early morning.
In the backyard.
"Your Highness, when you punch, you should concentrate all your strength in your palms..."
"A punch must be mastered and coordinated, with every part of the body under control. Only then can a powerful, fatal strike be delivered..."
"Your Highness has made great progress in the past two days, but it is still far from enough..."
In the backyard.
Lin Jiangnian started a new day of training by standing still and practicing boxing as usual.
Lin Qingqing also appeared in the courtyard, standing beside Lin Jiangnian, directing His Highness's actions.
The kite still didn't appear.
Lin Qingqing, under the order of Zhiyuan, taught His Highness about martial arts and answered his questions.
An hour and a half later.
Lin Jiangnian was so exhausted that his whole body collapsed and he fell to the ground, gasping for breath.
"Your Highness, your training has yielded remarkable results. Let's stop here for today. Too much is as bad as too little."
Lin Qingqing looked at the Crown Prince who was slumped on the ground in a state of disgrace, and the strange look in her eyes became more and more obvious.
Your Highness, you actually persevered?
How many days has it been?
The people in the palace speculated that His Highness would give up after a few days. But they never expected that His Highness would persist until now?
The former ignorant and incompetent prince has actually turned over a new leaf?
"OK!"
Lin Jiangnian was extremely tired and didn't have much energy to pay attention to her, so he waved his hand.
"I'll take my leave first!"
Lin Qingqing bowed and left the yard.
"Your Highness, drink some water."
On the other side, the little maid who had been waiting in the corridor for a long time saw this and hurriedly ran forward and handed the kettle in her arms to Lin Jiangnian.
Lin Jiangnian took the kettle, took a few big gulps, put the kettle down, and looked up at the little maid in front of him.
"Help this prince up."
"Huh? Oh."
Xiao Zhu was stunned for a moment, then hurried forward to help Lin Jiangnian up.
But her small body could not bear the weight of Lin Jiangnian. She tried her best but still failed to lift Lin Jiangnian up.
Instead, she herself was exhausted and panting, "Your Highness... Your Highness... Your servant doesn't have enough strength..."
The tone was a little uneasy and pitiful.
Seeing this, Lin Jiangnian was actually happy.
He naturally knew that this little maidservant was definitely not strong enough to help him up, and he wanted to make things difficult for her, but he didn't expect that she actually took it seriously?
Seeing her little face flushed and her teeth gritting as she exerted all her strength, she was so adorable.
“Alright, alright!”
Lin Jiangnian waved his hand, and after regaining some strength, he slowly stood up from the ground.
The moment I stood up, my whole body felt sore and weak. I took two deep breaths, but I couldn't muster any strength.
"Help me over there to rest."
Xiao Zhu quickly stepped forward again, supporting Lin Jiangnian's arm. A second later, she nearly fell. She gritted her teeth and persevered, trembling as she helped the prince to a nearby pavilion and sat down.
Just a few steps had already consumed almost all of her strength.
Xiao Zhu's face was flushed, she was panting, and her legs felt trembling.
Your Highness, Your Highness...it's too heavy!
She was panting, bending over and supporting her thighs, feeling very tired. When she finally caught her breath, she looked up and saw Lin Jiangnian looking at her with a half-smile.
Xiao Zhu was a little flustered: "Your Highness..."
"Sit down."
"ah?"
Xiao Zhu was stunned. Before she could come to her senses, she saw that Lin Jiangnian had narrowed his eyes, and there seemed to be some deep meaning in his eyes.
Xiao Zhu's delicate body trembled slightly, as if she thought of something.
"oh……"
She quickly lowered her head and sat down aside feeling aggrieved... If she didn't obey, His Highness would definitely be unhappy again.
After sitting down, she secretly raised her little head and glanced at His Highness. When she saw that His Highness's expression had relaxed, she felt relieved.
"Where's the kite?"
Lin Jiangnian glanced at the maid sitting opposite him, who was very respectful, stiff and looked like an obedient student, and found it a little funny.
This little maidservant is really vulnerable to being scared.
"No, I don't know..."
Xiao Zhu lowered his head and answered honestly.
Lin Jiangnian then remembered that the little maid had been here with him practicing martial arts in the morning.
"Alright, I don't need you to accompany me here, please go down first."
Lin Jiangnian waved his hand and glanced at her again: "Do you understand what I mean?"
