Chapter 41 The Owner of the Paper Kite

Inside the room, everything was in complete disarray.

"Your Highness, this subordinate has arrived late to protect you! Please forgive me!"

Startled, Lin Jiangnian swept his gaze across the chaotic room, then glanced at the guard kneeling before him.

Lin Kong!

Lin Jiangnian's gaze gradually grew cold.

Xu Lan was right. The person who secretly protected the Heir of Prince Lin's Estate while keeping an eye on him was indeed Lin Kong.

And just now, that man had almost caused Lin Jiangnian's death!

"Forgive you?"

Lin Jiangnian looked down at him expressionlessly, a hint of anger in his voice. "Do you know that this heir almost died at the hands of that assassin just now?"

Lin Kong knelt on one knee, lowering his head as he said in a deep voice, "This subordinate arrived late to save Your Highness and startled you. Please punish me..."

"I'm afraid it wasn't a matter of arriving late, but rather that you didn't want to save me at all, right?" Lin Jiangnian sneered.

With his head lowered, Lin Kong's pupils suddenly constricted.

"You were clearly in a position to stop that assassin immediately. Why didn't you make a move?"

Lin Jiangnian stared at him coldly. "Or were you hoping to watch this heir take that assassin's palm strike and die by her hand?"

Hearing this, Lin Kong's expression changed abruptly. "This subordinate would never dare harbor such thoughts."

"So you're saying this heir is wronging you?"

Lin Jiangnian sneered repeatedly.

He had dared to come meet this courtesan alone precisely because he knew Lin Kong was lurking in the shadows. Lin Kong was the head guard of Prince Lin's Estate and the man specifically assigned to protect Lin Jiangnian.

Just now, Lin Jiangnian had dared to openly turn hostile against the female assassin because he knew the guard was nearby and would act at any moment.

Yet, ultimately, Lin Jiangnian hadn't expected Lin Kong to pull a stunt like this on him!

Had Lin Jiangnian not relied on his instincts, he probably really would have taken that palm strike just then!

Even if it hadn't killed him, the injury wouldn't have been light.

And yet his dear guard, his dear commander, hadn't lifted a finger in the first instant!

What was he trying to do?!

"This subordinate wouldn't dare!"

Lin Kong still kept his head lowered, speaking in a low voice.

Lin Jiangnian stared at him coldly. Ever since his first day at Prince Lin's Estate, he had known that this guard probably didn't listen to the orders of the Heir of Prince Lin at all.

In fact, it was hard to say whose person he truly was.

And today, under whose instructions had he acted like this?

Zhiyuan?

Lin Jiangnian narrowed his eyes.

Could it be that she wanted him dead?

Feeling a slight tremor of dread in his heart, Lin Jiangnian withdrew his gaze and cast a cold glance at the man. "I'll make a note of today's events for now."

"We will settle this score later!"

Lin Kong remained kneeling in place, head bowed. "Thank you, Your Highness."

Just then, a figure hurried into the room.

Xu Lan rushed in, and upon seeing the devastation, instinctively looked at Lin Jiangnian. "What happened? Are you alright? Where is she?"

"Where's the assassin?"

"She's fine, she got away!"

Lin Jiangnian said flatly.

"Then—"

Before Xu Lan could ask anything else, she noticed Lin Kong kneeling to the side and paused, suddenly realizing that Lin Jiangnian's complexion looked terrible.

His face was livid and gloomy, radiating intense anger.

"What... what's wrong with you?"

Xu Lan asked in a nervous whisper.

Lin Jiangnian didn't answer. At that moment, footsteps sounded from outside. Shortly after, a guard walked in dragging a person.

"Your Highness, the Yinfeng Pavilion has been cordoned off and sealed. This is the madam of the Yinfeng Pavilion!"

The guard tossed a middle-aged woman onto the floor.

"Spare my life, Your Highness! Spare my life!"

Terrified and trembling, the madam immediately knelt before Lin Jiangnian, kowtowing repeatedly. "I—I really don't know where the assassin came from... Please investigate this, Your Highness!"

Lin Jiangnian looked down at her expressionlessly. "That assassin was the top courtesan of your Yinfeng Pavilion. Are you telling me you don't know her?"

"L—Lu'er?"

The madam was stunned. "Th—That's impossible... How, how could Lu'er be an assassin?"

Just as the madam was about to offer an explanation, another voice rang out, "Your Highness, we found an unconscious woman in the adjacent room..."

Lin Jiangnian raised his eyes and saw an unconscious woman in disarray, dressed only in undergarments.

"Lu'er?"

The madam widened her eyes in shock at the sight.

So *she* was the real Su Lu?

Lin Jiangnian frowned, then smoothed his expression.

It seemed the female assassin had knocked out Su Lu, the courtesan, and impersonated her to lure him here for an assassination attempt.

However, the possibility that the Yinfeng Pavilion had orchestrated this themselves could not be entirely ruled out.

