The scorching sun beat down, making hearts uneasy. Soldiers clutching long spears stole glances at the carriage before gripping their weapons tighter and clustering around Du Yuan. They whispered brazenly among themselves about how to proceed next:
“We absolutely cannot fight them.”
“Then what do we do? Just keep stalling like this?”
“Our goal is to hold them up. Don’t rush—wait for the magistrate to arrive.”
“Got it.”
“This official dares not clash with the Jinwu Guards,” Du Yuan said after a brief exchange with the guards. He straightened his robes and turned to Sang Yue. “But there are escaped slaves from the stone quarry inside that carriage, which falls under this official’s duties. Forgive me, but I cannot allow the carriage to pass.”
With that, he beckoned to the surrounding laborers.
Once they caught his gesture, the crowd grew eager, trying to encircle the carriage even more tightly.
“I’d like to see who dares take another step!” Sang Yue stood in front of the carriage, unyielding, exuding the aura of one person holding off a thousand.
The chaotic shouts were swept by the wind into the carriage.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t drown out the taut chill in the air.
Yan Yiqing stared at Zhuyu opposite her, her voice soft like a thin blade scraping across ice: “Everything that’s happened is part of her plan, isn’t it?”
Zhuyu kept her eyes lowered, her slender fingers tightening on her knee until her knuckles turned white.
She wouldn’t speak.
But her silence was an answer in itself.
It was as if fingernails were endlessly scraping against a stone wall, the shrill, piercing noise making her eardrums buzz uncomfortably. The atmosphere pressed down suffocatingly. Hong Xiujie looked left and right before tentatively speaking up to ease the tension: “Lord Yan, could there… be some misunderstanding here?”
“There shouldn’t be any misunderstanding.” Yan Yiqing’s gaze swept over Zhuyu, who kept her head bowed in silence. Yan Yiqing’s hand gripped the hilt of her sword so tightly it trembled faintly, yet her voice remained calm as still water: “Don’t worry, I won’t ruin her plan.”
She wasn’t angry at all?
Zhuyu lifted her head, her eyes tinged with confusion.
Those rippling peach-blossom eyes were dark as an abyss. The woman’s long lashes lowered, her slightly pursed lips reduced to a sharp slash of vivid color. “If I haven’t guessed wrong, she… has other tasks for you?”
Act in one’s position and plan accordingly.
She had always only followed Zhao Huairen’s orders.
But facing Yan Yiqing’s question now, Zhuyu inexplicably felt a pang of guilt. She nodded lightly, her gaze flickering darkly.
“Go ahead.”
But she hadn’t gotten this father-and-son pair out yet.
These two were important to the Heir Apparent; she had to—
A faint dark fragrance suddenly brushed past her nose, slowing Zhuyu’s thoughts. She immediately realized what Yan Yiqing intended—
The scabbard let out a soft “click.”
The three-foot blade of cold steel reflected the beauty’s brows and eyes, making them sharper still.
Her crimson official robes fluttered past the carriage shaft. As her boots hit the ground, kicking up a ring of dust, Yan Yiqing strode toward Du Yuan blocking the road, her face dark as she said curtly: “Move.”
County Lieutenant Du glanced at the sword in her hand and swallowed hard. Thinking of the official robes on his body, he mustered his courage and blustered: “Lord Yan, forgive this official, but I cannot allow… There are escaped slaves from the stone quarry in—”
“Swish!”
A flash of snow-white light, and Du Yuan felt a chill on his scalp.
Half his topknot, along with his official hat, was sliced clean off.
Strands of hair drifted down, the cool sensation crawling from his bald pate down his spine.
He froze for a moment, then wailed like a stuck pig: “My ear! My ear’s gone!!”
Du Yuan collapsed to the ground, trembling as he reached for his ear—only to touch wet, slick scalp. The blade had skimmed his scalp without drawing blood, but it terrified him so much that his crotch grew warm, and the stench of urine spread in an instant.
“This official is on imperial orders for disaster relief, with the authority to execute first and report later.” Yan Yiqing looked down at him imperiously, her eyes devoid even of disgust, as if regarding a corpse. “The next strike won’t be so precise.”
The once-mighty County Lieutenant Du, greater than the heavens themselves, was utterly powerless before her.
The laborers were stunned by the scene, the crowd restless, but no one dared step forward.
Yan Yiqing’s fine brows furrowed as her gaze swept the surroundings. Her voice suddenly rose: “Someone risked everything to save you, entering the fray herself. And now, you’re still helping this dog official!?”
The crowd fell silent.
Then, fragmented arguments arose.
“You really think stopping this official will get you three hundred taels from the magistrate?” Yan Yiqing sneered coldly, her eyes falling on the quivering Du Yuan as she raised her voice: “He even skimps on your daily rations—would he really reward you?”
The laborers exchanged glances, greed in their eyes gradually replaced by hesitation and resentment.
“This official wants to save you from this purgatory.” Yan Yiqing pointed her blade at Du Yuan again, lifting her chin, her aura crushing the County Lieutenant into the dust. “But they want you to block your own path to life with your own hands.”
With her prompting, some began to piece together the logic.
Luo Xiutong and Du Yuan were desperate to stop this lord’s carriage, which meant this lord wasn’t in league with them.
“Don’t help the dog official!” Luo Juaner, hiding in a corner, cleared her throat and shouted with all her might: “We’re dead either way—might as well trust her!”
Her cry was like a ladle of cold water poured into boiling oil, sparking crackling flames.
The laborers’ roars erupted in an instant. They turned their weapons around, smashing fiercely at the dazed soldiers.
