TSFLIP Chapter 545

Fengguang glanced at her father, who appeared to be deep in thought. She asked, “What do you mean by that, Princess Wuyou?”

“That envoy Liu and his subordinate—those aren’t their real faces. They’re both in disguise.”

At her words, the hall fell into momentary silence.

Meng Xi spoke up with a biting tone. “Is that your excuse now?”

“They’re not from our country. If the prince doesn’t believe me, he can have someone pour water on their faces and see for himself whether they’re wearing human-skin masks.”

Meng Xi looked toward the Xia emperor. Xia raised his hand, and a eunuch quickly came forward with a basin of water. He doused the two prisoners, who were being held by guards. Sure enough, their masks loosened. When the guards gave a quick tug, unfamiliar faces were revealed underneath.

Feng Miyin spoke up: “Your Majesty, it seems likely that these men killed our nation’s real envoys at some point and took their place using disguises. We only noticed something was wrong just recently. Moreover… Your Majesty, their assassination target was the Empress. This might’ve been an attempt to provoke war between our two nations—or perhaps they simply used our people as cover to kill the Empress. Either way, our kingdom, Liu Bi, has absolutely no motive to do either.”

Despite learning someone had tried to assassinate her, Wang Ci’s expression remained unchanged, her poise undisturbed.

Finally, the Xia emperor spoke. “The delegation from Liu Bi may rise.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” The princess and her entourage all stood up.

The Xia emperor then turned to the two assassins. “Who sent you?”

The two men exchanged a glance. One of them sneered arrogantly. “Xia Dynasty, you’ve done too many evil deeds. You’ll pay the price soon enough. We’ll be waiting for you in the underworld. Hahaha!”

Meng Xi cried out, “No! They’re about to take poison—stop them!”

But the guards were one step too late. The two assassins bit down on the poison pouches hidden in their mouths and quickly dropped dead.

Fengguang gasped and covered her eyes—she had always been afraid of dead bodies.

By contrast, the older Feng Miyin remained calm and composed.

Xia let out a chuckle before giving an order: “Feed their corpses to the dogs.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the guards responded.

Then, with a pleasant tone, Xia turned back to the princess. “Princess Wuyou, I hope this unfortunate event doesn’t spoil your mood. Your wedding with Prince Luo will proceed as scheduled tomorrow.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

At the mention of the wedding, Meng Xi—who had just started to look at Feng Miyin with new respect—suddenly felt displeased with her again. His gaze shifted to Fengguang, the girl who had stepped in front of a blade for him. The more he thought about it, the more he felt he needed to end his engagement with Feng Miyin as soon as possible.

With the assassins dead and no leads left to follow, the attempted assassination had to be temporarily laid to rest.

That night, under a moonlit sky, Fengguang lay awake, unable to sleep. She sat on her bed, racking her brain over who might want to assassinate her mother. Just as she was deep in thought, a palace maid arrived to announce that the Crown Prince had come.

Fengguang glanced out at the dark sky but still got dressed and went to the outer hall to meet him. “Brother, what brings you here so late?”

“I heard you injured your hand,” said Xia Fengxue, a soft smile in his phoenix-shaped eyes. “I remember you hate pain the most. I came across this Yuhua ointment while I was out. It’ll help your hand heal without leaving a scar.”

“That’s amazing! Thank you, Brother!” she exclaimed, beaming as she took the ointment.

Xia Fengxue, watching her smile, suddenly changed the subject. “Do you like Meng Xi?”

“Of course not!” Fengguang said quickly. “He doesn’t like me, and I don’t like him either. We’re just childhood friends—nothing more.”

“But it seems like he…”

“Oh, please, just wait and see. He’ll fall for that Princess Wuyou soon enough.”