The Emperor of the Yan Kingdom, Jiang Huaiying, had proclaimed himself as the Emperor. He had already held a coronation ceremony in Ning Dong City and announced it to the world. He was not an ordinary emperor who revolted among the people. He proclaimed himself the Emperor in the Northeast and then led his army south to attack the An Dynasty. It could be said that he was expanding his territory, not rebelling.
When the Yan army attacked An Ling City, most of the nobles in the city fled, but some did not. The Emperor of Yan did not yell at them, but listened to Xue Rui's suggestion and confiscated half of their property, sparing their lives. At the beginning of the country, the Yan Kingdom's national treasury was empty, so this was a good opportunity to fill the gap, showing the Emperor's generosity.
Xue Rui was conferred the title of King Ping, and at the same time, held several positions, becoming the first person under the Emperor. King Ping, who had taken off his armor and changed into a brocade robe and jade crown, and restrained his murderous aura, looked like a handsome young master, graceful and elegant, except that his face was a little dark.
The hall was full of singing and dancing, and there were no empty seats. It was a scene of people toasting each other. But if one looked closely, it was not difficult to notice that the people of the two dynasties were in different shapes. The old officials who followed the Emperor to conquer the country were naturally drinking without any scruples, while the old officials who came later were more cautious. They did not look happy, but did not dare to show too much.
Empress Dowager Wei sat on the side of the Emperor and saw all these faces. She could not help but sneer in her heart. It should be known that the Jiang family had loyally guarded the bitter and cold land of the Northeast for a hundred years. Several generations of people worked hard and died, but what they got in return was the Emperor of Da An's vigilance and suspicion. In the end, the Emperor even used the lives of their orphans and widows to threaten the Jiang family to surrender. It was really disappointing.
She did not regret encouraging her son to fight for the world. Otherwise, how could she have such honor today?
Empress Dowager Wei drank a full cup of wine and glanced at King Ping who was surrounded by people to toast. She felt it was a pity that the best son-in-law had no interest in her daughter. She could only watch as the cooked duck flew away.
She turned her head and looked at the empty seat. Jiang Miya was nowhere to be seen and frowned inwardly. She beckoned for a servant to come forward and whisper, "Have you sent someone to summon Princess Royal? Why isn't she here yet?"
As the only legitimate princess of Great Yan Dynasty, and the sister of the Emperor, she should show up in a grand manner and be admired by all. How could she be absent?
"Empress Dowager, the princess is not in her bedroom. Someone saw her leave the palace, and we don't know where she went."
Empress Dowager Wei wasn't happy and reprimanded in a low voice: "Didn't I tell you to watch over her, why did something happen?" The palace servants quickly knelt down to admit their wrongs. Empress Dowager Wei didn't want to attract attention and waved her hand for them to leave.
Xue Rui noticed this scene and noticed that Jiang Miya was absent. However, he did not take it to heart and just thought that she was throwing a tantrum again. What he didn't expect was that before the banquet began, a horse galloped out of the palace, carrying a fiery red figure towards the camp outside the city.
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Yu Shu knew that there was a banquet in the palace tonight and that Xue Rui wouldn't be coming back. After eating dinner, she took a stroll outside the tent to digest the food.
The summer days were long. The sun had just set and the surroundings of the camp were lit up with dots of fire. The light wind brought along a faint scent of cooking. In the past few days, the troops stationed outside the city had retreated, returning to their respective guard stations. The remaining twenty thousand troops stayed behind to guard Shangjing.
There was a fence outside the commander's tent, surrounding several tents. There was a team of bodyguards patrolling the perimeter of the fence. There were two people standing guard outside the commander's tent. They would change shifts every four hours to prevent random people from prying into the secrets of the army.
The place Yu Shu stayed wasn't far away from Xue Rui's tent, and there was only a fence between them. For the sake of avoiding arousing suspicion, she'd always take a detour and didn't wander towards that direction.
