Waiting for You to Fall into the Trap

g that we should visit you. I told her there was nothing wrong with you, but she insisted on coming over and checking up on you.” Mu Rong Ting hugged Miss Ye San tightly and waved her fist in the air,...The Solemn Consort 125. Waiting for the Enemy to Fall into Our Trap

125. Waiting for the Enemy to Fall into Our Trap

In the dead of night, Duke Ding's residence was silent. In the study, Ye Li leaned against a lamp and looked back at Feng Zhirao who sat不遠處,"Feng San, are you sure it will happen tonight"

Feng Zhirao leisurely waved his fan, smiling warmly but his words were chilling, "Your Excellency Consort need not worry. The capital is so small; if they don’t act tonight, there won't be another opportunity. Tonight, we will surely make the enemy’s blood stain the whole of Duke Ding's residence red. Haha... This beautiful and mesmerizing color hasn't been seen in the capital for many years."

Ye Li nodded, "That would be best then. So let us wait for them to arrive."

Mohua looked at Ye Li’s calm demeanor with a complex expression, hesitating before saying, "Your Excellency Consort and Minister Xu should go to a safe place first to avoid the danger. There are many top-notch experts among those coming tonight. If anything unexpected happens..." Focusing on Xuhongyang drinking tea calmly by the side, Ye Li frowned slightly out of concern. He knew his uncle’s character well; if he didn’t leave himself, Uncle would never go. But it was impossible to ask her to leave now... Seeing her difficult expression, Xuhongyang put down his cup and said, "You do your own thing, I'll just sit here and drink a few cups of tea."

Understanding his uncle’s intentions, Ye Li nodded gently with a smile, "Since that's the case, I’ll play two rounds of Go with Uncle."

Xuhongyang nodded in satisfaction at seeing his niece remain calm in such circumstances. Being in this position required one to fulfill their duties; since she had married into Duke Ding’s residence as Duchess, her fate was now entwined with Duke Ding’s. It was註定她一生不可能平靜安穩。既然如此，無論是徐鴻彥還是徐家都希望葉璃越堅強越好。

如果向她母親那樣，縱然再怎麼才氣縱橫，在這個世道活不下去也是枉然。

If she were to be like her mother, even with all her talent and intellect, living in this world would be futile.

The residence remained quiet until midnight. Ye Li had already played three rounds of Go with Xuhongyang, winning one, losing one, and the third seemed to be a draw as both were evenly matched. They were so engrossed that even Feng Zhirao sitting by the side couldn’t help but watch intently, occasionally offering comments. Ye Li turned back with a smile at Feng Zhirao who was commenting, "Master Feng, it is true that one should not comment while watching a game." Feng Zhirao rubbed his nose, "This humble person is helping you!" Ye Li silently rolled her eyes; he's just interrupting my train of thought.

A faint sound came from afar, causing Ye Li to pause slightly with the chess piece in her hand. Feng Zhirao and others also showed signs of alertness. Although Xu Hongyan did not hear anything unusual, he clearly noticed everyone's change in demeanor. With a mild smile, she put down the chess piece and said, "We'll stop here for today. Li'er’s skills have improved significantly over this year." Ye Li dropped another chess piece while smiling.

“It doesn't matter. We still have time to finish this game. Mo Hua, go check outside.” Mo Hua nodded silently and turned to leave.

The sounds of fighting gradually drew closer as they finished their move. Ye Li waved her hand for Qing Luan, who was serving nearby, to tidy up the chess set before getting up and walking towards the window to look outside. The courtyard remained peaceful under the faint moonlight, but many places beyond it were lit by firelight. Lowering her gaze slightly, she sighed softly and said, "Tell them to be cautious not to destroy Prince Ding's hundred-year-old mansion." Manager Mo respectfully replied, "Rest assured, Your Excellency. I have already instructed them." Ye Li nodded, sitting by the window with a smile as she leaned against it: “That’s good then. Let’s see what kind of people come tonight.”

Let's see how many people in this Great Chu wish to bring Prince Ding’s mansion down.

The sound of fighting grew nearer and louder by the second. Xu Hongyan leaned on the window, gazing at the distant flames and sighed, saying, "It seems His Majesty truly plans to sit back and watch." Ye Li lightly shook her head with a soft voice, “Uncle, it’s not that His Majesty plans to sit back and watch; he wants to take advantage of the situation. Do you know how many people here are from the palace"

Xu Hongyan was taken aback for a moment before sighing deeply, "There's no need for His Majesty to do this..."

