Chapter 115: Yan Nu Zi
After the wine had gone around three times, the atmosphere grew more relaxed. Xiao Yi drank a few cups and observed Liu Yun’s subordinates, quickly identifying a man standing behind Zhang Lingchao.
This man was robust, and most of the time kept his head down, but Xiao Yi had already guessed who he was from his dark skin—Murong Jixun.
Keeping this source of trouble around, always guarding against a thief for a thousand days, was ultimately not a solution. It would be better to take advantage of the enemy’s unpreparedness tonight, lure the snake out of its hole, and finish it quickly.
Thinking this, Xiao Yi accepted every drink offered, and after several rounds, feigned drunkenness.
He put on an act, holding his forehead with his hand, his eyes glazed, his body swaying slightly.
“This subject dares to speak… treasonous words… Your Highness is far superior to the late emperor…”
“The General is drunk.”
“This subject is not drunk! I just need to relieve myself… and I can still drink!”
Xiao Yi staggered out. Glancing around casually, he saw Murong Jixun walking behind Liu Luan, speaking to her in a low voice.
Liu Yun laughed heartily and said, “The General is a man of integrity. It’s fine, it’s fine. Please escort General Xiao.”
Zhang Mei stood up to help him.
Xiao Yi leaned in slightly and whispered, “Did you see Murong Jixun? If he leaves with Zhang Lingchao, stop Zhang Lingchao.”
Zhang Mei nodded imperceptibly.
Xiao Yi pushed himself away and walked out.
In the shadows under the corridor, Lu Chou was talking with someone and hurried over, saying in a low voice, “General, it’s done. If anything changes, she will inform me at any time.”
“Can she be trusted?”
“There is a ten-tenths certainty.”
Xiao Yi said, “Do you see the dark-faced man inside? If he leaves the hall with one or two people, you follow. If there are three or more, call our men and kill him.”
“Right here in the Military Governor’s Mansion?”
“Of course,” Xiao Yi said decisively, “He has five hundred men outside.”
Upon leaving the hall, a servant carrying a lantern led him to relieve himself.
The cold wind blew, and the chill invigorated him, the glaze in his eyes instantly vanishing, his mind clearing.
He listened intently to the footsteps around him, but no one followed.
After relieving himself, he returned, deliberately slowing his pace. As he reached a corner door, his pupils constricted. He saw a figure hidden in the darkness ahead.
His heart tightened, and he approached cautiously, ready to strike at any moment.
As he got closer, it wasn’t Murong Jixun.
Liu Luan stood with her hands behind her back, her gaze falling on him. “You, follow me. I have something to say to you.”
Xiao Yi pondered, this woman seemed interested in him on the surface, but who knew if it wasn’t an act? What if she was actually trying to lure him to his death?
At least that was a possibility.
He followed her to a secluded courtyard nearby.
“What advice does the young lady have?”
“You look like a scholar in that attire, and you look quite good.”
“And so?”
“We Shatuo people have our customs. Here, take this…”
Liu Luan lowered her head and rummaged in a brocade pouch at her waist.
Xiao Yi watched her, his senses on high alert.
Indeed, there were very faint footsteps approaching rapidly.
A whooshing sound broke the air.
In the nick of time, Xiao Yi dodged two steps to the front left, his right hand darting out to snatch the whip hanging from Liu Luan’s waist.
Having disarmed Liu Luan, he did not rush to draw the dagger from his boot.
A whip was a long weapon; control over distance and rhythm was key. His steps did not falter as he took several more paces before turning around.
A dark figure lunged like a fierce tiger, a saber cleaving down; it was Murong Jixun.
“Take his life!”
Liu Luan shouted, “Guards!”
Xiao Yi stepped forward, agile as a leopard. He swung his arm with his waist’s power, flicked his wrist, and the whip lashed down hard at Murong Jixun’s head.
The whip swung down, its shadow like lightning.
Murong Jixun did not dodge, taking the blow head-on as he lunged forward. However, he had clearly underestimated the whip’s force. A bloody gash appeared on his face, and he cried out in pain, his movement faltering.
The distance had not been closed.
The difficulty with soft weapons lay in not being able to “release” power but needing to “retain” it. Xiao Yi continued his circle.
The whip’s tip, using inertia, formed an impact force. With a crisp “crack,” it struck Murong Jixun’s elbow, seemingly tearing the air apart.
