Jiang Xingyan’s mind went completely blank in an instant.
She had no idea whether the damage her body was taking could still be transferred. Wasn’t there a pretty strong feeling that after a big victory, they’d be able to swap back? Could it really be that only if Huo Ci died would her soul be able to return to its rightful place? Or maybe there was some other way?
A shadow fell over her.
A tall figure stood in front of them.
“Godfather?!”
“Father!”
The title slipped out of Jiang Xingyan’s mouth before she could stop it, startling Shangguan Hanshan into whipping his head around. Ignoring the searing pain in his chest, he turned to face Jiang Xingyan immediately, his voice trembling with excitement.
“I—I should have known all along. Only my daughter could speak to me the way she did. And only my daughter could know so much about what happened back then. Yanyan, your soul is inside his body, isn’t it?”
Jiang Xingyan couldn’t help the tears streaming down her face. She couldn’t say a word, so she just nodded.
“Godfather! I’m the daughter you raised by your side for twenty years! Godfather, you’re being fooled! She never fulfilled her filial duties at your knee—how could she possibly have any genuine love for you?!”
Shangguan Hanshan’s expression turned cold. From all directions, all sorts of hidden weapons came flying at Shangguan Luoyue and Linglong. Linglong had been about to fire a few more shots, but afraid of getting hit by the projectiles, she was forced to drop her weapon. She could only wrap herself and Shangguan Luoyue in black silk and vanish before everyone’s eyes.
“Godfather, you’re the one who disregarded our father-daughter bond first, so don’t blame Luoyue for—”
“We have never had any father-daughter bond! Next time we meet, if you don’t kill me, I will surely kill you first!”
Whether Shangguan Luoyue was truly heartbroken and couldn’t speak, or whether they had simply gone too far to hear, no one knew. In any case, the two of them were gone from the Hall of Union.
It was only at this moment that Jiang Xingyan finally understood what it meant to have barely escaped with her life.
Swish, swish, swish!
Several shadow guards appeared around them in an instant: one fed Shangguan Hanshan a hemostatic pill, one took his pulse, and one pulled out all sorts of oddly shaped tools and began removing the hidden weapons lodged near his heart.
“To hear you call me father just once in this lifetime—even if I were beaten to death right now, it would be worth it.”
Jiang Xingyan wiped away her tears. “If you dare die, I’ll go call someone else father!”
Pfft!
Shangguan Hanshan got so worked up that a spray of blood burst from his wound.
“I can live! I will definitely live!”
Jiang Xingyan’s tears only fell harder.
“General! We’ve searched the entire city—there’s no trace of the Prince of Beiluo!”
“The surviving commoners have all been taken captive, and all the supplies in the city have been seized. We await your orders, General!”
The ones reporting were deputy generals from several camps. Even though they tried hard to control where their eyes wandered, they still couldn’t help but notice that the general was holding a delicate, boneless woman in his arms—and there was even a little girl.
The lead staff officer lowered his voice. “The general sure works fast. We’ve only been out here a few days—how does he already have a kid?”
The deputy beside him gave him a sharp pinch.
“Are you stupid? That’s clearly the general’s wife and Little Ya!”
“Huh? When did the general bring them to the battlefield? This isn’t exactly a fun place to be.”
“Wait, you guys are focusing on the weirdest things. Didn’t they say the general kicked his wife out of the mansion and they’d long since split?”
“Mind your own business when it comes to the general’s affairs!”
They watched as “Huo Ci” carefully set “Jiang Xingyan” and Yun Chunfeng down on the ground.
“There’s still one palace we haven’t searched. You lot go check it out. See if there are any underground chambers, secret passages, or the like. Be careful.”
“Yes, sir!”
As soon as the officers entered, Jiang Xingyan’s armor was already soaked through with blood. The injuries on their two bodies were indeed still transferring. Huo Ci was pale as paper from the pain, his whole body trembling. Jiang Xingyan, on the other hand, was covered in blood but felt no discomfort at all.
