But this dagger was given to her by Pei Zhaolin.
Why did Pei Zhaolin have a dagger that only the royal family of Dongman would have?
"Clang—"
Cui Jintang drew out the dagger.
The blade glinted with a chilling cold light.
She examined the dagger carefully.
Only then did she notice that there was also an inverted character "Wang" near the hilt.
Cui Jintang suddenly put down the dagger.
Suddenly, she remembered that when she was learning from her master Chaojuzi on Zhujin Mountain, her master had told them that the royal family of Dongman commanded ten thousand troops with a royal sword.
"Could it be that the sword that can command ten thousand troops is just a dagger?"
Cui Jintang played with the dagger, utterly puzzled.
What on earth did Pei Zhaolin mean?
---
At first, Luo Xiang still wore a smile. Her fingertips glided across the compartments of the sandalwood drawer one by one, as if playing the zither, steady with each movement.
"I remember I put it right here..."
She murmured softly, but her wildly beating heart betrayed her inner unease.
--- It wasn't there.
She rummaged through the dressing box, the pillowcase, the bookcase, the painting cylinder, and even sifted through the ashes in the incense burner, but still didn't see that dazzling ruby!
Luo Xiang pursed her lips, and her eyes began to twitch uncontrollably.
Her movements became more and more urgent.
She bent down to look under the bed, her forehead touching the ground, and a gold hairpin slipped out.
There was a crisp "clang".
It was a hairpin that Luo Xiang loved the most on weekdays, but at this moment, she didn't care about it at all.
--- It was still empty.
Luo Xiang slowly knelt upright, and her neatly arranged hair was in disarray.
Realizing that the thing was really lost, Luo Xiang's face instantly turned deathly pale, and her eyes became extremely panicked.
She had stolen it from the emperor's side, planning to use it to command the Dongman people to kill Cui Jintang!
If it was lost, the emperor would probably be the first to kill her!
"It can't be, it can't be. The thing must still be there..."
Luo Xiang suddenly stood up and staggered towards the screen. She tore down the entire brocade tapestry and stepped into the silk, getting more and more entangled and almost falling.
"Come out—come out!"
The last cry was broken.
Just then, a man rushed in and grabbed the somewhat crazy-looking Luo Xiang: "Sister! What's wrong with you?"
Luo Xiang seemed not to hear at all and kept muttering: "The dagger, where's my dagger..."
Chen Mingyuan frowned and said indifferently: "It's just a dagger. If you need one, sister, I'll have someone make a new one for you right away."
"What do you know!"
Luo Xiang broke free from Chen Mingyuan's grasp with a backhand. Looking at his face that vaguely resembled hers, she managed to calm down a bit.
She closed her eyes tightly and pushed Chen Mingyuan out of the room: "The imperial examination is approaching. What you should do now is to study hard and pass the exam to revive our Luo family!"
Hearing "revive the Luo family", a flicker of impatience flashed across Chen Mingyuan's eyes.
He had only been recognized as a member of the Luo family halfway through, and in the end, his relationship with Luo Xiang was not very deep.
He casually responded twice and was about to leave: "Then rest well, sister."
But Luo Xiang had already rushed to the dressing table and was staring fixedly at the bronze mirror in front of her.
Seeing this, Chen Mingyuan turned around and left.
Luo Xiang began to recall carefully.
She remembered that she seemed to have carried the dagger with her when she went out today.
First, she went to the Pei Mansion.
Then she went to the palace, planning to put the dagger back into the secret chamber of the imperial study when she went to express her gratitude.
But on the way, the news that the imperial concubine had given premature birth came, so she had to give up.
But did she leave it in the Fengyi Palace?
Or in the imperial study?
Whichever it was, Luo Xiang's back was turning cold.
If it fell into the hands of someone who could recognize that it was the royal sword of the Dongman royal family, and they traced it back to find out that the emperor had privately raised a group of Dongman death squads...
Luo Xiang didn't even dare to think about how miserably she would die at that time!
