Ruyang’s forces were weak and could not withstand the harassment. The Northern army spent one day breaking through the city, then another half day driving their troops further south to reinforce their main forces that were locked in a standoff with General Wei’s army near Nanyang. The northern and southern countries tore off their masks of pretense, disregarding their scholars still engaged in friendly negotiations in Jianye City. Along the border, war spread like wildfire consuming dry grass.
Refugees fled south along all the roads leading from Ruyang to other commanderies like Yingchuan and Nanyang.
As the snow and wind intensified at night, Fan Silang’s group, fleeing southward, finally found a City God temple for rest, several dozen li from Ruyang. This time Fan Qingchen didn’t need to be polite – those in carriages jumped down, those on horseback rolled off. The wilderness cold had left everyone delirious and seeing spots. Upon seeing the pitch-dark temple, they swarmed in like locusts.
Luo Lingyu had also suffered greatly from the jolting journey. When dismounting, her legs shook so badly she could barely stand. Though exhausted, she still wouldn’t even glance at the commoners who had rushed into the temple and claimed the most comfortable spots while starting fires, as she entered with Fan Qingchen.
Fan Silang’s two servants went to interact with those people. Fan Qingchen found a corner for himself and the young lady to sit, his eyes filled with worry. By his thinking, they shouldn’t have stopped but should have pressed on southward in one go. But the oxen and horses were exhausted. If it were just him and Luo Lingyu, they could have killed the worn-out animals and gotten new ones… but with so many people together, Fan Qingchen couldn’t afford to offend everyone.
Fan Qingchen turned his head to look at Luo Lingyu with suspicion, his gaze inevitably falling to her abdomen. The young lady sat properly behind him, showing signs of fatigue on her face, but her eyes were exceptionally bright. She appeared so frail a breeze could knock her over, but Fan Qingchen, who knew Luo Lingyu well, could see his sister’s excitement—
She wasn’t tired at all.
…And the child in her womb was unharmed?
After such a long journey, where did Luo Lingyu get such good spirits from?
Before Fan Qingchen could probe further, a figure suddenly approached. He immediately tensed up, gripping the sword at his waist that was originally just for decoration, and turned his head coldly to see a pretty commoner woman walking over with a bowl of hot soup. The woman was startled by Fan Qingchen’s cold gaze, took a moment to collect herself, and then crouched down with a bashful expression.
The woman said softly, “Would the young master like some? I can serve you…”
Fan Qingchen immediately saw through this woman’s intentions and sneered, “Not necessary.”
The woman felt awkward under his gaze but bit her lip and looked up defiantly. In her view, fleeing south like this, someone of her humble origins could only be saved by attaching herself to a noble young master. She considered herself beautiful and wanted to serve with her looks, wondering if this young master simply didn’t understand… As she raised her eyes to speak more clearly, she suddenly froze, because looking past this Fan gentleman’s shoulder, she saw the noble lady sitting behind him, protected by Fan Silang.
Since they fled south from Ruyang, Fan Qingchen had given them most of the carriages and horses. Not only did they have shelter from the wind, but there was also dried food and sesame cakes in the carriages to save them from hunger. As for Fan Silang himself, from start to finish, he escorted that noble lady. The lady shared his horse, and throughout the journey, her figure was covered by Fan Qingchen’s great cloak – those following behind barely got a clear look at her.
The few who had caught glimpses said the noble lady was plain-looking, likely only protected by that gentleman because of her high status.
People spoke of this with jealous resentment.
But now everyone was crowded in the dilapidated City God temple, with fierce wind and snow outside while smoke rose from the fires within. As the hazy firelight shone through, the dust that had covered this noble lady’s face all journey long had fallen away, revealing her beautiful countenance in the darkness.
Her skin was like porcelain, and her downcast features were exquisite.
Luo Lingyu sat quietly in the back. Though she had tried her best to conceal her figure, her body still emitted a faint glow. That gentle light, like the soft snow of the Jiangnan region, made her different from everyone else in the temple.
So this noble lady’s true face was so beautiful… no wonder the young master was unmoved by her advances.
