The Princess Cannot Escape: The Cunning Prince Is Not to Be Messed With

Chapter 245 A Desperate Struggle

Although Mingyue was unwilling, Qiongji's life was in Xiahou Ying's hands, and she had no choice. "Don't forget your promise, spare their lives."

One of the men, who looked like a handsome young man, stood up and said angrily.

"Island Lord, how dare you betray the Qionghai Gang! Have you forgotten that once you leave this place without the protection of forbidden techniques, you will immediately die? Moreover, your sister, who shares your body, is your fatal weakness. If you can repent now and lead us to expel the outsiders, we will still respect you."

The man's face was deathly pale, as if he was extremely angry. Xiahou Ying glared at him, and a white silk ribbon flew out from his sleeve, immediately wrapping around the man's neck. "Don't test my patience, Gu Lounan, activate the formation."

Gu Lounan flew into the air, muttering incantations to himself.

Merlin moved quickly, and soon a secret passage appeared below. Inside, Prince Duan's personal guards were already lying in wait. Leading them were Qin Nian and Xie Fo. Xie Fo was the first to jump out, touching his scarred head, looking at everything with curiosity. "Is this the legendary Qionghai Gang, a paradise on earth? It looks pretty good. Oh, beautiful young lady, what's your name and how old are you?"

At this moment, the Evil Buddha was teasing Mingyue. Mingyue's palms flashed, and the sharp sword energy instantly cut through the Evil Buddha's sleeve. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but the mockery in his eyes deepened. Xiahou Ying said coldly, "Evil Buddha."

These words immediately startled the evil Buddha.

Smiling, Yin Quan returned to Xiahou Ying's side, somewhat puzzled, wondering when this evil Buddha had become so afraid of Xiahou Ying.

Upon seeing Yin Quan, the evil Buddha chuckled and said, "How have you been lately, benefactor? Wow, you look radiant these past few days! That green dress suits you perfectly."

"If you like green clothes, I'll make you a whole truckload so you can change into a different one every day." The evil Buddha was turned away and wisely hid to the side without saying a word. Qin Nian's eyes never left Yin Quan, and there were some dark circles under her eyes. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Yin Quan nudged him with his elbow.

"Hey, why do you look like a panda after not seeing you for a few days?" Qin Nian pursed his lips and remained silent, but seeing his furrowed brows, Yin Quan felt that he seemed to have something to say to her.

The members of the Qionghai Gang were escorted by the government's personal guards. Everyone was given a pill and cursed as they were tied up, their grievances mostly directed at Mingyue.

Mingyue didn't seem to care. She lowered her head, smoothed her hair, and said to Xiahou Ying, "Since Your Highness has achieved your goal, I won't disturb you any longer. I have important things to do."

Xiahou Ying did not stop her and went about arranging for the escort of the Qionghai Gang members.

Yin Quan noticed a hint of conspiracy in Ming Yue's eyes and saw that she was acting suspiciously. Yin Quan hid in the shadows and followed her. Ming Yue was restless the whole way and did not realize that Yin Quan was following her. She hurriedly went into the study and did not come out for a long time.

Yin Quan pressed her ear against the door and heard Mingyue and Qiongji whispering to each other. Qiongji's voice was somewhat agitated, "Mingyue, you mustn't do this. It goes against the will of Heaven. Besides, I am already a dying man. Don't waste your efforts."

Mingyue was somewhat annoyed. "I've done so much for you. What's the point of my life if you die? As long as this painting is burned, the entire Qionghai Island will fall into chaos. Then we can escape by waterway. I've already prepared a small boat there."

Startled, Yin Quan rushed in without thinking and saw Mingyue holding a flint, about to burn the painting on the stone wall of the study.

The painting was one that Yin Quan recognized very well. "Mingyue, are you crazy? We said we would let you go, so why are you betraying us?"

"Damn it, it's you again, you ruining things." Yin Quan felt a tightness around her neck as she was pulled to Ming Yue's side by a strong force, her pale fingers gripping Yin Quan's neck tightly.

Qiongji coughed up a mouthful of blood in desperation, "We must not harm her, otherwise Prince Duan will not let us off the hook."

“Prince Duan? By then, the entire island will become a dead island, and there will be no Prince Duan left.” Mingyue’s eyes were filled with a look of near madness. She flicked the flint in her hand, and the painting on the stone wall immediately caught fire. Yin Quan hurriedly struggled with his hands.

This aroused Mingyue's murderous intent. Yin Quan felt the air growing thinner and thinner. Suddenly, a flash of green robes appeared before Yin Quan's eyes, and Qin Nian broke Mingyue's wrist.

"If you dare touch her again, I will kill you." Qin Nian's voice was not loud, but it was quite intimidating. Mingyue was already sweating profusely from the pain. Yin Quan hurriedly tried to snatch the burning painting, but only managed to grab half of the mutilated body. The ground beneath Yin Quan's feet began to tremble, and Mingyue laughed arrogantly.

"It's too late. You're all going to die. Don't worry, I'll burn incense for you this time next year." Mingyue turned a vase beside her, revealing a hidden door behind her. She pulled Qiongji along and slipped inside.

