However, in Chaoyang City, probably only She Tianlin truly welcomed Ming Yi.
As soon as they arrived at the docks of Chaoyang City, their beast carriages were surrounded by imperial guards. People from the inner court came with tokens to receive them but without much enthusiasm. They merely said coolly, “There’s still over half a month until the August competition. You’ve arrived a bit early.”
The morning sun was rising, bathing the entire city in golden light. Everyone was struggling to open their eyes, so no one retorted.
Ming Yi walked among them, head lowered, her appearance unclear to others.
However, as soon as they reached the inn, she immediately received a summons from the Rear Mistress.
Ming Yi looked at the familiar herald, and after hearing his message, she laughed, “Knowing she’s waiting to kill me, how could I be foolish enough to deliver myself to her doorstep?”
It had been a long time since they last met, and the once obedient Ming Xian seemed to have become a different person. The herald was surprised but still spoke as sternly as before, “This is the Rear Mistress’s order.”
“I’m now from Mu Xing City. What does your Rear Mistress’s order have to do with me? Must I obey?” She sneered, “According to protocol, I should first meet with your Lord.”
“Are you threatening the Rear Mistress?” The herald was displeased.
Ming Yi laughed, “Why do you think I’m here? Surely you understand?”
If not for the Rear Mistress’s threats, she’d still be enjoying flowers in Feihua City.
The herald couldn’t argue with her and condensed his face, “The Rear Mistress orders that if you don’t go, Ming An will be beheaded in the marketplace.”
“Very well. If she pushes him out front, I’ll immediately enter the inner court to see the Lord,” Ming Yi clapped her hands. “Using her entire family to accompany Ming An in death—I’d say I’ve done my best.”
“You!” The herald was furious. “There were rumors before about you betraying the city, but I didn’t believe them. Now I see it’s true. You’ve become so brazen!”
“The brazen one is you,” Ming Yi stood up, looking at him coldly. “It was you who always rebuked me, you who trampled on my achievements, you who privately withheld my rewards. Yet you’re merely a herald, and she’s just a vine clinging to royal power. How dare you look down on me?”
The herald was shocked, stumbling backward.
“Chaoyang City’s seven years of glory were won by my life-risking efforts. The Rear Mistress’s family’s wealth was exchanged for my abilities. You see me not kowtowing or saluting, and you lecture me about manners every time. Who do you think you are?”
“You…”
“I’m back now, not to beg you to release anyone but to warn you that if you don’t, I’ll drag you down with me,” Ming Yi clapped her hands maliciously. “I don’t have many days left to live anyway. Taking you down with me won’t be so lonely.”
“Madwoman! Madwoman!” The herald scrambled away in fear, bumping into Ji Bozai.
He didn’t recognize Ji Bozai but saw he was wearing Mu Xing City’s sky-blue misty robe. He immediately grabbed him and said, “This person is mad and will betray the city. Whoever shelters her will come to no good end!”
“Oh?” Ji Bozai smiled, snatching the fly whisk from the herald’s hands and transforming it into an ice-bladed weapon in an instant, pressing it against his throat. “The madwoman you speak of, does she want to kill people on sight like me?”
“…”
A short while later, the shocked and angry herald, who had fainted, was carried from the inn’s entrance to a carriage.
Qin Shangwu, watching from the window, turned back puzzled to ask the two people standing before him, “Who did this?”
Ji Bozai spread his hands innocently, “No one.”
Ming Yi nodded in agreement, “I can testify, indeed no one laid a hand on him. He doesn’t even have a scratch.”
“Then how did a perfectly fine official enter standing and leave horizontal?” He frowned. “People might think we from Mu Xing City don’t know the rules, acting recklessly on others’ territory.”
“That won’t happen. He snuck out and won’t dare to make a fuss when he returns,” Ming Yi said.
Ji Bozai nodded, “A small fry, Instructor. No need to worry about him.”
Seeing these two in cahoots, Qin Shangwu snorted a laugh, not bothering to expose them. He only said, “I’ve borrowed their nearby training grounds. The equipment here is much better than in Mu Xing City. Don’t wander off in the coming days. Focus on training.”
Luo Jiaoyang couldn’t help but interject, “Didn’t you say before that we shouldn’t boost other cities’ morale at the expense of Mu Xing’s prestige? Why are you praising them now?”
Qin Shangwu couldn’t beat Ming Yi or Ji Bozai, but he could certainly punch Luo Jiaoyang. He immediately threw a fist and snorted, “The moon may seem fullest where the heart is, but these tools are tangibly superior. Chaoyang City has won for many years, accumulating substantial strength. You lot should learn from them humbly!”
“Yes, sir!” They all responded in unison.
Unable to invite Ming Yi formally, the Rear Mistress naturally wouldn’t let the matter rest, especially after hearing how arrogant Ming Yi had become, even daring to threaten her. She immediately had the palace maids who had previously served Ming Yi dragged to the marketplace and executed one by one.
When Ming Yi received the news and rushed over, blood had already flowed across the ground. Several innocent palace maids, not particularly close to her, lay decapitated, their bodies carelessly wrapped and dragged away.
“What a sin! Look, there’s still one moving over there,” someone in the crowd commented, covering their mouth.
She took half a step forward, but suddenly, a realm of darkness descended around her.
Ming Yi looked up to see masked assassins from the Rear Mistress’s side approaching. Without a word, they moved to take her head.
Fighting in the marketplace was extremely risky, but it was also the easiest place to succeed. Ming Yi was poisoned; if they could act fast enough…
As they drew nearer, the assassin looked up and suddenly saw Ming Yi’s body shift sideways, revealing another handsome face behind her.
Bringing a pretty boy to the streets? — This was the assassin’s first thought.
But in the next instant, the “pretty boy” had grabbed his throat out of thin air, with such force that the assassin’s vision went dark immediately.
“Is this what you call formidable?” Ji Bozai tossed him aside, highly dissatisfied, and looked at Ming Yi.
Ming Yi shrugged, “It might not be much for you, but they’re quite troublesome for me.”
“You said you’d treat me to local specialties. Is this what you meant?”
“Of course not.” Glancing at the palace maids on the platform, Ming Yi pressed her lips together, then led him forward. “The local specialty is fried dough balls bigger than your head. I’ve never had them, but people in the inner court used to mention them.”
Ji Bozai followed behind her, lowering his eyes to look at her slightly clenched hand inside her sleeve. He said softly, “After all she’s done to you, you’re not still holding onto some admiration for her, are you?”
He didn’t specify who “she” was, but Ming Yi understood.
She turned back, looking at him deeply, and suddenly asked, “If you were me, what would you do? If you were me, how would you treat this person who has been a mother for many years but now wants to end your life?”
Slightly taken aback, Ji Bozai sneered, “You forget, I don’t have a mother.”