Forbidden to Bully the Storybook’s Heroine – Chapter 23

Clearing Suspicions

Song Muyun listened in a daze as Jiang Yao said she was going to visit Murong Qing because he was injured. After a long moment, she replied with an “okay,” unable to quite put a finger on the feeling in her heart. She simply looked at Jiang Yao gently and reminded her, “The Seventh Prince has a bad temper. Now that he’s injured, he’s probably even more prone to anger. You should be careful.”

Jiang Yao waved her hand dismissively. “What do I care if his temper is good or not? I’m just going over to take a look. If he dares to throw a fit at me, watch me curse him to death.”

Her impatience with Murong Qing was obvious in her words. For some reason, Song Muyun’s heart relaxed, and the corners of her lips curled into a faint smile. “Then I’ll wait for you to come back.”

“Mhm.”

At the Wei hour¹, Jiang Yao entered the academy run by the imperial family.

Not only did the children of numerous ministers study here, but the princes did as well. Although the Emperor would secretly arrange for Grand Tutors to give the princes extra lessons, on the surface, they were the same as the ministers’ children, reflecting the Emperor’s love for his people as if they were his own sons.

She was good friends with the martial arts official who taught the Seventh Prince and had given him a heads-up in advance, so she got in with ease.

She used the pretext of teaching the students archery.

Jiang Yao was the sole disciple of the current dynasty’s Grand General, so her status and ability were naturally sufficient. It was just that her disposition favored freedom, and Prime Minister Jiang also intended to let her play around for a few more years, which was why she had not yet entered the court as an official.

A group of students came to the jiaochang² together. Jiang Yao also appeared, lazily carrying a large bow.

The moment he saw her, Murong Qing’s entire body went rigid. He then asked the martial arts official through gritted teeth, “Miss Jiang is not a member of our academy, so why is she here? This is against the rules, isn’t it!”

The martial arts official, however, was not one to bow to power and said in all seriousness, “It is difficult for this official to teach so many students alone. Miss Jiang is here to teach archery with this official. This official has already spoken with the headmaster.”

Damn it, why was Jiang Yao qualified to teach him archery?

After their few dealings, Murong Qing had already come to resent Jiang Yao.

She showed him no face, competed with him for people, and it was even useless when he told the Prime Minister about it.

Thinking of the way the Prime Minister had been looking at him these past few days, Murong Qing’s eyes darkened.

Not only had he failed to get the Prime Minister to restrain Jiang Yao, but he had also caused the Prime Minister to have second thoughts about him. It was truly a case of losing the lady and also losing the soldiers³!

Jiang Yao stood not far away, looking at Murong Qing. When she saw that the corners of his mouth and eyes were bruised and swollen, she couldn’t help but burst out laughing with a pfft.

Who was so talented as to specifically pick such conspicuous places to hit? That was just too brazen.

Murong Qing watched her approach, laughing so hard she couldn’t stand up straight. He wanted to put on his usual gentle and refined appearance, but he couldn’t stop his face from darkening.

Jiang Yao was laughing at him, of course he knew. He had already been thoroughly ridiculed by that group of brothers today. If his own riding and archery skills weren’t so terribly poor, he wouldn’t have forced himself to come here while enduring the severe pain wracking his body!

Only when she had walked right up to Murong Qing did Jiang Yao manage to stifle her laughter with great difficulty. She coughed twice, trying to feign a serious expression, and raised an eyebrow at him. “I heard from Jiang Huai that Your Highness was assassinated yesterday?”

With a dark face, Murong Qing subtly looked Jiang Yao up and down and said only, “Heaven’s net is vast, sparse yet nothing slips through⁴. That person dared to commit violence at the Son of Heaven’s feet⁵; one day, this prince will ferret them out.”

Perhaps because Jiang Yao didn’t get along with him and had also seen his true face, he spoke to her with an extra hint of viciousness, quite inconsistent with his usual image. However, at this moment, no one was paying much attention to them.

Jiang Yao’s expression was normal, a smile she couldn’t suppress playing on her lips. She nodded. “Your Highness is right. The capital’s security is stringent; the assassin will definitely be caught.”

In his heart, Murong Qing was actually suspicious of Jiang Yao, but he also felt it probably wasn’t her.

How could Jiang Yao be so audacious as to beat up a prince? And why would she do it? Although he and Jiang Yao didn’t quite get along, it hadn’t reached the point where she would want to beat him up, had it?

But if it wasn’t Jiang Yao, who else in the capital had such great skill? His hidden guards didn’t even see the person’s face; they were knocked unconscious before they could even touch the corner of the person’s clothes.

“Tsk, but doesn’t Your Highness bring hidden guards when you go out? How did you get injured so severely?”