"Mingyue, stop right there! Are you crazy!" The tremors of the earth grew more and more violent. A huge beam fell from above Yin Quan's head. Just as she was about to be smashed into a pulp, she was suddenly pulled into a mountain-like embrace. Qin Nian carried her and flashed to the doorway where Mingyue had disappeared.

He channeled his inner energy into his palms and pushed towards the hidden door. Only when the veins on his forehead bulged could he barely open the stone door a crack. Yin Quan looked at everything that was about to collapse, but his heart was with Xiahou Ying. If the outside was in the same state, what would happen to Xiahou Ying and the others?

"No, I have to go find Xiahou Ying." Seeing Yin Quan risking his life to rush out to find Xiahou Ying, Qin Nian shouted for the first time.

"Are you really stupid, woman?" Ignoring Yin Quan's struggles, Qin Nian picked her up by the waist, and the two of them slipped into the hidden door. As soon as they entered, they heard a deafening collapse outside, which lasted for a full incense stick's time before calming down. Yin Quan stared blankly at the closed stone door, muttering to herself.

“Xiahou Ying…Xiahou Ying…”

Qin Nian felt a pang of heartache looking at her. He tugged at Yin Quan's sleeve and said, "He'll be alright."

Yin Quan frowned and shook off his hand. "You don't know, Xiahou Ying was completely unaware of Mingyue's conspiracy. He thought everything was under his control, but he didn't know that Mingyue had long intended to kill us all."

Qin Nian's voice suddenly dropped several octaves, "How do you know he doesn't know? Yin Quan, Yin Quan, are you really stupid? Or is it that you only trust Xiahou Ying in this world, even if he uses you as bait?"

Yin Quan was taken aback, turned around and looked at Qin Nian's angry expression, and was momentarily dazed.

"What do you mean by that? What do you mean Xiahou Ying is using me as bait?" In Yin Quan's impression, Qin Nian had always been as calm as an immortal, and she had never seen him show any emotional fluctuations. But at this moment, his face turned red.

"Do you really think the current emperor is confused? To implicate Princess Duan just because of a rebel? Besides, the emperor is not unaware of your relationship with the Yin family. And if he hadn't foreseen that you would be hunted down along the way, why would Xiahou Ying have placed me by your side? Even when you came to Qionghai Gang, it was he who sent people to kidnap you. Think carefully about what happened on the island. Didn't you really notice anything unusual?"

Qin Nian's words struck Yin Quan's heart like a heavy hammer. Everything that happened on the island flashed through her mind like a movie. Yin Quan always felt like she was being led by the nose. Now, thinking about it carefully, Xiahou Ying knew that Ming Yue knew his identity and wanted to kill him, but he didn't expose him.

Instead, he allowed Mingyue to poison her. Xiahou Ying had planned beforehand that Mingyue would throw him into Mingri's pile of dead bodies. Otherwise, he wouldn't have given him the hairpin that could break Mingyue's power. In other words, he knew that Mingri was her weakness, but he couldn't kill Mingri, so he used himself as bait.

The more Yin Quan thought about it, the more violently she trembled. She could even feel a bone-chilling cold spreading through her body. She tightened her clothes, "So cold..."

Qin Nian quickly draped her own clothes over her shoulders.

Yin Quan's eyes gradually became vacant. After she figured everything out, she suddenly wanted to laugh. Despite her pride in being smart all her life, she was always being used in love. If Xiahou Ying had told her the truth, she believed she would still have been willing to cooperate with him. But he didn't. She would never know what this man was thinking.

Does he truly love her? Or is it just because she's special that he enjoys the feeling of possessing her?

For some reason, the old injury on my shoulder and neck started hurting again.

"Qin Nian, how do you know all this?"

Qin Nian didn't want to tell Yin Quan these things, but when he saw this foolish woman risking her life for Xiahou Ying, he couldn't bear it. The heartache was unbearable, and it was the first time he realized that love could be painful.

"After Xie Fo and I discovered that you had been robbed, we couldn't find you no matter what we did. It wasn't until three days later that we received a message from Xiahou Ying. He ordered us to contact the prefectural governor near Qionghai to mobilize troops. He put a kind of medicinal fragrance on Qiongji, which only the disciples of Medicine King Valley could smell. The disciple arrived in a few days and led us to the underground exit of the Qionghai Gang."

Yin Quan nodded with a cold smile, "As expected of Prince Duan, he has meticulously planned everything without missing a beat. Qiongji thought that Xiahou Ying was forced to make a deal with him, but it turns out that Xiahou Ying has been playing a cat-and-mouse game all along. And then what happened?"

“At that time, I began to suspect that Xiahou Ying had anticipated your arrival and that was why he had the subsequent plan. I think he must have arranged everything at that time, including the assassination of the Emperor by the Yin family in the capital.”

Yin Quan took two steps back, feeling somewhat weak. "So that means Qin Chang'an was also arranged by him to mislead everyone in the capital?"

Qin Nian pursed her lips. "If I'm not mistaken, Qin Chang'an is the hostage left in the Emperor's hands in your place. It's true that the Emperor doesn't fully trust him."

Yin Quan rubbed her temples. "In that case, my worries must have been unnecessary. Xiahou Ying's every move is meticulously planned, and she probably can't miss Mingyue's plan. It seems that I was ridiculously foolish to almost lose my life over this."

Qin Nian sighed, "All of this is just my guess. Why don't you ask him yourself what the truth is?"