The Demon Prince

Ning Jing angrily retorted, "On what grounds?!"

Xiao Xingyue smiled: "You are Ning Jing, the personal disciple of the King of Medicine, are you willing to accept defeat?"

The surrounding disciples immediately suppressed their laughter.

Ning Jing's face flushed red. "You couldn't remember me before, but now that you're collecting a debt, you remember my name and my identity?"

Li Miaoqing said coldly, "Ning Jing! Don't embarrass my grandfather!"

Ning Jing's fingers trembled as he finally untied the medicine pouch and slammed it heavily into Xiao Xingyue's hand. "I will definitely get it back!"

Xiao Xingyue took the medicine pouch, weighed it in his hand, and found it to be quite heavy.

He immediately untied the bag and rummaged through it.

It can't compare to the treasures in Li Miaoqing's medicine bag, but it still contains quite a few genuinely good items.

His mood improved immediately:

"You're no good as a person, but your medicine bag is fine."

Ning Jing's vision went black, and he almost vomited blood.

The disciples around him were desperately trying to suppress their laughter.

Li Miaoqing, who was watching Xiao Xingyue rummage through his medicine pouch, almost choked when she heard this.

She stared at Xiao Xingyue, speechless.

This person is really unwilling to suffer any loss. I wonder how he managed to get through that night.

Just as she was about to tell Xiao Xingyue to continue into the pharmacy, Chen Manfu rushed over from outside the courtyard.

The old butler's face was pale, his voice was hoarse, and he couldn't even catch his breath:

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

Xiao Xingyue turned around:

"What's wrong?"

Chen Manfu rushed forward, first bowing to Li Miaoqing, then lowering his voice:

"We've found them. Some civilians recognize the faces of those assassins, saying they've seen them before... seen them entering and leaving an abandoned academy of the Hanlin Academy..."

Xiao Xingyue's gaze sharpened, but he did not answer immediately.

Li Miaoqing noticed this and asked:

"What's wrong?"

Xiao Xingyue casually tucked the medicine pouch into his sleeve:

"It's nothing, just a small matter. I'll be going now."

Li Miaoqing was taken aback; she even thought she had misheard.

This person was just reciting pharmacology here, astonishing everyone present. Her opinion of him had already begun to change, and she was preparing to bring him along to refine medicine.

So he turned around and left?

"Halt! The medicine hasn't been prepared yet!"

Xiao Xingyue didn't stop walking. "I'm busy today. Let's make an appointment another day."

Li Miaoqing was stunned for a moment, and she didn't react for a while.

Today was the first time she had tried to keep someone from leaving, but the person left so decisively and easily. Where did she put her pride?

Li Miaoqing felt a heavy weight in her chest, as if something was blocking it, and she was a little annoyed.

She pursed her lips, watching Xiao Xingyue's retreating figure, her gaze gradually darkening.

That bastard, what does he take the Beitang family for? What does he take her for?

Xiao Xingyue had already reached the gate of the mansion, with Chen Manfu following closely behind.

Standing inside the door, Li Miaoqing watched as Xiao Xingyue walked away. "What exactly is Xiao Xingyue investigating? Let's chase after him and see. If he's really gotten into trouble, the Beitang Manor can clear its name sooner!"

She bit her lip, but ultimately followed quietly.

……

The abandoned academy is located in the south of the city.

The plaque on the door had long been cracked, and half of the wooden sign hung on the door, creaking loudly in the wind.

Xiao Xingyue got off the carriage, where Zhao Yuanbao and Feng Lie were already waiting at the base of the wall.

Chen Manfu spoke in a low voice:

"Your Highness, the situation inside is unclear. Should we take more men in?"

Zhao Yuanbao nodded in agreement:

"That's right, we're not like we used to be. We have plenty of guards in the Prince's mansion. If we really encounter assassins, we can overwhelm them with sheer numbers."

Feng Lie gripped the hilt of his sword, his back taut. "Yes, Your Highness, while the princesses may not be able to lend you a hand, we old soldiers are willing to help you as much as we can!"

"Let the princess handle this kind of thing..." Xiao Xingyue's face twitched. He glanced at the academy, where weeds grew very tall, and several houses in the courtyard were half-collapsed and empty. It didn't look like anyone was there at all.

But the more it's like this, the more something seems off!

Chen Manfu said, "Your Highness, General Qin has already informed them that they will also be held responsible for the assassination. Should we notify the Ministry of War and the Imperial Guards? If the person is indeed caught, it's safer to have more people involved."

