She no longer wanted to owe Xiao Rongyan anything.

After deftly using her sword to slice open the alarmingly heavy iron sandbags strapped to her calves, Bai Qingyan darted through the fierce battle raging in the main hall.

He watched Bai Qingyan’s figure as she parried the Western Liang maidservant’s lethal attacks, gripping his sword hilt tightly as he shouted: “Yue Shi, protect the County Princess!”

Her wrists had not yet fully recovered their former nimble flexibility, and her body was not as agile as before, no longer moving as swiftly as a swallow’s shuttle.

In facing enemies and killing… she relied entirely on her innate sensitivity to killing intent, her speed, and a heart full of solitary courage.

Bai Qingyan’s sword edge gleamed with dazzling cold brilliance. Her movements were so swift that they left people speechless with amazement. The sword left trailing shadows as it passed, followed by spurting blood—a truly heart-stopping sight.

Li Zhijie used his iron-bone fan to block the Sky Silk Sword, staring intently at Bai Qingyan and Li Tianfu. Veins bulged on his forehead as he shouted sternly: “You cannot kill Bai Qingyan! Doing this will only bring eternal doom to Western Liang! Don’t forget… You are Western Liang’s princess!”

Crazy dark light burst from Li Tianfu’s eyes as she sneered coldly: “Of course I know I’m Western Liang’s princess!”

She shifted her gaze toward Bai Qingyan’s fighting figure and screamed hoarsely: “That’s exactly why I want all of Western Liang to come avenge my A’Zhuo!”

Li Tianfu showed Li Zhijie no mercy whatsoever. She withdrew her soft sword and struck out, the flexible blade hooking like a serpent… directly attacking Li Zhijie’s neck. If Li Zhijie hadn’t quickly opened his iron-bone folding fan to block, his head would certainly have fallen to the ground, severed by the soft sword that could cut through iron like mud.

Li Zhijie’s eyes widened as he covered his neck where blood was gushing out profusely. Had Li Tianfu gone mad?! She had used a killing move against him!

While Li Zhijie and Li Tianfu were entangled in combat, Li Tianfu’s maidservants were either dead or captured. Li Tianfu was now isolated and without support.

“Capture Li Tianfu for me!” The Crown Prince gritted his teeth, his eyes dark to the extreme. “Dead or alive!”

Li Zhijie closed his eyes—there was no turning back the tide.

Today, even if this madwoman Li Tianfu died here, she would only be getting what she deserved.

The guards received their orders and all rushed toward Li Tianfu together.

“Bai Qingyan, I’ll kill you!” Li Tianfu shrieked as she raised her sword and charged straight toward Bai Qingyan.

The dazzling midday sunlight streamed in through the fully opened latticed windows. Bai Qingyan stood with sword in hand amidst the blood mist. Her tall, upright figure radiated murderous intent. Like a blade’s sharp edge, she was coldly pure, her deep, calm gaze profound and serene, inspiring such awe that none dared meet her eyes directly.

This was the first time these noble families of the capital had witnessed such carnage, and their first time seeing Bai Qingyan kill.

Though that woman wore no armor or military garb, her aura of killing intent possessed the magnificent force of thunder and lightning.

Sima Ping, a pampered dandy, felt his throat constrict as he gripped his companion’s hand tightly. It wasn’t hard to imagine what kind of heroic bearing this eldest Miss Bai must have possessed on the battlefield. Immediately, his heart filled with worship and longing.

They held their breath, waiting to see how Bai Qingyan would defeat Li Tianfu. Who would have known that Yue Shi, who had just handed over a captured Western Liang maidservant to the guards, would suddenly appear from nowhere, forcing the reckless Li Tianfu to retreat repeatedly with no power to resist, causing her to fall hard to the ground.

The guards swarmed forward, but Yue Shi still felt unsatisfied. With one sword stroke, he severed the tendons in Li Tianfu’s right hand, kicked away the Sky Silk Sword, and pointed his blade at Li Tianfu’s neck until it drew blood before finally stopping.

