World of Chessboard

Unlike the chaos on the other side, Duke Huan's thousand or so people had already exterminated the remaining members of the Puppet Palace. Just as they had received the news, the Ming Palace was already empty, and there were less than three hundred people left. Zhao Qingyan activated a few defensive mechanisms, and the guards rushed in, taking advantage of his surprise to kill half of them. After that, the one-sided situation lasted for six hours, and everything returned to normal.

The Puppet Palace's greatest reliance was its numerous mechanisms and formations. Zhao Qingyan, who remembered the layout of the palace by heart, split the palace into several areas and drew a diagram for the guards to share with them. Until the entire Ming Palace was cleared out, they had lost less than 60 people.

Zhao Qingyan breathed in the fresh air outside the palace and was about to leave when she realized that her feet had been grabbed. Lowering his head, he saw a man whose body was covered in blood crawling on the ground, waving his arm with difficulty. The dagger in his hand fiercely stabbed into his lower leg. His bloodied face lifted up to look at himself, and his glazed eyes began to reveal a smile of relief. Then, he fell face first.

"Little Wang …" Seeing the situation, the guards rushed over.

Zhao Qingyan raised her hand, signaling for him not to come over. "He's already dead." He slowly crouched down and moved his hand away from the dagger and placed it on the ground. His pants were cut by the dagger by an inch, revealing the support underneath. The dagger was not even able to make a small scratch on the support.

Zhao Qingyan tidied up his clothes and stood up. The hem of his clothes covered the hole that was hard to find. Lowering his head to look at the corpse that was slowly cooling down, his face carried a sigh. He slowly walked to a distant place, yet inexplicably, he felt like vomiting.

He was used to life and death, but it was still hard to ignore them.

A whistle sounded out, causing Zhao Qingyan's expression to change slightly. Ran Hao, who was not far from him, also looked in that direction vigilantly, before he turned to his young master and inquired.

Zhao Qingyan's eyes swept over the guards who were cleaning up the corpse. Seeing that no one had noticed, he nodded slightly towards Ran Hao, signalling for him not to follow him. Then, he walked towards the direction of the sound. Ran Hao looked a little hesitant, but still stayed where he was.

"Young prince, you're quite fast." In the corner of the room, Tang Xiao was leaning against the wall, his eyes filled with disdain.

Zhao Qingyan stopped walking and looked at him quietly, "You are here indeed."

Tang Xiao's eyes narrowed in to a smile. "Yes, I really am here." You know I'm here? You should hide among the guards, next to your uncle. That way, I won't be able to get close to you and scare you. "

Zhao Qingyan's gaze shifted slightly before he answered simply, "You asked me to come over."

Tang Xiao stood up and walked over to look him in the eye. "Are you a dog?" If I tell you to come, you will come? "

Zhao Qingyan turned around to look behind her. It seemed as if she wanted to avoid him, but she did not move. She turned her head to look at him and said, "If you have something to say, then say it."

Tang Xiao was like a fool, punching him in the stomach. He doubled over in pain and grabbed the man by the neck. "Don't stand so straight. I hate it when people look down on me from above."

Zhao Qingyan coughed and reached out to support the pillar beside her to steady herself. "You can't blame me for being tall."

Tang Xiao's fingers tightened, and he lifted his head to look at his friends. "You're a good man, aren't you? You actually managed to gain the trust of your uncles. I'll make the Crown Prince let you go."

A trace of disgust appeared in Zhao Qingyan's eyes. "Let go of me."

The strength in Tang Xiao's fingers increased, as though he wanted to crush Lan Jue's neck. He smirked coldly. "What's wrong?" Are you looking at me like I'm dirty? Your obsession with cleanliness hasn't been cured? "

Zhao Qingyan raised his hand to pull his hand away, raised it halfway and then silently lowered it. The disgust in his eyes did not decrease in the slightest, "Let go."

"Are you ordering me?" Tang Xiao was unmoved. "I've said it before, I don't care who you are or what kind of young master you are. I don't care if you're a clean freak or have a funny self-esteem." Since I can't resist anymore, I'll either endure it or beg for mercy like everyone else, wagging my tail like a dog. I admit you're prettier, smarter, and more fun than they are, but I won't feel bad about it. "

Zhao Qingyan tried her best to suppress the unbearable feeling she felt when she was out of breath. She simply closed her eyes and did not resist, nor did she pay any attention to him.

Tang Xiao's mouth twitched in frustration. "Forget it. I'm not in the mood to play today."

Zhao Qingyan took two steps back and leaned against the pillar. After taking a few deep breaths, he said immediately, "Then I'll be going."

"Don't go, I haven't finished speaking." Tang Xiao pressed a finger against Zhao Qingyan's chest to inject some of his internal energy into him. Seeing him fall to the ground in pain, he smirked. "Zhao Qingyan, I like what you said." "Aren't you admitting that you came at the right moment and you've left at the right moment?"

Zhao Qingyan painfully curled up into a ball and waited for the pain from her meridians to subside before slowly saying, "This is not something that I admit to, is it? The Gu in your body is Zhu Yan, and torturing me with the neutron Gu is as easy as flipping my palm. What do I think you care? "

Tang Xiao was foolish enough to squat down and look into his calm eyes. He raised an eyebrow. "You're not angry?"

