Run.

Run.

The cloaked figure didn’t pursue to the end.

Because Young Marshal Pei was thick-skinned and tough, and utterly devoted to duty. When he was thrown down the low cliff and tumbled all the way into the Horizontal Halberd Army camp, he only suffered minor external injuries. When he climbed up, he learned that the Horizontal Halberd Army had achieved a great victory, but Yu Guangting had escaped under guard protection. A squad of Horizontal Halberd soldiers was pursuing him, while his subordinates were assembling the remaining forces, preparing for a comprehensive manhunt while also searching for their Queen who had disappeared from the battlefield. Hearing this, Pei Shu rolled up and charged out with his men.

The Young Marshal was full of blazing fire with no outlet for release—it was a time of extreme discomfort. Holding a torch, his wild nature exploded. If his subordinates hadn’t desperately stopped him, he would have ordered the mountain burned down.

When he led troops charging out, torches lit up the entire mountain. The cloaked figure hiding in the shadows immediately saw this. Always cautious above all else, he instantly felt that pursuing Jing Hengbo and Gong Yin at this time would be foolish behavior. Not to mention the mountain was full of Jing Hengbo’s people, there were also Linzhou noble private armies outside, plus Yu Kingdom prince armies rushing over. In the chaos of battle one could find ways to fish in muddy waters for assassination, but open pursuit was impossible.

He abandoned the chase, but was unwilling to let Gong Yin and Jing Hengbo have it easy. He immediately ordered another subordinate with similar build and clothing to continue following with men, while he quietly hid in the mountain forest.

Gong Yin actually wasn’t too worried about the cloaked figure behind them. If the cloaked figure could analyze the situation, he naturally understood even better. Tonight various forces had gathered—in such chaos, it was easiest to assassinate but also easiest to hide. What he worried about more was just the monster on his back who kept twisting around, shouting loudly about how the safe period was a loss.

Seeing each other again after a year apart, he gradually discovered that Her Majesty the Queen didn’t seem as easy to handle as before. Previously she appeared flirtatious but was actually indifferent—someone who wouldn’t apply herself was easy to deceive. But now, having suffered some unknown stimulus, her temperament had become unpredictable, cunning and treacherous, mixing truth and falsehood until even he found it difficult to be certain.

Moreover, she was becoming increasingly ruthless—saying she’d chop someone down, she’d chop them down; saying she’d swing a club, she’d swing a club. Quick, accurate, and merciless without hesitation. His neck still had a mark, and the back of his head had a shining bump.

Earlier he had actually fainted. The mountain forest was too dark, the angle wrong, and he couldn’t see clearly. At first he had truly been deceived, but in the moment before the club fell, he suddenly felt that the hands gripping him were slender and soft—clearly a woman’s. He immediately understood what was happening.

Understanding this, he naturally couldn’t circulate his true qi to drag her down with him. But with this moment’s hesitation, her club had already fallen without mercy. In the final instant he only managed to channel true qi to the back of his neck to block her powerful blow, so after just a short while, he woke up.

Upon waking he heard the four words “ovulation period”… mysterious yet awe-inspiring.

As Gong Yin ran, he pondered what this “ovulation period” meant. From her tone, she sounded triumphant and full of suggestive meaning, as if it were something good that couldn’t be mentioned openly. But her good things were often not good things for him…

Gong Yin was very worried and melancholy. Ever since encountering Jing Hengbo again, the situation seemed to have changed. He was thinking more and more, running more and more exhaustedly…

They had already left the mountain. Not far ahead were the Linzhou nobles’ private armies that Yu Guangting had arranged as backup at a distance. These nobles were essentially deceived by Yu Guangting—their sons were held hostage in the Horizontal Halberd Army camp. Yu Guangting had lied, claiming these hostages had all been killed by the Queen, driving these bereaved noble officials to grief and assembling troops to follow for revenge. Jing Hengbo had once ordered messengers sent to these people, explaining that the hostages weren’t all dead and inviting them to a banquet, but Yu Guangting had blocked the messengers and sealed off the information. Now these people gazed distantly at the flickering lights in the mountains, having received no signal from Yu Guangting and seeing none of the expected scattered fleeing Horizontal Halberd soldiers, they were all somewhat anxious.

