Lu Weigui was still somewhat dazed at this moment. This hero looked ordinary in appearance, but had an unusual temperament. Without saying a single word, he had turned and walked away, not even giving him time to arrange men to assist. Was this person too individualistic, or too capable that he simply didn’t care whether anyone helped him?

Though puzzled in his heart, he couldn’t show it on his face. Lu Weigui immediately ordered his subordinates to hurry and follow.

Qin Yining, like Lu Weigui, knew that going out would only cause trouble for others, so she quietly waited here, holding her breath and listening intently to the sounds beyond the wall.

Soon, a burst of scolding came from just beyond the wall:

“Damn it! Where did these blind bastards come from! This is a place designated by the head of the Lu family. Not even a sparrow should be able to fly out. You’ve got the gall of bears and leopards – don’t you want to live anymore!”

“Go back and stay put obediently, and perhaps we’ll spare your lives. If you won’t listen to us and dare to force your way through, then there’s only death!”

Hearing them speak this way, Qin Yining’s heart lifted with worry. Mu Jinghu’s martial skills were indeed superb, but the other side had superior numbers after all. It wasn’t that Qin Yining didn’t trust Mu Jinghu, but incidents of “random punches beating the master” were not exceptional cases.

She didn’t hear Mu Jinghu’s reply, but in the blink of an eye, she heard a series of sounds from outside – fists and feet colliding and agonized screams.

Ji Yun was both curious and excited listening to this, wanting to watch the excitement but worried about Qin Yining’s safety.

Seeing her appearance as if scratched by a kitten, Qin Yining couldn’t help but smile: “Go take a look and come back to tell me the situation.”

Ji Yun’s face reddened, but she immediately nodded and ran lightly to the wall base, found a ladder and climbed up to see the situation outside.

With this look, Ji Yun was already struck speechless with amazement.

Where Mu Jinghu was, she could only see people falling like he was cutting melons and vegetables. The office bailiffs and runners followed behind Mu Jinghu with their blades, not even having a chance to act. Though Lu Heng’s rebel army was numerous, they couldn’t withstand Mu Jinghu’s martial arts dominance. In just this short time, they had already lost their fighting spirit and increasingly showed signs of defeat.

Ji Yun hurriedly told Qin Yining what she had seen.

A brilliant smile bloomed on Qin Yining’s pale face – the first most radiant smile in many days: “Excellent! Opportunity doesn’t wait – let’s take this chance to break out.” She turned to instruct Lu Weigui again, “Have people stay behind to guard the courtyard gate well, tell the women in the household not to go out easily, and arrange protection for them properly.”

“Yes, thank you for your concern, Princess Consort. This humble official will arrange it immediately.” Lu Weigui nodded excitedly, gave some instructions, then led his men to follow Qin Yining’s group out of the government office.

At this time, rebel soldiers lay scattered everywhere on the ground, with no living souls among them. The bloody smell was piercingly strong. Qin Yining frowned slightly but maintained her composure on the surface.

But Lu Weigui wasn’t as calm as Qin Yining.

This was the first time in his life seeing such a scene of corpses strewn everywhere. Moreover, those rebel soldiers had their necks twisted, spines broken, chests torn open with bare hands… there were all kinds of miserable ways to die. If not for saving face with so many people watching, Lu Weigui would have nearly jumped up.

Everyone fell silent at this moment, following behind Qin Yining as they moved forward, thinking to themselves how fortunate it was that this hero was on their side. If he had been arranged by Lu Heng, where would they have had the chance to defend the office? They would have been torn apart long ago!

Qin Yining naturally knew Mu Jinghu’s capabilities, but this was the first time she had seen him torture and kill opponents with such cruel methods. Mu Jinghu had a soft sword at his waist, but he didn’t use it, preferring to use his hands. Such violent yet satisfying slaughter not only chilled the enemy but made even their own people feel uneasy watching it.

Qin Yining suddenly remembered that she had just asked Mu Jinghu about Qiu Feishan, and he had already been very irritated then, hadn’t he?

He was perhaps taking this opportunity to vent his emotions.

Qin Yining sighed.

A small quarrel between the young couple could cause Mu Jinghu to have such a big reaction – since ancient times, heroes have had trouble passing the beauty barrier.

While lost in these thoughts, the group had successfully followed behind Mu Jinghu and left the government office.

At this time, the rebel soldiers arranged by Lu Heng had long since run away with their tails between their legs.

Mu Jinghu grabbed a handkerchief to wipe the blood from his hands, casually threw it away, and walked toward Qin Yining.

Lu Weigui and the others behind Qin Yining all took a step back in unison, their eyes full of fear.

Mu Jinghu seemed to pay no attention to others’ gazes and was too lazy to bother with them, only asking Qin Yining: “Shall we go seize the city gates now?”

Qin Yining nodded, her eyes full of worry. She wanted to ask what exactly had happened between Mu Jinghu and Qiu Feishan, but opened her mouth and ultimately swallowed back her questions.

Mu Jinghu seemed to sense what Qin Yining was thinking, but his expression was all hidden behind a thin mask.

Mu Jinghu turned and strode toward the city gate.

Lu Weigui immediately called to his subordinate bailiffs: “Follow quickly! Retake the city gate and resist the Tatars! If we let the Tatars enter the city, all the people in the city will be in danger!”

