ng Qianqian gazed silently, her eyes deep and unreadable.
This wager had originally been intended as a way to leverage Pri Minister Xun’s power to uncover more mbers of the Twelve Guards. Now that the goal had been achieved, eting those old acquaintances from the past again left ng Qianqian with complex feelings.
Hai Pig, Wei Sheep—why are you here?
Have you, too, beco people of Pri Minister Xun?
Could you two be the traitors among the Twelve Guards?
Ji Li also revealed a look of astonishnt. "It’s you two?"
Wei Sheep said, "Long ti no see, Si Snake, Rooster."
"I didn’t co for you. I ca to see him."
As Si Snake spoke, her gaze landed on Chen Long’s face.
Chen Long was not wearing his bamboo hat today. His cold, angular features were expressionless.
He glanced at Si Snake as though she were a stranger, then quickly averted his gaze.
At that mont, ng Qianqian clearly felt it—the Twelve Guards had truly split apart.
Or perhaps, the Twelve Guards had never been truly united. The reason they had submitted was that they had lost to the "Chu Grand Marshal."
Now that the Chu Grand Marshal was finally dead, they had gained their freedom. Why would they willingly bow to the Chu Family again?
"Heavens, so many of the Twelve Guards..." Zhou Nanyan muttered, stunned.
Princess Wanping smirked with triumph. "Well? Are you admitting defeat now?"
Zhou Nanyan asked in confusion, "Do tokens count too?"
Princess Wanping cast a sidelong glance at ng Qianqian. "She admitted it herself. If the person is gone, the token counts."
Zhou Nanyan suddenly panicked and clung to ng Qianqian’s arm. "Sister ng, what should we do?"
No matter how bad Lu Yuan’s reputation was, Sister ng had chosen him in the end. And besides, he was far better to Sister ng than that bastard Lu Lingxiao. Naturally, she couldn’t bear to see Lu Yuan taken by soone else.
Then, as if struck by inspiration, she exclaid, "I know! Sister ng, I’ll go to the palace to see the Imperial Concubine! I’m her future daughter-in-law; she’ll definitely et with ! I’ll beg her to get the Monkey Order back for us!"
Everyone knew Lin Wan’er was aligned with Consort Li. As long as Consort Li gave the order, even if Lin Wan’er was unwilling, she would have to comply.
ng Qianqian chuckled. "Weren’t you the one who kept saying you didn’t want to enter the palace? Now you admit to being her daughter-in-law?"
Zhou Nanyan replied resolutely, "If it helps Sister ng, what’s this small sacrifice? Besides, it’s not like I have a choice."
ng Qianqian patted her head affectionately. "Silly girl."
Though Princess Wanping hadn’t heard exactly what the two were discussing, she had an inkling of their plan. She sneered coldly. "I advise you to give up now. Consort Li may not favor , but she certainly doesn’t like your Little Nine any better."
That much was true. Consort Li wouldn’t intervene in the conflict between Princess Wanping and ng Qianqian; she would rather see the two of them tear each other apart.
While munching on a candied hawthorn skewer, Tan’er raised her head and whispered to ng Qianqian, "Sister, should I just kill her? If she’s dead, the wager’s off."
ng Qianqian replied softly, "Such a young girl—you shouldn’t be thinking about killing all the ti."
Besides, Chen Long and the others weren’t pushovers. And there were also two guests from Miaojiang present.
Princess Wanping, growing impatient, said sharply, "ng Xiaojiu, are you planning to renege? Let warn you—if you go back on your word, don’t bla for making sure you never leave the Princess Mansion!"
ng Qianqian slowly stood up and looked at Princess Wanping. "Princess, why don’t you take another look—who really won?"
Frowning, Princess Wanping was about to scold ng Qianqian, but then she noticed an object on ng Qianqian’s table that hadn’t been there before. "That’s—"
ng Qianqian held the token aloft. "The Chen Long Token."
The crowd collectively gasped.