Xiao Zhu's heart skipped a beat. She was not stupid, so she naturally understood what His Highness meant... Was His Highness asking her to go find Sister Zhiyuan?
Then report Sister Zhiyuan's whereabouts to His Highness...
"Slave, slave understands..."
Xiao Zhu lowered his head and nodded uneasily.
“…”
Lin Jiangnian's daily routine has become more regular!
These days I get up early every day to practice, exercise in the backyard, practice the basic skills of martial arts, and lay a solid foundation.
After taking a bath and changing clothes at noon and having lunch, he would either return to his room to practice the Xuanyang internal energy, or go to Ruyi Tower to ask the old senior Li for advice on martial arts... After dark, he would occasionally chat with the maids in the mansion, and try to find out some intelligence information about the mansion in a roundabout way.
It has been a while since Lin Jiangnian came to the Prince Lin's Mansion, and he has gradually integrated into it.
Finally, there was the woman in red who appeared almost every night. She would appear in Lin Jiangnian's room in a way that was unexpected and silent.
He was able to evade the eyes of the vast Lin Palace every time, appearing and disappearing without a trace. Such martial arts skills should not be underestimated!
Lin Jiangnian became more and more wary of her. As he gradually gained a foothold in the Prince Lin's Mansion, he became increasingly wary of her.
…
Today, after waving goodbye to Xiao Zhu, Lin Jiangnian took a shower, changed his clothes and had lunch. He did not return to his room or go to Ruyi Tower, but came alone to a small courtyard in the side yard of the Prince Lin's Mansion.
This is a relatively simple courtyard in Prince Lin's Mansion. The courtyard is not big, and there are several wooden stakes and some martial arts equipment placed in the courtyard.
There are several weapons placed under the eaves corridor not far away!
When Lin Jiangnian stepped into the courtyard, he heard a whistling sound.
In a corner not far from the courtyard, there was a figure with his upper body naked, practicing martial arts and punching a wooden stake.
The figure had his back to Lin Jiangnian and was swinging his fists with sweat on his forehead. Each punch landed on the wooden stake with a dull sound.
Lin Jiangnian walked on the corridor under the eaves, looking at the figure in the yard sweating profusely, his eyes flashing as if he thought of something.
“Wow!”
With a dull sound, Lin Kong punched the wooden stake in front of him hard.
As the internal force in his body surged out, the wooden stake in front of him, which had been tempered thousands of times and remained motionless, shattered into pieces in an instant.
Wood chips flew and scattered all over the ground.
The air was filled with dust, and beneath the dust, Lin Kong's cold, slightly unwilling face was reflected.
Only after he had vented his anger did his gloomy face recover slightly.
Just as he was about to turn around, he seemed to realize something and suddenly looked up.
"who?!"
His eyes fell on the corridor not far away, and when he saw an unexpected figure, he was suddenly startled.
His pupils shrank and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
"Your Highness."
After being stunned for a moment, Lin Kong finally reacted and lowered his head and spoke in a low voice.
Lin Jiangnian looked at him quietly, then glanced at the broken wooden stake on the ground, and raised the corner of his mouth slightly: "Not bad for martial arts."
Lin Kong said, "I didn't know Your Highness was coming. Please forgive me."
No response.
The courtyard seemed to have fallen into silence for a long time.
Lin Jiangnian stepped into the courtyard and slowly approached Lin Kong. He glanced at him and suddenly said, "What if this prince doesn't forgive you?"
Hearing this, Lin Kong looked up, only to see the calm expression of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, without a trace of emotion.
For some reason, Lin Kong felt a little uneasy.
Your Highness today...why is he so strange?
Even gave him an unprecedented sense of oppression?
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind. Lin Kong suppressed the uneasiness in his heart, concealed the resentment in his eyes, and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, please punish me."
"Punishment?"
Lin Jiangnian glanced at him and said, "How dare I punish you?"
"I'm afraid that my son, the prince, is not worth mentioning in your eyes?"
Lin Kong's eyelids jumped: "I dare not."
Your Highness...
The unfamiliar is a little scary!
His Highness had been furious with him before, but Lin Kong was not too worried at that time. In his eyes, His Highness was just incompetent and furious!
But today, the expected scene of His Highness's rage did not occur. In fact, His Highness was very calm, a calmness that was particularly unfamiliar.
The unfamiliarity made Lin Kong feel increasingly uneasy!