When the first assassin leaped over the main courtyard wall, Ye Li stood up again and walked out. The maidservants by her side hurriedly followed after her, but she waved them off, saying, “You don’t have to come with me.” Qing Luan replied, "We usually can't help much anyway. And now that the Lady of the Manor doesn't allow us to follow inside the house, we feel useless. Qing Shuang and Qing Xia don't know martial arts and stay in their rooms; let it be myself and Qing Yu following Your Excellency." Seeing her insistence, Ye Li frowned slightly but did not argue further as she turned around and stepped out of the study.

In the courtyard, Zhuo Jing and Feng Zhirao came to meet her. When they saw Ye Li come out, Feng Zhirao said, "Several groups have gone towards the shrine. They must be after the Lan Yun Sword kept there. The others are heading for the main courtyard; some went to the pavilion."

Ye Li smiled faintly and replied, “No matter their reason for coming, I won't let any of them leave alive.”

"Yes!" Feng Zhirao laughed loudly and bowed respectfully towards Ye Li before leaping out into the courtyard.

The sounds of battle gradually gathered around the main courtyard. The guards of Prince Ding’s residence seemed to be struggling to hold their ground. Standing under the eaves, Ye Li could not see outside but clearly heard the battle cries and smelt the strong scent of blood brought in by the night wind.

Suddenly, several dark figures swiftly broke through the outer wall and leaped into the courtyard. Almost instantly, they saw Ye Li standing under the eaves in her white robes. The black shadows moved as one towards Ye Li, their lightning-fast approach indicating that these were no ordinary assassins but truly top-tier experts. Ye Li remained still, as if the surging killing intent before her eyes did not exist. When the dark figures were mere feet away from her, Zhuo Jing suddenly moved beside her. He raised his hand, and a cold light shot out from under his sleeve towards the foremost figure; simultaneously, several sharp arrows whizzed past from the shadows, neatly landing in sequence on the ground, drawing a white line across to warn the attackers to halt.

The leading black-clad man stood still, glanced at the feathered arrows on the ground and raised his arms. A long tear could be seen in the sleeve of his left arm.

"The guardsmen of Duke Dìng's residence are indeed famous for a reason," the black-clad man said gravely.

Ye Li pursed her lips with a smile, "Sir is too kind."

The black-clad man narrowed his sharp eyes and a glint of coldness appeared in his gaze. "Duchess Dìng"

Ye Li nodded with a light smile, "Yes, may I ask for your name, sir"

The black-clad man snorted lightly, "You don’t need to know who I am; just know that I'm the one coming here to take your life." Ye Li was not bothered by his seemingly threatening words and raised an eyebrow with a smile. "Oh This duchess also wants to know how many people want my life. Since you've come, stay for a while longer." She waved her hand and a sharp red glow whistled out into the night sky, blooming like a huge red flower in the air. The eerie crimson instantly covered the entire sky of Duke Dìng's residence, causing those who looked up to feel an ominous premonition in their hearts. Alerted by this change, the black-clad man did not look at the sky but rather kept his guard while watching carefully around him. There seemed to be something more in the darkness; the black-clad man turned his head to listen closely, but amidst all the fighting and clashing sounds outside, even with his powerful inner strength, he could hardly discern anything.

On the wall, Feng Zhiyao flung an assassin away with a graceful red robe. He looked up at the sky with admiration and said to Ye Li smilingly, "Duchess, what flower is this It’s so beautiful. I’ll have my servant embroider such flowers on one of my robes."

Ye Li could not help but twitch her lips and replied coolly, "This is the Red Spider Lily, also known as the Flower of the Other Shore. It's the only scenery along the Yellow Springs Path, also called the Death Flower."

Feng Zhiyao’s body stiffened slightly; he nearly fell off the wall in shock. He chuckled awkwardly and said, "Duchess has a great sense of humor."

"Feng San, are you here to play" Mo Hua appeared on the wall without anyone noticing him earlier, looking down at everyone below with cold eyes.

"Humph! Daring petty thieves actually dare to intrude into Duke Dìng's main residence. They must be tired of living!" Zhang Qilan stood in a corner under the roof ridge, dressed in battle armor and holding a long spear. He was already imposingly large with his entire life spent in military service; he exuded an aura that made him seem ready to sweep across the world.

The black-clad man quickly realized that he had been surrounded by elite guards of Duke Dìng’s residence. Normally, he would immediately move forward to capture the Duchess as a hostage to ensure his escape. But seeing the Duchess standing calmly under the roof ridge with only two women and one male guard accompanying her, he suddenly hesitated. Was moving forward really right Or was it another trap

"Duchess Dìng has such deep scheming; after all these days of patience, you were just waiting to lure us into this situation" The black-clad man stared at Ye Li.

