The whole family was brutally murdered? The ruthless heiress's eldest daughter went berserk aft

Murong Xuewei turned to look at the injured people. Right now, they needed to make sure everyone recovered from their injuries, otherwise they might all perish here before even entering Jiangnan.

Moonlight streamed through the broken windowpanes, casting dappled shadows on the floor. Groans occasionally drifted from the inner room, where several seriously wounded guards were receiving treatment.

"Bear with it." Murong Xuewei's silver needles flew through the air, her movements swift and precise, each needle piercing the injured man's acupoints with pinpoint accuracy. The guard gritted his teeth, large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

"Xiao Cui, prepare hot water and clean strips of cloth," Murong Xuewei instructed while administering acupuncture.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Xiao Cui replied and left.

As Liuli was counting the items seized from the dead assassin, she suddenly exclaimed softly, "Your Majesty, look at this." She handed over an exquisitely crafted copper coin.

Murong Xuewei took the copper coin and examined it carefully by the moonlight. The front of the coin was engraved with intricate patterns, while the back contained an extremely subtle symbol. Her eyes narrowed; she had seen this symbol in her previous life.

“It’s the mark of the Nanzhao Kingdom,” Murong Xuewei said in a low voice, “and it’s something only the royal family would use.”

Liuli's expression tightened: "Could it be that Nanzhao has kidnapped the eldest prince?"

"Possibly," Murong Xuewei sneered. "Nanzhao has always been ambitious. The Great Qi has only recently been established; it's not impossible that they want to take advantage of the situation and get a share."

Xiao Cui returned with hot water and, seeing the two women's grave expressions, couldn't help but ask, "Your Highness, have you discovered something?"

“Go and check all the assassins’ clothes for me,” Murong Xuewei instructed, without giving a direct answer. “Don’t miss a single inch.”

Xiao Cui nodded quickly, put down the hot water, and went to get busy. Liu Li continued to sort through the captured hidden weapons, which were exquisitely crafted and gleamed with a cold light.

"Huh?" Liuli examined the hidden weapons in her hand carefully. "Your Highness, the material of these hidden weapons... seems a bit special."

Murong Xuewei took the hidden weapon and examined it, her brows furrowing slightly. "This is made of cold iron unique to the Southern Frontier; ordinary craftsmen couldn't forge a weapon like this." She turned the weapon over in the moonlight. "And the craftsmanship..."

"Are they artisans from Nanzhao?" Liuli asked.

Murong Xuewei shook her head: "No, it's from the Western Regions." She pointed to an extremely fine pattern on the hidden weapon, "This is the technique of a Western Region blacksmith. Nanzhao must have purchased these weapons from the Western Regions."

"Your Majesty!" Xiao Cui suddenly exclaimed, "Come and see!"

Murong Xuewei and Liuli walked quickly over. They saw Xiao Cui kneeling beside the corpse of an assassin, holding a tiny folded piece of paper in her hand.

"It was found in his collar," Xiao Cui said, handing the note to Murong Xuewei. "It seems to be made of special material; I almost missed it."

Murong Xuewei took the note and carefully unfolded it. Several lines of text were written on the note in special ink, which shimmered with a faint blue light under the moonlight.

“This is…” Liuli leaned closer to examine it. “Your Majesty, this is a secret message from Nanzhao!”

Murong Xuewei's expression hardened. She had encountered this kind of coded message before when doing business in Nanzhao in her previous life. She quickly scanned the contents of the note, her face growing increasingly grave.

"Your Majesty?" Liuli asked worriedly when she saw that her expression was not right.

Murong Xuewei carefully put away the note: "As expected, they are from Nanzhao. It seems this matter won't be so easy to handle." She paused, "But they..."

"What exactly do the Empress and the others want to do?" Xiao Cui asked疑惑地.

Murong Xuewei didn't explain, but instead instructed, "Liuli, have your spies send a message to Gu Ye, saying that things are a bit troublesome in Jiangnan. Xiaocui, go and brew some medicine; I'll tell you the prescription later."

The two obeyed and left. Murong Xuewei walked to the window, gazing at the deep night sky, her eyes flashing with cold light.

In her past life, all her attention was focused on Jiang Lingyun and Xiao Wanning, and she didn't notice anything else. She looked at the secret letter in her hand. Things seemed to be getting more and more complicated, and many things had even deviated from the trajectory of her past life.

“Your Majesty,” Liuli returned to report, “the hidden agents have been arranged, but…” She hesitated.

"explain."

“I found this while I was taking inventory,” Liuli said, handing over a jade pendant. “It was found on the leader of the assassins.”

Murong Xuewei took the jade pendant, her pupils suddenly contracting. She was all too familiar with this jade pendant; in her past life, it was a token of love given to her by Jiang Lingyun. Only later did she learn that this jade pendant was actually a token of the Nanzhao royal family.

"They really are..." Murong Xuewei sneered, "They've hidden themselves quite well."

"Your Majesty, this jade pendant..."

“It belongs to Jiang Lingyun.” Murong Xuewei held the jade pendant in her hand. “It seems he has completely submitted to Nanzhao.”

Liuli's expression changed in surprise: "Doesn't that mean that in the court..."

"They've infiltrated the court far more deeply than we imagined," Murong Xuewei said, her eyes growing even colder. "No wonder they knew our whereabouts."

Xiao Cui came in carrying the medicine: "Your Highness, the medicine is ready."

"Give it to the wounded," Murong Xuewei instructed, then added, "Starting tonight, take turns keeping watch. Since they failed once, they'll be back soon."

“Yes,” Liuli and Xiaocui replied in unison.

The night grew deeper, and the dilapidated manor remained silent. Murong Xuewei sat by the window, examining the secret letter again by the moonlight. The letter mentioned not only the jade pendant in her hand, but also a name she had never heard before—"Xuanji Pavilion."

"I can't believe I missed such an important clue in my past life," Murong Xuewei murmured to herself. She began to recall bits and pieces of her past life, trying to connect these newly discovered clues.

Nanzhao, Jiang Lingyun, and this mysterious Xuanji Pavilion... the more she thought about it, the more she felt that things were not simple.

"Your Highness," Liuli approached softly, "Should I go and investigate first?"

Murong Xuewei shook her head: "No need." She stood up. "Rather than alerting them, it's better to... let them think their plan hasn't been discovered yet."

"Then we..."

"Get ready." A sharp glint flashed in Murong Xuewei's eyes. "After dawn, we'll try to find a way to get into Jiangnan while we remain hidden, especially since our eldest brother is still injured."

Murong Xuewei stood at the door looking at the moon hanging high in the sky and realized that it was already the fifteenth of the month.

Murong Xuewei thought of Xiao Yan'er, who was far away in Fengyi Palace. She wondered if Xiao Yan'er had been obedient lately and if she had been sleeping well at night.

Murong Xuewei sighed, and Xiao Cui stepped forward to drape a coat over her shoulders.

"Is Your Highness thinking of your family?"

Murong Xuewei nodded slightly. "Yes, I'm thinking about my child."

"Your Majesty's son must be very cute. You must miss him a little since you haven't been by his side for so long."