Chapter 3: It Is That Female Devil

Halfway through the journey, a flock of nocturnal birds flew overhead, shrieking incessantly as if startled.

Zhao Shiqing reined in her horse and listened intently. The civet cat in her arms let out two dissatisfied cries. Zhao Shiqing patted its head. "The birds seem to be flying from the direction of Wisteria Villa. Someone has died there; let's go take a look."

The civet cat let out another cry, its voice plaintive. *Someone died? The cat doesn't want to go; the cat is scared.*

Zhao Shiqing said, "Consort Xiao and the Eldest Princess are being held at Wisteria Villa; nothing can go wrong. If you're too afraid to go, then wait for me here."

Hearing this, the civet cat burrowed into the cloth pouch on Zhao Shiqing's chest and buried its head inside. As long as it couldn't see, the cat wouldn't be afraid.

Zhao Shiqing was long used to the cat's cowardly behavior. This cat had been born to a female cat in a mountain dweller's home in Baihe Mountain. Local folklore claimed that if a mountain cat gave birth to a single cub, it was a demon. When the mother cat learned her owner intended to discard the offspring, she carried the cub to Zhao Shiqing to beg for help. Zhao Shiqing kept the kitten and simply named it Xiao Yao.

Wisteria Villa was less than an hour's journey from the Prince's Mansion. The scenery within the villa was pleasant; Zhao Yunnuan and Zhao Tingxuan often hosted banquets here. Zhao Shiqing had visited once before. Normally, the villa was not guarded by the Imperial Guard, but today, two guards could be seen standing before the villa gates from a distance.

Zhao Shiqing did not enter immediately. She sniffed the air; there was a faint scent of blood.

Following the scent, she indeed discovered a corpse in a patch of waist-high grass not far from there. The body had been killed with a single fatal blow and dragged to this spot, leaving a trail of dripping blood along the way.

The corpse wore only undergarments; the outer clothing had clearly been stripped away. However, the killer had been careless, having changed into the victim's outer clothes but failing to change the shoes.

The edges of the shoes were stitched with a sturdy layer of leather. Zhao Shiqing recognized them; these were the shoes worn by the Imperial Guard.

The members of the Imperial Guard were all tall and robust, yet this deceased person was short of stature. Furthermore, there were no calluses on the hands from martial arts training. This person must have been a servant. Servants within the Imperial Guard also wore military uniforms to prevent outsiders from impersonating them to infiltrate the camp.

Clearly, someone had killed this servant tonight and changed into his clothes to sneak into the villa!

Zhao Shiqing walked away from the site where the body was hidden and approached the main entrance of the villa. She presented her Prince's Mansion identification token, and the guards let her in.

"Did any servants enter from the outside tonight?"

The guard hurriedly replied, "About an hour ago, a servant sent by the Guard Camp just went inside."

Zhao Shiqing said, "I am the Second Miss of the Prince's Mansion. Go at once and fetch the officer in charge to see me."

No sooner had she spoken than a rugged-looking officer approached. "What is going on?"

He was Meng Hu, the officer in charge of this location. He had been ordered to guard Eldest Princess Jiayi and Consort Xiao. The responsibility was heavy, so he dared not be negligent; unable to sleep in the middle of the night, he had come out to patrol, only to catch a guard speaking to a young lady.

Zhao Shiqing introduced herself and stated her identity. Meng Hu was half-believing, half-doubting. He knew the Prince had two sons and two daughters, but he had only ever seen the Eldest Princess and the Second Prince, never this Second Miss. However, looking across the Liang lands, he doubted anyone would dare impersonate the daughter of Prince Liang—especially since she held an authentic Prince's Mansion token.

Meng Hu bowed. "General Meng Hu greets the Second Miss. May I ask why you have come here so late at night?"

Zhao Shiqing said, "Immediately dispatch men to search the villa. I suspect someone has infiltrated the premises by impersonating a servant. Additionally, there is a corpse in the grass outside the villa; it should be the deceased servant."

