178: The Shadow Assassins were stunned: This mission requires extra payment!

“Ning Shuang! Did you see that? That’s the man you fancy! A vulgar martial artist who only has brute force, doesn’t know etiquette, and speaks nothing but obscenities! A hooligan! A scoundrel!”

“Sister…”

Xia Ningshuang looked at her and softly argued.

“I, I think, Young Master Li, he wasn’t intentional.”

“He really seemed to be, discussing the illness with us.”

“You’re still speaking up for him?!”

Hearing this, Xia Qingyue became even more furious.

She pointed at Xia Ningshuang, speaking with a tone of disappointment.

“You silly girl! You’ve been fooled by him! He’s a complete and utter liar! Divine doctor? If he’s a divine doctor, then I’m an immortal!”

She looked at her sister, who was as pure as a blank sheet of paper, and a crazy idea suddenly surged in her heart.

Xia Qingyue looked at her innocent and kind sister, who was even speaking up for Li Qing, and the nameless jealousy in her heart burned brighter and brighter.

Why?

Why could this sickly girl, whom she had looked down on since childhood and doted on like a porcelain doll, receive an imperial marriage decree from the Emperor?

To marry that Marquis Wuan, who was now famous throughout the capital and suppressed a generation of Prodigies?

And what about herself?

Despite all her schemes and years of meticulous planning, she was repeatedly trampled underfoot by that man, becoming the laughingstock of the entire capital!

Unfair!

This was too unfair!

A crazy, malicious thought, like a poisonous snake, coiled around her heart.

Li Qing… Crown Prince… aren’t you trying to use this marriage to consolidate your Alliance and suppress me?

Don’t you think that marrying my sister means you’ll have the support of the entire imperial family and a bright future?

Heh heh… Then I will personally destroy your hopes!

I will turn your great joyous occasion into a great funeral!

She wanted Li Qing to fall from the clouds into Hell!

She wanted him to be disgraced, become an enemy of the imperial family, and be condemned by all under heaven!

It was just a pity for her sister, who had been sickly since childhood.

But for that position, even familial affection could be discarded!

There is no familial affection in the imperial family!

“Ning Shuang.”

The anger on Xia Qingyue’s face suddenly vanished.

A gentle smile appeared on her face.

She walked to Xia Ningshuang’s side, gently stroked her beautiful hair, and spoke in a voice as soft as a dream.

“Sister was just too agitated.”

“Sister was just too worried about you.”

“That Li Qing, his origins are unknown, and his temperament is erratic. Sister is really afraid that you will be wronged after marrying him.”

“Sister…”

Xia Ningshuang looked at her sister, who had suddenly become gentle, and her heart warmed, her eyes slightly reddening.

“I know, Sister is doing this for my own good.”

“Silly girl.”

Xia Qingyue hugged her, patting her back.

“Don’t worry.”

“Sister will definitely make sure you find true happiness.”

Her voice was soft, with an indescribable strangeness… After leaving Lingxi Garden, Xia Qingyue did not return to her own palace.

She rode in her Phoenix carriage, left the palace directly, and arrived at an inconspicuous manor on the outskirts of the city.

This was a secret stronghold of the Grand Generals Residence that Guards the Nation.

It was also her point of contact with the Shadow Kill Organization.

“Your Highness the Princess.”

Old Chen’s figure appeared behind her like a ghost.

“How are things proceeding?”

Xia Qingyue didn’t turn around, only looked at the withered locust tree in the courtyard, and asked in a cold voice.

“Reporting to Your Highness.”

Old Chen’s voice was a bit dry.

“Shadow Kill has replied.”

“They, they refused.”

“What?!”

Xia Qingyue suddenly turned around, her cold Phoenix eyes filled with disbelief.

“They dare to refuse this Princess?!”

“Your Highness, please calm your anger.”

Old Chen quickly bowed.

“Golden Mask, the Director of Shadow Kill, said that the mission to assassinate Li Qing has exceeded their control.”

“Li Qing is currently a favored person in front of His Majesty, the future Imperial Son-in-Law, and even a man of the Crown Prince. To touch him is to declare war on the entire imperial family.”

“Although Shadow Kill is an assassin organization, they do not wish to be hunted down to the ends of the earth by the entire Great Xia Dynasty.”

“Furthermore…”

Old Chen paused, a bitter expression on his face.

“On the day of the Martial Selection, Li Qing stomped and shattered the arena, instantly killing five Gold-Medal Assassins. These achievements prove his extraordinary strength.”

“Golden Mask said that unless you can offer a price they cannot refuse, they would rather ruin their reputation than accept this mission again.”

“A price they cannot refuse?”

Hearing this, Xia Qingyue laughed instead of getting angry.

“Good! Good, Golden Mask! Good, Shadow Kill!”

“Doesn’t he want a price?”

“This Princess will give him a price he wouldn’t dare to imagine!”

Her eyes gleamed with a mad light.

She walked to the stone table, picked up a pen, and quickly wrote a line of text on a blank piece of paper.

Then, she took out an ancient token carved with a Qilin totem from her bosom.

“Old Chen.”

She handed the paper and the token to Old Chen, her voice devoid of any emotion.

“Go personally.”

“Tell Golden Mask.”

“This Princess wants to change the mission.”

“The target for assassination is not Li Qing.”

“It’s this Princess’s seventh sister—Princess Changle, Xia Ningshuang!”

“What?!”

Hearing this, Old Chen was struck by lightning!

He immediately fell to his knees with a “thump,” his face filled with shock and fear!

“Your Highness the Princess! You absolutely must not!”

“That, that is your own sister! How could you…”

“My own sister?”

Xia Qingyue sneered, her laughter filled with endless mockery and sorrow.

“From the moment she was granted marriage to that man by the Emperor, she ceased to be my sister.”

“She is my enemy! The biggest stumbling block on my path to that position!”

“Your Highness! Please reconsider!”

Old Chen knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face.

“Killing the Seventh Princess will bring you no benefit! On the contrary, it will thoroughly enrage His Majesty and the Crown Prince, plunging you into an abyss of no return!”

“Who says there’s no benefit?”

Xia Qingyue’s eyes gleamed with a snake-like light.

“What this Princess wants is not just to kill her.”

“What this Princess wants is for her to die by Li Qing’s hand!”

“Or rather, to make everyone believe that Li Qing killed her!”

She slowly squatted down, helped Old Chen up, and whispered in his ear with a voice full of devilish temptation.

“Think about it.”

“On the wedding night, the Great Xia Dynasty’s most beautiful woman, the future Imperial Son-in-Law’s beloved wife, tragically dies in the bridal chamber.”

“And all the evidence points to her husband—Marquis Wuan Li Qing, who was just elevated to a divine status by the Emperor.”

“At that time, what will the Emperor think?”

“What will the Crown Prince think?”

“And what will the people of the world think?”

“A beast who could cruelly murder his own newlywed wife, a heinous criminal who deceived the monarch and committed grave sins!”

“He, Li Qing, will be unable to defend himself and will be infamous for ten thousand years!”

“And my good younger brother will completely lose the Emperor’s trust for being a poor judge of character and bringing a wolf into the house!”

“Killing two birds with one arrow, hitting two targets with one stone!”

“Isn’t this the most perfect scheme under heaven?”