The Prime Minister’s Darling

The Marquis of Xuanping looked at him peculiarly, "Even without pleading, your father couldn't bear to punish you, could he..."

Chang Jing was left speechless.

The facts were clear. The Marquis of Xuanping wouldn't speak for a bad guy who stole his daughter-in-law's first aid kit: "So, that Li Jiangping merely put on a show to win over a few of you."

Chang Jing weakly continued to refute: "But this time it was he who persuaded my father to let me come and propose marriage."

Xiao Hen analyzed for Chang Jing: "If he didn't persuade your father, he couldn't have come to Zhan Country with you. His goal is very clear, it's Jiaojiao's first aid kit."

Chang Jing murmured his last struggle: "The Jianlu was also discovered by him."

Xiao Hen sighed: "He had to discover it, one, to establish enough credit to gain your father's trust, and two, the rules of the Dark Night Gate are strict, he couldn't leave the island on his own, only could he use the pretext of frequently monitoring the Jianlu to hide his dealings with Jianlu."

"Is that so?" Chang Jing actually understood in his heart that regardless of whether Uncle Li was a spy for Jianlu or not, from the moment he stole Gu Jiao's first aid kit, at the very least, he was no longer an elder of the Dark Night Gate.

The Dark Night Gate could never have ordered him to do such a thing.

Shangguan Qing asked with suspicion: "But I still don't understand, why did they have to steal Jiaojiao's first aid kit?"

"Are there a lot of precious herbs in the kit?" Shangguan Qing questioned and answered himself, "Or is it that the kit itself is impervious to swords and bullets, and they want to take it back to break it down and forge armor?"

Xiao Hen shook his head, not explaining the little first aid kit's secret to those in the room.

The little kit contained endless supplies of medicine and could connect to an operating room in another space, making it indeed a valuable treasure.

Then another question emerged.

Why did Jianlu need these?

It's Jianlu, not a medical house.

Could it be that from now on, they would stop practicing swordsmanship and all become doctors?

Or is there someone among them who has an incurable disease, and by coincidence, the little kit has the cure?

That's another possibility that can basically be ruled out. Given Li Jiangping's relationship with Chang Jing, as long as he asked, Gu Jiao would surely give whatever medicine needed, there would be no need to go to the trouble of stealing the little kit.

Marquis Xuanping never pried into what mysteries might be in Gu Jiao's little first aid kit. It's Gu Jiao's belonging, he didn't invade privacy, besides, whatever it contains, it's not a reason for Jianlu's covetousness.

Indeed, the people of Jianlu deserve to die.

Something came to mind, Xiao Hen asked Chang Jing: "It was the owner and the owner's wife of Jianlu Island who died... Who identified the bodies?"

"Uncle Li... Li Jiangping." Chang Jing corrected himself, "Only he watches Jianlu in secret, and only he recognizes who's who on the island, so when he said whose bodies they were, my father and I both believed him."

Xiao Hen stated: "It seems that the real owner of Jianlu did not die."

Shangguan Qing asked: "So did Long Yi actually go to the island?"

Xiao Hen shook his head: "That can't be certain now. Maybe he went and killed quite a few Jianlu disciples, with some remaining who escaped. Or maybe he hadn't had time to act before the people of the Dark Night Gate landed, that incident was staged by Jianlu to deceive the Dark Night Gate."

Shangguan Qing nodded: "Li Jiangping knew the Dark Night Gate was going to kill Jianlu, and tipped Jianlu off in advance, so Jianlu staged a clan extermination, it seems plausible."

Xiao Hen thought it over and said, "It's very likely that Long Yi did visit, otherwise, given Jianlu's strength, there would've been no need to avoid the Dark Night Gate in such a manner."

Chang Jing stated seriously: "Our Dark Night Gate is very powerful!"

Xiao Hen said: "Of course you are powerful, but with Li Jiangping as the inside man, it wouldn't be hard for Jianlu to lay an ambush on the island and trick you."

