Who says the prince is weak and can't take care of himself?

Tang Ling turned off the lights in the room. The dust on his hand made a soft rubbing sound. He slowly sat down on the floor and tugged at the quilt in the darkness. He turned his head to look at the bed that was only half a meter away and said, "Thank you... Qi Xiao."

Qi Xiao moved and turned over. The person hiding in the darkness made Tang Ling only see a shadow.

"I'm sorry for what happened before. I want to thank you sincerely." Tang Ling sat with her knees hugged, her voice so soft and low that no one outside could hear it. Tang Ling knew that with Qi Xiao's hearing, he would definitely hear it clearly. "It's the same this time."

After a long time, the room was silent. Tang Ling thought Qi Xiao was still angry, so she didn't dare to say anything. She lay down and prepared to sleep for a while. Suddenly, she heard Qi Xiao say, "You owe me your life. Remember to pay it back in the future."

Qi Xiao's voice sounded lazy, very casual and nonchalant. Tang Ling smiled silently and nodded lightly.

"How can you smile when there's a knife at your neck every day?" Qi Xiao turned over and looked at Tang Ling.

Tang Ling was slightly stunned: "How do you know I'm smiling?"

"You didn't?"

Tang Ling was a little surprised. In the pitch black night where one couldn't see one's hand in front of one's face, how could Qi Xiao's eyesight be so amazing?

"Aren't you scared?" Qi Xiao hadn't felt sleepy at all after the night's restlessness. He simply sat up, got off the bed, and sat on the footstool, facing Tang Ling. He simply chatted with her, "You look so frail and fragile. Aren't you afraid of being attacked repeatedly?"

During the robbery in Yongcheng, Tang Ling was locked in a prison van. Qi Xiao could never forget the look she gave Qi Xiao. He was in a miserable state at that time, but his eyes were clear and calm, as if he was not a prisoner in a cage, but a general on horseback or a young master in a sedan chair.

Qi Xiao had heard rumors about Tang Ling. A Confucian general who could confront Lu Fangjin for several months should naturally not be underestimated. But it was not until that glance that Qi Xiao really took Tang Ling seriously.

"When we were in Tiger's Mouth Gorge, it would be a lie to say I wasn't afraid." Tang Ling also sat up and faced Qi Xiao in the darkness. "At that moment, I really thought I was going to die."

Tang Ling gently touched the gauze on her arm and whispered, "Just now... I didn't have time to be afraid... If it weren't for you, I would have been beheaded."

"Do you know who wants to kill you?"

Tang Ling could vaguely see Qi Xiao's outline in the darkness. He was like a ferocious beast lurking in the mountains, representing danger, or like a stone lion standing outside a mansion, keeping evil away. Tang Ling could see the danger by looking at him, and at the same time, she could see peace of mind. He was both a spear and a shield, very magical.

"The two assassinations were carried out by different people. The assassin at Hukouxia should be from Qi State, but I can't guess who was responsible today."

Qi Xiao asked with interest: "An assassin from Qi? Did you guess it?" Tang Ling was helpless in Chen State, with only Qinglan and Ye Huai by her side. It was impossible for her to have the ability or spies to investigate the sneak attack and assassination. Along the way, neither Su Qin, Yue Zhilin nor Qi Xiao himself was willing to reveal a word to Tang Ling. How did Tang Ling guess it?

"Those men were incredibly skilled and disciplined, able to evade the layers of Tiger Might Army protection and nearly kill me with a single blow. Ordinary Jianghu warriors simply couldn't pull that off. There were many reasons they wanted me dead or kidnapped, and I couldn't figure it out at the moment. When General Su found me, he immediately shackled me, seemingly fearing I'd be kidnapped. I initially thought I had no choice but to let General Su keep me locked up, but after arriving at the palace, I confirmed that those men were definitely sent by the State of Qi."

"Oh? Now that you put it that way, I don't understand even more."

Tang Ling smiled and didn't rush to answer Qi Xiao's question. Instead, she asked, "You have a close personal relationship with General Su, right?"

"Why do you think so?" Qi Xiao didn't deny it.

"Although I haven't been with General Su for long, I can tell he's a cautious person by nature. If he wasn't familiar with you, how could he have complied with your wishes on everything?"

"I am the prince, and Su Qin is just a general. Do you think I should listen to him?"

