What Bad Intentions can the Yandere Crown Prince have?

Chapter 466 - 453: Liangzhou Continued—Tang Ziqian Side Story (Part 2)

"Just this?"Tang Ziqian looked at the confession just handed to him.

There was nothing new, all previously mentioned by Lu Yuan casually.

"Yes, we’ve used various methods to question her, and it keeps coming back to the same things; seven or eight out of ten sentences are about the Young Master. She only followed him to Liangzhou for the Young Master," Ah Miao, who was responsible for the interrogation, laughed, "Maybe she’s really just a wandering woman from the worldly society?"

"Among those captured, two had interactions with her," Ah Jin said.

Ah Miao hesitated, "Should we use torture?"

Tang Ziqian put away the confession, "I’ll ask her."

...

The prison cell was always dirty and dark.

Lu Yuan sat against the wall on a pile of straw, hands tied behind her back, hair loose and barefoot, head drooped.

When Tang Ziqian saw her, his steps paused.

She suddenly lifted her head.

Her face was somewhat dirty, but her eyes remained clear and clean, without any sign of anger.

Not only was there no anger, but she also smiled at him with curved eyes, "You’re here!" and even happily kicked her foot.

Her feet were still chained, making a clanking sound as she kicked.

Tang Ziqian couldn’t help but laugh, motioning for the cell door to be opened as he bent over and went inside.

Lu Yuan suddenly jumped up, the chains clanking again, yet she didn’t care and said happily, "Are you here to let me out? I really didn’t lie to you!"

Tang Ziqian shook his head with a smile.

Even Xin Yi, with such a good temper, would get angry for a while after being bullied by him.

Could this girl be foolish?

"What does shaking your head mean?" Lu Yuan asked confusedly, "Haven’t you all interrogated me? I’m really not a spy!"

Tang Ziqian asked with a smile, "When you were at the Fusui Palace, didn’t you live and eat with a girl named Qingqing, having a very good relationship?"

Lu Yuan nodded blankly, "What happened to Qingqing?"

"Do you know her surname?"

Lu Yuan shook her head, "She said she was a slave and didn’t have a last name."

Tang Ziqian smiled, "Her surname is Murong."

Lu Yuan fell silent.

Murong, the royal family name of the Tuyuhun Kingdom.

"I-I didn’t know..." She argued weakly.

Tang Ziqian flipped his wrist, and an unsheathed dagger spun like a pen between his slender fingers.

"Miss Lu, your martial arts are exceptional, must have put in a lot of effort," he said with a slight smile, but his eyes were chillingly cold, "If your hand and foot tendons were severed, all that effort would be in vain."

Lu Yuan’s eyes widened instantly.

Shock, anger.

And heartache.

"You want to sever my tendons?" She was so angry that she even stomped her foot, causing the chains to clank and leaving a red mark on her bare instep.

Tang Ziqian smiled slightly.

So she did know how to get angry!

Seeing him smile made Lu Yuan even angrier, "I just like you, and you want to cripple me!"

Her elegant eyebrows furrowed.

"Bang!" The ropes on her body snapped with a sound.

No one inside or outside the cell had time to react when the girl pushed Tang Ziqian away, disappeared like the wind, leaving only a sound of distant chains clashing.

The attendants shouted and quickly gave chase.

Ah Miao rushed into the cell, "Young Master?"

Tang Ziqian calmly stood up straight, rubbed his shoulder that had been pushed into the wall by Lu Yuan, and laughed.

This girl truly wasn’t just any martial artist.

...

On the third day after Lu Yuan’s escape, the people sent to the Chu land returned.

"...There is indeed a line of the worldly society with the surname Lu, living along the banks of the Yuan River, famous for their fast sword."

Hearing this, Tang Ziqian’s gaze fell on the ornamental sword on the wall.

Fast sword?

He hadn’t seen the girl use a sword?

In fact, he hadn’t seen her use a weapon at all.

Most of the time, she was either talking to him or busying herself with her "extraordinary" flowers—

Thinking of Lu Yuan’s flowers, Tang Ziqian suddenly became interested.

After everyone left, he strolled to the West Garden on his own.

This was the second time he had visited the West Garden since taking office as the Governor of Liangzhou.

Just past the garden gate, he was taken aback.

The last time he came, he had transplanted a Xinyi Flower from the General Mansion in Shanzhou to the West Garden of the Liangzhou Governor Mansion.