Sensing this woman’s gaze, Luo Lingyu suddenly looked up. Her cold, black eyes made the commoner woman uncomfortable once again.
The woman awkwardly offered the bowl: “Would the lady like some?”
Luo Lingyu was wary of all strangers encountered on the road. Vigilance was her normal state: “No.”
The commoner woman sensed these two nobles’ unfriendliness toward her, feeling quite hurt and embarrassed. She smiled slightly, and when Fan Silang’s two servants returned, she stood up somewhat uncomfortably, holding the bowl of hot soup she had originally intended to offer and returned to the other commoners.
Meanwhile, Luo Lingyu lowered her face carelessly, her hand randomly touching the ground before smearing more dust on her face.
She felt Fan Qingchen watching her, but she ignored him.
Fan Qingchen wasn’t offended; though she wanted to escape his marriage, he saw many shadows of years past in her. Memories flashed through his mind as Fan Qingchen laughed softly: “Sister, your manner just now reminded me of when I first saw you. You were still a child then, dressed like a little beggar, so thin and weak that a breeze could blow you over. You came to Nanyang seeking refuge with the Luo family. I only glanced at you on the street, and you immediately sheltered Wan’er behind you vigilantly.”
Fan Qingchen smiled, “Who wanted to look at your sister – you didn’t know how attractive you were, all covered in thorns like that.”
She was much more destitute then than now, the girl’s face so thin it was practically skin and bones. But her eyes were bright, both vigilant and fierce. That vigorous vitality made him remember this little beggar from his very first glance. How could he have known then that such a child would grow up to be the current beautiful and bewitching Sister Luo?
Luo Lingyu mocked: “So you like little girls. I was an ignorant little girl, satisfying your abnormal desires, is that it?”
Fan Qingchen gave her a cool look.
He knew she was trying to provoke him, but having been angered by Luo Lingyu many times, he had developed some immunity. Her casual provocations were no longer enough to make him angry. Fan Qingchen showed a hint of daze as he said: “…Even now you haven’t changed at all. You act so proper normally, but at times like this, you still see everyone as bad people. You don’t trust anyone who gets close to you.”
Fan Qingchen: “Sometimes I wonder what hardships you must have endured when you fled from Ruyang to Nanyang back then, to develop such a personality.”
Luo Lingyu’s eyes suddenly contracted, her expression changing slightly. She couldn’t help but look at him – he sat slightly in front of her, his profile gentle, his temperament like an orchid, his lowered eyes concealing an implicit frivolity and madness. He was the type of gentleman she would like, and she had received his protection before, yet they had come to this point.
Fan Qingchen wondered: “…How strange, why do I keep thinking about past events these past two days? Must be because your wanting to escape the marriage drove me mad.”
Without meaning to, he had spoken of things that made her anxious.
Luo Lingyu’s body tensed, her fingers curling to grip her skirt, loosening then tightening again. After a while, Luo Lingyu pleaded softly: “Lord Fan, can’t you let me go? There are so many beautiful women in the world, why won’t you let me go? How have I offended you, can’t I make it up to you in other ways?”
Fan Qingchen smiled slightly.
He turned his head to look at her, his eerily bright eyes staring at her as he leaned forward slightly, forcing her to back up against the wall. Fan Qingchen sighed: “Here you go again… Sister Luo, I certainly cannot let you go now. I’ve watched you grow up since you were ten years old – how can you say your current self hasn’t been influenced by me at all? No other lady is as good as you. Other ladies faint at the slightest scare from me, they’re no fun at all. But Sister Luo is different.”
He curved his lips: “Not afraid of being broken by me.”
Luo Lingyu glared at him angrily, her bright eyes dazzling. No matter how dirty her face was smeared, how could it hide her natural beauty?