"Do you know why I came to see you today?"
Lin Jiangnian stared at Lin Kong in front of him and spoke slowly.
Lin Kong lowered his head and said, "I don't know."
Since the last incident, he was dismissed from his post, received a hundred strokes of the cane, and stayed in his room to recuperate.
"Why are you playing dumb?"
Unexpectedly, Lin Jiangnian glanced at him and said calmly, "Do you think that the last incident is over and settled?"
Lin Kong's heart sank as he realized something.
"As the commander of this prince's personal army, you betrayed me and refused to save me when I was in danger of assassination..."
"Do you think that simply dismissing you from your post and giving you a hundred lashes of the cane is enough to get away with this?"
Lin Kong's heart grew increasingly depressed: "I dare not."
Your Highness, you are here to question me!
Thinking of this, Lin Kong felt a lot more at ease.
"No, you dare!"
Lin Jiangnian narrowed his eyes and said expressionlessly, "Not only do you dare, but... you don't even think you've done anything wrong, right?"
Lin Kong's heart suddenly trembled.
Looking into Lin Jiangnian's still calm eyes... there was not a trace of anger, as if he was calmly narrating an ordinary matter.
But even so, Lin Kong felt a little flustered.
He would rather His Highness be extremely angry, scold him, or even beat him up... Such a calm His Highness made him feel extremely unfamiliar.
I also felt extremely... panicked!
"In fact, you have always looked down on me, right?"
Lin Jiangnian noticed the hint of emotion in Lin Kong's eyes, his gaze was playful: "In your eyes, this prince is nothing but a loser, a loser who relies on his father... So, you look down on this prince?!"
Lin Kong lowered his head, trembling as he tried to deny it. But when the words came to his lips, he couldn't say them.
Your Highness, something is wrong today!
What does he want to do?
"You are a very proud and ambitious person, so naturally you look down on me. Do you even think that becoming the commander of my personal army is actually a disgrace to you?"
A trace of fear emerged in Lin Kong's heart.
He, how could he...
"You look down on me, but I don't blame you."
Lin Jiangnian shook his head slightly, as if sighing, "With your abilities, you should indeed have greater ambitions. Staying by my side is truly a waste of your talent!"
Lin Kong was stunned and raised his head in disbelief.
Your Highness... don't blame him?
Is this really what His Highness said?
How could His Highness...
"but……"
Just as Lin Kong was stunned, the smile on Lin Jiangnian's face disappeared completely.
"You absolutely shouldn't vent your dissatisfaction with this prince on your actions..."
"You can certainly look down on me, my prince. You're an orphan adopted by my father. You can obey the prince, or you can obey Zhiyuan... Even if I'm dissatisfied with you, as long as you don't make any mistakes, I really can't do anything to you!"
"but……"
Lin Jiangnian's eyes gradually turned colder: "You almost killed me this time. Do you think this Lin Wang Mansion can still accommodate you?"
Lin Kong was silent.
This time, when His Highness was assassinated, he failed to protect her properly, so Zhiyuan dismissed him from his post. The caning was only the beginning of the punishment. If His Highness insisted on taking it seriously, he would definitely not have a good ending when the prince returned home.
Lin Kong may not take Prince Lin seriously and may look down on His Highness, but... Prince Lin is the prince's only son after all!
He almost killed His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, how could the prince tolerate him?
Therefore, when Lin Jiangnian mentioned it, he became calm instead.
"Subordinate, I am willing to accept punishment!"
“…”
Lin Jiangnian's eyes were slightly cold as he looked at Lin Kong, who had a calm expression in front of him, as if he had expected it.
"It seems that you are not afraid of death?"
Lin Kong still lowered his head and said in a deep voice: "From the moment I entered the palace, I have put life and death behind my mind."
"Since you are so determined to die, I can grant your wish!"
Lin Jiangnian narrowed his eyes and spoke slowly.
"However, before that, I have one last question for you..."
Lin Kong said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, please ask."
"Why didn't you save me the first time at Yingfeng Garden that day?"
Hearing this question, Lin Kong fell silent.
He didn't speak for a long time.
"Why don't you answer?"
Lin Jiangnian stared at him and sneered, "You want to use an assassin to get rid of this prince?"
"I dare not!"
Lin Kong lowered his head and said in a low voice: "Subordinate, I have never had such a thought before."
"If you don't have any, why don't you answer?"
