Si Junlin's face looked a bit grim, but Qingcao's words made sense. Although he had gained some internal energy, he was still far inferior to Su Wan'er.
"Aren't you worried about your mistress?" Si Junlin himself was quite concerned about Su Wan'er's safety.
A fleeting and unfathomable emotion flashed across Qingcao's eyes, but she still voiced her true thoughts. "I am indeed worried about the lady's safety, but I'm no match for her. So, I choose to trust her."
Si Junlin was rather surprised. He didn't expect Qingcao's martial arts skills to be inferior to Su Wan'er's. Generally speaking, shouldn't the bodyguard be more skilled than the master to protect them? If the master was more skilled than the bodyguard, what was the point of having a bodyguard?
Qingcao caught a glimpse of his skeptical look and guessed what was on his mind. "Your Majesty, the relationship between the empress and me is not something ordinary people can understand. I became the empress's bodyguard because most women in the capital are gentle and virtuous. To make the empress blend in with them, I had to act more boldly."
Si Junlin couldn't help but smile. He thought to himself, So you do have your concerns.
On the other side, Su Wan'er had caught up with Chang Ke and Ghost Lady. "Long time no see, envoys from the Southern Border." Her current body was her own, and for this body, it had truly been a long time since she last saw these people.
"The Empress of the Jin Kingdom?!" They never dreamed that the one blocking their way would be the Empress of the Jin Kingdom. They had heard that the empress came from a military family, but they hadn't taken it seriously. Now it seemed that the rumors were true.
"I remember... your name is Chang Ke. If I'm not mistaken, you're from the Western Rong Kingdom, right? So, have you defected to the Southern Border Kingdom?" Su Wan'er said with a hint of mockery.
Chang Ke knew that their plan might have been exposed. He put Ghost Lady down and drew the scimitar from his waist. "Empress of the Jin Kingdom, I know you come from a military family, but we people from the Western Rong Kingdom have been practicing martial arts since childhood. I'd like to have a match with you today."
At this moment, the leader of the secret agents arrived. He first bowed to Su Wan'er and then drew his weapon.
Ghost Lady knew that her insect - based poisons were useless now, so she drew the round - bladed knife from her waist. "Since we're going to fight, let's do it one - on - one, absolutely fairly."
Su Wan'er nodded. "Okay, then it's one - on - one."
After the match - ups were decided, the four of them engaged in separate battles.
Su Wan'er was up against Chang Ke, while the leader of the secret agents faced Ghost Lady.
After several exchanges, Su Wan'er found that Chang Ke's moves were extremely tricky. Every time the tip of his knife aimed straight at her vital points, which made her a bit uncomfortable.
But she was a battle - hardened warrior. After a short period of adjustment, she changed her attack strategy.
Her body became more flexible, and her arms were like nimble snakes. While avoiding Chang Ke's attacks, she tried to go for his left eye.
Her sudden change in moves really startled Chang Ke. After barely avoiding her attack, he swung his scimitar horizontally, aiming to cut her in half.
Su Wan'er slid on the roof for a short distance, avoiding Chang Ke's attack and going straight for his ankle.
"Bang!" Another firework exploded in the sky. This was the signal that the battle on the other side was over.
Both Su Wan'er and the leader of the secret agents accelerated their attacks.
Chang Ke sensed something was wrong. He feigned an attack and then quickly approached Ghost Lady.
Ghost Lady also took advantage of the momentum of being repelled by the leader of the secret agents to take a few steps back and join Chang Ke.
"Your Majesty, be careful. They're trying to escape." Having had the experience of almost letting them get away, the leader of the secret agents knew their intention as soon as he saw their actions.
"Ghost Lady, use that thing." Chang Ke said to Ghost Lady.
Ghost Lady was silent for a while, then nodded and quickly took out a cloth bag, about to act.
At this moment, the shrill whistle of a bamboo flute suddenly came from the empty rooftop.
The sound didn't mean much to Su Wan'er, the leader of the secret agents, or Chang Ke, but it made Ghost Lady tremble all over, as if she had heard the sound of the apocalypse.
"Ghost Lady, what's wrong with you?" Chang Ke didn't expect that Ghost Lady would collapse at such a crucial moment. This put him in a difficult situation.
However, his predicament didn't last long. In this moment of distraction, Su Wan'er found his weakness.
The long sword in Su Wan'er's hand suddenly changed direction. Instead of stabbing straight, it was now in a slapping position.
Her hand pressed against Chang Ke's chest, and her internal energy suddenly burst out. Unprepared, Chang Ke was immediately knocked back a few steps by Su Wan'er's internal energy and knelt on the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Su Wan'er pressed the long sword on his shoulder. "Don't move. You're under arrest."
And indeed, he was arrested. Because the secret agents who had dealt with all the "envoys from the Southern Border" caught up at this moment.
Now, even if Chang Ke wanted to escape, he had no way out, unless he could really fly.
After handing them over to the secret agents for disposal, Su Wan'er kept Ghost Lady behind.
Ghost Lady was still shivering. In the distance, Qingcao and Si Junlin flew over the rooftops with Long Xiaojiu.
Ghost Lady looked up with difficulty. When she saw Long Xiaojiu, her eyes widened in shock.
"How... how is this possible?"
Long Xiaojiu motioned for Qingcao, who was holding her, to let her down.
After landing, she walked towards Ghost Lady step by step, holding a bone flute.
"Sa... Saintess..." Ghost Lady said tremblingly.
Long Xiaojiu looked at her coldly. "Ghost Lady, you secretly colluded with people from the Western Rong Kingdom, intending to start a war. What punishment do you deserve?"
Ghost Lady knelt on the ground prostrate, then said to her, "I deserve to die. Please punish me, Saintess."
"The people you've offended this time are not me. So, you should beg for forgiveness from the Emperor and Empress of the Jin Kingdom." Long Xiaojiu said.
Ghost Lady quickly turned to kowtow to Su Wan'er and Si Junlin. "Please forgive my offense, Your Majesty and Your Highness."
Su Wan'er sheathed her sword and came to Si Junlin's side. "Well? Your Majesty, it's up to you to decide this matter."
Si Junlin looked at her sly eyes and could only shake his head helplessly. This woman must have planned to switch bodies with him long ago.
"First, remove the insect - based poisons from those people." Si Junlin said to her.
Ghost Lady was slightly stunned, then quickly bowed and replied yes.
She took out the insect pot and lit it with a flint.