369 The True Beauty Who Could Topple Cities
Lei Wujie looked at Xiao Se, Xiao Se looked at Lei Wujie. The two of them saw the same word reflected in each other’s eyes at the same time.
Disgusting.
Without another word, they turned around and lowered their heads to walk into the Palace of Great Dignity.
"Stop there." Suddenly, a stern female voice called out to them.
Xiao Se and Lei Wujie lowered their heads further and immediately accelerated their pace forward.
"I said stop there!" The female voice shouted.
Xiao Se clenched his toes lightly and a small pebble dropped in front of him. With a light flick of his fingers, the pebble flew through the two of them and shot towards the back. The middle-aged palace maid who called them out earlier was struck in the head with the pebble and immediately fainted. Lei Wujie flashed to her side but because of his long skirt, he nearly tripped over himself. He pulled the palace maid to a deserted corner and placed her gently behind a small tree.
"Let’s finish this quickly," Xiao Se whispered.
Lei Wujie nodded. Seeing that no one was around, the two leaped into the air and snuck into the Palace of Great Dignity.
Lady Consort Xuan was the concubine most favoured by Mingde Emperor in the entire palace, but the Palace of Great Dignity was surprisingly quiet. It was said that because Lady Consort Xuan preferred to be alone, not even the palace servants could enter the palace without being summoned. This, in fact, gave Xiao Se and Lei Wujie the perfect opportunity.
They made out the vague figure of a lady combing her hair as she was obscured behind the palace screen. Xiao Se and Lei Wujie were about to approach quietly, but a gentle voice sounded from inside, "You weren’t summoned. Why did you come in by yourself?"
Xiao Se and Lei Wujie immediately froze and stopped in place.
The palace screen was pulled aside, and a stunning woman who looked to be in her twenties came out from behind. She was wearing a purple dress with her long hair hanging down loosely. She seemed to have just woken up from an afternoon nap, her body suffused with a lazy air. She looked at Lei Wujie and Xiao Se, and frowned with displeasure. "Are you new maids in the Palace of Great Dignity? Why haven’t I seen you before?"
Lei Wujie glanced at the woman. Her skin was as white as jade and her eyes bright and clear like crystal. She was truly what they called a devastating beauty that could topple a city. Whether it was the fresh and pure prettiness of Ye Ruoyi and Sikong Qianluo, or the charming maturity of Yin Luoxia and Tiannü Rui. compared to this woman, they were still inferior by a fair bit. Lei Wujie was initially amazed by the woman's stunning beauty, then he turned his head to Xiao Se and said, "This is bad."
Xiao Se whispered back, "What’s bad?"
Lei Wujie shook his head. "Wrong room! This woman looks like she’s only a few years older than us. How could she be the Red Prince’s mother? We went into the wrong room! What do we do? Knock her out and run away?"
"She’s Lady Consort Xuan! There’s no mistake. Although her looks are still like that of a young girl, she’s almost forty this year," Xiao Se whispered.
Lei Wujie inhaled a cold breath and looked up again. A thought crossed his mind, that no wonder Mingde Emperor, the Solitary Sword Immortal, and Ye Dingzhi were so smitten by her.
"What are you muttering about?" Lady Consort Xuan waved the comb in her hand. "Well, since you’re here, come in and help comb my hair." Lady Consort Xuan walked back inside and sat down in front of the dressing table.
"Do you know how to comb hair?" Lei Wujie asked Xiao Se.
Xiao Se sighed helplessly, and could only follow. Lei Wujie also followed after him hurriedly.
They came here only for one drop of blood, and now they managed to get close to Lady Consort Xuan. This was considered a good turn of events for them.
"Who’ll do it?" Lady Consort Xuan yawned with disinterest.
Xiao Se took a step forward.
"Why don’t you speak? There’s no rule against it," Lady Consort Xuan said mildly.
Xiao Se was stunned for a moment, and then sharpened his voice to respond, "This maid will help My Lady comb her hair."
Lei Wujie immediately covered his mouth to stifle his laugh.
"Your voice sounds awful." Lady Consort Xuan passed the comb over and looked at the two of them critically. "Your features are actually quite pretty, but your frame is too large, like men. What a pity."
Xiao Se accepted the comb and started combing her hair from top to bottom. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and a silver needle dropped from his sleeve into his palm. Once the comb reached the ends of her hair, the silver needle was about to touch Lady Consort Xuan’s nape.
Lady Consort Xuan suddenly whirled around and grabbed another comb on the table. Over ten fine bamboo needles flew out immediately, aimed at Xiao Se and Lei Wujie. Xiao Se and Lei Wujie dodged the needles and the fine bamboo needles embedded themselves into a row on the pillar.
Lei Wujie breathed a sigh of relief and remarked softly, "I didn’t expect Lady Consort Xuan to be a martial expert."
"No kidding, she’s Luo Qingyang's shimei." Xiao Se wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Lady Consort Xuan’s actions were clearly premeditated, which meant they were already discovered from the moment they stepped inside.
Lady Consort Xuan smiled. She was very tense a moment ago, but she relaxed again and resumed that lazy, yet charming appearance of having just woken up from a nap. She looked at Xiao Se. "You look a lot like your father, and your mother too. If it wasn’t because I’ve seen you before in the past, I was starting to think which princess has been sent here to make me happy. Your Highness, Yong’an Prince."
Xiao Se sighed and bowed. "Xiao Se pays his respects to Lady Consort Xuan."
Lady Consort Xuan gestured at them. "The two of you dressing up as women is really very ugly. Can you take it off before we talk? The more I look at you, the more uncomfortable I feel."
Xiao Se and Lei Wujie had no choice but to remove their palace maid dresses, revealing their fitted black clothes underneath, as well as their respective weapons.
They did feel a lot more comfortable immediately, but now, their appearance could only be summed up in one word - assassins.
"Your Highness, Yong’an Prince, infiltrated the rear palace without permission, and even carried a sword and staff. Now I’ve really seen everything." Lady Consort Xuan looked at the Wuji staff at his waist. "Are you here to kill someone?"
"We’re not here to kill anyone. I’m just begging for one drop of blood from My Lady." Xiao Se bowed his head.
Lady Consort Xuan was taken aback. "One drop of blood?"
"Just one drop of blood," Xiao Se repeated.
"Why?" Lady Consort Xuan asked.
"I have a friend who was poisoned. That poison was caused by one drop of Lady Consort Xuan’s blood, and only one drop of Lady Consort Xuan’s blood can cure it now," Xiao Se replied.
Lady Consort Xuan thought for a while. "Not long ago, Yu'er also came to ask for a drop of my blood. Could that be related to this matter? Why can my blood be used for making poison, and why can it cure the poison?"
"The blood that lao-Qi asked for was used to make the poison I mentioned. As for why My Lady’s blood can be used to make the poison and also cure the poison, that’s because the blood which flows in the person being poisoned is the same blood that flows in My Lady," Xiao Se explained slowly.
Lady Consort Xuan's body shuddered once. "Your friend's name is…"
"Ye Anshi, son of the former sect leader of Outerheaven, Ye Dingzhi." Xiao Se looked at Lady Consort Xuan.