After Abandoning the Ruthless Dao Swordmaster

Wu Su did not know that at this time Pei Jiuzhi, who was in charge of the formation for the Heaven-Worshipping Ceremony, opened his eyes and moved his body.

The Eldest Princess beside him noticed this change.

“Jiuzhi, you were the one who guided the City Guards to find the body that was killed by the demon last night?”

“Yes.” Pei Jiuzhi originally only wanted to investigate the person who had targeted himself, but he didn’t expect to run into a more serious incident.

The two should be related to a certain extent, after all, evil spirits also appeared in the incense-maker’s room.

“Jiuzhi, it’s really troublesome for you to preside over the formation and also take care of outside affairs.”

The eldest princess continued: “I already know about this matter, and I have entrusted Master Xu of the Imperial City Department to investigate. You don’t have to worry, just preside over the formation with peace of mind.”

“Sister, I have ordered Lord Fu, the leader of the City Guards, to investigate this matter with full authority, so…you don’t have to worry about it.”

The Crown Prince’s voice suddenly rang out from inside the formation.

The rest of the people who presided over the formation were all envoys invited by Yundu.

Hearing that the Eldest Princess and the Crown Prince were confronting each other, no one dared to interfere.

The Eldest Princess and the Crown Prince had been at odds for many years, and even the Holy Majesty was indecisive about the successor, and the position of the current Crown Prince was not secure.

When Pei Jiuzhi heard the two arguing like this, he knew that the matter of monsters hurting people in Yundu could not be solved quickly amidst the struggles between the two parties.

However, he was presiding over the formation, so he really couldn’t get away.

It seems that he can only rely on the talisman-paper blue bird to continue the investigation.

He ignored the argument between the Eldest Princess and the Crown Prince.

While the two continued to banter, his spiritual consciousness had already sunk into the formation, concentrating on absorbing the energy from the Immortal Island.

The remaining bit of his consciousness continued to control the actions of the blue bird outside.

——

After hearing that it was the blue bird who finally found the body, Wu Su was a little flustered.

For some reason, Wu Su was a little afraid of Pei Jiuzhi. He was like an unfathomable ocean, and he seemed like he could swallow her up at any moment.

Wu Su had only experienced this feeling in the Guanlan Pavilion that night.

Dangerous, but overwhelming.

Wu Su didn’t want to meet that little blue bird again, but five days later, when she was resting, they crossed paths once more.

She was leaning against the window, looking down at Chen Wu’s letter to her grandma. Chen Wu said that she saw lanterns in Yundu, so Wu Su still had to find time to walk along the lantern-lit street.

At the time of Chen Wu’s death, she had not yet seen Yundu’s Heaven-Worshipping Ceremony, she only thought that the lights on that day must be very bright.

Wu Su lowered her eyes, quietly looking at the childish notes on the letter paper, planning which day she would go out.

Pei Jiuzhi landed on her desk and looked up at the girl who sat with a tuft of hair dangling off her head.

Wu Su didn’t notice him at first, and only found out about his arrival when she put away the letter.

“Little Highness—” Wu Su lowered her voice, a little flustered, “What are you doing here?”

Pei Jiuzhi transformed himself in front of Wu Su.

Since there was only this one servant in Prince Jing’s mansion who he could talk to, he simply came to her to ask for information.

“The night five days ago, did you see anyone leaving Prince Jing’s mansion?” Pei Jiuzhi asked.

“I was in my room, I don’t know…” Wu Su’s long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she responded softly, “Your Highness, what happened?”

Wu Su thought to herself, this Little Highness is really busy.

First he wanted to investigate the person who had offended the distinguished guests in Guanlan Pavilion that night, now, why did he want to investigate even someone who died near Prince Jing’s mansion?

If he works so hard, won’t the City Guards and Imperial officers in Yundu all lose their jobs?

Pei Jiuzhi stared at her trembling long eyelashes and spoke in a low voice.

“Outside Prince Jing’s mansion, a girl died. According to the current investigation progress, we guess that someone from Prince Jing’s mansion may have visited her home in the West District after her death.”

Wu Su thought of the rabbit lantern she had left behind at Fang Xiuzhi’s house. The rabbit lantern was so exquisite that ordinary people could not afford it.

It was because of the high quality of the rabbit lantern that Wu Su had kept it.

Unexpectedly, they could still investigate Prince Jing’s mansion based on that lamp.

