Young Marquis Wu Yanle also seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire, “My royal brother is the son of the Eagle God—can he not even marry the woman he loves as he pleases? You clan leaders have repeatedly made difficulties for my royal brother over this matter, and now you’ve brought troops to storm the divine temple, as if staging a palace coup! Fine! This marquis is not afraid of you either. All personal guards, listen to my command—unsheathe your swords and sabers. Anyone who makes the slightest hostile move shall be executed without mercy.”
A flash of blades and swords filled the air.
Ke Na Zhendi glanced at the furious Maer, then looked at Wu Yanqie’s ice-cold expression and said, “Your Majesty, we subjects are not staging a palace coup. Although Song Mo Zi’s status, position, and willful actions make us subjects feel she is unsuitable to become the queen of Daqiu, until we captured the Great Zhou spies, we only used memorial petitions to urge Your Majesty to rescind the order. As the young marquis said, our king is the son of the Eagle God—marrying a woman he likes is beyond reproach. However, this woman is a spy sent by Great Zhou, harboring malicious intentions and treacherous designs. If the king marries her, his life will be in peril. With the nation facing such danger, how can we subjects turn a blind eye? The divine temple is the imperial ancestral temple, heavily guarded. The king also forbade us from attending the ceremony. If we didn’t bring some soldiers, how could we enter to see Your Majesty’s countenance? Your Majesty is an enlightened ruler that Daqiu has rarely seen in a hundred years. We absolutely have no intention of harming Your Majesty. We only ask that Your Majesty postpone the wedding and thoroughly investigate Song Mo Zi’s matter. Otherwise, we subjects truly cannot rest easy.”
Mo Zi laughed and called out loudly, “Lord Ke Na’s loyalty is clear to see. I, Song Mo Zi, am willing to cooperate.” First, let me get down from these steps. Standing up high makes me dizzy.
Wu Yanqie gripped her tightly and muttered through clenched teeth, “Ah Zi, I haven’t given up yet!”
Although Mo Zi had admitted to Wu Yanqie that she came under secret orders from the Great Zhou Emperor, because they stood so high, the people below hadn’t heard. What they heard were only the two words “stop.” This could be interpreted as mercy.
“Wu Yanqie, what’s the point of pestering me so desperately?” Women fear persistent men, especially when they’ve made up their minds and there’s no possibility of turning back.
“I’ll pester you until death.” Wu Yanqie viciously threw out these words.
Then, he faced Ke Na and the others, “I have already sworn an oath to the Eagle God that I must marry Song Mo Zi as my queen, otherwise after death I cannot ascend to heaven. You want me to investigate? Fine! After I complete the wedding ceremony with her, then I’ll investigate. Even if her crimes are proven, she will face them with the status of being Daqiu’s queen.”
Ke Na grew anxious too—this meant he was determined to marry her no matter what, didn’t it?
Maer stamped his feet and rubbed his hands, saying to Ke Na, “My lord, talking is useless now. We might as well just go up there directly and kill that woman with one stroke!”
“Are you crazy? Storming the divine temple is one thing, but drawing a blade to kill someone is quite another. That old dog Duan Geshou is just waiting for us to make a move—with one phrase of ‘palace coup,’ he could exterminate all our families to the last member.” Ke Na was thinking of many things, and he truly had no intention of forcing Wu Yanqie to abdicate. After all, they couldn’t find another successor who was as accomplished in both civil and military arts and as resourceful as him.
“Then what do we do? Are we really going to let that woman become queen?” Maer’s expression was sinister as he glanced at Mo Zi above.
Ke Na wanted to say they could only lower their flags and silence their drums for now, then slowly deal with this matter later.
Unfortunately, before he could say this, someone shouted loudly, “Kill the Han woman! Kill the poisonous queen! Kill, kill, kill!”
The voice came from within the Protectorate Army, and it found immediate echo. The minds of the various ethnic youths who harbored prejudice against Han people were already heated. With just a little fanning of the flames, they began to shout along.
