Suddenly, as if remembering something, Prince Yu called out to Bai Sheng, intending to pull her away from the fight before the leading black-clad figure could distract himself.
Yes, that was it!
At that moment, besides the sounds of fighting in the front hall, it was only Wen Zhi Mo’s shout that had attracted the attention of the black-clad men!
“A Qiu!”
“Master, your subordinate is here!” A Qiu ran over.
Prince Yu, toying with a small knife, furrowed his brow and asked, “Don’t you think… Wen Zhi Mo and the dark-faced fellow are suspicious?”
A Qiu was slightly stunned, “Suspicious? What do you mean?”
Prince Yu glanced at him indifferently, “Suspicious in relation to tonight’s assassin attack.”
A Qiu scratched the back of his head and grinned, “Master, I think you’re overthinking it. Miss Bai and Young Master Wen couldn’t possibly be involved in tonight’s assassination. This afternoon, we actively sought them out at Yuan Bao to get acquainted. If we hadn’t gone, we might never have crossed paths. Tonight might just be a coincidence…”
“Enemies don’t have ‘enemy’ written on their faces,” Prince Yu sneered. “Go get the recipes she wrote for me to see.”
“But–”
Under Prince Yu’s death glare, A Qiu immediately shut his mouth and silently went to the desk to look for the recipes.
“Huh? Where are the recipes?”
Prince Yu’s gaze deepened, “A Qiu, immediately dispatch men to investigate Wen Zhi Mo and the dark-faced fellow!”
“Master, is that necessary? The fight was too intense, it’s normal for the recipes to be lost…” A Qiu was somewhat reluctant.
He didn’t doubt Miss Bai Sheng at all.
“Enough nonsense, go quickly!” Prince Yu commanded sternly.
A Qiu flinched and immediately responded and left.
Within the county town, in a certain dark and dilapidated hut.
Two black-clad men, panting, burst into the house. Without a word, they immediately took off their outer black clothes and stuffed them into a rat hole by the wall.
“Gate Master, are you injured?” the shorter man asked the taller one with concern.
“It’s nothing,” the taller man leaned against the wall, covering his chest with his hand, and spoke in a low voice, “For the next few days, Prince Yu will surely investigate thoroughly. You should all return to your posts and not show yourselves for the time being.”
“Yes!” the shorter man replied respectfully, “Gate Master… why did we retreat so suddenly earlier? We could have completed the mission today.” Three days ago, their "Ye Sheng Gate" had just been established, and with the Gate Master, there were only four people. This was their first mission.
“Prince Yu knows martial arts, and his skills are quite good. We might not have won today, and I don’t want any of you to get hurt,” the taller man explained, breathing with difficulty.
“But how did the Gate Master get injured? With the Gate Master’s abilities…”
“Don’t ask so many questions, retreat quickly!”
“Yes.”
The shorter man leaped and disappeared into the darkness.
The taller man took out external wound medicine from his embrace, casually sprinkled some on the wound, and tore off a piece of cloth to bandage it simply. He then retrieved a coarse cloth outer garment from a wall cavity beside him and put it on.
After everything was handled, he walked out of the alley as if nothing had happened and headed towards Prince Yu’s mansion.
As expected, Prince Yu had dispatched many people to investigate. The taller man, hidden in the dark corner of the wall, saw Bai Sheng and the man in white clothes emerge and immediately followed them.
Bai Sheng and Wen Zhi Mo returned to Yuan Bao. They sat in the shop, unable to calm down for a long time. They had intended to curry favor with Prince Yu today, but they had almost lost their lives.
Although Bai Sheng was not a timid person, as a modern civilized person living in a peaceful era, witnessing a real life-and-death struggle with flying blood and flesh up close was still too shocking.
However, having witnessed a true martial arts master firsthand, she felt even more that it was necessary to learn martial arts from Lu Ye diligently. In this strange world, danger could strike at any time, and she needed to have the ability to protect herself.
The waiter and Third Uncle saw that both of them looked somewhat displeased and thought they had suffered some grievance at Prince Yu’s mansion.
What happened at Prince Yu’s mansion could not be easily revealed. Wen Zhi Mo casually found an excuse to brush it off.
After Bai Sheng calmed her emotions, she was about to return to the inn. Wen Zhi Mo called for a carriage and personally sent her off.
They arrived at “Hao Ke Lai,” and both got out of the carriage.
Wen Zhi Mo took out a 200 tael silver note and placed it in Bai Sheng’s hand. “Today, Miss Bai used her ancestral recipes as a bargaining chip to ask Prince Yu to help promote ‘Yuan Bao.’ I am extremely grateful. Please accept this meager 200 taels as a token of my gratitude.”
Bai Sheng pushed the 200 tael silver note back into Wen Zhi Mo’s hand, refusing, “Young Master Wen, there’s really no need to be so polite. Helping you is also helping myself. We still have long-term cooperation, and our fortunes are intertwined. Of course, I hope everything is stable on your end.”
“Miss Bai is truly a generous person. I shall not stand on ceremony. If Miss Bai does not mind, I shall consider myself your sworn friend!”
“Naturally,” Bai Sheng smiled, “I am tired today. Young Master Wen should also rest early. We will meet again in half a month.”
“Alright, then I shall take my leave,” Wen Zhi Mo bowed and got into the carriage.
Bai Sheng returned to the inn and immediately closed all the doors and windows of her room.
The taller man, posing as a guest, followed Bai Sheng to the inn. Seeing her enter her room from afar, he turned back to the counter on the first floor and also opened a room at Hao Ke Lai.
Bai Sheng took a few deep breaths and immediately walked to the table, poured a cup of cold tea, and gulped it down.
She sat at the table for a while. After calming her mind, she prepared to enter her spatial dimension.
Suddenly, a humming voice came into her mind, “Master, don’t enter the spatial dimension. Someone on the roof is monitoring you. It’s Prince Yu’s men.”
Prince Yu?
Could he suspect that she was involved in tonight’s assassination?
How could that be possible!
What a suspicious, fussy, and arrogant king.
However, accompanying a ruler was like accompanying a tiger. Although she was accompanying a prince, she could not avoid suspicion. Since she intended to curry favor with him, she had to get used to it.
Anyway, she had nothing to hide and was not afraid of him sending people to investigate.
In fact, Heng Heng had also seen another person, the master’s man, that silly fool. He had been following the master since she left Prince Yu’s mansion. She didn’t expect him to be in the county town, and she didn’t know how he had found her.
Heng Heng didn’t know whether to tell the master about this. The silly fool seemed very worried about the master and appeared to have his own plans.
Ahhh, it’s so difficult… Heng Heng kept digging his pig face with his hooves.
Forget it, it’s better to let the master discover it herself. The silly fool probably wouldn’t keep it from the master forever. As an outsider (out-pig), it should try not to get involved in the master’s emotional matters.
After Lu Ye entered the room, he walked directly to the bedside. He casually glanced around, pulled down the gauze curtain, leaned against the headboard, and took out the blood-stained papers.
“Dry-fried Spicy Shredded Lamb: Lamb cooked half-done, cooled, and hand-shredded…”
“Cucumber Salad: Peel the cucumber, wash, and then lightly crush with the back of a knife…”
“Braised Beef: Wash the beef, cut into large chunks and place in a pot…”
Recipes?
Lu Ye’s lips curved unconsciously.