Gong Yin, carrying Jing Hengbo, swept past this ambush force. He didn’t plan to mix in here, because if he wasn’t mistaken, if Yu Guangting escaped alive, he would definitely first seek refuge with this final reinforcement, and Pei Shu would certainly pursue with hostages. He didn’t want Pei Shu and Jing Hengbo to encounter each other now.

He worried that if he heard more about sleeping or not sleeping, he might freeze the fiery Young Marshal into an ice corpse.

The Queen on his back seemed to have adjustable drug effects—once they came down the mountain with people around, she stopped shouting and instead blew air behind his neck. Her breath was light and wanton, rising and falling in waves, accompanied by low “mm-mm” sounds. Like spring wind and flowing flowers, falling rain and mist—for someone who harbored love and was at the right age, these sounds and movements were deadly. Gong Yin inhaled, and beneath his clothes a thin layer of ice crystals appeared on his skin, putting on an ice armor first. But ice armor couldn’t reach certain parts, nor could it resist the waves of heat within his body. The ice formed and melted again, his clothes and pants gradually dampening…

Gong Yin had to run even faster—the faster he ran, the quicker his pants dried.

Passing this group of Linzhou private armies, ahead lay wilderness. The cleanliness-loving Gong Yin didn’t pause.

He couldn’t accept rolling around with her on a pile of leaves or muddy ground…

Suddenly a large expanse of dark moving shadows appeared ahead, and in the center of the shadows was a brilliant area of lights. Seeing brilliant lights on a plain road at this time was very strange—even Gong Yin couldn’t help stopping to look intently.

The shadows kept moving. Under the moon half-hidden by dark clouds, patches of blue light flashed—looking carefully, they were orderly spear points rising and falling like waves with marching steps. This was an army marching silently through the night.

At this time in this region, an army appearing near here must undoubtedly be Yu Kingdom’s two princes. But that brilliant patch of elevated lights was very strange—from a distance it actually looked like a magnificent building.

Hanging palace lanterns, decorated silk curtains, carved beams and painted rafters, pearls and jade everywhere. Through layers of embroidered curtains, alluring lamplight dimly showed, with graceful silhouettes seemingly projected elegantly on the drapes.

Except for being rather small, it looked just like a magnificent palace hall. This hall was also moving—looking carefully, it was mounted on iron plates, pulled by dozens of horses, surrounded and protected by heavy armies.

Gong Yin raised his eyebrows slightly, remembering some records from the Spider Web archives.

Yu Kingdom’s Great King’s second son, Yu Zhi, was a debauched libertine worthy of being called licentious. Extravagant and pleasure-seeking, domineering and dismissive of human life, reportedly with excessive energy, bedding ten women nightly. His palace had hundreds of beautiful concubines who still couldn’t satisfy his demands. He often toured his fief, taking whomever caught his eye. He also disliked doing things properly in bed, preferring various different places—under pines, by wells, kitchens, toilets, anywhere. His taste in women was also strange and varied—beautiful or ugly, fresh or experienced, constantly changing. When touring, for convenience of pleasure, he specially made one pleasure boat and one pleasure carriage—the former for waterways, the latter for land routes. The latter especially was reportedly a mobile miniature palace, gorgeous and noble, with all manner of equipment, even its own kitchen and bathing chamber.

It sounded contemptible and worthy of a dismissive laugh, but the Spider Web had a note after this person’s file: “Suspect all may be false pretense.”

In other words, they suspected this might all be an illusion.

Lustful by nature, bedding ten women nightly, but reportedly he was actually defective. Capturing beautiful women everywhere served first to conceal his defect, second to treat his defect.

Mobile palace, unlimited extravagance. But reportedly that carriage contained not just kitchen and bathing chamber, but countless deadly mechanisms.

Extreme ostentation was dangerous, but also protective coloring.

Gong Yin always trusted the Spider Web’s analysis and judgment.

The Queen on his back was rubbing and grinding again. She seemed to have also seen that peculiar carriage and thought it was a house, so she rubbed and hummed, “House, inn, sleep!”

Gong Yin whooshed and changed direction, but it was already too late. Several riders galloped over, the horsemen calling from afar: “Who goes there ahead! Halt!”

How could Gong Yin pay attention to such small fry? With just a finger flick, a row of ice spikes suddenly sprouted from the ground, stabbing at the horse hooves. Riders and horses tumbled.

