He seemed to use all his strength as if trying to burst his eye sockets.

He trembled like a sieve, suddenly struggling to reach out his hand, fingertips stretching forward, desperately trying to touch Tie Ci’s face.

Tie Ci didn’t move or dodge, only saying softly, “Everything you said might happen, but none of that will be the ending, because I won’t allow it.”

She said, “You represent the most narrow-minded, most corrupt, most shameless, most self-righteous group. You reek, and you disgust me. At least in my view, women can be strong, can be brave and fierce, can be wealthy, can rule over all under heaven. They can make all men’s words count for nothing, with only their own words mattering.”

“It’s just that you’re destined never to see it.”

“Since you look down on women, then I wish you—be a woman in your next life.”

Let’s see what kind of life you can live.

Chang Yuan’s fingertips were now only a hair’s breadth from Tie Ci’s mask—with just the slightest touch, he could reach it.

But that hand suddenly dropped, heavily hitting Chang Yuan’s leg.

Tie Ci released her grip and turned around.

Behind her came a heavy thud.

Prefect Chang and his son came running frantically. Seeing the person among the broken stones and pool of blood who no longer drew breath, they trembled all over, their faces ashen.

Facing them, Tie Ci dusted off the dirt on her hands and smiled, “Accidentally made You Weixuan a widow—that’s my fault to her. Now I really must go apologize to her. While I’m at it, I’ll ask her—the wedding feast has been held, and canceling it would be too wasteful. Would she like to change grooms and get married again?”

Prefect Chang and his son stood there, opening their mouths to curse, but looking at that coldly gleaming mask, those pitch-black profound eyes, and the corpse twisted into a heap on the ground.

Suddenly they lost all courage.

Tie Ci casually waved her hand, “Let’s go!”

…

“Did you come to save me!”

“Is it you?”

Chunwa smiled and hummed in agreement. Just as she was about to raise her hand, she saw You Weixuan close her eyes and slowly lean her head against her leg, saying softly and dreamlike, “I’ve fantasized about this many times, imagining you would personally come to save me, bathed in golden light, coming gracefully, just like the first time I saw you riding toward me on the martial arts field at the academy…”

Chunwa’s raised hand had already touched her temple hair, then suddenly stopped, remaining motionless above her head.

For a moment, she seemed to think of something and couldn’t help but smile, though that smile quickly faded.

My destined one is a great hero who will one day come to marry me on colorful auspicious clouds.

A bit romantic.

But not funny.

She remained silent, listening to You Weixuan’s tears of joy. After a while, she pinched her voice and said, “You knew I could dress as a woman?”

You Weixuan burst into laughter, straightening up with teardrops still hanging on her eyelashes, making her eyes appear even more pitiful. “I already know your identity now. I had people inquire about you and learned that you appeared in women’s clothing as a child, disguising yourself flawlessly. I guessed that since you wanted to save me, naturally dressing as a woman would be best for taking action…”

She was in a cheerful mood and couldn’t help laughing. “It’s just that though you’re good at dressing as a woman, your voice doesn’t work. Speaking in this pinched voice sounds quite affected.”

Murong Yi also laughed, turning around and saying, “That’s because I have to pretend to be a courtesan.”

As she turned, You Weixuan could only lean back. She didn’t get up either, kneeling on the floor mat and looking up at Chunwa with infatuation, saying softly, “I heard that you and His Highness…”

Murong Yi gazed at her and said flatly, “You’ve known about this for a long time, haven’t you?”

You Weixuan lowered her eyelashes. After a while, she said, “Take me away.”

Murong Yi looked at her in surprise. “And then what? You don’t want the Yannan throne anymore?”

“Even if I had it, wouldn’t I still be a puppet?”

“Are you dissatisfied?”

