The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 866 - 866 398 Most Handsome Overlord (Monthly Ticket

Chapter 866: 398 Most Handsome Overlord! (Monthly Ticket Additional Release) Chapter 866: 398 Most Handsome Overlord! (Monthly Ticket Additional Release) Another wave of assassins was more numerous; Gu Jiao counted them—six in total. Each one emitted a very potent aura, an aura that felt strangely familiar to her.

Three people and a bird hid amongst the thick branches of a tree. Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng held their breath in concentration, with Gu Jiao cupping her hand over her aunt’s breath. She didn’t smother her, but it maximized the muffling of any sound.

Seeing Gu Jiao cover up, Xiaojiu turned its bird eyes, spread its wings, and covered its own head.

Gu Chengfeng beside her: …”Wait, you’re a bird, why are you covering yourself up?”

The group of people was unaware that Gu Jiao and the others were up in the tree, thinking they had moved on. They displayed their lightness skills and went ahead in pursuit.

After confirming the people were far away, Gu Chengfeng finally spoke, “What do we do now?”

The carriage was gone, the horses had run off—is it possible that they would have to walk back to the Capital City on foot?

The distance to the Capital City was substantial. Even with a swift horse and lashing whip, it would take several hours. Attempting to walk back would surely cripple their legs.

“Let’s wait for daylight,” said Gu Jiao.

Walking at night, though it may better conceal one’s presence, would easily arouse suspicion, as their sudden appearance in the night would seem odd, and the slightest of movements would be magnified in the darkness.

In daylight, with more people on the roads, they could blend into the crowd and thus would be less likely to be noticed.

“Just… sit up in the tree and wait?” asked Gu Chengfeng.

While the two were conversing, a venomous snake, flicking its tongue, slowly approached them.

The snake was closest to Gu Jiao.

Just as it opened its fanged mouth and made a sharp strike towards Gu Jiao’s neck, Xiaojiu flapped its wing and knocked the snake away!

Staying in a tree all night was clearly impractical—not to mention the snakes and insects, there was also the risk of accidentally dozing off and falling down from the tree.

“Hey? There seems to be a cave over there,” Gu Jiao said, looking at the foot of a mountain to the south. “Let’s go take a look!”

The three of them headed to the foot of the southern mountain and indeed found a cave.

“Someone has lived here,” Gu Jiao said, taking out a fire starter and looking at the firewood and dry grass on the ground.

“People lived in a place like this?” Gu Chengfeng curled his lips in disdain.

“It must have been a long time ago, most likely someone just passing through,” Gu Jiao said as she tidied up the cave a bit, bunched up the dry grass, and said to Gu Chengfeng, “Let your aunt sit here.”

The cave was cold and damp. For the Empress Dowager at her age, sitting directly on the ground would make her catch cold. Fortunately, there was dry grass left by someone who came before.

“Okay,” responded Gu Chengfeng as he laid the sleeping Empress Dowager down gently, letting her sit on the pile of grass while Gu Jiao sat down next to her, allowing her aunt to lean on her shoulder.

As a big man, Gu Chengfeng had no choice but to sit on the ground. Although he was the Capital City’s top thief, he was a rich thief who endured physical hardship, not the hardships of life.

Therefore, such an environment was somewhat torturous for him, but it wasn’t as if he had a choice.

Xiaojiu perched on a big tree to keep watch.

Gu Jiao put away the fire starter, and darkness fell over the cave once more. After a moment, the slender moonlight filtered in casting a tranquil glow inside the cave.

Gu Chengfeng broke the silence within the cave as he picked up a dried twig from the ground and listlessly scratched at the dirt: “What do you think… why is Concubine Jing doing this? Why does she target the Empress Dowager at every turn? Just because she didn’t become the Empress Dowager? But if she hadn’t gone all the way with the Empress Dowager into darkness back then, the Empress Dowager wouldn’t have denied her the position, right?”

Having two Empress Dowagers wasn’t all that unusual, where one was the emperor’s birth mother and the other his official mother. The founding Empress Dowagers Zhao and Xun were in such a situation.

Gu Jiao thought for a moment: “Because of jealousy?”

Jealousy can drive a person insane—you never know what an envious woman’s heart might push her to do that defies all reason.

“Because of hatred.”

The Empress Dowager’s voice sounded, unhurried and calm.

Gu Jiao turned her head: “Aunt, you’re awake?”

“Yes,” the Empress Dowager slowly sat up. In the darkness, she closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again, a cold hardness in her gaze, “She’s a remnant of the former dynasty.”

Snap!

The twig in Gu Chengfeng’s hand broke from his grip as he said in disbelief, “The remnants of the former dynasty?”

The previous dynasty had fallen two hundred years ago, and yet there were still remnants. It was terrifying!

“Did you know about this all along, Aunt?” asked Gu Jiao.

The Empress Dowager shook her head: “I only found out recently.”

On the carriage, Concubine Jing had boasted about her bracelet, and as she pulled her sleeves up, the Empress Dowager inadvertently caught sight of a pigeon’s blood tattoo on her arm.

She had always had a tattoo on her arm, previously a Chinese Peony. It was only after seeing it today that she realized it was actually a Red Flame Totem.

