Chapter 53 Kill for the Twenty-First Time!

Chapter 53

Ye Xiren looked bewildered, her eyes innocent.

Chizhan Lanze gazed at her intently and scoffed softly, “There is an animal on our grasslands that looks like a big cat. It lies there motionless, gentle and soft, harmless to humans and animals, and quite adorable.”

"When herders drive their flocks of sheep past, their eyes are fixed on the terrifying wolves, constantly worried that the wolves might snatch their sheep. At this moment, the docile creature will silently slip into the flock, pick a sheep, kill it with a single blow, drag away its prey, and quickly disappear without a trace."

"It only steals one lamb at a time and runs away at the sight of people. The herders on the grassland never take it seriously; they are only afraid of wolves and other fierce animals."

A smile played on his lips, and his voice was calm:

"But I think it's more terrifying than a wolf. After all, it's harmless to humans and animals, and no one takes it seriously or guards against it. It's always been successful without making a sound... What do you think, Miss Ye?"

Ye Xiren was silent for a moment, then poked her head out from behind the shield. Her dark eyes were clear and bright. She shook her head.

"I've never herded sheep, I don't know."

Ma Shan silently looked away, suppressing his laughter. Why did he feel that Miss Ye was mocking the Crown Prince of Northern Yan?

Chi Zhanlan Ce: "..."

She stared blankly at Ye Xiren, her eyes slightly surprised.

After a long while, he could no longer restrain himself. His body trembled, and he burst into laughter, clapping his hands and laughing so hard that he was doubled over. His unrestrained laughter echoed in the dungeon, and the candlelight flickered. He seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. He started coughing as he laughed, and his cheeks turned red.

Ye Xiren: This person has gone mad.

She shook her head, dragging her shield as she walked out. "Let's go. It seems His Highness Chizhan has nothing to say. We should leave as soon as possible to avoid disturbing Lord Bai's interrogation."

Ma Shan and Yan Shuang escorted her away.

After laughing his fill, Chi Zhanlan Ce stared at her retreating figure, his eyes unfathomable, and spoke again: "Second Miss Ye, you're quite amusing. But did you think I couldn't get out?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiren stopped and turned around, her brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Go out? He's the crown prince of Northern Yan, using peace talks as a pretext to harm Great Liang. How could he possibly leave?

What kind of pipe dream is this!

Their eyes met. Chi Zhanlan Ce rested his chin on his hand, tilted his head, and gave her a bright smile, but did not answer.

Ye Xiren frowned even more, her eyes probing.

"Come here, and I'll tell you a secret, how about it?" Chi Zhanlan Ce beckoned, his peach blossom eyes gentle, his voice amused and seductive. "This is my biggest secret, and I'm only willing to tell you. Don't you want to know?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiren took a deep breath, lifted her foot, and walked away without delay or looking back.

Behind her, Chi Zhanlan Ce watched her retreating figure and murmured, "How cautious you are, Miss Ye. This is something you yourself dare not hear..."

He shifted his body. The iron chains that had bound Yan Danqing were now binding him. Blood gushed out, and the sharp spikes caused him unbearable pain. He was breathing rapidly, and his face grew increasingly pale.

Chi Zhanlan Ce irritably pulled the zipper, the rattling of the chain and the increasingly intense pain brought him back to his senses, his eyes turning cold.

The situation has reversed, it's absolutely terrible!

-

Ye Xiren left the dungeon and cursed:

"What a madman!"

She had made a tiring trip but received no information whatsoever. Moreover, because of Chi Zhan Lan Ce's terrifying deduction, she dared not speak too much, lest she reveal anything. Although the cycle was mysterious, she didn't want Chi Zhan Lan Ce to have any suspicions just to be cautious...

This guy is absolutely insane, a lunatic with a screw loose. No normal person could possibly guess what he's thinking or what he'll do!

Yan Shuang tilted her head and asked, "Should I go kill him now?"

Ye Xiren: "..."

What should I do if I'm really tempted?

At this moment, footsteps sounded, and not far away, Ye Pei, holding a bright yellow imperial edict, walked quickly over and reminded, "Do not make a move against Chi Zhanlan Ce. The court has issued an edict."

To kill Chizhanlan Ce without the imperial order is treason.

Upon seeing the imperial edict, Ye Xiren recalled Chi Zhanlan Ce's words and her heart sank. She stepped forward and anxiously asked, "Father, what happened?"

