When she heard his angry roar, Shang Ruyi looked up again, and the fierce blade was already close at hand.

But Yu Wenye was still several meters away from him!

It’s over!

Though she had faced danger before, she had never been this close to a blade, or perhaps death itself. Shang Ruyi gritted her teeth, yet she still clenched Cha Ci’s hand which struggled to escape with the last ounce of strength, remaining unmoving.

Death may be coming!

But at this moment, what arrived faster than death was a flash of light as quick as lightning. Suddenly, there was a sharp swoosh beside her ear, startling Shang Ruyi’s loose hair in front of her.

With wide eyes, she saw the samurai who had already charged in front suddenly froze in place.

His hand was still raised high, almost ready to chop Shang Ruyi’s head with the gleaming blade, but now he couldn’t move, only his bulging eyes were opened wide as he looked down at his chest—

A bloody hole was conspicuously visible on his chest!

Shang Ruyi held her breath and looked behind him, where she saw a knife identical to the one in the samurai’s hand embedded three inches deep into the screen behind him, the handle outside still shaking slightly, with blood slowly seeping down from the gap.

This is—

Shang Ruyi abruptly turned her head and saw Yu Wenye half-kneeling beside the corpse of the samurai whose neck he had smashed, one long arm reaching her, seemingly having just thrown something, and the samurai’s knife was missing!

It’s him!

It really is him!

Shocked and delighted, Shang Ruyi was about to say something, but then, from behind her ear came a series of grinding, unbearable sounds, and she hurriedly turned back to see the samurai whose chest was pierced finally expired, his tall body suddenly limping over toward Shang Ruyi.

"Ah—!"

Shang Ruyi was horrified, not afraid that the corpse would crush her, but worried about Cha Ci beside her. If the samurai’s body fell on him, wouldn’t the cage next to him be smashed?

At her moment of terror, Yu Wenye suddenly stood up, swift as a leopard, and fiercely pushed the samurai’s body away. With a bang, the towering samurai was smashed into the screen behind the main seat.

The screen collapsed with a resounding crash. The wind and clatter frightened Shang Ruyi anew.

In the wind, several spatters of blood fell onto her face.

But—

Finally, it was all over.

It’s okay.

It’s okay...

She kept telling herself repeatedly in her mind but didn’t know why. The more she repeated it, the more her heart thundered loudly, deafeningly. Despite watching the guests scream and shout in the hall, she heard nothing, not even her own breathing or heartbeat.

Until a warm, steady hand gently touched her shoulder.

That familiar scent and warmth penetrated her thin clothes and reached her heart, as if hit hard. Shang Ruyi finally let out a low cry from her choked throat—

"Ah!"

This low cry seemed more like a gasp after suffocation. Then she heard a deep voice softly say in her ear: "It’s all right."

"..."

Slowly, Shang Ruyi turned her head. Yu Wenye had somehow come to her side, squatted down, one hand on her shoulder, the other reaching behind her, gently releasing the hand she had tightly clenched on Cha Ci’s shoulder — apparently, in her tension, her hand nearly sunk into his flesh.

Turning back, Cha Ci was already dead.

A bloody gash was visible on his throat. After the blood spurts, more flowed out, dyeing his front clothes completely red and even staining Shang Ruyi’s clothes, marking her originally white garment with blood.

She had killed this person!

This realization hit her mind like an explosion, turning everything blank for a moment. Shang Ruyi hurriedly released him.

The body swayed a bit, but didn’t fall, just stiffly sitting cross-legged.

In contrast, Shang Ruyi’s movements were more pronounced.

Her once smiling face, even charming and suffocating, was now numb, yet under that numbness, fear was visible. Looking at her hand, though not still clutching Cha Ci, it remained clawed, with fingertips spasmodically shaking.

Yu Wenye’s brow slowly furrowed.

He, of course, knew Shang Ruyi had killed before; during the Fufeng battle, her arrow set fire, burning thousands of Longxi Army. But the confrontation on the battlefield differed from the close-range experience of slashing someone’s throat and letting the hot blood spill onto one’s face.

Even if she had stubbornly insisted on acting and had presumptuously set every step of the plan herself.

