This Killer Is Easy To Deceive - 23

Chapter 23 – Hope

It was now the Eighth Lunar Month and the temperature was rising.  Hua Qianqian instructed Aunt Dai to cut up the cold melon that had been chilled for a day and distribute it to all the servants while she remained in the gazebo in the courtyard.  On the stone tabletop were some ready-cut wedges of cold melon and she ate happily while holding a piece of melon in her hand.

After midday had passed, as expected, Hua Qianqian heard a familiar voice calling from afar.

“Third Senior Sister!……….Third Senior Sister!……..”

Before the person could be seen, the sound of the person’s voice had traveled faster.  Involuntarily, a smile curled on Hua Qianqian’s lips but she did not get up and continued to eat the cold melon in big mouthfuls.  As expected, the figure appeared at the moon gate and when the figure saw the cold melon sitting on the stone table, the running pace speeded up.

“Cold melon!”  Bai Yuxiao did not use the curved bridge to cross over but instead, she flew directly across the pond.  With a few taps on the lotus leaves using her toes, she leaped over.

As soon as Bai Yuxiao entered the gazebo, she sat down without any courtesy.  Ignoring and without greeting her senior sister, she stretched out her hands to pick up a wedge of cold melon to bite on it.  The chilled cold melon tasted delicious and was juicy.  The moment she bit on it, the cold melon helped to cool off the heat, and Bai Yuxiao sighed with satisfaction.

“Third Senior Sister, did that uncle send this rare cold melon as a gift for you again?  That man is so nice!  In the future, you must introduce that man to Junior Sister!”

Hua Qianqian rolled her eyes at her.  “You’re really something!  You can even be bought over with just a cold melon!   I, your Third Senior Sister is the chief dancer and even those men who ostentatiously gift me with gold won’t necessarily be able to get a chance to see me.”

“You can afford to put on airs and refuse to see people because you’re not married.  Your Junior Sister has to fight a battle of wits with the Wangye whenever she wants to leave the mansion.  It was not easy for me to finally find an opportunity to slip out.”

“You, ah……..you’re already a mother and you’re still so unsteady.  Now your status is different and the title of Ling Wangfei is not a trivial matter.  I must find time to meet my lovely niece and nephew.”

Junior Sister had given birth to a pair of twins, a boy, and a girl, forming the character ‘good’ which is truly a blessing.

(The Chinese characters for a son (子) and a daughter (女) when put together they form the character  ‘good’ (好).)

Bai Yuxiao pouted.  “Si Liujing did it on purpose!  As a Wangye, he is naturally busy but he can’t bear to see me being idle, so he forced this title of Ling Wangfei on me and made me give birth to two children as well.  He purposely wanted to keep me so busy that I won’t have time to sneak out of the mansion!”

When Hua Qianqian heard, she could not help laughing.  “It’s because he dotes on you.”

Bai Yuxiao’s eyes widened.  “I’ve said so much just now.  Which word did I mention that says he dotes on me?”

“Do you need words to tell you how much he dotes on you?  It’s all written on your face.  I haven’t seen you for a while and noticed you’re very spirited, your mouth keeps complaining but your eyes are smiling.  It can be seen that the days spent in the royal mansion had nourished you.”

After a woman is married, by looking at her complexion, one would know whether she is leading a happy life.  Junior Sister was emanating radiance.  Although she had given birth, she had become prettier than before just like a flower bloom that was carefully nurtured.  She emitted a charming fragrance and possessed an additional charming appeal of a mother.  However, it could not be denied that the feminine charm on her body was even more moving.

Bai Yuxiao was embarrassed by Third Senior Sister’s scrutiny.  In front of her, Bai Yuxiao could only shamefully admit it.  Si Liujing treated her very well and truthfully, nothing could be used as an exchange.  She complained about not being able to leave the mansion freely but it was only just talking.

When Third Senior Sister studied her with her beautiful eyes, Bai Yuxiao replied in embarrassment.

