Chapter 76: The Summoning of the Undead

Li Ning’an went to the garden mentioned by Fu Minglang, which was just separated from Qilin Hall by a wall. The garden was completely empty, not a single palace maid or eunuch in sight.

It seemed intentionally cleared out.

In the middle of the garden stood an octagonal pavilion, with a person inside, facing away from her.

But judging by the clothing, it didn’t seem like Fu Minglang.

Li Ning’an paused, and the person seemed to sense her presence, turning around to look.

“Princess Ning’an, what a coincidence,” the Prince of Chi Jin said, clearly surprised to see her.

“What are you doing here?” Li Ning’an asked, still standing outside the pavilion.

Could it be that Fu Minglang made some deal with Chi Jin, or had he stumbled in by accident?

“You had someone send me a message to meet here; I thought you were just teasing me,” he replied.

Chi Jin was simply bored and had come to take a look, not expecting to actually see her.

“When did I send you a message?” Li Ning’an finally realized someone had lured both her and Chi Jin here.

There were not just three thousand eunuchs in the palace; even if she could find one, that eunuch would have likely fled by now.

If Fu Minglang could buy off the eunuchs to set up such a scheme, she had underestimated him.

In a flash, Li Ning’an understood why Fu Minglang had done this.

But this pavilion was drafty, and without drugs to help, what could happen between her and Chi Jin?

Even talking for a while in this empty pavilion didn’t mean anything.

At that moment, Chi Jin’s gaze changed; he felt a restlessness in his heart, eagerly wanting to find something.

He vaguely understood that something was about to happen, but he didn’t know when he had been caught.

“You should leave quickly,” Chi Jin said, knowing even finding a maid could not allow anything to happen with Princess Ning’an.

Especially in a place like this.

Li Ning’an turned and ran, just as several noblewomen walked this way, chatting and laughing, and saw Princess Ning’an rushing out.

“How is it Princess Ning’an? And there are people from the Bei Yue envoy here. You’re being a bit disrespectful,” said Qiu Li.

Qiu Li’s marriage had been settled, and she was feeling frustrated, coming out to relieve her mood when she spotted Li Ning’an.

Li Ning’an, considering that Chi Jin was still behind her, thought about how to lead these people back when Li Ningyi also arrived.

“Sister San, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. How did you end up here?”

Li Ningyi had intended to catch some romance, but only found her third sister, not the Prince of Chi Jin.

Fu Minglang had only agreed to cooperate in their outing, and the eunuch was found by her fifth brother, who had promised a hefty sum. Now he had already been sent out to be dealt with.

Such a blatant handle, of course, Li Ningyi would not let it slide.

She had just seen Qiu Li leading a group out and casually slowed her steps.

“Really?” Li Ning’an was a bit anxious; she couldn’t let anyone discover Chi Jin, but she had no way to explain.

Li Ningyi remembered having someone arrange for the Prince of Chi Jin to meet at the garden pavilion, so she deliberately looked that way. “I think I saw a shadow.”

Qiu Li followed her gaze and seemed to indeed see something.

“Could it be… Sister San, are you hiding some surprise to present to Father?”

Li Ningyi didn’t dare to say a wild man; Qiu Li and the others might not want to get involved in such matters, but a gift was different.

Qiu Li became a bit curious. “Let’s go take a look.”

Just then, someone emerged from inside, but it wasn’t Chi Jin.

“I was just chatting with Li Ning’an; what are you all doing here?”

Yan Ziqi looked at them with some surprise; Li Ning’an seemed to have known it was him all along and nodded in acknowledgment.

“Ah, Fourth Sister said she was looking for me, but I didn’t see Hongxiu come to tell me; she’s my personal maid, and you didn’t even ask?”

Li Ningyi didn’t know it was Yan Ziqi who had come out.

“You… he…” Li Ningyi realized the plan had failed.

With a flick of her hand, she couldn’t be bothered to explain and simply turned back.

Qiu Li had long known that Li Ning’an had changed her affections, sneering and no longer wanting to go inside, heading back with her companions.

Li Ning’an looked at Yan Ziqi. “Where is he? It seems he really has fallen into the trap.”

“He doesn’t believe us either, and we can’t get anyone in; I tossed him into the back pond. Don’t worry, he won’t drown.”