Wu Su didn’t want to expose herself. Her behaviour of leaving Prince Jing’s mansion that night was too inexplicable.

What’s more, she is also a demon, what if he misunderstands that she killed the person?

“Your Highness, I don’t know anything.” Wu Su said softly.

“I was resting in my room that day, how would I know who had gone out?”

As soon as she finished speaking, Wei Li suddenly pushed open the door of her room from outside.

Pei Jiuzhi turned back into a blue bird extremely quickly, but a figure still flashed in front of Wei Li’s eyes.

Wei Li rubbed her eyes, staring at Wu Su and said, “Wu Su, did you hide someone in the house?”

She was sure that there was a tall man standing beside Wu Su just now.

The man was dressed in white, although she couldn’t see quite clearly, but just looking at the outline, he was very handsome.

“No.” Wu Su’s eyelashes drooped slightly.

Wei Li walked around Wu Su’s room suspiciously.

“Wu Su, you’ve been acting weird these days. I knocked on your door a few nights ago, but you didn’t answer.”

Originally, Wei Li received a date invitation from her bodyguard lover that night.

She wanted to leave Prince Jing’s mansion late at night, but she didn’t dare to walk at night alone.

Wei Li wanted Wu Su to send her out of the house, so she knocked on her door at night, but she didn’t answer for a long time.

However, that day someone died outside Prince Jing’s mansion, so Wei Li was very glad that she did not end up going out.

However, she didn’t know the whole story.

It was her lover, the bodyguard, who neglected his duties and failed to notice the disturbance near the arch bridge, which caused Fang Xiuzhi to fall into the hands of the demons alone.

Wu Su rested her chin, tilted her head, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly. She wished that the little blue bird beside her didn’t have ears.

“I was fast asleep.” Wu Su said softly, “You came looking for me, what’s the matter?”

“Steward Lu seems to want to drive you out of Prince Jing’s mansion, I’m just warning you.”

Wei Li knew that in order to preserve his reputation, Steward Lu would definitely choose to let go of Wu Su.

“Wu Su, we’ll be parting ways, I’m a little bit reluctant.” Wei Li reached out to her.

Wu Su didn’t like to get too close to people, so she turned sideways and avoided it.

“I won’t leave the house.” Wu Su’s voice was soft and gentle.

“But, rumours are spreading about you and Steward Lu…” Wei Li covered her lips, pretending to be surprised.

She had spread these rumours herself. Wu Su looked at Wei Li intently, and shook her head firmly.

She believed what His Royal Highness had said, as long as the distinguished guests of Guanlan Pavilion were still trying to find someone, there would be no turnover of people in Prince Jing’s mansion.

“Wu Su, do you trust Lu Steward so much?” Wei Li looked at her with wide eyes.

Pei Jiuzhi couldn’t bear to listen anymore, and he flew to Wu Su’s shoulder in a flutter.

He stepped on her lightly with his claw, motioning for her to drive Wei Li away.

Wei Li looked at the little blue bird on Wu Su’s shoulder in surprise: “Wu Su, such a cute little bird, where did you pick it up?”

She stretched out her hand, wanting to touch the little blue bird.

But Wu Su patted her hand down, and got up, agreeing with the Little Highness.

“Wei Li, I’ll rest for a while, you go out first.” Wu Su stared at Wei Li.

“Wu Su, you…” Wei Li was a little surprised.

Wu Su didn’t dare to offend the Little Highness. After watching Wei Li go out, she locked the door.

“Your Highness?” Wu Su turned her head and breathed softly, “She’s gone.”

When she turned her head sideways, her lips just brushed the feathers on the top of the little blue bird’s head.

Pei Jiuzhi froze for a second before flying off Wu Su’s shoulder.

“You weren’t in Prince Jing’s mansion that night?” Pei Jiuzhi asked again after regaining his human body.

Wu Su quietly looked at Pei Jiuzhi, insisting on her previous words: “I was in my room.”

“When we found the dead girl’s mother, she kept chanting ‘Xiuzhi came back, Xiuzhi left again, Xiuzhi doesn’t want me anymore…’ She was taken care of very well, and there were signs that someone had been in the house.”

Pei Jiuzhi explained: “But that girl is dead, who came to her house to take care of her mother?”

“Your Highness, this… you have to ask City Guards, or the Imperial City Secretary.”