That Xinyi Flower was personally planted by Xin Yi.

After Xin Yi’s death, it had been hidden in the ancestral home in Fengxian County.

Her belongings, some were buried with her in Fengxian, the rest were collected by his younger sister.

Ah Jin seemed to have kept a few items, but he hadn’t kept anything.

Burying, revenge.

These were all he could do.

During her lifetime, he only wronged her, let her down.

Now that she was gone, grieving would be pretentious.

However, upon returning to the Northwest and seeing that single Xinyi Flower, he gazed at it for a long time before bringing it to the Liangzhou Governor Mansion.

The Xinyi Flower isn’t suited to survive in the Northwest, but since Xin Yi had planted it, it miraculously survived.

After transplanting the Xinyi Flower to the Governor Mansion’s West Garden, he instructed the servants to care for it well and hadn’t visited it since.

Not knowing whose idea it was, perhaps feeling sorry for the solitary Xinyi, someone planted a whole grove of them.

Tang Ziqian stood dazed in front of the Xinyi Grove before subconsciously walking in.

The moon was high, casting chaotic shadows in the grove.

Tang Ziqian wandered aimlessly for a while without finding the specific plant he had transplanted a month ago, which Xin Yi had once planted.

A deep sense of helplessness and frustration welled up in his heart.

He leaned against the tree trunk, closed his eyes.

The night was too quiet, he could hear his own breathing, almost pained.

If he had paid more attention back then, he wouldn’t be in this predicament now.

But why, why didn’t he pay attention back then?

He really didn’t know...

"Tang Ziqian?"

The puzzled voice of a young girl broke the silence of the night.

Tang Ziqian suddenly opened his eyes.

"You...are you lost?" she asked cautiously.

Tang Ziqian chuckled lightly, "How dare you come back?"

The girl snorted, "I just came back, and you can’t catch me!" After saying that, she made the chain clink, with a bit of defiance.

Tang Ziqian laughed again, sat down lazily on the ground, "Yes, I’m lost."

"If you go to your left and keep walking, you’ll reach my herb garden, then along—huh? Aren’t you supposed to know martial arts? You can just climb a tree and see where to go!"

"But I can’t move anymore." Tang Ziqian’s tone grew more languid.

After the chains clanked a few times, Lu Yuan’s figure appeared before him.

She kept a cautious distance from him, but after examining him, her mood seemed to change.

"Is your mood bad again?" she asked.

"Yes!" Tang Ziqian answered plainly, "I planted a Xinyi Flower here, but now, I can’t find which one I planted."

"That’s it?" Lu Yuan was greatly shocked but still offered a suggestion, "If you can’t find it, just assume they’re all the ones you planted."

Tang Ziqian was silent for a while, then suddenly burst out laughing, nodding in agreement, "Well said, these, all of them are the ones I planted!"

After speaking, he beckoned to her, "Come here."

This time, Lu Yuan didn’t rush over but took a step back instead, "What for?"

Tang Ziqian withdrew his finger, smiling, "To talk."

Lu Yuan hesitated, "I can talk from here."

Tang Ziqian let out a careless chuckle and, with his hands under his head, leaned against the tree trunk, looking at the sky, ignoring her.

Lu Yuan glanced at him, then another glance.

The light in the grove was dim, making it hard to see his face clearly, but...he was still strikingly handsome!

By the third glance, Lu Yuan couldn’t resist the temptation any longer and moved towards him slowly.

The chain dragged on the ground, making a shuffling sound.

When the shuffling sound finally reached Tang Ziqian, he casually nudged the chain with his foot, meeting Lu Yuan’s eyes with his dark ones.

"Escaped and came back? Couldn’t bear to leave me?" he asked with a soft smile, absentmindedly toying with the chain with his foot.

Even though she wasn’t touched by Tang Ziqian, Lu Yuan still felt a bit weak in the legs.

"No, I-I came back for my Wine Heart Bud, they aren’t ordinary flowers! I’ve nurtured them for three years!" Lu Yuan’s voice grew more confident as she spoke.

"Oh?" Tang Ziqian responded absentmindedly. As if he’d had enough fun, he retracted his foot.

He lazily propped up one leg, resting a hand casually on his knee, fingers tapping, laughing with carefree abandon, "So confident in your martial arts?"

Lu Yuan pursed her lips, sighed, "It’s not about being confident, just...since I’m enticed by beauty, I’ve got to be ready to be captured."