Chapter 80 Part 2

Only, Nan Jin hadn’t expected that behind the war between the two kingdoms, from start to finish, it was merely a conspiracy set up just for her.

The Qi army, having rested and built up strength for many years, would not have suddenly launched an attack without being fully prepared.

Thus, this war was fought for a long time, with no clear victor.

Just as Nan Jin held the city and, riding the soaring morale, led her troops to pursue the Qi army, unexpectedly, enemy reinforcements suddenly arrived, flanking them from behind and breaking through various strongholds in the camp as if aided by the gods.

Nan Jin desperately defended the border. But the city’s military defense arrangements seemed to have been leaked. The enemy used fire to ignite arrows and burned the granary completely clean.

Seeing that it was already a desperate situation, Nan Jin could advance no further, but there was absolutely no possibility of retreating a single step.

She thought, there was no reason the Qi Kingdom’s generals could grasp her strategies so thoroughly.

So there was only one possibility—someone had sold her, along with this city, and those soldiers charging into battle, all out.

A few days later, the commander Nan Jin personally went to the battlefield, attacking from the flank and besieging Qi Kingdom’s border stronghold. She actually intended to stake everything on one final gamble, fighting to the death with the enemy forces.

She captured three cities in a row, but on the way back to camp, fell into an enemy ambush. She was struck by several arrows, her fate unknown.

Nan Jin lay in the tent, watching the military physician bring in several basins of clear water and carry out basins of bloody water.

The arrowheads must have been smeared with poison. Otherwise, she shouldn’t be unable to rise or even lift the sword in her hand.

Ling Shiyi stood by the bed attending her, lowering her eyes and sighing softly.

Nan Jin looked at Ling Shiyi.

Having not spoken for a long time, her voice had become hoarse and unpleasant, but her articulation was extremely clear. “Shiyi, why did you betray me?”

Ling Shiyi paused, then said softly, “My Lord, this subordinate has followed you for many years. I had no intention of acting against you. It’s just that this subordinate is ultimately not a citizen of the Yao Kingdom. The person I am loyal to wouldn’t be the Imperial Preceptor Nan Jin.”

Nan Jin lay on the bed, feeling her head was heavy and painful. But her consciousness was very clear. After coughing up a few mouthfuls of blood, she even smiled at Ling Shiyi.

“Let me think. The Empress colluded with that Vermilion Bird of Qi, Xiao Shuang. And after you left the capital, you secretly had many dealings with the Empress.”

“With such martial skill and upholding such resolve, willing to hide your true name and lurk in the enemy kingdom for so many years… Only one of the Two Tangs of Qi could be such a person.”

“So, tell me, are you the eldest Tang, Tang Ling, or the second Tang, Tang Yu?”

Ling Shiyi was silent for a long time before saying, “Tang Yu is my younger sister.”

Nan Jin fixed her gaze on Ling Shiyi’s eyes. Her voice was hoarse as she laughed intermittently. “Tang Ling, back in those years, you infiltrated the Reed Pavilion, befriended me, saved me in times of crisis, and helped me kill the various Yard Masters. Was that also under Xiao Shuang’s orders?”

Tang Ling nodded. “Yes.”

Having received this affirmative reply, Nan Jin didn’t fly into a rage or burst out cursing. She only asked, “You and I have known each other for many years. To me, how much of it was real?”

Tang Ling was silent for a moment, then answered, “My Lord, before this, I had never once entertained the thought of betraying you.”

At this moment, Xiao Jin, the spectator on the sidelines, had gradually moved past her initial shock and recovered her wits.

She had never imagined that Yao Kingdom’s internal politics were actually connected to Xiao Shuang, and that Nan Jin’s most trusted confidante was also Xiao Shuang’s spy.

In reality, Tang Ling had not lied. For over a decade, she had always followed Nan Jin’s orders without a single act of defiance.

From beginning to end, she had only betrayed Nan Jin once.

Only this betrayal, for Nan Jin, was undoubtedly a fatal blow.

On the way back to camp, Nan Jin was struck by four hidden arrows, all thanks to Tang Ling. The arrowheads embedded in her flesh had bamboo barbs attached, and the military physician had to exert great effort just to extract the entire feathered arrows.

As for the poison smeared on the arrows, they were helpless.

When she was struck, Nan Jin hadn’t felt much pain. But now, this wound hurt so much that she couldn’t stop laughing.

“Tang Ling, you’ve followed me for many years and should know my methods. Those who have betrayed me have all died horribly. Since you dare to betray me now, you must be completely confident that I have no chance of turning things around.”

Tang Ling said, “My Lord is wise.”

“Wise?”

Hearing Tang Ling’s words, Nan Jin laughed until she could barely catch her breath. “Only now do I realize that you all were deceiving me. You are false, the court officials are false, the common people are false… Lady Tang, don’t joke. How does someone as foolish as me count as wise?”

Tang Ling had nothing to say.

Only when the pain from the wound gradually numbed did Nan Jin finally stop laughing. “Lady Tang, I still have one thing I don’t understand.”