After living here for so many days, she was a little tired of eating and sleeping all day. Fortunately, she could return to the capital in a few days. Otherwise, if she stayed any longer, her bones would rust.
Back in the tent, she asked someone to bring hot water. Yu Shu simply scrubbed and didn't bother washing her hair. She changed into a silk dress and went to rest. Because she was a light sleeper, the two maids pulled up the screen and quietly retreated outside to make a bed on the floor.
At night, it was quiet inside and outside the camp, except for one or two coughs.
Yu Shu didn't sleep well. When she was half asleep, a scream pierced through the night sky. She opened her eyes hazily, rubbed her forehead and sat up. She called the maid, "Where is she? Go out and see what happened. "
The maid obeyed and ran back in a panic after a while, "Master, there's a fire. There's a lot of smoke outside and the fire is not far away. Please get up first."
At this time, the movement outside became louder and louder. Cries for help came one after another. Yu Shu draped her robe over her shoulders and walked to the door to take a look. She saw not far to the west of the big tent, thick smoke billowed, carrying a gust of east wind and spreading the smoke. The fire was not small, it looked like the whole tent was on fire.
The patrolling soldiers nearby all ran to put out the fire. People who were sleeping also ran out. It was a mess outside and for a moment, they didn't have time to care about Yu Shu.
"Master, what should we do? Should we run?" Although the two maids were scared, they didn't forget to run for their lives.
Yu Shu observed the direction of the wind. In about half an hour, the thick smoke would blow over. Even if the fire was extinguished, the smoke would still suffocate people to death. Thus, she quickly put on her clothes, turned her head, and ordered, "Bring my blanket out. Don't take anything else."
The maid hurriedly went in to roll up her precious blanket and followed behind her. The three of them passed through the fence unimpeded, circled around the place where the fire was, and trotted all the way to the windward side to hide. From afar, they watched the soldiers fighting the fire come and go.
"Yu Lianfang."
A voice suddenly sounded behind her. The cold tone was like a sharp blade cutting through the air. Yu Shu suddenly turned around and saw a figure walking out from the darkness a dozen steps away. The burning fire in the distance illuminated her red robe.
Yu Shu's eyes flashed. She looked at the person walking towards her calmly.
"So it really is you," Jiang Yan stopped in front of her and sneered, "No wonder he has always been hiding it. Brother and sister incest, only you can do it."
Yesterday, when she entered the capital, Muhou told her that Xue Rui already had someone he liked and had asked Imperial Brother to approve the marriage. She just didn't believe it and wanted to find Xue Rui and ask him. When she killed her way to his residence, she was shocked to hear that the woman he hid in the camp was Yu Shu. It was like a bucket of cold water was poured on her head and she sobered up.
She recalled that several years ago, when she was in the capital, she saw this pair of brother and sister with different surnames being very close to each other. It was clear that they were secretly having an affair, which made her look like a fool who was kept in the dark. It was only now that she realized it. She had waited in vain for so many years. In the eyes of others, it was just a joke!
How could she not be angry, how could she not hate!
Yu Shu saw the fierce expression on her face but was not afraid. She asked her, "Was it you who set fire to the camp in the middle of the night?"
"Humph, he hid you well. If it wasn't for this fire, how could you be forced out?" Jiang Yan did not hide anything and openly admitted it.
"I knew you were stubborn. After so many years, it has only increased." Yu Shu shook her head, "If Princess wants to see me, you only need to send a message and I would not dare to not see you. Why go through so much trouble?"
"Haha," Jiang Yan lowered her head and laughed. She put one hand on her waist. When her laughter fell, a silver light flashed and a soft sword appeared in her hand. She took a step forward and pointed the sword at Yu Shu's throat. When she raised her head again, her eyes were filled with a fierce light —
"I want to see you to kill you!"
