Chapter 242.1 - Nightwalk
242.1 – Nightwalk
Qin Shiyu paused for a moment to give the others time to think, and then asked the maid called Yinping to bring her a chair and sat down in the middle of the spacious room.
“Afterwards, Xue Qilin found a way to cure Gong Tianyang and upset Tailor’s original plan. As a result, he had to change his strategy — he poisoned Gong Tianyang and planned to blame it on Xue Qilin. This ultimately led to Cong Tianyang’s death after receiving Xue Qilin’s treatment. This princes has to say that Tailor sends chills up the spine. He actually dared to poison the grandson of a Great General. Oh, but he was going to kill Gong Tianqing in the first place.”
Qin Shiyu looked around at the others, who are in deep thought, an enigmatic smile on her face.
“If this princess hadn’t come in time, I’m afraid the imperial capital would have become the stage of a grand play today, don’t you think so?”
As Qin Shiyu said, if it wasn’t for her timely intervention, Xue Qilin wouldn’t have been able to give a convincing explanation. Things would continue to deteriorate until the Gong Clan eventually might mistake Xue Qilin as the one who murdered Gong Tianyang and use military force to vent their anger and hatred on her.
Under such circumstances, even though Xue Qilin feels guilty, she wouldn’t wait with folded hands for death. She would certainly choose to defend herself. In this way, the imperial capital could become the stage for a battle between Heaven Realm martial practitioners.
No matter what the outcome of the battle would be, a feud between the Merak Temple and the Gong Clan would arise over it. Maybe it would intensify the conflict between the Wulin and the Imperial Court once more.
But, what was the reason? What was Tailor’s reason for pushing the Gong Clan and the Merak Temple to such antagonization? Xue Qilin is deeply puzzled.
Gong Jing seems to have the same question.
But, different from Xue Qilin, he put this question into words.
Hearing his question, Qin Shiyu cast Gong Yue a look bearing pity and mockery.
“Sir Gong should know the answer to this question.”
Everyone immediately followed Qin Shiyu’s line of sight and looked at Gong Yue. At this time, he has a look of incredulity on his face and is murmuring “how could it be”, showing clearly that, just like Qin Shiyu said, he knows something.
“Yue’er?”
Gong Jing called Gong Yue lightly, surprised.
“Father, it’s impossible! This is impossible!”
Gong Yue looked back at Gong Jing in a panic, resembling a poor man who can’t believe that he was cheated.
“Yue’er, do you know anything?”
“I…! Father, this is impossible. How could that person harm Yang’er? He promised me that as long as I send troops to besiege the Merak Temple, he would help me heal Yang’er!”
So even the troops that were sent to pick up Gong Tianqing at the time was a move arranged by the backstage manipulator to sour the relationship between the Gong Clan and the Merak Temple? Xue Qilin was flabbergasted.
“Yue’er, who is that person?”
Gong Jing asked in a deep voice.
Despite this, Gong Yue is still struggling with whether to answer or not, murmuring, “this is impossible”.
“Yue’er!”
Gong Jing lost his patience and strode towards Gong Yue, meaning to teach his son a lesson in public.
But before Gong Jing got started, Qin Shiyu stopped him.
“General Gong, since Sir Gong doesn’t want to tell the truth, don’t force him. Don’t wash your dirty linen in public and let him disgrace you.”
Hearing Qin Shiyu’s words, Gong Jing relaxed his clenched fists and sighed in embarrassment.
“Please excuse this old one’s unsightly behavior…”
“It’s okay.” Qin Shiyu gestured with her hand that it doesn’t matter, “To tell the truth, this princess would really like to see General Gong teach your son a lesson. It would’ve made for quite the amusement. However, since General Gong has contributed a lot to the state throughout your life, this princess doesn’t want there later to be any bad rumors in the streets. So, let this princess answer the question.”
With that, Qin Shiyu aimed a glance at Xue Qilin, looking pensive.
What does she mean by this? Is she hinting that I can talk recklessly? Although Xue Qilin is dissatisfied, but she didn’t protest. She doesn’t want to delay the topic further.
Perhaps because she didn’t see the expected reaction from Xue Qilin, Qin Shiyu sighed in disappointment and gave a “how boring” evaluation.
Then, she put away her smile and uttered a word heavily.
“Nightwalk.”
She turned solemnly to Gong Jing.
“General Gong, you should know it, right?”
“A little –” As if he suddenly realized something, Gong Jing was dumbstruck. He asked in a doubtful tone, “Does Your Highness mean…”
“Yes, Tailor is a member of ‘Nightwalk’!”
Qin Shiyu declared solemnly. Shocked, Gong Jing exclaimed, “how is that possible”.
Xue Qilin and Gong Tianqing looked at each other. At the same time, they saw a blank expression in the other party’s eyes. Xue Qilin doesn’t know what “Nightwalk” is, and Gong Tianqing is obviously the same.
“Wait, is what you called ‘Nightwalk’ an organization? Speak clearly, don’t leave people in the dark!”
Xue Qilin complained discontentedly.
“Geez, it seems that Xue Qilin doesn’t know about ‘Nightwalk’…”
Qin Shiyu aimed a glance at the lass that asked her the question, not surprised at all.
“That’s right! After all, even Imperial Court officials do not know about the existence of ‘Nightwalk’.”
“So? Can you be more direct? It’s making me nervous!”
“A majestic Heaven Realm, revered in the Wulin, and even more so an ancestor of a sect — Xue Qilin, why don’t you learn to be calm?”
Qin Shiyu covered her mouth with a sleeve, and her eyes bent into two crescent moons. She dug at Xue Qilin thusly with a radiant smile.
“Don’t mind me! It’s none of your business!”
Xue Qilin shouted impatiently, feeling that the other party is intentionally targeting her.
As a result, not only did Qin Shiyu not get angry or complain. But instead, she answered earnestly, saying, “Of course it’s this princess business. Why do you think this princess took the risk of second brother bearing a grudge against me to help you out?”
“Ah?”
Xue Qilin was dazed when Qin Shiyu’s answer burst into her ears. Upon seeing this, Qin Shiyu ended this digression, upset with the other party for not living up to her expectations.
“Forget it, let’s get back to the main topic.”
She assumed a plain tone and stated, “Nightwalk is an espionage agency of the Imperial Court that only reports to His Majesty — this princess’s royal father. If it’s put like this, you should understand, right?”
Tailor is a member of Nightwalk, while Nightwalk only reports to the Emperor… Xue Qilin reacted almost instantly. Her face immediately reflected her inner turmoil and aghast, and she subsequently blurted out in a high pitched voice.
“What? Is old man Emperor the backstage manipulator? Is he the mastermind behind Tailor?”
“Old man Emperor –” Qin Shiyu dragged out the last word, “It seems that you aren’t stupid…”
She emphasized and concluded with certainty, “Indeed! His Majesty is the real mastermind behind Tailor.”
What, what! First the Second Prince, now the Emperor? Xue Qilin is really agitated and confused. The fact that the backstage manipulator is the Emperor, this is beyond her imagination. She would never have expected that the final boss is the man sitting in the supreme position.
After calming down a little, Xue Qilin found something strange.
“Wait! You just said… Tailor’s purpose was to sour the relationship between the Gong Clan and the Merak Temple, right?”