As long as he maintained the distance, Xiao Yi could whip him to death.
But Murong Jixun reacted quickly, knowing he had to engage in close combat. He stopped wildly swinging his saber and only charged at Xiao Yi.
“Crack.”
“Crack.”
Several more lashes followed. Anyone else would have collapsed and convulsed, but Murong Jixun endured, suppressing the severe pain and using the terrain to close the distance, unleashing a fatal blow.
“Tiger—”
In an instant, Xiao Yi’s wrist twisted inward, coiling the whip. With a hidden force, he flicked it sharply, coiling it around his waist. Using the “close-body wrap,” the whip’s flourish merged with his crane cloak, rendering Murong Jixun’s wrist powerless, his saber strikes missing.
“Die!”
Murong Jixun’s strength was immense and his saber heavy; he chopped with brute force.
Xiao Yi narrowly dodged and finally found an opening. He struck Murong Jixun’s wrist heavily with the whip, the tip coiling around it with the momentum.
Using the leverage, he pulled the whip.
“Clang.”
The saber fell to the ground.
Xiao Yi lifted his knee to block, retracted his leg, tripped Murong Jixun, pulled back the whip, and coiled it around his neck.
Murong Jixun sensed danger and raised his hand to protect his neck.
Xiao Yi yanked the whip hard, entangling his hand and neck. The whip dug into Murong Jixun’s flesh, and blood seeped out.
“Sister Luan… kill him… quickly!”
This was Murong Jixun’s killing move: a two-on-one.
Xiao Yi’s gaze shifted to the saber on the ground, not far from Liu Luan’s feet.
He exerted force in his abdomen, muscles bulging, preparing to quickly kill Murong Jixun and then use the dagger in his boot to kill Liu Luan.
Just then…
“Stop!”
“Let him go!”
Hearing the shouts, Xiao Yi felt a gust of wind from behind him and leaped away, evading the sharp saber strike.
Zhang Lingchao, wielding a saber, had attacked.
Xiao Yi, empty-handed and not meeting the attack, executed two clean backflips and landed in front of Liu Luan, snatching the saber from the ground.
Simultaneously, Lu Chou lunged forward and engaged Zhang Lingchao in combat. The three exchanged several blows in a flash.
Before long, Jin Sanshui and others also arrived.
“Stop!”
“Zhang Lingchao, stop this instant!”
Liu Yun roared twice, ordering his guards to surround them. Only then did Zhang Lingchao reluctantly sheath his saber and retreat a few steps, grabbing Murong Jixun and dragging him behind Liu Yun.
“What is going on?!”
Liu Yun was clearly extremely angry, his face contorted with rage.
Xiao Yi didn’t rush to answer but angrily shouted, “Murong Jixun!”
“Our grandfather is not dead, you dogs will die!”
“May I ask Your Highness,” Xiao Yi finally breathed calmly and questioned, “Why are you harboring a criminal offender of the Imperial Court?”
Liu Yun said, “What does General mean by this?”
“Murong Jixun is a rebel, hidden in Your Highness’s Prince’s Residence. If this matter gets out, how will the world view it?”
Xiao Yi paused, then asked pointedly, “Will they think Your Highness is in league with Murong Yanchao, or even Li Ye, Su Fengji, Guo Yunming, and others, plotting rebellion?”
“This…” Liu Yun’s expression changed drastically. He said firmly, “There is absolutely no such thing!”
“Then why did the young lady and Murong Jixun conspire to harm an envoy of the Imperial Court? Is this how a host should treat a guest?!”
“I didn’t!”
Liu Luan looked both flustered and angry, stamping her foot. “How could I have wanted to kill you? He just came over…”
Murong Jixun recovered his breath, struggled to a kneeling position, and coughed as he spoke.
“Brother Yun, do not listen to Guo Que’er’s lackeys’ deception. He pretends to support you, but in reality, he wants to lure you to Bianjing to kill you. Help me pacify Yan Prefecture, and we can support each other. Contact Hedong, slay the treacherous officials, and you will be Son of Heaven in time, without needing others to help you!”
Zhang Lingchao also spoke excitedly, loudly agreeing, “Da Lang, this is the right way! You control Xu Prefecture, hold the money and grain of Bianliang, and have the Marshal’s strong support. You can advance or retreat. Why should you have to curry favor with others?!”
