My family has been wielding knives for generations, but now it's my turn to wield a pen!

"fine."

On the boat, the woman sat to one side, already draped in the outer robe handed to her by Liu Guanlan.

Her hair was quite dry, but her face was still a bit pale, yet her demeanor remained composed.

Even though it had just survived an assassination attempt and fallen into the lake, it only looked a little cold now.

A moment later, the woman raised her head, her voice gentle yet tinged with coldness: "Who were those people just now?"

At this moment, the woman showed no trace of being deaf or mute.

"Under investigation."

Liu Guanlan stood to the side, his expression also becoming serious.

"investigation?"

The woman's voice grew even colder: "The fourth floor of Guanlan Tower was attacked and killed."

"Liu Guanlan, your Guanlan Tower has truly broadened my horizons."

"It was my dereliction of duty."

Upon hearing this, Liu Guanlan's expression changed immediately, and he lowered his head: "Please punish me, Your Highness."

The woman didn't speak immediately. She stared at the lake, her expression icy. After a moment, she said coldly, "Whoever it is, once found out, kill them without mercy."

"yes!"

Liu Guanlan nodded respectfully.

This time, there was a hint of coldness in his voice.

To dare to attack the Princess at Guanlan Tower is no ordinary assassination attempt.

If something really happens today, the entire Guanlan Tower will be buried with it.

Moreover, the fact that the person behind this dared to act in this way is enough to show that they don't take Guanlan Tower seriously at all.

Indeed, his Guanlan Tower holds a prominent position among literati and scholars, as well as among martial arts practitioners.

If this gets out, his Guanlan Tower... will probably become a laughing stock.

Liu Guanlan naturally couldn't swallow this insult either.

Barely suppressing his anger, Liu Guanlan suddenly thought of something, looked up at the woman, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Princess, it seems that Prince Jiang doesn't recognize you?"

"What, he hasn't met you yet?"

"Um."

The woman responded calmly, "Although I've run into him twice, he has never seen me before."

That's right, the first time was in the palace, where she sat inside the phoenix carriage and did not go out.

Jiang Xiaobai had only heard her voice, but had never seen her in person.

The second time was in Qinglou, where she was on the fourth floor and Jiang Xiaobai was on the first floor.

She can see Jiang Xiaobai, but Jiang Xiaobai cannot see her.

Under such circumstances, it's not surprising that Jiang Xiaobai didn't recognize her.

"I see."

Liu Guanlan nodded and continued, "No wonder, no wonder he really thought you were deaf and mute!"

As she spoke, Liu Guanlan smiled and said, "Your Highness, about the bet you made with the second young master of the Jiang family back then..."

Just as he finished speaking, Liu Guanlan noticed the woman's cold gaze and immediately swallowed his words, instead saying, "However, it's clear that you, Princess, are quite angry with him. I wonder..."

"cough!"

Liu Guanlan coughed lightly and immediately lowered his head: "I spoke too much."

Indeed, the woman's expression became noticeably colder; something was definitely going on here!

Just then, Liu Guanlan noticed something.

There were several palm-sized mud marks on the princess's clothes.

hiss!

Liu Guanlan gasped, and the corner of his eye twitched.

Good heavens!

What did Jiang Shizi do?

No wonder the Eldest Princess looked at Prince Jiang with such murderous intent.

No wonder they wouldn't let him bring Jiang Xiaobai on the boat.

Now it seems... there was a reason for it.

"This Jiang Xiaobai, is this your first time seeing it?!"

The woman then spoke up, "What do you think of him? What's your opinion?"

"this……"

Liu Guanlan was slightly taken aback.

Unexpectedly, the eldest princess would suddenly ask this question. After thinking for a moment, he said, "She is quite an interesting person."

"His speech seems casual, but it's not without structure. Besides, the fact that he received a top-ranking award shows that he does indeed have some talent."

"This is completely different from what I've heard!"

At this point, Liu Guanlan smiled and said, "He does have some of the flair of the second young master of the Jiang family!"

"Um."

The woman responded softly, recalling what Jiang Xiaobai had said while drinking tea.

If I said I wrote it, but no one believed me, then it wasn't.

I said I didn't write it, but everyone thinks I did, so it must be.

That sounds casual.

But upon closer examination, it's not that simple.

Jiang Xiaobai seems lazy, and sometimes he even speaks in a nonsensical way.

But ironically, he always manages to say something unexpected when he's at his most carefree.

"No matter what!"

The woman said calmly, "The reopening of Lanting Tower this time is clearly being orchestrated by someone behind the scenes."

"But... it's alright too."

As she spoke, the woman looked up at the distant lake: "Let me see how this young master of the Jiang family will handle this."

"And... he can't compare to his two older brothers."

"Yes, I've heard about it."

Liu Guanlan said, "You gave an imperial edict, ordering him to go to Lanting Tower."

"I'm just giving it a push."

The woman said calmly, "It'll be a good opportunity to see if he has any real skills! We'll know for sure tomorrow."

The woman paused slightly, then added, "Oh, right, after we get ashore, please take me back to the palace first. I need to ask the imperial physician about something!"

"Come pick me up first thing tomorrow morning."

"yes!"

Liu Guanlan nodded respectfully, raised his hand and unleashed his inner strength, causing the boat to break through the lake water and slowly move towards the shore.

……

the other side.

Jiang Xiaobai finally got to see Zhang Xinnian and Tang Ningshuang's boat.

As soon as the boat docked, Zhang Xinnian hurriedly jumped off.

"Young Master, are you alright?"

As he spoke, Zhang Xinnian looked Jiang Xiaobai up and down.

They looked like they wanted to turn Jiang Xiaobai upside down and take a closer look.

"fine."

Jiang Xiaobai waved his hand: "I'm just exhausted."

As he spoke, Tang Ningshuang also stepped off the boat.

Tang Ningshuang's expression was indifferent, but there was a clear cut on her shoulder.

There was also a knife wound on his arm.

Although it wasn't too deep, the bloodstains had already stained the clothes somewhat red.

Jiang Xiaobai frowned immediately: "You're injured?"

Tang Ningshuang glanced at her arm and said indifferently, "It's just a minor injury."

"A minor injury?"

Jiang Xiaobai stepped forward and examined it: "You're bleeding, and you call that a minor injury?"

"I've suffered injuries worse than this before."

Tang Ningshuang's voice was calm.

Jiang Xiaobai's lips twitched slightly.

Well, that's the tone of someone who practices martial arts. If it were him, he'd frown for ages over a minor scrape.

"Young Master, the people behind this are far too arrogant!"

Zhang Xinnian's face was grim as he said, "They actually sent so many people to assassinate you. When we went upstairs after hearing the commotion, the fourth floor was in complete chaos."

"Fortunately, Miss Tang reacted quickly, otherwise... I'm afraid I would have been stabbed too."

As he spoke, Zhang Xinnian still felt a lingering fear.

Although he had been working at the Marquis's residence, he had seen many battles.

But this time is different.

Those men in black were clearly well-trained and extremely ruthless.

He was no ordinary assassin.

"Oh, no, no, no!"

Jiang Xiaobai shook his head: "These people aren't here for me."