Part 2
Did he really have to keep listening and let reality slap him hard across the face?
Obsession had turned into madness; his pride was shattered all over the ground!
Yet he was still unable to extricate himself, focusing everything onto that slight gap between the tent curtains.
If Ying Xi truly had a wife in the future, from then on, he would only be able to look up at his moon through a crack in the curtain. Looking at that Emperor who only held a few points of “monarch and subject” affection for him.
Inside the tent, a crash erupted.
In an instant, a loud noise pierced the night. The two soldiers both snapped to attention.
The soldiers didn’t dare to intrude without permission and hurriedly reported: “General Xie, there’s a disturbance!”
“It sounds like… like the sound of fighting…!?”
Xie Qianli yanked open the tent curtain!
Light spilled out from inside.
Inside the curtain, Ying Xiās appearance was tidy; he had already flashed to the side.
Hua Lingās almond eyes were sharp, her expression no longer delicate. Her right hand, which had seemed as soft as if it had no bones, had actually punched through a wooden board several inches thick that held the military strategy map. Her palm was stuck inside.
Hua Ling said in a cold voice: “Faint monarch! Give me back my brotherās life!”
“Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor!”
“Protect His Majesty!”
Hua Ling pulled her hand out from the wooden board behind the map, the board making a booming sound as it cracked.
If it were an ordinary woman, her hand would likely be covered in blood, but Hua Ling didn’t even change her expression as she struck a second palm.
However, the Emperor had escaped and stood outside the circle. The Emperorās guards had already arrivedānot just the two who were originally standing at the door.
Seeing Xie Qianli, Hua Ling was extremely surprised. She hadn’t known this General was loyal to the point where he would even guard the outside during the Emperorās private affairs?
The momentum of Hua Lingās second palm strike was already set. It was intercepted by Xie Qianli, their hands meeting in mid-air. A heavy collision sound exploded within the tent!
Hua Ling felt as if the blood vessels throughout her body were about to burst. Xie Qianliās heels sank half an inch into the ground of the tent!
He blocked the way without showing any emotion: “Take His Majesty away.”
Two Longwu soldiers immediately blocked the way in front of the Emperor and escorted him out of the tent.
The corners of Hua Lingās mouth hooked up, and she spat out a mouthful of blood. A string of bloodstains splattered onto the ground.
Only through the exchange did she completely realize how much this “hound of the court” had held back against Prince Yong just now. At this moment, he erupted with a sharpness that filled his body. Perhaps Xie Qianli had still held a few points of politeness toward her earlier, but now he looked at her as if she were already a dead person.
Hua Ling gritted her teeth: “Moveā” She took a half-step back, lifted the heavy desk they had used for the meal, and swung it forward to break through.
That desk must have weighed over a hundred catties, no less than the Youlong blade. Hua Ling swung it so hard it made a whistling wind.
The two Longwu soldiers were dumbfounded!
Every object within reach of the combat zone in the tent was sent flying. The “Dragon Bones” supporting the tent snapped one after another!
The grand tent collapsed with a crash.
The sound was earth-shaking.
No wonder this woman dared to attempt an assassination unarmed. It turned out she was an exceptionally gifted expert, possessing a terrifying strength.
More Longwu soldiers surrounded the Dragon Tent, their bows and arrows densely aimed. The fabric of the tent covered the two people who were fighting, then the tent was torn open from the top.
Hua Ling and Xie Qianli appeared at the same time, each holding a corner of the desk.
That hard-textured desk hung in mid-air; its weight seemed invisible, yet it made a creaking sound as if it couldn’t bear the load.
In the world of martial arts, absolute strength overcomes all techniques. The Longwu soldiers secretly wondered if they could have lasted more than a few rounds in such a scene.
At this moment, both people exerted force simultaneously, and the desk shattered into pieces!
Broken wood shards shot out in all directions.
Suddenly losing her point of leverage, Hua Lingās footing became unstable.
“Capture her alive.”
The Longwu soldiers surrounded Hua Ling, thrusting out ropes as thick as arms. Ropes interlaced around Hua Ling, tangling into a large array like a spiderweb. The soldiers applied force together, pinning her down firmly!
Only then was Hua Ling completely unable to move in the center of the encirclement.
Torches illuminated the night; blades and swords were intimidating.
Because she had lost the initiative and failed at the final step, Hua Ling gritted her teeth and cursed: “Dog Emperor! Come here!”
“Presumptuous! How dare you be disrespectful to His Majesty!!!” The candidate for Imperial Noble Consort had turned into an assassin; naturally, the Longwu soldiers would not be polite.
However, having lived a second life, Ying Xi was basically desensitized to words insulting him.
He stood far behind the wall of people and said calmly:
“Among Li Yilongās twenty-four strategists, there is indeed someone surnamed Hua. Perhaps all your information matches up, but for the daughter of a criminal official to run from Xindu to Linchuan alone and just happen to run into my entourageāeven if it’s true, I don’t believe it.”
Facing Xie Qianli, Ying Xi still harbored a few points of wariness. How much more so for a girl he had never met before?
He had long regarded her as an assassin and was prepared, so he was able to move a step ahead of her.
It was just that Ying Xi had acted too convincingly.
Hua Ling said hoarsely: “Faint monarch! Were you amusing yourself with me just now!”
“Amusing oneself” wasn’t quite the right term.