“He treats me very well and I’ve nothing to complain but he’s a bit overbearing.  To be honest, even if Third Senior Sister doesn’t look for me, I will also seek out Third Senior Sister for help.”

“Oh?  What’s the matter?”

“Wangye had all this while been questioning me about the source of the name list and the information of the mountain bandits that were given to him.  I’m really at my wits’ end and want to discuss this matter with you.  Wangye is already suspicious that I have another identity.”

Since the topic of discussion had entered a serious note, Hua Qianqin also put aside her playful thoughts and handed Bai Yuxiao a towel to wipe her hands that were stained with cold melon juice.

“You still haven’t told him that we are secret constables?”

“I’m still hesitating.  We’re secret constables working in the shadows and once this is known, we can’t work as secret constables anymore.”

Hua Qianqian showed a slight smile and placed a hand over her Junior Sister’s hand.

“The reason I’m looking for you this time is that I have something to discuss with you.  No, it should be said that I need your help.”

“Why should you mention needing my help?  If Senior Sister wants anything, you can just tell me.  We’re family, is there a need for politeness?”

When Hua Qianqian heard, her heart turned soft.

The four sisters were adopted by their Master since they were young and the feelings shared by the four sisters were similar to biological sisters.  Among the four sisters, she and Yuxiao have the best relationship and constantly communicated with each other.

She pondered for a while and said cautiously.  “I’m afraid that this matter about us being secret constables can’t be hidden from Wangye any longer because I need to borrow the power of Wangye to protect myself.”

When Bai Yuxiao heard this, she noticed something strange and asked in seriousness.  “Protect yourself?  What’s the matter?  Does someone intend to do you harm?”

“Having reached this point, I won’t hide it from you anymore.  Someone had offered a bounty for my life.”

Bai Yuxiao was shocked by the news and gripped her Senior Sister’s hand with a solemn expression.

“Who wants to kill you?  It’s related to the Jiangnan salt tax case, right?  They know you were investigating the case, so they wanted to silence you just like they wanted to assassinate Wangye.”

“There’s a possibility they had contacted killers to get rid of me and over these past six months, killers had come for me one after another.  I didn’t tell you because Ling Wang was busy with the Jiangnan case and you were nurturing your pregnancy.  Now that the affairs in Jiangnan have been stabilized and you’ve given birth, so I think…….”

Speaking up to this point, Hua Qianqian was going to tell her Junior Sister about Yeqing, but unexpectedly, her Junior Sister suddenly narrowed her eyes, pulled out a flexible sword from her waist, and she shot upwards bracing for an attack.

Everything erupted suddenly.

Hua Qianqian did not stop her Junior Sister and neither was she in a panic.  Instead, she glared in annoyance at the two people who had started to fight.  It was excusable for Yuxiao to pull out her sword and attack him but that Yeqing interrupted without reason and it was not time for him to appear yet.

Hua Qianqian is a chief dancer and knew that the timing of making an appearance is very crucial.  She felt very angry and with both hands on her waist, she glared at Yeqing.  She knew that unless Yeqing did it deliberately, Yuxiao would never be aware of his presence.

Hua Qianqian also drew out her sword and taking stock of the situation, she intended to stop them from continuing with the fight.

“Stop!”  She thrust out her sword to block her Junior Sister’s move and then stood in the middle to separate the two people.

Bai Yuxiao is a constable and naturally, she has a keen intuition of a constable.  She could sense the murderous aura of a killer on the strange man’s body.  Moreover, just now Senior Sister had mentioned the assassination attempts on her, and this person was sneakily hiding on the beam.  If she had not reacted speedily, it was afraid that Senior Sister would have encountered a mishap.

“This man is a killer!”  Bai Yuxiao said angrily.

Hua Qianqian quickly explained.  “He won’t kill me.”

“What is his origin?”

“He is a killer from Shadowless Gate.”

Shocked was displayed on Bai Yuxiao’s face.  “Shadowless Gate?  You still say he’s not here to kill you?”