Wu Su blinked at Pei Jiuzhi, her eyes were indifferent, and there was no trace of lying.

“I’m just a little maid, how can I know anything?”

Pei Jiuzhi knew that there was nothing more he could ask of Wu Su, so he just nodded.

“The person who took care of the girl’s mother is not the murderer, but she may have seen the appearance of the murderer.”

Pei Jiuzhi changed back to the blue bird form, leaving this last sentence.

Wu Su thought, she really didn’t see clearly, just such a dark shadow slipping into the water, how could she know what it was?

“Your Highness, I’m sure you can successfully investigate this case. Didn’t the girl die under the arch bridge? Did you… have a look in the water?”

Wu Su finally opened her mouth and offered him the little information she had.

Pei Jiuzhi was taken aback, he remembered…he didn’t say that the person died under the arch bridge.

He flapped his wings and flew, hovering around Wu Su’s room for a while, but finally he didn’t come down to question her again.

Sitting by the window, Wu Su rested her chin on her hands, with a slight feeling that she might have said something wrong.

She is not very smart, and it is understandable for her to slip up every once in a while.

Wu Su sighed faintly. She hoped that the Little Highness would not come to arrest her if he found any more clues.

Just when she was starting to feel secretly distressed, there was a sudden noise outside the house.

Wei Li knocked heavily on Wu Su’s door: “Wu Su, Steward Lu has come to see you.”

Wu Su got up, opened the door and walked out. She saw Steward Lu standing in the yard, holding a record booklet in his hand.

“Wu Su, from today onwards, you don’t have to stay in Prince Jing’s mansion.”

Steward Lu looked at Wu Su and said sternly, “I have invited Master Liu, the head steward of Prince Jing’s residence, to come here, and he will sign for me and send you out of the residence.”

In the end, Steward Lu still couldn’t resist the pressure of rumours from outside, and wanted to drive Wu Su out.

Wu Su’s status is low, and he doesn’t want to have anything to do with her.

“Wu Su, didn’t you say that Steward Lu wouldn’t drive you away?”

Wei Li and Li Meng stood aside and couldn’t help laughing: “Look, is Steward Lu here?”

Wu Su bowed leisurely to Steward Lu, and nodded. The matter has come to this point, and there is nothing she can do.

She thought that the Little Highness’ words didn’t seem to be very reliable.

Wu Su realized that she could only try to go to another house to find another job.

She was a little helpless, alas… Chen Wu’s pure spiritual consciousness had given her a lot of yin and yang energy, but fulfilling her wish was really a bit troublesome.

Seeing Wu Su being so docile, Steward Lu felt helpless: “Wu Su, I have no choice.”

“Steward Lu, you have to protect yours and Wu Su’s reputation.” Wei Li said crisply from the side.

Not long after, Master Liu, the head steward called by Steward Lu, also walked into the courtyard.

Manager Lu is only in charge of the West Garden, and his power is not comparable to that of Master Liu, who is in charge of all of the residence’s affairs.

“Master Liu, today I am going to fire a maid.”

Steward Lu saluted. “You said earlier that any personnel changes in Prince Jing’s mansion require your approval. So, haven’t I called you here?”

When Master Liu heard this, he was so shocked that he almost covered Steward Lu’s mouth with his hands.

“Lu Xiang, don’t say that, even if this girl has made a big mistake today, she can’t leave Prince Jing’s mansion.”

“This…” Steward Lu was a little surprised, Master Liu hurriedly led him outside the courtyard.

He warned in a low voice: “Lu Xiang, it’s hard to talk about this openly, but His Royal Highness the Ninth Prince has given these orders.”

“Ninth Highness…” Lu Xiang stuttered when he heard about Pei Jiuzhi.

“He he he… What is he doing giving orders in Prince Jing’s mansion?”

“How can we dare to question His Highness the Ninth Prince?” Master Liu sighed softly.

“Maybe something happened on the night he attended the reception banquet in Guanlan Pavilion. He ordered me to investigate if there were any lost items in the mansion, but I didn’t find any.”

“In any case, before the Ninth Highness changes the order, no one in Prince Jing’s mansion can leave.” Master Liu said with his hands behind his back.

“There are rumours in the mansion that I have an inappropriate relationship with the maid Wu Su, however there is no such thing.”  Steward Lu was also a little helpless. “But people’s words are scary, I can’t help it.”

