The Princess And The Lord

A dark figure was watching from the tallest branch the man wearing a dark uniform and cover half his face, the man crouch on the thick branch, and his eyes gaze sharply at the large manor below him. Suddenly another dark figure jump beside him but the man didn't even flinch as if he expected someone to come.

"How is the situation?" Mong Ki asks in a firm tone.

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Mong Yi doesn't give his brother a glance as he replies calmly "Milord already enter the sanguan manor"

Mong Ki expression remains solemn, he wants to accompany Zhao Li Xin but unfortunately, they already saw his face and recognize him as Long Ming henchman, but that's not a problem since he can use a skin mask to disguised himself however Zhao Li Xin gives another task for him to watch Sanguan Jin Sheng movement.

Zhao Li Xin is sure if the map is in Sanguan family possession the one who would know the location is must be sanguan Jin Sheng. Mong Ki has been coordinated with one of Bei Li Yan's people who disguised herself as maidservants to track down whatever Sanguan Jin Sheng does.

 "It's already two days and Lao Min Na still not return to Sanguan manor," Mong Yi said in low voice. The shadow guard always takes a turn to watch Lao Min Na's activity, the woman has proved herself multiple times how dangerous she could be and after they confirm her connection with the dark entity no one dares to take this matter lightly. They all follow Lory's rule to keep their distance from Lao Min Na and never approach her recklessly.

"One of our informants who works as a male servant at red magnolia brothel said Lao Min Na secretly entered the brothels. He said she was visiting one of the male guests, someone called master yang"

"Yang Qiong Yan?" Mong Yi narrows his eyes.

Mong Ki shrug "That's the only man with family name Yang who close with Lao Min Na, but that can be a fake name too"

"Are we unable to investigate the man's identity?" Mong Yi scrunched his face in upset, Hei Shen people have swarmed the whole city since Zhao Li Xin came even the Wu family is one of their people, why is it so hard to investigate one person?

Mong Ki shakes his head "We try but our informant said, the man is very odd and creepy, he stays in the best room but never lit up her room and he never gets out of his room and when he does he will use bamboo veil hat to cover his face, the rumor said he hated bright light so the window in the room is cover with thick curtain and only a few candle lit up the room when he feel likes it, occasionally he called a few females courtesan and male servants he make them do an obscene thing while he watching them, they say he never joined them, only watch them excitedly from the dark....creepy right"

Mong Yi eyebrows knitted closely, he never heard anything like this before "That…didn't sound like Yang Qiong Yan, I know even though he like Lao Min Na but he is not clean man, is not a secret he is a regular in one of the brothels at the Liu Yan Kingdom, could it be they're not the same man?"

"That's not important…" Mong Ki let out a long exhale "Two days ago there was a murder case happened and guessed where it happened?" he look at Mong Yi solemnly.

Mong Yi's eyes widened " Don't tell me it happened in that creepy man room?"

Mong Ki eyes darken "People caught a man killed his younger brother and his young aunty with his bare hand, the man said he caught his younger brother having an illicit relationship with their aunt, the man is shocked and furious he blindly killed his own brother and aunty in cold blood"

"Where is that man and Lao Min Na?"

"No one knows, our informant said Lao Min Na only stay for a few minutes before she left, I don't think she is the perpetrator nonetheless she involved with is, too bad she wears thick veiled so no one could confirm his identity" Mong Ki sigh and lean his back on the trunk while immersed in his thought "However, I heard another information that the brothers came together to the brothels the day before, then they invited to meet someone in a private room"

"The creepy man room?" Mong Yi feel goosebumps all over his body.

"Yup!"

"Wait the minute, something is wrong. I get it how the brother came to the brothels but where is this aunty coming from? How could woman enter the brothels without anyone notice?" Mong Yi thought there something wrong with the older brother's statement.

