Taohua was startled and pulled on the reins, intending to flee. She was only joking, did he mean to take it?
An arrow whistled past her, its killing intent palpable, striking a man off his horse. With a clang, a dagger fell to the ground, skidding far away.
Bewildered, Taohua looked back at Li Jin on the ground and frowned. “What are you doing?”
With an arrow in his chest, Li Jin gasped for breath. He glanced at Shen Zaiye and sneered, “You still can’t bear to hurt her. Who is this act for?”
Taohua started, turning to look at Shen Zaiye. He waved his hand, and his army surged forward, surrounding her 300 men, leaving no escape route.
What’s going on? Taohua narrowed her eyes, looking at the dagger on the ground, then at Li Jin. Suddenly, she understood. “You were trying to kill me just now?”
Li Jin smiled bitterly. “You killed Suhe. Why shouldn’t I kill you? She was my wife and your sister, yet you killed her so easily!”
“You could have acted earlier,” Taohua said. “I’ve been off my guard around you this whole journey.”
Clutching his chest, Li Jin chuckled softly. “Taohua, I truly couldn’t bear to kill you. That’s why I hesitated for so long. I love you and hate you. I’ve spent most of my emotions in this life on you. How could I bring myself to harm you so quickly?”
“Enough,” Jiang Taohua said coldly. “You wanted to test whether Shen Zaiye was truly willing to sacrifice me or just putting on an act. Didn’t you already get your answer? Why pretend to be some tragic romantic now?”
Li Jin paused, breathing heavily. “Why won’t you believe in my feelings for you?”
“Because from start to finish, you’ve only been moving yourself, not truly wanting to be good to me,” Taohua smiled. “The dashing Li Gongzi, adored by women everywhere, yet devoted only to me, pining hopelessly, remaining faithful despite rejection. How poetic and tragic. Now that Jiang Suhe is dead, you come to kill the woman you love to avenge your wife. You struggle, you suffer, you rage – in all the world, only you embody both love and righteousness, touching heaven and earth. If future generations don’t write legends praising you, it would be a disservice!”
“You…” Li Jin coughed up blood in his agitation. “To think I still kept you in my thoughts, wanting to find an antidote for you. How can your words be so venomous?”
“Not as poisonous as Prime Minister Li’s heart,” Taohua looked at him, her eyes like ice. “If not for that arrow just now, wouldn’t your dagger have been in my back?”
He had always stayed close to her, their horses side by side. At first, she thought he wanted to protect her, but she had been too naive.
He and Jiang Suhe must have had some feelings, but this man never understood his own heart. Just as the fortune teller at the marriage temple said, he didn’t know how to cherish what was before him, destined for a rocky love life.
Li Jin laughed, blood flowing more freely from his mouth. He gritted his teeth and looked at her. “The person who loves you most in this world wants to kill you. Your life can’t be much better than mine…”
Shen Zaiye rode up beside Taohua and looked at the man on the ground. “You talk too much.”
“I’m not finished yet…” Li Jin smiled. “Didn’t Chancellor Shen conspire with others to kill her? I’d like to see what kind of fate your marriage will have!”
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Shen Zaiye drew another arrow. “Did I miss earlier? To give him so much time to talk.”
He was about to lose another arrow. Li Jin glared at him, but the pain in his chest became unbearable, and soon he sank into endless darkness.
Taohua silently looked at his corpse. Shen Zaiye glanced at her. “Why are you still standing there? I’m about to kill you.”
She turned to look at him. “What does my lord intend to do?”
“Do I have to answer just because you asked?” Shen Zaiye chuckled. “Wouldn’t that be too easy?”
With a wave of his hand, the soldiers behind him sprang into action, slaughtering her 300 men one by one!
“Shen Zaiye!” Jiang Taohua gripped her reins tightly. “You just said you’d let me go!”
“That was then,” Shen Zaiye said expressionlessly. “I’ve changed my mind now.”
Li Jin’s sudden appearance had disrupted his plans. With over 300 witnesses, how could he let them live? Zhan Lu’s men understood his intentions well, only harming those around her without touching her, making a show of killing everyone while leaving Qing Tai a path to protect his master.
“Master, run quickly!” Qing Tai shouted, shielding Taohua as they fled through a gap in the crowd.
Shen Zaiye watched her direction. She rode away on horseback, looking back at him once, her eyes full of confusion and surprise.
He smiled faintly, then completely wiped out Zhao’s 300 soldiers without a single survivor. He glanced at Li Jin’s corpse.
“He was a devoted man,” Shen Zaiye said. “Zhan Lu, go bury him. He was Zhao’s Prime Minister after all.”
“Where should we bury him?”
“Didn’t he come to avenge his wife?” Shen Zaiye smirked. “I’m kindhearted and like to fulfill people’s wishes. Since he loved Jiang Suhe so much, take some men to dig up Jiang Suhe’s grave and bury him with her.”
Buried together, to be husband and wife in the next life.
Zhan Lu nodded with a complex expression, thinking his master was truly too kind.
