Chapter 36

Tang Xia turned around again, stroking the hair hanging over her forehead, “Is there anything else?”

Shun Decai looked at her with sparkles in his eyes, as if he placed his last hope on Tang Xia.

“Your Grace, you own such a mild temper, you can definitely help the emperor make a difference in the future. I hope you can think it over to grasp this opportunity.”

“So Shun Decai takes great pains to catch me up and talks so much just for Helian Jue’s good.”

“I got it. Thanks for your consideration.” Tang Xia said.

Tang Xia increased her pace so that Lyuyou had no choice but to hasten her steps to keep up with hers.

“Your Grace, do you believe Eunuch Shun’s words?” Lyuyou asked.

Tang Xia’s deep phoenix eyes had an obvious ripple skimming over her eyes.

“Let it be. No one can fully understand what the emperor is thinking.” Tang Xia said with a cold but somewhat disembodied voice.

But Tang Xia could not help thinking about it.

“Could it be true? What Shun Decai had said?”

At the same time, Helian Jue’s charismatic eyes appeared in her mind again. And he could attract people’s eyes as long as he sat there.

“If Shun Decai’s words are true, would it be lucky that Helian Jue likes me?”

Tang Xia shook her head, thinking that she was ridiculous to believe an NPC’s words so easily.

“Tang Xia.”

A cold voice came from behind. The voice was as deep as the hooting and drawn-out clarino, and Tang Xia would become senseless every time she heard his voice.

Turning her head around, what Tang Xia saw was Chu Tiankuo in silver armor against the sunlight. With a glittering smile in his eyes, he wore a haughty and unruly look on his calm face.

Tang Xia stepped close to him and said, “There you are.”

“What did Guard Chu call Your Grace? Is it… Xia?” Lyuyou scratched her head trying to recall the name.

Tang Xia got startled for a while and glanced at Chu Tiankuo with resentment, then she pretended to keep her countenance, “What I heard was ‘Yue Ji, Your Grace’. Is your hearing worse than mine?”

Lyuyou stuck her tongue out awkwardly, lowering her head.

Chu Tiankuo raised his eyebrows and said in a cold voice, “I have made progress.”

With those concluding words, Chu Tiankuo left without looking back in the other direction.

Dissatisfied with his unruliness, Tang Xia just frowned then caught up with Chu Tiankuo slowly.

When they arrived at the imperial barracks, Chu Tiankuo unfolded his long fingers.

There was a note.

Tang Xia took it from his hand and unfolded the note gently –

My death was so miserable that I would behead anyone who had killed me in Hecheng hall at midnight!

Lyuyou tilted her head forward and fixed her eyes on the note for a moment with somewhat of a glimmer of fear in her eyes.

“All the people related to this must die at midnight.” Lyuyou said in a trembling voice, raising her thin eyebrows high.

Then Tang Xia and Chu Tiankuo looked at each other.

It was indeed a letter of challenge.

Lyuyou frowned her eyebrows as her face turned red because of fear. Tang Xia could not bear to see her suffering, so she unloaded a sigh of relief.

“You don’t have to be so disturbed.” Tang Xia’s voice was so nice that she soothed Lyuyou’s nerve.

After hearing her words, Lyuyou gradually calmed down, “You mean that there is a way to solve this problem?”

Tang Xia smiled so beautifully that it eclipsed the colors of flowers.

“Of course not.” Tang Xia’s voice was as gentle and long-lasting as a yellowbird’s voice, “There is no ghost at all. So it must be man-made.”

“This letter is literally a death notice, but if we read between the lines we can find from the note that the rumored executioner will be waiting in Hecheng hall at midnight.”

Lyuyou said with a glimmer in her eyes, “If it is indeed man-made, Your Grace can find who the executioner is, so long as you wait at Hecheng hall at midnight.”

Tang Xia raised her chin haughtily and said with compliments in her eyes, “You are worth teaching.”

“But…” The glimmer in Lyuyou’s eyes died out as if she thought of something, “But the executioner must have predicted that Your Grace will figure out what she means so that she dares to say so. Your Grace and Guard Chu will be ambushed by her if she waits and prepares in there.”

Tang Xia raised her thin eyebrows for a moment as she thought of meeting Huangye in the Royal Garden that day but wore a smile in her face right away.

“Then I can inform the imperial troops in advance to arrest her.” Tang Xia said in a relaxed tone, but Lyuyou was surprised by her words.

Lyuyou’s voice trembled so badly that it was clear to see that she was alarmed.

“Does Your Grace plan to inform the imperial troops in advance?”

Tang Xia looked her up and down but remained silent, then she said, “Certainly not.”

“I will meet individually with the executioner.”

She said raising her eyebrows with haughtiness in her eyes.

Lyuyou asked cautiously, “What is your plan?”

“She is going to find out what the executioner’s real purpose is.”

Lyuyou turned her eyes to Chu Tiankuo’s face, following his voice.

As a breeze swept by, Chu Tiankuo wore a trace of indifference on his handsome face in the light of the sun.

“Right. I’m going to find out what the executioner wants to do such that he framed me several times.”

Tang Xia pretended to rage with coldness in her eyes.

“Yes, Your Grace.” Lyuyou lowered her head acting lovable.