Wanting to kill Cha Ci and take Qi County was real.

And after taking a life, the fear and anxiety were also real.

She was, after all, human.

Thinking of this, the heart that had been as hard as iron suddenly softened at this moment. Even the fierce drumming could not vent all the anger in his heart, but now it vanished in an instant. Yu Wenye lowered his head to look at her, just about to say something, when he saw Shang Ruyi’s flower-like lips trembling slightly, saying to him: "Birdcage..."

Yu Wenye lowered his head again, only to see the birdcage hanging from Nacha Ci’s waist, with the little bird inside jumping up and down like a sprite.

He reached over and took down the birdcage.

His fingers were thick, capable of crushing a samurai’s neck in one grip, but the fragile birdcage landed in his hands without even a scratch. He took just one glance at the bird before gently placing it aside, then looked down at Shang Ruyi again, his tone lighter than even the force at his fingertips—

"It’s alright now."

"...Oh."

It was true, all was alright!

Shang Ruyi felt the blood in her body begin to flow again, she suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, and with a clang, the sword in her other hand fell to the ground.

And this sound was like the signal for the end of a battle.

Quickly, Lei Guo led a group of guards rushing in, their bodies stained with blood, some even carrying a bloodied human head. Shang Ruyi took one glance and immediately turned pale, lowering her head.

Lei Guo declared, "Prince Qin, the samurai brought by Cha Ci have all been executed!"

Yu Wenye nodded, turned around to shield Shang Ruyi, and then said, "Take those heads and these bodies out; don’t dirty my place."

"Yes!"

At the sight of Shang Ruyi behind him, the few guards immediately understood, hurriedly disposed of the heads, and some of them stepped forward to carry out the three bodies with their miserable death conditions.

With the dead dealt with, next came the living.

The distinguished and powerful men in the hall had come to their senses, realizing what had happened and who this fierce man before them was—none other than Yu Wenquan’s second son, King Qin Yuwenye, who had recently ascended as Emperor in Central Pass. They rushed to kneel and kowtow repeatedly, but Yu Wenye had no intention of listening, saying coldly, "Forced by circumstances, I won’t pursue this."

They immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Yu Wenye continued, "But if anyone reminds me of tonight’s events, of your efforts to entertain this Turkic envoy with wine, then I won’t be able to let it slide."

"..."

"So, you’d best remember, tonight you did not enter the county government to meet this Cha Ci."

"..."

"Nor did you see any performances."

The men kneeling on the floor exchanged a glance and immediately understood, repeatedly saying, "We saw nothing!"

"Prince Qin is wise and powerful!"

"We dare not have any disloyal thoughts again!"

Only then did Yu Wenye coldly wave his hand: "Leave."

They kowtowed once more before getting up, supporting each other as they stumbled out. However, as soon as they left, Yu Wenye whispered to Lei Guo, "Send people to watch their homes. Before we take Taiyuan, no one from their households is allowed to leave, nor to take a step out of the city!"

Lei Guo immediately understood.

He quickly nodded in agreement, issuing orders, and soon a dozen soldiers followed them out.

With this, Zhaoyu City was completely pacified internally.

Lei Guo stepped up to the main seat and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, major internal matters are settled, now we should—"

Yu Wenye raised his head to look at him, saying, "Open the city gates, let my troops enter the city."

Saying this, he was already preparing to stand up, seemingly ready to go personally, but as he stood, the other soft hand he held pulled down, causing his arm to sink, and he immediately crouched down again, looking at Shang Ruyi, whose face was still pale and whose eyes seemed bewildered and distant.

She seemed not entirely recovered from the shock and fright.

Yu Wenye frowned, thought for a moment, and said softly, "You should rest first."

"..."

"I will finish dealing with outside matters and come back to accompany you."

"..." 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Alright?"

Upon hearing these last three words, Shang Ruyi’s breath caught, and she looked up at him, the softness in his cold, still lingering fierce eyes at that moment was irresistible.

This time, it was Shang Ruyi who took a deep breath, then reached out to support the edge of the table and slowly stood up.

The snow-white garment stained with crimson blood appeared cruel and bloody, yet on her it showed a hint of tragic beauty.

She said, "I’ll go with you."