At the Si hour, the fierce wind had not ceased but had grown even more violent. Dust and sand were swept up into the air, obscuring the daylight until it became dim and unclear.

Nanny Li pushed open the door, rubbing her eyes while complaining: “Today’s weather is truly strange—suddenly such a strong wind has risen, like demons have arrived. I just reached the doorway and got sand in my eyes.”

Yuanxi was sitting across from Xiao Zhixuan making braided cords to pass the time, but appeared somewhat restless. She absent-mindedly listened to Nanny Li’s complaints, but her thoughts remained firmly focused on that person: the sacrificial ceremony should have begun by now—she wondered if A’Du was safe.

Seeing her worries, Xiao Zhixuan quickly comforted her: “Sister-in-law, don’t worry. Big brother is such a clever person—no matter what happens, he’ll surely have ways to handle it.”

Yuanxi forced a smile in response, but her eyes held anxiety so thick it couldn’t be dissolved. Nanny Li deliberately tried to distract her by sitting down nearby: “When I went out to buy fabric today, guess what—that young lady who always sells rouge and powder at the alley entrance had turned into a young man. When I asked him about it, he was too shy to answer me. What do you think? Did that young lady find herself a lover?”

She covered her mouth and giggled as she spoke, but Yuanxi’s movements gradually stopped as she frowned and pressed: “You’re saying the person running the stall at the alley entrance has changed?”

Nanny Li had only meant to chat idly to lighten her worries, but seeing the young lady’s expression suddenly turn serious, her heart became somewhat uneasy as she quickly nodded.

Yuanxi’s heart began pounding—she felt somehow unsettled. After thinking for a while, she suddenly stood up with a “swoosh”: “I need to go out for a bit. You all stay inside and don’t go out casually.”

She hurried to the courtyard and used the method Xiao Du had taught her, calling softly toward the roof. Soon enough, a dark guard in black clothes and soft boots jumped down from the eaves, kneeling before her in salute: “What are Madam’s instructions?”

Yuanxi said anxiously: “Go out and see if there are many unfamiliar faces outside. I suspect someone is watching the marquis mansion.”

The dark guard’s expression changed, then showed a hesitant look.

“You all already know—what exactly has happened?” Seeing his reaction, Yuanxi immediately understood.

The dark guard sighed heavily, showing a guilty expression: “Before the marquis left the mansion, he specifically instructed us to carefully watch the movements inside and outside the mansion. I noticed something wrong from early morning—there are many unfamiliar peddlers outside the marquis mansion, and you can tell at a glance that those people have martial arts training. I even suspect there are soldiers hidden in the shops outside. We thought of going out to find reinforcements, but all the people we sent out to deliver messages never returned. Fearing something would happen in the marquis mansion, I didn’t dare send anyone else out, so I had everyone stay here first. If anything happens, we’ll adapt accordingly.”

Yuanxi’s body trembled, and her mind became somewhat dizzy. As expected, today’s events were a trap set long ago, but A’Du… what should A’Du do!

She clasped her hands together, pinching her tiger’s mouth hard to calm herself down. No matter what happened to Xiao Du, she had to first protect the people in the marquis mansion. From the current situation, sitting and waiting for death was definitely not the best approach. After thinking for a long time, she finally raised her head solemnly: “Listen, I’m going to leave the mansion shortly. None of you are allowed to follow me—all of you must guard the mansion well. If anything happens, you must fight to the death to get the master, second young master, and young miss out safely.”

The dark guard was stunned, then realized she wanted to use herself as bait to lure away some of the soldiers, giving them a better chance to deal with the remaining people. He quickly raised his hand to stop her: “Madam, you cannot!”

But Yuanxi straightened her back, her gaze stern and resolute: “Now that the marquis is not here, you can only obey my commands. No matter what, I am still the marquis mansion’s madam, the princess personally enfeoffed by the current emperor. They wouldn’t dare do anything to me. Your duty is to protect the people in the marquis mansion. If anything happens to them, I’ll hold you responsible!”

The dark guard wanted to say more but was forced back by her authoritative gaze. He could only grit his teeth hard, suppressing the grief and indignation surging in his chest, and nodded heavily to Yuanxi.

Yuanxi breathed a slight sigh of relief, then returned to her room and made up an excuse to Xiao Zhixuan and Nanny Li, saying only that she needed to go out to handle an urgent matter, and insisted that no one follow her. She packed a small bundle and secretly left through the side gate, deliberately observing left and right in the alley for a long time before hurrying away.

