He had completely lost his martial arts skills!
Just one sentence shook the entire court.
Xiao Ao was both shocked and furious. He turned his head to look at “Huo Ci,” as if asking: Since when did this happen?
Jiang Xingyan gave a light cough and was about to explain.
But Shangguan Luoyue didn’t give “him” a chance to speak. She added fuel to the fire:
“Of course, it was to save the one he loves.
I heard that General Huo, in order to protect Lady Huo Jiang and save her life, personally guarded her during the acupuncture treatment—and ended up ruining his own meridians in the process.
Now that’s true devotion, the kind that moves heaven and earth. How enviable.”
Xiao Ao was furious: “Nonsense!”
He had so few aces up his sleeve to begin with—that was the only reason he had indulged Huo Ci so much.
He never imagined that “he” would care so little about the countless lives of Xizhou!
With war on the verge of breaking out, he still had the nerve to waste time protecting his beloved wife?
Utterly senseless!
Whoosh!
The civil and military officials all dropped to their knees.
Jiang Xingyan prostrated herself fully and confessed, “I acted impulsively, Your Majesty. Please punish me.”
Xiao Ao was speechless: What good would punishing you do now?
Shangguan Luoyue was thoroughly pleased with herself.
Thank goodness she had been cautious enough to send Yisha to kill “Jiang Xingyan” while also checking on “Huo Ci’s” true condition.
And what a discovery it turned out to be—an earth-shattering secret.
“Princess Huaiwan, why are you cutting the story short? Why not explain the whole situation from beginning to end?”
Mu Shian, unable to be held back by Xiao Chonghua any longer, stormed forward in male attire and confronted Shangguan Luoyue.
Shangguan Luoyue glanced at her and ignored her completely, pressing Xiao Ao even harder.
“Your Majesty of Xizhou, seize the moment—opportunity knocks but once.
If you don’t agree now, who knows? By tomorrow, Huaiwan might just change her mind.”
Xiao Ao’s cold eyes swept over “Huo Ci’s” face. He said in a deep voice, “Let me think it over.”
——-
Huo Ci felt like a fallen leaf drifting across rivers and lakes.
In both of his lives, this was the most serious injury he had ever sustained.
Was he going to die?
What would happen to A Yan’s body then?
No, he couldn’t die just yet.
He couldn’t drag A Yan down any further.
He struggled and swam with all his might, and finally made it to shore.
But before he could even catch his breath, a flash of cold light, carrying killing intent like a tornado, came slashing straight toward her.
His instinct was to dodge.
But his body felt heavy, and he couldn’t move so much as a finger.
All he could do was wait for the blow.
Clang!
A hidden weapon struck the blade—sharp enough to cut through iron—square on, sending Yisha, who had come to chop off Jiang Xingyan’s head, stumbling backward.
In an instant, the treasured blade shattered into dust.
His left hand, still gripping the hilt, split open at the tiger’s mouth, sticky blood seeping out.
“What master is this? I am the number one assassin of Huamanlou’s Twelve Life-Takers. Do yourself a favor and get out of the way. This woman’s head—I am determined to have it!”
The last word hadn’t even fully left his mouth when a dark figure flashed through the night.
Yisha’s previously stern expression suddenly turned into sheer terror.
His face twisted in pain as he clutched his neck, his lips twitching uncontrollably as if he wanted to say something—but in the end, he couldn’t open his mouth.
Because his head slowly fell from his shoulders.
His face still frozen in that horrified expression.
Swish, swish, swish!
“Who’s there!”
Several gleaming hidden weapons were thrown out casually, but none hit anyone—only the sound of them embedding into the wall.
“Boss!”
“Third Kill, don’t be reckless.”
Whoosh!
Fifth Kill lit a match. With one look, he saw Yisha’s head on the ground, eyes wide open in death.
Terrified, he stumbled back a step—and collided with a solid chest.
The person was a full head taller than him, built like a rock.
Not a single one of their Twelve Life-Takers had such a physique.