Zhao Qingyan's face was pale, but there was a ridiculing look in her eyes: "Angry? I've known you for ten years in just a month, and you think I'd do something stupid like that? Wouldn't you be happier if I were to anger you? "

Tang Xiao was foolish enough to point a finger at his chest. "Not only are you smart, you're also patient."

Zhao Qingyan was sweating, but there was no change in her expression. Her eyes were clear as she said, "Thank you for your praise."

Tang Xiao Yu tried his best to convey the information, but his smile was especially gentle. "You think I'm praising you?"

Zhao Qingyan said, "I don't think so. I just hope that you can lose interest as soon as possible so that I can leave."

"Don't you think it's good for us to chat like this?" Tang Xiao asked softly.

Zhao Qingyan said, "It's quite good." He swallowed the moan that almost left his mouth and tilted his head. "I have plenty of time to chat with you. I'm just afraid that if you go back too late, I'll ruin your plans."

Tang Xiao blinked. "It's fine. I'm in no hurry." Since you don't object, why don't you tell me what you did? I'm rather curious, you already killed Bao Zheng, and you actually came here unharmed? "

Zhao Qingyan said, "I didn't do anything. Master Bao's death has nothing to do with me."

Tang Xiao Yu pretended to be surprised. "Really?" Bao Zheng's death actually has nothing to do with you? "

Zhao Qingyan replied with a big smile. With happiness in his eyes, he asked, "What does it have to do with you whether or not I have anything to do with you? I won't tell you. "

Tang Xiao was surprised, but he didn't get angry. Instead he gave a curious smile. "It's alright. I don't care about this either." I am more concerned about who could make you take such a huge risk by asking the government to send troops over? " The internal energy flowing out from his fingertips strengthened a bit. "You should know what I'm talking about."

Zhao Qingyan smiled, "Of course I know that. Are you sure you want to hear it?" Sweat was already trickling down his cheeks, dripping from his chin and wetting the soil beneath. His eyes were so deep that it was hard to see any fluctuations in his heart.

Tang Xiao's face grew serious. "Of course."

Zhao Qingyan gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. She wiped the sweat from her face on her shoulder, then looked back at Tang Xiao's foolish eyes. "Then, won't I be even worse off?" In less than the time it took to make a cup of tea, his face had turned as pale as paper, and his sweat had formed a puddle on the ground.

Tang Xiao was lost in thought for a moment. He nodded. "Yes, I'll do as I was before. I'm relieved."

Zhao Qingyan naturally knew what he was trying to do. His gaze did not show any signs of backing down as a mocking smile appeared on his face, "Even if you could get his identity from me, it would be of no use. Your mother Gu is not a threat to anyone who has been affected by Zhu Yan's change."

Tang Xiao's eyes narrowed, thoroughly enraged. He no longer held back his anger, and slapped his opponent with his palm.

Zhao Qingyan couldn't control himself and cried out. He started to twitch. The intense pain caused his face to contort and blood to seep out from his mouth and nose.

Tang Xiao could see blood seeping from the man's mouth and nose, and knew he was going to kill him. But he didn't seem to have any problems. He only slowed the output a bit, and didn't stop.

"Mo'er!" Prince Huan heard the noise and hurried over. He saw Zhao Qingyan curled up in a ball on the ground, convulsing as she screamed. Tang Xiao, on the other hand, was squatting to one side, watching with a smile on his face.

When Tang Xiao saw him, he greeted him. "Greetings, Prince Huan."

Prince Huan wanted to go up and save Zhao Qingyan, but he was afraid Tang Xiao would harm his nephew. He had no choice but to stay where he was. "What are you trying to do?"

Tang Xiao was foolish. "I didn't want to do anything. I saw him get poisoned, so I helped him." As for now, his disobedience has angered me, so I decided to punish him a little. " He pointed at the muddy gray sweat beside him.

Duke Huan knew that what he said was most likely true, and seeing Zhao Qingyan like this caused his heart to ache. After hesitating for a while, he asked, "What else do you want to do?"

"I'm just going to take him back and clean up the poison," Tang Xiao said. Of course, if you don't want to, I'll be leaving now. If he needs anything after he wakes up, he can come find me. I'll seriously consider whether or not I can help him. "

When Duke Huan heard this, he immediately said, "Take him with you."

Tang Xiao couldn't help but laugh. It took him a long time before he could stop. "You said you were thinking it over."

Duke Huan hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and nodded, "Take him away."

Tang Xiao Yu rose, and lifted Zhao Qingyan onto his shoulder. "I'm leaving. I'll let him go in a few days." "Well, leave his horse here so he can ride himself home." He walked past King Huan.

Prince Huan silently moved to the side to open up a path. Even though he was dissatisfied with his simple and violent actions of 'taking away' Zhao Qingyan, he could only watch as he left.

"Young master …" Ran Hao, who had already come when he heard the scream earlier, didn't come closer because Zhao Qingyan told him not to follow. When he saw Tang Xiao and Zhao Qingyan come out, Ran Hao's pupils slightly constricted as he cried out in alarm, but he still stood on the spot without moving. It was clear that he had the same thoughts as Duke Huan.

Tang Xiao Yu patted him on the shoulder. "I'm leaving. You just wait and see." Then he left.

Seeing that Ran Hao's gaze was still fixed on the direction Tang Xiao was leaving in, Duke Huan sighed helplessly. "It's getting dark. Let's head back to the tavern to rest."

Ran Hao nodded and lowered his eyes.