Chapter 180 - 135, black jade
In the dimly-lit room, Chen Ji slowly opened his eyes.
The room was dark with doors and windows tightly shut, allowing only the moonlight to filter through the paper windows, casting a hazy light and shadow.
He heard the soft footsteps outside gradually moving away, finally heading downstairs.
Chen Ji, lying flat on the common bed, slowly slipped the short knife back into his sleeve and breathed a sigh of relief: at least those guests with knives weren’t there to assassinate them.
No wonder Prince Jing, an old hand in Jianghu, hadn’t noticed anything amiss with this inn; no wonder Prince Jing, albeit sick, insisted on making a secret inspection. It turned out everything was for tonight’s meeting.
But Chen Ji’s heart suddenly tightened again: who was meeting with Prince Jing? What did they want to discuss?
Rebellion!
Other than that, Chen Ji couldn’t think of any other reason why a powerful Vassal Prince would come incognito to a small county town and shroud the meeting in such secrecy.
He sighed inwardly, "Rebellion."
Once involved in such matters, it was likely that the entire Prince Mansion would face unpredictable dangers. Taking Ning Shi as an example, a civil servant could perhaps find a way out after defying the Emperor, but a Vassal Prince had no such hope. Some princes had been steamed to death in caged baskets; others starved in sealed rooms— their deaths strange and especially cruel.
If they failed, the Princely Heir, Princess Bai Li...