Killer Queen + 18

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Prince Wu's Mansion

No matter how heavily guarded a prince's estate might be, it still couldn't keep out a restless heart.

Right now, Huangfu Huotian was like a beam of moonlight slipping through a crack in the night—gliding swiftly across the glazed golden tiles of Prince Wu's mansion.

He didn't stop, didn't go inside. Not because he was afraid of someone else—he just couldn't face the storm in his own heart.

He knew, clear as day, that he was deeply unsettled. But this wasn't the time to let emotions cloud his judgment.

Huangfu Huo Bo —his second brother—was currently their father's favorite and the most favored prince in the empire. In these politically turbulent times, Huotian wasn't stupid enough to start a direct confrontation with him over a woman.

Yeah, the pain cut deep. It felt like being stabbed in the heart. But compared to the vast kingdom of Da Ling and its lands stretching out for a hundred thousand miles, it wasn't worth losing his head over.

So even though his emotions were still a mess, as the emperor's fourth son, Huotian forced himself to keep it together. At least for now, he wasn't going to do anything reckless.

He couldn't afford to slip up and give Huo Bo something to use against him—not even over something small.

That was the one principle he had to stick to, no matter what.

The moon was high, the night calm, yet emotions still ran wild.

In this moment, Huotian just wanted to fly through the night air, free, under the moonlight. Even if he was carrying pain in his chest, he still wanted to savor the strange peace hidden in the madness.

He ended up running across the entire Lingjiang City like a madman—it took him a whole hour.

Under the moonlight, the city felt unusually quiet.

And for the first time, Huotian felt… tired.

That massive mansion up ahead—if he remembered correctly—should be the residence of the Grand General.

Since he was tired anyway, he figured he might as well find a spacious, quiet place to rest his feet. Other than the imperial palace and the Prince Wu Mansion he'd just left, this Anjiang Prince's place was probably the grandest building in the whole city.

His soaring form started to slow, dropping downward. He landed lightly in the branches of a tall ginkgo tree, caught his breath, then kicked off again, aiming for the tallest tower ahead.

Under the silver moonlight, Xiao Li was gripping her maid Qinjian's hand tightly as they tried to sneak down from the boudoir.

But Qinjian clearly wasn't on board with the plan.

"Miss, I seriously don't get you. Skipping sleep like this? Where do you even get the energy? And now you're saying you wanna go out on patrol—seriously, are you sure you're not sick or something?" Qinjian was practically at her wit's end with her mistress.

She wasn't even on duty tonight—she could've been in bed, sleeping like a normal person. But no—of course not. Now here they were. What was her young lady even thinking?

"Shhh—quiet!" Xiao Li, dressed in a full set of silver-white armor, spun around and shushed her. She looked like a handsome young man in disguise, crouched low like she was sneaking out to commit some mischief.

"We've gone on patrol together before, haven't we? Don't go thinking just because we're back in the capital, you can suddenly turn into a pampered second young lady." She knew Qinjian had been slacking lately. But since Miss Xiao was in the mood to "live a little," she needed someone to tag along.

Qinjian was startled by that: "Second young lady? Come on, miss, I would never dare think that."

Xiao Li rolled her eyes. "Why not? I'm the eldest daughter of the Xiao family, yeah? And you're my personal maid, right? So aside from my parents and me, who in this house has the guts to give you attitude or tell you no?"

"Miss!" Qinjian stomped her foot, clearly upset. "If you keep talking like that, I'm not going with you!"

But Xiao Li just laughed. "Aww, seriously? That scared you? Girl, all those times I preached to you about democracy and human rights—was that for nothing? Fine, fine, I'll stop teasing. But you did promise to come on patrol with me, so no backing out now."

Qinjian pouted. "It's not like I wanna go. But what choice do I have? You're my mistress…"

Xiao Li snorted and dragged her forward. "Let's go already! Why do you talk so much?"

The two of them crept downstairs, slipping out the back garden through the shadows along the wall.

Out front, the guards were switching shifts. Xiao Li pulled Qinjian with her, blending into a group of guards and lining up to receive assignments.

Someone came over to take roll call. Xiao Li ducked her head as low as it could go, hiding behind the others. Still worried, she shoved Qinjian in front of her.

