Chapter 20: Offending Petty People
The footsteps were light, but the breathing was slow and labored, it was a man.
Could it be Chu Li?
Qing Xia's eyebrows involuntarily twitched. The newcomer was apparently being extremely cautious, unlike the carefree manner of Chu Li when he first arrived; could it be that last night's actions had aroused his vigilance?
For the entire day, there was no news of Qi An's escape from outside. Chu Li must have known that this was a critical moment when the two armies were facing off against each other. If Qi An were to escape now, it would be an immeasurable blow to the morale of the Southern Chu army. Moreover, at present, it is absolutely impossible for Qi An to escape from the borders of Southern Chu, and there is still some hope of capturing him. If news were to be leaked out, luring a large number of Qi troops to come and rescue him, it would be even more unprofitable.
So, as for last night's search, it was only said outside that a spy had infiltrated the city. Qing Xia deeply understood the reason behind it and thus did not have any panic throughout the day.
But at this moment, someone suddenly sneaked into the bathroom quietly, and Qing Xia had to muster up her spirit. If she really alerted Chu Li, facing the thousands of forbidden troops in the Chu Palace, Qing Xia wasn't reckless enough to think that she could escape with her life.
She glanced down at the scar on her abdomen, furrowed her brow slightly, and decisively walked into the water, submerging her entire body. A wave of numb pain suddenly washed over her, Qing Xia closed her eyes lightly, but secretly concentrated all her energy, not missing any slight movement or sound from outside.
The faint sound of footsteps echoed softly, and Qing Xia's heart skipped a beat.
The footsteps were light and disorderly, but landed steadily, clearly belonging to someone who had practiced martial arts; the breathing frequency was roughly consistent, about 10 times per minute, indicating that the person's martial arts skills were not weak, unlike those of ordinary people, and their age was likely between twenty and thirty. From the moment the first person's voice was heard until the last person entered the tunnel, it took about five seconds; based on the agility and age of the group, it could be inferred that there were approximately five people. As they walked, each person had a habit of swinging one arm slightly more widely, indicating that all of them were accustomed to wielding swords. Moreover, interestingly, among this group of people, one person primarily used chest breathing, with a slightly rapid breathing frequency, which suggested that the person was female.
In the blink of an eye, Qing Xia had already figured out the general situation of the newcomer. However, in her heart, she was frantically thinking about where she had gone wrong last night. Logically speaking, this shouldn't be possible at all - she had been extremely careful with everything, and everyone who had ever had direct contact with her was no longer alive. How could she have slipped up?
It's too late to think about those things now, Qing Xia focused his mind and waited for the moment when the other party would make a move.
Article 2, Chapter 1 of the Spy Code: One must not abandon their spy identity until the very last moment when there is no other choice. In other words, it's a typical case of "not shedding tears until one sees the coffin", never admitting to anything without direct evidence.
So, even at this time, Qing Xia did not take the initiative to attack, nor did she dodge around, but instead maintained a beautiful bathing posture, leaning against the pool.
She was making a bet that the other party was just Chu Li's probing move, and the stake was her strong confidence in her own skills over the years.
A faint sound of footsteps echoed in the bathroom, Qing Xia closed her eyes and leaned against the edge of the bathtub, a picture of complete relaxation.
The sound slowly approached, and Qing Xia's muscles were filled with explosive force for a moment, waiting for the opponent to make even the slightest movement. However, the opponent simply leaned in slowly, and in the silence, only his increasingly heavy and fearful breathing could be heard. Qing Xia furrowed her brow, they had already gotten very close, but there was no movement at all, things seemed a bit strange.
But just as Qing Xia had become vigilant, a soft and smooth sound of someone getting out of the water suddenly rose up quietly. The voice was low and inaudible, but Qing Xia still heard it roughly at the first moment.
Something is wrong!
A thread of vigilance suddenly rose to her mind, and at this moment, a chill approached abruptly. Qing Xia suddenly opened her eyes, and before she could even see what was happening, her hands instinctively pushed against the edge of the pool, borrowing strength to leap into the air and jump onto the pool deck. A white cotton robe that had been placed beside the pool deck flew up into the air, and Qing Xia did a sideways flip, her hands and feet moving as if by magic to get into the robe. Her left hand emerged from the sleeve, formed a claw, and swiftly grabbed at the chilly thing in front of her, her body spinning around before stabilizing on the pool deck. At this moment, her right hand had just finished tying the last knot of the robe's waistband.
From the enemy's attack, to Qing Xia jumping out of the water pool, putting on her clothes, all these actions happened within one second. The entire action was smooth and swift, Qing Xia's face was cold and stern, her eyes were sharp and piercing, her left hand grasped tightly in front of her body, and what she held in her hand was actually a small, thick and spotted poisonous snake!
Looking at the only woman standing in the bathroom besides herself, Qing Xia's eyes slowly narrowed, with a strange and eerie glow like a lynx.
A young girl in a pink cheongsam dress rubbed her eyes in disbelief, only to find that the scene before her remained unchanged, and she couldn't help but be shocked and pale.
Qing Xia's eyes suddenly turned cold, the corners of his mouth tightly pursed, and he exerted a slight force with his hand. A cracking sound of bones instantly rang out, and the striped poisonous snake that had been struggling suddenly convulsed and died!
"A saint once said, 'It's better to offend a gentleman than to offend a petty person.' It seems I've indeed committed a great taboo." Qing Xia's voice was cold and detached as she gazed at Princess Jia Yun's pale face, which was filled with shock. A cold smile suddenly appeared on her lips, and with a swift motion, she flung the soft and fluffy poisonous snake towards Princess Jia Yun.
"Ah!" A piercing scream suddenly rose to the sky!
Qing Xia put on a magnificent brocade robe, didn't even glance at Jia Yun and the others again, and walked alone into the long corridor of the bathhouse, heading towards the main hall of Lan Ting Da Dian.
That night, the news of Lan Ting's scolding of Chu Gong's Princess Jia Yun spread throughout the palace, and while most people were applauding, some were secretly clenching their fists.
Chu Li returned at the third watch, although extremely unwilling, but Qing Xia still got up from bed with tears in her eyes and came to welcome this person who was still generous in the middle of the night, coming to visit the actual owner of Chu Palace.
Chu Li had always been arrogant and unruly, even with the dragon carriage, he still maintained his bad habit of riding horses in the deep palace. A string of horseshoes broke the quiet of the night, countless lanterns lit up, and the women at each palace gate all looked forward to this young emperor of the empire, but Chu Li still galloped all the way to the front of the Lan Ting Hall palace gate.
There, in a deep purple brocade robe, Qing Xia wore a dark blue cloak, surrounded by a group of maids, standing in front of the magnificent palace gate, quietly waiting for his arrival.
It's a bit short, another chapter will be posted this afternoon, and there will be about one more chapter tonight. Please leave a message to show your support.
