Not sure if it's an illusion, but Aya always felt that the white-bearded man in front of her looked quite kind, even though the elderly man who had just calmly faced assassination appeared to have a sudden air of authority around him now.

"Qiao Qiao, can you guarantee that what you're saying is true?" Wu Shengchen asked with narrowed eyes.

"Hey, are you sure you don't want to reconsider?"

Aya suddenly felt something was amiss. She had intended to advise Qiao Qiao to think it over again, but Qiao Qiao seemed to trust Wu Shengchen a lot and immediately nodded affirmatively.

"Of course, my father said he was sending wine to the palace, but it actually contains weapons." Qiao Qiao's eyes stared intently at Wu Shengchen, but her hands anxiously tugged at her clothes. "I don't believe my father would try to rebel, so... um, Sir Wu... my father... "

If your father is really planning to rebel, this is considered a case of sacrificing family for justice. Aya, who was watching from the sidelines, rolled her eyes. In the end, it had nothing to do with her; she just wanted to go find Xingjian. Can you all finish up quickly?

"Qiao Qiao, do you know what it means to tell me about this matter?" Wu Shengchen asked sternly.

"Hoarding weapons privately, smuggling them into the palace—such treasonable acts are deserving of death by law. Even if Si Da is a senior official of our dynasty." Wu Shengchen's pupils seemed to freeze, "And by telling me this, I should immediately send the Imperial Guards to capture Si Da, report to the Emperor, and perhaps even execute him directly."

"Eh, huh?" Qiao Qiao, who was originally eager to confirm, was confused by the questioning.

She had hardly ever seen Wu Shengchen show this expression in front of her; he was completely different from the kind grandfather in her memories. But this was probably his true self, having served under three emperors unyieldingly and now taking charge of the court in place of the current emperor. This decisiveness was a necessary attribute.

"Your words just now almost caused harm to Si Da—" Wu Shengchen paused, "If there were any outsiders in this hall now."

Finally, his gaze fell on Aya.

"Hey, don't look at me! You two chatting in front of me without using the East Land language, if someone overhears and blames me, what then?" Aya put her hands up in a Thai boxing stance across her chest, embarrassed.

"Ha, Lady Aya jests. Since Qiao Qiao trusts you enough to sneak into the palace, then she trusts you. I know Si Da, and he would never keep someone with unknown intentions close to his daughter."

Are you implying that I'm now a bodyguard? Although he thought so, it was reasonable, as anyone able to defeat such a formidable assassin beside a young lady would be automatically assumed to be a bodyguard.

Aya was speechless for a moment. The problem was, I'm really not a young lady's personal bodyguard, purely that I wanted to come in and got tangled up in this.

But misunderstanding wasn't too bad as long as it was advantageous to finding Xingjian.

So she tacitly accepted this arrangement and silently gave a thumbs-up.

"So, when you said 'almost caused harm' just now," Aya's eyes flickered, "does that mean there's still a chance for things to turn around?"

"Indeed, the weapons were instructed by the old me to be sent into the palace by Si Da. However, such matters are not suitable for public knowledge; if it were to leak, even an old man like me would have to shift the blame onto Si Da for self-preservation."

Wu Shengchen said with a smile.

Qiao Qiao only now recovered from her shock. "Grandfather?"

"Haha, so remember for the future, don't ask such questions lightly again."

"Why would you need to smuggle weapons into the imperial city? Isn't there a surplus of those things here?" Aya asked curiously.

"Just in case — although it's not just 'in case' anymore." Wu Shengchen glanced suggestively at the still-standing Liu Su.

His look made Aya turn her attention back again. "Shouldn't we tie that guy up? He's quite dangerous. I doubt I could catch up to his speed without risking getting shot."

"No need, he's already dead."

"Are you kidding me? I didn't lay a hand on him — oh, he really is dead?"

Listening carefully in that direction, there was nothing but silence in terms of heartbeat and breath, just like the several guards who died under Liu Su's gun beside him.

"A life-burning pill, regardless of success, leads to this outcome."

"That's quite a heavy price. What kind of grudge is this?" Aya clicked her tongue. With no life left, it's no wonder that the actions were so fierce.

"It can indeed be considered a deep-seated hatred."

…

The Liu family, among the princes of Western Chu, holds a special position, naturally because their surname originates from Han Zhong's King Liu Bang, the hero who competed for the world with Western Chu's hegemon Xiang Yu.

Of course, the Liu family in Western Chu is no longer the direct bloodline of the Han king, only a collateral branch. After the Battle of Gaixia, although Xiang Yu defeated the Han army in Chu-Han contention, Chu's forces were also greatly weakened and temporarily unable to march on the former Han king's territory in Han Zhong.

Replacing Liu Bang to manage Han Zhong was this collateral branch of Liu Bang's family; despite having far less prestige than the Han king, they still had the bloodline. If this collateral branch were to oppose him in Liu Bang's name, it would be troublesome for Western Chu, even if they were eventually victorious, the country would still be in turmoil for several years.