Jing Hengbo turned back from Gong Yin’s back and smilingly snapped her fingers.

Under the flowing lights of the approaching carriage, her smiling face was bright as a flower, stunning the soldiers climbing up from the ground.

In a blink Gong Yin had swept away. No matter how strong human power was, it couldn’t contend with thousands of troops. He didn’t want trouble.

Those soldiers, seeing they couldn’t match him, didn’t dare entangle and quickly got up, running toward the army formation.

Their disheveled fall had been seen by the marching people. The singing and dancing in the carriage stopped, someone lifted the curtain and said lazily: “What happened? Did we encounter my brother?”

“Reporting to Your Highness,” a general said respectfully, “just passing travelers ahead.”

Yu Zhi looked up at the distance, his lips curling in a strange smile. Just then a team of scouts galloped over, reporting that ahead in Linzhou mountains, the Regent had reportedly been defeated and was being pursued by the Horizontal Halberd Army. The Linzhou private armies originally meant to assist the Regent had somehow suddenly switched sides. Now the eldest prince Yu Chong had reached the Linzhou vicinity and would likely soon encounter the Regent.

The accompanying officers were greatly inspired, all expressing they couldn’t let the eldest prince steal the glory—whether rescuing or killing the Regent should be controlled by the Second Prince. They should hurry ahead and compete with the eldest prince.

That strange smile never left Yu Zhi’s lips as he shook his head. “All fools! Is the Horizontal Halberd Army so easy to provoke? Since the Regent has been defeated, the Horizontal Halberd Army is currently at peak momentum. This army is led by Pei Shu with his explosive temper. Whether elder brother wants to rescue or kill the Regent, he’ll probably first have to ask this Young Marshal’s permission. The question is—will elder brother ask? If elder brother doesn’t ask, will Pei Shu allow it?” He smiled and wagged his finger. “So when these two meet, they’ll definitely fight. The Golden War God isn’t some random cat or dog. Elder brother is on a distant campaign while a famous general pursues with rainbow-like momentum—at this time, whoever encounters whom is unlucky. Why would this king join in?”

The generals were completely convinced, all bowing their heads in agreement. Yu Zhi smiled: “A great man assesses the situation and doesn’t act like a wild dog charging at every bone. Halt the army, camp here. Let’s wait until we see clearly which way the wind blows before deciding what advantage to seize!”

With one command, the army camped and the carriage also stopped. Yu Zhi didn’t even glance at those cavalrymen who had lost their horses, saying lazily: “Drag them away,” preparing to lower the curtain and continue his debauchery.

His “drag them away” meant execution. Everyone was accustomed to this and silently stepped forward. Those soldiers’ faces went deathly pale. One with a quick wit shouted: “Your Highness! We just encountered an absolutely beautiful woman! That woman was flirtatious and enchanting, with wanton behavior. Taking advantage of our unpreparedness, she stole our horses…”

The curtain whooshed open. Yu Zhi completely changed from his lazy expression, his eyes lighting up: “Who? Where?”

The soldiers breathed sighs of relief—His Highness loved women, especially unusual women. They were saved now.

The soldier pointed toward Jing Hengbo’s direction. Yu Zhi unhesitatingly waved his hand: “Invite her here!”

The soldier carefully reminded: “Your Highness, the other party seems troublesome…”

“Send out a thousand-man squad. This king will go personally—if we can’t invite her, tie her up and bring her!”

…

Gong Yin hadn’t gone far from the army. The woman on him was getting hotter and hotter, gripping him tighter and tighter, seemingly very dissatisfied that he had seen an inn but wouldn’t go stay there.

Gong Yin had to reach back to press her pressure points. Jing Hengbo was alert at this moment, whooshing and flashing away.

Gong Yin had to pursue. Jing Hengbo flashed again, this time backward—directly toward the army.

Her flash was quite fierce, retreating dozens of zhang. Behind her, Yu Zhi was spurring his horse forward when he suddenly looked up, his eyes going straight, sucking in a cold breath.

The thousand-man squad following him also collectively “hissed.”

