The horses were startled and neighed. Such an eerie scene would be too kind to say that the visitors were hostile; they were more likely to be deadly.

Zhao Xiheng's heart tightened, sensing that something was wrong. Something had indeed happened in Pingzhou, otherwise they would not have received any news from the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion since they left Jinyang, nor had they seen any envoys from the mansion along the way.

As soon as she entered the city today, she noticed something was wrong. Normally, for the prince's wedding, Pingzhou should at least be decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, if not overly joyous. It shouldn't be so deserted.

Who exactly are those people outside?

Outside, crackling sounds rang out as elite soldiers clad in black armor burst out of the houses, spears in hand, gradually closing the encirclement until they were completely surrounded.

Several attendants inside the carriage huddled together, sobbing in fear. Zhao Xiheng hugged them to comfort them, "It's alright, don't be afraid."

Xiao Tao tugged at her sleeve, crying and shaking her head apologizing, "Your Highness, I'm sorry, we're really useless. We can't do anything except cry."

Zhao Xiheng patted her hair. "Little girl, it's not a big deal if you cry a little."

But His Highness has never cried out of fear. When he does shed tears, it's always just for show.

Thinking of this, Xiaotao bit her lower lip hard, trying to hold back her tears.

Zhao Xiheng was somewhat lost in thought. She thought that the people outside were definitely not from the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, and it was hard to say whether the Zhenbei Prince and his heir were still alive. Dandong had been brought under control so quietly, it shouldn't have been done by the Goguryeo people, or some other vassal king who had conquered Dandong, or perhaps something had happened internally.

Everyone drew their weapons, the clanging of metal echoing incessantly, intensifying the tense atmosphere.

The person on the other side didn't make a move for a long time.

General Pingwei looked around at the vast expanse of white and cupped his hands, asking, "May I ask who you are?"

The snow absorbs sound, so a sentence he spoke didn't travel far at all, so he raised his voice and asked again.

He was met with silence.

Zhao Mingxin had been secretly observing the situation outside. Seeing that everything was quiet, her heart pounded. She screamed and threatened, "I am the daughter of the Emperor! If you dare to touch me, the Emperor will surely raze Dandong to the ground and tear you to pieces!"

"Hmph—" A disdainful sneer drifted from the shadows.

Zhao Mingxin's face turned pale and then red, and he wanted to continue threatening her.

General Pingwei frowned, his thick eyebrows furrowing. He couldn't let the spoiled little princess continue, so he said loudly, "I am an envoy of the Emperor, escorting Princess Ming'an and Princess Jingcheng to their marriage. Pingzhou is the Emperor's territory. I hope you will not play tricks and will not obstruct us..."

"Whoosh—"

An arrow, adorned with red feathers and gleaming with a cold light, grazed General Pingwei's face and embedded itself straight in the wall of the house.

The fact that such power could be exerted from a hundred paces away astonished everyone, indicating that the newcomer was no ordinary person.

"Insolence!" General Pingwei covered his face, his fierce eyes blazing with anger.

“General, we should withdraw from Dandong,” Zhao Xiheng interrupted him.

The situation in Pingzhou is unclear, so it's really not suitable to stay any longer. It would be good enough if we could just stay safe.

"Little princess, aren't you being too naive? Is Pingzhou a place you can just come and go as you please?"

The man spoke lazily, his voice still low, like the sound of fingernails scratching metal—unpleasant and sinister.

Zhao Xiheng suffered a heart attack, her delicate hands clenched into fists.

"General! The man is over there!" someone suddenly shouted, pointing to a small hill not far away.

Amidst the vast expanse of white, a tall, dark figure stood atop it. One could vaguely see that he was tilting his head, his bowstring taut, and a gleaming arrow resting on it. He was undoubtedly a young, tall man.

General Pingwei couldn't see his face clearly, but he felt that he was smiling. The sharp arrow was pointed at his head, and he suddenly remembered the arrow that had been so accurate and penetrating.

He swallowed hard, a cold sweat breaking out on his back.

An arrow flew through the air, and he raised his sword to deflect it, but three arrows were fired in quick succession, and the remaining two pierced General Pingwei's skull.

He stared wide-eyed as he fell off his horse; the blood-red was blinding, the snow-white dazzling, a stark contrast.

The wedding procession descended into chaos.

"Don't make any rash moves. There are a total of three thousand of you. Besides the people surrounding you now, there are also the city's garrison outside Dandong City." The man's tone was still indifferent, with a hint of nonchalance.

The atmosphere was deathly silent. After a long silence, Zhao Mingxin couldn't hold back any longer and suddenly burst into tears, shouting, "What do you want? Who are you? Let the Prince of Zhenbei speak to us!"

"Ugh, so annoying, which princess are you?"

Zhao Mingxin still tried to intimidate him with her noble status, crying and shouting, "I am Princess Ming'an, the daughter of the current emperor! Let us leave!"

"Well, letting you leave isn't impossible. Go back and tell your emperor that Pingzhou has changed hands. Qin Xiao and his son are dead, and the current master of Pingzhou is Wei Li. Tell him not to interfere too much and not to send envoys. Of course, it's even more unacceptable for you to pass through in such a grand procession."

Killing only one person and then releasing them all intact was considered merciful among the feudal lords.

Now that the world is in disarray, the local lords and kings no longer obey the emperor's orders. The former Prince of Zhenbei has formed his own power, and the emperor's envoys are not allowed to enter. He has even killed the emperor's envoys. Emperor Shunhe's marriage of a princess was just a ploy to win him over. Pingzhou is now just a change of master, no different from before. Besides, my life is in their hands, so I have no choice but to agree.