It happened so suddenly that the two maids were shocked. They wanted to call for help, but they were afraid that the sword would hurt their master. They were so anxious that their faces turned pale. They bit their lips and held back from shouting. The two turned their eyes and saw that their master was calm, not retreating nor dodging.
"Do you think that you can get what you want by killing me? For the sake of our past friendship, I will give you a piece of advice. The word 'marriage' cannot be forced. " Even without Jiang Yan's explanation, Yu Shu could guess why she wanted her life. It was because her love for Jiang Yan failed and hatred grew from love.
"Death is at hand, yet you are still so stubborn. For the sake of our past friendship, I will let you die a happy death!" Jiang Yan's eyes were burning with flames. She did not waste any more words. With a flick of her wrist, the sword trembled and with a light flick, she was about to slit Yu Shu's throat.
"Humph!"
In the time it takes for a spark to fly off a flint, a light snort suddenly entered her ears, filled with disdain. All the hairs on Jiang Miya's body stood up and she felt her wrist go numb. Her five fingers involuntarily loosened and the flexible sword in her hand strangely turned half a circle, away from that slender neck. A hand stretched out from behind her and firmly pinched the sharp tip of the sword with two fingers.
Jiang Yan's eyes widened. Before she could react, another hand stretched out from behind her and locked her throat. A strong sense of danger assaulted her, causing her to be unable to move.
Killing intent!
"There are countless people who want to kill me. If it was so easy for someone to succeed, I would have died hundreds of times." Yu Shu brushed away the hair on her forehead and raised her eyes to look at Jiang Yan who had been captured. She raised her eyebrows and smiled. Her tone was indescribably repulsive.
"You —" Jiang Yan opened her mouth to speak, but the person behind her tightened his grip on her throat. Her neck turned red, but she refused to give in. She forced herself to shout, "I am the princess of the Great Yan Kingdom. If you dare to touch me, believe it or not, I will execute your entire family!"
"Aiyaya, so scary," Yu Shu caressed her chest, her face didn't have the slightest expression of being threatened, "Gu Hong, use less force. If you accidentally kill Her Highness, I won't be able to save you."
Behind Jiang Yan stood a black-clothed man who was half a head taller than her. He stopped the sword with one hand and grabbed her with the other, imprisoning her in front of his chest. This person was the mysterious guard sent by Zhu Muzhao's only son, Zhu Qingjue, to stay by Yu Shu's side after Zhu Muzhao's death. He was a peerless expert and his name was unknown.
"Hmph." Gu Hong did not say anything and ignored Yu Shu. He loosened his grip a little, allowing Jiang Yan to catch her breath and not suffocate to death.
"It has been a long time since we last met. Let's talk somewhere else."
Yu Shu patted the two maidservants who had survived the calamity and walked in front to lead the way. She asked Loneswan to 'invite' Jiang Miya to a nearby empty tent, and then she assigned the maidservants. One of them stood guard outside while the other went to report to Xue Rui's personal guard. She told him that she'd captured the criminal who committed arson and murder, and she would immediately send someone to invite Xue Rui back to the camp.
After lighting up an oil lamp and placing it on the table, Yu Shu found a chair and sat down. She raised her head and looked at the furious Jiang Yan. She sighed and muttered, "You made me unable to sleep well for the past half a month. I was waiting for you to come."
Xia Jiangmin had dreamt that after the Yan army invaded the capital, there was a person dressed in red holding a sword to kill her. This was a murder disaster. Thus, ever since Yu Shu entered the military camp, she had not let down her guard. The day before yesterday, she had vaguely predicted that she would face a calamity today. Thus, she sent out a signal in advance for Gu Hong to lie in ambush nearby. As expected, Jiang Yan came.
It was unexpected, but it was also reasonable.
What gave her a headache now was how to deal with Jiang Yan. After all, this was the current Emperor's younger sister. She could not beat or kill her. Even seeking justice would be difficult. However, she was not willing to let her off so easily.
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