Ahead, in mid-air, a long-haired woman suddenly appeared. In the wilderness the night wind was bitter, blowing her dress to cling tightly to her body. This glance captured under floating clouds and starlight, above long grass, the woman’s vase-like figure, straight slender neck and shoulders, willow-like waist, beautifully contoured hips, incredibly long straight-as-pipes legs…

Just a back view already showed an rarely seen good figure. Over a thousand gazes followed that figure as it landed. With a slight turn to the side—”Wow!”—what magnificent peaks and waves, continuous billows!

“Enchanting! Enchanting!” Yu Zhi’s gaze truly went straight—women with good figures didn’t necessarily have such assets, women with good assets were usually overly plump. A woman with such perfect proportions, slender where she should be slender, full where she should be full, could be called a human treasure!

More importantly, when she turned her head, intentionally or not glancing over, her gaze was hazy, her eyes like water. In that flowing glance, all the grass in the field seemed to bow down.

Everyone stared at Jing Hengbo. Yu Zhi’s gaze suddenly went straight—facing him swept a white-clothed figure, that qinggong…

The romantic prince’s eyes were fixed on the beauty, but his body began retreating—between women and his life, naturally life was more important.

He retreated, and Jing Hengbo also retreated.

With a backward flash, Jing Hengbo suddenly flashed into his embrace.

“Bang.” The Yu Zhi who only wanted to flee suddenly found his arms full of soft, warm fragrance.

Yu Zhi was startled, but didn’t joyfully take advantage as one might imagine. Instead, he immediately reached for his waist.

But Jing Hengbo’s movements were faster than his.

Suddenly turning around, she grabbed his collar and giggled: “Horse-wrangling man, you are mighty and strong…”

Yu Zhi stared up dumbstruck at the mighty her…

“Let’s take heaven as our canopy and earth as our bed…” Jing Hengbo sang as she carried Yu Zhi, heading straight for the “inn” without looking back through flash after flash.

Gong Yin stared dumbstruck at that departing figure—really drugged?

Really drugged?!

…

“Bang.” Jing Hengbo landed inside that magnificent giant carriage palace.

A burst of screaming—the women inside scattered in all directions.

Jing Hengbo giggled while gripping Yu Zhi’s collar, waving her finger toward the shadows: “Back off! Back off!”

Yu Zhi squinted his eyes and smiled at her. Jing Hengbo also squinted and smiled at him. At first glance it looked flirtatious, but looking carefully it was full of killing intent.

Listening to the sounds outside, she suddenly smiled sweetly: “Little thing, quite tasty…” as she leaned down.

Yu Zhi seemed to quite enjoy this rare scene of being molested by a woman, smiling to meet her.

Eyes met eyes, lips and lips drew continuously closer, separated by only a few inches…

Yu Zhi suddenly reached out to block.

“Clang.” Jing Hengbo’s dagger struck the small shield in his hand.

Both their weapons seemed to have suddenly appeared.

Both had spring passion on their faces, eyes rippling with feeling, woman above man below, gazing tenderly.

The dagger pressed against the small shield. Jing Hengbo raised her eyebrows, and after a moment, smiled.

“Good, good. Rumors are indeed just rumors. Yu Kingdom’s Second Prince, your debauchery seems rather inadequate!”

Yu Zhi also smiled, pushing his shield forward: “But sometimes rumors are also true. For instance, Your Majesty the Queen—you are indeed as beautiful and enchanting as the rumors say.”

Jing Hengbo chuckled, glancing outside, resting her elbow on his chest and saying in a soft voice: “I knew you could guess who I am. Those good at disguise are good at concealment. So do you think we should talk?”

“We should.” Yu Zhi immediately agreed cheerfully. “Being able to enjoy Her Majesty’s fragrant favor for even a moment more would be wonderful.”

“Sweet talker.” Jing Hengbo giggled and pinched his cheek, her tone alluring but her grip not light. Yu Zhi’s cheek immediately bruised.

Remarkably, his smile remained unchanged, as if he truly enjoyed it.

“Second Prince,” Jing Hengbo played with her dagger and smiled, “After I arrived in Yu Kingdom, though repeatedly harassed by your Regent, I’ve been quite considerate to you two princes. Especially you—I first sent you a great gift, and now I want to send you another gift. Why must you still have so many people outside eyeing us like tigers?”

“So that bone was a gift from Your Majesty to this humble king.” Yu Zhi smiled. “That certainly is a favor. Just for this point alone, this humble king will have the people outside stop obstructing that gentleman.”