Tang Ling looked at Nan Jin. “Please speak.”

“The army’s movements and the strategic points of each city—I didn’t reveal all of them to you. And relying only on you and the Empress, you probably wouldn’t have been able to access such vital secrets.”

“So, besides you, which other esteemed person wants me dead?”

Tang Ling remained silent. Only after a long while did she say slowly, “My Lord, since you’ve already guessed, why ask again?”

Hearing Tang Ling’s words, Nan Jin could now be completely certain who that person who wanted her life was.

“As expected, it’s Chu Yu.”

“The Emperor of Great Yao, uncaring of his displaced subjects and disregarding the lives of his soldiers and officers, colludes with the jackals, tigers, and leopards of Qi, and even willingly cedes a city—all just to lure me into this trap and eliminate me?”

Blood spilled from the corner of Nan Jin’s mouth. She had no strength to lift her hand to wipe it away. Looking at Tang Ling, she asked, “Lady Tang, do you also find this very laughable?”

“If Chu Yu had told me earlier, sent down a length of white silk for me to end myself, that would have been enough. Why go to such elaborate lengths, causing so many soldiers to die in vain?”

Tang Ling moved her lips and answered truthfully, “My Lord, given your temperament, if the Yao Emperor had laid out his plan entirely, I’m afraid you would have returned the imperial white silk to the palace and hanged the Emperor from the rafters.”

Hearing this, Nan Jin burst out laughing, tears faintly seeping from the corners of her eyes.

“You’re right. I am a treacherous minister indeed, fully capable of regicide. Chu Yu should fear me. It’s just… Lady Tang, I’m already at death’s door. Why are you telling me all this?”

Tang Ling said softly, “Imperial Preceptor, you also know that my duty is to destabilize Yao Kingdom’s internal affairs. And Her Highness Zhaoyang felt that if you simply die like this, Yao Kingdom’s internal strife would end.”

“Although Her Highness Zhaoyang reached an agreement with the Yao Emperor and gained certain benefits, as the Eldest Princess of Qi, she doesn’t want to see Yao’s internal strife stop, allowing it to step onto the right path from now on.”

“So, after much thought, she decided to give the antidote to you, to help you return to Yao.”

Nan Jin raised her hand and wiped the tears her laughter had brought. “Lady Tang, since my death would end Great Yao’s internal strife, then why shouldn’t I take advantage of this fine opportunity, follow the will of the people, and die here?”

“Or do you think I would, incited by the likes of you, be mad enough to destroy my own country?”

Tang Ling looked at Nan Jin quietly. After a moment, a trace of unbearable pity showed in her eyes.

As if sensing something.

Nan Jin’s complexion instantly turned deathly pale.

Tang Ling looked into Nan Jin’s eyes and finally spoke the words she didn’t want to say. “Imperial Preceptor, you will.”

“Because, for these past two years, I have concealed one piece of intelligence from you.”

In an instant, the blood throughout Nan Jin’s entire body ran cold.

She looked at everything before her gradually darkening, as if returning to that time many years ago: so ignorant and helpless, where even staying alive had become an extravagant hope.

Nan Jin trembled all over and struggled to rise from the bed, but she couldn’t get up at all. She only stared fixedly at Tang Ling, her voice trembling as she pleaded, “Keep talking, I beg you, Shiyi, tell me, keep talking…”

Tang Ling averted her gaze before she could continue.

“Two years ago, the Empress approached Consort Rong and gave her a Gu poison, instructing her to plant it on you. But until the day you set out on the expedition, Consort Rong still hadn’t made a single move.”

“As you know, since both the Emperor and Empress wanted to get rid of you, the Empress would not be punished for treason and collusion. The list of crimes you presented to the Emperor then also became an empty paper.”

“The Empress’s methods… you know them. She… wouldn’t let Consort Rong have a good end.”

Having heard Tang Ling’s words, out of everyone’s expectations, Nan Jin had no expression and no reaction at all.

She moved her lips and asked a somewhat naive, even foolish question.

“Is she still alive?”

Tang Ling looked at Nan Jin and didn’t speak.

A moment of silence.

Nan Jin’s expression went blank for an instant. Afterwards, lying on the bed, her limbs began to curl uncontrollably.

Like a condemned prisoner cut in half at the waist, she couldn’t cry out, only shrinking into a bloody, desperate ball.

Tang Ling’s words floated into her ear, but Nan Jin no longer knew what was real and what was false. Everything before her eyes darkened, leaving only that sentence Tang Ling had spoken: In fact, Consort Rong had already died a year ago.

In a trance, Nan Jin heard her own voice. “How did she die?”

Tang Ling answered, “Her face utterly ruined, she did not die a good death.”

Nan Jin took the antidote.

Several months later, she concluded negotiations with Qi, signed a ceasefire agreement, and led the army back to court.

On the day she returned to the capital, peach blossoms bloomed across the mountains and fields, brilliant as brocade, splendid and glorious.

After this, Great Yao descended into chaos.