Chapter 44: You Want to Kill the Crown Prince?!
While watching the preliminary auditions, Xiao Luohan had already decided to continue trusting Jiang Xue.
But this matter wasn’t a good thing and might worry Jiang Xue, so she deliberately waited until they were in a dream to tell her.
Even so, she still lowered her voice and said tactfully, “I’m afraid… I won’t be able to come over until the wedding day.”
Jiang Xue was stunned. “What are you going to do then?”
“If there really are clues about Elder Sister in the Eastern Palace, that’s the only time I can ‘bury’ her.” Xiao Luohan stood up and looked at the blank window. “Elder Sister didn’t want to be buried. She preferred cremation, so I want to give her a proper send-off.”
A distant landscape gradually materialized in the blank space, with flowering trees and pavilions, a spring scene despite being in winter.
If dreams represented emotional changes, Jiang Xue felt that this must be something Xiao Luohan desperately wanted to do, her obsession and her wish.
“…How much have you guessed?” But she still felt a chill run down her spine.
They might have guessed the same thing!
“Elder Sister’s missing body might be hidden in the Eastern Palace by that dog of a Crown Prince,” Xiao Luohan said, feigning calmness. “He was interested in my elder sister…”
“No! I’ve never heard you mention this!” The more Jiang Xue listened, the more she felt they were on the same page. She quickly interrupted, “Do you have any concrete clues? When and where did you learn about this?!”
She had arrived at this guess because she had seen the Crown Prince of Daying transformed into a hyena in her dream—the most well-known characteristic of hyenas was their scavenging nature, which was why she connected the Broken Plum Blossom Princess’s body to the Crown Prince.
Moreover, if the imagery in that dream was based on her own impression of the Crown Prince, it would have been some other animal. She wouldn’t have thought of a hyena!
Xiao Luohan turned and repeated the Crown Prince’s words to her verbatim.
Jiang Xue rubbed her chin, frowning, thinking hard, and finally told Xiao Luohan about seeing the hyena.
“Hmm… the clues are quite suggestive, but sacrificing yourself for a burial isn’t what your elder sister would want, I think.”
Jiang Xue paused for a few seconds, then emphasized seriously, “That’s the Eastern Palace! There will definitely be guards! And how are you going to set the fire? And how can you guarantee your own safety after setting the fire?”
The thought of setting a fire made her uneasy. If Xiao Luohan couldn’t escape, she would really die there! Her voice unconsciously rose, and her tone became urgent:
“Do you know what kind of accidents can happen in a fire? Do you know how long it takes to die from smoke inhalation without taking any precautions?!”
Xiao Luohan wasn’t completely ignorant about this. Because her only daughter had died from carbon monoxide poisoning from a charcoal brazier, Shizhu had specifically explained to her under what circumstances charcoal could emit deadly fumes.
Her knowledge in this area had been lacking, but now Shizhu had filled in the gaps.
But now Jiang Xue was agitated, and she herself wasn’t entirely confident that she could escape a fire unscathed, so she shook her head. “I don’t know, so… I was just thinking about it, discussing it with you.”
“If you think it’s not a good idea, I’ll give up on it.”
Actually, what she had originally planned to tell Jiang Xue wasn’t about burying her elder sister’s body, but she felt that this might be easier than killing the Crown Prince, so she brought it up first.
“Thank goodness!” she saw Jiang Xue breathe a long sigh of relief. “Thank goodness you told me!”
Xiao Luohan quietly observed her relieved expression and suddenly didn’t dare mention the other thing she wanted to do.
She currently had her back to the window and didn’t notice the spring scenery outside changing.
Snowflakes began to fall from the sky, light as willow catkins at first, then quickly becoming as large as goose feathers, weighing down the flowering trees until all the flowers and leaves fell.
Jiang Xue had sharp ears and eyes, and she noticed the change before the scenery outside returned to a blank white.
This meant that the Third Princess’s mood had worsened, but why?
Was it the sadness of not being able to personally bury her elder sister and give her a proper send-off?
Or… besides setting fire to the Eastern Palace on the wedding night, did the Third Princess have something else she was hiding from her?
It would be great if it was the former, but Jiang Xue couldn’t be sure!
If Xiao Luohan insisted on hiding it, even if she asked, she would probably only get lies.
Jiang Xue was anxious, her mind racing. She simply took a deep breath and grabbed Xiao Luohan’s hand.
“What else do I have to do to make Your Highness tell me everything?”
Being rude or presumptuous didn’t matter anymore!
She only knew that if she hesitated now and missed the opportunity to uncover the truth, she would definitely regret it if something happened in the future!
Jiang Xue was sitting on the table, slightly taller than Xiao Luohan, who was standing. Leaning forward slightly, her shadow enveloped the young woman.
Despite her fierce facade, she was actually terrified.
She was afraid that her actions would backfire, and Xiao Luohan wouldn’t dare to be friends with her anymore, which would make it even more difficult to learn the truth!
They stared at each other, the seconds ticking by.
In the end, it was Jiang Xue who averted her gaze first.
No matter how anxious she was, she couldn’t… couldn’t be too aggressive…
Just as she thought this, she smelled a faint plum blossom fragrance approaching, and then she was pulled into a tight embrace, her rapidly beating heart pressed against another.
Xiao Luohan had actually hugged her!
