TGCFNM -Chapter 546 Chu Yue Acts in the Dead of Night

Late at night.

Chu Yue carried her quiver and made her way to the Lu residence. After sneaking inside, she carefully followed the path that the maidservants usually took, moving quietly through the courtyard until she reached a secluded area. Then she hid on a rooftop, silently waiting.

Fu Qingyu had been right.

If they could poison the ministers to prevent them from advising the emperor and thereby escape danger, then she could certainly kill Lu Shi to escape her current trouble.

Moreover, without Lu Shi, if the emperor had someone else oversee the investigation, it would have to be Chu Ling.

If Chu Ling presided over the case, she would be no threat—and Chu Yue also wouldn’t dare preside herself, because revealing her identity would mean the same disastrous outcome.

Thinking this through, Chu Yue slowly nocked a sharp arrow and waited quietly.

At that moment, the study’s lamp dimmed, and a warm yellow glow moved slowly toward the door, which began to open.

Now!

Chu Yue drew back her bowstring to full draw. The moment a figure appeared, the arrow shot out like it had pierced the air itself, whistling sharply.

But Lu Shi did not die as she had anticipated. The arrow was cut in midair by a single sword strike, the crisp sound echoing as if it had slapped Chu Yue across the face.

“Chu Yue, come out!” Lu Chong shouted, leaping toward the rooftop.

Chu Yue’s eyes shifted; she stepped back to evade Lu Chong’s charge.

Lu Chong sneered and cracked his long whip, flames of motion whipping forward with a deafening snap.

Chu Yue cried out in pain and shot three arrows in rapid succession.

Lu Chong did not falter. The whip in his hands moved like a living dragon, agile and deadly. With a few sharp snaps, it broke all three arrows in midair.

Meanwhile, Chu Ling stepped forward holding an oil lamp, seeing Wan Sanjin raising his sword. She slapped his shoulder sharply: “Master Wan, not bad—your speed is incredible!”

Looking down at the broken arrows, Chu Ling couldn’t help but give a thumbs-up.

Wan Sanjin wobbled and said, “Your Grace… help me up. My legs have gone numb.”

Chu Ling finally noticed something was wrong with his legs and hurriedly supported him. “What happened to you?”

“I lay prone for too long. Then, when I saw the arrows coming, I ran out without thinking. Now my legs are numb, like a hundred little ants are biting them.” Wan Sanjin wanted to cry—how embarrassing! His legs were trembling in such a heroic moment.

At this moment, Lu Shi finally emerged, accompanied by Yuan Luo and Su He.

Su He looked up in surprise. “Uncle Lu Chong is amazing!”

Chu Ling nodded in shock. “Truly incredible!”

Wan Sanjin, still using his sword to support himself on the ground, sighed, “No wonder Lord Lu isn’t afraid to offend anyone—Uncle Lu Chong is there to keep him safe.”

Lu Shi glanced at the still-trembling Wan Sanjin and thought to himself that he would spare this monkey of a man tonight.

Yuan Luo looked at the group. “How did you know Chu Yue would act tonight?”

“Ever since little Su poisoned someone, I knew someone might try to imitate. I had to force her hand, force her to act,” Lu Shi said, lifting his gaze seriously. “Tomorrow, I will go to the Chu residence to take someone. Tonight is the only chance for her to kill me and survive this ordeal.”

“Finally! Now we can catch Chu Yue in the open!” Chu Ling’s eyes lit up—she had finally found her chance.

As Chu Ling finished speaking, Chu Yue, still struggling and trying to leave, finally realized something was wrong with her body.

“This whip is poisoned!” Chu Yue panicked, reaching for the whistle at her waist to signal for help.

Lu Chong snatched the whistle and knocked it aside, then used his whip to drive her into the courtyard. With a leap, he landed and ordered his men to tie up Chu Yue, leaving her there for the time being.

“Tonight, no one sleeps. Keep watch,” Lu Chong said. He picked up the whistle from the ground, had Su He check it for poison, and then blew it once, waiting for help to arrive.

Su He ran over excitedly. “So my poison is really useful in the hands of an expert! Uncle Lu Chong, I can give you more of this whip poison if you want.”

Chu Ling and Wan Sanjin, who had approached a step later, looked on in confusion: “???”

Aren’t they the experts here?

Uncle Lu Chong chuckled softly and carefully put the whip away. “Thanks, but the remaining poison should be enough for tonight.”

“I wonder if anyone will come to rescue her tonight,” Wan Sanjin said, rubbing his hands in excitement.

“There will definitely be someone,” Lu Shi said sternly. “Otherwise, tomorrow morning, when I bring her to the prison, her identity will be exposed, and the Chu family will be finished.”

Chu Ling nodded and cast a glance at Chu Yue, whose eyes were filled with hatred, before walking over slowly.

Chu Ling half-squatted and looked at her furious face, deliberately asking, “Since you came back, is this the first time you’ve been in such a miserable state?”

“Chu Ling!” Chu Yue clenched her back teeth. “You’re really something… really something.”

Chu Ling nodded. “I also think I’m something. Not just something, but kind-hearted as well.”

“Kind-hearted?” Chu Yue scoffed, then suddenly rolled her eyes and, deliberately, asked, “Do you know why I spared you so many times in our past life?”

Chu Ling looked at her indifferently and with amusement. “You’re not going to use that as leverage, are you? Chu Rou already told me once.”

“What she said isn’t the same as what I’ll tell you,” Chu Yue said with a light cough. Her voice dropped slightly—likely the poison taking effect.

She bent forward painfully, speaking so quietly it was almost like a mosquito’s buzz.

“What she told you was only what I told her. The real truth is… you were forced to side with Prince Rui because you wanted to save your parents’ lives. But at that time, your parents were in… the hands of…”

“Whose hands?!” Chu Ling’s face changed, and she anxiously pressed for the answer. “Hurry, tell me! Whose hands?”

“Watch out!” Lu Shi shouted. “Little Chu, dodge!”

Chu Yue suddenly lifted her head, a sinister smile curling at the corner of her lips. “Naturally… it was…”

Bai Su pulled Chu Ling back in a sudden retreat, holding her close to avoid the attack. The hidden needle Chu Yue had in her mouth scraped across Chu Ling’s clothes and landed steadily on a stone table a short distance away.

Wan Sanjin gasped and rushed over, pressing Chu Yue’s face to the ground. “You’re cheating!”

Chu Yue struggled to lift her head. “Second time! Why? You can dodge it! This one you shouldn’t have been able to dodge.”

After stabilizing herself, Chu Ling stepped back slowly, her expression icy as she glared at her. “If you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll go to the Chu family right now. As for what I’ll do… you should be able to guess.”

Chu Yue sneered at Chu Ling. “Fine, I’ll tell you. In our past life, the reason I spared you a few times was that I knew you were trying to save your parents. You thought your parents were in Prince Rui’s hands, but in reality… they were in the hands of Grand Tutor Fu.”

Wan Sanjin looked at Chu Ling worriedly. No wonder no one in the world could find her parents—so they were in Grand Tutor Fu’s hands. But why were they in his hands?

“Later, your parents died. So why continue serving others? That’s why I dealt with you, reuniting your whole family of three,” Chu Yue said, her gaze mocking.

Chu Ling shivered as she looked at her.

“That was your past life. So in this life, at the moment I was killed in Sishui County, my parents… probably also died by your hands, right?” Chu Ling asked in a trembling voice.

Chu Yue looked at her with some surprise.

But Chu Ling felt as if struck by something and suddenly fell to her knees. The wound at the back of her head flared up with sharp pain.