“Sang Yue, take them and go.” Yan Yiqing sheathed her sword with a backhand flourish, mounted her horse, and said to Sang Yue standing nearby.
The soldiers wouldn’t dare fight them.
But their blades would show no mercy.
From start to finish—
Only these innocent commoners could block their path.
In the chaos, the obstructing barricade stood unguarded. Zhuyu got out and chopped it apart.
Her hands, slightly callused, gripped the reins tightly. Yan Yiqing lowered her eyes to her, her voice laced with ambiguous emotion: “Go. Complete what she tasked you with.”
Zhuyu nodded, without asking where she was headed.
But in her heart,
She silently broke out in a cold sweat for her own Heir Apparent.
–
Half a shichen earlier, in Yumu County dozens of li away.
The clear blue sky, vast and unclouded,
Had unknowingly been overtaken by heavy, oppressive clouds.
Amid the uniform march of footsteps mingled two erratic, unsteady ones.
“Hmph, Brother wouldn’t let me go earlier!” Qiu Di trailed close behind Qiu Mingsong, boasting as he walked: “If I hadn’t gone to check, you wouldn’t have known even after the granary was emptied!”
“Were you checking the granary?” Qiu Mingsong shot him a glance.
As if he didn’t know how much grain Qiu Di had stolen to trade for money. With the recent crackdown, he’d told him not to go, but he’d sneaked off anyway—and luckily stumbled onto this.
And he had the gall to claim credit?
Hmph, at best, a blind hen pecking at a grain.
Qiu Di touched his nose. “No matter what, I discovered it first.”
“What good does discovering it do?” Qiu Mingsong glanced back at the troops behind them, stroked his beard smugly, and said: “If not for my foresight in summoning these men overnight, ten thousand of you wouldn’t be enough to sharpen Zhao Huaijin’s blades.”
“Yes, yes, Brother is wise, of course.”
The closer they got to the county yamen,
The quieter the surroundings became.
The empty streets echoed only with their footsteps, sounding like the herald of victory.
A crisp snap as he crushed a fallen leaf underfoot.
It made Qiu Di pause inexplicably.
“Brother, even though you’ve kept him in the yamen, the Jinwu Guards are only three streets away.” Seeing Qiu Mingsong still unconcerned, Qiu Di shook his head cautiously: “What if the Jinwu Guards rush over…”
“Put your heart back in your belly. Even if he dies, the Jinwu Guards won’t make it in time.” Qiu Mingsong ascended the stone steps with utter confidence.
Leaves scattered in the wind.
The locust tree blocked the stifling heat, creating a secluded world here.
Zhao Huairen sat calmly at the stone table, the half-cup of clear tea still warm. She held a book scroll, her phoenix eyes lowered slightly, her light brown pupils reflecting tiny black characters.
The words collided into her eyes.
Like stars falling into boundless space.
Unfortunately—
The chaotic footsteps shattered the tranquility, saber-boots clashing, hard soles grinding fallen leaves.
“Lord Zhao certainly has refined tastes.”
County Magistrate Qiu stepped into the front courtyard of the official residence, grinning to reveal yellowed teeth laced with smugness: “Just wondering how much longer you can stay so leisurely.”
“I’ve been waiting for you.” Zhao Huairen didn’t lift her eyes, merely turning a page with her fingertip.
Waiting for him?
Tch, had Zhao Huaijin gone mad from fear?
Qiu Mingsong narrowed his eyes and sneered viciously: “Waiting for me? Waiting for me to kill you!?”
“Smarter than I thought.” The woman’s voice was clear and cold, grating harshly in Qiu Mingsong’s ears. “Two shichen, and you’ve finally made your move.”
Zhao Huaijin was strikingly handsome.
Yet every time he saw her, Qiu Mingsong’s back prickled.
“Qiu Di, do you know why I said the Jinwu Guards won’t come?” Qiu Mingsong swallowed and turned to Qiu Di, answering his own question before he could: “Because the Jinwu Guards are all sleeping soundly right now!”
“You drugged the Jinwu Guards?” Qiu Di’s mouth gaped.
“Pah, pah, pah!” Qiu Mingsong flicked his sleeve, looking down smugly at Zhao Huairen as he drawled: “It was refugees resentful toward the court who slipped Monghan Drug into the well water to sabotage the Jinwu Guards.”
In Yumu County now, with grain in hand, anything could be bought.
With one lowly refugee’s life—
He’d easily traded for this noble Heir Apparent.
“Bang!”
A crimson firework exploded in the sky.
“A signal flare? Didn’t I tell you the Jinwu Guards in the city have all been drugged?” Qiu Mingsong’s face flickered green and purple under the red glow. He stared sinisterly at Zhao Huairen and sneered: “All futile effort! Just the death throes before departure.”
“Qin An, come out.” Zhao Huairen set down her book and raised her eyes.
Thinking her frightened, Qiu Mingsong grew more arrogant and barked: “Men! Seize him!”
At that moment,
Someone suddenly rushed into the courtyard.
“Disaster! Big trouble!”
“Such ominous words, bad luck.” Qiu Di cursed the man first, then demanded harshly: “Speak quickly!”
“The Jinwu Guards have entered the city and are heading straight for the yamen!” The bailiff, drenched in sweat, didn’t dare retort despite the scolding and just jutted his neck: “My lord, run now, or it’ll be too late to escape!”
Qiu Di kicked him. “Are your eyes pecked blind by birds? The Jinwu Guards are all snoring away—where’d they come from!”
“Right, Brother?”