Chang Jing kept silent.

Indeed.

They all trusted Uncle Li too much.

On arriving at the island, it was always Uncle Li who guided them; if Uncle Li had intentionally led them into traps, they might have already suffered heavy casualties.

Chang Jing still couldn't understand one thing: "But why didn't Uncle Li... Li Jiangping make a move? Even if there were casualties on Jianlu Island, we wouldn't have suspected him. He could've used the opportunity to weaken the Dark Night Island's strength."

Xiao Hen looked at him seriously: "What if you got hurt? You wouldn't be able to come to Zhan Country to propose, and then he wouldn't be able to get close to Jiaojiao."

Chang Jing: "Oh."

After this, the last glimmer of hope in Chang Jing's heart was extinguished.

Li Jiangping was indeed a thorough spy.

There were actually still some ambiguities that Xiao Hen needed to sort through slowly after going back.

"Is that box really alright?" Shangguan Qing was still concerned about the little first aid kit. After all, it was something even firearms couldn't damage, knowing that even Gu Jiao's armor couldn't withstand the power of firearms.

Xiao Hen confidently said: "It's alright, they can't steal it."

...

On the silent long street, a carriage raced swiftly.

After Li Jiangping got on, he immediately placed the little first aid kit under the seat and guarded it tightly with his legs to prevent it from falling out due to the carriage's jostling.

The swordsman who saved him handed over a pill to treat internal injuries.

He threw it back, working the energy and blood for a small cycle, breathed a long sigh, and said as if surviving a calamity: "It was really dangerous just now, what kind of weapon does that guy have? Almost blasted me to death!"

"That's called a firearm." The swordsman said, hesitated, and added, "But at Ghost Mountain, the firearm didn't have such power."

The swordsman hadn't participated in the battle of Ghost Mountain, but Elder Lu had the details of all the battle conditions sent back to Jianlu by letter.

Li Jiangping sighed: "My identity is exposed, from now on, I can never return to the Dark Night Gate."

Mentioning this, Li Jiangping became angry; he had hid for twenty years, deceiving an entire island of people, only to be uncovered by a young brat still wet behind the ears!

The swordsman said: "No matter, you got the kit, the mission is complete, there's no need to return to the Dark Night Gate anymore."

Li Jiangping said with emotion: "I never expected that the thing the master was looking for would be in the hands of a little girl."

The swordsman was also quite incredulous: "Yes, we always thought that thing was in the Dark Night Gate, making you search White Dark Night Island for twenty years for nothing."

Li Jiangping smiled: "Not entirely fruitless. If I hadn't been hiding on Dark Night Island, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to come to Zhan Country with Chang Jing."

The swordsman agreed: "Indeed."

Li Jiangping frowned slightly: "However, I'm puzzled, how did the master know the first aid kit was with the adopted daughter of the Duke of An Country?"

The swordsman explained: "It was a female doctor surnamed Mu from Chen Country who told the Han family in Yan Country, and the Han family told Gongsun Yu. Our people just happened to be there and overheard. Gongsun Yu wasn't interested in this object, which made it easier for us."

Li Jiangping suddenly realized: "So that's how it is."

The swordsman gave a faint smile and said: "Given that Chang Jing happens to have this relationship with the adoptive family of the Duke of An Country's adopted daughter, it seems like fate, allowing us Jianlu to acquire it."

He said this while looking at Li Jiangping, "You have truly made a great contribution this time; the master will surely reward you generously."

Li Jiangping couldn't hide his smile. He looked down to take up the little first aid kit from the floor, only to find something incredible happening.

"Where's the kit!"

He exclaimed in shock.

The swordsman frowned: "Didn't you just put it under the seat?"

"Yes! I did put it here!" Li Jiangping squatted down and searched not only under his seat but also every nook and cranny inside the carriage.

But the little first aid kit was nowhere to be seen!