Qinjian's legs were shaking. She turned back with pleading eyes. "Miss…" she mouthed silently.

Xiao Li was already regretting this whole idea. "Shut up!" she mouthed back.

Turn around! she ordered, silently but firmly.

Xiao Li was convinced her eyes weren't charming tonight—they were probably shooting out laser beams. And sure enough, though Qinjian was still clearly unhappy, she reluctantly turned around.

Xiao Li thought they might just pull it off—until she saw who was doing roll call.

Of all people—it had to be Wang Zhong.

The most rule-obsessed, straight-laced guy in the whole mansion.

Then came the names—

"Zhang San?"

"Here!"

"Li Si?"

"Here!"

"Wang Er Mazi?"

"Here!"

Nothing unusual there.

Until Wang Zhong made them all walk past him one by one.

And he wasn't even handing out weapons or anything! What was this, a trap?

Soon enough, when everyone else had checked in, there were still two mysterious figures left—Xiao Li and Qinjian.

"Qinjian?" Wang Zhong moved his lantern up and down in front of Qinjian's face. His voice had a strange tone. "What's this? You on duty again tonight?"

Poor Qinjian immediately raised her hands to cover her face. "N-no, sir, you've got the wrong person! How could I be Qinjian?"

Oh come on! Xiao Li was fuming. Who ever said this girl was clever? She couldn't even change her voice when lying?! And this was the girl she dragged out with her?

She'd basically dug her own grave.

What a disaster! She hadn't even run into any enemies yet and she'd already managed to bury herself.

And just when she thought it couldn't get worse—

"Miss ~~~" That familiar voice came from exactly where she didn't want it: right in front of her.

There he was. Good ol' Wang Zhong. Loyal, honest, and now standing right in front of her.

"Quit shaking that thing—it's blinding," Xiao Li snapped, already fed up with her own impulsiveness. Clearly, running around without a plan wasn't going to work.

"Hehehe… judging from how sharp you're talking, I'd say you're very much awake, huh?" Wang Zhong's laugh sent a chill down her spine.

Xiao Li groaned. "Of course I'm awake. What, you think I'm sleepwalking in full armor?"

And that did it.

Every single guard around—Wang Zhong, Qinjian, all of them—burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at?! What's so damn funny?!" Xiao Li was thoroughly confused.

"Miss, last time you snuck out, didn't you use the sleepwalking excuse?" Qinjian whispered behind her.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! No wonder she'd been feeling so off. Turns out the original Xiao Li really was a total mess. She wanted nothing more than to find a hole in the ground and disappear.

And then…

"A'Li!" A powerful, commanding voice rang out from behind, scaring Xiao Li so badly she jumped.

The Grand General had arrived, surrounded by his men. She quickly lowered her head and greeted him. "Father."

He stormed up to her, his face much sterner than usual. "The moment I heard noise in the courtyard, I knew it was you. Can't even stay in bed at night, can you? Always making trouble!"

"I'm sorry, Father. I know I was wrong." Smart as ever, Xiao Li knew now was not the time to argue. Play nice, act sweet. In her dad's eyes, she'd still be his obedient little girl.

As long as she could get him off her back now, there'd be plenty of chances to sneak out again later.

"Father, don't be mad. I've just been bored lately, and I thought I'd go out and… find something to do." She gave him a guilty look.

"Hmph! A proper young lady, running around like this in the middle of the night—what kind of behavior is that?" The General was clearly furious and didn't care who was watching.

"Father… I'm really, really sorry. Can't you forgive me this once?" she said, putting on her best pitiful daughter voice.

Don't test me, old man. If you keep pushing, I'll bring out the big guns—

"Father… father… faaather…" She hugged his arm with both hands, clinging to him like a spoiled child.

"All right, all right—enough with the clinging," he said, finally relenting. "Go! Back to bed, now. If you don't, don't blame me for pretending I don't have a daughter!"

"Yes, sir!" Xiao Li beamed, grabbed Qinjian's hand, and the two of them bolted before he could change his mind.

Once they disappeared into the rear courtyard, the mansion returned to its usual order. The torches were spaced out again. And on the highest rooftop of the estate, bathed in silver moonlight… a figure finally emerged.

Huotian had seen it all.

He never would've guessed—

She's the Grand General's daughter?!

Was this… a dream?

"....."