“Don’t.” Jing Hengbo peeked outside—the soldiers had already formed battle lines, with Gong Yin breaking through them. “Let him tire out a bit.”

Once he was tired, she’d have her way with him. The Queen smiled very cunningly and lustfully.

Yu Zhi didn’t understand why the Queen suddenly looked so passionate and wanton, but even with his narcissism he didn’t dare think it was about him. He could only cough and ask: “But while Your Majesty’s favor also notified my brother, and now my brother has likely already subdued the Regent, what benefit can this humble king gain from this?”

“Naturally the throne.” Jing Hengbo blinked. “That bone is the most powerful evidence proving that the one currently sitting on the throne is a false king. That’s your real father’s hand bone. Your father was long ago assassinated in Linzhou by Yu Guangting in collusion with the Linzhou Yelu family, his bones dissolved in the secret chamber beneath Yelu manor. As long as the bones are verified in the golden hall, your deployment of troops becomes righteous and proper, and Yu Guangting will never rise again. And soon, your brother will also be defeated by Pei Shu. With Yu Guangting and your brother fallen, who else could be the great king but you?”

Yu Zhi smiled happily: “But will Yu Guangting definitely fail? My brother hasn’t been defeated yet either.”

“Yu Guangting has lost all his elite forces around him and is now under siege by you brothers—even if he doesn’t lose, he must lose. As for your brother, as long as I give one command, Pei Shu will naturally help you solve him.” Jing Hengbo’s smile deepened. After a pause, she added: “Of course, if you’re unwilling to cooperate, Pei Shu will also go help your brother.”

Yu Zhi laughed heartily: “Aren’t you afraid, Your Majesty, coming personally to negotiate, of having no return journey or becoming a hostage?”

“I dare come because I have confidence.” Jing Hengbo smiled. “Not to mention how Pei Shu would deal with you if you moved against me—even now, your carriage full of mechanisms and your thousands of troops couldn’t keep me here.”

Yu Zhi fell silent. He knew the Queen’s abilities—as long as she was in normal condition, nothing in this world could contain her.

Once they failed to reach agreement, she could choose him, but naturally could also choose his brother.

Now in this region there were three forces—Pei Shu, Yu Chong, and himself—each with their strengths, evenly matched. Once any two joined forces, the third would inevitably suffer. His idea of taking advantage had actually been seen through by this seemingly crazy and foolish queen.

And he didn’t dare take risks, because the golden seal for mobilizing court armies was with Yu Guangting, and border army generals were mostly Yu Guangting’s trusted men. He only had the three palace guards. Once he couldn’t achieve quick victory and was discovered by border armies, his three guards would have to stay here. He could only cooperate with the Queen, quickly resolve Yu Guangting and his brother, carry the bones to the capital, first gain courtiers’ trust and support, and seize the throne to have the initiative.

The Queen seemed to be taking risks, but was actually calculating every step, forcing him to be led by her.

“What does Your Majesty desire?”

“Three demands,” Jing Hengbo said with a smile. “First, before you ascend the throne, you must sign an agreement in the name of Yu Kingdom’s Great King. Reduce Yu Kingdom’s military by half, and within five years of ascending the throne, marginalize and ultimately eliminate the Yelu family. Also swear a heavy oath to never invade Dige under my rule.”

“That’s already three demands.” Yu Zhi smiled bitterly.

Jing Hengbo looked cunning: “As a vassal state, you should already be loyal to Dige. The Yelu family has controlled Yu Kingdom’s court for years—with them around, your throne won’t be stable. Plus this incident of assassinating your father—you were going to eliminate them anyway. So these three demands can only count as one.”

“Fine,” Yu Zhi sighed. “What about the second?”

“The second,” Jing Hengbo tilted her chin toward outside, “that fellow out there will present to you in the future.”

She guessed that Gong Yin’s infiltration of Yu Guangting’s side must have some purpose, though she didn’t know what. Since that was the case, she’d leave this opportunity for him.

“What if it’s an excessive demand?” Yu Zhi frowned.

“Don’t worry, he’s not interested in your throne.” Jing Hengbo looked contemptuous. “And for you, the only thing you can’t give up is this, right?”