The bailiffs naturally understood this principle. They were all people of Huichuan, with families and children in the city, so they were naturally the most concerned about the survival of the local people.

Everyone marched mightily toward the city gate. The people were all hiding in their homes at this time. Even hearing the commotion outside, few had the courage to come out and look.

The people near the government office, smelling the heavy, pungent bloody smell in the air, were truly scared out of their wits.

Only those strong men who had been stirred up by Lu Heng to defend the city against the court’s forces were still fearlessly guarding the city gates.

Seeing the city gate right in front of them, Qin Yining said to Mu Jinghu walking ahead of her: “Don’t kill civilians here, lest we provoke public anger and make things inconvenient for us later. Also, ‘to catch the thief, first catch the king’ – we need to find Lu Heng’s whereabouts. If we capture him, we can learn about his deployment and know exactly what cooperation he reached with the Tatars.”

Mu Jinghu nodded: “I’ll first help these people take the city, then go search for Lu Heng’s whereabouts.”

“Lu Heng has many experts around him. You must be very careful.”

“Don’t worry, this won’t trouble me.” Mu Jinghu smiled and turned to step onto the stairs first.

Seeing that martial arts expert charging ahead, the bailiffs felt their blood boiling instantly. One by one, they drew their blades and charged up after him.

Qin Yining was carefully protected in the middle by Ji Yun, Jingzhe, Liao Zhibing and others. From here they couldn’t see the situation on the city wall, but they could hear screams and cries.

Before long, Qin Yining saw Mu Jinghu quickly stepping down the stairs.

“Is it finished already?”

Mu Jinghu nodded: “I’ve already bound all the ordinary people up there, and the city has been retaken. But looking at the current situation, something seems not quite right.”

“Something’s not right?” Qin Yining’s voice rose slightly.

Mu Jinghu said: “This city gate was retaken far too easily. Such an important place actually didn’t have many guards arranged by Lu Heng – mostly just strong men conscripted from the city and civilians who volunteered to defend the city.”

Qin Yining’s eyes sharpened: “When did this situation begin?”

“Since the Tatars launched their surprise attack on Duke Dingguo.”

Qin Yining lowered her eyes, her raven-feather-like long lashes casting two rows of small fan-like shadows on her pale face.

Her cherry lips pressed pale, and only after a long while did she say: “I have an unpleasant suspicion. The northern cities are probably all lost.”

Lu Weigui was currently leading people to clean up the aftermath on the city wall. Seeing only her own people and Mu Jinghu around her, Qin Yining said in a low voice: “Lu Heng obviously withdrew his main forces after the Tatars arrived. Those guarding this city wall are nothing but abandoned pawns. His real purpose was not to destroy the imperial mausoleum, but to lure the Tatars to this place.”

Silence was like winding vines, entangling everyone within, growing tighter and tighter.

They couldn’t imagine that the head of the Lu family, the former Earl of Loyalty, that noble gentleman as bright and clear as wind and moon, would now do such a thing as luring Tatars into Zhou territory, completely disregarding the people’s lives.

The more precious this person’s character had been in Qin Yining’s heart before, the more shattered that image now became.

A person shouldn’t be so selfish as to disregard others’ lives to achieve their goals. Moreover, what Lu Heng calculated wasn’t just one life. Starting from blowing up the imperial mausoleum – no, perhaps even earlier – he had wanted to repay blood with blood, using innocent people’s blood to compensate for those lives lost in the Lu family when Li Qitian purged them.

“Princess Consort, what should we do now?” Ji Yun said somewhat anxiously, “This servant always feels this place is rather eerie. Do you think Lu Heng might bring people back for a surprise attack? Deliberately luring us here to capture you.”

“No.” Qin Yining said, “His purpose has been achieved, and the city’s people have been used enough by him. He won’t make any moves in the short term. He’s a smart man. He understands best the benefits of adding fuel from both sides and then sitting on the mountain to watch tigers fight.”

Just then, Lu Weigui’s excited voice came from the city tower, calling out loudly: “Open the city gates! Send scouts to report to Duke Dingguo that Huichuan County has now been preliminarily controlled. Request Duke Dingguo to lead his army into the city.”

“Yes!”

Everyone responded, and immediately someone went to the military camp outside the city to inform Ji Zeyu that he could enter the city at any time.

Qin Yining watched the string of living people being led down from the city wall by Lu Weigui’s men, tied up like dumplings, and her previously suspended heart could gradually be put at ease.

“Princess Consort, these are all people from the city. How should they be handled?” Lu Weigui came before Qin Yining and respectfully bowed.

Qin Yining raised an eyebrow and slowly walked past these hundred-plus people. Seeing that most were strong men with a small portion of women and elderly, she smiled and said: “You just helped Lu Heng’s rebel army to oppose Duke Dingguo, who was sent by the court to quell the rebellion?”

The common people all lowered their heads and pressed their lips together without saying a word, obviously the emotions stirred up by Lu Heng’s rhetoric had not yet subsided.

Seeing that no one spoke, Qin Yining smiled and said: “Good. Since you cannot recognize the wrongs you’ve committed, this Princess Consort will not be lenient with you. Only when the country exists can families exist. What good does collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country do for yourselves?”