---
At the Pei Mansion.
After reading the secret letter word for word, Fuli didn't even have the courage to look up at his young master's face.
Sure enough, a vein popped up on the back of Pei Zhaolin's hand as he held the cup.
The next moment, the porcelain cup made a faint cracking sound between his fingers.
The scalding tea splashed out, leaving a scalding trail along his wrist bone.
But Pei Zhaolin seemed not to feel the pain at all. He just let out a low laugh.
The laugh was cold and carried a bit of a bloodthirsty aura.
"Offering herself voluntarily..." Pei Zhaolin slowly enunciated these four words, as if he wanted to crush them between his teeth. "He really dares!"
The lamp in the room suddenly flickered, casting a red glow on the corners of his eyes.
Fuli knelt on one knee, not daring to breathe a single word.
He only felt the oppressive feeling above his head getting stronger and stronger, almost suffocating him.
Pei Zhaolin's voice was hoarse but every word was clear: "And her?"
Cold sweat broke out on Fuli's forehead: "Reply to the young master. Miss Cui... left some silver for Young Master Chu."
Pei Zhaolin tightened his knuckles, and the porcelain cup in his hand finally couldn't bear it and shattered in his palm with a thud.
Blood beads dripped down through his fingers, but he let out a low laugh, as if the pain could barely suppress the jealousy in his heart.
"Very good."
With this chilling tone, Fuli almost suspected that his young master had been driven crazy by anger.
But who asked their young master to dump Miss Cui first!
Fuli lowered his head, not daring to show the slightest bit of his thoughts.
In his opinion, his young master was just making trouble for himself! Serves him right.
Hearing a noise, Fuli looked up and saw Pei Zhaolin getting up and picking up his sword.
Fuli was stunned, and countless bloody and brutal images instantly flashed through his mind.
He hurriedly asked: "Young Young Young Master, what are you going to do!"
"To the camp of the Tiger Guards!"
Pei Zhaolin slightly raised his chin, and his eyes seemed to be poisoned.
If he didn't figure out the matter of the Dongman people quickly, his girl might be abducted by someone else!
"Ah?" Fuli was stunned. "Now?"
---
When Luo Xiang came to him today, in the sunlight, Pei Zhaolin was dazzled by the dagger tied around her waist.
He recognized it at a glance. It was the royal sword of Dongman!
When Luo Xiang threatened him with the entire Pei family, Pei Zhaolin was still relatively calm. He planned to have someone secretly rescue them and have the deputy general escort them out of the city, and then he would defy the imperial edict.
But Luo Xiang just had to threaten him with the entire Cui family, especially Cui Jintang's life!
Pei Zhaolin had his doubts. But after noticing in the imperial study that Luo Xiang had sneaked into the secret chamber and almost got caught, seven-tenths of his doubts disappeared.
If the emperor had the bloodthirsty and brutal Dongman army and really wanted to kill Cui Jintang, it would just be a matter of a single word.
If that day really came, he might not be able to protect her at all...
Realizing this, Pei Zhaolin tightened the reins in his hand.
The dense vegetation and jungle concealed the figures of the master and servant very well.
Pei Zhaolin stood on a high place, looking down at the soldiers who were orderly moving below.
They were not wearing armor but whole pieces of black wolf skins that had been skinned off. The tips of the fur were soaked in old blood and had hardened into shiny black spikes.
No one spoke. There was only the rustling sound of iron-studded boots stepping on the soil.
The man in the lead lifted his wolf-head mask, revealing a face that had been burned by fire and was full of pits.
His nose had been cut off at the root, leaving only two black holes.
He stuck out his long tongue and licked the residual blood on the blade, then inserted the knife back into the scabbard on his back.
Then he held the knife high.
Suddenly, the entire troop seemed to receive an order and stopped and turned around in unison.
This sight scared Fuli so much that his pupils trembled violently.
He stammered: "Young Young Young Master, their teeth are red! They are indeed the legendary man-eating Dongman people!"