I was reborn after cheating on the aloof and powerful man.

Chapter 193 The Iron Bucket Monster

As soon as Qiu Shuying entered the room, Xiaohua ran away like a mouse seeing a cat.

"Princess, please change your clothes quickly."

"Sister," Fei Xi called out, her smile fading.

Qiu Shuying didn't even glance at Xiao Hua who had run away. She walked straight to the bathtub and whispered something in Fei Xi's ear.

After listening, Fei Xi frowned slightly, then said, "Don't worry, sister, I'll explain it to you."

After saying that, she quickly got up, dried herself off, and got dressed.

When Fei Xi finished getting ready and came out of the room, she didn't see Qiu Shuying.

She walked alone to the entrance of the lapis lazuli palace hall.

Before Fei Xi could go inside, Xiao Hua suddenly appeared out of nowhere and took her hand.

With Xiao Hua by her side, Fei Xi entered the palace and saw that in addition to the old king, Grandpa Luo, the fat man and his group, there were two more men dressed in Chinese official robes in the hall, but Prince Ya Luo was nowhere to be seen.

"Your humble servant Yu Heng/Dongfang Rui greets Princess Shouguang."

"Lord Yu, there's no need for such formalities."

Fei Xi gently helped the two who were about to bow to their feet, then turned to look at the scholar she hadn't seen in a long time and smiled:

"Brother Dongfang, there's no need for such politeness. It's been a long time since we parted in Nanxuan City. I never expected to meet you again today. You've already passed the imperial examination and entered the court as an official. I truly admire you."

"Not at all, Your Highness is dull-witted and intelligent. Even if I were to flatter you, I could not compare to you in the slightest."

Hearing Dongfang Rui's pointed remark, Fei Xi's smile remained unchanged, and she met the Confucian scholar's gaze sincerely:

“But Fei Xi doesn’t think so. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, so why should Brother Dongfang belittle himself? Besides, Brother Dongfang is naturally gifted and has always been diligent and hardworking in his studies, which is why he has achieved what he has today. Compared to those who are talented but waste their time, Brother Dongfang is the senior brother that Fei Xi truly respects.”

“Miss Fei…”

Dongfang Rui was so flattered that he was momentarily dazed and subconsciously called out the way he used to be addressed.

He felt as if he were soaking in a honey pot, his heart trembling with sweetness. Just as he was about to say something, a forceful voice interrupted him:

"Lord Dongfang, business is of utmost importance. We can catch up later."

Yu Heng, holding a golden mace, possessed thick eyebrows and large eyes, exuding an imposing presence without anger. He bowed to Fei Xi, his manners impeccable yet carrying an undeniable air of authority.

"I have come here on His Majesty's secret orders to apprehend a wanted criminal. This golden mace was bestowed by His Majesty, and I have the authority to execute anyone who violates the law or breaks the law without prior approval. I hope Your Highness will answer my questions truthfully."

Fei Xi remained silent, simply watching the official who had come with ill intentions.

"Last month, His Majesty received a secret report from Prince Rui, saying that the Princess was abducted by the Old Man of Death at Chongyang Temple and then disappeared without a trace. I just arrived in Wusi today and heard that the Princess is here as well. But last night the Princess was abducted by a man again and her whereabouts are unknown."

"But now Your Highness stands safely before me. I beg Your Highness to tell me how you escaped from the clutches of villains on several occasions and returned unharmed. Furthermore, does Your Highness know the whereabouts of the court's wanted criminals, the Deadly Old Man and Qiu Shuying?"

"Is Lord Yu treating me like a criminal during interrogation?"

As soon as Yu Heng finished speaking, Fei Xi's aura changed drastically. Her gaze sharpened as she stared directly at Yu Heng, her expression stern. Although her tone was calm and contained no anger, it exuded an aura of authority that no one dared to underestimate.

"Your humble servant would certainly not dare..."

“Lord Yu, Fei Xi knows that you have great ambitions and wish to fulfill His Majesty’s decree as soon as possible. However, haste makes waste, and to achieve great things, one must seek victory through stability.”

"It's always better to have one more friend than to make enemies everywhere."

"Lord Yu, what do you think?"

Yu Heng and Fei Xi looked at each other. Her eyes were deep and without desire, as if she could see through everything.

He had only ever seen that look in one person's eyes.

Startled, Yu Heng recalled the time at Zuixiang Tower when the woman before him had effortlessly outmaneuvered everyone's mahjong tiles.

After much deliberation, he finally lowered his stance:

"It was my rudeness, Your Highness. I hope you will forgive me."

"Your Highness must be tired from your journey. I am eager to bring the criminals who offended Your Highness to justice as soon as possible. I hope Your Highness can provide me with some clues."

"It's natural."

Seeing that Yu Heng was no longer aggressive, Fei Xi readily recounted the various experiences she had gone through during this period.

Of course, she couldn't possibly tell the whole truth.

As the saying goes, one can start with just a mouth, but the rest is all made up.

Skipping over what she saw and heard inside the temple, Fei Xi started by telling the story of the swordsman who rescued the dying old man at Chongyang Temple.

At that time, the other party kidnapped her, but instead of traveling with the old man who was about to die, they took her into Linhai Valley.