Fan Qingchen’s arm moved slightly, finally turning his shoulder to embrace her stiff body. The two servants nearby immediately reddened and blocked off this corner, while Fan Qingchen pressed his handsome face against the lady’s shoulder, lightly sniffing the fragrance in her hair. The faint floral scent gave him a sense of satisfaction in possessing her. Fan Qingchen said quietly: “Does he often hold you like this? You’ve been intimate with him, slept with him, you smell like him all over. When did he first sleep with you…”
Luo Lingyu fearfully pushed him: “You’re mad! Let me go…”
But Fan Qingchen gripped her hands, not letting her struggle. His eyes were red with jealousy as if he wanted to strangle her. Yet with the lady struggling fiercely in his arms, trembling all over, he could only laugh helplessly: “Alright alright, don’t be afraid, I won’t say more, won’t mention him… You can make trouble with me, argue with me. Hit me, scold me, do as you please. You getting involved with Lu Yun, wanting to escape the marriage… I won’t get angry about any of it, I won’t take revenge on those around you, won’t kill them. I was so scared before, thought you would never come back… it’s good that you’re back.”
Luo Lingyu opened her mouth to retort.
Fan Qingchen suddenly asked: “You’re not pregnant, are you, Sister Luo?”
Luo Lingyu: “…!”
Her face went pale as she realized that throughout this long journey, though she lacked strength, her body had shown no discomfort at all. Fan Qingchen had indeed noticed.
Fan Qingchen chuckled softly, looking down at her threateningly: “Sister still likes to deceive people so much. Let me hold you for a while, hmm?”
So Luo Lingyu remained stiff in his embrace, not daring to move. He had already seen through her lack of pregnancy; if she resisted too fiercely and directly angered him… Luo Lingyu closed her eyes, reciting a calming spell in her mind, trying to ignore this gentleman who frightened her.
However, this didn’t last long – just as they were quietly embracing, the people in the temple suddenly felt tremors coming through the ground. Everyone’s expressions changed drastically. Some quick-thinking people immediately jumped up from around the bonfire and desperately ran toward the door, seemingly trying to escape. But the next moment, horses whinnied outside, and the door was suddenly kicked open with a “bang” from the outside.
“Ahhh—” Amidst screams, the young men who had just run out of the temple door were kicked in the chest from outside. Under everyone’s horrified gaze, their bodies traced a long arc through the air, blood spraying from their mouths!
Bang, bang, bang – several people crashed to the ground, and those resting in the temple immediately stood up. Fan Qingchen also rose, shielding Luo Lingyu behind him, his body tense. As all eyes watched, the temple door swayed, and like dark clouds pressing down from above, dozens of northern soldiers in armor burst in. Wind and snow surged in behind them, scattering on the ground like white moonlight, vast and desolate.
People panicked: “The enemy army is here!”
It was the advance guard.
They blocked the door, their gazes dark as they stared at the refugees in the temple. Their faces were stern as both sides faced off. On Fan Qingchen’s side, seeing them standing imposingly with hands on their weapons, the smell of blood overwhelming, the atmosphere turned harsh. Just as everyone was despairing, thinking the Northern army would begin a massacre, they saw the others merely give them a casual glance, as if not particularly interested in killing.
The leader of this group of soldiers grinned, saying with a chilling smile: “We’ve had our fill of killing today, so we won’t kill you. How about you all pay a life-preservation fee?”
Everyone was stunned, then immediately: “Of course, of course.”
The Northern soldiers, satisfied: “Oh, and another thing – it suddenly started snowing, and we can’t see our marked path anymore. Does anyone among you know how to get to Nanyang?”
Luo Lingyu and Fan Qingchen’s master-servant group stood quietly in the corner without making a sound. Fan Qingchen’s arm suddenly tensed, his expression changing slightly. Nanyang was the Fan family’s territory, and the Northern army wanted to go there. The two servants tightly gripped their master’s arm, not letting him step forward to die. While Fan Qingchen was still shocked and angry, some eager people had already approached, saying they were willing to lead the way, begging the soldiers to spare their lives.
The Northern soldiers’ contemptuous, boisterous, and arrogant laughter echoed endlessly as they patted the heads of those who came to curry favor, like patting dogs: “As long as you lead the way well, we won’t kill you.”