“Whoever says such a thing again, I will order someone to slap their mouth.” Master Liu said angrily.

“Spreading rumours all day long, and speculating about others randomly! If I know who started the rumours, I will definitely punish them severely.”

Wu Su had gone into her room to organise her things, but after a long time talking, Steward Lu and Master Liu returned to the courtyard together.

“Wu Su, you don’t have to go.” Master Liu said, and glanced at Wu Su.

Wu Su’s appearance was not outstanding, and she really didn’t look like she would have anything to do with Steward Lu.

There are so many beautiful girls in Prince Jing’s mansion, it is impossible for Steward Lu to go after her.

“The current regulations stipulate that people are not allowed to be driven away. If I find out who is spreading these inappropriate rumours, I will punish them harshly.”

Master Liu’s sharp eyes swept over everyone in the yard.

He led Steward Lu straight away, Wu Su held the bundle of possessions in her arms, a little at a loss.

“Wu Su, your luck is really good.”

Wei Li opened her mouth again, raised her eyebrows, showing a look of surprise: “Even  with Master Liu…”

Lin Meng quickly covered her mouth.

“Wei Li, don’t say it anymore. Didn’t Master Liu say so? He will punish anyone who says these ‘facts’ again. We can’t go against his authority.”

The two of them exchanged glances, and there was a strange mood between them, but Wu Su didn’t catch any hints behind the words.

“It’s really wrong for Master Liu to do this. The mouth grows on people’s bodies, so it can’t be cut off.”

Wu Su nodded, agreeing with Wei Li and Lin Meng’s point of view.

However, although her tone was calm and her voice was soft and cold, when if fell into the ears of the other two, they seemed to feel a hint of eerie threat.

Wei Li lowered her head and touched her mouth in fear of having it cut off.

Wu Su looked at them quietly, and remembered the case that the Little Highness was investigating.

So she asked, “Wei Li, why did you come to look for me that night?”

“I wanted to go on a date with A’Cun. A’Cun was waiting for me outside the mansion. I dare not walk alone at night, so I wanted you to accompany me.”  Wei Li raised her head. “Who knew that you are sneaky and wouldn’t answer me at all. There is no way I could go, I had to let A’Cun wait for me outside for a long time.”

A’Cun is the name of her bodyguard lover. As a captain in a City Guard unit, he could be regarded as a minor official.

When talking about A’Cun, Wei Li had a sweet look on her face. She lowered her head and stroked her long hair.

“Your A’Cun, shouldn’t he have been guarding the streets…” Wu Su thought of the empty riverside arch bridge, she asked softly.

“A’Cun is the leader, why does he need to do this kind of thing himself!”

Wei Li stood up abruptly and shouted at Wu Su, “Wu Su, don’t talk nonsense!”

Wu Su blinked quietly at Wei Li, and Lin Meng beside her spoke.

“Wu Su, are you jealous that Wei Li has a man she knows outside?”

Wu Su tilted her head, somewhat puzzled.

Men are men. Is there anything special about men?

——It is often brought up by them, sometimes to show off they have an intimate lover, and sometimes as an excuse to belittle others.

“You think it’s fine for you to chase after a man for benefits, and then you misunderstand that Wei Li is the same kind of person as you! They love each other as equals. What’s wrong with that?”

Lin Meng coaxed Wei Li who was crying, and glared at Wu Su.

Wu Su narrowed her eyes, and handed Wei Li a handkerchief to wipe her tears.

The handkerchief was thrown aside by Wei Li.

She was very confused, and she had no idea how to comfort the crying girl, so she turned around and went back to her room.

Human beings are troublesome.

Wu Su came to such a conclusion by herself.

Her peaceful life lasted for a few days, and the blue bird Little Highness would fly over from time to time, asking her about the entry and exit information of Prince Jing’s mansion.

Wu Su thought it was hard work for him.

So she volunteered to sweep the gate of Prince Jing’s mansion, which was a task that few people were willing to volunteer for, and watched who came in and out for him every day.

“Look, Your Highness, Prince Jing’s residence is very disciplined, and everyone comes and goes very normally.”

Holding the broom, Wu Su whispered to the blue bird in front of him.

Seeing no one around, Pei Jiuzhi changed to his human form in front of Wu Su, and said, “I’m leaving for a few days.”

Wu Su thought to herself happily that there are such good things that can happen.