Jiang Yao glanced at him, once again revealing an expression of barely suppressed amusement. The suspicion in Murong Qing’s heart faded a little. She was too natural. If she had really done it yesterday, she wouldn’t dare to appear before him now. Even if she did, she wouldn’t mock him so blatantly.

But, he was still so angry!

Getting beaten up was one thing, but he also had to be mocked by others. Would they ever be done with it!

“I did, but he was no match for the assassin. This prince is also wondering, where in the capital did such a highly skilled assassin come from? Their martial arts are probably on par with yours.”

Murong Qing tested her lightly. Jiang Yao’s eyes immediately widened, and the whip in her hand cracked against the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. Her face was filled with shock and anger. “Hey, what do you mean by that? Are you suspecting me? Murong Qing, you’ve got some nerve! I’m going to tell my dad!”

Jiang Yao threatened to tattle at the slightest disagreement. Her furious expression didn’t seem fake. Murong Qing knew that most martial artists’ brains couldn’t keep up; if Jiang Yao had really been the one to hit him, she would never be able to act so naturally that he couldn’t see anything amiss.

Perhaps… it really wasn’t Jiang Yao. Then who could it be?

Murong Qing’s expression stiffened. “I didn’t mean that. I just feel that the assassin’s martial arts are very high.”

Seeing him back down, Jiang Yao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She had been able to lie without her face turning red or her heart pounding since she was a child. However, her father had always taught her that being honest and trustworthy was of the utmost importance. Unless absolutely necessary, she didn’t want to lie either.

“Hmph, just because their martial arts are high, it must be me? Who knows, it could be some family’s top-tier sishi⁶, or maybe some jianghu⁷ person they keep on standby. The jianghu is teeming with talented people; would you be afraid of not finding someone with high martial arts skills?”

Jiang Yao’s lips curled with a hint of sarcasm. Murong Qing’s face was grim, and he said nothing.

This continued until a man dressed in a golden riding jacket came over and patted Murong Qing from behind. “Seventh Imperial Brother, are you chatting with Miss Jiang?”

Murong Qing’s dark expression changed in an instant, taking on a gentle quality. He turned and bowed to the person behind him. “Eighth Imperial Brother.”

Jiang Yao looked up. The newcomer was not tall and had a slender figure, but he was filled with a noble air and possessed an extremely handsome and beautiful face that made it difficult to distinguish male from female⁸. It was none other than the current Emperor’s only legitimate son, the Eighth Prince, Murong Ci⁹.

“This subject-daughter¹⁰ pays her respects to the Eighth Highness.”

Jiang Yao curtsied. A faint smile on his lips, Murong Ci raised a hand toward Jiang Yao. “No need for formalities. Are you the teacher instructing us in archery today?”

“This subject-daughter wouldn’t dare presume to be the princes’ teacher. Would Your Highness like to come over and try the bowstring first?”

Any prince’s riding and archery skills were a bit better than Murong Qing’s, so Murong Ci was not in a hurry. Murong Qing, on the other hand, picked up a bow and tested the string upon hearing her words.

“Seventh Imperial Brother’s injuries look a bit better than yesterday.”

Yesterday, as soon as the news of Murong Qing’s assassination attempt spread, Murong Ci had gone to see him, conveying the Emperor’s concern in the process.

Murong Qing smiled gently. “Thank you for your concern, Eighth Brother. They’re just minor injuries; they’ll heal quickly.”

Inside, he was so twisted with hatred that he wished he could dismember the assassin. His muscles were aching; the assassin had struck very heavily.

But the Autumn Hunt was approaching, and it was impossible for him not to go. He also wanted to use the Autumn Hunt to let his Imperial Father see his progress in riding and archery. Even if it hurt, he had to endure it and continue practicing.

After clearing the suspicion, Jiang Yao wasted no more words and called everyone together to start teaching archery.

One yard is one yard¹¹; when she taught others archery, she taught them seriously. For every person who couldn’t hold the arrow or apply force correctly, she personally demonstrated. By the end of the class, she herself had broken a sweat. Just as she was about to leave, she was stopped by a clear voice.

“Miss Jiang.”

Jiang Yao turned her head and saw it was the Eighth Prince, Murong Ci. A look of confusion appeared in her eyes. “Does the Eighth Highness need something?”

“I still have some things I don’t understand about archery. May I treat you to a meal to properly ask for your guidance?”

Murong Qing, who was just about to leave, stopped dead in his tracks when he passed by and heard this. He then turned around resolutely. “Yes, this one also has some things he doesn’t understand and would like to ask for Miss Jiang’s guidance.”

Trying to practice riding and archery behind my back to show off in front of Imperial Father?

Dream on!

Jiang Yao: …

Damn it, class is already over! Song Muyun is still waiting for me at Yueshang House!!!

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The author has something to say:

Yaoyao: You guys don’t have wives, so you won’t let me go back to accompany my wife! JEALOUSY, THIS IS NAKED JEALOUSY!

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