Inside the Yangxin Palace, in the courtyard.
Led by the imperial guards, Lin Jiangnian stepped into the hall.
As I walked along, the dilapidated and messy scene in the hall was vivid in my mind.
I didn't feel much when I watched from afar before, but now I see the wreckage all around me up close, and it makes me terrified everywhere.
The bodies inside and outside the hall have been dealt with, but there is still a faint smell of blood in the air. No matter how heavy the rain is tonight, no matter how the rain washes the ground and walls, it can never completely wash away the remaining bloody smell.
This unpleasant and depressing smell seemed to oppress everyone's heart, making the atmosphere particularly depressing.
Arriving at the inner hall, Lin Jiangnian straightened his clothes and walked in.
Inside the brightly lit inner hall.
So peaceful.
In the inner hall, two figures appeared in Lin Jiangnian's sight.
Li Ci Ning, dressed in a white brocade robe, and the eldest princess, who appeared not far from Li Ci Ning and was about to leave.
"Your Highness, I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Her Royal Highness the Princess!"
Lin Jiangnian was slightly surprised when he saw Li Piaomiao. He glanced at her again and saw that the woman was looking at him coldly, without any emotion.
But it seems that his face is paler than before?
"Jiang Nian?!"
When Li Ci Ning saw Lin Jiangnian, a smile immediately appeared on his face, "Why are you here?!"
Lin Jiangnian remained calm and said, "I am here to confess my guilt."
Li Ci Ning looked doubtful: "Confession?"
"What crime has Jiang Nian committed?"
Lin Jiangnian said, "Tonight, His Royal Highness the Third Prince staged a rebellion, a heinous crime. After hearing the news, I wanted to inform His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I didn't expect to be a step too late..."
"...I am late in coming to your rescue, Your Highness, and I beg your forgiveness."
“…”
There was a brief silence in the hall.
Li Cining looked at Lin Jiangnian quietly. After a while, he sighed softly, "Jiangnian, why did you have to lie to me like this?"
"I dare not!"
"I'm not stupid."
"I don't have any."
"Jiang Nian... is here tonight to see my funny jokes?"
"Absolutely not."
“…”
Li Ci Ning had guessed something when he learned that Lin Jiangnian appeared outside the palace. He was not surprised that Lin Jiangnian would appear here tonight!
With such a huge turmoil in the capital and the imperial palace tonight, I wonder how many forces have noticed it. As the crown prince of Prince Lin, how could Lin Jiangnian not have received any intelligence?
Li Cining looked at Lin Jiangnian, who was talking nonsense in a serious manner, and sighed again. Then a smile appeared on his face again: "Since Jiangnian doesn't admit it, then so be it..."
"I was thinking of looking for you again in a few days, and it just so happens that you're here."
"Your Highness, do you have something to ask me?"
"I haven't had time to thank you for what happened tonight."
Li Ci Ning smiled and said, "If you, Jiang Nian, hadn't informed me in advance and told me about Third Brother's ambitious plan, the consequences tonight would have been disastrous..."
Lin Jiangnian turned his head to look at Li Piaomiao beside him. She looked at him coldly without saying a word.
"This is my duty, not worth mentioning!"
Lin Jiangnian spoke, he always felt that the Crown Prince in front of him had something else to say.
Thank him?
Lin Jiangnian sneered inwardly. He had a premonition. Even without his advance warning, the Third Prince would probably not be able to accomplish anything tonight!
The Crown Prince in front of me is so calm!
His calmness actually made Lin Jiangnian feel a little wary.
He remained calm as he spoke to the Crown Prince. As they exchanged pleasantries, Li Qining remained cheerful and cheerful, as if bathed in spring breeze. He didn't question Lin Jiangnian's reason for appearing here tonight.
The two maintain a harmonious tacit understanding.
"It's getting late. His Highness the Third Prince has left behind such a huge mess after his rebellion. I won't add to the chaos and bother His Highness any further..."
After some greetings, Lin Jiangnian said goodbye.
Li Ci Ning narrowed his eyes slightly, and naturally realized the purpose of Lin Jiangnian's appearance here tonight.
He smiled and said, "Then I won't stay any longer. The palace is in chaos tonight and it's not safe. I'll send someone to escort you, Jiang Nian, out of the palace shortly!"
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
"Jiang Nian, you've helped me so much, there's no need to be so polite!"
“…”
Lin Jiangnian turned around contentedly and prepared to leave.
He didn't come here to reminisce with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, but just wanted to find an excuse to leave the palace openly!
Li Ci Ning is very smart. From the moment Lin Jiangnian appeared, he probably already knew the purpose of Lin Jiangnian's appearance here.
However, he did not expose it.
