Ning Wang dared not respond directly to Leng Ruo Li’s words.
The moment he opened his mouth, his identity would be exposed.
Therefore, after glancing at Leng Ruo Li, he quickly drew his sharp long sword and thrust it towards her.
Leng Ruo Li reacted with lightning speed, sidestepping to evade his long sword.
Meanwhile, the people in her medical clinic had surrounded Ning Wang’s men, and they began drawing their long swords and engaging in combat with Ning Wang’s men.
After dodging the attack, Leng Ruo Li gazed intently at the attacker’s features and immediately guessed that the man attempting to assassinate her was Ning Wang.
Thus, Leng Ruo Li exclaimed loudly, "Your Highness Ning Wang! What business do you have leading your men to break into my Anji Hall in the dead of night?"
Ning Wang was startled by Leng Ruo Li’s words, but he still dared not respond directly. Instead, he launched another round of attacks against her.
Although Ning Wang’s martial arts skills were not particularly formidable, his sword forms were all deadly.
Leng Ruo Li did not dare to let her guard down. Subsequently, Leng Ruo Li kicked the masked Ning Wang into the garden in the front courtyard of Anji Hall. He then crashed heavily onto the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and was nearly knocked unconscious.
"Master, Master…"
Ning Wang’s few guards, seeing their master severely injured, cried out in alarm, but they were unable to disengage themselves.
At this moment, Leng Ruo Li’s gaze towards Ning Wang was so intense it could have been shattered into fragments. She raised her delicate eyebrows slightly, her moon-white gauze skirt shimmering and reflecting a cold radiance under the moonlight. She strode quickly towards Ning Wang, attempting to rip off the black cloth from his face and uncover the true identity of the masked assailant.
But at this very moment, a dense fog as black as ink materialized out of thin air above Ning Wang. It then spun on the ground like a black tornado for a few circles, and the Ning Wang, who had been lying on the ground, was swept away by the black mist.
Everyone who witnessed this scene was stunned. Afterward, the guards, who had been abandoned by their master, fought with all their might against the few guards within Leng Ruo Li’s medical clinic. In the end, all of Ning Wang’s masked black-clad men were killed by Ye Ying and the clinic’s employees.
However, after these masked men died, an even more astonishing scene unfolded. Their bodies quickly emitted a wisp of clear smoke, and at a visible speed, their corpses decomposed until only skeletons remained.
"Consort, what is happening? Why are these corpses like this?" Lu Li Luo asked, her face full of fear.
Seeing this, Leng Ruo Li also knitted her brows. She also had no idea what was going on with the bodies before everyone’s eyes.
These corpses did not seem to have come into contact with any corrosive substances, so why had they suddenly decomposed? This was the first time she had encountered such a situation, which could only mean that there was a secret hidden within these remains.
Apart from Leng Ruo Li and Chu Ming Xuan, who stood silently contemplating, everyone else below was whispering to each other.
After a moment, Chu Ming Xuan suddenly spoke, "Consort, I know how these corpses were corrupted. It’s because these guards were fed a poison called ‘Death Rot Grass’ from a young age. Although Death Rot Grass does not kill people instantly, to prevent certain secrets from being exposed after their deaths, the master who cultivated these guards would force their subordinates to consume a Death Rot Grass. Therefore, their bodies undergo rapid decomposition."
"Death Rot Grass? I’ve been studying medicine for so long, and this is the first time I’ve heard of it."
Hearing Chu Ming Xuan’s words, Leng Ruo Li’s face showed a hint of strangeness.
"Consort, this is not surprising. I only heard about this grass once when I was studying medicine with Jun Nan Sheng. It grows on a strange stone and is quite rare. If I hadn’t seen these corpses decompose so quickly tonight, I might not have remembered that such a poison existed," Chu Ming Xuan explained.
Upon hearing this, Leng Ruo Li smiled faintly.
Then, Chu Miao Ling, standing beside them, changed the subject and said, "Consort, that mass of black mist that rescued the leader of the black-clad men earlier, I feel it was Huo Ying."
"Yes, she is Huo Ying! And I suspect the man taken away by Huo Ying just now was Ning Wang," Leng Ruo Li said with certainty.
"I never thought she would recover so quickly after suffering such severe injuries that night, but what surprised me even more was that she actually remained in the capital and did not go to Yingzhou with Lin Zhen Fan."
"Indeed!"
The Chu siblings also frowned and nodded upon hearing this.
"Based on tonight’s events, everyone at Anji Hall must remain vigilant from now on. I fear the man I injured earlier might return to our medical clinic."
Leng Ruo Li immediately reminded everyone.
"Mm-hmm…"
Everyone nodded in unison upon hearing this.
"Fortunately, Consort noticed something was wrong in time, allowing us to prepare in advance and catch them in a trap, successfully resolving this crisis."
"Exactly, otherwise we…"
"Alright, it’s late tonight. Leave four on duty, and everyone else can return to the dormitories to rest. I, along with Xing’er and Ye Ying, will be returning to the Cold Prince’s Estate."
With that said, Leng Ruo Li instructed Ye Ying to drive the carriage. She and Xing’er slowly walked out of the medical clinic’s entrance, and then they boarded the carriage driven by Ye Ying and returned to the Cold Prince’s Estate.
…
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Leng Ruo Li, along with Xing’er and Ye Ying, returned to the Cold Prince’s Estate.
As the trio passed through the estate’s garden, Leng Ruo Li spotted a small, white figure sitting on the rockery in the garden.
So, she instructed Ye Ying to fly up to the rockery to take a look.
Ye Ying flew up and took a glance at the person, immediately recognizing who it was.
"Consort, this person is Ye Fang!"
"Ye Fang? Who is Ye Fang?" Leng Ruo Li asked curiously.
"Consort, Ye Fang is the only female guard under the Prince. She was previously placed in Prince Qing’s Estate as an informant. Later, when Prince Qing’s Estate was raided, Ye Fang returned to the Cold Prince’s Estate," Ye Ying explained patiently to Leng Ruo Li.
After speaking, Ye Ying reached out and nudged Ye Fang’s body, reminding her to pay respects to the Consort.
"Ye Fang, why are you still daydreaming? The Consort is here, why aren’t you paying respects quickly?"
Only then did Ye Fang belatedly react and quickly flew down from the rockery.
Upon seeing Ye Fang’s reaction, Ye Ying felt very dissatisfied. If he, Ye Ying, were an assassin intruding into the Cold Prince’s Estate, in Ye Fang’s current state, he would have likely been killed with a single sword strike.
He would definitely punish this Ye Fang severely later to make her remember her lesson.
The more Ye Ying thought about it, the darker his expression became. He then followed closely behind Ye Fang and approached Leng Ruo Li.
"Ye Fang pays her respects to the Consort!" Ye Fang raised her hand and respectfully bowed to Leng Ruo Li.
Under the illumination of the flashlight, Leng Ruo Li got a clear look at her face. She was quite delicate, with a melon-seed shaped face, bright eyes, and a small, very beautiful mouth. She wore a white, waist-cinching, narrow-sleeved dress, with only a ponytail tied on her head. Her appearance was neat and tidy.
Hearing this, Leng Ruo Li nodded slightly and said, "Mm, you may rise!"
Only then did Ye Fang dare to stand up straight.