Farm Tough Girl
Chapter 561 - 561 562 The Situation Has Changed_1

Chapter 561: Chapter 562 The Situation Has Changed_1 Chapter 561: Chapter 562 The Situation Has Changed_1 Long Yi, upon hearing this chilly voice, saw Muniang being supported and led out by He Fangfei.

“Why are you not resting properly in your room? I will naturally handle this matter.”

However, Muniang firmly said, “This is Qinghua City, originally the domain of my husband, and if something happens to Your Majesty here, both my husband and I cannot shirk the blame. No matter what, I cannot sit idly by; I must bring the person behind this to light and punish them severely.” Muniang’s tone was forceful, showing none of her previous respectful demeanor. Instead, she spoke with a righteous indignation, as if she was more eager than anyone to mete out justice to the assassin on the spot.

Long Yi was stunned for a moment, as he suddenly found his thoughts led by a young woman and nodded, “All right then.”

Lady Rong gritted her teeth, thinking she could really put on a show now. When the evidence is conclusive later, let’s see what you have to say then!

The Guard Commander respectfully entered and said, “Your Majesty.”

Long Yi irritably asked, “Who sent them?!”

“Subordinate examined the clothing of the several assassins who died and noticed they seem to be from the Qilian Kingdom. Moreover, there is a ‘Qin’ character tattooed on the back of each of their hands…”

Long Yi’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Isn’t that tattoo something that only people from Qin Village of Qilian Kingdom would have?”

“Precisely.”

Long Yi slammed his palm on the table, “Indeed, it’s an invasion from Qilian Kingdom. Such audacity from a defeated and weak nation that still dares to do this!”

These words made Lady Rong exceptionally nauseated, as if he had won a battle himself. She couldn’t stand others calling Qilian Kingdom weak, as if implying Nangong Qian was incompetent.

But a man like Long Yi was in no position to be compared with Nangong Qian; he wasn’t even worthy of his slightest gesture!

Even though she thought this, Lady Rong’s face still showed an expression of astonishment, “It’s actually people from Qilian Kingdom! I had heard that the men from Qin Village of Qilian Kingdom have been battle-tested since childhood. I didn’t expect them to be so ineffectual in just a few moves?”

Lady Rong’s words were naturally a deliberate questioning. If this was a trap set by Nangong Qian, she was geared to stir up doubts.

Muniang sneered, “Is Lady Rong suggesting that anyone who is repelled by the top guard of His Majesty doesn’t have much skill?”

Long Yi’s face darkened instantly, and the look he cast upon Lady Rong was as sharp as an ice blade.

Lady Rong’s complexion stiffened as she hastily said, “That’s not what I meant…”

Even though it was indeed the case, this wasn’t something she could express outright. If Nangong Qian truly wanted Long Yi dead, he would not have sent such incapable people; Long Yi had never encountered his formidable guards.

But Long Yi was always overconfident, nor would he tolerate anyone questioning his abilities. Now that Muniang had amplified Lady Rong’s words, Long Yi naturally couldn’t stand this speck of dust in his eye.

“Or is it that Lady Rong, having been exposed to masters from a young age, looks down upon the skills of those assassins who almost succeeded in murdering His Majesty?” Muniang added insult to injury without any politeness.

Lady Rong was infuriated to the point of near death. Qiao Muniang’s tongue really could drive someone to their grave!

Long Yi exploded with a shout, “I wasn’t aware that Lady Rong, this reclusive lady of high status had the opportunity to witness such things!”

With a “thud,” Lady Rong knelt on the ground, “This concubine knows her fault, this concubine has been too talkative! Please, Your Majesty, spare this concubine this once.”

Long Yi snorted coldly, his gaze towards her cooling even further, not wishing to pay her any more mind, but he also didn’t bid her to stand.

The Guard Commander was sweating coldly on his back, involuntarily glancing at Qiao Muniang again. They knew how highly favored Lady Rong was in the palace, and had never seen anyone deal with Lady Rong quite like this. At that moment, the words on the tip of his tongue somewhat faltered. This Qiao Muniang—was she someone they could afford to provoke or not?

But he heard Long Yi asking, “Are you certain they were people from Qilian Kingdom?”

The Guard Commander knew that this was Long Yi’s way of asking for a final confirmation. If it turned out later that they weren’t, then he would be doomed.

With that thought, the Guard Commander could no longer care about offending anyone and gritted his teeth to reveal the truth, “To answer Your Majesty, your servant indeed found a token on one of those men. It was hidden close to his body, and your servant discovered it unintentionally.”

“Present it!”

With great respect, the Guard Commander presented it, and Muniang saw at a glance the small jade token engraved with the clear and distinct character “Jin.” Even though she had anticipated it, her heart tightened upon seeing everything. They were indeed framing and concocting mischief!

Long Yi, gripping the jade token tightly, became visibly tenser, “You mean the Guard?”

The Guard Commander dared not say more, only continued, “There’s something else. The tattoos on those people’s hands seem not to be old tattoos but rather, they look newly inked.”

The tattoos of the men in Qin Village, they were tattooed on from a young age.

Long Yi’s eyes seemed to emit fire. Even though the Guard Commander didn’t say much more, Long Yi had his suspicions. On the surface, they looked like assassins from the Qilian Kingdom, but a deeper investigation revealed they were men of the Guard. What was the truth of the matter?

Prior assassins had all targeted him and hadn’t attacked Qiao Muniang at all, as if intentionally protecting her. The person they wanted to deal with was him, Long Yi, alone. Thinking of this, Long Yi naturally became suspicious.

But before Long Yi could speak, Muniang sharply rebuked, “These criminals indeed have some nerve! Not only did they deliberately tattoo the tattoos of the men from Qilian Kingdom’s Qin Village on their bodies to create confusion, but they also carried the token of the Guard. This shows the depth of their scheming. It’s one thing to slander an enemy nation, but to dare to slander Your Majesty’s loyal generals, they really must think Your Majesty an easy fool to deceive!”

Long Yi was indeed “fooled” just now, and if he followed Muniang’s words, wouldn’t that make him a foolish monarch? Just as he was about to erupt in anger, he saw Muniang kneel on the ground, covering her bleeding wound, “Your Majesty must not let these criminals cloud your vision. If they were truly people from Qilian Kingdom, why would they come with tattoos on their hands? If they were from the Guard, why would they carelessly carry a token with them? Moreover, General Yu has always been utterly loyal to Your Majesty. How can Your Majesty be so easily swayed by others?”

Long Yi caught sight of the wound on Muniang’s body and his mind cleared a bit. If those people really wanted his life, they should have had Qiao Muniang work with them and not be in contradiction. If it hadn’t been for Qiao Muniang, that knife would have landed on him!

Yu Ze wanted to kill him, Qiao Muniang blocked the knife for him, and in the end, the assassination attempt failed, turning into a loss for him. No matter how you looked at it, it was a loss! Yu Ze wouldn’t be that foolish.

Long Yi’s heart wavered considerably.

Lady Rong ground her teeth in hatred, yet at this moment she had been rebuked by the emperor and had not yet been allowed to rise from her kneeling position, naturally having no place to speak, and could only watch as Qiao Muniang cleared Yu Ze’s name. From the moment Qiao Muniang had charged forward to block the knife for Long Yi, Lady Rong knew the situation was no longer under her control.