Shangguan Hanshan winced just watching them. Who was he supposed to feel sorry for? That was the question. Then his chest suddenly twinged with pain. Looking down, he saw he wasn’t in much better shape himself. Maybe he should just worry about his own sorry self first.
Ever since Shangguan Hanshan showed up, Little Ya had stopped crying. In fact, she’d even dozed off, her little fingers curled together. Jiang Xingyan had a flash of insight—could Little Ya sense danger? Now that everything was safe, did that mean she had finally survived this ordeal and carved out a path to survival from the fork in fate’s road? And all of this she owed to Brother Yun, Huo Ci, and her father. They had risked their lives to protect her, allowing her to be reborn anew.
Jiang Xingyan cried like a child. It tugged at Shangguan Hanshan’s heart.
“It’s okay, Yanyan. It’s okay. With your father here, I won’t let her hurt you again.”
“Then why haven’t I heard from you all this time? The people I sent to find out about you—she had them all killed.”
Shangguan Hanshan paused for a moment, then began recounting what had happened when he’d chased Shangguan Luoyue back to Great Xia.
——–
Seeing that Shangguan Luoyue could kill two of his shadow guards in an instant, Shangguan Hanshan grew wary. That was definitely not an ability she possessed on her own. Someone must have been secretly helping and backing her. If that was the case, he couldn’t act rashly—he had to find out who that person was before making a move.
Even though he had rushed back to Great Xia as fast as he could, he was still a step too late. Shangguan Luoyue had reached the capital before him and put on a pitiful act in front of the civil and military officials and the common people.
“Now that my godfather has found his birth daughter, he has no use for me anymore. Today, I, Huaiwan, ask all of you to bear witness. From this day forward, I demote myself to commoner status and give up my title of princess. I will wait for my godfather to welcome his true daughter back to the palace, confer upon her the title of princess, and grant amnesty to the realm. There is no place left for me here.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she pulled out a dagger and brought it to her own throat.
None of the officials had anticipated this turn of events. They were all frozen in place, completely at a loss.
Clang!
The dagger was knocked to the ground by a folding fan. The sharp blade cut Shangguan Luoyue’s finger. In the tiny beads of blood welling up, she looked up pitifully and met a pair of narrow, elongated eyes.
Those eyes were cold as ice and snow—neither sad nor happy, neither anxious nor impatient, revealing not a trace of emotion. They were usually cast downward, hiding an arrogance that looked down on the world. Now, they were fixed on Shangguan Luoyue with a chilling stare that sent a shiver down her spine.
She quickly lowered her head and asked in a trembling voice, “Does the Grand Secretary have any instructions for me?”
The man blocking her was none other than the Grand Secretary of Great Xia—Dugu Buye, the one man beneath only the sovereign. The reason Shangguan Hanshan could rest assured enough to go searching for his daughter was precisely because he had such a virtuous minister supporting the court. In letters, he could bring peace to the realm; on horseback, he could settle the world. He could well be called the Inner Chancellor.
Shangguan Hanshan had said more than once: “When I pass, I’ll pass the throne to you. You can be the ruler. Even if Great Xia becomes the Dugu Kingdom, I wouldn’t mind.”
But Dugu Buye would always just give a cold laugh and say plainly: “I’m only repaying your kindness in recognizing my talents. I have no interest in taking over your mess.”
Shangguan Hanshan would scratch his nose sheepishly: “You brat. Then how about I grant you Princess Huaiwan as your wife? That way, it’ll be legitimate for you to manage Great Xia, right?”
Dugu Buye would turn and walk away, forcing Shangguan Hanshan to say quite a few nice things to coax him back. After all, if that workaholic left, his own easy days would be over.
In the beginning, Shangguan Luoyue had actually been quite infatuated with Dugu Buye. She even considered him the only candidate for her consort. But after witnessing his methods, she quickly scrapped that idea. Better to just stay alive. Handsome men were a dime a dozen.
At this moment, facing Shangguan Luoyue, who was weeping like a flower drenched in rain, Dugu Buye felt not a shred of sympathy. Instead, he let out a cold snort: “Your Highness, putting on such a show—are you trying to paint our sovereign as unjust and unrighteous?”
