Shocking! Five men are in love with the same woman!

Then, when their gaze shifted from the delightful clue, they were able to focus on the horrifying scene inside the cave.

The black-clad assassins lay scattered on the ground, a scene like a nightmare shrouded in darkness.

They slowly approached and began to carefully examine the bodies.

Most of them were found to have died from being pierced by silver needles. Those tiny silver needles seemed to tell the story of a thrilling battle.

Others died from poisoning, their bodies emanating an eerie aura.

There were obvious signs of a fierce fight at the scene; bloodstains stained the ground, like blooming dark red flowers.

The bloodstains were shocking, making one feel as if they could see the ferocity of the battle.

Those few pieces of light blue and light pink fabric stood out starkly against the chaos.

Xiao Muyao trembled as he picked up the blue cloth, his face instantly turning extremely pale.

He said in a low, trembling voice, "Yan'er was wearing cyan that day, and the lotus root pink should be from Yunmeng."

His words struck like a heavy hammer, hitting everyone's hearts hard.

Upon hearing this, He Jingchuan's pupils contracted sharply, and the color drained from his face instantly.

He stared blankly at the fabric, as if he could see Ling Yan struggling on the edge of life and death, and an indescribable fear welled up in his heart.

Lu Yanqing's brows furrowed tightly, his eyes filled with worry and heartache.

His gaze was fixed on the piece of blue cloth, as if he could see all the hardships Lingyan had endured from it.

His face was deathly pale; he couldn't imagine what she had gone through.

Chu Xiyao's face was also terribly gloomy, and his eyes burned with the flames of anger.

His fists were clenched tightly, and he gritted his teeth, remaining silent.

Shen Qingchen's body was also trembling violently.

Looking at the bloodstains on the ground, and thinking that there might still be blood on her, my heart ached terribly, and my throat felt choked with pain.

At this moment, He Jingchuan spoke in a hoarse voice: "If that's the case, then A-Ling... should be safe right now, on her way to Bei Li."

Lu Yanqing, suppressing her distress, said, "Since she told us to wait for her to come back, she probably doesn't want us to go looking for her. She must have other plans. Given her abilities, since she dared to go to Bei Li as a hostage, she must be safe there."

Chu Xiyao also released his grip, took a deep breath and said, "Since that's the case, we should listen to her and not go to Beili to find her and interrupt her plans. Since she is a hostage, the King of Beili will surely use her to exchange for some benefits with Da Zhao. So all we need to do is wait quietly for the Beili envoy to come and exchange her for her."

Hearing the three people's conversation, Shen Qingchen composed herself before frowning and asking, "This time, the Northern Li King will surely make an exorbitant demand, but will His Majesty agree to the Great Zhao paying such a high price to bring her back?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Muyao replied with a firm and unwavering gaze, "Yes! Even if Father Emperor disagrees, I will make him agree!"

Hearing his assurance, the four of them were relieved and had great faith that he would keep his word.

The five of them then left the cave and discovered that there were many traces of burning or something similar outside the cave.

In addition, there was blood.

The large pool of blood was particularly striking, along with signs that someone had lain down there and what appeared to be kneeling on the ground.

And they examined it carefully.

It was discovered that neither the figure of someone lying down nor the figure of knees belonged to a man's body skeleton, but rather to two women.

In addition, all the Eastern Palace guards have been wiped out, and there are no women among the Northern Li assassins.

Because they are different from the Great Zhao, they look down on women and restrict them in various ways.

So how could there possibly be women among these assassins?

Therefore, without a doubt, these two women are Lingyan and Yunmeng.

They could also deduce from the traces left at that time that the person lying in the pool of blood must have been Yunmeng.

She knelt down and hugged Yunmeng tightly, which is why she left such marks.

In addition, there were many traces of burning outside, so they speculated that she must have cremated Yunmeng.

This speculation is based on the corpses found in the cave.

If the Northern Li assassins were to cremate their comrades' bodies, how could they still be lying there?

On the other hand, it is because both the Great Zhao and the Northern Li believe that people should be buried in the ground for peace after death.

Cremating a body is completely unacceptable to them; they feel that damaging the remains will lead to being criticized behind their backs.

Didn't you see the corpses of the assassins from Bei Li? Didn't the remaining assassins cremate them either?

That's because they felt that keeping it as it was was better than cremation, at least it would bring peace to the earth.

But based on their understanding of her, she wasn't the type of person who would care about such things.

Only she would do that, and only she would choose to do that.

As for why she cremated Yunmeng, they could guess her reasons.

They can completely understand that.

Also, why would they guess that the person who died was Yunmeng instead of Lingyan?

That's because there's no body from Yunmeng here.

Because if it were Lingyan who died, they would definitely take Lingyan's body away and exchange it for benefits with Dazhao.

If Yunmeng and the others simply killed her, why would they waste time and energy cremating her?

Since Yunmeng's body is not here, the person who must have died must be Yunmeng, and she was cremated.

When the five of them learned what had happened to her, they felt very heavy-hearted, sad, and distressed.

They couldn't imagine how devastated she must have been when she witnessed Yunmeng die in front of her.

They all knew how important Yunmeng was to her and what it meant to her.

It is precisely because we understand them that we feel such deep heartache.

Furthermore, she also had to cremate her, and under such circumstances, she would definitely have no choice but to suppress her hatred.

Yet he could only endure watching his enemy in front of him every day.

They couldn't imagine how desperate and painful she must have been.

The five people stood outside the cave, looking at the large area of ​​burn marks and the shocking bloodstains, feeling as if they had been hit hard by a heavy hammer.

His eyes were filled with pain and self-blame, hating himself for not finding Lingyan sooner and leaving her to bear all of this alone.

Their hearts ached at the thought of Lingyan holding Yunmeng as she collapsed in a pool of blood.

Yunmeng's death must have been a huge blow to her, but she could only bear it all alone.

They hated their own incompetence, hated that they weren't by her side to offer her comfort and support.

They couldn't imagine how much pain, helplessness, and breakdown she must have felt after going through all of this.

And so the five of them stood silently outside the cave, like five statues frozen in sorrow.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment; they were so engrossed in their own pain that they forgot everything around them.

It wasn't until they heard a lot of noise that they slowly came back to their senses from their grief.

As they got closer, they looked more closely and realized that everyone who had come was a familiar face.

There were several princes, the Ninth Princess, as well as Yang Huan, Meng Huai'an, Jiang Muxue, Jiang Jingyu, and others.

Some civil officials arrived with their guards, as did Zeng Han, Qin Qi, and some military generals with their troops.