“Indeed,” Murong Jixun said. “Brother Yun can become Son of Heaven through his own strength. You must not fall into this trap. Kill Xiao Yi to consecrate the banner, and rise in arms tonight!”
The two spoke one after another, their words causing Liu Yun’s expression to shift, his eyes full of struggle.
Zhao Shangjiao and Wang Du had a lot to say, but Zhang Lingchao fiercely silenced them.
Xiao Yi suddenly sneered and merely retorted.
“Your Highness, why are you rebelling?”
Those two words, “Your Highness” and “rebelling,” struck Liu Yun with a far greater impact than “Brother Yun” and “Da Lang.”
Liu Yun hesitated, his lips pressed together in silence.
At this moment, Madam Dong, supported by a maid, hurried over.
“Yun Lang… Your Highness!”
Pulling Liu Yun aside, Madam Dong glanced at his hesitant expression and, disregarding everything else, desperately grabbed his arm, pulling him aside.
But her anxious, sharp words still carried over.
“What is there to hesitate about? To protect your bastard brother, you’d forgo the throne within reach and become a traitor? You’ve lost your mind. To rise in arms based on the words of fools, can you even win? How long would it take? Even if you win, who knows how long your father will live? He has nearly ten sons…”
“Da Lang!”
“Your Highness!”
“All of you, shut up!”
Liu Yun suddenly turned around, his face resolute, and said in a deep voice, “There is no need to argue further. My decision is made. I will go to the capital by imperial decree.”
“Brother Yun…”
“Murong Jixun! You, a criminal offender of the Imperial Court, have been lurking in my residence and attempted assassination. Seize him!”
Zhang Lingchao said, “Da Lang, think twice.”
Xiao Yi looked over and saw Murong Jixun turning to flee. There were still five hundred Yan Prefecture guards in the city; he could not be allowed to escape.
Just as he was about to intercept, a figure had already swept past.
“No need to capture him, just kill him.”
Liu Luan uttered a sharp cry, snatched the saber from Zhang Lingchao’s hand, and without the slightest hesitation, plunged it fiercely into Murong Jixun’s abdomen.
“Thwack.”
“Ugh…”
Murong Jixun had stopped upon seeing Liu Luan. He looked down in disbelief and murmured, “Sister Luan…”
Liu Luan cried out, “Why did you ruin my plan?”
Having said that, she turned her head to look at Xiao Yi, her pretty face showing only shame and anger, no pity at all.
“Who conspired with that Yan slave to kill you? I was speaking with you, and he came over on his own.”
“Sister Luan!”
Murong Jixun cried out in grief, his whole body trembling.
“You… how could you do this? I always considered you a sister… You siblings… I treated you better than my own brother and sister…”
“How dare you mention it? Does Yan Kunlunnu truly consider himself a brother to Gaozu and Father? Your family is just a bunch of bastards! Die, die!”
Liu Luan, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, became furious and stabbed him twice more.
Xiao Yi knew that Murong Yanchao was Gaozu’s full brother, so he looked at Liu Yun. Liu Yun brushed his robes, a hint of disdain in his eyes.
Murong Jixun’s life force rapidly faded, but he was still unwilling to die. He murmured, “Brother Yun… Sister Luan… you and I… were of the same root… born…”
“Thwack.”
Liu Luan delivered another stab, interrupting his last words.
She dropped the saber, turned, and looked at him, asking, “Do you believe me now?”
Xiao Yi did not answer. He looked into Murong Jixun’s eyes. Those eyes, until death, were fixed on Liu Luan, intermingling affection and pain, gradually transforming into desolation and lifelessness.
“Thud.”
The corpse fell heavily, kicking up a cloud of snow.
Xiao Yi wondered when Liu Yun would regret not listening to the word “bastard.”
Liu Yun, on the contrary, let out a long sigh of relief and gently patted Madam Dong’s hand. Madam Dong’s eyes were full of joy as she brushed the snow off his shoulders.
“The traitor has been eliminated. Pack your belongings quickly and proceed to the capital to ascend the throne.”
“Your Highness, I understand.”
Xiao Yi replied blandly.
He shifted his gaze from the corpse, passing over Liu Luan’s blood-stained hands and Liu Yun’s hopeful eyes, suppressing the inexplicable disgust he felt towards these siblings, and indeed, the entire Liu Chong family.
