“I want a fast war horse. Everyone else put down your weapons, hold your heads with both hands, tie each other’s feet with rope, and squat facing the wall, or I’ll kill him!”

The woman who had seemed weak and powerless moments before immediately broke free from the man’s embrace. Though her hands and feet were bound with heavy iron chains, this didn’t impair her swift movements in the slightest. Her tone was cold and clear, her gaze like frozen iron, as the sharp bronze branch of the candlestick pressed tightly against Qi’an’s neck. With just a little force, she could take his life.

“Your Highness!” All the attendants were immediately shocked, crying out in unison.

Qi’an was slightly stunned, but then laughed softly and said: “Xia’er, you’re still so clever. You’ve fooled me again.”

“Stop talking nonsense!” Qing Xia said coldly: “If you want him to live, obediently do as I say.”

“Xia’er, stop fooling around,” Qi’an suddenly said gently, his tone actually like coaxing an angry child. “I know you won’t hurt me.”

Qing Xia slowly turned her head, looking at him with contempt and disgust at the corners of her eyes, asking coldly in a deep voice: “Really? Are you that confident?”

With a soft sound, the bronze branch of the candlestick ruthlessly pierced in, a full two inches deep. Bright red blood immediately gushed out. Qi’an’s breathing hitched, his face turned ashen, and he said no more.

“If you want your master to live, immediately do as I say. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee how much patience I have.”

Hearing this, everyone had no choice but to clatter as they threw down their weapons and tied each other’s feet according to Qing Xia’s instructions. Some tried to be clever and tie loosely so they could break free immediately, but Qing Xia spotted this at a glance. Only after she added another hole in Qi’an’s neck did they obediently comply.

Seeing everyone squatting down obediently, Qing Xia turned to Qi’an and said in a deep voice: “Where are my friends?”

Qi’an stared straight ahead, stubbornly silent.

Qing Xia’s eyes narrowed slightly as she applied a little pressure with her hand. Qi’an immediately cried out in pain. His voice hoarse, he said: “After arriving at Haishi Port, I had someone secretly bring you to the capital while you were unconscious. I didn’t alert them.”

Qing Xia raised an eyebrow and said in a deep voice: “Really?”

“Really,” Qi’an said: “At this time, I have no need to lie to you. I didn’t bring many followers to Haishi Port, and I didn’t want to cause trouble and alert Chu Li. I came to the imperial capital of Haishi in secret.”

“Fine, I’ll trust you this once.” Qing Xia said in a deep voice. She kicked the rope on the ground with her chain-bound foot, grabbed it with one hand, and in a few moves had Qi’an securely bound.

A strong wind suddenly arose, making the fire burn even more fiercely. Qing Xia’s expression was cold as she said: “Last time in the Southern Chu prison was to repay the favor from the first ten years for Zhuang Qing Xia. Today is to repay your righteous support in the Taihe Hall. Qi’an, this is the last time I’ll spare you. If we meet again in the future, either you die or I perish.”

Having said this, Qing Xia pushed him to the ground, leaped onto the war horse, cracked the whip, and galloped away through the narrow alley with a whoosh.

“Catch her! Quick!” As soon as she left the courtyard, Qi’an’s voice suddenly rang out. The corner of Qing Xia’s mouth curved coldly. Qi’an, you truly are a complete scoundrel.

The whooshing sounds of sharp arrows suddenly rang out. Just as she was about to turn the street corner, Qing Xia’s shoulder suddenly hurt, and she collapsed onto the horse’s back.

The cold wind blew past her ears as Qing Xia madly galloped toward Eastern Qi’s Ronghua Palace. But before she could reach the main street, she had already alerted the garrison. A group of soldiers rushed forward to surround her. Seeing her hands and feet in shackles and her blood-stained appearance, they immediately identified her as an Eastern Qi rebel. They completely disbelieved her words about needing to see the Chu Emperor to report a conspiracy involving the Eastern Qi Crown Prince.

The King of Hell is easy to see, but little demons are hard to deal with. If she had encountered a minister of some weight, she could have made the stakes clear, but she had run into a group of crude soldiers.

What Qing Xia didn’t know was that during Chu Li’s pacification of Eastern Qi, the assassination attempts he had suffered were countless. Southern Chu’s Grand Marshal Mingyuan had issued an order: all Eastern Qi rebels, regardless of their status, would be killed on the spot once discovered, and their heads could be used as capital for promotion. Therefore, under the premise of valuing military merit, these soldiers naturally wouldn’t believe those words that had been said many times by other assassins, treating them as nonsense she had made up to get close to the Chu Emperor. After all, the news that the Eastern Qi Crown Prince had been killed at sea by Prince Jinan Qi Yu had long spread throughout the entire continent.

Seeing that this group of soldiers was about to attack en masse, and fearing that Qi’an’s group would catch up from behind, Qing Xia had no choice but to abandon her plan to break into Ronghua Palace. She turned her horse around and ran toward the south of the city.

When the Chu soldiers saw her turn and flee, they were even more certain she was an Eastern Qi assassin and pursued her relentlessly.