Faced with Lin Jiangnian's questioning, Lin Kong fell silent again.
There seemed to be a conflicted look on his face. He hesitated for a long time, but in the end he said nothing.
Seeing this, Lin Jiangnian laughed instead.
"It seems you're truly not afraid of death? You have the guts to die rather than surrender?"
Lin Kong was silent.
"I admire people like you who have backbone, but..."
"I hope you can always maintain this backbone!"
Lin Kong remained silent, but for some reason, he felt vaguely uneasy.
Your Highness, what do you mean?
"You have to know that there is no impenetrable wall in this world. For example..."
Lin Jiangnian suddenly glanced at him, his eyes filled with a hint of amusement, and the corners of his mouth raised slightly: "This prince heard that you have a good relationship with Su Lu, the courtesan of Yingfeng Garden?"
“…Is that true?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Kong's expression suddenly changed.
He raised his head in disbelief, and when he saw Lin Jiangnian's half-smile, a trace of panic suddenly flashed across his eyes.
Then, Lin Kong suddenly reacted, quickly gathered his thoughts, lowered his head, and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness... who did you hear that from?"
There was an indescribable tremor in the voice.
"My subordinate and Miss Su are just ordinary friends..."
"Ordinary friends?"
"Yeah?"
Lin Jiangnian stared at Lin Kong, who was already panicking and distracted, with amusement, but still pretended to be calm, as if he understood everything.
If it weren't for the information the red-dressed woman had uncovered, Lin Jiangnian would never have guessed that this guy actually had some hidden connection with Su Lu, the courtesan of Yingfeng Garden!
It's really surprising!
The personal guard of the Crown Prince of Lin’s Palace actually fell in love with the most popular girl in a brothel?
Kind of interesting...
At this moment, when Lin Kong heard Lin Jiangnian mention Su Lu's name, he was already in great confusion.
He could never imagine how His Highness found out about Miss Su.
Are you trying to trick him?
Or... Your Highness already knows something?
At this moment, Lin Kong, who had always been calm, couldn't help but start to panic.
Lin Jiangnian slowly withdrew his gaze, the corner of his mouth slightly raised: "Since we are just ordinary friends, then this prince is relieved..."
Lin Kong's heart suddenly sank, "Your Highness...what do you mean by this?"
"What do you think?"
Lin Jiangnian's eyes were calm: "Since Su Lu is the most beautiful courtesan, she must be quite pretty. Since we are just ordinary friends, then..."
He didn't continue.
But Lin Kong's head suddenly buzzed and the world was spinning. When he came to his senses, he felt as heavy as if it was filled with lead.
Is His Highness planning to...? ! !
Panic surged, and a touch of anger suddenly emerged. But then, a deep panic and powerlessness...
"Your Highness..."
When he met Lin Jiangnian's eyes, Lin Kong trembled suddenly and realized something...
He seemed to be deflated in an instant, and his whole body became listless.
"Your Highness, why do you have to fool me..."
Lin Kong knew that he could no longer hide it.
"Weren't you the one who deceived me first?" Lin Jiangnian asked back.
Lin Kong was silent.
After a while, he spoke hoarsely: "Your Highness, what do you want?"
"What do you think?"
Lin Jiangnian's mouth corners slightly raised.
Lin Kong lowered his head, took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down before speaking hoarsely, "Miss Su and I are truly in love..."
Lin Jiangnian sneered: "So what?"
Lin Kong was speechless and stood there in a daze for a moment.
At this moment, he was no longer as calm and composed as before, and there was a hint of anxiety in his eyes.
He is not afraid of death!
But he was afraid...
His greatest secret is now in the hands of His Highness.
He didn't know why His Highness knew about this, but... Miss Su was innocent, and he was worried that His Highness would do something bad to Miss Su.
Even worse...
I feel cold all over!
At this moment, Lin Kong sadly realized that if His Highness really wanted to harm Miss Su, he would not even be able to stop him.
After all, he was just a small guard in Prince Lin's mansion!
Thinking of this, Lin Kong's heart suddenly sank.
He realized that he was doomed!
"Bang!"
With a thud, Lin Kong knelt before Lin Jiangnian. His face was pale, and his voice was heavy and trembling.
"Everyone is responsible for their own actions!"
"Miss Su is innocent..."
"Your Highness, please spare Miss Su's life..."
“…”