Ye Pei raised the imperial edict in his hand and replied, "Chi Zhanlan has submitted a petition requesting peace talks, and the court is willing to give him another chance. He cannot die yet."

Ye Xiren: "???"

She doubted she had heard correctly, incredulous: "Peace talks? An opportunity? What do you mean? The court is going to believe this fake peace talk orchestrated by Chi Zhanlan Ce?"

How is that possible?

Are all those people crazy?!

Why not hurry up and kill Chi Zhanlan Ce, and send troops to the battlefield? What's the point of hoping for an impossible peace talk?

"It was originally a fake peace talk, but now Chizhan Lance is willing to have a real peace talk." Ye Pei ran his fingers over the imperial edict, his brows furrowed and his eyes complicated. Clearly, he was not entirely convinced either.

Chi Zhanlan Ce delivered a message to the palace, admitting that the previous peace talks were a sham, intended to kill Yan Danqing. However, now that the conspiracy had failed and he had fallen into the hands of the Great Liang, he had no choice but to hope that the Northern Yan and the Great Liang would have a genuine peace talk, and he only asked the court to spare his life.

Originally, they used "fake peace talks" to kill Yan Danqing, but now they can only use "real peace talks" to save their lives.

"The imperial court just believed him like that? This treacherous villain has been cunning enough before, hasn't he? How can they still believe him after one or two times?" Ye Xiren almost jumped up, raising her voice, "This must be another of his schemes!"

First came gunpowder, then Zhang Yuanmou, proving that Chizhanlan Ce's two expressions of willingness to negotiate were false, yet the court still couldn't see through it.

How can you still believe him?

Are they hoping for the demise of the Great Liang?!

Bai Chengguang walked over and shook his head: "The imperial court does not want to start a war, so it is willing to try again. Miss Ye, don't worry, this time it's different."

How could she not be worried?!

Ye Xiren was pacing anxiously when she noticed someone else entering the Imperial City Guard and walking quickly toward them. Her eyes lit up, and hope was rekindled.

Yan Danqing and Liu Duoxi have arrived!

“I know,” Yan Danqing nodded.

Ye Xiren grabbed his sleeve, her face pale, and asked again, "Didn't you stop me?"

“I agree,” Yan Danqing replied.

Ye Xiren's pupils constricted, her face filled with shock. She opened her mouth, momentarily doubting her own ears.

Then, she let go, subconsciously stepped back, her eyes filled with disappointment. How much effort had they put in to break Chi Zhanlan's conspiracy... were all those previous twenty cycles going to be for nothing?

Yan Danqing pulled her hand back, and the two drew closer. He lowered his head and whispered, "It wasn't a waste of time. This time, His Majesty entrusted the peace talks to me and Jiang You. We will represent Daliang in the negotiations with Chizhan Lance."

Ye Xiren was taken aback, and her tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly.

In other words, the court is still willing to negotiate, but it no longer trusts Chi Zhanlan Ce and will not use Yan Danqing as a bargaining chip. Northern Yan should not even think about targeting him again.

Compared to Chizhan Lance, the court now trusts Yan Danqing more. Placing him in this position means that everything is done with him as the priority. Chizhan Lance wants to negotiate, but the premise is to ensure the safety of Yan Danqing and Daliang. The initiative has been put in their hands.

"Do you believe he's really serious this time?" Ye Xiren asked, tilting her head back.

Yan Danqing shook his head without hesitation:

"I don't believe it."

Ye Xiren looked at him, waiting for an explanation.

People like Chi Zhanlan Ce should be killed off completely to avoid future troubles.

Furthermore, Yan Danqing was not a weak or unwise person. Upon hearing that the court wanted to negotiate peace, his decision should have been to kill Chizhan Lance with a single blow. Why would he agree to any peace talks?

She was terrified of those two words.

Yan Danqing's voice became even softer, almost as soft as a breath, so soft that only Ye Xiren could hear it:

"Because I want to take another risk."

"Do you know that I came to the court today to discuss with His Majesty the matter of returning to Huai'an Canal to start a war? But I didn't expect His Majesty to be hesitant, as if he had some unspeakable secret. He has delayed letting me go to Huai'an Canal to seize the initiative. Afterwards, Chi Zhanlan Ce requested peace talks, and His Majesty and Jiang You were moved again."

