Chapter 744: Chapter 745: A Singular Affection

Xiao Chenglin froze, staring in disbelief.

"Have you gone mad?"

Shui Xingqiu’s expression was impassive, but his tone was firm.

"I need to provide an explanation."

Tuoba Yu was so grievously injured, he’ll likely be a cripple for the rest of his life. And since I am closely tied to this affair, I must provide the Monarch with a satisfactory answer.

And Ye Yunfeng is that answer.

Once Ye Yunfeng is dead, this matter will be considered resolved.

Xiao Chenglin laughed, his anger boiling over. "Water Family Master, you were in Taiji Palace today. You saw exactly what happened. Si Kouji uttered a single provocative sentence, and Ye Yunfeng was promoted three ranks on the spot. And now you want to take his life here in the Capital City?"

By shooting Tuoba Yu, Ye Yunfeng certainly put himself in a perilous position. It goes without saying that Tuoba Shan will never let this matter rest.

But that’s a problem for the future!

Right now, all eyes are on Ye Yunfeng. Who would dare to move against him at a time like this?

"If you really do this, I guarantee you won’t make it out of the Capital City alive," Xiao Chenglin warned in a low voice.

A flicker of emotion finally crossed Shui Xingqiu’s glacial face.

The corner of his brow lifted slightly, a hint of curiosity and amusement surfacing in his eyes.

"Oh? It seems there’s more to this Ye Yunfeng than meets the eye. You hold him in such high regard?"

"It’s not that *I* hold him in high regard; it’s that His Majesty and King Yan Nan do," Xiao Chenglin said coldly. "Let me remind you one more time: this isn’t Nanhu!"

Seeing that Xiao Chenglin was genuinely enraged, Shui Xingqiu’s already thin patience wore out completely.

All expression vanished from his face, leaving it even colder than before.

"And as I said, I must have his life."

The entire reason he had accompanied the mission was to clean up this mess.

He did indeed hold a revered position in Nanhu, feared by all, but ultimately, the Monarch was still above him.

He had to take responsibility for Tuoba Yu’s failure.

Thus, Shui Xingqiu’s resolve was firm.

"There are ten thousand ways to kill a person. If one doesn’t work, you simply try another."

Shui Xingqiu’s tone was so callous that an unknowing listener might think he was discussing what to have for dinner—if one dish wasn’t suitable, just pick another—rather than deciding a man’s fate.

It was as if... in his eyes, a human life was no different from that of an ant.

Xiao Chenglin instantly grew wary. He sat up straight and stared intently at him.

"What are you planning? Don’t tell me you intend to use a poisonous insect on him?"

This was what Shui Xingqiu excelled at, and his skill in the art was indeed terrifying.

Xiao Chenglin had no doubt that if Shui Xingqiu wished it, he had countless ways to plant a poisonous insect in Ye Yunfeng.

Sure enough, Shui Xingqiu nodded slightly. "There were too many people in Taiji Palace today."

It wasn’t a convenient time to act.

"Absolutely not!" Xiao Chenglin rejected the idea without a second thought.

Shui Xingqiu shot him a sidelong glance. "What? Do you doubt my abilities?"

Xiao Chenglin almost laughed in exasperation.

"I see you truly have gone mad. Even if you manage to use a poisonous insect on him, then what? He’s the center of attention right now. The moment something happens to him, who do you think they’ll suspect? You, and your entire Southern Hu Mission?"

’Making a move would be easy, of course. Even killing Ye Yunfeng wouldn’t be that difficult. The real trouble is the aftermath!’

Shui Xingqiu knew, of course, that what he said was highly likely to happen, but...

"I won’t leave any evidence," he said arrogantly. "Even if they have suspicions, without proof, no one can touch me."

The fact that he held the position of Water Family Master was the best proof of that.

He truly had the skills to back it up.

Xiao Chenglin pinched the bridge of his nose. For the first time, he began to wonder if cooperating with Shui Xingqiu had been a mistake.

The man was like a sharp sword that could easily cut its wielder.

"That plan won’t work," Xiao Chenglin said. "You probably don’t know who his sister is."

"His sister?"

Shui Xingqiu sounded surprised.

"That’s right." Xiao Chenglin stared at him and said slowly, "His sister, Ye Chutang, is exceptionally skilled in the medical arts."

"You mean her..." Shui Xingqiu said with dawning realization. "I’ve heard of her. Rumor has it she’s even more skilled than the Imperial Physicians at the Imperial Hospital?"

"It’s not a rumor, it’s a fact," Xiao Chenglin cut in. Seeing that Shui Xingqiu still didn’t seem to grasp the implications, he added, "She was the one who performed the public autopsies on those Nanhu Death Warriors we captured. She’s the one who found and killed the Gu Worms inside their bodies."

Shui Xingqiu’s pupils constricted.

"So... it was her?"

He had heard vague reports when the incident occurred, but from a thousand miles away, the details he received weren’t very clear.

’Who would have thought that Ye Chutang was Ye Yunfeng’s sister?’

Shui Xingqiu fell into a thoughtful silence.

"This Ye Chutang is certainly formidable. Has she ever been to Nanhu? How else would she know about the Poisonous Gu Technique?"

The poisonous insects inside those Death Warriors were not common. The fact that Ye Chutang could not only recognize them but also deal with them is truly remarkable.

Xiao Chenglin shook his head. "Never."

He briefly summarized Ye Chutang’s background and her experiences over the past few years.

"All things considered, she’s never had the time or opportunity to go to Nanhu. No one knows where she learned about the Poisonous Gu Technique, just like with her medical skills—"

Xiao Chenglin paused, cutting himself off.

"In short, if you move against Ye Yunfeng, Ye Chutang will likely find out almost immediately. And if she finds any proof... your situation will be no better than Tuoba Yu’s is today."

This time, Shui Xingqiu finally took him seriously.

Setting aside everything else, if this Ye Chutang was as formidable as Xiao Chenglin claimed, then the risks of his plan were indeed extremely high.

However...

"Even so, it can’t be as serious as you make it sound, can it?" Shui Xingqiu said. "Didn’t you say both her parents are dead and she raised her younger siblings all by herself? A mere orphan girl, even one who has earned His Majesty’s trust through medicine, is still without any real backing."

’She’s nothing but a drifter. Why be so wary of her?’

Xiao Chenglin gave him a cold smile.

"It seems you’ve had it too easy in Nanhu, so much so that you’ve lost even your most basic sense of self-preservation. Even if you were far away before, you should have at least made some inquiries before coming to the Capital City. No backing? Are you aware that both the Long Princess Mansion and the Dingbei Marquis Mansion are her patrons?"

The Ye Chutang of today was no longer the helpless orphan anyone could bully.

Shui Xingqiu looked a bit embarrassed by the rebuke, but he latched onto the key information.

"Never mind the Long Princess Mansion for now, but what does the Dingbei Marquis Mansion have to do with her?"

Xiao Chenglin’s eyes lowered slightly.

It might have been his imagination, but Shui Xingqiu felt a wave of indescribable irritation radiating from Xiao Chenglin.

Xiao Chenglin finally spoke, his tone betraying no emotion.

It was as if he were smiling, yet his voice held a trace of mockery, and a faint chill emanated from his expression.

"Shen Yanchuan of the Dingbei Marquis Mansion is utterly devoted to her. You truly didn’t know?"

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