Qing Xia smiled coldly to herself, thinking that even if she couldn’t notify Chu Li in time, she could use this group of Chu soldiers to completely eliminate Qi’an’s group. With this thought, she immediately galloped madly back along the original route, deliberately not trying to shake off the people behind her. Just as she was approaching that residence, Qing Xia suddenly shouted loudly: “Your Highness the Crown Prince, the Chu army is here! Run quickly!”

The courtyard that had just extinguished the fire immediately became chaotic. The Chu soldiers behind were delighted, thinking there really were rebels. The leader called out and rushed in with his guards. Soon, the crackling sounds of fighting rang out.

Qing Xia laughed coldly, swinging the iron chains on her wrists horizontally to block several stray arrows, then ran toward the other end of the alley.

The night grew more silent. It was already nearly the third watch. Qing Xia leaned against the damp wall, listening to the chaotic footsteps outside the wall gradually fade away, and slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed Qi’an was destined not to die – he had already escaped, otherwise there wouldn’t be such a large-scale citywide search. But even so, his strength had been severely damaged, making it much more difficult for him to accomplish his goals.

But one must guard against the unexpected. She should still find a way to sneak into the Chu palace and warn Chu Li.

When she was there earlier, it wasn’t womanly kindness that prevented her from killing him, but rather that once she killed him, she would lose the leverage to control his subordinates and lose her chance to escape. Moreover, the bronze branch of the candlestick was thin and old – it simply couldn’t pierce through the throat. Even piercing through skin and flesh, it had already become dull. Having been imprisoned for many days and poisoned not long ago, she simply lacked the strength to snap his neck with her bare hands. In that situation, she could only choose the most advantageous method to escape. Everything else would have to be remedied afterward.

Thinking of this, Qing Xia reached behind her back, grabbed the arrow shaft, gritted her teeth, and suddenly pulled it out ruthlessly. Blood splattered, covering her white robes. She needed to quickly find someone and pass on the message. Even if it didn’t reach the imperial palace, as long as it circulated in the marketplace, with the Black Guard’s alertness, they would surely follow the trail to understand everything.

She staggered to her feet. Her body was somewhat unsteady from excessive blood loss as she moved forward step by step.

Song Luyang was the Protocol Editor of the Hanlin Academy in the imperial capital of Haishi, once also a Qi person. He was very young with a flexible mind. Over these years of internal turmoil in Eastern Qi, he had seen that Eastern Qi’s days were numbered and had early established good relationships with classmates serving as ministers in Southern Chu. Now that Eastern Qi had fallen, through his classmate’s mediation, he had transformed from a fallen minister into the prefect of Eastern Qi’s Sushang Prefecture.

From a small civil official in the capital to becoming a frontier governor in the blink of an eye – this was a great joy of apparent demotion but actual promotion. After training in the provinces for a few more years, he would not only fill his coffers and gain some political achievements, but would also receive the emperor’s appreciation when he returned to the capital in the future. The Chu Emperor now controlled half the world’s territory, was young and capable with great talent and grand strategy – he was a monarch with excellent prospects. If he worked hard, he might become a founding general in the future.

Although Song Luyang was merely a civil official, he had quite grand ambitions in his chest, which was also the reason he had come here today. It was rare that the Chu Emperor would stay at Ronghua Palace for a while, giving him a chance to get close to the emperor. How could he not find an opportunity to curry favor? So he had almost bankrupted himself, using all his savings from these years plus the wealth he had looted from the palace when Eastern Qi fell to purchase a large quantity of rare treasures and precious items, presenting them to the Chu Emperor and some close ministers around him.

Song Luyang was low-key but quite talented, doing things appropriately. Even his gift-giving seemed very generous and proper. Even though Chu Li didn’t particularly like this type of smooth, shrewd minister, he couldn’t help but develop some favorable impression and exceptionally accepted his gift list.

The problem arose here.

Among the batch of rare treasures and precious gifts, there were also sixteen top-quality singing and dancing girls. But just this morning, one had inexplicably died. The physician only said it was a sudden illness and couldn’t determine what specific disease it was. Her death didn’t matter much, but the emperor had already accepted the gift list. Could he really go tell the emperor that one of the dancing girls had died this morning, so he could only send fifteen?

Thus, he had no choice but to run to the most famous singing and dancing establishment in the area, paying a high price to buy another virgin who hadn’t yet been deflowered or seen clients, to make up the numbers. He hoped she would blend in among the other fifteen and not be discovered.

The proprietress of Liuying Workshop stood in front of the back door, smiling obsequiously at Song Luyang: “I say, Lord Song, if we’re talking about girls who can sing and dance, I have plenty in this establishment, but finding one who hasn’t seen clients and hasn’t even shown her face – that’s too difficult.”

“What’s too difficult?” Song Luyang said frantically: “The women you’ve brought – even my servants recognize them. What if someone recognizes her? Am I supposed to buy a woman who’s obviously a prostitute to give as a gift?”

“Well,” the proprietress frowned slightly and said: “Speaking of those who haven’t seen clients, it’s not like there aren’t any. During the recent war in Haishi Port, I took in a young lady from a wealthy family. She’s absolutely skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and quite beautiful too. It’s just that her temperament is too stubborn. I’ve beaten her twice, but she still won’t obey. Now I have her locked with chains in the side room. If you want her, I can take you in to have a look.”