“Of course not.” You Weixuan said calmly, “His Highness still came to save me—I’m grateful to tears. Just for her friendship, I should offer up Yannan with both hands. In fact, I’ve already prepared for this. I’ve written letters and memorials, sealed with my own heir’s seal. As long as the You father and son are executed and my father’s revenge is taken, whether I’m alive or dead, the letters will be announced to all of Yannan, and the memorial will be submitted to the court. I will explain that I have no desire for the throne, that the Yannan Prince’s mansion has no successor, and request the court to revoke the princely title, asking only for a place for my brother and me to settle.”

She looked up and met Murong Yi’s deeply contemplative gaze. She looked back in surprise, and Chunwa had already slowly smiled, saying, “I didn’t expect the female heir to be so forthright and honest.”

“When others treat me with sincerity, I should naturally respond with my whole heart.” You Weixuan said, “I had no interest in the Yannan throne to begin with. As a mere woman, what use is this throne to me? It’s just that father’s dying command couldn’t be disobeyed. After going through this, I’m even more disheartened. This scrambling for power and wealth is ultimately just an abyss that makes people sink into corruption. For me, I only wish for my brother to become wise and be like a normal person, and to have a close friend and lover by my side for life. Even with coarse food and simple meals, I would find it sweet as honey.”

When she spoke these last few sentences, her eyes were earnest and yearning, quite moving.

Murong Yi fell silent. When she spoke again, she suddenly changed the topic: “With us talking secretly like this, won’t the people outside be suspicious?”

“So we need to make some preparations.” You Weixuan beckoned upward, and a face peered down from the roof beam—it was the little maid who had previously given them information and opened the door.

The little maid, grimy-faced, smiled down at them, but Murong Yi frowned.

A living person hidden in the beams, yet she hadn’t noticed?

You Weixuan said, “Let’s go.”

“Go? Where’s the way? You have a method to get out? Then why did you…”

“The way is up there. This estate was originally a farm under You Jun’s name. Xiao Ying grew up here and was mischievous as a child, creating some simple passages between houses. But later the farm was renovated and some places were blocked off. With our mediocre martial arts, it would be difficult to get out through this route on our own. Now that you’re here, it’s much easier.”

The little maid called Xiao Ying on the beam glanced outside.

Then Murong Yi raised an eyebrow and said, “Many people are coming.”

Xiao Ying lowered a long strip of cloth, saying, “Hurry up!”

But Murong Yi didn’t grab the cloth strip. Instead, she grabbed You Weixuan with one hand and leaped up.

You Weixuan’s eyes showed delight at Murong Yi’s lack of hesitation.

She could have climbed up herself, but at this moment she tightly grasped Murong Yi’s arm with both hands.

The beam in this room was wide. Xiao Ying led the way in front, with the other two following behind. Xiao Ying probably often played on the beams, so they were surprisingly clean.

When the beam reached its end at where the roof met the wall, there appeared to be nothing unusual. Xiao Ying reached out and pushed, and the wall panel opened, revealing a hole. Going through the hole led to the roof. Xiao Ying pushed the wall back, and it again appeared seamless.

The buildings here were spacious with considerable distance between roof ridges. Looking ahead with no apparent path, while the sounds of commotion below grew closer.

Xiao Ying raised her hand and threw out a thin line that wrapped around the opposite roof ridge. Then she gracefully swung across, her petite figure passing between the buildings like a fluttering butterfly.

But Murong Yi didn’t move, saying, “This is tied to a ridge beast? How can it bear the weight of a big man like me?”

You Weixuan smiled sweetly: “Xiao Ying has lived here for many years and could walk this path with her eyes closed. Don’t worry.”

Murong Yi gestured for her to go first, so she also swung across and waved to Murong Yi from the other side.

After Murong Yi also swung across and stood steady, he discovered that the ridge beast the line was tied to was actually made of iron—it had been replaced at some point.

And the commotion was now much more distant.

The three ran between rooftops, with Xiao Ying leading like a magician, sometimes pushing open a hidden door, sometimes pulling out a rope the same color as the wall. Sometimes they would climb down through a skylight for a stretch, then climb back up using footholds left on pillars. Unknowingly, they left the commotion far behind. Several times when skylights were stuck or secret doors were blocked, Murong Yi would take action. Once when climbing down from above, they encountered a maid just entering—Murong Yi quickly knocked out the person who was about to scream.

