"Your Highness, I did not betray you. This vixen is talking nonsense and sowing discord..." Apei pointed at Shen Lixue, his eyes blazing with anger, filled with righteous indignation: "I am as close as Ah Si and the others as brothers. Why did you kill them?"
"With witnesses and physical evidence, how dare you still deny it?" The King of Yunnan looked coldly at Apei: The fact that strangers dared to disguise themselves and come to assassinate him means that the four guards have already been killed.
The four guards were the personal bodyguards of the King of Yunnan. They usually followed behind him to protect him, and even when resting, they would not stray too far from him. If an outsider were to attack them, there would definitely be a commotion. However, they disappeared without a trace, and were replaced by four strangers who attacked him. The silence indicated that they had been killed.
Apei treated them like brothers, and they were completely unsuspecting of him, making it easy for him to strike. Apei also knew the Yunnan King's abilities and knew that he could kill all four of them in one move without revealing any weakness.
Everything was going in the direction Apei had envisioned.
"I'm innocent! I'm innocent, Your Highness!" Apei clutched his chest, staggered to his knees, blood still seeping out. His face was pale, his body trembled slightly, and he glanced quickly out the window.
"Lies!" The King of Yunnan snorted coldly, turned his head away, and refused to look at him anymore. Deep in his eyes, a fierce anger burned!
Shen Lixue followed Apei's gaze to the dark night, her eyes narrowing: "If I'm not mistaken, there must be evidence in the secret compartment of the Crown Prince's study that the Prince and the Crown Prince are communicating with each other and plotting a rebellion!"
The King of Yunnan suddenly turned his head, looking at Shen Lixue in shock: "How did you know?"
“Ape just glanced out the window, probably estimating the time. He once instigated you to rebel, so there must be plenty of evidence of rebellion!” Shen Lixue smiled gently. In modern times, this is how it is portrayed in period dramas on TV and in movies. She never expected that the plot would actually develop like that in ancient times.
The King of Yunnan looked at Apei's pale and unsightly face, narrowed his eyes, made a gesture towards the void, and a whooshing sound disappeared into the distance. He quickly flew back, holding a stack of letters in his hand.
When the King of Yunnan opened the letters, every word and phrase was treasonous, hinting at his ambition to usurp the throne, and could be used as evidence of his rebellion.
The King of Yunnan was furious. He slammed the letter in his hand down on Apei's head: "What else do you have to say?"
Apei's eyes darted around: "Your Highness, these letters..."
"Don't say those letters were forged by me. The King of Yunnan is far away in Yunnan, and I'm in the capital, a hundred and eight thousand miles apart. I've never seen his handwriting, so there's no way I could forge it. On the contrary, Apei, as the King's confidant, you often go in and out of the King's study. Getting his letters is a piece of cake for you. Besides..."
Shen Lixue interrupted Apei, picked up a letter, and pointed to the red seal on it: "This is the seal of the King of Yunnan, I can't have it!"
"Apei, it was you who was causing trouble behind the scenes all along!" The King of Yunnan's eyes blazed with anger as he suddenly raised his palm and struck Apei hard.
Apei was sent flying, crashing into the wall and bouncing back before falling heavily to the ground. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, reflecting off the bright luminous pearl, making him look particularly disheveled.
"Zimo, search him. He must be hiding two different signal barrels on him!" Apei was just a guard. He was definitely acting under someone's orders to frame the King of Yunnan for rebellion.
In ancient times, there were no cell phones or telephones. Long-distance communication relied on signals. Shen Lixue guessed that Apei must have two different signal barrels on her body: one for success and one for failure, silently informing the master behind the scenes.
Apei was seriously injured and on the verge of death. Zi Mo stepped forward and easily searched his body, finding a red signal barrel and a white signal barrel.
Shen Lixue took the signal bucket, glanced at it, and then secretly looked at Apei, who was half-closing her eyes. She handed the white signal bucket to Zimo and said, "Light this signal!"
"Yes!" Zi Mo took the white signal, turned around, and strode forward.
Apei's eyes turned cold. Gathering all her strength, she lunged at Zi Mo with only one thought in her mind: she had released the white signal to wipe them all out, and she had to destroy the signal.
Shen Lixue smiled and slapped Apei in the chest, sending him flying three meters away. She then looked at the signal in Zi Mo's hand and said, "It seems the white signal really does signify a successful rebellion!"