Zhao Xiheng breathed in the heavy smell of fish, and heard Zhao Mingxin's desperate cries in her ears. She made a quick decision and said in a calm voice, "Please, Young Master Wei, open the city gate and let us out. We will then report back to the Emperor."

Wei Li waved his hand, "Open the city gate."

The people escorting the dowry entered the city later, and since they needed to get out as quickly as possible, they should naturally go first. However, Zhao Mingxin cried out, "Let me go first! If anything happens to me, you will all lose your heads!"

She really didn't want to stay there any longer; she wanted to go home.

Zhao Xiheng said, "Let Ming'an go first."

She sighed softly. It wasn't that she was kind-hearted, but the new master of Pingzhou seemed to be a capricious person. Zhao Mingxin's crying was even annoying to her. If she continued to cry, she would inevitably annoy Wei Li and cause him to go back on his word and spare all these people's lives.

Zhao Mingxin is truly a good-for-nothing who can't do anything right and eats nothing at all!

Seeing that Zhao Mingxin's carriage had already left the city gate, Wei Li suddenly drew his bow and nocked an arrow, which struck the canopy of Zhao Xiheng's carriage.

The people in the car heard a loud "thump" and all of them shuddered.

Then Wei Li's muffled voice came through again, "Everyone else leave, you stay."

Xiao Tao bit her wrist until it bled, and the other palace servants in the carriage burst into tears.

Zhao Xiheng also trembled. She reacted immediately, pushing all the palace servants off the carriage, "You all go, follow the group back to Jinyang."

Whether staying here is a blessing or a curse is unknown. These are all young girls, they still have a long life ahead of them, and we should try to save as many as possible.

The palace maids kowtowed heavily to Zhao Xiheng, then stumbled and trudged through the snow to the carriage beside them. Faced with life and death, they were still willing to live.

Only Xiao Tao, biting her wrist, knelt inside the carriage, saying, "Your Highness, I said I would accompany you through fire and water."

Zhao Xiheng's eyes welled up with tears. He pulled her into his arms, and before Xiao Tao could say anything, she slumped down.

He was knocked unconscious by Zhao Xiheng.

"Take her away too." Zhao Xiheng instructed the palace servants to drag Xiao Tao out.

Fearing that Wei Li might change his mind, Zhao Ming urged his men to leave quickly. Before leaving, he couldn't help but say a few sarcastic words to Zhao Xiheng, "Zhao Xiheng, the Imperial Advisor says you have bad luck, you have to accept it!"

Zhao Xiheng wanted to pry open her head to see if it was filled with tofu pudding.

People and carriages hurriedly left Dandong City. When the city gates were closed again, Zhao Xiheng felt that the surroundings were eerily quiet and eerily cold, making her feel dizzy.

She thought that marrying into Goguryeo was the worst possible outcome, but she never imagined that there were so many thorny paths in the world for people to walk down.

After a long silence, the crunching sound of snow being trampled underfoot suddenly came, and the curtain of the carriage was lifted wide from the outside. It was a red-feathered arrow, the arrowhead gleaming coldly, just like the one that killed General Pingwei.

She had been in the carriage the whole way, which was warm inside, but now that the curtain was lifted, a cold wind was blowing in.

The wind in Pingzhou is different from other places; it's the kind of cold wind that peels away human skin and cuts flesh with a knife, like being slowly sliced ​​to death.

It hurt terribly, and it was filled with swirling snowflakes. When it came in, it was dazzling to the eyes, and it made it hard to breathe.

Zhao Xiheng was suddenly hit by the wind, which stung her eyes, causing them to turn red and tear up. Her body also trembled.

She has always been afraid of the cold; she couldn't even stand the mild winters of Jinyang, let alone Pingzhou in the Northeast.

"Are you crying? Are you scared?"

Zhao Xiheng recognized the voice as belonging to Wei Li, whose tone was equally sinister and menacing.

If she said at that moment that she wasn't frightened but was blown by the wind, it would probably hurt his pride.

Zhao Xiheng paused for a moment, then nodded softly.

Now that she is all alone, survival is the most important thing.

Wei Li chuckled again, as if he had discovered something extraordinary and new, "You little coward."

He seemed quite pleased by her fear.

Zhao Xiheng clenched her fist. He was so irritating, he really wanted to curse, but the situation didn't allow it, so he had to hold back.

After a while, she gradually opened her eyes to examine the unpredictable new master of Pingzhou.

Some people are born unlikable; they make people's hearts pound with fear and disgust as if a poisonous insect has been plucked from their collar. This has nothing to do with their appearance.

The person in front of me was young, tall and well-proportioned, with pale skin, black hair and black eyes. He was clearly a very handsome person, and he was smiling, but it carried an eerie and sinister feeling, just like his voice.

Her left ear cartilage and earlobe were pierced, and she wore a mysterious silver earring that looked like a chain.

I believe that everyone who sees him will avoid him like the plague, and their fear and resistance to him have nothing to do with his appearance.

"Why did Young Master Wei keep me here?" Zhao Xiheng's lips trembled, her face looking somewhat haggard from the cold wind.

Wei Li curled his lips into a smile, revealing a row of teeth.

Perhaps if other boys smiled like that, Zhao Xiheng would be willing to describe their teeth as neat and white, but when Wei Li smiled like that, the only words that came to her mind were "cold and gleaming." She would describe his teeth like an arrow, or rather, with the same words used to describe the teeth of a hungry wolf.

“Little princess, aren’t you being too naive? Is Pingzhou a place you can just come and go as you please?” Wei Li dragged out his words, carefully repeating them to her.