Resplendent – Chapter 469

Chapter 469: The Irresponsible Shadow Guard

When Chu Musong and Chu Mubai, the twin brothers, rushed over, they saw their Sixth Brother, Chu Mushan, facing three black-clad men alone, barely getting a moment to catch his breath. 

Gu Ming, the younger brother, had no chance against the black-clad men; if not for his innate strength, he would have been down long ago.

What surprised them even more was that their sister, Gu Ye, was actually leading one of the black-clad men in circles, running around them at incredible speed. The black-clad man kept four or five steps behind her, unable to close in at all.

Seeing her Second and Third Brother arriving, Gu Ye maneuvered the black-clad men toward them. Chu Mufeng and Chu Mutong attacked in a storm-like flurry—one with a sword, the other with a fan—targeting the black-clad men. The Crown Prince also ordered his guards to assist Chu Mushan and Gu Ming.

Even Chu Bufan who heard the commotion hurried over. Though he couldn’t use his right hand, years of training with his left-hand sword had made his strikes practiced, precise, and ruthlessly effective. The black-clad men, who had initially held the numerical advantage, suddenly found themselves at a disadvantage. Then, a sharp whistle sounded. The black-clad men suddenly launched a coordinated attack, catching the Chu family off guard before retreating in an orderly fashion.

Chu Mushan lifted his foot, ready to give chase, but his father stopped him, “Sixth, don’t pursue a cornered enemy!”

Chu Mushan paused, then turned back and walked over to Gu Ye, inspecting her from head to toe, so thoroughly that he seemed to count every strand of her hair. Worried, he asked, “Sister, you weren’t hurt, were you?”

“No! Their legs are too slow. They couldn’t catch me!” Gu Ye giggled. Suddenly, her eyes landed on Chu Mushan. The smile on her lips vanished, and with a quivering voice, she said, “Sixth Brother, you’re hurt!”

Chu Mushan’s moon-white robe had been slashed several times by the black-clad men’s swords, and the deep red blood was slowly spreading, glaringly vivid. He looked down at the wounds and said nonchalantly, “It’s nothing, just a few scratches. Sister, don’t cry. These wounds don’t hurt. When you cry, it makes my heart ache!”

Gu Ye examined his injuries. Though they looked gruesome, they weren’t very deep. She took out a pouch she carried, retrieved a bottle of high-quality Golden Sore Medicine from her space, cleaned his wounds, and applied the medicine one by one. Gu Ming also had some scratches, but everyone else was unharmed.

The Crown Prince furrowed his brows and asked, “Where did those shadow guards come from? Why would they attack Miss Gu?”

Gu Ye opened her mouth, but thought of Gong Lishang’s sinister identity. That fiend must have been representing the Kingdom of Li at the Great Pharmacists Convention. If she revealed his identity, her doting father and brothers would never let it go, and it might even spark a conflict between the two nations. Li was one of the three major kingdoms, not a small state like Dongling that could challenge it.

Brother Chen would surely know what to do; she could write him a letter later to report this despicable fiend so he could handle him.

“Who knows! They came at me without a word, trying to capture me. If my legs weren’t fast, I wouldn’t have been able to hold out until Father and my brothers arrived!” Gu Ye pouted, displeased.

What a lucky break for Gong Lishang! Hmph, we’ll see about this later!

Chu Bufan paced over anxiously. Only when he saw that his daughter was unharmed did he finally let out a sigh of relief. Frowning, he kicked the three black-clad men who had been knocked out by Gu Ye and said to the guards, “Take these three back and interrogate them thoroughly! I want to see exactly who dares to cross our Chu family!”

Dragons have their reverse scales, and so do people, and Chu Bufan’s reverse scale was this youngest daughter he had just found. 

Her childhood had been full of suffering, and she hadn’t even had a chance to enjoy a few days of happiness when someone dared to lay a hand on her! If there is any grudge, let it be aimed directly at the Chu family, directly at him, Chu Bufan! To drag the women of the family into it was absolutely intolerable! 

So the Duke assumed that the culprit was an enemy of the Chu family!

Chu Mubai grabbed his sister’s arm and looked her over from head to toe with the expression one gives to a rare or curious object. Gu Ye felt chills run through her under his gaze and couldn’t help but ask, “Fifth Brother, is something wrong with your nerves? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Sister, your qinggong is impressive. None of those black-clad men could catch up to you!” Chu Mubai clicked his tongue in admiration. Just now, he had faced those black-clad men himself, each of whom was a master skilled both in internal and external techniques. A group of experts had actually been led around the entire courtyard by a little girl. It was laughable just to think about!

Gu Ye lifted her chin, showing a slightly proud, spoiled expression. “Of course! If you want to survive, you have to train yourself to the limit, don’t you?”

Chu Mutong, however, spoke with concern: “Without inner strength to support you, you may be able to protect yourself for a short time, but over the long run, you will eventually fall into the hands of thieves. Father, the top priority is to find the mastermind behind this. Also, assign several highly skilled fighters to protect our sister completely.”

“No need. A patient I once saved gave me a shadow guard. He’s quite capable, enough to protect me!” Gu Ye clapped her hands. Suddenly, a figure dressed in dark red, stealthy attire appeared among them and knelt on one knee before Gu Ye, bowing in salute.

The six members of the Chu family, along with the guards who openly and secretly protected the emperor and the crown prince, had not noticed where this person had been hiding, nor how he had appeared. Chu Bufan felt a chill in his heart: this was a true top-tier expert!

The Crown Prince frowned slightly and asked, “When your master was in danger just now, why didn’t you appear? You’re a shadow guard who shirks responsibility like that. What use are you?”

Yin Mei understood his identity. To the leader of the Four Shadow guards of the Hidden Soul Palace, the Crown Prince of a small state like Dongling was hardly someone worth taking seriously. However, since the future mistress’s family were all people of Dongling, he had to consider her position, didn’t he?

Yin Mei cupped his fists and answered, “My master has ordered that unless Miss’s life is in immediate danger, I am not to appear. Seeing that she was enjoying herself just now, I refrained from coming out and spoiling her fun.”

“Hehehe!” Gu Ye chuckled and said, “That’s exactly right. If someone always relies on others and entrusts their life and death to someone else’s hands, wouldn’t that turn them useless? Those petty thieves just now couldn’t do anything to me for a while. If Yin Mei had stepped out and dealt with them in a couple of moves, where would my brothers’ chance to heroically rescue their sister have gone?”

The Chu brothers recalled their little sister’s cries for help earlier. They weren’t desperate or miserable at all, but carried a tone of playfulness. They couldn’t help but sigh: she truly was their sister.

Among all the young ladies in the capital, not a second one could match her courage.

“Little girl, do you still remember me?” Emperor Zhao Rong, who had been tightly surrounded by his guards, waved them aside and slowly approached the Chu family. He had long recognized that the little girl hiding behind her brothers, occasionally ambushing people with medicinal powder, was the young miracle doctor who had saved his life at the hunting grounds.

Gu Ye widened her eyes and pointed at him. “Your— Uncle Huang, you’re here too! Come, let me check your pulse and see how your injuries are healing.”

As she spoke, she stepped forward and reached for Emperor Zhao Rong’s wrist.