1618 A Little Unexpected

A distance away from the two generals, Nan Si and Long Ai Ning were sitting in the kitchen. Nan Si didn't have anything to do and this time, he was dressed as a servant in the palace by switching with the 'spy' that was planted by Nan Hua in advance.

There were some of her people in many places who could be switched by those others when it was necessary to do some missions.

Long Ai Ning was brought by her older brother because of her cooking skill. In the past, Long Qian Xing didn't care much about food, so Long Ai Ning was simply doing her own business without caring about this matter.

Who would have thought that he would want her to prepare delicious food all the time for the two of them now?

Man in love is really different.

"You're really good at cooking. Did your master also ask you to help in the kitchen?" Long Ai Ning asked as she waited boringly. Her only hobby and things she liked to do was to fill her stomach with delicious food at any time she wanted.

With her brother's salary, she was able to live well and also cooked delicious food for him from time to time.

Though, her brother didn't seem to care about food that much.

He was truly a piece of wood who only cared about fulfilling his mission and didn't' care about other matters.

"No," Nan Si replied succinctly. He was good at knife because it was his main weapon to kill. Playing with the knife in his hand, he silently put it away agilely.

Long Ai Ning watched Nan Si's agile movement in awe. Even her brother couldn't do something like that trick.

"You're amazing. Can you teach me how to do that?"

"It's dangerous." Nan Si looked at Long Ai Ning's hand. Her hand was small and white, which was very different from his dark hand. Staying under the sun for so many years, his skin was tanned.

Though, he never cared that much because the roles he took over to follow Nan Hua has always been that of people who usually worked outside. This appearance made him easy to blend in.

Unremarkable and ordinary.

That was what people's impression of him.

Once they underestimated him, they would never know how they end up dying in the end.

"Don't worry, I'm not a flower grown in a greenhouse." Long Ai Ning grinned. "I have learned some basic martial arts from my brother to protect myself."

To be exact, she was forced to learn because her brother wouldn't always be there to protect her. She was much younger than her older brother, currently 18 years old, while her older brother was already in his late twenties. He had many works he had to do, so she had to make do with doing what she had to do.

Nan Si glanced at Long Ai Ning and nodded. He was a few years older than Long Ai Ning, though he himself was not exactly sure how old he was. 

"I'll teach you when you have free time."

Long Ai Ning's eyes brightened. "That's a deal!"

Nan Si nodded and then looked into the distance. He saw that Nan Hua and Long Qian Xing had returned from the garden, so it was time for them to return. He lowered his head and followed the other servants in an inconspicuous way.

In the kitchen, Long Ai Ning watched Nan Si curiously. She felt that this quiet and silent manservant was quite interesting. 

It was rare for her to see someone who looked so docile and harmless but exuded a faint danger when one got close.

Nan Hua was an exception.

She didn't dare to get close to her in case her Master (Long Qian Xing) become angry because she was too close with his target.

"Ai Ning, bring your belongings. We're going back."

"Yes, Brother!"

Long Ai Ning grabbed her bag that she had cleaned up before and hopped out leisurely. She glanced in Long Qian Xing and Nan Hua's direction with a smile before running to follow her brother who would lead her out of the palace.

Tep.

Nan Hua noticed Long Ai Ning's gaze and then averted her eyes again. Long Xu's sister was truly a lively girl.

"We're detouring again?" Nan Hua asked.

"Yes. His Majesty is calling several people to the main hall in the afternoon to discuss several matters. It's better if we go through another way to get out." Long Qian Xing didn't want to bump Emperor Yang Zhou when he was doing some private and important discussion.

Anyway, there were many people of high stature or identity that Emperor Yang Zhou needed to talk with during his absent.

"Ok." Nan Hua nodded.

Long Qian Xing had the rough map of the route in the palace. It was not very accurate, but it was enough for him to be able to navigate through the entire palace and walked through some unusual routes.

The two of them didn't talk much and soon, they hear faint voices when they bypassed an empty palace.

A somewhat disturbing sound.

"Someone is really bold in broad daylight." Nan Hua looked at the wall beside her. She suddenly wondered whether the people in this era was truly reserved as it was said or not.

This sound was clearly the sound of… *cough*

Long Qian Xing pursed his lips and pulled Nan Hua to the side. He didn't want Nan Hua to hear something like that. Even if he knew that she might have encountered it in the past, there was no need to accumulate the number.

"…Princess Hu…"

Hearing the name called out, Nan Hua stopped in her steps. She glanced at the wall and blinked her black obsidian pupil eyes. That was not the voice of Shangguan Yu. Even though the voice was changed slightly due to the activities that was done over there, she could still recognize Shangguan Yu's voice. 

So who's with Princess Hu?