Ye Li’s voice was crisp and clear as she laughed, "It's nothing. Compared to all of you trying to plot against our王爺 before he even left the capital, a mere weak woman like me being bullied one after another is already generous enough. These days, I believe that you must have had your fun. Now… why don’t you see how impressive the workmanship from Duke Ding’s王府is" Outside the wall, the guards of the Ding王府who were gradually losing ground suddenly became even more valiant, with countless people joining in the darkness. The situation seemed to turn around instantly. No assassins attempted to leap onto the high walls and break into the main courtyard; instead, there were more who wanted to flee outward, but they encountered elite dark guards of Duke Ding’s王府blocking their way. As a result, the courtyard of Duke Ding's王府became even livelier.

Realizing that they were trapped inside, several black-clothed men in the courtyard began to become anxious. Without thinking twice, some rushed towards Ye Li with weapons raised. Ye Li’s ZHUO Jing and Qing Nü calmly met their advance. On top of the high wall, Feng Zhiyao frowned as he took a look at the situation inside the courtyard but found no place where his intervention was necessary. Turning around, he observed the battle outside. Seeing several figures swiftly darting past, leaving behind only dead bodies in black clothes, he couldn't help but praise, "Your Excellency Duchess has impressive skills; if all soldiers of the Mo family army were as skilled, what would there be to worry about for the unification of the world" Mo Hua stood beside him and followed his gaze, slightly changing color, silent.

Ye Li watched silently as several black-clothed men who rushed at her fell victim to a barrage of arrows. She then looked up towards the remaining few. The leading figure in black clothes chuckled twice and said, "Very good. No wonder it's Duke Ding’s王府and Black Cloud Cavalry. But… do you really think that's all we've prepared"

Ye Li strolled down from under the eaves calmly looking at the black-clothed men, “Regardless of how much preparation you have made, I don’t plan on letting any of you leave alive today. Sir, shouldn't you be the real Night Kill leader”

The man in black clothes was taken aback for a moment before smiling again and said, "It seems my people have told everything to Your Excellency Duchess. Good work! In that case… let’s see some real stuff!" With those words, he suddenly leaped up towards Ye Li, even avoiding two arrows shot from the darkness in mid-air. ZHUO Jing frowned slightly and raised his hand to signal a halt to shooting. Ye Li watched calmly as the man in black clothes charged forward, dodging one slash with a slight turn of her body, followed by a swift flip of her sleeve sending a blade of silver light directly at his wrist. A look of surprise flashed across the eyes of the man in black clothes as he turned his large saber to sever Ye Li’s attack. She let out a soft huff and deflected his saber with a dagger before letting go, switching hands quickly to stab at the man's left rib. The dagger was forged by high-ranking experts using cold iron according to her own design; not only was it uniquely styled, but its sharpness could cut through metal like butter. In the instant of impact, sparks flew and left an incision on his saber without a scratch on itself, still gleaming with cold light.

The man in black clothes swiftly evaded Ye Li's strike; his gaze toward her became more dangerous. He originally didn't take this Duke Ding’s Duchess too seriously due to her mediocre inner strength that couldn’t even be called proficient. However, after just a brief exchange without relying on inner strength, she almost got the better of him. If this woman also had profound inner strength, he wouldn’t dare think himself her match.

Ye Li didn't intend to engage in hard fighting either; seeing it was time to stop, she quickly retreated beyond the danger zone. She looked at the man in black clothes with a faint smile and said, "Leader of Night Kill, that's all you've got. Capture him."

"Yes." ZHUO Jing nodded and signaled several gestures into the night.

A few figures quietly appeared in the courtyard from the darkness to engage in battle with the black-clothed men. These individuals’ martial arts style was quite similar to Ye Li's; although they were far from being opponents for the black-clothed men, their swift and accurate strikes left people speechless. Every blade or palm strike would cause significant injury to the man in black clothes, yet they cooperated seamlessly with each other and with help from dark archers, capturing all the assassins within less than a quarter of an hour while sustaining only minor injuries themselves.

The Night Kill leader was restrained and bound up in a peculiar manner. Ye Li walked over calmly and said, "I heard that the real identity of Night Kill’s leader is shrouded in mystery; even the Tianyi Pavilion, known for its extensive information network, doesn’t know it. It looks like I might be able to solve this puzzle today"

ZHUO Jing reached out and removed the black cloth mask from the man's face, revealing a stern-looking forty-something face. Ye Li calmly looked at the stranger before her; Feng Zhiyao on the wall had genuinely fallen off in shock, staring at the man in black clothes and shouting, "Mu Qingcang!"

—— Interlude ——

Haha… anyone remember who this person is Oh well, Feng has finally moved north. Unfortunate to have tripped on a train, such an unfortunate journey. Finding new work is the worst.pport Chu Capital.Xu Qingchen smiled faintly, "General Lu’s hundreds of thousands of troops are already itching to move. They only hesitated due to fear of Lei Zhenting before. Now Lei is busy fightin...