Yan Ziqi had even sent someone to keep an eye on him.

As the Bei Yue envoy was about to leave the capital, they feared any unexpected incidents, so when Li Ning’an suddenly received an invitation from Fu Minglang, she couldn’t be too cautious.

Before leaving, she had already instructed Xing’e to inform Yan Ziqi.

“Was anyone blocking you?” Li Ning’an suspected that Fu Minglang had teamed up with Fourth Sister. It was likely that Fifth Brother and Tong Linian would find a way to detain Yan Ziqi.

“Yes, when I was coming out, they stopped me in the corridor, insisting on drinking with me,” he replied.

Tong Linian had called a few generals to block his path, taking turns to toast him.

“In just that short time, you managed to bring them all down?”

Li Ning’an noticed his eyes were very clear.

“I just knocked them down directly; we have people backing us,” he said.

Ji Bai, being his good brother, had helped keep Tong Linian occupied.

Wen Di, full of resentment, took it out on the Fourth Prince—no, he was venting his grievances and was currently in the midst of it.

Meanwhile, Chi Jin, who had been frozen in the pond for half an hour, finally changed clothes and arrived late.

The Mingde Emperor, seeing his pale face, seemed to think he was ill and forgave him.

When Chi Jin returned to the Honglu Pavilion, he noticed that his clothes no longer had that faint fragrance.

When he left, there was always a kind of subtle scent.

“I thought I had misjudged it. The infighting in Da Qi has reached such a level that they are resorting to such despicable tactics.”

After Duozhi and Mu Zhan learned the truth, Duozhi angrily asked, “They actually mixed that substance in the water to soak the clothes, causing His Highness to be like this? We should demand an explanation from the Da Qi Emperor.”

Chi Jin shook his head. “Let it go; we have no evidence.”

The clothes he had changed out of had already been taken away by Yan Shizi’s people.

With only a few days left, it was better to stay low-key.

Once the Bei Yue envoy departed, Li Ning’an immediately went to the Duke of Xiang’s residence. “Let’s set off now.”

Li Ning’an changed into convenient men’s clothing, carrying a bundle on her back, and Yan Ziqi did the same.

On the eighth day of the first month, there were some changes in the betting house.

Wen Di went to gamble and saw the board saying: “Princess Ning’an and Young Master Yan have eloped, whereabouts unknown. Does Lord Fu still have a chance?”

Wen Di decisively bet on ‘no’ and then felt his ear being tugged.

“Who dares… Dad?”

Wen Taishi was grabbing his useless son. “When will you be able to turn over a new leaf?”

He thought mingling with Princess Ning’an would lead him down the right path, but just as they left the city, he came back.

“This time, no one can persuade me; I must beat you up.”

Wen Di didn’t dare to resist and shot a glance at his attendant.

His father dared to chase him to the gambling house; he was truly infuriated. The lighter punishment would be a beating, and the heavier one would be removing him from the family tree.

Quickly go call the Minister of Revenue to save me!

After all, he was currently the cash cow for the Ministry of Revenue.

Knowing that Yan Ziqi and the others were leaving the capital, Tong Linian quickly summoned his secret guards.

General Tong understood his son’s intentions and gave him a雀令 (sparrow order), saying, “Every family secretly trains some assassins; they are not to be underestimated.”

Even those willing to die together wouldn’t be as formidable as his own trained assassins.

Those were truly born from blood and battles.

“I intended to wait until you became the head of the family before passing this on to you.”

Seeing his son’s inadequacies, General Tong could somewhat empathize with Wen Taishi’s feelings.

Tong Linian cupped his hands and said, “I will definitely not disappoint Father again.”

General Tong waved his hand, and Tong Linian took the雀令 to summon the assassins.

With a sigh, General Tong reflected that while Lize and Lingyi were both recorded under the lady’s name, they were still born of a concubine.

If it weren’t for this, he wouldn’t have supported Linian in rising through the ranks.

He could only hope this child wouldn’t let him down.

Only with Yan Ziqi’s death could the Iron Cavalry truly be his, and he would not suffer the humiliation of being captured.

General Tong had two sons and one daughter, and only Tong Linian was of legitimate birth.

Although Tong Linian was not close to his siblings, he understood the benefits of brotherly support.

Moreover, Lingyi could still marry her cousin and become the Empress.