Pei Jiuzhi looked at her quietly. He had also figured out Wu Su’s character over the past few  days. She was unusually quiet and sometimes a little silly.

For example, he had already guessed that she was the one who left Prince Jing’s mansion that night. While her face didn’t change when she lied, she would occasionally make a slip of the tongue.

“Your Highness, you can go.” Wu Su’s voice lilted up at the end, obviously thinking that this was a good thing.

“That night, you went to Fang Xiuzhi’s house and took care of her mother?” Pei Jiuzhi looked into Wu Su’s eyes.

His eyes were cold and sharp, like an unsheathed sword, Wu Su was so startled that the broom in her arms fell down.

“I didn’t.” She was still denying, her tone was always calm.

“Wu Su, don’t lie to me.” Pei Jiuzhi leaned over and picked up the bamboo broom on the ground for her.

His spoke in a deep voice, which penetrated into Wu Su’s ears.

Wu Su was stunned for a long time, but finally nodded.

“She was going to die, and her mother needed to take medicine. If she didn’t take the medicine, even her mother will die.”

Therefore, she could only rush there in the middle of the night to make the medicine for Fang Xiuzhi’s mother, to save her life.

Pei Jiuzhi nodded to her, his attitude was still distant.

“Your Highness, I’m sorry.” Wu Su said.

“It’s nothing.” Pei Jiuzhi’s figure changed, and he turned back into a blue bird.

According to the information given by Wu Su, he traced the energy of the evil spirit into the big river beside the arch bridge.

At the bottom of the river, he found a crack in the seal of Yundu.

Under Yundu, countless demons are being suppressed, and the monster that hurt people should have escaped from this crack.

His body’s consciousness had already sunk into the communication formation between the Heaven-Worshipping Ceremony and the Immortal Island, and he now had to deal with this business with only the remaining weak spiritual sense.

Wu Su watched as the figure of the blue bird leisurely flew towards the Yunli Palace.

She breathed a sigh of relief, the Little Highness had finally left.

On the first day after Pei Jiuzhi left, Wu Su worked extremely hard.

She was also lucky enough to meet a dying animal, and gain some more yin and yang energy.

In addition to what she got from Fang Xiuzhi before, she was very well fed.

However, her carefree days didn’t last long. Two days later, people from the City Guard came.

The person who came was Fu Zhou, the commander of the City Guard. Behind him was A’Cun, Wei Li’s bodyguard lover, standing with the City Guard team.

Commander Fu Zhou came to visit personally, so the stewards of Prince Jing’s mansion hurriedly greeted them.

Master Liu lowered his body, knelt on the ground, and asked respectfully, “Master Fu, what are your orders?”

Fu Zhou was playing with half of the rabbit lantern in his hand – the other half was with the Imperial officers.

He sneered and said, “This rabbit lantern is not something that the deceased Fang Xiuzhi, who died just outside Prince Jing’s mansion, could afford.”

“According to our investigation, we guess that after killing Fang Xiuzhi, the murderer went back to her house. Out of some abnormal psychology, he took care of Fang Xiuzhi’s mother, but he accidentally left behind his own lantern.”

“According to the sales information of this lamp, we found out that this lamp was bought by a maid in your Prince Jing’s mansion.”

Fu Zhou got up and said sharply to Master Liu, “Take me to find her.”

Not long after, the innocent maid who was kneeling on the ground wept.

“Your Excellency, it’s really not me… I lost this lantern after watching the lantern festival.”

Many servants from Prince Jing’s mansion gathered around, watching Fu Zhou arrest people, and Wei Li also came to join in the fun.

She saw her lover standing with the City Guards, and smiled shyly at him.

Fu Zhou was holding the rabbit lantern in his hand, and the aura around him was overwhelming.

“Then you have to make it clear who picked up this lantern.”

“I, I, I… I really don’t know!”

The innocent maid shook her head frantically, her cheeks were covered with tears in fright: “I lost it, how do I know who picked it up?”

Wei Li’s eyes were attracted by her crying, and she saw the half of the lantern in Fu Zhou’s hand.

A vague memory rushed into her mind.

She remembered that someone dressed in white, with loose black hair, had gone home holding this pitiful lantern.

With unknown courage in her heart, Wei Li threw herself forward and knelt down on the ground.

“My lord, I know who picked up this lantern.” Wei Li’s voice trembled, but it was extremely firm.

“It’s a maid who lives in the same courtyard as me, named Wu Su.”