But the Northern soldiers’ desires were not so easily satisfied.
They sent men to search for money and valuables, stuffing them into their belts, acting like thugs without a care, but no one dared hide when they were looked at. The temple became somewhat chaotic, with some ladies’ crying voices heard. When two soldiers searched near Fan Qingchen, he calmly handed over two silver yuan to buy the lives of his four people.
However, the two soldiers didn’t leave, their malicious gazes falling on the lady behind Fan Qingchen. That lady kept her head down, her face hidden behind the gentleman in front of her – the more she tried to hide, the more curious they became. The soldiers took two steps forward, their probing gazes fixed on that lady, but were again blocked by Fan Qingchen’s body.
Fan Qingchen, face tense, handed over two more silver yuan.
The soldier bit down on the silver yuan – in the silvery light, he left a tooth mark on the coin. It was pure silver! The two soldiers were delighted, giving meaningful looks at these people’s clothes, which were much more luxurious than ordinary people’s. But having received the silver, they didn’t ask or look further, turning on their heels to walk away, letting Luo Lingyu go.
This site had just breathed a slight sigh of relief when the next moment, a woman’s piercing scream rang out in the temple: “Ah—”
Luo Lingyu was stunned, her feminine intuition making her suddenly look up in the direction of the scream. She saw the leader of the soldiers dragging a woman, pinning her beneath him. The woman sobbed miserably, struggling and screaming, her face receiving several harsh slaps. The leader undid his belt, mercilessly forcing apart the woman’s legs…
That woman was someone they had met – the commoner woman who had tried to curry favor with Fan Qingchen and Luo Lingyu earlier.
The world was treacherous, and as the woman was being so brutally abused, not a single person in the temple moved.
Luo Lingyu felt suffocated in her chest, unable to breathe. Her fingers trembled in her sleeve as she heard the woman’s cries, trying desperately to look away and pretend not to know. Who would have thought that the woman being pinned down by the man would cry out wretchedly: “Don’t touch me, don’t touch me! I’m not the most beautiful… yes, yes! We have someone who’s the most beautiful, it’s her! It’s her! Go touch her instead, she’s especially beautiful!”
Like lightning, the leader suddenly turned his head, following the finger of the woman beneath him to look at Luo Lingyu standing behind Fan Qingchen.
Luo Lingyu: “…!”
The woman pinned under the man covered her face and wept, her trembling finger resolutely pointing at her. The woman couldn’t face her but had thrown the flame her way. The leader looked over and indeed saw a gentleman shielding a woman. Though he couldn’t see her face, the leader stood up and strode over.
In the flickering firelight, the noble lady’s face behind the gentleman appeared and disappeared in shadow…
He carelessly pushed aside Fan Qingchen, this ordinary scholar, to look at the lady against the wall. He saw that though her face was covered in dust, the skin of her neck was like jade and porcelain, the gold and jade pendants below her ears swaying like rippling water, those layers of light and shadow stirring bestial desires… The leader’s eyes fixed straight ahead as he reached out his hand, not expecting a cold flash of steel to come from the side as a sword thrust forward!
Fan Qingchen shouted fiercely: “Kill!”
With one hand he grabbed Luo Lingyu, pulling the frightened lady behind him, while his other hand wielded his sword to slash at the leader’s arm. At his command, the two servants protecting him leaped up simultaneously, coordinating with their master to draw their swords and attack. Three powerful strikes came at the leader, forcing him to stagger backward.
The Northern soldiers in the temple all drew their weapons at once: “How dare you resist! Brothers, kill them!”
The ordinary refugees in the temple were terrified, rolling and falling to the ground: “We’re not involved, we’re not involved, don’t kill us…”
But once swords are drawn, they must taste blood. The delicate balance in the temple was broken, and the Northern soldiers showed no mercy, killing everyone around them. The leader, after his initial surprise, picked up his weapon, sneered, and attacked Fan Qingchen.
Fan Qingchen had to protect Luo Lingyu, which was quite inconvenient.
The blade flashed majestically, cutting into his arm.