Solving problems along the way like this, though with minor setbacks, this route above people’s heads was quite brilliant. No one chasing would think to look up. The three moved further and further from the heavily guarded center, traveling increasingly remote paths, until Xiao Ying stood on a roof ridge pointing to an abandoned garden ahead and a section of wall covered with vines, saying proudly, “See that? That’s the old laundry house. Later the water source dried up, so it was abandoned. No one usually comes here, and outside the wall are deep mountains—a large mountain hollow with no guards stationed there. We’ll leave from here. Once we enter the deep mountains, even if they have a large army, they won’t be able to find us.”

You Weixuan clapped her hands and laughed, “Xiao Ying, you’re amazing!”

Xiao Ying puffed out her chest: “These are just games we mountain children have played since we were small.”

Then she said, “But I haven’t walked this route for many years. Let me scout ahead first to see if we can jump directly down into the mountain hollow below. There used to be many small trees here.”

Without waiting for the two to answer, she excitedly charged ahead first.

The further this maid got from the courtyard, the more the wildness and freedom in her mountain child nature seemed to be released. Like a small leopard, she made several leaps and climbed onto the somewhat dilapidated wall, then jumped down with a whoosh.

A moment later, a bunch of tree branches emerged from over the wall, waving at them boldly.

You Weixuan beamed, “Good, no problem. Let’s go over.”

Murong Yi helped her leap onto the wall. What met their eyes was Xiao Ying’s smiling face and a large patch of lush green trees. Xiao Ying was sitting in a tree, smiling at them.

The sunlight was dazzling, her face blurred in the dappled tree shadows, but her smile was extremely bright.

She reached out to You Weixuan, helping her onto the tree and tightly grasping her wrist, then smiled at Murong Yi: “You don’t need help—just jump down.”

The grove was extremely dense and could easily support several more people. Xiao Ying also instructed, “Jump onto the tree trunk, otherwise if you fall down, there’s a pit below—be careful not to sprain your ankle.”

Murong Yi smiled and jumped down.

Just as he jumped down.

You Weixuan’s hand, grasped by Xiao Ying, suddenly tightened.

But light began to shine in Xiao Ying’s palm.

That light circled like a swimming dragon in her palm, trailing a bright purple light arc. Wherever it passed, the sky full of tree leaves shattered into dark and light green powder, covering the sky and blocking the sun. At the same time came a soft crack.

Murong Yi, who had just been standing on the tree trunk, was blinded by the leaf powder, then felt the ground give way beneath his feet.

He instinctively reached out to grab the wall behind him, but that bright purple light arc whistled and turned, hitting the wall with a thunderous crash. The entire section of wall instantly collapsed.

The tree had already turned to powder, the wall had also disappeared. Air currents swirled with the bright purple light, forming a huge pale green whirlpool. At the end of the whirlpool, one could vaguely see a vast hollow of black far below, emanating the smell of rotting leaves and silt accumulated over years, with white bones faintly visible floating within.

There had only been one tree growing against the wall here, which because of its particular density had given the impression that vegetation surrounded the area. And there was indeed a pit below, but not the small pit that Xiao Ying had casually described that would only cause a sprained ankle—but a deep and wide sinkhole!

No wonder there were no guards in this area.

Murong Yi had nothing left to hold onto around him and fell straight down.

Before he fell, You Weixuan had already been embraced around the waist by Xiao Ying and shot upward. Like a rocket, she carried a person and still shot up a full two zhang in height, like an arrow piercing through clouds, stirring the green mist to spiral skyward with her form like a dancing girl’s spreading green skirt.

The next moment she grasped the thin tip of a tall tree that barely peeked out from inside the courtyard, carrying You Weixuan as they swayed gently in mid-air. The green mist scattered beneath their feet, raining down in emerald colors.