Meanwhile, at Qin Ye’s mansion, in the guest room where Dongfang Jiang and Xi were staying, Xi slowly opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was a dim magic lamp.
The light was warm yellow, casting a soft halo on the ceiling.
She was lying on a soft bed, the quilt was fine silk, cool and smooth to the touch, with a faint floral scent.
“Mister Dongfang!”
Xi sat up abruptly, the quilt slipping off her body.
Her movement was too fast, causing insufficient blood flow to her brain, and her vision went black for a moment.
Then she fell straight back.
“Don’t move.”
A familiar and calm voice came from beside the bed.
Xi turned her head and saw Dongfang Jiang sitting on a chair by the bed, holding a cup of steaming tea, looking at her.
Dongfang Jiang had changed clothes.
The dark blue formal suit from the banquet had been replaced with a simple white shirt and black trousers.
The shirt sleeves were rolled up to the elbows, revealing a pair of well-defined forearms.
His face was still a bit pale, but his eyes were clear, with a hint of concern as he looked at Xi.
“Mister Dongfang, you’re not dead…”
Xi blurted out.
Dongfang Jiang was choked by her words.
He put down the teacup and replied somewhat grumpily.
“You’re not dead either.”
“Good, good…”
Xi let out a long sigh and collapsed onto the bed like a fish washed ashore.
She stared at the ceiling for a while.
Her brain finally recovered from the chaos, and memory fragments began to piece together a complete picture.
The battle in the corridor, Dongfang Jiang poisoned and falling, her using energy to heal him, and then…
Then a ring appeared on her finger.
Xi raised her right hand.
The transparent ring on her ring finger refracted a faint light under the lamp.
“This is…”
“The Stream Ring. If you’re willing, you can become my Guardian.”
Dongfang Jiang extended his hand toward Xi.
Xi was silent for a moment, then raised her right hand to eye level and examined it back and forth several times.
“So I’m your Guardian now?”
“It seems so.”
“That ring chose me?”
“It seems so.”
Xi fell silent again.
She put her right hand down and stared at the ceiling for a long time.
Then she suddenly laughed.
“Does this count as… a blessing in disguise?”
“It does.”
“Hmm…”
Xi looked at Dongfang Jiang, smiled, and took his hand.
She patted his head with a smile.
“Okay, I agree.”
Thus, Xi Fritz officially became Dongfang Jiang’s fourth Guardian.
“By the way, which one am I?”
“The fourth…”
Xi counted on her fingers but found the numbers didn’t add up.
“Who else is there?”
“Xue. I’ll introduce her to you when I get the chance.”
“It’s a deal~ So, what’s your next move?”
“Mm, I plan to find Bei’er.”
Dongfang Jiang decided to find Bei’er.
Bei’er had just warned him to be careful of the National Preceptor, and then Dongfang Jiang was ambushed shortly after.
That was clearly problematic.
“Eh? But how are you going to get in?”
Hearing Xi’s question, Dongfang Jiang took out the token the King of Aiselin had given him and showed it to Xi.
When Xi saw that Dongfang Jiang had a token that allowed him to freely enter and leave the Royal Palace, her eyes immediately lit up.
“Great, great, I’m going too.”
Hearing Dongfang Jiang’s plan, Xi immediately understood his arrangement.
She excitedly climbed out of bed.
“I was planning to take you anyway. I intend to sneak in through the sewers. Pandana told me you’re familiar with the terrain there.”
“I’m quite familiar, hehe.”
Xi said, patting her chest and grinning at Dongfang Jiang.
Dongfang Jiang smiled and performed a Harmonization, lightly tapping his finger on Xi’s forehead.
The harmonized Stream Energy slowly flowed into Xi’s body.
“Wow, that’s really impressive…”
Xi felt much lighter.
She jumped off the bed and stretched her body.
“Let’s go then.”
Xi nodded.
She led Dongfang Jiang expertly into the sewers and then smoothly entered the Royal Palace.
Once inside the palace, Dongfang Jiang moved unhindered with his token.
Guided by a maid, he soon found Bei’er’s room.
Dongfang Jiang raised his hand and knocked on the door.
Bei’er’s voice came from inside.
“Please come in. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Dongfang Jiang pushed open the door.
The room was not large.
Three walls were lined with bookshelves filled with thick texts and scrolls.
Facing the door was a redwood desk with a magic lamp on it, emitting a soft yellow light.
Bellfast was sitting behind the desk, her silver-white hair loose over her shoulders, wearing casual home clothes instead of the maid outfit from last night.
When she saw Dongfang Jiang enter, she nodded slightly.
“And this is?”
“My Guardian, Xi Fritz. She’s trustworthy.”
“Good.”
Bellfast snapped her fingers, and two chairs appeared in the room.
Dongfang Jiang and Xi sat down in front of her.
“I’m glad to see you again, Dongfang Jiang.”
Bellfast’s words straightforwardly indicated that she knew everything that had happened last night.
Dongfang Jiang and Xi were not surprised at all.
It would have been a surprise if Bellfast hadn’t noticed.
“Nothing in the palace escapes me.”
Seeing that their expressions showed little surprise, Bellfast’s lips curled up slightly as she continued speaking to Dongfang Jiang.
“I sent someone to check that corridor. There were signs of battle on the floor, sword marks on the walls, bloodstains on the ground, and scattered silver needles. I have Miss Hemin handling the investigation, but with her ability, she won’t find anything.”
Dongfang Jiang and Xi listened thoughtfully.
Bellfast’s expression turned serious.
“Because the ambusher knew the palace’s security system inside out. Which corridor’s lights were easy to extinguish, where the surveillance blind spots were, even the shift change times, and your appearance time—they knew everything.”
Bellfast glanced at Xi, who was rapidly taking notes, then turned back to Dongfang Jiang.
“The only thing they probably miscalculated was that Miss Fritz would suddenly appear and become your Guardian.”
“Indeed…”
Dongfang Jiang had no objections to Bellfast’s analysis.
“Do you have any suspects?”
Xi stopped writing and carefully asked Bellfast.
Bellfast nodded.
“Ambrose?”
Dongfang Jiang and Xi asked in unison.
“Last night, when I told you to be careful of him, I wasn’t just saying it.”
Bellfast stood up, walked to the bookshelf, and took down a thick volume from the top shelf.
She placed it on the desk and opened it.
The pages were yellowed, the edges worn, clearly old.
It was densely written, with hand-drawn pictures and symbols.
“This was borrowed from the Badan family. Ambrose’s background is unknown.”
Bellfast pointed to a passage in the book, her voice low.
“According to palace records, he first appeared in the Kingdom of Aiselin 120 years ago. At that time, he was still a young man, about twenty-something, working as a monk in a remote small temple.”
“120 years ago? So how old is he now?”
“At least 140 years old.”
Bellfast answered calmly.