Princess Wanping yelled sharply, "Chen Long is here with ! How dare you use a counterfeit token to deceive us?"
"Oh, really?" ng Qianqian smiled gently and turned her gaze toward Chen Long.
Chen Long hesitated briefly, then said, "It’s real."
Princess Wanping’s face fell.
Ji Li, fanning himself, chuckled. "Our arduous journey to You State was well worth it after all."
Back then, Ji Li had divined that the Chen Long Token was in You State, so he and Si Snake had imdiately set out to find Chen Long’s successor.
ng Qianqian smiled faintly. "Princess, your man here had already passed the Chen Long Token to his disciple long ago. Who knows if he can still be considered one of the Twelve Guards."
"One token does not serve two masters," Wei Sheep said as he looked at Chen Long. "Chen Long, is this true?"
Princess Wanping rose abruptly. "You are not allowed to admit it!"
Chen Long: "It’s true."
Wei Sheep sighed. "Then we’ve lost."
Princess Wanping slumped back onto her cushion, stunned.
Liu Qingyun visibly sighed with relief.
Zhou Nanyan was so overjoyed that she hugged Tan’er tightly. "Tan’er, we’ve won!"
At this mont, only Tan’er, the little chatterbox extraordinaire, could match her excitent.
But Tan’er, squished in the embrace, wailed, "My candied hawthorn... my candied hawthorn!"
ng Qianqian laughed. "Princess Wanping, a wager is a wager. Chen Long belongs to now."
Princess Wanping could never have imagined such a curveball. "Why didn’t you say earlier that you weren’t Chen Long anymore?"
Chen Long: "I am Chen Long. I still possess all the abilities of Chen Long. The Pri Minister values my skills, not just the token."
Ji Li added fuel to the fire. "Murder, arson—of course this Chen Long is quite proficient. The Pri Minister probably didn’t expect you’d use Chen Long’s identity just for a gamble! What’s the term for this?"
Lin Xiaoru replied, "A waste of heavenly resources."
Princess Wanping banged the table in fury!
Si Snake said, "Chen Long, I have sothing to ask you."
ng Qianqian smiled. "Not so fast. He’s mine now. He’ll be coming with shortly."
Hah! Brother, you’re not escaping this ti!
"Wait."
Just as everything seed settled, Bai Yuwei—who had remained silent until now—suddenly spoke, her tone dripping with hostility. "ng Xiaojiu, right? Do you dare to make a bet with ?"
"Dare, of course." ng Qianqian’s lips curled slightly. "But I won’t."
Bai Yuwei’s voice turned icy. "I knew it—you’re afraid!"
Oh, for heaven’s sake. Stomp down one gourd and another pops back up. Just after dealing with Princess Wanping, now a Miaojiang heiress appears?
If Lu Yuan rejected you, you should go trouble him, not drag into this. Honestly, why must won make things harder for each other?
ng Qianqian spread her hands. "If you want to think that, so be it."
Bai Yuwei was montarily speechless. "You—"
"Wei’er!"
Bai Qingchen stepped forward, cutting her off.
Bai Yuwei protested angrily, "Brother! She didn’t win honorably! Those were just so cheap, opportunistic tricks—completely beneath notice!"
Bai Qingchen replied calmly, "A win is a win."
Bai Yuwei pointed directly at ng Qianqian. "If she dares compete with , I’ll admit she’s won!"
Tan’er snorted. "And who are you that we need your approval?"
Bai Yuwei’s cold gaze swept over them. She swiftly unfastened the whip at her waist and lashed it toward Tan’er.
At first glance, the whip seed to fall short, but in reality, it sent a flying stone hurtling toward them with astonishing speed. The attack was a surprise, leaving little ti to react.
ng Qianqian quickly shot out a silver needle, intercepting the stone in midair.
Protective as always, ng Qianqian didn’t mind being targeted herself. But if anyone dared harm those around her, she wouldn’t take it lightly.
Her eyes leveled on Bai Yuwei, calm but dangerous. "What do you want to compete in?"
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