Chapter 82: Fear: The Longed-For Dream

The woman on horseback wore scarlet robes that fluttered fiercely in the wind, her black hair tied high, the ends brushing the scabbard at her waist and tracing a sharp arc in the breeze.

Her rapid heartbeat drowned out the sound of the wind.

The sunset bled red across the sky, and the black-maned horse’s hooves barely touched the ground.

She knew this was a trap she had set herself, knew exactly what Zhao Huairen intended, and knew she didn’t need her protection. Yan Yiqing repeated these truths to herself over and over in her mind, but her fingers clenched the reins so tightly that all color drained from them.

What if something went wrong?

What if Huairen had miscalculated?

A familiar fear crawled up from the base of her spine, rust filling her throat. She clamped her legs fiercely against the horse’s flanks, her eyes fixed only on that distant silhouette.

…

The cold edge of the blade reflected the twilight.

Inside the official residence, several sword gleams pointed straight at Zhao Huairen.

“Brother?” Not hearing Qiu Mingsong speak, Qiu Di turned his head and only then noticed the strange stiffness in his smile.

“Bro! You can’t space out right now!”

Hearing his voice, Qiu Mingsong snapped awake and lifted his head.

No! Besides those people—

There were also the Jinwu Guards.

“Something’s wrong… He said,” Cold sweat soaked through the back of his official robes as Qiu Mingsong looked at Zhao Huairen, his legs trembling uncontrollably, “the Jinwu Guards who were supposed to enter the city at xu hour.”

Zhao Huairen’s phoenix eyes lifted slightly.

In that instant, Qiu Mingsong felt like he was being stared down by a venomous snake.

Her gaze was unnaturally still, like a bottomless lake reflecting his ugliness without a single ripple. Who knew how many corpses lay sunk within it.

“Stop looking!” Qiu Di yanked hard at his sleeve and shouted loudly, “Brother, what do we do now?!”

“County Magistrate Qiu.”

The woman spoke, her voice like jade striking water: “The Jinwu Guards are almost here.”

Hearing this abruptly, Qiu Mingsong realized how foolish he had been. His features scrunched together, his throat numb with waves of sensation. He wished he could grind Zhao Huairen to dust with his own hands. “Attack! Kill him for me! Right now!!”

“Yes!”

At the command, dozens of private soldiers advanced with blades drawn, their edges gleaming with chilling light.

They had no defenses against her, who lived in luxury.

The crowd surged forward, as if competing for the credit.

Qiu Mingsong’s beady little eyes bulged as, the moment they moved, he dragged Qiu Di to a corner. Lowering his voice, he watched the situation while urging, “You go first. As long as Zhao Huairen dies, we’ll all live.”

“I keep feeling like something’s off…”

“It’s life or death! What could be off? Get out of here!” Qiu Mingsong glared at him and shoved him forcefully out the door—

Twin blades danced like butterflies through flowers in her hands.

They parried the incoming edge, sparks flying from the clashing sword tips.

Qin An stood at Zhao Huairen’s side, her blades gleaming coldly, her gaze hawk-like as she stared down the private soldiers itching to advance. “Hmph, is this all you’ve got?”

Realizing they couldn’t break through from the front.

The private soldiers exchanged glances and prepared to attack from all sides.

“Qin An.” Zhao Huairen spun and retreated, her robes tracing a cold gleam. She tapped the ground with her sword tip for leverage and leaped onto the stone table. “We have half a tea’s time left. No rush.”

Qin An gripped her blade hilts tightly and nodded slightly.

“Kill him quick!” Hearing they had only half a tea’s time left, Qiu Mingsong shrieked like a rat with its tail stepped on. “If he lives, you’re all dead!!”

The private soldiers’ leader, planning to wear the two down, heard this and his eyes turned icy.

They held the advantage in numbers, separating the mistress and servant to divide and conquer. Without Qin An’s aid, Zhao Huairen’s swordplay shifted from offense to pure defense. Her blade danced like a roaming dragon, precisely deflecting every assault while always holding back three parts of her strength—

Swords came at her from all directions.