Taohua rode back to the capital with an expressionless face. Cold Fengchang and others were waiting on the city wall. Seeing only two horses return, they thought their eyes were deceiving them.
“Second Princess?” Cold Fengchang went to meet her, frowning as he looked at her and Qing Tai behind her. “Where are the others?”
“Dead,” Taohua said, her eyes deep as she looked at him. “We failed to live up to your expectations. We couldn’t stop Shen Zaiye. Prime Minister Li died under Shen Zaiye’s arrow while protecting me.”
“What?” Cold Fengchang gasped in shock. “Prime Minister Li is dead?”
“Yes,” Taohua nodded. “Shen Zaiye’s arrow was meant to take my life, but Prime Minister Li blocked it for me. I will forever remember his great kindness and sacrifice.”
Wasn’t he supposed to go test the waters? How did he end up dying for someone? Cold Fengchang cursed inwardly. That man was indeed unreliable, so easily swayed by a woman’s charms, changing his mind – he deserved to die!
But Shen Zaiye truly was willing to harm Jiang Taohua? Seeing the blood on her clothes and Qing Tai’s disheveled state behind her, Cold Fengchang nodded slightly, putting on a sorrowful face. “Second Princess, don’t be too sad. Since we can’t stop them, we’ll just have to defend the city.”
“Mm,” Taohua nodded. “I’m a bit tired. I’ll go rest for a while. When the enemy approaches the city, please have someone inform me.”
“As you command,” Cold Fengchang bowed, seeing Taohua off before calling someone to ask, “What exactly happened?”
“None of those who went returned. Only our spies went to see the situation,” his subordinate said. “Prime Minister Li indeed died for the country. Great Wei’s people are still cleaning up the battlefield. Bodies are everywhere. Some say if not for Prime Minister Li’s protection, the Second Princess surely wouldn’t have escaped.”
So Shen Zaiye was willing to do it? Stroking his beard in thought for a long while, Cold Fengchang nodded. “Then have Zhang Tian send word. For subsequent matters, I’ll defer to Chancellor Shen’s arrangements.”
“Yes, sir.”
Taohua rested at a nearby inn. Qian Baimei arrived shortly after.
“The Cold family is truly wealthy,” Qian Baimei said, holding a gold ingot. “They have a huge gold vault underground. The golden glow inside nearly blinded your teacher.”
Taohua raised an eyebrow. “A gold vault?”
“Yes, it looks like enough to feed and clothe the army for a year without worry,” Qian Baimei smiled. “Does my disciple have any thoughts?”
Rubbing her hands together, Taohua also smiled. “I was just worrying about provisions and military supplies. These things are delivered to our doorstep – it would be a waste not to take them. Qing Tai has been practicing lightness skills recently. If you don’t mind, Master, why not take her along for some exercise?”
Qian Baimei nodded, looking at Qing Tai beside them, and said meaningfully, “You’ll have to work hard.”
Qing Tai was stunned, looking at the master and disciple scheming together, feeling somewhat caught between laughter and tears.
Shen Zaiye brought his army but didn’t rush to attack the city. He set up camp in the outskirts, seemingly waiting for reinforcements. Jiang Changjue successfully brought supplies into the capital and then was dragged to the palace by Taohua.
“The Minister of Agriculture and Cold Fengchang is in charge of provisions and military supplies, right?” Taohua asked.
Jiang Changjue nodded. “The main gate of the capital is blocked. I’ve permitted them to use the side gates so they can continue bringing in supplies from elsewhere.”
“Very good,” Taohua smiled. “Then let’s see if Lord Cold Fengchang is truly loyal to the country or just to himself.”
With the war between the two countries, the situation was dire. Zhao’s chances of victory seemed slim, and many officials were already thinking of fleeing privately. Taohua didn’t stop them, but had Qing Tai visit their homes while “practicing lightness skills.”
Qian Baimei found such thievery beneath him, but when he helped, he carried more than Qing Tai.
Qing Tai laughed helplessly. “Lord Qian is truly impressive.”
Calmly placing a thousand-tael silver ingot in the storehouse, Qian Baimei looked around at the mountains of silver and clicked his tongue. “No wonder Zhao is declining day by day. The wealth of the people is all in these officials’ pockets. With the court and the common people both poor, how can the country prosper?”
“Indeed,” Qing Tai nodded. “It needs to be rectified.”
Taohua looked over the account books while happily counting a large sum of newfound wealth. When Cold Fengchang and others came saying they didn’t have enough silver, she generously allocated funds: “This silver can buy 100,000 dan of grain. Let’s transport it back to the capital first.”
Cold Fengchang was surprised. “Where did you get so much money?”
“Does Lord Cold need to manage this too?” Taohua sneered. “My private savings from Great Wei. Is that alright?”
“…” With so much in private savings, no wonder Chancellor Shen hated her so much.
Seeing that there would be no more problems with provisions, Cold Fengchang quickly sent someone to ask Shen Zaiye when to attack the city. After all, he held the key to the capital’s side gates.
(End of Chapter)