The people behind clearly didn't expect Chu Qianli to suddenly make a move.
He was stunned for a moment, but then a flicker of excitement crossed his eyes.
With a slight shift of his feet, he narrowly dodged the incoming silver needle.
He immediately waved his hand, sending out a powerful palm strike that aimed straight for Chu Qianli's face.
Chu Qianli raised her hand, and the sky silk, which had landed in her grasp at some point, hooked onto a nearby piece of rubble.
Using the elasticity of the sky silk, she leaped into the air, gracefully gliding across the sky.
Silver needles shot from her hand, one after another, each one deadly.
The person behind her dodged and then flipped, managing to avoid the more than ten silver needles.
The smile on his lips deepened, and he suddenly leaped up, his fingers forming a claw as he reached for Chu Qianli's shoulder.
But who would have thought that this girl, who clearly knew nothing of Qinggong, would, as he descended, flash past him beneath him in an extremely fast and extremely peculiar manner.
With a *snap*, Long Feifan stepped on two silver needles.
As steady as he was, he couldn't help but his expression change slightly.
He looked down and saw that the two silver needles he stepped on had their tips broken off, pointing downwards.
The smile on his lips froze slightly, and he felt a lingering fear.
If these silver needles hadn't been broken by Chu Qianli beforehand, they would have likely pierced the soles of his feet by now.
"Uncle, are we still competing?" Chu Qianli landed not far away, looking at him with a half-smile.
"No more, no more. Uncle doesn't want to return to the manor limping, it would be unsightly."
If these two silver needles had hit the pressure points on his feet, he would have found it difficult to walk freely for several days.
"Did you send away the Marquis's guards?" No wonder, when she first entered the manor, the guards were still strictly in place.
Later, the guards became inexplicable.
So it was her uncle who was secretly helping her!
"Little girl, you're quite familiar. Didn't my father say in the main hall that Chu Huaiyu is his granddaughter? You're calling me uncle?"
He walked slowly towards her.
Chu Qianli snorted, "If you don't like it, I can call you Little Fanfan from now on."
"Pah!" Long Feifan glared at her, his face stern. "I am an elder..."
"An elder who hasn't grown up is just a child in my eyes. Yes, you're still a single dog, which makes you even more like a child."
"What dog?" This crazy girl, how dare she call him a dog.
She's truly wicked!
"Single dog, don't you know what that means?"
"What does it mean?"
"It means..." Chu Qianli wagged her finger. "Little Fanfan, I'm hungry. I haven't eaten a single thing since noon yesterday."
Long Feifan had originally intended to correct her disrespectful address, but upon hearing that she had been hungry for so long, his heart softened.
"Let's go, Uncle will take you to eat noodles."
...
As dawn broke, small vendors on the streets began their new day of business.
Long Feifan did indeed take her to eat noodles, the simplest and most unpretentious handmade noodles.
Chu Qianli, however, ate with great emotion. Truly, it was delicious!
The noodles themselves had a sweet taste. Ancient flour was truly sweet.
It was the natural sweetness of the plants, so fragrant.
"You still haven't told me what 'single dog' means?" Long Feifan was still bothered by this.
"What 'single dog' means is..."
Chu Qianli swallowed the noodles in her mouth and then smiled at him, "It means no girl likes you, and you've always been alone."
Long Feifan thought for a moment and then nodded, "That's right, I am a single dog."
He accepted this explanation.
Chu Qianli, however, raised an eyebrow, confused. "Uncle, men in your era usually get married before they're twenty. Why are you still a single dog at twenty-eight?"
"No girl likes me." Wasn't that the most obvious reason?
"Nonsense. Although my uncle isn't as handsome as Prince Xuan, he's still a top-tier handsome man. How could no girl like him?"
She leaned closer, staring intently at Long Feifan.
Long Feifan felt a bit uncomfortable under her gaze and instinctively dodged. "What are you looking at?"
"Uncle, could it be that you..."
"Could not be what?"
"...you can't?"
"..."
A long while later, Long Feifan's furious curses came from outside the noodle stall: "You... you scoundrel! You're the one who can't!"
"Of course I can't. You and I are the same kind!"
"Nonsense, who is the same kind as you!"
"We both can't, so what else are we if not the same kind?"
"Scram!"
...
Two days later, Feng Yexuan finally woke up.
To his utter surprise, the person taking care of him in his chambers was not that woman, but Yu Linglong.
Also present were Consort Jin, Feng Jinrui.
And the Empress Dowager.
Feng Yexuan frowned.
Weak and debilitated from his recent serious injury, he still struggled to get up.
"Yexuan, your wound isn't healed yet, you can't move around." Yu Linglong looked anxious.
Yu Linglong tried to help him up, but Feng Yexuan's expression darkened, and his icy gaze swept over her.
Yu Linglong no longer dared to act rashly, and could only withdraw her outstretched hand in disappointment.
Feng Jinrui quickly stepped forward and helped Feng Yexuan sit up.
"Imperial Brother, how are you feeling?"
He had been stabbed in the chest. Although the blade hadn't pierced his heart, it was not far from it.
According to Yu Linglong, if she hadn't timely reconnected his heart meridians, he wouldn't have survived these past few days.
Yu Linglong, it seemed, had saved Imperial Brother's life once again.
"Imperial Brother..."
"Where is she?" Feng Yexuan looked at Feng Jinrui.
The Empress Dowager felt a little displeased. She was sitting right there, yet Xuan'er, upon waking, didn't even glance at her.
Who was he so eager to find?
Could it be true, as Consort Jin and Linglong had said, that Xuan'er had been completely infatuated by Chu Qianli?
"Imperial Brother, Grandmother is here."
"Where is she?" Feng Yexuan grabbed Feng Jinrui's wrist.
As he spoke with a slight surge of emotion, a tearing pain immediately shot through his wound.
A surge of blood rose in his throat, causing him to cough twice.
If his physique wasn't strong enough, he would have likely vomited blood.
"Yexuan, I just saved you from the gates of hell. You can't treat your body so carelessly."
Although Yu Linglong dared not approach, she was unwilling to leave.
She had been guarding by the bedside.
"Who permitted you to be here?" Feng Yexuan's expression was gloomy, and he cast a cold glance at her.
If he remembered correctly, this woman had long been blacklisted from his princely manor.
How dare she still come!
"Xuan'er, you were seriously injured this time, and Linglong saved your life. Don't treat her with such an attitude anymore."
The Empress Dowager felt pity for Yu Linglong and also for the pale-faced Feng Yexuan.
She sighed helplessly, "Before, you were bewitched by a demonic woman, but now..."
"Where is she?" Feng Yexuan's grip on Feng Jinrui's fingers tightened instantly.
He knew something was amiss when he woke up and didn't see Chu Qianli.
No one here liked Chu Qianli.
Where was she now?