Mo Zi listened to the chorus of killing voices and thought that if she could escape today, this would probably be remembered as the greatest moment of ups and downs. Not long ago, everyone was calling her queen, begging her on their knees to marry their king. Now, they called her poisonous queen and wanted to kill her quickly. But she soon noticed the surprised expressions on Ke Na and Maer’s faces, as if they hadn’t anticipated this development. At the same time, she saw movement finally appearing at the northern tower’s peak.
Those were two yellow-red flags, alternating one after another, spinning like wheels in the wind.
Mo Zi watched once, then watched again. After confirming, she found it amusing. No wonder they told her to prepare vermillion water pouches—they were actually copying her method.
Wu Yanqie gripped her right hand in a death grip, but her left hand could move freely. Taking advantage of Wu Yanqie being focused on the chaos below, she pretended to adjust her phoenix crown and quietly pulled out a small pearl needle, securing it at her fingertip.
Wu Yanqie was extremely furious now and shouted loudly, “Ke Na Zhendi, you’ve forced me to this point—do you think I will yield to your wishes?”
Ke Na had seen Wu Yanqie truly angry before. After Wu Yanqie ascended to the throne, he challenged three disgruntled older brothers. Fighting one against three, despite multiple blade wounds on his body, he showed no fear, using a desperate fighting style of all attack and no defense. This finally convinced Ke Na that his daughter’s judgment was correct. Courage, resilience, and fearlessness were essential qualities of a ruler, and the three elder princes clearly did not possess all of them.
Wu Yanqie’s anger immediately made the various ethnic youths fall silent as cicadas.
He could become the king of Daqiu not only through his long-term planning but also through his illustrious military achievements in the war against Yuling. He personally commanded the breach of Yuling’s borders, and in battle after battle of siege warfare, he missed almost none, even being the first person to set foot in Yuling’s imperial palace. This silenced those who originally held objections to him becoming crown prince, and they even saw hope for unifying all under heaven, eagerly placing themselves under his command.
At this moment, however, someone was not buying it.
A bowstring twanged, and an arrow broke through the air on the wind.
The scene fell silent as death.
Mo Zi suddenly broke free from Wu Yanqie’s iron grip and dodged to the side.
At least that’s what Wu Yanqie thought, and he noticed she had misjudged the direction, so he cried out, “Ah Zi, be careful!”
Wide sleeves flew, the golden-red wedding gown dazzling his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw Mo Zi lying motionless on the ground, and he didn’t even dare to breathe.
“Ah Zi?” He knelt beside her, his hands trembling.
She had once said that everyone around him wanted her dead, that if she married him, her life wouldn’t last long. He certainly knew the clan leaders’ hostility toward her, but he always thought that once she settled down in the palace and their feelings remained unchanged, all the hostility would disappear. Since childhood, he had resolved trouble after trouble on his own, so he was quite confident this matter would also be perfectly resolved. But when that arrow shot toward her and he was powerless to stop it, his fear shattered his heart and courage.
“…Ah Zi?” His hand touched that phoenix robe, and only then did his emotions pour out. He wanted to hold her in his arms, but then he saw a patch of wet red on the sleeve. “No—!”
He immediately glared at Ke Na and Maer with bloodshot eyes, “Where have you placed me?! I was mindful that your ancestors rendered meritorious service to the Wu Yan family, so no matter how viciously you attacked Mo Zi with words, I endured it. You made an issue out of nothing, constantly sending people to the palace. Even though I knew Mo Zi didn’t like it, I still accepted them. Even when you stormed into the divine temple like this, I still believed it was because you truly had my interests at heart. Yet you actually shot and killed the woman I love most right before my eyes—do you take me for a dead man?!”
“Your…Majesty, we subjects did not…” Ke Na was no less shocked than Wu Yanqie, because the archers were only there to put on a show.
“Excellent!” Wu Yanqie, however, wouldn’t listen to any explanation. His voice rang out, “Where is General Duan?”
“Duan Geshou is here!” A response echoed through the clouds.