The two servants: “Young Master!”
They both rushed forward together to catch their master who had been kicked in the chest by the military officer. Seeing the wound on their master’s arm staining his robe red, seeing their master’s pale face, the two servants were shocked and angry: if their master was injured under their protection, the Fan family would not spare them!
It was all that damned Lady Luo’s fault!
What kind of love potion had Lady Luo given their master – if it weren’t for her, they wouldn’t be fighting these brutal men tonight!
Clang! Crash!
Weapons clashed, metal striking metal, while on the ground vast snow stretched endlessly, and in the City God temple, common people cried out in fear, scattering in all directions!
That military officer was extremely strong, and this entire advance guard of the Northern army was stronger than them. Fan Qingchen could initially hold onto Luo Lingyu, but after his arm was injured, he could barely defend himself, let alone hold onto her. Luo Lingyu was pushed away, with Fan Qingchen blocking in one direction to keep that soldier from reaching her.
The two servants desperately protected him!
But the enemy was so fierce!
The battle was already one-sided – his injured arm became increasingly difficult to raise, corpses littered the ground, fewer and fewer people remained alive, and steps became increasingly difficult. Forced to retreat step by step by the leader, seeing stars, Fan Qingchen’s face dripped with cold sweat as he gritted his teeth: “What are you two doing following me? Go protect Sister Luo!”
They were hopelessly outnumbered.
The longer they dragged this out, the more serious the danger to their master’s life became. Fan Silang’s vision was already going dark in spots, his arm growing numb. Suddenly, he heard the two servants say softly “Forgive us” before directly reaching out to strike his pressure points.
Fan Qingchen’s body froze: “You—!”
He was lifted off the ground as the two servants grabbed his arms and plunged into the snowy world outside the door. As the soldiers behind tried to chase, one of the two servants reached out and threw a corpse in their way, blocking them for just a moment. They had struck their master’s pressure points, and ignoring Fan Silang’s angry curses, they leaped several zhang away, escaping this place, calling out loudly—
“Lady Luo, may fortune be with you!”
…
Everyone in the temple: “…”
The abandoned Luo Lingyu’s face was pale: “…”
But she reacted extremely quickly – while even the Northern army’s leader was stunned, she suddenly jumped up from the corner and ran outside. Stepping over blood and corpses, Luo Lingyu raised her voice to shout at those still alive in the temple: “There are horses outside! Everyone quickly escapes, take care of yourselves!”
At this crucial moment, as the lady ran, her great cloak spread open, her long hair like clouds, brushing past her face.
Her features inadvertently swept past everyone’s eyes – black eyes and snow-white skin, the fleeting beauty of an exceptional lady, making the reaching leader’s whole body shake as he stared, dumbfounded.
Those who had reacted and gathered their courage heard her and suddenly understood, running desperately toward the temple door.
The Northern army leader saw these people scatter like birds and beasts, blocking the exit path, and separating him from that beautiful lady he had first laid eyes on. He cursed loudly and strode out in pursuit. Outside the temple, hoofbeats rang out as people fled in all directions! The pursuing Northern soldiers looked up to see, in the vast snowfall, among the many jolting figures on horseback scattering in all directions, one in red robes struggling to stay on her horse.
The leader’s eyes lit up: “Heh, interesting. The little beauty has quite a wild spirit.”
He raised his arm and shouted: “Chase!”
…
At the same time, with iron horses in ice and snow, and glaciers breaking through the mist, the mighty Southern army marched north. The cold snowy light of the black night illuminated the faces of Lu Yun and Liu Mu at the front.
All along their northward march, they saw corpses strewn everywhere.
Reaching the temple, they found half dead or wounded.
As Prince Liu Mu of Hengyang was still analyzing people’s descriptions of the previous battle, he saw Lu Yun’s expression change slightly before turning to leave. After a moment’s surprise, Liu Mu followed. He heard Lu Yun say softly—
“I don’t know who that gentleman was, but that lady…”
“That lady they spoke of must be Lingyu.”
How many ladies in the world could be as calm as she was?