The way this novel “swaps” between genders makes it confusing, I think I will try to stick to male for Mo Li and female for Jasmine, although technically they are the same person and Jasmine’s real gender is female.Edit: Nevermind, I have gone through more chapters and I’ve decided that it is simply easier to classify both Mo Li and Jasmine as female, in any case “Male Mo Li” is simply a disguise, she is definitely female.
The Sacred Unicorn, a holy beast favored by Sera, once served as the mount of the emperor of the ancient Yating Empire.
Nowadays, most Sacred Unicorns are mixed breeds with diluted bloodlines over countless generations.
However, even those with the slightest trace of Sacred Unicorn blood are exceptional steeds.
At the founding of the Yating Empire, there were fewer than a hundred Sacred Unicorns.
Over two thousand years later, their numbers have dwindled to nearly negligible.
These steeds are strong-willed and extremely proud, and only those of noble blood can ride them without being kicked off.
The Sacred Unicorn before us clearly belongs to a purer bloodline, yet it willingly and respectfully pulls the luxurious carriage behind it.
This indicates that the owner of the carriage must possess an extraordinary noble lineage.
The convoy following behind Count Cuika’s entourage clearly does not belong to her.
The knights guarding this convoy are of a completely different caliber than those of Count Cuika’s.
Each piece of enchanted plate armor, worth astronomical sums, is worn by these knights as if it costs nothing.
Their weapons are diverse, yet they do not resemble a ragtag army.
Upon closer inspection, one would find that all their weapons are custom-made enchanted weapons, crafted from the finest steel, flame-patterned steel, and even materials from sea beast corpses.
Rather than a mere escort of knights, this is more like a super royal knight guard composed of leaders from elite knight orders, each a top expert in the Papal State.
Experts often have their own pride, and money alone cannot command them.
Those who can earn their loyalty must be from long-standing, prestigious and noble families.
Deploying so many heavily armed elite royal knights just to protect that luxurious carriage speaks volumes about the identity of the person inside.
Roda, one of the top experts in Count Cuika’s domain and his most trusted lieutenant, is the head of the escort for this mission.
Normally arrogant, she stands before these royal knights like a humble subordinate, unable to straighten his back, appearing as subservient as possible.
“Sir Knight, please convey to Her Highness the Princess that we will rest at a location further ahead tonight,” Roda said, lowering his posture as much as possible.
The knight guarding the carriage door did not respond, not even sparing her a glance.
Roda’s expression stiffened, but knowing she couldn’t afford to offend them, she left after delivering the message.
After Roda left, the royal knight guarding the door tapped the enchanted door latch.
The carriage was designed with soundproofing enchantments, so those inside couldn’t hear the outside unless the latch was tapped, but those outside could hear the voices from within.
“Your Highness, the knight from Count Cuika’s domain informed us that we will temporarily camp at a location further ahead tonight.”
“If I remember correctly, Count Cuika’s domain is less than an hour’s journey away,” a voice as melodious as silver bells, yet with a hint of youthful innocence, came from within the carriage after a moment.
“That’s correct. Should I urge them to continue the journey?”
“Never mind, camping in the wild seems nice, doesn’t it?”
“I understand, Your Highness.”
“By the way, I’m a bit curious about what treasures Count Cuika’s convoy is transporting~” The voice, like a yellow warbler emerging from the valley, carried a teasing tone.
“Should I investigate thoroughly?”
“No need. Vassals have their own secrets, and a leader who stifles their subordinates too much is unqualified.”
With that, the voice inside the carriage fell silent.
Meanwhile, Mo Li, unaware of the additional difficulty, was making final preparations for a night raid on the carriage.
“Scimitar, hidden blade, hand crossbow, throwing knives, alchemical potions… all set.”
With time pressing, she quickly checked her equipment, poisoned the scimitar and crossbow bolts, readied the hidden blade, and concealed the throwing knives under his cloak.
Once everything was ready, Mo Li donned his cloak, the hood obscuring his face.
As night fell, the woods on either side of the road provided excellent cover, and the escort knights had already retreated into the woods to set up camp and cook… practically inviting disaster.
Due to the high altitude and cold weather, the escort knights set up their iron pots outside to cook, gathering firewood to make a meal, then sitting together to enjoy a hotpot.
In this era, there were no hotpot seasoning packets, so the so-called hotpot was just oil and salt, not too bland, with various wild vegetables and mushrooms added, accompanied by dry rations and cured meat for a hearty dinner.
Enchanted items for preserving and storing food were not unheard of, but they were extremely rare and luxurious, often unavailable even for those with money.
Ordinary wealthy people without connections couldn’t use them, let alone these knights working for others.
So it was easy to tamper with their food.
However, considering that the other party might check if the locally picked ingredients are non-toxic, Mo Li decided to be cautious and use a more reliable method to ensure all these knights fall for it.
In simple terms, she planned to directly throw the poison into the pot.
He took out an alchemical potion from his ring, said to be personally crafted by the vampire princess Nairna, a stealth potion, and a potion called Sweet Kiss made by the poison master Spin.
The latter’s effect is to make the consumer fall asleep for more than three hours, and its usage conditions are extremely strict.
Liquid oral poisons are much less practical than gaseous ones, after all, you can’t just overpower someone and force-feed them poison, can you still call that an assassination?
Mo Li had his reasons for choosing these two potions; oral poison combined with a stealth potion allows for poisoning without a trace, and chose this sleep-inducing poison for a reason.
He wanted to avoid causing any fatalities as much as possible to prevent unnecessary trouble.
Things went smoothly.
While those knights were eating hot pot and singing, little did they know that Mo Li had quietly sneaked up to them and poured the potion called Sweet Kiss into their hot pot.
To test if the stealth potion was effective, Mo Li even pretended to pass by and wandered around in front of them several times.
“Sweet dreams, everyone.”
With about a minute of invisibility left, Mo Li took the opportunity to sneak into their carriage, searching compartment by compartment until she finally found the ones transporting goods.
“Locked?”
Mo Li pouted.
The keys should be on those knights, and by now, Sweet Kiss should have taken effect.
He sneaked back to check, and sure enough, the knights who were having a great time earlier were now sprawled out on the ground, snoring loudly.
The items from the ring were expensive, but they were reliable.