Suddenly, nearly a thousand black-armored warriors poured out from the layers of monastery rooms built against the mountain, surrounding Ke Na and Maer’s men so tightly not even water could leak through. On the temple walls and rooftops, row after row of archers appeared, forming the outermost ring of encirclement. Duan Geshou led over a hundred shadow guards rushing down from the celestial palace above. After kneeling before Wu Yan, he faced Ke Na and the others, his eyes cold as death, his thin lips merciless, as he drew an enormous sword from his waist.
Ke Na had neither anticipated that someone in their ranks would shoot and kill Mo Zi, nor that the king had already set an ambush. Even though he was always shrewd and calculating, his mind was in utter chaos at this moment, unable to make sense of things.
Maer panicked even more than Ke Na. In his view, with Mo Zi shot and the king summoning the killing god Duan Geshou, he clearly intended to slaughter them all. Looking left and right, he only felt catastrophe was imminent.
Mo Zi groaned and opened her eyes. During the flurry of movement just now, she had deflected that arrow. Now with shadow guards standing everywhere, swords drawn and arrows nocked, no one would likely notice that arrowhead.
“Ah Zi?!” Wu Yan saw her wake and was overjoyed. “Are you…are you all right? Heaven protects us, the Eagle God watches over me.”
Seeing his expression of joy that she was still alive, Mo Zi couldn’t help but sigh, “What’s gotten into you? You didn’t even look carefully before deciding I was dead? It’s just a graze on my arm. I was startled for a moment. Look clearly—where is there a fatal wound?”
Wu Yan didn’t look. He was completely captivated by her gentle tone, and regardless of everything else, he embraced her tightly and laughed, “My Ah Zi, you’ve finally softened your heart.”
Standing to the side, Duan Geshou was curious about this Han woman whom so many nobles and officials detested, and couldn’t help but glance at her. Her face was like pearls, her eyes like autumn waters. In such a chaotic scene, there wasn’t a trace of panic or fear on her face—she even wore a faint smile. As he secretly admired her, he suddenly froze. This beautiful face—he had seen it before!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Three arrows fired in succession.
“Your Majesty, be careful!” Duan Geshou had people raise their shields.
Young Marquis Wu Yanle jumped up and shouted, “Ke Na, Maer, you’ve eaten the gall of a leopard! Shooting arrows again and again—you really do want regicide!” He immediately ordered his personal guards, “Protect the king and queen! Arrest these traitorous ministers and rebels! Except for the ringleaders, the rest may be killed!”
Wu Yanle’s personal guards immediately charged at the opposition.
Though Ke Na’s side had no orders from their superiors, they couldn’t just sit and wait for death, so they fought back. From defense it turned into attack, their expressions gradually becoming fierce, filled with killing intent.
Ke Na repeatedly shouted to stop, but no one paid attention.
“Your Majesty.” Duan Geshou was relatively calm. Seeing the situation escalating, he had to remind Wu Yan, who was still holding his beloved woman.
Wu Yan released Mo Zi, stood straight, and watched the chaotic battle below with an expressionless face. “These past two years, because I newly ascended to the throne, I haven’t had time to deal with these people, and they’ve become increasingly arrogant, even daring to obstruct my marriage in every way. Hundred-year-old clans? Hmph! Ale acts with restraint. He won’t touch Ke Na and Maer, but using this to dampen their spirits is good too. I’m only worried their men outnumber Ale’s personal guards. Have the black-armored warriors prepare to provide support at any moment.”
At this moment, feeling Mo Zi tug at his sleeve, he immediately asked gently, “What is it?”
“My wound hurts. Although it’s just a graze, it seems to be bleeding quite a lot. I’m dizzy.” Mo Zi bit her lip, her expression somewhat willful. “I don’t want to stay here. Blood staining the divine temple—marrying today is inauspicious. I won’t marry.”
Wu Yan was just about to refuse flatly when he heard her add another sentence.
“If I’m to marry, it’ll be tomorrow, after this place is cleaned up.”