Li Tianfu’s face was deathly pale as she clutched her wrist tightly. Tears of unbearable pain flowed down her face as she glared through gritted teeth at Yue Shi, whose eyes held nothing but killing intent. She had seen such eyes before… so she knew that if she made any sudden moves, this guard would certainly kill her.

But she had failed to kill Bai Qingyan today, and failed to kill the Crown Prince as well. Even dying now would be dying in vain!

Without avenging A’Zhuo, what face did she have to meet A’Zhuo in death?!

Li Tianfu’s poison-laced eyes turned toward Bai Qingyan. Tears continuously blurred her vision until she could barely make out Bai Qingyan’s figure, but she had already carefully carved Bai Qingyan into her heart, into her very bones!

As long as she didn’t die, she swore to… exterminate Bai Qingyan’s entire clan!

Li Zhijie knelt submissively before the Crown Prince, saying: “Your Highness, this foreign minister failed to properly supervise the princess, which led to this incident! Please, Your Highness, considering that fortunately neither you nor the County Princess was harmed, spare Princess Pingyang’s life. After this foreign minister escorts the princess back to Western Liang, we will certainly give Your Highness and the Jin Kingdom a proper explanation.”

The Crown Prince sneered coldly: “Princess Pingyang and that eunuch who tried to kill the County Princess are truly deeply devoted to each other! Western Liang wanted to send such a princess into my Crown Prince’s residence! Simply outrageous!”

Li Zhijie closed his eyes, letting the blood continue gushing from his neck wound: “The princess was bewitched by that eunuch. I beg Your Highness, the Crown Prince, for the sake of our two countries having just signed an alliance, to forgive the princess! This foreign minister guarantees… we will certainly give Your Highness the Crown Prince and the Jin Kingdom a satisfactory explanation.”

As for explanations, they would amount to nothing more than reparations and territorial concessions.

The Crown Prince spoke with a taut expression: “Prince Yan, take your Western Liang princess back to the guest residence! I… will send heavy troops to guard the residence. I hope Prince Yan can understand—before you all depart tomorrow, please cause no more trouble!”

Li Zhijie closed his eyes and responded with humiliated acquiescence.

What had originally been a lively and festive wedding ended as a farce.

Li Zhijie and the others were escorted out of the Crown Prince’s residence under the “protection” of the Crown Prince’s guards.

Li Tianfu had her arms bound by Li Zhijie’s order and was escorted out by their Western Liang soldiers.

As she brushed past Bai Qingyan, Li Tianfu’s steps paused momentarily. She turned her head to look at Bai Qingyan, whose gaze met hers with composure. Li Tianfu sneered coldly, grinding her teeth as she spoke each word from her heart: “Bai Qingyan, if I don’t die, I will certainly take the lives of everyone in your Bai family to avenge my A’Zhuo!”

“Bai Qingyan awaits quietly.” Bai Qingyan nodded slightly, her indifferent attitude making Li Tianfu hate her to the bone.

“You just wait for me!” Li Tianfu’s hatred burned like raging flames as she lifted her foot to step out of the main hall’s doorway.

The Crown Prince snorted coldly: “If not for the fact that she’s Western Liang’s legitimate princess, she would already be a corpse right now!”

Xiao Rongyan picked up the iron sandbags that Bai Qingyan usually wore from the ground and handed them to his guard. He walked calmly to the Crown Prince’s side and respectfully returned the long sword he held with both hands.

Seeing Xiao Rongyan, the Crown Prince finally showed a smile between his brows. He accepted the long sword with a laugh, saying: “I didn’t expect Rongyan to have such excellent martial skills.”

Xiao Rongyan’s hands tightened slightly as he smiled while looking toward Bai Qingyan. With an air of great regret, he sighed and said: “How could I compare to the County Princess? I had originally wanted to play the hero rescuing the beauty to win a beauty’s favor, but unexpectedly had no such opportunity and nearly got injured instead.”

Xiao Rongyan shook his brocade robe that had been slashed by the dagger, seeming somewhat shaken: “The dagger was coated with poison that seals the throat upon contact with blood. It truly was a hair’s breadth away. I… am quite frightened in retrospect.”

The Crown Prince laughed heartily and moved closer to Xiao Rongyan: “I won’t tell the County Princess about your being frightened.”