The hegemon, who had shifted his focus to long-term development, unusually chose a softening strategy, allowing this collateral branch of the Liu family to retain some of the Han Zhong land while also re-granting the title of Han Zhong's Marquis, bestowing great honor.

Subsequently, until ten years ago, the Western Chu royal family had been silently reducing the power of the Liu family through various subtle means. In recent generations, although the Liu family still held the title of Han Zhong's Marquis, the remaining Han Zhong land was scant, and the originally preserved military forces had completely disintegrated. The current family head only held a seemingly prestigious but powerless position in court, with only surface glory remaining.

The Liu family themselves were aware and had been seeking a breakthrough. However, weakening the Liu family was the ancestral teaching of the Western Chu royal family; as long as the Western Chu royal family persisted, the Liu family would never have a chance to rise again.

The heads of the Liu family throughout the generations were clear that this was no longer the era of Chu-Han struggles. Even if they were dissatisfied, they could only endure silently. However, ten years ago, this current head of the family happened to be a person filled with a spirit of resistance, closing his eyes and making a firm decision to secretly gather strength for a rebellion.

Generally speaking, individuals filled with a spirit of resistance have only two results — success or failure. To succeed, especially in an already extremely challenging situation, requires exceptional intelligence, ability, and strong luck, unfortunately, this head of the Liu family was not the chosen one.

Hence... there was no 'after.'

Although the Western Chu royal family had always wanted to end the issue once and for all, the obedient Liu family did not provide an opportunity. Naturally, encountering a Liu family head who lacked sense, the royal family did not let the chance slip away.

On a rainy night ten years ago, the imperial guards surrounded the Liu family mansion, not sparing anyone, adults or children, killing thirty-eight in total, burning the courtyard to ashes.

…

"What happened that time was my advice to His Majesty; saying Liu Su and I have a deep-seated enmity is not an exaggeration," Wu Shengchen said calmly, as if the massacre of an entire family had nothing to do with him.

Humans are so cruel, they will kill your whole family at the drop of a hat. That kind of thing would never happen with a Dragon. Aya sighed. Though in a certain sense, Dragons don't really have a "family" concept.

"Sorry for going off on a tangent all of a sudden."

Wu Shengchen chuckled, then refocused his gaze on Aya and Jojo. "Jojo, do you have any more questions?"

...

While Aya fought for the safety of her dragon form, several miles outside the imperial city in the central district, the princess was completely engrossed in dipping a piece of goose meat into a small dish of pale yellow, transparent sauce in front of her with her chopsticks.

"Mmm~~ Is this the taste of home?!"

As her taste buds detected the blend of sour and sweet flavors along with the fragrant goose meat, Tiran supported her chin with one hand, displaying a blissful expression as if her body was about to melt.

Roasted goose with deep well flavor.

Tiran never expected to taste roasted goose in a different world, and both the preparation and taste were remarkably similar to her memory. Especially after dipping it in sour plum sauce, it was a heavenly delicacy. The Eastern cuisine she had found in West Land before paled in comparison.

...Oh, it wasn't that the princess had forgotten about gathering intelligence and the matter with the North Wind steward, it was mainly because she didn't expect the place used by the North Wind for disguise and cover to be a restaurant.

And then she happened to meet the steward who was out and hadn't returned yet, so she needed to wait for the person informing the North Wind in a special way. This amount of time wasn't enough to go out and wander around, and it was almost lunchtime, so they decided to have lunch here.

Yes, that's it, it has nothing to do with being gluttonous, absolutely not.

"Customer, here is your ordered bamboo noodle soup."

"Steamed spare ribs."

"Water chestnut cake."

"Champion roasted pork."

"Green amaranth in broth."

"..."

...Probably not.

One day, rumors suddenly spread in the central district of Luojing about a "lonely foodie with beautiful silver long hair."

After a few rounds of drinks, Tiran set down her glass filled with iced lemon tea, looked at the satisfyingly empty bowls and plates in front of her, and nodded contentedly.

"Waiter, the bill!"

"Hey, coming!" There was an immediate response, but at this time, many customers were also full and satisfied, so the waiter was a bit overwhelmed.

"Hey, did you hear? Someone infiltrated the palace and attempted assassination during the morning court today."

"Assassination? That's an exaggeration; they clearly just brazenly stormed in, and several gold-armored guards in the palace died."

"Is it that outrageous? How's the emperor now..."

"I don't know, the prime minister seems to have ordered a news blackout, and we don't know how His Majesty and the others are."

Tiran overheard some unusual discussions among the diners.

According to Xiang Ling, a power struggle for the throne was about to erupt, and Luojing wouldn't be peaceful anytime soon. Has it already begun?

No way, she was still planning to slip away once she found Aya.