doors. "Why aren't they open?"
Huan Juntian said, "They said today is a day off."
"They still dare to take a break when the eldest prince is here?" Qu Surou said, arms crossed. "It seems they don't take you, the eldest prince, seriously at all."
“I did not inform them.”
Lu Pianpian leaped onto the roof and looked inside. He saw a guard sitting in a rocking chair, dozing off. He landed next to the guard and asked, "Where is the Prefect?"
The guard was startled. "W-who are you?"
Huan Juntian and Qu Surou flew in after them. Huan Juntian took out a waist token from his pocket and said, "I am here by imperial decree to investigate the case."
The guard immediately knelt down, "I understand, but the prefect is not in the yamen at the moment!"
"Is he at home?"
"No, no... The Prefect went to the General's Mansion to celebrate the baby's full moon!"
Huan Juntian asked, "General Sui Ning?"
"Yes, it's General Sui Ning."
A general is appointed as a second-rank official. If there is a happy occasion in the family of such a high-ranking officer, the court officials from the Li Kingdom would surely have already worn down the threshold of the general's mansion to offer their congratulations.
But when the three of them arrived at the General's Mansion and walked around, they found it deserted and quiet, not at all like a wedding celebration.
"Can you smell it?" Lu Pianpian asked her senior and junior brothers. "There's a smell."
"You have a keen sense of smell, but Huan San and I aren't." Qu Surou patted Huan Juntian beside her. "What should we do? Just charge in?"
"Infiltrate discreetly and don't get detected."
Huan Juntian gave the order, and the three of them simultaneously concealed their presence and quickly infiltrated the General's Mansion.
“The smell is coming from this direction.” Lu Pianpian had Huan Juntian and Qu Surou follow behind her, and soon they went deep into the mansion and arrived at a pavilion built on the water.
“Water can conceal one’s presence. Building a house here suggests that this person is not an ordinary person,” Lu Pianpian said in a low voice. “The demonic aura has become stronger.”
The three of them flew to three corners under the eaves of the pavilion and hid themselves. They exchanged glances and used their spiritual power to point to the windows, and the scene inside the house was projected onto the windows from a distance.
"General Sui, I shall take my leave now." The prefect rose to bid farewell to Sui Ning, and before leaving, he specially instructed, "I heard from people in the palace that His Majesty has handed over the case of the missing infant to His Highness the Crown Prince. General Sui, it would be best to lay low for a while."
Sui Ning nodded. "Thank you for informing me."
The prefect bowed and took his leave. Sui Ning closed and locked the door again. Then, he quickly went upstairs, where the scene changed.
A white tiger, about half the height of a person, was lying on the bed. In front of it were many cradles, with more than a dozen infants inside.
Sui Ning casually picked up a sleeping infant from the pile and walked to the white tiger. "Come on, eat him."
The white tiger's pupils were cloudy, and its whole body exuded a listless aura.
Without refusing, it opened its mouth wide, about to devour the infant, when suddenly a sword pierced through the window and thrust at it. It immediately rose from its bed to dodge, letting out an angry tiger roar.
"Who goes there?" Sui Ning stood in front of Bai Hu. "How dare you trespass on my General's residence!"
The windows were broken open from three directions at the same time, and Lu Pianpian and the other two entered the room, surrounding Sui Ning and Bai Hu.
Lu Pianpian raised her hand and summoned the longsword, which spontaneously returned to his hand.
"Your Highness..." Sui Ning's face paled upon seeing Huan Juntian. The white tiger behind him tried to rush out to attack them, but he stopped it, saying, "No."
"General Sui," Huan Juntian said, his sword already drawn, "do you have anything else to say in your defense?"
Sui Ning smiled wryly and said, "This humble subject just didn't expect Your Highness to arrive so quickly."
Huan Juntian asked him, "Why is that?"
“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Sui Ning launched an offensive. “Today, either Your Highness will perish here, or I, Sui Ning, will die.”
After saying that, he tossed the baby forward, and Lu Pianpian was the first to step forward and catch it. "Why did you throw the child?"
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Sui Ning quickly picked up his weapon and lunged at Huan Juntian, saying, "This humble subject also wants to see whether Your Highness's learning over the past ten years is sufficient to shoulder the burden of the entire Li Kingdom!"
Huan Juntian dodged to the side, leading Sui Ning out of the pavilion. Bai Hu also wanted to chase after Sui Ning, but was stopped by Lu Pianpian and Qu Surou with their swords.
