"I am the adopted daughter of War King Dongfang Shuo!" Shen Lixue walked slowly towards Apei, her clear, cold eyes as transparent as glass, and a faint smile on her lips, seemingly disdainful yet mocking.
Apei felt a sudden chill, as if she had been spied on: "Your Highness, she is the Emperor's woman, she will definitely go and inform on us, we cannot let her live!"
Apei's voice was low and deep, each word filled with unwavering loyalty, serving as a warning to the King of Yunnan.
The King of Yunnan looked at Shen Lixue approaching, his eyes bloodshot, and suppressed his anger as he asked, "What is it?" The emperor had forced him to rebel, so he was not to blame for showing no mercy and eliminating all obstacles. Shen Lixue was the War King's beloved daughter, and out of consideration for his past relationship with Dongfang Shuo, he would listen to her last words.
"Why did the King of Yunnan bring 20,000 elite troops to the capital?" The total number of elite troops in and around Qingyan Capital was at most 30,000 to 40,000. The fact that the King of Yunnan brought 20,000 elite troops did indeed raise suspicions of rebellion, and it was no wonder that the emperor was suspicious.
The King of Yunnan glanced at Apei and said, "The Emperor's birthday is coming soon, and these 20,000 elite troops are a birthday gift for the Emperor."
"Sending elite soldiers as a birthday gift?" Shen Lixue frowned. The gift was indeed unique. "Then why didn't Your Highness tell the Emperor?"
The King of Yunnan frowned: "There's still some time before his birthday celebration. It's too early to send gifts now; it's inappropriate!"
Shen Lixue nodded knowingly and looked at Apei lying on the ground: "Young Master Apei, Qingyan Capital has plenty of soldiers. It is rare for you to have the Prince of Yunnan send 20,000 elite troops as a gift. However, it is very ordinary. The Emperor will not take it to heart!"
Apei glanced coldly at Shen Lixue and said arrogantly, "These 20,000 elite soldiers are not ordinary soldiers. They can combine various formations and cooperate with each other perfectly. If used on the battlefield, they can defeat three times the number of enemies."
"So impressive!" Shen Lixue smiled. The King of Yunnan was a king who had guarded Yunnan for many years. His army was strong and well-equipped, so the emperor must have some suspicions about him. He brought his troops to the capital and taught the soldiers in the capital how to arrange 20,000 elite soldiers in battle formation. He wanted to imply to the emperor that he had no intention of rebelling. He did not expect that he would be used against him and falsely accused of treason.
“Of course, our soldiers from Yunnan are the strongest!” Apei’s voice was weak, but full of confidence.
Shen Lixue's cold gaze swept over Apei's blood-stained clothes and landed on his leg: "Your wound is a bit strange." Apei is key to clearing the name of the King of Yunnan.
Apei's smug expression instantly darkened: "What do you mean? You suspect that I stabbed myself to deceive the prince? The angle at which you hurt yourself is different from the angle at which someone else hurts you, and the injuries are completely different as well."
With all his might, Apei ripped the fabric off his leg with a hissing sound. The wound was deep and long, almost running through his entire calf, and blood kept seeping out through it.
He spoke slowly and deliberately, through gritted teeth: "How could such a wound be self-inflicted? Princess, would you like me to cut myself with a sword so we can compare?"
"Your leg was indeed injured by someone else, but the person who injured you was not the Imperial Guard, but a guard from your Yunnan Prince's Mansion. To be more precise, you were accidentally stabbed by them when you were killing those hundred guards!"
Shen Lixue's voice was light and airy, yet it struck like a thunderbolt, leaving people stunned for a long time.
"Did you kill my hundred guards?" The King of Yunnan looked at Apei, his sharp eyes flashing with coldness.
"No...no...Your Highness." Apei's eyes darted around, panicked, and she pointed at Shen Lixue: "It's her...she's trying to sow discord...she wants us to kill each other, Your Highness, please don't fall for her tricks!"
The King of Yunnan frowned, his gaze deepening. One was a loyal subordinate who had followed him for many years and even saved his life; the other was the clever and seemingly harmless daughter of his friend. Whom should he trust?
“The Imperial Guards got new equipment half a month ago. Their swords are specially made. On the surface, they look no different from ordinary swords, but the wounds they leave on people are completely different.” Apei was stubborn and refused to admit his mistake, so Shen Lixue made him admit defeat wholeheartedly: “Zimo!” She didn’t have the new swords that the Imperial Guards were equipped with, but Dongfang Heng had one.
Zi Mo appeared out of thin air, holding a long sword in his hand. The scabbard was engraved with ancient patterns, and the hilt was inscribed with the character "御" (Yu), indicating that it was a long sword used exclusively by the Imperial Guards.
He walked a few steps to Apei's side, drew his sword, and with a flick of his wrist, a long bloody gash appeared on Apei's leg. Amidst Apei's shrill scream, Zi Mo said calmly, "This sword is the new sword of the Imperial Guards. Please take a look, Your Highness!"