Tang Xia relieved a long sigh, “Back off now. I will discuss with Guard Chu how we will deal with the executioner at midnight.”

“Yes.” Lyuyou withdrew right away after bowing to Tang Xia.

Chu Tiankuo asked raising his eyebrows, “Are you sure that she will fall into your trap?”

Tang Xia still fixed her eyes on the direction of Lyuyou leaving. Her look was so obscure that no one could tell what she was thinking about.

“I’m sure.” Tang Xia opened her red lips gently, then spoke out her inference clearly.

“Lyuyou was too weak to make her own decision. Now that she has known our ideas, she will definitely tell her real boss about it.”

“If she is the traitor, what are you going to do with her?” Chu Tiankuo snatched the thread of conversation arbitrarily, raising his eyebrows high.

Tang Xia tilted her head with glittering sparkles in her eyes.

“If she is the traitor, I will definitely get rid of her.”

Chu Tiankuo saw the maliciousness in her eyes, then he wore an indistinct smile in the corner of his mouth, “The tenderhearted woman with an A-cup now can make her own decisions.”

Tang Xia tilted her head slightly with a cantankerous smile in the corner of her mouth, “Thank you. I am wondering how you can promote from a eunuch to a guard without seduction?”

Tang Xia wore a trace of a mischievous smile in her eyes, sparkling like a star. Her eyes were glittering as if they contained the whole sky full of stars.

Chu Tiankuo froze for a moment then ground his teeth, “You’re! Courting! Death!”

Seeing Chu Tiankuo’s face become dark from anger pleased Tang Xia so much that she walked briskly.

“Keep our appointment at midnight, Guard Chu.”

Tang Xia’s voice was deep but clear. However, Chu Tiankuo did not regard it beautiful due to her ridicule.

Fixing his eyes on the slender figure of Tang Xia walking far away, Chu Tiankuo thought for the first time that the woman who tried her best to conquer him was back.

When Tang Xia came back to Jiaofang hall, it was already afternoon.

Then she knitted her thin eyebrows after glancing around.

“Didn’t Lyuyou come back?”

“She came back earlier but stormed out saying that she had something urgent to deal with.” The slave girl replying to Tang Xia was Anran who was asked by Lyuyou to replace Anxia.

Tang Xia raised her chin haughtily with an indistinct smile in the corner of her mouth, “Did you notice what she carried with her?”

Anran began to ruminate carefully as soon as Tang Xia finished her sentence.

“It seemed to be a letter that Lyuyou carried with her.”

Tang Xia wore a smile with a hint of mockery, then raised her eyebrows towards Anran.

“I’m hungry. Prepare me some magnolia denudate cakes.”

When Lyuyou came back, the sky turned black slowly with several stars hanging over, sparkling.

Tang Xia sat in the front end of the wooden chair, leaning on her delicate hand.

As a breeze swept by, her hair was blown into the air, and the jade hairpin in her hair end shined like a star in the night sky with a green-glowing and mysterious light.

“You’re here?” Tang Xia knitted her thin eyebrows.

Although she fixed her eyes on the Magnolia denudate cakes, Tang Xia predicted precisely that it was Lyuyou who entered into the room.

“I heard that four new types of flowers were received in the four main halls. So I checked it out and planned to bring Your Grace some flowers with a pleasant smell for aromatherapy. I hardly knew it would take me so long.”

Lyuyou explained with an embarrassed smile. However, Tang Xia kept her poker face, letting the breeze sweep her hair backward and showing her fair, beautiful neck unclearly.

Lyuyou turned her eyes to the table following Tang Xia’s gaze.

“Why does Your Grace want to taste the Magnolia denudate cakes?”

Lyuyou asked in a low voice but got no response. She felt somewhat terrified, then took the Magnolia denudate cakes, “They are a little cold. Let me heat them up.”

Lyuyou tidied the cakes quickly, preparing to leave.

“There is no need to be so hurried.” Tang Xia said in a low voice with coldness.

Lyuyou froze for a moment.

Tang Xia wore a trace of a smile in the corner of her mouth, “There cakes are all prepared for you.”

Lyuyou was so surprised by her words that she verified Tang Xia’s look several times, then breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

Tilting her head, Tang Xia’s face became gentler in the light of the candles, but the coldness in her eyes increased, “Won’t you have a try?”

Lyuyou felt a little bit scared with a slight tremor in her fingers, but still pretended to pick up a piece of cake calmly and then put it near her mouth.

“Of course not. Your Grace always shows extreme forbearance to Lyuyou. As a slave girl, I’m grateful for what you have done for me. I do want to taste the cake.”

The tremor in Lyuyou was so obvious that Tang Xia would definitely have comforted her in the past.

But this time she still wore her cold eyes, with her look as sharp as a sword, which would cut Lyuyou into pieces.

Lyuyou raised her long and slender hand to bring the Magnolia denudate cake into her mouth, right in front of Tang Xia.

“How does it taste?” Tang Xia gently blew the hot tea in front of her, then lowered her head elegantly to taste it.

Lyuyou plumped out her cheeks and said ambiguously, “The cakes that Your Grace prepared specially for me are bound to be delicious.”

“That’s good.” Tang Xia said in a softer voice, “Then the half pack of life-clutching powder added into them by Anran will not be wasted.”