“I’m going to do something… illegal.”
But her words made Jiang Xue tremble.
She struggled to reboot her mind, which had almost short-circuited.
The word “illegal” must have been something Xiao Luohan learned from the politics textbook, and the related incident could be big or small.
But judging by Xiao Luohan’s reaction, and her previous idea of setting fire to the Eastern Palace, Jiang Xue felt that the thing she was still hiding might be related to the first half of the idiom “arson”!
The only person in the Eastern Palace who had a grudge against the Third Princess and her elder sister was the dog of a Crown Prince.
She took a deep breath. “You’re going to… kill the Crown Prince?!”
Xiao Luohan froze, then nodded vigorously.
Amidst the chaos, Jiang Xue was still thinking—she truly was “another her in the world.” With just one sentence, she had guessed the Third Princess’s hidden thoughts.
“Are you going to use the stun gun my sister and I gave you?” she asked.
“Yes,” Xiao Luohan’s muffled voice came from her embrace. “The wedding night is when he’ll be most unguarded. Not to mention my frail health, as long as I’m a woman, and dressed in elaborate wedding attire and heavy jewelry that day, he’ll be confident that he can subdue me.”
“So, that’s also my only opportunity.”
Jiang Xue’s heart was filled with mixed emotions.
“This is indeed illegal,” she murmured. “But you… you’re doing this to avenge your elder sister who died in battle, and the target is the Crown Prince of the enemy nation…”
Assassinating the Crown Prince of the enemy nation, if successful, would make Xiao Luohan a national hero in Beiliao!
Moreover, the ancient world she lived in was a world of war, a world of life and death. Her wonderful elder sister had also died in battle. This matter couldn’t be viewed or judged from the perspective of a society ruled by law.
But what if the assassination failed?
“As you said, you only have one chance,” Jiang Xue lowered her head, making sure her voice reached Xiao Luohan clearly. “Although the stun gun can be fatal if aimed at a vital point, you can’t use it carelessly. Once the Crown Prince notices, he’ll be on guard. With your strength and speed, if you miss once, you’ll never get close to him again, and he might even take the stun gun from you!”
Xiao Luohan had thought she would try to persuade her to give up, but hearing this, she looked up in disbelief.
Was Jiang Xue… trying to teach her how to kill with one blow?
Under her curious gaze, Jiang Xue coughed awkwardly. “Don’t underestimate me. My family is actually quite wealthy! Mom and Mom have been telling me these things as cautionary tales since I was young… so that if I ever encounter a kidnapper, I can buy myself some time.”
But she didn’t continue, instead asking, “But if you really kill the Crown Prince, what about Shizhu?”
If a servant was so loyal that she was willing to die to pave the way for her master, anyone would want to save her too, right?
“I plan to find a way to send her away soon,” Xiao Luohan said, averting her gaze. “But I know that she either won’t leave, or… will tell me with her death that she won’t be a burden.”
Not leaving was the most likely scenario she had considered, but since she was discussing this with Jiang Xue, she couldn’t help but imagine a worse outcome.
“And, for this matter of killing the Crown Prince, the fewer people who know, the better the chances of success, right?” Jiang Xue said. “Since you can’t tell her the truth and can’t send her away…”
At this point, she suddenly had an idea: “Daying doesn’t forbid you from sending letters back home, right? Tell Shizhu that the letter can only be delivered by someone trustworthy, and emphasize that this is something only she can do.”
“If the assassination is successful, and the Crown Prince dies, there will definitely be a struggle for the throne, and Daying will be in chaos. They won’t have time to deal with Beiliao.” She couldn’t help but imagine a better future. “This way, Shizhu, who will be on her way to Beiliao, and your mother, who is still in Beiliao, should both be safe, right?”
Xiao Luohan’s eyes lit up.
“But you have to do this soon,” Jiang Xue said. “The dog of a Crown Prince has been too quiet recently. I’m a little worried that he might be plotting something…”
“I did make some inquiries,” Xiao Luohan said. “He’s been busy with military affairs recently.”
“Oh, after having a strand of hair cut off by your sister, he’s personally leading the troops now?” Jiang Xue said sarcastically. “There’s a saying that ‘a crown prince doesn’t command troops.’ It seems Daying doesn’t have that tradition!”
But the Crown Prince not being in the palace was also good for them. At least there would be less resistance when they carried out their plan—the dog emperor wouldn’t care if a tribute from a defeated nation sent a letter home!
After finalizing the preliminary plan, they immediately started drafting the letter and listing more detailed steps.
“Although this place is a bit bare, whatever we say or write here won’t be leaked,” Jiang Xue said as she ground ink.
Actually, she already had a guess about the origin of this space.
It had appeared after Xiao Luohan opened her heart to her. It was more stable than a normal dream and resembled the “mindscape” often seen in fantasy works.
However, if this was Xiao Luohan’s mindscape, why did it appear as Wangmei Pavilion?
Unable to find an answer, Jiang Xue simply asked, “You don’t seem to dislike Wangmei Pavilion?”
If she disliked it, why would a comforting inner world contain elements of Wangmei Pavilion?
Xiao Luohan, who was writing the assassination plan, paused, thought for a moment, and simply replied with a soft “Mm,” a little embarrassed to explain further.
To her, this place held extraordinary significance.
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