The King of Yunnan lowered his head. The two wounds on Apei's legs were the same size and almost the same depth, but the wounds at the very front and the very back were completely different.
"The Imperial Guards changing their equipment is only your side of the story. The Prince and I were unaware of it. You could easily use the excuse of seeing the Imperial Guards' swords to lure the Prince to the palace and then kill him!"
Apei did not defend herself; every word she uttered was filled with concern for the safety of the King of Yunnan. The scales in the King of Yunnan's heart, which had been tilting towards Shen Lixue, slowly tipped back.
Shen Lixue smiled. The King of Yunnan was a man of strong emotions. Apei had been by his side for many years and had put herself in his shoes to think of him, regardless of her own safety. Of course, he would not easily doubt Apei.
Looking at her, Dongfang Heng, and Dongfang Yu'er, none of the three paid any attention to the Imperial Guards. The King of Yunnan was new to the capital and didn't know much about the Imperial Guards. They suddenly took out a long sword and said it was the Imperial Guards' new equipment. It was understandable that the King of Yunnan didn't believe them.
"Princess, what else do you have to say?" Seeing the guilty conscience in Ape's eyes, Shen Lixue's silence emboldened her, and she questioned him coldly.
Shen Lixue looked at the blood-stained arrow protruding from Apei's chest and smiled: "If the arrow in your chest had been an inch and a half higher, you would have died instantly. The arrow's current location will at most cause excessive blood loss and make you unconscious for a few days, but it will not be fatal!"
It looked as if he deliberately ran into the arrow, intentionally letting it hit him about an inch and a half in the heart.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Apei's face darkened instantly. Had she guessed something?
Shen Lixue looked at the four guards on the ground: "Do you recognize those four people?"
“A-Si, A-Wu, A-Liu…” A-Pei glanced at the four corpses, accurately reciting their names, and sighed with heartache: “We were like brothers, entering the Yunnan Prince’s Mansion together to serve the Prince, never imagining they were actually the Emperor’s men…”
Shen Lixue smiled meaningfully: "You have a good eye. You can recognize who they are just by looking at the back of their heads!"
Apei's expression instantly turned extremely ugly. He turned his head again and saw that all four corpses were dressed in the same guard uniform and wearing identical guard hats. Two were lying on their backs, and two were lying on their sides. The two lying on their sides had their backs to him, so he could not see their faces.
"A-Si, A-Wu and the other two are the four bodyguards of the Prince. They always move forward and retreat together, inseparable. I saw the faces of two of them, so I naturally knew the identities of the other two!"
"Are you sure it's the four of them?" Shen Lixue's lips curled slightly, a half-smile playing on her lips. Apei was quite a formidable character to have come up with a suitable reason so quickly.
"Of course!" Apei looked at Shen Lixue's strange smile, her gaze darkened, and her answer was unusually firm. She was definitely playing tricks again. She couldn't let herself be fooled. She had to believe her own eyes. How could what she saw with her own eyes be wrong?
"Young Master Apei, open your eyes wide and see clearly!" Shen Lixue's cold voice was ethereal and elusive, carrying an invisible chill.
Under everyone's gaze, Zi Mo slowly walked to a corpse, reached behind the guard's ear and gently touched it for a moment, then suddenly exerted force, peeling off a thin layer of skin to reveal an unfamiliar face.
"This...this isn't Ah Si!" The King of Yunnan was instantly shocked; he was actually wearing a mask and disguise.
His gaze darkened, and he took a few steps forward. He reached behind the ear of another corpse and groped around, peeling off a small piece of skin that felt completely different from the rest of the body. He paused, his expression shifting between light and shadow. He then peeled off the skin, revealing yet another unfamiliar face.
“They are not Ah Si, Ah Wu, Ah Liu…” Looking at the four unfamiliar faces, yet four familiar faces, the King of Yunnan clenched his fists tightly, his eyes flashing with a chilling light. They were impersonating his guards to plot against him!
"Li Xue, how do you know those four are imposters?" The four guards had served the King of Yunnan for many years, and he had never noticed that they were imposters.
“Because of him!” Shen Lixue raised an eyebrow at Apei, whose face was pale and bloodless.
The King of Yunnan, having spent half his life on the battlefield, became the only non-royal king of Qingyan. He must have extraordinary abilities. An undercover agent is well hidden and not easily exposed. If the four guards were all undercover agents, walking around under his nose every day, and he didn't notice anything amiss, he would be too foolish.
"Too many undercover agents make it seem unreal. The four guards' actions in trying to harm you were too blatant and also suspicious. Later, when Apei appeared, complaining and taking the blame, I realized that their mission tonight was not to kill you, but to deceive you and incite you to rebel!"
The King of Yunnan's icy gaze, sharp as an arrow, suddenly shot towards Apei: "Apei, I have treated you well, why did you betray me?"