Yu Zhi smiled, not getting angry: “Fine.”

“The third demand…” Jing Hengbo’s voice suddenly lowered, “Accompany me in performing a play, and swear to keep silent about it afterward…”

…

The carriage pulling the small palace suddenly began moving. Yu Zhi gave orders for the carriage to transfer to the rear army.

A quarter hour later, the carriage stopped behind the army, stopping behind a large tree, far from the army. Iron bars dropped from the carriage shaft, locking into the ground to stabilize the carriage and prevent swaying.

The soldiers saw from afar and thought nothing of it, even exchanging ambiguous smiles—His Highness had good fortune with women, another round of debauchery was beginning.

Sure enough, moments later, the brilliant lights of the small palace began extinguishing one by one, leaving only a bit of pink light, low and dim, revealing wordless allure.

The carriage body swayed slightly, with faint sounds of a woman’s delighted laughter. Moments later came Yu Zhi’s hearty laughter: “Wonderful… wonderful… there are still… such wonderful things in the world…”

Light cast graceful shadows on the gauze curtains, vaguely showing a woman’s elegant form slowly leaning down toward a man…

A long whistle.

Snow danced across the sky like starlight.

A white shadow charged out from the heavy army, like a meteor sweeping past a field of blue spear points, trailing gauze-like scattered snow behind.

Before the flying snow in the dark sky had settled, that figure had already rushed into the small palace.

“Bang.” A window was smashed open. Yu Zhi’s large figure was bodily thrown out, landing heavily on the ground and rolling more than ten zhang away.

From the small palace came lazy, slightly hoarse giggling laughter, then with a puff, the last trace of lamplight was also extinguished.

Yu Zhi was helped up from the ground by soldiers, staring at the carriage with an ambiguous expression. He really wanted to know what the Queen was planning to do, borrowing him for a performance and borrowing his carriage. Some thoughts were shocking and seemingly impossible, but looking at how this Queen acted, it didn’t seem entirely impossible either…

As he indulged in wild thoughts, he suddenly felt the letter in his chest and sobered up with a bitter smile.

The Queen had left a letter that he needed to quickly deliver to Pei Shu. They would join forces to first eliminate the Regent and elder brother. Even if he wanted to peek now, there was no time.

That woman had probably calculated this point, which was why she acted so boldly.

What a remarkable person…

Yu Zhi took one last look at that carriage, his eyes flashing with regret and unwillingness. Ultimately the realm trumped beauty. He carefully stored the letter, mounted his horse, and shouted: “Move out!”

…

“Bang.” The carriage shook.

Gong Yin smashed in, throwing Yu Zhi out. The lamplight puffed out, extinguished by the air current.

As he acted, Jing Hengbo seemed completely unaware, hugging a brocade quilt and rolling around on the carpet, giggling wildly: “So big… so strong…”

Gong Yin looked down at her, but she didn’t look at him. She squinted her watery eyes, her long black hair scattered, murmuring and humming, her long legs intertwining on the quilt…

The small palace suddenly became sweltering, with someone’s heart pounding loudly.

Gong Yin turned away, his back to her, reaching out to carry her on his back. Suddenly Jing Hengbo giggled and threw the quilt over him. When he threw off the quilt, the next thing that pounced over was Jing Hengbo herself.

Gong Yin tried to dodge but somehow couldn’t, banging against the carriage wall. Fortunately the walls were all padded with soft satin, causing only slight vibration.

Gong Yin sat with the soft carriage wall behind him and soft Jing Hengbo in front. Squeezed front and back by soft fullness, like ocean waves, like soft clouds, rippling in waves, the pressure made his heart seem sometimes full of blood, sometimes drained of blood.

Jing Hengbo climbed up clumsily, cupping his face with both hands and mumbling: “Handsome guy, smile, smile…”

Her palms were burning hot, so hot that Gong Yin was startled and quickly tried to check her pulse. But Jing Hengbo giggled and dodged away, her hand sliding down with a “rip”—his belt was cut.

Now Gong Yin couldn’t worry about taking her pulse either, quickly grabbing his waist garments. But just as he moved, Jing Hengbo suddenly jumped up, rolling her eyes and saying: “Wishy-washy! I hate wishy-washy the most! Not playing! Change people!” She turned and walked away.

Before she could take a step, a hand caught her.