It seems that the peony had been painted over the totem to conceal it, no wonder she immediately suggested Ning An could cover her scar with a Begonia makeup; it turned out to be a trick she was accustomed to.

“`

The Empress Dowager said, “That totem was the insignia of the dead soldiers from the previous dynasty, somewhat resembling the Black Tortoise tattoo on the faces of the Dragon Shadow Guards.”

Though they were both dead soldiers, unlike the Dragon Shadow Guard who were purely killing machines, those from the previous dynasty were more like imperial experts skilled in both strategy and scouting.

Gu Jiao suddenly realized, “No wonder she’s so good with her moves.” So she was a dead soldier.

The Empress Dowager continued, “The real dead soldiers of the previous dynasty no longer exist. Strictly speaking, they are the descendants of those dead soldiers. The late Emperor originally bought dead soldiers from Yan Country to train the initial group of Dragon Shadow Guards for the sole purpose of hunting down those from the previous dynasty. After most were killed, who would have expected that there would be one that slipped through the net, right under our noses.”

Gu Chengfeng opened his mouth, “Then… Lord Yongen…”

The current Lord Yongen is the nephew of the Empress Quiet.

The Empress Dowager snorted, “Do you think just anyone is qualified to join a rebellion? That blockhead Lord Yongen certainly wouldn’t be favored by the remnants of the previous dynasty, but the Empress Quiet’s own brother is somewhat enigmatic. It’s just a pity that he fell ill and died so early.”

Otherwise, who could say that there wouldn’t emerge a second Prime Minister Zhuang in the Capital City?

Gu Chengfeng was shocked beyond measure. If it hadn’t been for the words from the Empress Dowager herself, who could have imagined that a seemingly insignificant Empress Quiet could be entangled in such terrifying affairs of interest?

He could hardly believe it!

“So… Does her taking your ladyship to the borderlands have to do with the remnants of the previous dynasty there? Is she planning to meet with them? She can’t stay in the palace any longer and is seizing the moment to withdraw so she, she intends to…”

The words “stage a rebellion” were firmly choked back by Gu Chengfeng.

It seemed he should not delve into matters of state affairs.

However, the Empress Dowager did not deliberately conceal anything, “For now, we can assume so. The borderlands are a place of hardship where the imperial court’s control is lax. If one wants to raise an army, there is no better place.”

Gu Chengfeng heard insider details not even his grandfather and elder brother were privy to, and his emotions were indescribable, “But how come her contact with the borderlands over the years has not raised any suspicions? She…” Gu Chengfeng’s words trailed off.

Then he remembered—Princess Ning An was married off to the borderlands.

He sighed, “She really is calculating.”

Princess Ning An’s marriage arrangement must have been her plot from the very beginning. That man who captured the heart of Princess Ning An at first sight, the man who loved Ning An with his life, must also be a pawn of the Empress Quiet.

“How can someone be so cold-blooded? Princess Ning An is too pitiful.” Gu Chengfeng hardly knew what to say.

The Empress Dowager closed her eyes, and a glimmer of moisture shimmered at the corner of her lashes.

Xiaojiu flapped its wings and flew over, landing on Gu Jiao’s leg.

Gu Jiao understood and her eyes grew cold, “They’re coming for us!”

Gu Chengfeng’s face changed, “So soon!”

“Let’s go!” Gu Jiao helped her aunt up.

Gu Chengfeng turned around, hoisted his aunt onto his back, and Gu Jiao, to free his hands, strapped her own belt around both her aunt and him.

Seeing her actions, Gu Chengfeng frowned, “What are you going to do?”

Gu Jiao replied, “I’ll lead them away, you take aunt and go!”

“No! If anyone should lead them away, it’s…”

He meant to say he should do it, but Gu Jiao had already charged out.

In fact, he understood this was the best arrangement—his light-footedness meant he could move swiftly with someone else, and Gu Jiao, skilled in combat, could delay the pursuers to the utmost.

Gu Chengfeng wasn’t indecisive. If he delayed any longer, no one would get away.

With his aunt on his back, he used his light-footed skills to disappear into the night in the opposite direction.

…

In the dense woods, Gu Jiao confronted the group of men.

She finally understood where that sense of familiarity came from—their moves and murderous aura were too similar to the Dragon Shadow Guards.

After acquiring the Dragon Shadow Guards, the Empress Quiet let them duel with her subordinates and secretly analyzed the guards’ martial arts, eventually training her own group of “Dragon Shadow Guards.”

Naturally, they were not as formidable as the real Dragon Shadow Guards, but they were still much stronger than the typical palace experts.

Gu Jiao soon acquired injuries, and blood flowed down her arm.

Her goal was not to fight to the death, but to stall. After delaying for so long, the group should not be able to catch up to Gu Chengfeng.

Gu Jiao used black fire beads to blast a bloody path and rushed deeper into the woods.

One of the men in black, enduring the pain, drew his bow and arrow, and with a swish aimed for Gu Jiao’s heart.

Xiaojiu flapped its wings and flew over, its talons clutching the arrow with the fierceness and swiftness of a sky dominator!

“`