Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 122

Cang Chuli flourished his sword and pointed it at Huyan Lie.

“The people of Huaxia are naturally blessed by the gods.”

Huyan Lie pressed his scimitar tighter, drawing a line of blood across Xiao Yaqing’s neck. He ran his tongue over his teeth and sneered.

“Gods? Hah! What true gods does Huaxia have?

“Your people have gone hungry and cold for years. When has Huaxia ever been free of internal strife?

“Put a court full of officials together, and every one of them harbors his own schemes! How could a nation like that have any true gods?

“Cang Chuli! I can see you’re a real man. There’s no future in serving a court like this. They’ll cast you aside as soon as you’ve outlived your usefulness!

“Why not pledge yourself to Tujue now? I’ll ask the Khagan to make you a great general!

“Not only will you enjoy wealth and honor for the rest of your life, but once we take the Central Plains, the people of Huaxia will no longer be forced from their homes!”

“Tujue massacred the people of Hancheng and three villages outside Yongcheng. Does the First Prince not find his own words laughable?”

As Cang Chuli spoke, he searched constantly for an opening to rescue Xiao Yaqing.

“Hahaha! Wasn’t that my second brother’s doing? You already killed him, didn’t you? Surely you can’t put his crimes on my head.”

Huyan Lie kept watch behind him at all times. The moment he saw Deputy General Zhang and Mo Bai trying to edge closer amid the chaos, he pressed the blade tighter.

“Back! Get back, or I’ll kill her first!”

Deputy General Zhang and Mo Bai retreated with grim expressions.

Watching from the rear, Xia Heng could only fret helplessly.

Cang Chuli used the distraction to rush forward. He blocked Huyan Lie’s arm, preventing him from putting strength into the blade.

Xiao Yaqing immediately tried to slip downward, but Huyan Lie reacted as well.

He reversed the scimitar in his hand and thrust it toward Xiao Yaqing, spitting out a vicious phrase in Tujue.

The next instant, Cang Chuli’s longsword intercepted the blade. It cut off only a lock of Xiao Yaqing’s hair.

As the two men strained against each other, Xiao Yaqing’s legs gave way and she fell to the ground. She rolled and scrambled several steps forward.

Mo Bai and Deputy General Zhang charged in together. No one noticed a thin, frail figure quietly rise and creep toward Xiao Yaqing.

Beneath her loose outer robe, a sharp knife had already been drawn!

Xia Heng was the first to sense something wrong. Why was that woman moving toward Xiao Yaqing?

“Young Miss Xiao! Run!”

At the sound of Xia Heng’s voice, Xiao Yaqing instinctively dodged aside. A knife plunged into the exact spot she had occupied a moment before.

She looked up to find Yanu glaring at her with a twisted expression, knife in hand!

Dongfang Wei arrived just in time to witness the perilous scene. His heart clenched, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

“Bow!”

Sixi hurriedly handed the Emperor the bow and arrows he carried on his back.

“It’s all your fault! All your fault! Why won’t you die? Why won’t you just die?!”

When her first strike missed, Yanu screamed like a madwoman and lunged at Xiao Yaqing again.

Naturally, Xiao Yaqing had no intention of sitting there and letting herself be killed. She hurriedly crawled backward.

Xia Heng, who had never taken her eyes off Xiao Yaqing, could no longer remain in hiding. She drew her dagger and charged between them.

“Ah! I’ll kill you!”

*Twang!*

Yanu raised the knife high, but before she could bring it down, Dongfang Wei’s arrow pierced her body.

Several more arrows struck her in quick succession. Only then did she collapse, unwilling, to the ground.

Nearly all the Tujue guards around them had already been captured.

They had lost their morale at the very beginning. Their superior numbers were useless now.

Xia Heng helped Xiao Yaqing sit up, then threw her arms around her, laughing and crying at once.

“Young Miss Xiao! Are you all right? Waaaah, damn it, you scared me to death!”

Xiao Yaqing’s gaze remained fixed on Yanu. She could not understand why the woman hated her so deeply.

Yanu had not yet breathed her last. Her eyes bulged from their sockets, insanity filling their depths.

Staring at the two women locked in a tight embrace, she muttered, “How is she worthy? How could she be worthy? Filthy wretch!

“You deserve to die. All of you deserve to die! Why wasn’t it me? It hurts… It hurts…”

Her voice gradually faded.

Xia Heng looked back. It took her a while to recognize the woman as the Tujue maid who had held up a target beside her at the training grounds.

