When Shangguan Luoyue was restrained by the two shadow guards, a feeling of utter despair had already risen in her heart.
Just as she thought, no one could deceive her godfather.
Every little trick she thought she had hidden was seen clearly by him.
It was laughable that all those years of nurturing affection meant nothing compared to a person he had never even met.
Her godfather was truly cold-hearted.
At this moment, she would rather have the shadow guards cut off her head, if only to spare herself from those inhuman torments.
She had witnessed her godfather’s methods.
Those who had betrayed him, those who tried to shake his resolve, those who overstepped and urged him to fill his harem.
He always had different ways to make them shut their mouths forever.
Thinking of this, she shuddered.
The shadow guards carried her, using their lightness skills the whole way, to take her to the temporary courtyard where the monarch was staying.
Just as they landed, the shadow guards instantly went on full alert.
“Who’s there!”
A dark figure in the courtyard slowly turned around, accompanied by the crisp sound of bells.
In the infinitely silent night, it seemed especially eerie.
“Does the Princess really intend to stop here?”
Shangguan Luoyue’s spirit jolted.
“Linglong, save me!”
“Princess, do not fear. Linglong will surely exert every effort to ensure the Princess ascends to the high position of ruling over the three kingdoms!”
——-
Shangguan Hanshan looked down at the strangely dead bodies of the two shadow guards.
At the center of each of their brows was a bloody hole that pierced through their skulls.
It seemed they were killed by hidden weapons.
But if so, the perpetrator’s martial skill was truly unprecedented and unfathomably profound, unmatched before or since.
One must know, in the entire Northern Lu Continent, his shadow guards represented the pinnacle of martial arts.
Forget about killing them, he hadn’t even seen anyone fight them to a draw in all these years.
“Monarch, we found this in a hidden spot.”
Two hidden weapons, the size of a thumb and resembling pointed iron nails, were presented.
Shangguan Hanshan’s expression turned heavy.
Something this small—even the peak mastery of Flicking Divine Finger could not silently kill two of his shadow guards.
He had truly been careless all these years!
“Return to Great Xia at once!”
“Yes!”
Shangguan Hanshan departed as hastily as he had come.
Yet he still found time to leave a short letter for Jiang Xingyan, which read:
“Yanyan, the next time we meet, I will certainly present Luoyue’s head to you.”
Jiang Xingyan was speechless.
“Does he have some kind of weird hobby for collecting heads or something?
Why is he always talking about bringing someone’s head when he comes to see me?”
Yun Chunfeng smiled gently.
“Then the Young Miss must protect Yun-ge’er well.
Yun-ge’er certainly doesn’t want to become a headless ghost.”
His slender hand took Jiang Xingyan’s fingertips, brought them to his lips, and gently kissed them.
The sensation made Jiang Xingyan tingle with ticklish pleasure; she lightly patted his shoulder, and only then did he stop.
The two snuggled together, already in their dreams.
“What time is it now, and Yun-ge’er is still this carefree?”
After she returned to the mansion, Xiao Ao’s pent-up rage had nowhere to go. He was about to behead Tuoba Hongxue to vent his personal fury.
But unexpectedly, Zhebu, the Right Myriarch of the Myriarch Office at Meng Si’er’s side, suddenly shouted:
“General, prepare!”
Whoosh!
A blinding white light flashed by, and in an instant, Meng Si’er and Tuoba Hongxue in Weiyang Palace vanished right before everyone’s eyes.
Zhebu laughed sinisterly.
“Eagles of the grasslands, feast upon the weak and ignorant Western Zhou pigs!”
His laughter grew increasingly wild, causing Xiao Ao to flush with shame and fury. He slammed the table and stood up:
“Put him to death by Lingchi!
Cut a full three thousand slices, and let the Northern Luo scoundrels eat his flesh raw!”
Zhebu showed no fear whatsoever. “We warriors of Northern Luo, having eaten my flesh, will surely kill a few more Western Zhou swine.
I, Zhebu, would then have died a worthy death!”