“He’s a killer but he won’t kill me.”

Bai Yuxiao threw a suspicious glance at her Senior Sister and then glared at the man.  “What’s in your hand?”

Hua Qianqian retrieved the object from Yeqing and opened it for her to take a look.  “This is my reward poster.”

“Why is it in his hands?”

“Someone offered a bounty and tasked him with killing me.”

Bai Yuxiao stared at Hua Qianqian for a while before she finally spoke.

“Senior Sister, this is the first time since I’ve known you that I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me.”

The killer hid on the beam under the roof while holding the reward poster.  If he did not come to kill then can it be he is here to look for someone to recite poems and draw paintings?

Bai Yuxiao could not be blamed for having misunderstood since Yeqing had the poster in his possession.  He had intended to show the poster as evidence to Bai Yuxiao.  Although he was harmless, the murderous aura that exuded from his body was remarkably similar to the chilling aura of a killer.

It could not be helped.  After being a killer for such a long time, this aura could not be changed within a short period of time.

Hua Qianqian hurriedly put down the sword, pulled her Junior Sister over, and then turned around to look accusingly at Yeqing.

“I told you to follow my instructions.  You can only appear when I call for you.  Why did you frighten my Junior Sister?”  She glared at him angrily.

Yeqing looked at the woman in front of him and said to Hua Qianqian.  “She has good martial skills and won’t lose to you.”

Che!  His hands must be feeling itchy!  He deliberately wanted to test Junior Sister’s martial skills?!

“We were taught by the same Master, so naturally, our martial skills are of the same excellent level!”

Yeqing nodded and said truthfully.  “But if you were to meet with killers who have the same level of martial skills as me, it won’t be to your advantage.”

Hua Qianqian rolled her eyes at him and ignored him.  Then she pulled her Junior Sister back to the table and sat down.  In front of her flustered Junior Sister, she introduced Yeqing to her and narrated how she escaped from the assassination attempts on her life with his help.  She also told Bai Yuxiao about how he sneakily blended in with the gang of mountain bandits.  As a result, he was able to find out the mountain bandits’ lair therefore, his contribution could not be denied.

When Bai Yuxiao heard, she was surprised and finally came to an understanding.

She had long suspected that someone was helping Senior Sister since she was able to find out that the group of people who attacked Ling Wang was not from Shadowless Gate but the mountain bandits who blamed Shadowless Gate.  However, Bai Yuxiao did not expect the person who helped her would turn out to be a killer from Shadowless Gate.

Hua Qianqian also suggested that hopefully, Yeqing could be introduced to Ling Wang since Yeqing is a capable man and Ling Wang is a person who likes to recruit talents.  She believed that Ling Wang would appreciate Yeqing’s skills.

Bai Yuxiao is not a pedantic person who sticks rigidly to formal rules.  Just like her Senior Sister, she did not mind Yeqing’s identity as a killer.  She even had the thought that since he was willing to risk his life for Senior Sister and sneaked into the mountain bandits’ lair, he is a man with affection and righteousness.  She could not help but admire her Third Senior Sister in her heart.  Even a cold-blooded assassin of Shadowless Gate was willing to bow down to her and listen to her obediently.

However, what she cares most about was the safety of her Senior Sister, and as long as the mastermind is still not caught, Senior Sister’s life would still be threatened.  She wanted to protect her Senior Sister and not let anyone harm her.

Suddenly, an idea flashed in her mind and she jumped up in excitement.  “I have it!  I’ve thought of a great idea that can protect Senior Sister and prevent the other party from having the opportunity to exploit!”

Hua Qianqian stared at the happy expression on Junior Sister’s face and asked with curiosity.  “What’s the idea?”

“Senior Sister, wait for me.  I’ll return to the royal mansion first and wait here for my news!”

After speaking, Bai Yuxiao instantly turned around to leave.  Without giving Hua Qianqian a chance to ask any questions, she hurried out of the house and returned to the royal mansion in search of her husband, the Wangye.