Walking all the way to the main street, feeling faint footsteps behind her, Yuanxi gripped the bundle in her hand tightly, trying hard to suppress her nervousness. She didn’t know how many people they would send to follow her, but she was certain: these people temporarily couldn’t figure out her intentions, nor did they know who she would meet. For safety’s sake, they would definitely split up some people to follow her. As long as Xiao Du was safe, they absolutely wouldn’t dare touch her casually. Only…

She bit her lip and shook her head, casting away that moment of panic and weakness, silently praying in her heart: “A’Du… you must be safe, you must come back quickly!”

At the same time, on the stone steps in front of the Spirit Hall at the Imperial Mausoleum, Xiao Du was twisting and leaping, narrowly dodging a sharp knife that slashed toward him head-on. But the situation around him was becoming increasingly urgent. Those black-clothed men were all agile and well-trained, systematically breaking through the Yulin Guard’s defenses and pressing closer step by step. Xiao Du could tell at a glance that these were definitely not ordinary thieves, but he harbored various doubts about which side they came from and what their purpose was, so he never dared to fight with full strength.

Just as he was thinking while retreating step by step, suddenly a sharp knife stabbed at him from under his arm. He had been closely watching the frontal assault and momentarily didn’t notice, nearly letting that person succeed. Fortunately, his combat experience was rich—he quickly kicked off the ground and leaped up, avoiding that killing move, then split his legs in mid-air and kicked the black-clothed man charging from the front.

However, as he landed and hadn’t yet steadied himself, another sharp knife stabbed from behind. Xiao Du’s heart tightened as he was about to turn and defend again, but he only heard a “ding” sound—the knife-holding hand was severed at the wrist by someone. The hand’s owner screamed in pain, but before he could see clearly, he was pierced through the heart and killed on the spot.

Xiao Du turned to look and saw Xia Qing with his long sword stained with blood, his black hair flying high in the fierce wind, provocatively raising his eyebrows at him: “Marquis Xuanyuan turns out to be nothing special after all.”

Xiao Du couldn’t be bothered to say much to him, only snorting coldly as he picked up a sharp knife from the ground and retreated while fighting toward Zhao Yan’s direction. He had already seen clearly that the Yulin Guards all looked panicked and were fighting desperately—clearly they hadn’t known about this incident beforehand. So whether protecting the emperor or saving his own life, being near the emperor was safest.

Zhao Yan was now pale with fright, covered in cold sweat. The ceremonial crown he wore for the ritual had fallen to the ground in the chaos and rolled away somewhere. While Xiao Du helped him repel the black-clothed men constantly charging up, he turned back to ask: “Your Majesty, what should we do now?”

Zhao Yan’s eyes were still somewhat unfocused, his whole person still in a daze. Xiao Du tried hard to judge how much of this expression was real when he suddenly heard an extremely thin, sharp whistling sound from the air. Having fought for years, even in the midst of chaotic battle, he could effortlessly distinguish this as the sound of an arrow feather shooting through the air.

His heart was greatly alarmed as he looked forward and indeed saw a cold gleam shooting straight toward Zhao Yan. He quickly shouted: “Your Majesty, be careful!” But Zhao Yan was still in shock, standing straight in place without moving. Seeing the cold gleam approaching, Xiao Du almost instinctively pounced toward him. The sharp arrow went “poof” as it pierced through his shoulder bone, but he had blocked this killing blow for Zhao Yan.

Hot blood splashing on his face finally brought Zhao Yan a moment of clarity. He quickly reached out to support Xiao Du’s swaying body, as if returning to more than ten years ago, when that person had blocked the bear’s claws for him. Xiao Du endured the severe pain in his shoulder, gritting his teeth as he forced out two words: “Go quickly!”

Seeing this scene from afar, Xia Qing was so anxious his eyes nearly split. Worried about the emperor’s safety, he quickly selected several elite soldiers and ordered: “Quick! Take His Majesty to hide safely in the dense forest. We’ll handle things here.”

Those elite soldiers quickly acknowledged and fought their way to Zhao Yan’s side, protecting him as they headed toward the forest. But Zhao Yan firmly grasped Xiao Du’s arm, shouting: “Carry him along too.” So one of the Yulin Guards carried Xiao Du on his back, and the group retreated while fighting, finally escaping into the dense forest.

Seeing Zhao Yan temporarily safe, Xia Qing no longer had concerns. He commanded the remaining Yulin Guards to form ranks—they must eliminate the rebels. For a time, the stone steps in front of the Spirit Hall echoed with continuous shouts, constantly hearing the sounds of weapons piercing flesh. The thick smell of blood lingered around the pavilion for a long time. Seeing the black-clothed men finally all killed, Xia Qing breathed a long sigh of relief, took off his armor that had been nearly hacked to pieces and threw it aside, then sat directly on the stone steps. He pointed to one of the relatively intact black-clothed corpses and ordered: “Go carefully investigate their background.”