However, halfway there, the swordsman suddenly went berserk for some unknown reason.

"The old man's accomplice has suddenly gone mad? Does Your Highness know who this person is?"

Fei Xi glanced at the fat man who had suddenly interrupted, pretending not to have heard his question, and continued making things up at her own pace:

“I was frail from childhood, and I was forcibly abducted by this swordsman. We endured wind and rain all the way, and after entering Linhai Valley, I couldn’t hold on any longer and developed a high fever.”

"That day, I was delirious with fever. In my dazed state, I saw a beautiful woman running towards me from who-knows-where."

"I heard that the woman and the swordsman seemed to know each other. They started arguing, and perhaps because of a disagreement, they started fighting."

"As the swordsman fought, he suddenly went berserk. He stabbed the woman unconscious with his sword, then roared and ran away, disappearing without a trace. The woman collapsed to the ground, badly injured, and I didn't know whether she was alive or dead."

"At that time, I saw that I could not miss the opportunity, so I gritted my teeth, struggled to get up, and turned to run away. Later, a sudden earthquake struck Linhai Valley, and I was lucky enough to enter a dilapidated temple, where I slept for several days. After the earthquake subsided, I crossed Linhai Valley and came to the desert."

"After arriving in the desert, by chance, I saved Prince Yaro. Prince Yaro told me that the flowering season of the Tianbao flower had passed, but in the treasure trove of the Kingdom of Wusi, there was a Tianbao flower that, after special processing, still had medicinal effects."

“That’s right, our treasury does indeed possess this treasure. However…” The old king looked troubled and glanced at the little puppet beside Fei Xi. He truly hadn’t expected that the noble lady from the superior nation before him had come for the Heavenly Treasure Flower in the national treasury.

Fei Xi noticed the old king's gaze and nodded gently with a smile:

“King Baihan need not be troubled. Feixi knows that the treasury of the Kingdom of Wusi can only be opened after the music and dance festival by a goddess designated by the Goddess of Abundance. Feixi can wait until then.”

The old king looked slightly embarrassed, chuckled a few times, and then glanced at the little puppet on the ground.

"Princess, are these the two swordsmen and women you mentioned?" Yu Heng waited until Fei Xi finished speaking before taking out two portraits from his robes and handing them to Fei Xi.

Fei Xi took the portrait, first examining the man in it for a moment before nodding slightly in confirmation. Then she looked at the portrait of the woman, remaining silent and pondering for a while before returning it to Yu Heng.

"The man in this painting is the swordsman who kidnapped me; and the woman... I was not very clear-headed at the time, but I felt that she was somewhat similar, but I dared not be sure that it was her."

As soon as Fei Xi finished speaking, she frowned and hurriedly asked, puzzled:

"Lord Yu, do you know the identities of these two men?"

"This swordsman is Lian Duhan, the champion of the previous martial arts tournament and the eldest disciple of the Tianshan Shuangyi Sect; as for the woman in the painting, she is Qiu Shuying, the elder of the Taoyuan Sect whom I just mentioned as someone who needs to be apprehended."

Why would the people of Tianshan collude with the people of Taoyuan Sect?

"This is something I am unaware of at the moment, but I will investigate it later. By the way, what happened last night, Princess? Was it the person in this painting who abducted you?"

“It’s not him! That sword… that Lian Duhan is taciturn and has a cold personality. He is not the same swordsman who kidnapped me last night.”

As Fei Xi spoke, a blush of embarrassment and indignation rose on her face. Anyone who saw it would have felt that there must be a story behind it.

"Princess? If there's anything you can't say, there's no need to continue." Dongfang Rui remembered hearing those undisciplined soldiers hurling insults at Princess Shouguang on the way here.

He felt a pang of pity and didn't want to listen any further.

"Lord Dongfang!" Yu Heng's forehead veins throbbed. Did this colleague really pass the imperial examination on his own merit?

I didn't notice anything wrong with this person's brain at all along the way!

Does Princess Shouguang look like something's wrong right now?

"Lord Yu, Lord Dongfang, Fei Xi is fine, and nothing embarrassing has happened."

"Last night, for some unknown reason, a group of men in black suddenly appeared and tried to kill me to silence me. Fortunately, three heroes from the Gaoshan tribe and Chief Tao saved me. But Chief Tao wants me to repay his life-saving grace by marrying him."

"Two young heroes from the Gaoshan tribe spoke up for me, but this man got into a fight with them and kidnapped me. On the way, he said he would take me back to his hometown to marry me. But just as he carried me out of the city gate..."

Fei Xi suddenly stopped speaking, her expression solemn, as if she was trapped in some terrifying memory and couldn't get out of it.

"Princess, what exactly happened?" the fat man asked, voicing the question that everyone was curious about.

"A monster eight feet tall blocked our way."

"monster?!"

"This monster was round like an iron barrel, but it also had limbs and a torso like a human. Its body seemed to be made of refined steel, impervious to swords and spears. No matter how fiercely Lord Tao attacked this monster with his sword, the monster was unharmed. In a moment of carelessness, Lord Tao was cut in half by a beam of red light suddenly shot out by the monster."