He also found it unbelievable at the time. Based on his understanding of the emperor and Jiang You, it was impossible for the two of them to still trust Chi Zhanlan Ce after being deceived and almost ruining the country several times.

But they are indeed interested in peace talks!

“Xixi, don’t you think there’s something wrong with this?” Yan Danqing lowered his head and whispered in his ear, “I don’t believe that His Majesty and Prime Minister Jiang are so afraid of death. What is it that makes them only want to seek peace and not go to war? I want to find out.”

Despite being deceived time and time again, they still wanted to try this possibility, unwilling to give up completely and abandon negotiations...

He had a strong intuition that there were secrets and unsolved truths involved.

Ye Xiren's heart skipped a beat.

She pulled Yan Danqing aside, her expression becoming serious, and lowered her voice as well: "I just remembered something else. In the nineteenth cycle, you were imprisoned in the water dungeon, and the court ordered General Zhao and Ma Shan to rush to the Huai'an Canal to fight the enemy."

"Later, Jiang You received a fake secret letter appointing a new crown prince. He had someone stop Zhao Wu and Ma Shan, while he himself hurriedly went to the palace to discuss the peace talks again. When Ma Shan came to see me, he said that Zhao Wu seemed to be behaving strangely and did not want to go to the battlefield!"

Ye Pei countered that Zhao Wu's entire family had been killed by the Northern Yan people, and when he was chosen as the General Who Guards the South, Zhao Wu couldn't wait to go to the battlefield and fight the Northern Yan to the death.

But why did they suddenly change their attitude?

During that cycle, what did General Zhaowu, the Emperor, and Jiang You learn while preparing for war, without Ye Pei's knowledge?

I didn't realize it at the time, but now that I think about it, everything about it seems strange.

“There was definitely something wrong. I’ve dealt with Zhao Wu before, and he would never be afraid of the battlefield. He only wants to kill everyone in Northern Yan…”

Yan Danqing's eyes darkened, and his expression grew increasingly solemn as he spoke: "Not only is there a problem with the court, but Chi Zhanlan Ce is also problematic. He came to Daliang for peace talks only to kill me. Is he truly not afraid of death? And why does the court insist on peace talks?"

Just when one layer of truth was revealed, even more mysteries emerged.

They were trapped in a cycle, which was already mysterious and unpredictable. Now that they had survived and killed Chi Zhanlan Ce, did they truly escape the cycle? He had a premonition that if they couldn't uncover the whole truth, they probably wouldn't be able to get out.

Yan Danqing exhaled, his eyes serious:

"Xixi, I want to understand."

He was seeking Ye Xiren's opinion. After the nineteenth cycle, he had promised that he would discuss everything with Ye Xiren from now on and would not act unilaterally.

Ye Xiren bit her lip, still harboring some worries:

"I also want to know the truth, and I'm not afraid of taking risks, but I'm worried that if Chi Zhanlan Ce lives, he'll have to use your life as a bargaining chip..."

Yan Danqing felt a warmth in her heart and shook her head:

“Don’t worry, the situation is different now. Before, when I was in the imperial prison, it was the Great Liang that was eager to negotiate peace with the Northern Yan. Now everything has been reversed. Chi Zhanlan Ce has fallen into the imperial prison. He has to come up with a condition that can convince us as soon as possible in order to save his life.”

A calm sentence conceals endless murderous intent.

Ye Xiren finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But the thought of those unanswered questions made his brows furrow again.

Yan Danqing patted the back of her hand, his eyes gentle yet firm, and softly reassured her, "Don't worry, we will definitely uncover the whole truth." Including the imperial court, Northern Yan, and even the cycle!

Ye Xiren nodded emphatically.

Yan Danqing then withdrew his gaze with relief, took a deep breath, turned and walked towards the imperial prison, asking, "Lord Bai, how many Northern Yan guards does Chizhan Lance still have?"

As the Crown Prince of Northern Yan, it was impossible for him to come to the Southern Capital without his personal guards. He brought several thousand men with him at the time. When Yan Danqing first attempted to assassinate him, half of them were wiped out, and in later battles, some more were lost.

But there are still quite a few left; these people are his henchmen and his wings...

Bai Chengguang's expression hardened, and he immediately replied, "One thousand two hundred."

Yan Danqing lowered her eyes:

"Kill him."

-----------------------

Author's Note: Time to start resolving all the foreshadowing!!

See you tomorrow, love you all!