Love Sword

5

Her white body is purple, the color of death. On her neck, there was a giant hole. Probably made by a knife or dagger being stabbed into it. Her blood which should be red seeped out heavily in the color of dark purple, some drops are even black.

He Chang bent down, his gaze unbothered by the fact that the woman he had slept with is laying dead before his eyes. He touched the unusual purple blood leaking from her neck.

'This blood is not normal.' He muttered.

The emperor gave a meaningful glance towards his most trusted minister, who then bent down to touch the purple blood on the maid's cold neck.

He brought his finger up to his nose and sniffed. The strong smell caused his eyes to widen.

'The dagger that was used to stab this maid is no ordinary one. The blade is a one of a kind poisonous black jade that only exists on Kun Lun mountain in the farthest North of Da Dong empire. Such rare but poisonous jade was made forbidden by Da Dong's emperor centuries ago.

The poison on this black jade is a highly dangerous toxin that could end your life within seconds and would even produce a horrible smell. The handle of the dagger is carved with incredible carpentry skills, such precise cuttings could only be made by an expert carpenter.

This blade was ordered to be made my the emperor of Tang many centuries ago. But when the Tang empire was defeated by Da Dong two decades ago, the blade which was the heirloom of the royal Tang family just vanished. Nobody knew where it went.

Whoever killed this palace maid using such a blade must have extraordinary background and heavy grudges against her.'

The emperor was quiet for a moment.

'Run a thorough background check on this servant girl. Shut all exits of the capital, except for the princess's carriage, no one can go through. The person couldn't have gotten far when the corpse is fresh like this.'

Normally, an insignificant existence like a palace maid would not have caused havoc like this but because of the exquisite existence of this poisonous blade, everyone was curious to find out who was behind this murder and why would they strike against a small maid like this?

The emperor turned back towards his daughter and patted her head.

'You can go now and leave this matter to father. If any happens, you must inform father immediately. Although our Chang'An may be an ant compared to Da Dong, father would kill anyone who dares to mistreat my daughter.' Said the emperor.

Ruo An smiled gently at her father, feeling exceptionally grateful for him.

———

'Your highness, there was a horrible incident!' Exclaimed Lan as she rushed into the carriage where Xiang Ning is sitting in.

Because of the emperor's hatred towards him, he was ordered to be seated inside a carriage to await the arrival of the princess before they can all set out for Da Dong.

The emperor refused firmly to even take a look at his son's face.

Xiang Ning who was playing with the ribbon on his hanfu raised his ink-like eyes up in confusion.

Considering that he is the only brother of the soon-to-be-bride, shouldn't he be dressed almost as elaborately as the star of the show herself? But we don't see none of that.

Xiang Ning is wearing a plain white and light blue hanfu, not even a single jewelry could be seen on him. His soft and long midnight hair fell down his back elegantly with just a simple white string tying a knot at the back of his head to make his face more visible.

Nevertheless, the youth still exudes such tranquil and unique beauty that makes one's heart flutters.

'One of the palace maids was murdered.' Said Lan in a whisper tone.

Xiang Ning's doe eyes widened in horror.

'What happened-...'

Before he could even finish his question, the carriage's curtain was lifted and a cold face emerged from outside.

Xiang Ning darted his eyes away from the person outside and fidgeted nervously.

'We're setting out.' He said in a careless tone towards Lan.

Lan nodded and she walked out of the carriage to sit with the coachman outside.

The space inside this carriage turned silent and empty as before.

Although this carriage isn't as decorated as it should be to fit a royal prince inside, the carriage is still quite spacious with comfortable seats to accommodate the maximum of three people.

Xiang Ning sat comfortably in the carriage. As the parade began to move, he could only hear horses hooves and the sounds of other carriages being moved as well.

Not having the courage to lift up the curtain to take a look outside, he could only try to see through the curtains in hope of catching at least a glimpse of something.

At long last, he couldn't help but lift the curtain a little to see the road. This is his first time outside the gates of the royal palace, he was anxious to see the world outside for the first time in his life.

The view he saw made him freeze.

There was a giant lake in the view. The dark blue water on it seems to be sparkling under the sunlight. It almost seems as if gems and diamonds are buried under that body of water.

In the faraway land, he could see mountains stretching on forever. The layers and layers of white clouds appear to be drifting slowly as if touching the mountain tops.

He had never seen anything like this before. He had only heard about it when he read through books in the imperial library.

Xiang Ning loved reading.

It was the only thing that describes the outside world for him.

His face blossomed a delicately dazzling smile. The smile seems to make the trees sway along with him, as if lost to his unrivaled beauty.

He doesn't know what is awaiting him in his next three months.

This first trip of his outside the palace gates could be nearly as boring as his life inside the palace.

Or it could change his lonely and cold life forever, he didn't know and he didn't have the courage to say either.

However, at this moment, the little prince felt, for the first time, genuine excitement and joy.

To Be Continued...