Chapter 157 - Is It Funny That the Reincarnated Senior Sister Is Also Being Pursued?

Listening to Bao Qin's account, Xiao Wei Yang looked at Bai Lian with puzzlement. Bai Lian couldn't bring herself to meet her gaze. She lowered her eyes, staring at the ground, counting ants. "Princess," she propped up her chin, a smile playing on her lips, "this princess is not good at managing things and rarely intervenes in the palace affairs. However, I have noticed the chaos in the palace recently. It seems to lack someone to take charge." "I never expected Bai Xianzi to be so familiar with the Wei Yang Palace, why not stay and serve as the housekeeper for this princess?" She spoke with utmost sincerity, as if once Bai Lian agreed, she would be married off the next day. Ming Zhao and Bao Qin, upon hearing Xiao Wei Yang's words, were astonished. They had joked that Bai Lian seemed like the mistress of the Wei Yang Palace, so why did the princess seem to be seriously considering it? You're both just girls, after all! Bai Lian's lips twitched. She had assumed that Xiao Wei Yang would at least consider her princess status, but instead, she began to speak in such a predatory manner. It was as if she thought this world had already been taken over. Didn't she notice how dumbfounded Ming Zhao and Bao Qin were? If Xiao Wei Yang were to marry her, the fact that the Princess of Daxia had married a sword cultivator would likely become a sensation in the Western Regions tomorrow. Helplessly, she said, "Princess, you're just joking. I noticed the abundance of spiritual herbs, including forget-me-nots, near the Chunhe Hall when visiting the Wei Yang Palace, so I boldly inferred that they might be used to refine soul-scattering powder." "Princess, considering your status, making such jokes is inappropriate. Please... show restraint." Xiao Wei Yang was just joking after all, given her current strength and position, she wasn't capable of going against the mainstream gaze of the world to marry another woman. But looking at Bai Lian's resistant expression left her strangely uncomfortable. What? Marrying her was such a disadvantage? She snorted, saying, "Hmph, now you're teaching this princess? Do you think you're this princess's teacher?" Bai Lian quickly lowered her head in guilt, "Bai Lian dare not." What are you afraid of? After doing so many shameful things to me in my previous life, in the end, you still abandon me... Xiao Wei Yang waved her hand in annoyance. "Ming Zhao, continue. What did you find out?" Ming Zhao, who had been avidly shipping their CP, snapped back to reality, bowing, "Back to Your Highness, I investigated the servants in the palace and found some irregularities in a few maids." "They are in charge of tending the gardens by Wei Yang Lake, making them the most likely to approach the lake." "After investigation, I found that they occasionally go out for a period of time, and their spending has noticeably exceeded their income for the past half year." "I have already sent someone to monitor them; they should—" At that moment, a wooden spirit bird suddenly fluttered in and perched on Ming Zhao's shoulder. This was the Wei Yang Palace's method of communication for the guards. Its sudden appearance meant that there was a result from the guards Ming Zhao had sent to monitor the traitors. Ming Zhao opened and read the message, her expression changing instantly. She murmured, "Princess, the guards just sent a message, saying that when they arrived at the traitors' residence, they found that they had all been killed." "What?!" Xiao Wei Yang stood up abruptly, her face darkening. Regardless of whether those maids were traitors, they were still people of the Wei Yang Palace. Punishment should have been meted out by her. Now, they had been killed within her palace. This was an insult! Bai Lian was also dumbfounded. The fact that those maids were killed indicated that the news of the traitor's affair being exposed had been received. But the traitor had only appeared and fled less than half an hour ago. How had they managed to be notified and silently kill these people? Moreover, she was in the Wei Yang Palace and hadn't noticed a thing! This meant that the enemy was either highly skilled in assassination, or their power far surpassed hers. Either was enough to make her hair stand on end! Soon, one of the maids' bodies was brought in. They showed no major outward injuries, and their expressions were natural, indicating that they had died abruptly. They didn't even know how they died. Xiao Wei Yang looked at the wound on the maid's body and couldn't help but close her eyes, taking a deep breath. She already had a suspicion as to who wanted to harm her. She just didn't want to believe it. But she was no longer the naive little princess; the process of ascending to the throne had eroded her kindness. No matter who the mastermind was, she wouldn't let it go. "Alright, you two leave. I need to discuss with Bai Xianzi," she said calmly after opening her eyes. "Yes, we take our leave." Ming Zhao and Bao Qin bowed, dragging the maid's body out of the hall. Clearly, they needed to discuss the matter of the traitor and the mastermind. Watching Xiao Wei Yang's expression, Bai Lian felt a sense of realization. "It seems you already have a guess as to the mastermind behind all this?" she asked. "Yes," Xiao Wei Yang rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. "The person who killed these maids was from the Xiao family's secret guards." Bai Lian was taken aback. She was no stranger to the Xiao family's secret guards, as their presence in the game was significant. In a sense, they were an equivalent to the imperial secret police in the world of cultivation novels. As a trump card of the Daxia royal family, the members of the Xiao family's secret guards were handpicked by the current emperor himself and underwent rigorous training from a young age. All members were cultivators, and even the weakest among them had reached the stage of cloud-sourcing, with the strongest having already achieved the Qianyuan Realm. Having cultivators in the Qianyuan Realm in their ranks would be a significant force even in the entire world of cultivation. However, they were merely the Xiao family's secret guards, signifying the accumulated heritage and power of the Xiao family over the centuries. The key point was, if the person who killed the maids belonged to the Xiao family's secret guards, it meant that the one seeking to harm Xiao Wei Yang could only be from the Xiao family. Xiao Wei Yang's expression turned mocking, "That person probably didn't expect the exposure of the traitor's affair to happen so quickly, leaving them unprepared, and resorting to hasty measures to silence them." "In reality, they had concealed themselves quite well. To avoid the exposure of their identity, they didn't even use the assassination techniques of the secret guards. If I were still the naive little princess, I might not have noticed. It's just too bad..." It's just too bad that she was someone with the knowledge of her previous life, and moreover, the former empress of Daxia. She was already all too familiar with the methods of the Xiao family's secret guards. Even if they consciously concealed their actions, they couldn't escape the ruthless training instilled in them since childhood. Their ruthlessness was part of their inception. Just as they were established for it.