Ying Xi shook his head: “I wanted to hear intelligence regarding Xindu City.”
Hua Ling was speechless.
In order to win Ying Xiās trust, she had played her role deeply and had indeed leaked a lot of information about the Jiangnan Army.
As for Li Yilongās private affairs, those were indeed things that only Xindu people of a certain status could know.
Because of her extraordinary beauty, Hua Ling had always been pursued. She had even developed a disdain for the common men of the mortal world.
How could she have known that all her secret schemes were like watching a play in this manās eyes!
The Emperor of Jiangbei was truly cold and aloof.
Hua Ling shouted: “Brother, your sister cannot avenge you. I must follow in your footsteps and be cut into a thousand pieces by this dog Emperor.”
“Brother, walk slowly on the road to the Yellow Springs. Your sister wants to find you, to hold your hand as we cross the Naihe Bridge, and be family again in the next life.”
“Kill me then, dog Emperor!”
Hua Ling closed her eyes.
Ying Xi felt strange. Hearing this didn’t sound right, so he pressed further: “Who is your brother? When did I ever have him cut into a thousand pieces?”
Hua Ling paused slightly. She had just spoken grand words and was prepared to die heroically, yet the other party actually didn’t admit to it.
Hua Ling became even more furious: “Dog Emperor! You killed someone, and you dare not admit it?”
Ying Xi: “I have killed too many people. I don’t know which one I should be ‘admitting’ to.”
The Emperor of Jiangbei replied calmly, his composure not looking like a denial at all.
Ultimately, this caused Hua Ling to turn from anger to calm. Even in death, she wanted to argue the logic with him: “About a year ago, right when you were first enthroned, my brother took his sword and entered the capital to attempt an assassination.”
“He has a famous name. He is the ‘Thunderbolt Sword’ who shook Jiangnan!”
“Since then, there has been no word from him. Later I heard that he was captured in Chang’an.”
Hua Lingās almond eyes shed two lines of tears, her voice thick with a sobbing tone: “Our State Lord said, ‘To drag the Emperor off his horse, one must be willing to be cut into pieces.’ Since the Emperor is still alive, my brother must have been ‘cut’ by the dog Emperor.”
“People of the Jianghu live by gratitude and revenge. The Emperor killed my brother, so I came to claim your life.”
“I’m not afraid of you ‘cutting’ me too!”
This girl was not only beautiful and highly skilled in martial arts, she also had quite a bit of spirit.
The men of the Longwu Army couldn’t help but feel a sense of pity. However, the nature of war was cruel, regardless of the enemy’s beauty or ugliness.
Ying Xi waved his hand: “Release her.”
The generals were stunned: “…Your Majesty?”
Before the assassination attempt broke out, they felt the Emperor would be enchanted by the beauty. The Emperor had been quite clear-headed. Now that the beauty was clearly an enemy, the Emperor wanted to let her go?
“I ask Your Majesty to think twice,” the generals said.
“No need to think,” Ying Xi said indifferently. “It’s a misunderstanding. I haven’t killed her brother.”
Ying Xi actually had a good memory. In the first few days of his rebirth, he had ordered the release of citizens who had insulted the Emperor, including the assassins who had attacked the Imperial Palace. This was something he had personally ordered Yu Jing to do when he visited the Imperial City in secret.
Moreover, he himself was nearby supervising. Who below would have the gall not to execute it?
The generals had various concerns, but Imperial orders were hard to disobey. They could only loosen the hemp ropes and withdraw their swords.
Hua Lingās body suddenly felt light, and her figure went still.
Looking around, the Longwu soldiers only surrounded her from a distance but no longer pointed their blades at her. They truly were going to release her.
Hua Ling was even more shocked in her heart.
Could it be… even for attempting to assassinate the Emperor, one wouldn’t be cut into a thousand pieces?
Or did this thin-blooded Emperor have some other scheme?
But he already held the advantage and had extracted the information he wanted. What more could he get from her?
Hua Ling couldn’t help but recall how, inside the main tent, the Emperor of Jiangbei was diligent and frugal, governing the country despite his sickly body, and didn’t even have a consort to serve him. Compared to the Jiangnan State Lord who had many wives and concubines, the Emperor of Jiangbei was, instead, very much like a wise ruler.
Hua Ling couldn’t help but feel completely shaken: “Your Majesty has never killed my brother. Is my brother still in Chang’an?”
“If I… if I go north to inquire about my brotherās whereabouts and find that what you said is false… I really… I…”
ā”Then I will come to kill you again!!!”
Hua Ling threw down those harsh words.
She finally carved the Emperorās face deeply into her mind. For some reason, after this great rise and fall of emotions, her heart was filled with panic.
Hua Lingās face was somewhat flushed. She hurriedly leaped away and ran.
No one knew if she truly went to Jiangbei to find her missing eldest brother, or where she went.
The camp turned from clamor back into a profound silence.
The Longwu soldiers looked at each other, fearing the female assassin would return. Unable to come up with the next step, they listened for the Emperorās instructions.
The Emperorās Dragon Tent was originally the most towering one in the camp, tall and spacious like a small mountain. Now, because of the female assassinās rampage, the tent had been completely dismantled.
A moment ago, it was the beautiful assassin who had nowhere to stay. Now, the tables had turned, and the Emperor had nowhere to go.
The night was getting deeper. Where would the Emperor sleep?
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