"According to the laws of the State of Chen, military commanders must obey military orders and not the emperor's orders. I served in the army for a while before, and I knew that generals and soldiers were very different from court officials and scholars. Most of them were straightforward and wouldn't obey or respect you just because you were a prince."

"I didn't expect you to have some knowledge of the laws of the Chen Kingdom." Qi Xiao smiled. "I helped Su Qin at Tiger's Mouth Gorge before, so it's not surprising that he'd give me some face, right?"

"It does make sense, so I was initially just wondering how you persuaded General Su to let me stay at the palace to recuperate. I thought favors were favors, and military orders were military orders, and General Su couldn't be easily persuaded or compromised. It wasn't until Ye Huai broke into the palace at night that I became even more suspicious. After the attack at Hukou Gorge, it was impossible for General Su to make another mistake in his guard. Even if you exposed a flaw on the west side of the palace, how could the Tiger Power Army let Ye Huai enter the palace so easily? And after the incident, General Su led his men into the palace to search it, with great fanfare, but they returned empty-handed, as if it was just a formality. Until we left Yongcheng, General Su never mentioned the assassin again. There is only one explanation for all this: you and General Su had already reached a consensus."

Qi Xiao chuckled softly, "What you said is all true, but it still doesn't explain why Su Qin and I have a personal relationship. If I want to convince him, I naturally have my own way."

"I believe this." Tang Ling nodded. "I'm just guessing about your relationship with him, but I trust my intuition."

"Oh? Did your intuition come out of nowhere?"

Qi Xiao and Tang Ling sat across from each other for the first time, chatting at length. Although the topic wasn't particularly casual, the atmosphere felt surprisingly casual. Qi Xiao seemed to have suddenly become curious about Tang Ling, and the fact that Tang Ling had shared so much with Qi Xiao was a testament to their genuine friendship and openness.

"General Su is usually very serious and taciturn. We didn't say a word to you or me on the entire journey since we left Yongcheng. Today, when we first arrived at the inn, I happened to see you two talking. Although I couldn't hear what you said, I could see that General Su was at ease, and there was no wariness or respect in his eyes. He was at ease and relaxed, just like he was with a friend."

"Is this also apparent?"

"I trust my own eyes. And just now, when you captured the assassin and handed him over to General Su, asking him to personally interrogate him that night, there was no need for you two to say anything extra. A single glance was enough to understand. That tacit understanding couldn't be hidden under such extreme tension."

Qi Xiao moved slightly, changed to a more comfortable sitting position, and seemed to move a little closer to Tang Ling intentionally or unintentionally.

"These are just your guesses. You haven't explained why you suspect the assassin was sent by Qi."

When Tang Ling heard Qi Xiao neither admit nor deny it, she knew she had guessed correctly. However, her guess didn't dispel his suspicions; it only deepened them. Qi Xiao's fiefdom was Fuzhou Prefecture, while the Huwei Army was stationed in Linjiang Prefecture. Although the two places were adjacent, Qi Xiao and Su Qin shouldn't have had any contact. How did they know each other? And how could they have crossed paths?

From Hukou Gorge to Yongcheng Long Street, from the palace to Lanquan Town, Qi Xiao and Su Qin had barely spoken to each other these days, acting like strangers. Was this Qi Xiao and Su Qin being cautious? Or did they have other plans?

Qi Xiao waited for a moment, and when Tang Ling didn't respond, he said, "Are you tired? Go to sleep."

"Why... do you want to go to Yuanjing?" Tang Ling had already answered many questions, and it was his turn to ask a question, a question that had been lingering in his mind for many days and he couldn't figure it out.

Qi Xiao was just about to crawl back into bed when he was startled by Tang Ling's question: "Why do you ask that?"

"With your intelligence, you should understand that it is the most dangerous place in the world. You have no power, no influence, nothing to rely on, and nothing to turn to. Even if you have the will, you are powerless."

Qi Xiao tilted his head as if he was looking at Tang Ling. Tang Ling could feel Qi Xiao's gaze, but unfortunately the room was too dark and she couldn't see his expression clearly.

"Are you concerned about me? Are you afraid that I'll die?"

"..." Concern? It seemed a little hard to explain. Tang Ling thought it would be a pity if he died so easily, but she couldn't quite describe it as concern. "I just want to know why you went to so much trouble to save me several times?"

Qi Xiao chuckled and said lazily, "I'll tell you when you care about me. I'm going to sleep."