Chapter 613: Where is the Weakness?

Chapter 613: Where is the Weakness?

After Su Youyue returned to the Bai family, she learned from the shadow guards that Tuoba Xiao and Helian Lin had chased after her one after another, leaving the banquet.

However, since she had been hiding and never showed herself, the two men never managed to meet her.

Su Youyue regretted not being able to meet Xie Yuan in private, and she also resented Tuoba Xiao for all of this.

But currently, on Tuoba Xiao's turf, they couldn't act rashly against him, so Su Youyue devoted most of her energy to developing the antidote for the sacred poison.

Meanwhile, in the Holy City, one wave had not yet settled before another arose.

Even though the palace banquet had ended, the discussions about it continued to grow more intense.

While the scandal spread far and wide, the Floating Light Brocade from Madam Bai's fabric store also rode the wave of popularity, experiencing a surge in sales.

The Shen family's Floating Light Brocade had already been in trouble, and now it was pushed to the brink. Apart from the Ding'an Marquis's household, which bought some out of goodwill, not a single piece had been sold in days. The worst part was that even if they lowered the price, their costs remained higher than those of the Floating Light Brocade. If they lowered the price further, they would be operating at a loss.

Adding to their worries about the palace plan being leaked, the entire Shen family's leaders were plunged into anxiety. The only good news was Shen Zhuyu's secret engagement to Meng Ziyu. As long as they could form a marriage alliance with the Ding'an Marquis's household, the Shen family would at least not be on a downward spiral.

This was the best solution for now.

Although the marriage had not yet been officially settled, Meng Ziyu was already preparing to present his beloved with lavish betrothal gifts that would make all the girls in the Holy City envious.

When everything was ready, all that remained was the final touch. Meng Ziyu decided to collect the last item for the betrothal gifts, the one Shen Zhuyu was most looking forward to. He wanted to personally prepare this gift for his bride.

The thin paper lanterns rotated under the eaves, their candlelight flickering.

The Bai family's residence was as quiet as an empty house in the late night. Both masters of the Bai family were in poor health and needed rest, so the servants were especially quiet at night, afraid of disturbing their masters.

Su Youyue, accompanied by Qingluo, walked through the corridor and entered the room.

As soon as the two entered, more than a dozen black shadows suddenly appeared in the courtyard.

They cautiously scanned their surroundings, confirming that no one was around and that the highly skilled half-blind guard was also missing. Then, with a wave of their hands, they surrounded the room the two women had just entered.

After blowing smoke into the room for a moment, the black-clad men pushed the door open and rushed in.

Behind the thin gauze curtain, a faint figure could be seen sitting.

Startled to see someone still awake, the black-clad men immediately threw their concealed weapons. But in the next moment, the figure suddenly disappeared.

"!"

All dozen or so men widened their eyes in alarm and grew vigilant. A few of them slowly raised their knives and moved toward the gauze curtain. However, just as they did, clicking sounds suddenly came from all around. Immediately after, walls extended from the doors and windows, rapidly closing in. In just two blinks of an eye, the once fragile wooden doors had turned into seamless iron walls!

"We've been tricked!"

Even the most composed assassins couldn't help but pale. In all their years as assassins, they had never encountered such a mechanism that could turn a room into a prison. It was unprecedented!

Several assassins quickly swung their knives at the iron walls behind them, but the sound of metal clashing violently only tore at their eardrums without any effect. Others looked up at the ceiling, only to realize that the room was built extremely high, making it nearly impossible to climb.

But this was the only possible way out. Without thinking too much, a few of them found anything they could use as a foothold and began climbing.

Just as they were about to reach the ceiling, the fastest climber suddenly let out a scream and fell.

Horrified, they looked up again. What had seemed like an ordinary ceiling was now a dense iron net covered with sharp spikes!

"Go to the bed! Those two definitely came in here. There must be a way out in this room!" one of the black-clad men, with a slightly younger voice, said.

The other assassins quickly moved towards the bed. This time, they were far more cautious, first using their knives to swiftly cut through the gauze curtains, finally revealing what was behind the curtains.

Sure enough, there was a tunnel!

But when the blatantly obvious tunnel appeared before them, they were all stunned. Such an obvious escape route—could it be another trap?

What they had thought would be a simple mission had turned out to be far more complicated, and each of them looked troubled.

However, the younger-sounding assassin seemed a bit excited: "Some of us can go down, and some can stay here—simple as that."

Apart from this, they seemed to have no other choice, so one of the leading figures had to nod and let a few go down.

Unexpectedly, as soon as those few went down, the young assassin jumped down too.

"This..."

"It's fine; he chose to go in himself. We couldn't stop him," another waved his hand.

But as soon as he finished speaking, a huge iron plate suddenly rose from below, completely sealing the entrance.

In an instant, whether above or below, the assassins were filled with despair.

The young man who had jumped down glanced back, saw the entrance sealed, and muttered dismissively: "Just a small trick—any trap designer would block the entrance."

The other assassins didn't see it that way; they weren't death warriors but were hired for a hefty sum, and they had no intention of dying here today. The person who designed these traps was clearly no ordinary person.

The group followed a lit path underground, navigating several narrow turns before finally emerging into a wide space.

But before they could catch their breath, a cloud of smoke blew towards them, taking them by surprise. By the time they tried to cover their noses, it was already too late.

The young man cursed, but couldn't withstand the drug's effect and soon passed out.

When he woke up again, he found that not only were those who had come down with him captured and tied up like dumplings, but those who had stayed above were also bound together, with no chance of escape.

Besides them, even the fifty or so people outside who were supposed to provide backup were all here!

And this place was clearly a massive dungeon!

All the awakened eyes were wide with shock, and they struggled helplessly, but it was no use.

Light footsteps suddenly sounded, and everyone immediately looked towards the only entrance.

"Master..." the young man whispered, respectfully inviting someone in.

The person who entered was an extremely radiant and beautiful woman, also their main assassination target for the night.

Seeing her, they all felt a sense of defeat, but the shock in their hearts was overwhelming.

This woman, how could she have such immense capabilities!

Was she really just a weak woman with a high-level protector, as Meng Ziyu had said?

Where was the weakness in that!