"That one question" Mong ki raised his index finger "The other question is...if the two brothers stayed at the brothels for a day I imagine they should be together right, so how the big brother caught his younger brother with his aunty? when the aunty come? why the older brother didn't saw his aunty? is the aunty came alone? how come a woman come alone to the brothels? obviously, the whole story does not make sense" Mong Ki shakes his head in perplexed.

Everyone with a clear mind will not believe this story, too many loopholes, and question in the story it sounds ridiculous.

"You think it got something to do with Lao Min Na and that creepy man, what are their motives? Who are these brothers? why Lao Min Na hurt them" 

"That even more perplexing question" Mong Ki pinch his glabella "They are only middle class noble, the patriarch of the family is a fifth rank official, they are not famous or anything and they never interact with Lao Min Na or Sanguan family, not even Jin Kai"

"Where is Jin Kai anyway, I forgot about that man?" Mong Yi never pays attention to Jin Kai since he already has a lot on his plate which is making sure the precious young madam safety.

Mong Ki wave his hand "Don't worry, Master Jin has his eyes on him and people from white dragon palace had been watching the misty lake and the Jin family, the last news I got Jin Kai is waiting for an expert from his family to accompany him"

Mong Yi snickered "Someone got wary with the great Dragon Palace king…"

"I guessed so" Mong Ki stifles, but he agrees inwardly Jin Hao is quite scary.

"Oh, back to the mysterious incident again, what happened with the big brother?"

"He got arrested by Yamen and locked up, I think the family would bribe the Yamen and the magistrate to sweep this case under the rug," Mong Ki said casually, this is a normal occurrence that happened everywhere the Yamen1 wouldn't want to waste their time since the victim and perpetrator is from the same family and the incident happened in a brothel, the case is troublesome it makes sense that the yamen rather make some money from it.

Mong Yi gaze into the luxurious Sanguan manor and let out a deep sigh "Is there no decent noble family out there, why every single one of them is so…..obnoxious"

"Obnoxious?" Mong Ki raised his brows "Someone has learned fancy words, is it young madam who teach you?"

Mong Yi snort in upset as his face turns red "If you spend your time with young madam you can't help learned a thing or two from her, she is a very clever young woman"

"She does, and very kindhearted too…" he totally agrees with Mong Yi, he like Lory's character since the moment he saw her, and he like her, even more, when she turns Zhao Li Xin from living corpses into a real human.

"If every royalty like her, there be no children like us and Milord…."

Mong Ki looks heavenward and weakly smiles "True…" he unconsciously slips his hand behind his collar then he looks at his younger brother "Do you still keep it?"

"What?" Mong Yi gives Mong Ki quick glance, when he saw Mong yo slip his hand inside his own collar he realizes what he means.

Mong Yi turns his eyes back to the manor then pursed his mouth "Of course, that is Milord first payment for us, I will never exchange it for anything" 

Mong Ki smiles watching his younger brother's tenacity, but he can't blame him because he also feel the same. Mong Ki reminiscent his early life, he doesn't remember his parent look like, all he can remember that his parents is a farmer and they lives in extreme poverty, he can't remember his real name too but his parents use to call him Xiao Ki and his brother Xiao Yi.

He was about six or seven years old when suddenly an earthquake swallow his family in a blink of an eye, he doesn't even have time to screams, at that time he frantically pulls Mong Yi and his sister from the cradle to run out of their house. He watches the earth swallow his house and courtyard, he took Mong Yi's hand and carries his sister while running as far as he can, while the earth shaking and the sounds of cracking chasing them.

He finally managed to stay alive but then they realize that they got nothing, their parents have gone, their house was gone too and they got nowhere to return to. Mong Ki is only a small child, Mong Yi is about four years old and his sister….yes, he has a younger sister, she only one-year-old and her name is Xiao Yu.

Within a local yamen, the bureaucrat administered the government business of the town or region. Typical responsibilities of the bureaucrat include local finance, capital works, judging of civil and criminal cases, and issuing decrees and policies.