Seeing Jun Beiyue unconscious and Situ Haonan’s hands covered in blood, Yelu Qianqian scrambled over in a panic, not even sure whether to tend to Jun Beiyue first or Situ Haonan.
“What happened here!”
“Where’s Ziqing! Where is she?”
Yelu Qianqian was so frantic her eyes welled with tears, utterly at a loss for what to do.
But then, Situ Haonan glanced up at her and suddenly smiled — a smile as if he’d been relieved of some burden, and yet also one of utter helplessness. He kept smiling, until at last he could hold on no longer, his vision going dark as he passed out entirely.
“Haonan!”
Yelu Qianqian cried out in alarm, rushing to support him — but Situ Haonan’s body was completely limp, without an ounce of strength, and she simply couldn’t hold him up.
With no other option, Yelu Qianqian frantically pulled out a wolf-fang-shaped whistle and blew it desperately, sending out a distress signal.
After the storm, large numbers of soldiers had been sent back to Akbachu and Mingsha Mountain to search for survivors and dig through the wreckage.
The moment the distress signal sounded, a good number of soldiers indeed arrived — though, unexpectedly, the one leading them was none other than the Eighth Prince of the West Jing royal family, Yelu Chenguang, who had once been Crown Prince Yelu Chenyi’s greatest rival.
Seeing who had arrived, Yelu Qianqian’s heart sank slightly. Though this Eighth Prince was born of a concubine, the forces backing him were nothing to underestimate — he commanded at least half the influence in the West Jing court.
While his elder brother had been alive, he hadn’t dared act too brazenly — but things were different now!
The moment Yelu Chenguang arrived and saw Jun Beiyue, Situ Haonan, and Bai Mengmeng, a complicated look flickered through his eyes, and he asked warily, “Imperial Sister, what happened here? Why is Prince Yao here?”
Yelu Qianqian glanced at him and said nothing more, immediately ordering a guard, “You — go fetch the royal physician, quickly!”
Then, turning to the others, “You three, each carry one of them, come with me, hurry!”
Yelu Qianqian had no idea who Bai Mengmeng even was — but she was saving all three of them regardless!
Yet, to her surprise, after she gave the order, no one moved at all!
“Imperial Sister, wouldn’t it be better to find out what happened before rushing to save them?”
Yelu Chenguang was clearly doing this on purpose — by the time you’d figured out what happened, the person would already be dead.
Even a three-year-old could see that the three people before them were in grave danger and couldn’t hold on much longer — they needed to be saved immediately, racing against time.
Yelu Qianqian had never been particularly good with words, but that didn’t mean she was afraid of Yelu Chenguang. She made an instant decision, pulling out a wolf-fang pendant and holding it high, saying coldly, “Whoever sees this token sees the Empress herself. Anyone who disobeys will have their entire clan executed to the ninth degree, no exceptions!”
The moment the crowd saw that wolf-fang pendant, they all gasped in shock!
This item had belonged to the late Empress herself. “Whoever sees this token sees the Empress; violators shall be executed to the ninth degree, no exceptions” — these very words had been spoken by the Emperor himself, at the Empress’s funeral.
The guards immediately dropped to their knees, not one of them daring to defy the order.
“Hurry up, now!” Yelu Qianqian snapped urgently, then turned a cold gaze on the furious Yelu Chenguang. “Did you think you’d be an exception? You — go fetch the royal physician and meet us there. Let me tell you now — if even one of these three dies, this princess will have your entire household buried alive with them!”
Yelu Chenyi was already dead, and West Jing had no shortage of other princes — so why did Yelu Qianqian still matter so much?
The reason lay in this: Yelu Qianqian was born of the Empress — the only child the Empress of West Jing had ever left behind for the Emperor.
The Emperor’s affection for her ran so deep that he might even pass the throne to her son, so long as Situ Haonan agreed to marry into the family.
A princess of such standing held a position in the West Jing royal house that towered far above any of the other princes — making her a threat to every single one of them.
Yelu Chenguang’s fists clenched in fury, but he had no choice but to comply!
Yet, just as he was about to leave, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind — what if Situ Haonan died? What if Yelu Qianqian died too?
What if everyone present died — wouldn’t that mean no one would ever know what had truly happened here?
Yelu Qianqian and Situ Haonan had returned from this victorious campaign specifically to contend with him for the throne — he’d wanted to eliminate them for a long time already. And now, this was the perfect opportunity!
The moment this thought struck him, Yelu Chenguang abruptly turned his head back. The guard who’d been about to leave froze in his tracks, and Yelu Qianqian too was struck with fear — they had all clearly seen the killing intent flash through Yelu Chenguang’s eyes.
The guards present all belonged to Yelu Chenguang — a single glance from their master, and they understood exactly what was expected. They immediately set down Jun Beiyue and the other two, retreating to the side, several of them even deliberately turning their backs, as if they’d seen nothing at all.
Yelu Qianqian went pale with fright, shouting furiously, “Yelu Chenguang, I’m warning you — take one more step forward and this princess will not let you off!”
“Oh? Princess Qianqian’s…if you could see Father Emperor again, perhaps… I might regret this. But I promise you, you will never see him again. Don’t you always tell Father how much you miss your mother? Well, today, as your loving brother, I’ll send you off to be reunited with her — let mother and daughter enjoy a nice little reunion!”
The moment he finished speaking, Yelu Chenguang drew his long sword — and then, unexpectedly, twisted the blade and thrust it straight at Jun Beiyue. “Of course, he has to die first! When Father sees his head, he’ll surely forget his grief over losing you — Father will thank me for it!”
With that, his sword drove straight toward Jun Beiyue. Without a second thought, Yelu Qianqian lunged forward—
Not toward Jun Beiyue to shield him, but straight at Yelu Chenguang. She threw all caution to the wind, hurling herself directly at the blade’s edge, sinking her teeth into his neck, biting down with everything she had, clamping on like a woman possessed.
She was the very image of a mad dog, biting until her mouth ran red with blood, and still she wouldn’t let go.
“Let go of me, you madwoman, you traitor!”
“Let go of me — this is all your fault, all because of you that West Jing has fallen to this state!”
“Yelu Qianqian, let go of me, or I won’t hold back any longer!”
…
Yelu Chenguang screamed in agony, thrashing wildly, but heaven only knew how vicious, how utterly resolved Yelu Qianqian was — she kept her teeth locked in place, as if nailed into his neck, impossible to shake loose no matter what he did.
The guards around them watched in horror, none daring to step forward and help — every one of them terrified of becoming Yelu Qianqian’s next target.
This woman had truly gone mad — it was terrifying!
At this rate, Yelu Chenguang would surely be bitten to death, alive.
Finally, Yelu Chenguang gradually stopped struggling, stopped shouting — and yet Yelu Qianqian still wouldn’t release her grip.
Her mouth was covered in blood, tears streaming down her face, her tear-filled eyes fixed on Jun Beiyue and Situ Haonan. The tears hadn’t stopped since this all began.
She was frantic, more anxious than anyone, desperate to find the royal physician!
But there was only so much she could do — she didn’t dare let go, not knowing what danger Situ Haonan and Jun Beiyue might face the instant she did.
All she could do was bite down, hold on, and never let go, no matter what.
She could only hope the rescuers would arrive soon, quickly — otherwise Jun Beiyue and Situ Haonan wouldn’t hold on much longer!
But suddenly, she remembered something. Still biting down on Yelu Chenguang, she turned her head to look back at Situ Haonan.
…