“The furious Emperor drew his personal sword and thrust it into Zhebu’s mouth, stirring it to shred his tongue so he could no longer utter a single sound.
Only then did he throw him and the other minions into the imperial prison.”
Yun Chunfeng meticulously reported everything that had happened in Weiyang Palace to Jiang Xingyan.
Jiang Xingyan shifted to a more comfortable position, lazily leaning against Yun Chunfeng, her expression growing more serious.
“It seems that mysterious visitor from beyond the sky in Northern Luo has quite a few tricks up his sleeve.”
Yun Chunfeng suddenly leaned forward, resting his chin in the crook of Jiang Xingyan’s neck.
“Young Miss, Yun-ge’er will definitely be better than him.”
Jiang Xingyan smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips.
“Of course, Yun-ge’er is the best!”
The closer the souls of Jiang Xingyan and Yun Chunfeng became, the more they desired to swap their souls back.
After all, they hadn’t even had one real embrace yet.
“Without Great Xia’s support, Northern Luo will surely be driven to desperate measures.
I fear that at tomorrow’s morning court, His Majesty will send Huo Ci to the border to strike first and gain the upper hand.”
Jiang Xingyan pondered for a moment.
In the past, she had loved Western Zhou with the passion one had for one’s homeland.
But today, Xiao Ao’s decision to abandon her was truly chilling.
“Let it be a fight for the common people, then, and for the Huo family army.”
Jiang Xingyan’s thoughts remained unsettled for a long time.
Unlike the minor skirmishes in Qingzhou, going to war this time meant the real battlefield.
Huo Ci was still unconscious; everything would depend on her and Yun Chunfeng.
She didn’t want Yun-ge’er to expend too much vital energy, so she needed to incorporate more strategy.
The best outcome would be using the few to defeat the many.
But the mystery of Northern Luo made her feel increasingly uncertain.
Yun Chunfeng gently pulled down her hand, which she had been about to bite, and softly squeezed her palm:
“Young Miss, do not fear. As long as there’s silver, even if only bones remain, Master and senior brothers can always bring Yun-ge’er back to life.”
Jiang Xingyan was coaxed into laughter and scolded him playfully, “Pfft, nonsense!”
Far away on the immortal mountain, the master and senior brothers all sneezed in unison: Xiao Jiu!
Jiang Xingyan wanted to say more, but the ingrained muscle memory of the chou hour arrived, pulling her up from the bed right on time.
She scratched her head frantically.
Damn it!
When would they finally be able to swap back?
She really wanted to sleep soundly in Yun-ge’er’s arms until late morning!
Forced out of his dreams, Yun Chunfeng’s expression was grave.
He faintly had a premonition, as if the time for the Young Miss to swap back her soul was drawing closer and closer.
But the hidden dangers on the path ahead made him restless and unable to sit still.
After much thought, he swallowed the last two Advancement Pills he had left.
A wave of agonizing pain, as if his skin were being peeled and bones dismantled, surged through him, nearly making him cry out.
He bit down hard on his lower lip, refusing to let himself make a single sound.
Beads of sweat, large as beans, dripped down one by one.
Jiang Xingyan tapped on the window with her folded fingers. “Yun-ge’er, off to morning court?”
Yun Chunfeng suppressed the coppery sweetness in his throat, switched to a just-woke-up voice, and coquettishly called out to Jiang Xingyan:
“Young Miss, Yun-ge’er truly doesn’t want to see Xiao Ao’s scheming face.
I’m afraid I might not be able to hold back for a moment and take his life.
Today’s court is nothing more than dispatching troops. Can Yun-ge’er take Xiao Ya and wait for the Young Miss at the military camp instead?”
Jiang Xingyan helplessly doted on him. “Alright, alright, wait for me, okay?”
Watching her departing figure, Yun Chunfeng finally allowed himself to curl up into a ball.
He felt the intense pain of his meridians being doubly cleansed.
Blood flowed from all seven apertures of his head, yet the corners of his mouth hooked into a smile.
“Young Miss, Yun-ge’er will surely protect you completely.”
