The tall, thin attendant said coldly: “Who are you? This is His Majesty’s subordinate conducting business. How dare you!”

“Move aside quickly!”

“This is truly laughable.” The speaker was still the one with snake-like sinister, slippery eyes. He mocked: “If we feared the emperor, we wouldn’t have killed these two palace guards. The emperor? What is the emperor! The emperor is currently busy outside, and who knows… whether he still has the life to return here.”

“I recognize you – you’re one of Lian Yu’s palace attendants. But I have no interest in you whatsoever. Hmm, you two are embracing tightly – let me guess what happened. Mmm, the dog emperor is campaigning outside while you two have an affair. Haha, what a shameless Judicial Official Li. Attack – kill this attendant for me, and capture this woman! Don’t kill her – she’s very useful now.”

“Father, this really is getting something without any effort.” A man beside him laughed softly, then exclaimed in surprise: “Feng Suzhen seems to have her acupoints sealed!”

In the tall, thin attendant’s arms, Suzhen had been worrying about Xiao Zhou and the others’ injuries. Regarding Quan Feitong, after their interactions, she wasn’t too frightened. But the current situation made her secretly alarmed – these weren’t Quan Feitong’s people, but they were full of hostility toward Lian Yu, and they could enter this palace, so their background must be significant.

Who exactly were they? The leader seemed extremely familiar with her. Could they be people originally from this palace or the court? Wait, these two voices sounded somewhat familiar, but the former was obviously disguised, sounding very hoarse, while the latter was young. She had heard it somewhere… She quickly calculated in her mind, but the opponents wouldn’t wait. All the black-clothed men had already deployed their techniques and surrounded them to attack!

She glared fiercely at the tall, thin attendant. If he hadn’t been working for Quan Feitong, they wouldn’t have brought this great disaster! The tall, thin attendant’s eyes darkened. Holding her, he spun up into the air. While in mid-air, his hand quickly touched several points on her body, then whispered in her ear: “I said I came to capture you for Quan Feitong… that wasn’t true. I wanted to take you away from the capital! Lian Yu will be defeated sooner or later. Wherever he is will sooner or later fall into endless warfare. Quan Feitong will sooner or later attack into the palace too. You…”

Seeing several fierce attacks coming, he had no time to say more, only quickly saying one last sentence: “I’ll hold them off. You take the chance to escape – escape back the way we came. There are many imperial guards over there…”

This situation was so familiar – Lian Yu had… also said these words to her before. And this person, this person… Suzhen’s heart pounded rapidly. His voice had originally been disguised too. When he just spoke these few words to her, his tone was very different from before!

And it was very familiar.

So familiar that she almost blurted out two words!

But how could it be that person!

Xiao Zhou was right – it should have been him who brought her to Quan Feitong’s side back in the Sangzhan tribe. He worked for Quan Feitong, having been undercover in the palace for many years. But that person she had known since childhood, always by her side for many years – they were inseparable, the best of friends, the closest brothers.

How could the timing work out?

And she couldn’t believe that her brother wasn’t actually so simple, that he had always harbored ulterior motives. She couldn’t do it.

But this voice…

She suddenly remembered that when she first arrived in the capital, she had asked him: “You – can I really trust you?”

But the current situation didn’t allow her to speak out and distract him. At least, weighing the alternatives, no matter who he was, it was better than falling into the hands of these people!

She couldn’t determine this person’s identity, but she remembered that young voice from behind!

That was the black-clothed man who had led the capture at the Feng family’s old residence! Perhaps she normally had little contact with him, so this person didn’t disguise his voice. But this also showed that today’s leader, the man he called father, this person with viper-like eyes – she must know him. Otherwise, he had no need to disguise his voice.

This group of people… afterward, Lian Yu had issued harsh orders, commanding people to investigate their identities and whereabouts. However, the opposition was powerful – overnight, their traces became a mystery, disappearing cleanly and completely.

Who exactly were they? Why must they put her to death!!

The Princess Dowager of Zhennan – no, that wouldn’t work. The Empress Dowager – now that the war situation was tense, if in the army, she might indeed try to assassinate her, but in the palace, the opposition should have no time to attend to this and would be beyond their reach. Then, in this extraordinary period, having the ability to enter the palace while being acquainted with her and harboring deep hatred would be people like Huang Zhongyue, or as Lian Yu had once speculated, Prince Jin’s faction?!

Lian Yu had said that Princess Jin’s reappearance was very likely because someone in Prince Jin’s faction had deliberately leaked her whereabouts – naturally not wanting the princess to die, but wanting her father Feng’s life!