Meng Hu was greatly alarmed. Without pausing to consider whether he was disturbing the Princess and the Consort, he immediately led men to search the area. Zhao Shiqing called out to him, "The shoes that person was wearing were not those of the Imperial Guard."

A moment later, they caught a suspicious-looking servant outside the kitchen. The servant cried out his innocence, looking completely bewildered. As Zhao Shiqing walked over, she saw that while the man was wearing a military uniform, his feet were clad in ordinary cloth shoes with layered soles.

More importantly, Zhao Shiqing smelled blood. This man was wearing the deceased servant's uniform, and the uniform bore the bloodstains of the man who had been stabbed to death.

Zhao Shiqing pointed at the man and said to Meng Hu, "It's him! He is the murderer! There are bloodstains on his clothes!"

The man's expression changed drastically. Suddenly, his brow furrowed and his face contorted in pain. Startled, Meng Hu rushed forward to check on him, but it was too late. Blood flowed from the corner of the man's mouth. Meng Hu pried the man's mouth open, sniffed, and turned to shake his head at Zhao Shiqing. "He bit into a poison capsule hidden in his mouth. He cannot be saved."

As his grip loosened, the man collapsed to the ground, convulsed a few times, and breathed his last.

Using a bamboo stick, Meng Hu fished a paper packet the size of a fingernail out of the man's mouth. This was the packet the man had bitten to trigger the poison.

At this moment, there was a bowl of kneaded, rising dough in the kitchen, intended for the Princess and the Consort's breakfast. It was easy to imagine that if the deadly poison from this packet had been slipped into the dough, the Princess and the Consort would have died silently amidst the heavy guard of Wisteria Villa.

Meng Hu broke into a cold sweat. It was a hair's breadth away; the Princess and the Consort would have died right under his nose. He could not bear the weight of such a catastrophic failure, even if he were to die ten times over.

Meng Hu fell to his knees with a thud. "This general thanks the Second Miss for saving our lives. Tonight's incident was due to my negligence. I beg the Second Miss to punish me."

Zhao Shiqing's voice was calm. "The Princess and Consort Xiao are of great importance; we cannot be careless. If something like this happens again, Meng Hu, I will dig up your ancestral graves."

Meng Hu shuddered, feeling as if his ancestors were glaring at him, thinking: *You unfilial son, we won't even find peace in death!*

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare! This general guarantees that not even a fly will be able to fly in!"

Zhao Shiqing gave him a glance, turned, and walked out of the villa toward Qingquan County.

***

At the Xiao family's old residence in Qingquan County, Xiao Su thought he was having a nightmare. He would rather dream of a fox spirit sucking his essence than see that female demon in his dreams.

"Wake up, wake up! Go away, female demon! Great Lord of the Primordial Heaven, Taishang Laojun, Great Sage Equal to Heaven, slay the demons and subdue the monsters, swiftly as the law commands! Namo Amitabha!"

Zhao Shiqing watched coldly as Xiao Su shook his head with his eyes closed like an idiot. She said chillingly, "Open your eyes and look clearly before you look for help."

Xiao Su froze. Realizing something, he opened one eye. *Oh no, it's that female demon!* He hurriedly closed his eye, but he understood now. Dammit, he wasn't dreaming; that female demon had actually arrived, and she was sitting right by his bed!

Seeing that he had stopped talking, Zhao Shiqing gave a light cough. "Not looking for help anymore?"

Xiao Su gritted his teeth and opened both eyes. "Sit further away! I... I... I have morning irritability!"

Zhao Shiqing had no intention of indulging him. She remained unmoved. "Get up. Take me to see your grandfather!"

"See my grandfather? You're not worthy!"

The words had barely left his mouth before Xiao Su regretted them; he saw the blade pressed against his throat.

"Hehe, I was just joking with you. I'll take you right now. But listen carefully: once we see my grandfather, you cannot lay a finger on me again. Otherwise, my grandfather will mistakenly think you've taken a fancy to me and force me to marry you. My life would be over!"

"Stop the nonsense and get up!" Zhao Shiqing barked.