There is a happy inn in the capital.

Prince Gewa said leisurely, "Princess Gewa-chan"

The tone was as if he were talking about an object; he didn't even glance at Princess Ji-chan.

Princess Jijiang was stunned after hearing this, looking at her brother in disbelief. Wasn't it supposed to be pearls? How did it become her?

Is he still his own brother?

She didn't want to be married off. She wasn't used to the lifestyle here, the rules of the palace, or being confined to one place and unable to leave.

More importantly, she didn't like Emperor Zixing. She had no friends or family here, and no one to confide in when she was wronged. How wronged and helpless she must feel!

Her eyes welled up with tears at the thought, but she couldn't let them fall; she had to hold them back.

The Emperor hesitated and asked, "Does Prince Jiwa also wish to marry a noblewoman from the Purple Star Dynasty?"

Prince Gewa said calmly, "No."

The Emperor: "What is that?"

Prince Jiwa smiled wickedly: "I want to trade Princess Jiwa for six cities in the southeast of the Purple Star Dynasty."

These words caused an uproar. The Laji Kingdom had been attacking the cities in the southeast relentlessly, but hadn't captured a single one. Now they wanted to exchange a girl for them—it was utterly ridiculous.

Princess Jijiang scoffed upon hearing this. Trading her for six cities of the Purple Star Dynasty—her brother had certainly made a clever plan.

Li Shuchen looked at Prince Jiwa. She knew he wasn't a good person. The Purple Star Dynasty only had sixteen cities in total, and he was asking for six more. He was really giving him a hard time.

The Emperor said in a deep voice, "Prince Jiwa, do not provoke me."

Prince Jiwa laughed heartily: "Just kidding, Your Majesty can't be so ungrateful, can you?"

Li Shuchen wanted to spit on him. Ugh, shameless!

What's the difference between saying "I'm your dad" and then saying "Don't be so petty, I was just joking" when the other person gets angry?

The Emperor smiled calmly and said, "Prince Jiwa is indeed as the world says. At first, I didn't believe it, but it turns out to be true."

Utterly shameless

Prince Gewa sat down with a slight hint of disdain, showing no intention of offering any more gifts.

With that, all that remained was a song and dance performance, which served to ease the tense atmosphere.

The instrumental section began

A woman in red, wearing a metal mask, stepped forward, bowed, and began to perform a solo dance, different from the one performed by Consort Yue.

Consort Yue is delicate and charming, while the beauty in red is strong and heroic.

It's more like she's performing a sword dance, but she doesn't actually have a sword in her hand.

As he hopped and skipped, he reached Liang Yuying and kept spinning around, his hand intentionally or unintentionally reaching out towards her, which made Li Shuchen a little scared.

She stared intently at the woman in red. Through the mask on her face, she could see the unwavering determination in her eyes—a resolve to face death.

Now Li Shuchen was even more frightened. He couldn't just suddenly pull out a knife and stab Yuying, could he? He silently prayed, "Eighth Brother, Ninth Brother, you'd better watch the moment and protect Yuying!"

As Li Shuchen was praying, the scene suddenly changed; a beautiful woman drew a sharp knife from her waist and stabbed at the emperor.

Amidst the chaos, a woman dressed as an empress rushed out from the crowd, desperately embracing the emperor and shielding him from the red-clad beauty's fatal blow. A sharp blade pierced her chest, and blood gushed forth, soaking her magnificent robes.

The lady fainted instantly, her fate unknown.

Seeing that her mission was unsuccessful, the dancer committed suicide, collapsing on the spot.

The Emperor picked up the Empress who had shielded him from injury and hurriedly left.

The banquet ended hastily.

Li Shuchen helped Liang Yuying up and they joined Gu Ziying.

Gu Ziying clutched her chest, huddled close to Li Shuchen and the others, and said with lingering fear, "I was so scared! She kept circling in front of Yuying. I thought she was going to harm Yuying, but it turns out she was going to harm the Emperor. It was terrifying!"

Gu Ziying, having regained her composure, witnessed the gasps of many noble ladies at the moment the red-clad beauty stabbed the Emperor. Li Shuchen guessed that this was probably the first time she had ever seen such a scene; it was far too bloody for them, women from high-ranking families.

He patted her back and comforted her, "Don't be afraid, Yu Ying and I both know some martial arts, we can hold our own."

Li Shuchen searched for Princess Changning in the crowd for a long time but couldn't find her, so he said, "Where is Princess Changning?"

Liang Yuying: "She's talking to Princess Jiahe, let's wait for her."

Li Shuchen stared into the distance for a long time, but still couldn't see Princess Changning. Was Yu Ying's eyesight that good?

The group waited for Princess Changning for a while.

After Princess Changning and Princess Jiahe finished speaking, they rushed over and said, "Let's go back together; it'll be safer if we stay together."

The three nodded; they were going to wait for her to return together anyway.

The group walked together out of the palace.

The eighth and ninth brothers, hidden in the shadows, watched Li Shuchen return and then decided to head back as well.

After passing a secluded courtyard, a voice came from...

A middle-aged or elderly voice said: "If I may be so bold as to ask, at the banquet just now, the original plan was to assassinate Liang Yuying, so why was it changed to assassinate the Emperor?"

Hearing this, the eighth brother stopped the ninth brother and whispered, "Wait."

Knowing that his sister's hearing was different from others, Lao Jiu stopped and waited patiently.

The young man replied disdainfully, "If we assassinate the emperor, the court will surely be thrown into chaos. Wouldn't it be easier to achieve great things by attacking then?"

A middle-aged or elderly voice said, "But Liang Yuying has practiced martial arts since childhood and is highly skilled. Master, for the sake of the greater cause, we should make preparations early. Also, there's Li Shuchen by her side; he's a bit strange."

The young man scoffed lightly: "Superior martial arts? She was still injured by my men. You know from tonight's banquet, she was severely injured, coughing up blood and unconscious. Even the imperial physician was summoned."

No matter how strong she is, she's just a little girl; she's nothing to fear.

As for Li Shuchen, I've already investigated her. Aside from being a bit shrewd with money, she's not much else. She's extremely greedy; you can win her over by giving her some money."

The conversation ended there; both men seemed very cautious, perhaps plotting something.

Eighth Brother: Let's go.

When Li Shuchen and the others returned to the inn, the night was deep.

Liang Yuying was so exhausted that she fell asleep as soon as she lay down on the bed. Li Shuchen was also extremely sleepy, but her inn mission was about to end, so she forced herself to stay in bed and check the progress of the Little Jizi system mission.

Please help the inn achieve 'some fame' within the specified time to meet the requirements.

[Happiness value 429 ≥ 500; Task in progress]

[Profit value ≥ 8246 taels of silver; Quest in progress]

[Popularity value 967 ≥ 1000; Task in progress]

[After completing the task, the host will receive a mysterious reward.]

The mission deadline is 7 PM on the 18th day of the 8th month of the 9th year of the Purple Star Dynasty.

Her popularity is terrifyingly high; it's probably due to the traffic brought by Princess Jijiang these past few days.

As for happiness and profit, they should be reached in about eighteen days. Thinking of this, Li Shuchen felt relieved and fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Lao Ba went into the Sanbao Hall to tell Li Shuchen what he had heard the night before.

Li Shuchen was shocked after hearing this: "Is this true?"

Old Eight solemnly replied, "Absolutely true."

Li Shuchen: "You should go back first."

Lao Ba clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Yes."

Li Shuchen looked at Liang Yuying and said, "So, someone really did want to assassinate you, but they changed their plans at the last minute and instead targeted the Emperor."