"Your Highness, how should we deal with them?"

The guard stepped forward respectfully, his gaze drifting toward Lin Kong kneeling on one knee, causing a flicker of surprise in his heart.

What on earth had happened here?

"Take them all away!"

Lin Jiangnian glanced at them. "Investigate whether they conspired with the assassin!"

"Yes."

"..."

In the carriage returning to Prince Lin's Estate.

When Xu Lan learned what had transpired in the room, sudden realization dawned on her. "You mean Lin Kong intentionally delayed his intervention hoping to get you killed?"

Lin Jiangnian nodded, saying in a low voice, "That possibility cannot be ruled out!"

Xu Lan furrowed her brows in doubt. "That doesn't make sense! Lin Kong has always been utterly loyal to Prince Lin's Estate. He's a child adopted by Uncle Lin years ago, practically a half-adopted son. He has no reason to want you dead!"

Lin Jiangnian narrowed his eyes. "What if he was ordered to by someone behind him?"

"You mean... Zhiyuan?"

Xu Lan startled, then shook her head. "That's even more impossible. Zhiyuan was adopted by the Princess Consort and raised by the Princess Consort's younger sister. She would never harm the Princess Consort's child."

Lin Jiangnian glanced sideways at her. "Even you dared to try and harm the Heir of Prince Lin, why couldn't she?"

Xu Lan turned her head away with a soft huff. "My situation was different..."

Lin Jiangnian narrowed his eyes. "If she didn't order it, why would Lin Kong dare to pull such a stunt? Or was Lin Kong trying to put this heir in his place?"

Having guessed something, Lin Jiangnian sneered. "Being the Heir of Prince Lin really is a suffocating existence!"

"You're a fake anyway!" Xu Lan pouted.

"Who says a fake can't become the real deal?"

Lin Jiangnian said calmly.

Seeing the meaningful smile playing on Lin Jiangnian's lips, Xu Lan felt her heart skip a beat.

"What—what are you planning to do?"

"Naturally, I'm going to do what I ought to do," Lin Jiangnian replied placidly.

Upon first arriving at Prince Lin's Estate, fearful of exposing his identity, he had constantly walked on thin ice, wearing a careful disguise.

Now that he had grown familiar with his identity and gradually stepped into the role, he could finally begin attempting the things he wanted to do.

And today's events provided the very opportunity Lin Jiangnian had been waiting for!

Dangerous, yes!

But it had come at an opportune time!

...

Inside Prince Lin's Estate.

The front courtyard.

"Thud!"

Lin Kong knelt on the ground, his face pale and cold sweat pouring down.

Not far in front of him stood a chilling figure.

Merely standing there, that person projected an immense aura of oppression, pressing down on Lin Kong until he could barely breathe.

"Lin Kong, you have some nerve!"

A pair of cold eyes swept over him, the voice low and glacial. "I ordered you to protect His Highness well, and this is how you neglect your duty?"

Cold sweat soaked Lin Kong's back, a faint tremor weaving through his voice. "This—this subordinate acknowledges his crime..."

Zhiyuan stood in place, enveloped in a chilling and gloomy aura.

"If Your Highness had suffered even the slightest harm, a hundred heads would not be enough for you to lose!"

"You have disappointed me greatly!"

With a pale face, Lin Kong kept his head down in silence.

He wanted to explain, but in the end, he said nothing.

After staring coldly at him for a long time, Zhiyuan slowly withdrew her icy gaze. "Considering your years of service to the estate, your death sentence is temporarily spared. Starting today, you are demoted to a regular guard, to receive a hundred heavy cane strikes. Reflect properly on this!"

Keeping his head bowed, Lin Kong's face remained ashen. "Yes."

He slowly rose to his feet and turned to leave.

Just then, Zhiyuan's chilling voice came from behind him once more.

"Don't think I don't know what you're really thinking inside."

Lin Kong's heart skipped a beat, his entire body freezing.

"His Highness is and always will be His Highness. He is your master and mine, the future master of this Prince Lin's Estate!"

Zhiyuan cast one final, frigid look at him. "I hope there won't be a next time!"

With his mind blank, feeling as though his deepest thoughts had been laid bare, all the strength drained from Lin Kong's limbs.

"Yes."

Keeping his head low, he turned and walked away.

Zhiyuan stood in place for a long time before she finally sensed something and turned around.

At the far end of the corridor nearby, a figure was leaning quietly against the doorway, sizing her up with an amused expression.

"Tsk, I never would've guessed you were so fiercely protective of this heir?"

Zhiyuan glanced at him, withdrew her gaze, and spoke slowly. "Your Highness."

Lin Jiangnian stepped into the courtyard and walked right up to her.

Looking at the ice-cold maid before him, an idea crossing his mind, he suddenly leaned in close, staring directly into her fair and aloof face, raising an eyebrow.

"Did I hear you right just now..."

"'His Highness is your master'?"

"Or did my ears deceive me?"