A Yulin Guard quickly acknowledged the order, bowing as he searched the corpse continuously. Suddenly touching a hard token, he quickly pulled it out and presented it to Xia Qing. Xia Qing took the bronze token and saw a large character “Xiao” carved on it…

At the same time, several Yulin Guards were protecting Zhao Yan and Xiao Du as they fled deep into the forest. They lost quite a few men dealing with pursuing black-clothed men along the way. When they finally reached the depths of the forest and confirmed there were no pursuers, only two Yulin Guards remained.

One of them, gasping for breath, placed Xiao Du on the ground. Having protected Xiao Du’s safety, he was covered with wounds and barely alive. The other helped Zhao Yan sit against a tree, then knelt down: “This minister failed to protect adequately. Is Your Majesty injured?”

Zhao Yan leaned against the tree, breathing heavily, then suddenly said to the two Yulin Guards: “I have important matters to discuss with you. Come close and listen.”

The two men suspected nothing and respectfully moved close to him. But they suddenly smelled a strange fragrance, then their minds went numb. Before they could react, they felt coolness at their throats and instantly lost their lives.

Xiao Du leaned slantwise against a large rock, holding his shoulder wound, coldly watching this scene. He saw Zhao Yan take out a handkerchief to wipe the blood from his hands, then cast a meaningful look in his direction.

Just as Xiao Du was about to speak, a surge of blood rushed up and he couldn’t stop coughing. Zhao Yan’s eyes showed pity as he walked over to pull out the sharp arrow for him, then tore off a piece of clothing to bandage him.

Xiao Du looked at him mockingly as he did all this, finally speaking: “Ming Cheng, you’re indeed more ruthless than I imagined.”

Zhao Yan sighed: “I’m sure you understand everything. I don’t need to explain much more.”

Xiao Du looked up at the last glimmer of light under the dark blue sky: “I suppose by now Xia Qing has already discovered evidence that those assassins were directed by me and is rushing over to rescue the emperor.” His gaze was calm, as if speaking of something unrelated to himself, continuing: “When they see these Yulin Guard corpses, for Your Majesty’s safety, they’ll definitely kill me without hesitation first. Then Your Majesty will discover that those assassins were only disguised as Xiao family army, and pin the crime of framing loyal subjects on Xia Qing, having him beheaded publicly. This way you can both reclaim the Yulin Guard’s military authority and take the opportunity to settle accounts with the Xia family—ideally dragging Chancellor Xia down too. Since I died at the Xia family’s hands and Your Majesty righteously avenged me by eliminating relatives, the Xiao family army has no reason to return to the capital. So Your Majesty’s plan to kill two birds with one stone is truly masterful.”

After saying this in one breath, he couldn’t help coughing again. Zhao Yan gently patted his back to help his breathing, sighing again: “That arrow was to reassure you and to make Xia Qing believe someone truly wanted to harm me. Only…”

Xiao Du’s mocking expression grew thicker: “Only you didn’t expect I’d be foolish enough to really take that arrow for you.”

Zhao Yan felt overwhelmed with guilt under his gaze and could only lower his head, saying softly: “They’ll be here soon. Do you have any final wishes? I can help you fulfill them.”

Xiao Du breathed out gently, then suddenly said: “Ming Cheng, do you still remember what I said to you on the last day I was in the capital before going to train with the army?”

Zhao Yan was slightly stunned, then quickly remembered. It was a dusk evening when he and Xiao Du sat side by side on top of Zhong Mountain. Xiao Du was still just a young master then, full of heroic spirit but having never seen the cruelty of battle. He watched the setting sun slowly sink below the mountain and suddenly said: “Ming Cheng, do you think I might really die in battle, with even my bones buried in foreign lands?”

The youth beside him was feeling sad about the upcoming separation. Hearing this, he immediately stared at him: “No! Chong Jiang, don’t worry. If you truly die for the country, even if I have to search to the ends of the earth, I’ll personally bring your bones back!”

Time suddenly jumped back. Watching the last ray of sunset gradually swallowed by the horizon, Xiao Du’s gaze gradually darkened as he said softly: “Who would have thought that in the end, you’d indeed be the one to collect my corpse.”

Zhao Yan’s heart felt as if struck by a heavy blow. He clenched his fists tightly, finally closing his eyes firmly: “Go. Escape before they find you, and you’ll still have a chance to live.”

Xiao Du’s gaze sharpened, then took on a bitter smile. Seriously wounded as he was, how could he possibly escape the Yulin Army’s pursuit?

At this moment, rustling sounds were already coming from the grass ahead, with someone shouting loudly outside: “His Majesty should be here. Quick!”