Emperor's Cunning Wife

"Cover your ears!" Mother Shen ordered. Both of her hands clamped the ears before she completely loses focus, but although she was able to escape the song's enchantment, the women behind her were not so lucky.

Ning Lou started to evaluate this woman's ability. She was the only one besides her (Ning Lou) to keep their lucidity as the others were dazed and had stopped moving ever since the first chorus was playing. To be able to withstand the psychological attack to this point only proves her mental strength was above average.

Mother Shen looked over finding Xiaohua's unaffected state.

Ning Lou imitated the women's expression when she felt Mother Shen gave her an odd look.

Mother Shen shook her head and thought that maybe she it was just a mistake.

A small tug appeared at the corner of Ning Lou's lips when Mother Shen wasn't looking.

Meanwhile Jinlong slowed his steps when they reached the Imperial Physician's residence.

The Falling Bamboo Pavilion, Gao Ling's courtyard was full of roaming guards and male servants tonight. Numerous torches were lit in each corner. All was waiting for their Young Master's arrival.

"How about having us do it?" One of the five subordinates asked Jinlong. Their silhouettes were on the dark corner of the gates facing the main residence.

Jinlong saw the Gao couple sitting under gazebo talking to the servants, possibly asking them questions of Gao Ling's whereabouts.

But Jinlong eyes didn't stay upon them for too long. He surveyed the surroundings for Gao Ling's brother who was said to come back from Zhou this morning.

How odd, no matter how of a sudden Gao Yunxu's return was. The people under him (Jinlong) would have reported it.

His mind whirled in deep thoughts.

After spending a minute of inspecting the place, he did not see a shadow of that young man. Gao Ling had mentioned he was playful and often sneak out to visit gambling dens at night only come back at morning after spending all of his money. Is this really the case?

"I'll take care of it. Have one follow me." After that was said, Jinlong's figure vanished.

"Lan" Mo Bai called.

"Yes" One of them bowed and chased after Jinlong's after images.

The leaves of the bamboo groves' rustled producing soft whispers. One…two…three figures quickly slipped inside the bed chamber of Gao Ling taking advantage of the less illuminated corner.

"Guard on the roof." Jinlong left those words the Lan before placing the drunk Gao Ling on the bed. Due to the lack of light of the room, only the dark outlines of the interiors could be seen.

A dark pair of boots touched the wooden floor without a sound.

Through his familiarity of this room's structure, Jinlong could tell which was which.

Gao Ling was fond of books. Whether it was medical, scholarly, or those for leisure, his friend had collected tons of them.

The bed was located at the west corner of the room veiled by the thin curtains.

On the east side was a small study where Gao Ling would record notes from different sources about medical cases. He would often share it with Jinlong no matter how much indifferent the latter was he would continue to yap all afternoon until he ran out of ideas.

One…two…three…four shelves formed a small square. Jinlong's finger lingered one row where the special medical cases were stacked. He counted the book's quantity by relying on his finger.

In a slow gliding motion, the slender jaded finger travelled from the bottom and going up. Jinlong felt the books' surfaces while counting in his head.

One

Two

The number in his head increased until he reached the very top.

Fifteen

'Your Majesty, this one collected special sixteen cases from the previous dynasties. I would like to send it to you by the end of the month, but it seems the banquet will need your undivided attention.'

Gao Ling's words rang in his head.

'One is missing.'

Hah-

A small hush whisper came from beams in the ceiling.

If he was not wrong, that was a person's breath. Someone had infiltrated the room while Gao Ling was out. Without a doubt, the missing book was in its hand.

Jinlong quickly turned his head to source of the noise and maximized his focus. All of his senses were opened ready to catch that culprit's location. Just breath one more…

The shadow squeezed his body in a dark corner. His hands were holding a book. Its cover was scribbled with the characters 'Unusual Medical Case Volume 10'.

Jinlong's hunch was right. He was the one who took the book.

He walked a few steps and stopped under a certain spot.

The shadow trembled after detecting the man's presence just below him. He had held his breath since he saw their figures had come in. But, after witnessing the man's movements on the particular shelf where he took a book, he accidentally inhaled in panic which exposed his presence.

Beads of sweat rolled down from the corner of his temple soaking his hood.

'Damn it! To actually encounter someone terrifying while doing a mission is bad luck!'

He covered his mouth and endured inhaling a breath. But how much time can a human withstand without oxygen? His eyes turned red and the veins inside were protruding.

Damn it! When is he going away?

I can't hold much longer!

I'll die at this rate!

Damn it!

The shadow couldn't endure the torment and opened his mouth.

He didn't even have enough time to inhale when a shadow jumped at the beam where he was hiding.

Jinlong titled his head and roughly saw the book on his arms. The man's left backhand was scarred. Medium height, slightly larger build, and possibly around 80 kilograms were Jinlong's haste assessment.

The shadow was shocked by his swift movements. He immediately got up and lifted his limbs.

But as soon as he showed signs of intending to escape, Jinlong caught him by the neck and tapped his acupoint.

He took the book from the person's paralyze hands and traced the calligraphy on the cover.

"Unusual Medical Case Volume 10?"

A few seconds of silence passed before Jinlong spoke. His voice was full of contemplation.

"In the last year of my grandfather's reign, the Grand Protector from his last battle had incurred an unusual disease that would make him go crazy whenever someone asked him a particular question." Neither slow nor hurried. Jinlong uttered them liked he was sharing a memory but the only listener was overwhelmed by his cold tone.

"Grandfather's reign?" With voice filled disbelief, the shadow fearfully asked.

'Wait! The Current Emperor!'

The shadow had heard of the of the Physician Gao Ling's closeness with the inc.u.mbent Emperor, but he never thought that he would have a chance to meet him personally under his infiltration mission.

No way!

"Why are you interested in this particular volume?" Jinlong's thumb c.a.r.e.s.sed the cover's surface.

"The…I was only hired through a broker…I didn't know anything else…" The shadow replied in honesty.

"What group?"

"It was the Black Market."

Whoosh-

"Urgh" The shadow was choked on its neck.

"Say it again" Jinlong's voice landed on his ear sending shivers down his spine.

The shadow gulped before repeating his answer. "Black Mar-."

He couldn't finish what he said because Jinlong's crushed his throat in a fast cold blooded manner.

Black Market?

That woman dared to extend her claws on this confidential file.

She must be tired of living.

Jinlong tightened his hold on the man and squeezed it tighter. There was sound of bone breaking.

"Zhen is going to kill you."