A cold sneer echoed through the deep and dense forest, making Xiaoguizi, who was kneeling on the ground, involuntarily stiffen his back.
The afterglow of the setting sun on the horizon seemed to be lingering reluctantly, leaving only a wisp of dim light in the darkness.
Shining on the already dim forest, it exuded a strange and eerie atmosphere.
"Xiaoguizi, why are you in such a hurry to kneel? His Majesty has finally prepared a surprise for this palace. Hurry up and get up to lead the way!"
"Mistress, this servant..."
Xiaoguizi looked up in astonishment, his face full of panic and uneasiness, as if he was afraid of something.
Ling Shan gave a faint smile. "Lead the way. This palace also wants to see with her own eyes His Majesty's surprise and whether it can really make people overjoyed."
Xiaoguizi cast two worried and uneasy glances, but upon meeting Ling Shan's cold and aloof face, he didn't dare to say more.
He had no choice but to get up tremblingly and lead the way with a pair of hesitant eyes.
Ling Shan's eyes flashed a quick glint of darkness. She coldly ordered Banchun,
"You don't need to follow. Just kneel here. This palace will go and see for herself!"
Banchun's eyes turned red, her face turned pale, and her body trembled involuntarily. She knelt on the ground with a thud like a dying pupa in the wind.
Xiaoguizi cast a sympathetic look at Banchun, but didn't dare to plead for her. When Ling Shan looked over, he quickly stepped forward respectfully to lead the way.
Stepping on the uneven mountain path, Ling Shan's face was cold and calm. The closer she got, the more her tense back gradually relaxed.
The closer she got, the more clearly she could hear the lewd and disgusting sounds, which made her heart sink further.
Xiaoguizi, who was leading the way in front, seemed to lower his head even more, as if the person having an affair inside was his mistress.
"Xiaoguizi."
Suddenly, a soft voice sounded, making the figure in front tremble involuntarily.
"Mistress, you..."
Whoosh! A white powder suddenly spread out and rushed towards Xiaoguizi's face.
Even though he had a faint premonition and retreated immediately, the powder still got into his nose.
Xiaoguizi instantly felt dizzy in his head, and his hands and feet began to go weak. He bit his tongue hard to try to stay awake.
"How did you figure it out?"
Xiaoguizi's head was heavy, but he still couldn't figure out where the mistake had occurred.
"What, the Wang family has spent so much effort to place you in the Taiji Palace. They failed to get rid of Ni in so many previous attempts. Do you think you're really flawless?"
Ling Shan's cold and beautiful face was full of disdainful mockery. At this moment, she was sure that this was the doing of the Xue family.
If it were the Queen Mother Wang or the Grand Tutor Wang, how could they think that Jun Wuyuan was a lecherous man?
Or was it that in the eyes of the Xue family, she, an illiterate and low - born little maid, was just a jealous woman even after becoming a concubine?
Ling Shan couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.
At first, when Ling Shan heard that familiar voice, her heart sank a little.
Perhaps deep down, Ling Shan had always kept a bit of caution and never completely trusted Jun Wuyuan.
However, that emotion flashed by quickly.
Before Ling Shan could think carefully about what to do if she really encountered such a scene one day, she was very sure in her heart.
After suggesting to "catch the adulterers", the closer she got, the more completely relaxed Ling Shan felt.
When that bastard Jun Wuyuan was aroused, his inner thoughts were even more immoral than what this fake was acting.
"Concubine Xiurong is really smart. It's a pity..."
The respect on Xiaoguizi's face disappeared completely, and a cold smile appeared on his pale face.
In an instant, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Cold arrows suddenly shot out. The lewd sounds in the forest seemed to disappear out of thin air. Except for the sound of cold arrows and weapons in the forest, even the chirping of insects and birds fell silent.
"It's a pity that you won't get to see it."
Ling Shan smiled and nimbly hid behind the hidden guards who seemed to appear out of thin air. She poked her small head out from behind a huge tree after hiding herself.
Her almond - shaped eyes were full of obvious mockery. Looking from afar, she was satisfied to meet the unbelievable look in Xiaoguizi's eyes, mixed with broken disappointment.
Obviously, he didn't expect that Ling Shan would actually have the protection of hidden guards by her side. Weren't those only for the emperor?
Why did Jun Wuyuan actually place his own hidden guards beside a little concubine?
The cold and vicious look of success on Xiaoguizi's face instantly turned into gloomy unwillingness. Before anyone could react, he suddenly clenched his jaw ferociously, and a trace of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
Ling Shan's eyes suddenly widened, and a guess immediately came to her mind, but it was already too late.
There were only four hidden guards, but there were twice as many black - clothed men. For a moment, they simply didn't have time to do more.
After all, Jun Wuyuan's order was that under no circumstances could Concubine Xiurong be harmed in the slightest.
The hidden guards only had killing and protecting Ling Shan in their eyes. They didn't even pay attention to a little eunuch who was already paralyzed on the ground.
Ling Shan also didn't expect that Xiaoguizi would be so quick and decisive in biting the poison sac hidden between his teeth and not leave a living witness.
It seemed that those novels she had read before were still credible.
It turned out that there really were people who would bite the poison sac to die.
Would there really be people who would bite off their tongues to die?
To avoid any more accidents, Ling Shan ordered a hidden guard, who rushed out like a flying bird.
The black - clothed men in the forest fell one by one, and the swords in the hidden guards' hands were stained with blood.
Ling Shan's pounding heart finally calmed down.
She began to replay what had happened tonight in her mind. To be honest, she was not fearless.
This was the first time she had faced such an obvious assassination directly, which was aimed straight at her.
Ling Shan was a little scared. If she hadn't noticed something was wrong and had followed Xiaoguizi deeper inside, the assassination might really have succeeded unexpectedly.
Just thinking about those dense cold arrows, if they had pierced her body while she was in a state of emotional turmoil and grief, she would definitely have died. Most importantly, dying looking like a hedgehog would be too ugly.
The more she thought about it, the angrier Ling Shan became. At the same time, she blamed herself more and more.
She blamed herself for having had such a good and smooth time recently that her vigilance had slackened a lot. This slackness and arrogance had almost made her suffer a great loss tonight.
This kind of mentality and slackness must never happen again, or else she might not be so lucky next time.
Not long after, the hidden guard came back carrying a person in each hand.
With a loose hand, two men, one tall and one short, were thrown to the ground.
The black - clothed men in the forest had been dealt with, and Ling Shan walked out from behind the tree.
"You two made quite a commotion and had quite a wild time. Why are you so quiet now? Hmm?"