How long had it been since then? Yet the woman had lost so much weight that her entire body seemed a size smaller.

Her right hand still gripped the knife. Her left stretched forward unwillingly.

The exposed arm was covered in scabbed wounds…

The sight dimmed some of the joy of the two friends’ reunion.

Not far away, Cang Chuli and the others had already subdued Huyan Lie. Xia Heng told Xiao Yaqing, “Let’s get away from here first.”

Xiao Yaqing nodded, but the shock of her captivity still left her unable to stand for the moment.

Xia Heng was about to help her when she glimpsed a pair of boots embroidered with golden patterns striding toward them.

Before Xia Heng could even look up, Xiao Yaqing was pulled to her feet and tumbled straight into Dongfang Wei’s arms…

The movement kicked up a faceful of dust at Xia Heng. Before she could wipe it away, she heard the male lead’s deep, restrained, and affectionate voice.

“Yaqing!”

*…Damn it. Why don’t you just kill me to liven things up for yourselves?*

“Miss Xiao is here!”

“General! Ah Heng!”

Qiulin and the others had encountered Dongfang Wei’s party at the foot of the mountain while traveling in their carriage.

Never in their lives had the Zhao sisters imagined they would one day have imperial shadow guards clearing the road for them.

Seeing that the two beside her were not likely to finish embracing anytime soon, Xia Heng silently rose and walked over to Qiulin and the others.

Only then did she spit the grit out of her mouth.

“Ptooey! Ptooey!”

Watching from afar, even Cang Chuli found the sight amusing. He told Mo Bai and Deputy General Zhang, “Take him away.”

Huyan Lie protested, “Does General Cang truly intend to serve your present court until his dying breath?”

Cang Chuli did not answer.

Huyan Lie chuckled softly and looked at the sky.

“Dawn has come. The sunrise here is as beautiful as it is over the grasslands.”

“You’re still in the mood to admire the sunrise? Move!” Mo Bai could not resist snapping.

“Hahaha! Cang Chuli, you people of Huaxia have a saying—a man may be killed, but never humiliated. Isn’t that right?”

The moment the words left his mouth, Huyan Lie ignored the injury to his arm and forcibly wrenched himself free of Mo Bai and Deputy General Zhang. He threw himself headfirst against a nearby rock.

“Ah!”

Zhao Die happened to be facing the scene and saw blood and flesh burst apart. She screamed in terror.

Xia Heng and Chuqing were about to turn around when Zhao Die caught both their heads in her arms.

At the same time, she dragged Zhao Siyan and Qiulin close, refusing to let them look back either.

Qiulin sighed helplessly and was about to say she had seen such things before, but Zhao Die glared at her.

“I…”

“I don’t care if you used to be a butcher! It’s inauspicious! If you look, you’re sleeping outside the courtyard tonight!”

Qiulin immediately closed her mouth. The women obediently huddled in a circle.

Cang Chuli frowned at Huyan Lie’s corpse. Mo Bai and Deputy General Zhang looked equally grim.

“This subordinate was useless. Please punish me, General.”

“Take the body away.”

“Yes, General!”

Some time later, the Personal Guards were counting the captives and inventorying the property Huyan Lie had brought.

Xia Heng watched Dongfang Wei wipe Xiao Yaqing’s tears with a handkerchief and felt her teeth ache.

“After witnessing this, all the sins I committed should be wiped clean.”

Zhao Die smacked her, then looked furtively from side to side.

“How dare you make jokes about His Majesty?”

Xia Heng muttered indignantly, “He just kicked dirt into my mouth!”

Zhao Siyan turned Xia Heng’s head away so she could no longer sneak peeks at the imperial visage.

“If he tells you to eat dirt, you eat it.”

Xia Heng thought about it. True enough. She said no more.

Chuqing’s thoughts had wandered far away as well.

*Miss Xiao is incredible! So the sweetheart she went to meet in secret that night was actually the Emperor? What enormous gossip!*

*And the Emperor still complained about her to our General? That really was a little dishonorable of him!*

Before long, Sixi came over.

He knew Xiao Yaqing was close to these young women, so he spoke gently.

“Young ladies, you must watch your tongues about what you saw today. Do not let a word escape!”

They all nodded repeatedly.

Knowing the secret was thrilling enough. Who would dare gossip about imperial affairs? That could cost them their heads!

Xia Heng, however, thought, *Of course. I’ll save it to tease Young Miss Xiao with later. How could I share my own sister’s embarrassing history with outsiders?*

Satisfied, Eunuch Sixi took his leave and went to warn the next group.