Xiao Xingyue's emotions were churning. He then ordered, "You all stay outside and keep watch. Only show up if necessary."

Zhao Yuanbao was worried: "You're going in alone? What if there's an ambush inside?"

Xiao Xingyue smiled and said, "It's better to have an ambush."

Feng Lie's eyes lit up. "Does the young master not want to alert the enemy and risk letting the people inside escape?"

Xiao Xingyue looked at him: "What if this information is false?"

The three of them were stunned at the same time.

"Fake?"

"But the people's story was so detailed and convincing."

Xiao Xingyue's smile was profound:

"Even Consort Shu had difficulty investigating this, but we were able to easily find out about it just because a commoner brought us information? This plot is just too ridiculous."

Chen Manfu felt a chill run down his spine: "Your Highness means that someone deliberately lured you here?"

Zhao Yuanbao was even more confused: "Then why did we come here?"

Xiao Xingyue's gaze deepened: "Because I'm going to use Tang to trick them. If a bunch of people come to bother me in this run-down place, it means they all have something to do with me!"

Chen Manfu's eyelids twitched violently, Zhao Yuanbao gasped for breath, and Feng Lie clasped his hands in a fist salute:

"Your Highness, rest assured, leave the outside to us."

Xiao Xingyue nodded, glanced at the thunder in the sky, and said, "You guys pretend to go home and collect the laundry. I'll go in alone and wait for them to jump out on their own."

The three nodded and dispersed, while Xiao Xingyue entered the academy alone.

……

Xiao Xingyue pushed open the half-collapsed wooden door of the academy, and with a creak, dust covered his face.

He waved his sleeve.

The weeds in the academy were knee-high, and the old houses were full of cobwebs.

He walked around the front hall and stopped beside a dry well in the backyard.

There were shallow, fresh mud marks around the well.

Xiao Xingyue squatted down, touched the edge of the well, and his fingertips were covered with a little black ash.

He stepped on the stone slab beside the well, and crack—a crack appeared in the wall behind the well, and a damp, cold draft came out.

"An underground entrance? That's way too obvious..."

Xiao Xingyue lit a tinderbox and walked down the stone steps.

The space below was wider than I had imagined, with rows of bookshelves arranged in a dark underground room.

The books were scattered about, and there was a brazier in the corner with unburnt charcoal ash inside.

Someone has been here before, and not a long time ago.

Xiao Xingyue picked up a piece of ashes, rubbed it between his fingers, and suddenly heard the sound of fabric brushing against a wooden frame behind him.

Xiao Xingyue's eyes narrowed, and he raised his hand to unleash a Dragon Capture. His true energy transformed into a suction force that locked onto the area behind him, pulling a dark shadow out of the air and slamming it against the wall.

"Ah!" A woman cried out in pain.

Xiao Xingyue's short knife, which had slid out from his sleeve, was already at the point of attack.

When the tinderbox shone upwards, it revealed a beautiful and refined face.

"Li Miaoqing?"

Li Miaoqing clutched her shoulder, her face pale with pain, a few strands of hair disheveled, her blue dress torn, blood seeping from her shoulder. She gritted her teeth and glared at him, "Xiao Xingyue, are you crazy? How could you hit me so hard!"

Xiao Xingyue sheathed his sword:

"Who told you to sneak in? I thought you were an assassin."

Li Miaoqing steadied herself by holding onto the wall, then winced in pain as her shoulder twitched.

"You're the assassin, sneaking off to this godforsaken place."

Xiao Xingyue frowned: "You shouldn't have come. It's dangerous here."

"You're investigating who tried to assassinate you that day, right?" Li Miaoqing retorted stubbornly, "I'm investigating too! So you won't make baseless accusations and say that my Beitang Mansion is connected to the assassin."

Xiao Xingyue stared at her, making Li Miaoqing feel uneasy. "What are you looking at? Did I say something wrong?"

Xiao Xingyue reached out and pressed down on her shoulder, causing Li Miaoqing to tense up: "What are you doing?"

"Check the injury."

"Need not."

"If there's bruising in the wound, and given the old, poorly ventilated area, there might be filth accumulating there. If this continues, your arm will be ruined. You're a doctor, you should understand, right?"

Li Miaoqing's expression changed. She knew that Xiao Xingyue's attack had been quite forceful, and her shoulder was indeed badly injured.

Seeing that she had agreed, Xiao Xingyue pulled open a corner of her outer garment, but Li Miaoqing immediately pressed down on the collar: "Fine, you can look, but you can't touch me!"