4. Before Nightfall
The first target to rule out was, of course, Baili Yue.
This was also a way to verify something, and the result… was as Miss Gong had expected.
Baili Yue would never send someone to harass Leng Yuli. That would be as likely as the sun rising from the north and setting in the south.
Sounded even more absurd than the sun rising in the west and setting in the east, right?
Exactly.
And seeing Baili Yue’s bewildered expression, Gong Yiling was basically certain of her assumption.
So, her approach to this matter had to be adjusted.
“I have no other business here,” Miss Gong thought for a moment, then turned and waved her hand dismissively. “Happy birthday in advance. I don’t know if I’ll have the chance to say it tonight.”
After leaving the room, Gong Yiling immediately saw Gong Muzhi pacing back and forth, clearly anxious.
She was muttering to herself—”Save Ling’er, don’t save Ling’er, save Ling’er, don’t save Ling’er.”
She had been at it for so long she had forgotten why she was even chanting it, or what she was doing here.
Mmm… this was a difficult question to answer.
But just as she was about to enter and see what was happening, Miss Gong walked out.
“Ling’er!” Gong Muzhi rushed over and checked her for any injuries.
“Mom…” Miss Gong said with a wry smile, “it’s just a broken-down palace. No need to worry.”
“What are you saying!” Gong Muzhi patted her forehead seriously. “My precious daughter is a national beauty. What if that stinking emperor had ill intentions?”
…Well, her mother’s way of thinking was truly unique.
In front of her father, she was like a tigress, but in front of her, she was like a child.
Well, was this the legendary “one thing is the bane of another”?
“It’s fine. If he really had such ideas, I would have castrated him first.” Miss Gong said with an air of confidence. “I already know what I need to know. Let’s go back.”
“Mmm!”
With that, Gong Muzhi led her away from the palace, leaving behind a group of unconscious guards who had yet to wake up.
As for when they would wake up and discover what had happened, who knew.
On their way out of the palace, Gong Muzhi couldn’t help but ask, “By the way, Ling’er, what did you ask him?”
Gong Yiling smiled. “Mom, I told you before that Yuli was attacked in public.”
“What does that have to do with you going to see the Emperor?”
“That girl had almost no reason to be attacked. And the Gu used was extremely secretive. If Chuyue hadn’t recognized it, I would have just thought Yuli was poisoned.”
“And if I had been unconscious, you would have been extremely worried, thinking I was poisoned by some rare and deadly substance, right?”
Gong Muzhi nodded repeatedly.
“Yuli has almost no enemies in this city. They probably wanted me to think that I was the target, and Yuli just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“So, I would have thought that Yuli was hit by an arrow meant for me.”
“Are there many people who want to kill me? Even when I was using the identity of a disciple from the Returning Heaven Sect, there were still people who saw me as a thorn in their side, especially Baili Yue. Since he heard that I could figure out his tricks with just a few words and a few scenes, and even said half of it in public.”
As she spoke, Miss Gong put on a regretful expression. “It’s a pity. I shouldn’t have made up some little story to trick them. I should have just laid my cards on the table.”
“But…” she turned and glanced at the shrinking royal palace, humming nonchalantly. “Since they didn’t do it, then there’s no need for me to make a big deal out of it.”
“Baili Yue denied it?”
“From his expression, he probably had no idea.” Gong Yiling said, “Which is exactly what I guessed. Their real purpose was to infect Yuli’s body with the Huansheng Gu.”
“As for why they would do that, the only reason is that they didn’t want Yuli to appear at the banquet, and they even deliberately ensured her safety.”
As long as she stayed at home and followed the excellent policy of self-isolation, no one could harm her.
And as for the motive…
Who would want their own family member to be safe, to not be threatened by others?
The person Yuli saw in her illusion, repeatedly hoping she would leave this place as soon as possible, to escape the responsibilities of being a descendant of the Baiyao family…
Perhaps that was the person who orchestrated the arrow attack.
In other words, in the current capital, there might be another faction, the real Baiyao family.
“If that’s the case, then tonight’s banquet… wouldn’t it be too provocative?” Gong Muzhi, completely uninterested in other matters, asked with some concern. “Actually, Mom can go back and kill this Baili Yue right now. They won’t know who did it.”
“If only it were that simple.”
Gong Yiling, who had already guessed her mother would say this, just chuckled and shook her head.
Or rather, the system had already anticipated that she could ask her mother to go on a rampage, which would make many things meaningless.
Therefore, the system had deliberately given her this strange new setting—to keep her from making any reckless moves against Baili Yue. Otherwise, it would’ve been way too easy.
“How troublesome can killing a person be?” Gong Muzhi, having been rejected, grumbled. “Just stick a red knife in and pull a white one out, right?”
Wait a minute.
Red knife in, white knife out, what kind of strange washing method was that?
“It’s white knife in, red knife out, right?” Gong Yiling couldn’t help but correct her. “If Mom is itching for a fight, there will be plenty of opportunities at the banquet tonight.”
“What’s so interesting about a bunch of little kids?” Gong Muzhi shrugged. “I was hoping a few big shots from Tianyin Daoist Mountain would come. Who knew it would just be the younger generation? I don’t have the face to bully them.”
“If Baili Yue had any brains, he wouldn’t think a few young people could handle the situation.” Gong Yiling stroked her chin and muttered, “Tonight… it might be a tough fight.”