The white tiger roared and, using its remaining demonic power, transformed into human form—a bewitching woman. "I ate those children; it has nothing to do with my husband. If you want to kill or torture someone, come at me!"
"How can it be said that he's in cahoots with you!" Because of her childhood experiences, Qu Surou harbored a deep hatred for child traffickers. "You tiger demon, you won't leave here alive today!"
Qu Surou and the white tiger demon got into a fierce battle. Fearing that they might harm the remaining infants, Lu Pianpian quickly used magic to move the infants downstairs.
When they ran upstairs again, the white tiger demon had already been beaten to the ground and was vomiting blood by their senior sister. On the other side, their junior brother also came across the water carrying Sui Ning and threw the couple together.
The white tiger demon lay on the ground, barely able to maintain its human form, pleading, "Don't kill my husband! I ate the baby! Kill me, but don't kill him!"
Sui Ning's weapon broke in two. He hugged the white tiger demon into his arms and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? The sins were committed by my husband and me together. I am your husband. Even if they want to collect the debt, I will take the blame for you."
After saying that, he looked up at Huan Juntian, his eyes filled with undisguised satisfaction, "If the Li Kingdom is handed over to Your Highness, it will surely become the overlord of the Nine Provinces, and no one will dare to invade again... It's just that this sinful subject will not live to see the day when my Li Kingdom becomes the hegemon."
Upon hearing this, Huan Juntian guessed what he was going to do, but it was too late. He picked up his weapon and slit his throat, blood flowing freely. "Please... please, Your Highness, spare my wife's life. Just take this sinful subject's life to give the people of Li Kingdom... an explanation..."
"Husband!" The White Tiger Demon embraced Sui Ning and wept bitterly, "Now that you are gone, what is the point of my life?"
The white tiger demon touched its belly, a tear sliding down its cheek, and the next moment it transformed back into its original form, dying beside Sui Ning.
Seeing this, Lu Pianpian's expression showed compassion, and she silently recited the Rebirth Mantra in her heart.
As soon as the prefect arrived at the yamen, he heard from the guards on duty that the eldest prince had gone to the general's mansion to look for him. He thought to himself that the matter of the infant was about to be exposed. He didn't even have time to pack his things. He hurriedly prepared his horse and left the city to return to Xiye, but he was still stopped by the Imperial Guards.
"Wang Chengli, the Prefect of Jingzhou, has been found guilty of protecting General Sui Ning, who committed the crime of kidnapping and killing infants. He has been imprisoned and is awaiting further judgment!"
After being imprisoned, Wang Chengli knew he would never be able to return to Xiye Kingdom. However, with the two armies about to clash, the loss of a fierce general from Li Kingdom meant that even dying in prison would be a gain for him.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but admire that seemingly delicate princess, who had actually foreseen everything.
However, he could die for protecting Sui Ning, but he could not die because the people of Li Kingdom discovered that he was a spy for west Ye Kingdom. He could not let these people of Li Kingdom get any information about west Ye from him.
After thinking it through, he knelt down and kowtowed in the direction of the Western Night Kingdom, muttering a phrase in the Western Night script.
The corpses of the White Tiger Demon and Sui Ning were carried to the Li King's Palace. One was a terrifying tiger demon, and the other was a general who had served him for many years. The Li King glanced at them and then ordered the white cloth to be drawn over them.
"My son is incredibly brave; he solved this long-standing case in just half a day." Prince Li praised Huan Juntian, "What reward would you like this time?"
Huan Juntian said, "This case was solved thanks to the assistance of my senior sister and senior brother; it wasn't my achievement alone."
"The Holy Maiden should be rewarded, but this one... is also a disciple of Master Qu?" King Li looked at Lu Pianpian.
“He is my senior brother, the son of Lu Zhonglu, the official in charge of seals.”
King Li thought to himself, "How strange! Fu Xilang was of ordinary appearance, yet his son is so handsome. Truly, like father, like son! All three of you should be rewarded!"
Qu Surou accepted the reward without hesitation, but Lu Pianpian seemed to have something to say. However, Huan Juntian spoke first, "Father, I do not want any reward this time. My only request is that you release Princess Changming from the Cold Palace and give her a new residence, thus sparing her from the status of a criminal."
"How dare you!" Li Wang slammed his fist on the table and stood up, shouting, "I will spare you this time because of your service. But if you dare to plead for her again in the future, I will punish you severely!"
"Please, Father..."
Lu Pianpian promptly sent a telepathic message to Huan Juntian, "Junior brother, stop arguing with Prince Li. We'll discuss this matter later."