Logically speaking, for a prince of a vassal state, appearing openly in the palace when the Third Prince was plotting a rebellion was not a wise choice for Lin Jiangnian, and it could even lead to his own death if he was not careful.
But Lin Jiangnian is not worried about this.
Although the Third Prince's rebellion failed, the mess he left behind was too big, big enough to cause turmoil in the entire court.
Tonight is just the beginning.
Only after dawn will this turmoil truly reveal its full potential.
Under such circumstances, no matter how stupid the crown prince of the dynasty was, he would never take such an opportunity to take action against the prince of a vassal state who held real power.
It is impossible to overthrow a powerful vassal king with these means alone.
Li Ci Ning is not the third prince, he wouldn’t be so stupid!
In some ways, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is indeed a qualified crown prince.
Just as Lin Jiangnian was about to leave the inner hall, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.
He glanced sideways and saw Li Piaomiao in white clothes appearing not far behind him and also walking towards the door.
"Princess?"
Li Piaomiao paused slightly, "Hmm?"
The two exchanged glances briefly, and Lin Jiangnian quickly realized something.
The princess before her was dressed in white, as white as snow, but her skirt, which should have been clean and pure, was stained with mud and water. She seemed to have just returned from outside, and she had a somewhat dusty air.
More importantly...
Lin Jiangnian quickly noticed that the eldest princess looked normal, still with that cold and emotionless face, but she was much paler than usual.
Even the breath is not stable?
Lin Jiangnian keenly sensed something: "You, are injured?"
Facing Lin Jiangnian's inquiring gaze, Li Piaomiao was silent for a moment.
"fine."
After saying that, she walked out the door on her own.
Lin Jiangnian looked at her back as she left the house, lost in thought.
Where did she go tonight?
This princess is a master of martial arts, but is there anyone who can hurt her?
Besides the Third Prince, is there any other force appearing in the palace tonight?
…
Outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
The atmosphere was a little tense.
The imperial guards not far away held their breath and looked cautiously at the two figures not far away.
The rain stopped and the morning light was faintly visible not far away in the east.
It's almost dawn!
The two women still stood there, neither looking at each other.
Invisibly, there seemed to be an indescribable sense of resistance spreading between the two of them.
Even though they were standing together, they seemed strangely unfamiliar. Even a little... out of place.
All this was soon broken.
There were footsteps in the hall, and Zhiyuan and Liu Su outside the hall looked inside at the same time.
Then, they saw two figures appear, one in front and one behind. Their expressions froze slightly at almost the same time.
A cool figure in white appeared in the sight.
Very white!
It’s cold too!
Almost the moment she appeared, the eyes of the two people outside the hall were focused on her.
At the same time, Li Piaomiao, who had just stepped out of the hall, noticed two cold gazes suddenly shooting out from the air.
She raised her eyes and saw two figures in front of her, one on the left and one on the right, standing side by side.
Li Piaomiao's eyes met those two, and he seemed to be stunned for a moment.
Then……
So he stopped.
The three people's eyes met.
There was a brief silence.
Lin Jiangnian, who followed the eldest princess out of the palace, was also stunned when he saw the scene in front of him!
This picture... isn't right!
Outside the hall in front, Zhiyuan and Liu Su stood quietly in the darkness. Even though they were dressed in black and almost blended into the darkness, they were still dazzling.
At this moment, the three of them suddenly met, and Lin Jiangnian inexplicably had an indescribable feeling... It was quite like the tension of a wife meeting another wife!
One is the fiancée appointed by the current emperor, and the other is the fiancée chosen by Lin Jiangnian himself!
And there is also a fiancée who refuses to admit it!
Don’t say that, you really shouldn’t say that!
Even though Lin Jiangnian has excellent psychological quality, he is still a little worried that they will fight!
None of these three people in front of me are easy to mess with!
In terms of martial arts, everyone's martial arts skills are far superior to Lin Jiangnian. He can't deal with just one, let alone three at the same time...
I can’t stand it!
My body can’t take it!
My waist may not be able to bear it!
Just as Lin Jiangnian was still worried about whether there would be a river of blood, the situation did not develop at all.
Li Piaomiao walked out of the hall and casually cast his gaze on the two people outside the hall. After staring for a moment, he slowly retracted his gaze and turned to look at Lin Jiangnian.
Without saying anything, he turned and left.
It left lightly, without taking a cloud with it.
Lin Jiangnian stared at the eldest princess's back in white as she turned and left, wondering if her look just now really had no other meaning?
When he looked away, the eyes of the two people outside the hall also fell on him.
For a moment, everyone looked at him differently.
Zhiyuan looked normal, but Liu Su looked at him with a half-smile. It seemed like a half-smile, but in fact... Lin Jiangnian noticed the anger in her eyes.