Seeming outnumbered, Zhao Huairen’s sword momentum suddenly slowed.

In that split-second pause, her left shoulder’s guard dropped wide open. The private soldiers’ leader’s eyes flashed with savage light at the sight. He gripped his blade hilt and slashed straight for Zhao Huairen’s shoulder blade!

“Clang!”

In a flash of lightning speed, a scarlet figure swept in like a gale.

Yan Yiqing crossed her blade to block the private soldier’s strike, sparks exploding. With her left hand, she shoved Zhao Huairen easily behind her for protection, but deliberately took the final chop on her own shoulder. Blood surged out, instantly soaking her official robes dark red.

“Yan Yiqing!” Zhao Huairen’s pupils contracted sharply.

Yan Yiqing, who always put her first, didn’t even turn her head this time. She staggered half a step, raised her right hand high with the gilded token, “The Princess Consort of Prince Gong’s token is here! Who dares act rashly!”

The gilded lotus pattern blazed glaringly.

The private soldiers froze in place, Qiu Mingsong’s face ashen as death.

Blood streamed continuously from her left arm, trickling past the hand gripping her blade hilt and dripping onto the stone table in scarlet blossoms. Staring at her bloodied fingertips, the ever-composed Zhao Huairen looked lost, as if trapped in some dead end.

At the same time, orderly footsteps suddenly echoed from the courtyard outside, armor clashing with thunderous menace.

Two teams of Jinwu Guards surged in with crossbows raised.

Crossbow bolts locked on, swiftly targeting the private soldiers in the yard.

The leading officer dropped to one knee. “This subordinate’s protection arrived late!”

The private soldiers paled, dropping their blades and kneeling, while the County Magistrate Qiu, hiding in the corner, was dragged out. He scrambled forward on hands and knees, voice quavering as he begged, “Misunderstanding! This official was deceived by the disaster victims…”

The ceaselessly falling blood was like candle wax.

It scorched her heart, making even her breaths dull with pain.

“Why didn’t you dodge?” Phoenix eyes blazing with fury, Zhao Huairen forgot the chaos around her, seeing only the scarlet figure before her. “Speak! You could clearly have avoided it!”

“If you don’t dodge, why should I?” Yan Yiqing turned sideways to look at her.

“That’s unreasonable—” The dissatisfaction in her heart turned to worry upon glimpsing that dark red patch, the reprimand stuck in her throat unspoken. Zhao Huairen bit her tongue tip and clenched her own fist tightly. “Forget it. Go bandage your wound first.”

Ignoring her awkward concern.

Yan Yiqing pressed her lips together and turned to face the crowd.

“Qiu Mingsong colluded with Luo Xiutong to murder the imperial envoy.” She jumped down from the stone table and walked to the leading officer, her voice icy. “Qiu Mingsong has been subdued. This official now orders you to take men to Changlin County and capture the remaining criminal.”

Hearing “murder the imperial envoy.”

Qiu Mingsong’s vision went black, and he fainted dead away.

“Yes!” The officer cupped his hands and accepted the order.

When had Yiqing figured it out?

Since she had, why rush back?

Zhao Huairen’s gaze followed her relentlessly. The master of psychological warfare had finally—encountered a piece she couldn’t read.

–

The remnants of the game were locust leaves scattered on the ground.

Swept away, and in a blink, no trace remained.

Qiu Mingsong and the guilty private soldiers were hauled off by the Jinwu Guards to the county yamen dungeon. The empty front courtyard held only the two wives standing back-to-back and the bewildered Qin An, unsure what to do.

“Young Master Yan.” Qin An shuffled forward, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. “Maybe… Young Master should go bandage that wound first?”

She had suffered wounds like this countless times.

What frightened her was—Zhao Huairen’s expression just now.

All those people with blades surrounding her in the center. What kind of crap plan was that? What if someone used a hidden weapon? What if a blade veered off?