Dongfang Yu'er was taken aback: "Ha, Li Xue, so you don't know which signal means success and which means failure!" But she was clearly strategizing and full of confidence just now.
Shen Lixue raised an eyebrow: "I'm not their accomplice, so of course I don't know the specific meanings of the white and red signals. I was just testing him!"
Apei is clever and cunning. If Shen Lixue asks him with the signal, he will definitely not tell the truth. He might even deliberately mislead her by releasing the wrong signal and leaving with one of the signals. If it is a signal of a failed rebellion, Apei will not stop her. If it is a signal of a successful rebellion, Apei will definitely jump out regardless of his life.
"Men, drag their bodies out and throw them into the mass grave!" Shen Lixue was preparing to turn the tables on the King of Yunnan, who was fully cooperating. He would never let those who tried to harm him get away easily.
Several guards appeared in the living room and dragged away the four corpses. Servants came in with wooden basins and rags and quickly cleaned up the mess inside.
A white signal light quickly rose, shining brightly in the dark night sky. Two guards helped Nangong Xiao, who was suffering from severe poisoning, to his feet, and walked past the busy servants towards the door.
"Wait!" Shen Lixue's gaze sharpened slightly as she took out her silver needle kit. "Help him to that table over there, I'll detoxify him!"
The silver needle notebook given to her by the Ghost Doctor of Southern Xinjiang recorded methods for treating illnesses, saving lives, and detoxifying. She focused on studying the acupuncture techniques for detoxification, as she was able to cure the poison in Nangong Xiao's body.
"Can you cure Xiao'er's poison?" The King of Yunnan looked suspicious. It was a deadly poison that even experienced doctors might not be able to cure, and Shen Lixue was only fifteen years old.
"Your Highness need not worry, the poison in the young master is not difficult to cure!" Shen Lixue smiled and directed the guards to help Nangong Xiao lie down on the table, loosen his belt, and insert dozens of silver needles into his various acupoints.
The King of Yunnan's lips moved, but he didn't say anything. He stared intently at Nangong Xiao. They couldn't leave the villa now. The sooner Nangong Xiao's poison was cured, the less danger they would face.
Shen Lixue gently rotated the silver needle with her slender fingers, and the blackness on Nangong Xiao's face gradually faded, returning to its original color. His eyelashes trembled, and he opened his eyes. Looking at the familiar yet anxious face, he raised the corners of his mouth and said, "Father!" His voice was weak and feeble.
"He's awake! It's good that he's alright, it's good that he's alright!" Overjoyed that his son had woken up, the Prince of Yunnan didn't know what to say. Seeing Shen Lixue removing the silver needles, he thanked her, "Thank you, Princess Lixue!"
"Your Highness is too kind!" Shen Lixue smiled and put away all the silver needles. She and Nangong Xiao were friends, and there was no reason for her to stand by and watch someone die.
"Your Highness, what should we do with him?" A guard pointed to Apei, who was seriously injured and on the verge of death, and asked the Prince of Yunnan for his opinion.
The King of Yunnan coldly glanced at Apei, whose eyes were glazed over and whose mouth was bleeding: "Drag him out and bury him alive!"
Shen Lixue's lips curled up slightly. This King of Yunnan was indeed a man of strong character. He would never let those who betrayed him off easily. Burying them in the ground and suffocating them to death was a truly severe punishment.
"Your Highness, a large number of soldiers are approaching the villa..."
"Your Highness, there are several thousand soldiers..."
"Your Highness, the soldiers have arrived at the gate and are ramming it..."
The King of Yunnan sat in the living room, receiving a steady stream of news from outside. He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and his gaze was unfathomable: "Since they want to break in, let them break in!"
The tightly closed gate was violently smashed open, and a large group of soldiers rushed in, rampaging through the elegant courtyard, killing anyone in sight. The guards of the courtyard rushed out and fought with the soldiers. The sound of fierce clashes of weapons filled the courtyard, and the scene was chaotic.
The leader sneered, his eyes dark, and led dozens of soldiers straight into the living room.
"Come on, come on, eat some vegetables, eat some vegetables..."
"Bang!" The slightly closed living room door was violently kicked open, and a large number of soldiers rushed in. The aroma of food wafted from the table, making one's mouth water. The King of Yunnan, Nangong Xiao, Dongfang Heng, Shen Lixue, and Dongfang Yu'er sat around the table, chopsticks in hand, picking up food and eating. The leader was suddenly stunned. What was going on?