Fifth Kill froze. Before he could turn around, he met the same fate as Yisha.
In the blink of an eye, the eleven remaining assassins had their heads held in one person’s hands, one in each.
Shangguan Hanshan approached slowly.
Even in the pitch darkness, one could see his sharp, hawk-like gaze.
He raised a hand, and someone immediately lit several lamps, flooding the main room of the general’s mansion with brightness.
The shadow guards dragged out the four bodies that had broken into the room.
They cleaned and tidied the room until it was spotless—not a trace of blood left.
Shangguan Hanshan took a deep breath, then gathered his courage in the lamplight to look at the person lying on the bed.
At just one glance, tears streamed down his face like rain.
This was absolutely his and Wanwan’s daughter—this was Yanyan!
Her features might not resemble Wanwan’s as closely as Shangguan Luoyue’s, but the spirit was the same.
Especially the contour of her face—it was almost exactly what he had imagined when he and Wanwan combined their features.
“It’s her. It really is her!
My daughter, my Yanyan!
Wanwan, I’ve found her!”
Crying as he spoke, he grabbed “Jiang Xingyan’s” hand and felt her pulse.
The pulse was weak but steady—nothing serious, it seemed. But she just wouldn’t wake up.
He let go of his daughter’s calloused hand, dazed, and stared at her.
How much had she suffered?
He was sure that her maternal grandfather had doted on her even more than he had doted on Wanwan.
So why did her hands look like those of an old nursemaid who did rough work all day?
Did that brat she married treat her badly?
Why had Wanwan said that Yanyan was already dead?
She was right here, alive and well.
He thought back to all the strange signs, and to the old monk’s evasive manner. No matter how illogical it seemed, he had already guessed something.
After leaving Daxia, he had traveled far and wide and heard many folk tales about the supernatural.
After meeting Wanwan, they had even read those ghost and monster storybooks together.
She loved reading them, but she was a total scaredy-cat.
Every time she got frightened and burrowed into his arms, he would silently thank the author of that storybook.
He still remembered a time when Wanwan had been really into stories about body swaps between two people.
She would often get all huffy for the characters in the books, and he would have to soothe her.
So he’d read a few himself.
Could it be that Yanyan, just like in those stories, had swapped souls with that brat in her second life?
The moment this thought arose, countless anomalies came flooding together, colliding and swirling in Shangguan Hanshan’s mind.
“Bring that brat to me.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The shadow guards, carrying the heads, sped off.
In less than the time it takes to burn an incense stick, they arrived on the rooftop of Weiyang Palace.
From inside the palace, they could hear Yun Chunfeng’s voice arguing with reason: “Your Majesty, absolutely not!
Is Lady Jiang not a subject of Xizhou?
At a time of national crisis, she gave away all her wealth to recruit soldiers and horses for Xizhou, and she helped the Imperial Hospital expand their free clinics.
Such a righteous person—how can Xizhou treat her unfairly?”
Xiao Ao’s face was ashen.
Even the Imperial Advisor was opposing him.
Fine. Just fine.
All for a woman—worthy of defying the imperial edict!
In normal times, Xiao Ao might have relied on Huo Ci’s influence to reject such a cowardly proposal.
But now, with “Huo Ci’s” meridians destroyed and no idea when he would recover his strength, if he didn’t buy some time, Xizhou would be destroyed in the blink of an eye.
“Merchants have always been cunning and treacherous.
Her business empire grew so large only because it depended on the peace and prosperity of Xizhou, didn’t it?
Right now, Princess Huaiwan is simply asking her to go to the capital of Daxia and make some pastries.
Such a friendly request—why should it not be granted!”
Shangguan Luoyue’s smug look was completely undisguised.
“In that case—”
Thud!
A massive dark bundle crashed through the glazed tiles from outside the palace, grazing the tip of Shangguan Luoyue’s nose, and landed heavily on the white jade floor at the center of Weiyang Palace.
Shangguan Luoyue froze for a moment.
It was—the head of one of the Twelve Life-Takers.