Still saying… she’d try not to hide things from her, that they’d discuss everything.

Never seen anyone like this.

Going back on her word, not a single honest word from her mouth.

The angrier Yan Yiqing got the more she thought about it. She shoved Qin An aside and strode up to Zhao Huairen, raising a brow. “Shizi, did I do well today?”

“You’re angry at me?” Zhao Huairen’s long lashes lowered slightly, emotions shadowy in her eyes.

“Angry?” The woman’s pupils shone brighter with fury, ink jade washed clean and full of chill, yet burning with a strange light at the bottom. “What is the Shizi talking about? I don’t understand. Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“I had it all calculated, that blade…”

Meeting Yan Yiqing’s gaze, seeing her lips bitten nearly translucent, Zhao Huairen lowered her eyes, not daring to continue—she felt like she might make her cry.

“Why did the Shizi hide it from me?”

“Does the Shizi think I’d protect them?”

Her thumbnail nearly dug through her fingertip’s pad. Zhao Huairen’s gaze flickered, unsure how to answer. She tentatively reached out a finger. “Young Master Yan, your wound is serious. Let’s see the medic first?”

“See the medic? So the Shizi remembers medics exist?” The docile cat fur turned to bristles. Yan Yiqing dodged her touch with a cold laugh. “The Shizi isn’t even afraid of chopper blades. As your wife, what’s a little scratch like this?”

The scarlet official robes blended with the blood into one color.

Not obvious, but Zhao Huairen couldn’t ignore it no matter what.

“The Jinwu Guards had already entered the city by then, and Qin An was right beside me. I had it under control…” Zhao Huairen stared at her wound, explaining and soothing. “You’ve lost a lot of blood. Let’s go bandage it, alright?”

Yan Yiqing glared at her, itching to rush up and bite her twice. “Under control? That blade was right at your neck!”

She had watched him swing.

That angle would hit the shoulder blade at most.

Sensing her off state, Zhao Huairen swallowed her self-defense and approached cautiously. “Yiqing…”

“Have you ever thought? If something happened to you, what would I do?”

The abandoned kitten, through with experience.

Eyes red, she loudly vented her grievances.

Her head spun dizzily; Yan Yiqing couldn’t make out Zhao Huairen’s face. She blinked hard, but tears still blurred her vision. “Do you know how scared I was, scared I failed to protect you again.”

No energy to parse her words, Zhao Huairen bit her tongue lightly, her tone feathery soft. “I was wrong today. Go bandage your wound first, alright?”

“Wrong? I was the wrong one.”

“I shouldn’t have believed you from the start, believed your nonsense. I should tie you to my side.”

Yan Yiqing spoke rapidly.

Somewhat incoherent, but all circling the same person.

“It’s not that I don’t believe you… I’m afraid you’ll be angry.” The fear of her meeting harm outweighed everything. Zhao Huairen paused, then spoke her true heart. “Because I was afraid you’d be angry, that’s why I didn’t tell you my plan.”

Her crow-black lashes clumped with teardrops. Yan Yiqing tilted her head, thinking half a day before sorting it out. Then the kitten got even angrier. “You knew I’d be angry, so why did you still do it?!”

…

Faced with her questions.

Zhao Huairen truly had nothing to say.

“I won’t believe you anymore. I’ll catch you and keep you within arm’s reach—” Her trailing words scattered in the air. Yan Yiqing, each phrase blood-soaked, collapsed like a butterfly with burned wings, soft and limp.

Not the hard stone floor she imagined.

She fell into the gentle, the longed-for embrace of her dreams.

Zhao Huairen held her carefully, brows furrowed tight, her voice losing its usual calm. “I was wrong. Don’t move anymore. I’ll take you to the medic.”

Perhaps Huairen was too panicked.

This time, she finally saw Huairen’s eyes clearly.

“So nice… Turns out you can be afraid too…” Yan Yiqing lifted her hand; her fingertips hadn’t yet touched her face before she fully passed out.