Those who hated her father so deeply would naturally never forget her life. Moreover, in Prince Jin’s faction’s view, given her close relationship with Lian Yu, she should be considered a traitor.

Which side would it be, or was there a third possibility?

She was terrified but remained calm as she calculated, but soon all thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

The tall, thin attendant was at the end of his strength.

He held her with one hand while dodging, leaping, avoiding, and deflecting, also having to block these people’s attacks. Though his martial arts were high, the opponents were numerous, and the leader’s martial arts were extremely formidable. Though her martial arts were third-rate, she could still see that even if this man fought the leader one-on-one, he would certainly be defeated within a hundred moves. Among the people she had seen, it seemed only Huo Chang’an and Chao Huang could match him.

She could hear his heavy breathing. Thick sweat kept dripping onto her face.

Her nose was filled with his sweat and blood, making her feel dizzy and nauseous. He had already been wounded by many swords. She became increasingly alarmed. Gritting her teeth, she whispered in his ear: “You escape. They want to capture me. Only if you escape can I be saved.”

“No.” He replied with difficulty. Just then, several more swords came. His lightness skill was excellent – he gathered his breath and leaped extremely high. Only the leader followed him to that height. The opponent laughed and thrust his sword toward his chest. He didn’t block but used both hands to lift her high, using all his strength to throw her out.

Having reached this point, she had no choice but to hesitate. Her heart filled with grief, hoping this person wasn’t who she thought he was. She used her lightness skill and desperately ran forward.

Who knew that before she had run a few steps, that man appeared in front of her like a great roc, laughing coldly as he leaped over.

“Did you think I would fall for that trick?” He looked at her sinisterly.

Her heart trembled, but she looked at him steadily. Since she couldn’t escape, she could only face it –

She had lime powder in her chest – hopefully she could quietly leave traces for Xiao Zhou and Bai Hu to follow!

“Huaisu, go!”

Suddenly, a fierce voice came from behind the man. She was both surprised and delighted – it was Xiao Zhou, covered in blood, who had caught up from behind. She was swinging her sword fiercely down at the man’s head. The man laughed coldly, not even turning his head, as if he had eyes in the back of it. He hooked his foot and kicked, sending Xiao Zhou flying several zhang away.

Xiao Zhou fell to the ground and didn’t get up again.

With Xiao Zhou’s martial arts, she shouldn’t have – Suzhen’s heart went ice cold. She had been poisoned! Now this was her last strike using all her remaining strength.

She pulled out the hairpin from her head, pressing its sharp end against her throat, facing the man and saying coldly: “Didn’t sir want to capture me alive? Let them leave, and I’ll go with you.”

“Feng Suzhen, are you threatening this old man?” The man laughed heartily, his eyes like bottomless deep pools, everywhere revealing sinister sharpness. “You can’t make decisions for me. As for these two people, since they’re Lian Yu’s capable subordinates, I can still find uses for them. I can spare their lives, but I can’t let them go. If they bring a large number of pursuers at this time, that wouldn’t be wonderful.”

“This old man is a man of his word. Once spoken, it’s hard to recall. If you don’t die, they don’t need to die. If you die, they have no chance of survival either. I’ve laid my promise before you. If you don’t believe it, then wait and watch them die.”

Suzhen looked at him and said word by word: “According to what you say, I have no choice, do I?”

When Bai Hu and Ming Yanchu brought news of Suzhen’s disappearance to Lian Yu’s command tent, Lian Yu was discussing the next round of battle plans with Xiao’an and the generals. Hearing this, he stood frozen for a full moment, his raised hand staying fixed above the map.

Finally, without a word, he rushed out of the tent toward the stables.

Everyone was greatly alarmed and chased after him.

This emperor had always been someone who wouldn’t change expression even if Mount Tai collapsed before him. Even since the war began, he had been more steady and composed than anyone, leading them to victory from defeat. No matter how difficult the road ahead, everyone still had an indescribable confidence and determination.

Now he was actually losing composure like this.

“Your Majesty…” Xiao’an called urgently.

Lian Jie and Lian Qin said: “Sixth Brother, we’ll go with you!”

Ahead, Lian Yu suddenly stopped. He turned around: “The news of my temporary departure from the army must be completely suppressed. Seventh Brother, Ninth Brother, the army cannot be without a commander. According to previous deployments, assist General Murong and the other generals. Once enemy forces attack, maintain steady combat! Mother Empress, your son must return to the palace. Li Huaisu… she… she is my life!”

Having said this, he put two fingers to his mouth. After a crisp whistle, a thin horse came galloping out from somewhere like lightning. He immediately mounted the horse, spurred its belly, and rode away in a cloud of dust.