Of course, there is also a fleeting hint of worry!
When Lin Jiangnian approached, Zhiyuan looked up at him.
No words.
But those beautiful eyes were bright and clear, as if asking something.
"Let's go home."
Lin Jiangnian spoke to the two of them with a smile.
Zhiyuan didn't say anything, and got the answer she wanted from Lin Jiangnian's reaction.
Instead, Liu Su, who was standing beside him, looked at him in surprise: "Did it work?"
"certainly!"
Lin Jiangnian looked at her, but saw that Liu Su seemed to have thought of something, and said with a forced smile: "Sure enough, there are people in the palace who are different!"
Why does this sound so awkward?
Lin Jiangnian ignored him and explained, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will send someone to escort us out of the palace."
Things were indeed going smoothly. Lin Jiangnian had originally thought that when he met Li Ci Ning, he would doubt Liu Su's identity, and he had also made plans in advance to have Liu Su and Zhi Yuan cooperate with each other.
Unexpectedly, Li Ci Ning did not ask too many questions.
Obviously, he must have known something, but he didn't expose it, and Lin Jiangnian was happy to cooperate.
But Liu Su stared at Lin Jiangnian, half-smiled, hinting at something: "So, did I forget to thank the princess just now?"
"Um?"
Lin Jiangnian turned his head to look at her, but saw Liu Su glance at Zhiyuan and sneered, "Without your fiancée's help, I'm afraid we will have to stay in the palace today, right?"
Lin Jiangnian: “…”
"It has nothing to do with her."
"It doesn't matter?"
Liu Su naturally didn't believe it: "Aren't you going to see the prince? Why are you out with her?"
"Just happened to run into..."
"Just by chance?"
"What else?"
"How should I know?"
“…”
It was obvious that this Saint Lady Liu seemed to be deliberately looking for trouble.
While stirring up trouble and setting the pace, he was also secretly looking at the kite next to him, trying to provoke a dispute.
However, the kite ignored it.
"Okay, it's getting late, let's leave the palace first!"
Lin Jiangnian waved his hand. The palace was about to be in chaos, and it was indeed not suitable for them to stay here any longer.
"snort!"
Liu Su snorted lightly, but did not deny Lin Jiangnian's words.
Soon, the three of them left the palace smoothly under the escort of the imperial guards sent by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Li Ci Ning.
However, when he was leaving the palace, he discovered chaos inside and outside the palace gate. After asking around, he learned that a mysterious assassin had forced his way out of the palace not long ago, and the palace guards were trying to catch him.
"Are there any forces outside the palace?"
"Anyone who can force his way out of the palace must be quite skilled in martial arts..."
Lin Jiangnian glanced at the guards guarding the palace gates and asked the two people beside him, "Are you two sure you can force your way in safely?"
Zhiyuan raised his eyes and glanced a few times, as if he was estimating something, without saying anything.
Lin Jiangnian turned his head and looked at Liu Su on the other side.
"have no idea."
Liu Su frowned and spoke in a dull voice.
After leaving the palace, she turned around and was about to leave, but Lin Jiangnian grabbed her hand.
"Where are you going?"
"go home."
Liu Su tried to shake it off.
"It's too late now!"
Lin Jiangnian pointed at the sky and said, "How about we go to the Jiang Mansion and rest for a while?"
Lin Jiangnian couldn't let Liu Su leave alone at the moment. Firstly, she had been tossing and turning all night and her mental state was not very good.
Secondly, Liu Su entered the palace last night to assassinate the third prince, but the plan failed. She doesn’t know what she will face when she returns to the Tianshen Sect.
Lin Jiangnian is not very confident about her!
Hearing this, Liu Su was slightly startled, as if a little surprised. She subconsciously glanced at Zhiyuan, the corner of her mouth raised slightly, and sneered: "Go back with you?"
"I'm afraid someone will be angry!"
Lin Jiangnian turned around to look at Zhiyuan, but saw Zhiyuan looking at her calmly and said, "I won't be angry!"
"I didn't say it was you."
Liu Su snorted coldly.
Seeing that the two seemed to be about to quarrel again, Lin Jiangnian quickly stood between them.
These two people are usually quiet and calm, so why are they not getting along when they meet tonight, and even speaking in a sarcastic and mocking manner?
"Alright, alright, stop talking!"
Lin Jiangnian inserted himself between the two of them, blocking their gaze from each other. He grabbed one with each hand, holding their soft, boneless, and tender hands on the left and right, and held them tightly.
Then, he said firmly:
"It's getting late, let's talk later!"
"Now, go home!"
"Let's go home together!"
“…”
