Chapter 869: Each for His Own Master

Lu Jiuan originally thought that even if Song Tangning caught him, she would definitely spare his life, and she would definitely try to extract some information from him, but he never expected that Song Tangning would directly order an attack on him without even interrogating him severely.

A trace of fear flashed across his eyes, and he no longer had time to resent. He screamed:

"No, Song Tangning, I'm still useful... I know about Lu Zhinian, and I can expose his identity for you. I also know a lot about Beiling, and can help you deal with the Beiling barbarians, as well as the aristocratic families and those vassal kings. I can help you..."

"ah!!!!!"

Before Lu Jiuan could utter the words to beg for mercy, he suddenly screamed, and his eyes turned into bloody holes, with blood flowing from his eye sockets and covering his face.

He rolled on the ground in pain, covering his eyes and saying miserably:

"Song Tangning, I was wrong, please forgive me..."

"ah!!!"

The hand covering his eyes suddenly felt a sharp pain, and the next moment he felt a lightness on his shoulder, and Lu Jiuan's screams became more intense.

Although he was the Lu family's secret lord and had practiced martial arts since childhood, no matter when he was in the Lu family or when he was down and out later, there were always people protecting him. Even when he was injured, he had never fallen to such a state.

The almost suffocating pain came like a tide, almost overwhelming all his rationality. All the resentment and arrogance he had before were gone. He screamed and wished he could die immediately.

"Song Tangning, I can help you. Please let me go this time. I really know I was wrong..."

Tang Ning said indifferently: "When the border town of Zhaozhou was massacred, those people begged you to spare them, did you let them go?"

Lu Jiuan's legs were broken and he couldn't even roll over. Blood was streaming from his eyes as he cried out in despair, "It's not me, it's not me, it's Lu Zhinian, he did it, not me..."

"It wasn't you? Then who was it that led the troops up from the south and joined forces with the Beiling cavalry to let the people in?"

Geng Ji knew the inside story. Listening to Lu Jiuan's sophistry, he fiercely plunged a sword into his thigh, and the sword tip instantly shattered his flesh and blood: "Two small towns on the border, more than ten surrounding villages, a total of more than 9,000 people, men, women, old and young, women and children, combined, there are less than 30 people who survived by chance..."

"Lu Jiuan, you and Lu Zhinian both deserve to die!!"

Lu Jiuan screamed and begged for mercy, saying that it was not his fault and wanted to put the blame on Lu Zhinian. But Geng Ji ignored him and slashed his other arm with another sword.

Perhaps the pain was too great, or perhaps he had really reached his limit, but Lu Jiuan's shrill screams and pleas for mercy suddenly stopped, and he collapsed in a pool of blood, motionless.

Geng Ji held the sword and looked down, feeling unlucky.

"My lady, the person has fainted."

Tang Ning was also indifferent: "Apply medicine to him and try not to let him die. A living gift is more sincere." Of course, it doesn't matter if he dies.

"yes."

Someone came forward and carried Lu Jiuan away, leaving only Ming Ke, who looked pale, in front of the car.

Under the dim moonlight, Tang Ning was still sitting upright in the carriage, with carved copper walls and red wood. Even the hand that stretched out from the window was still slender and white. She looked like a noble lady from the capital who went out for a spring outing. Her delicate and beautiful face was full of laziness and leisure between her eyebrows.

If it weren't for the glaring pool of blood in front of the carriage and the two bloody broken arms, no one in the carriage would have been able to imagine what had just happened.

Tang Ning looked at Ming Ke: "Kill her."

Ming Ke's lips turned frighteningly pale. She was stunned for a moment when she heard that, as if she didn't expect Tang Ning to let her go like this.

Tang Ning said, "You were sent to Wei at a young age and hibernated for decades. If it weren't for your strong will, you would have been assimilated by Wei long ago. The Bai family taught you and raised you for ten years, and Cui Ziyuan is your own flesh and blood. Yet, you were able to use the Bai family as a raft and sacrifice your own children for a better career without hesitation."

"Xiahou Ling is a cautious person. He will definitely not tell you, who has been in Wei since childhood, the secrets of Beiling. What you know is only some news about Wei. Not to mention that I may not be able to torture you to speak, even if I could, what you know would be of no use to me."

Tang Ning raised her lips and looked at Ming Ke.

"As you just said, you and I each serve our respective masters, so there's no question of right or wrong. However, I still admire you for being able to give up everything for your motherland."

If it were her, she might not be able to do it.

Mingke's face was full of shock. When he met Tang Ning's sincere eyes, the corners of his mouth suddenly curled up.

"One last question. The Southern Qi incident was a setup by you. Xiao Yan wasn't trapped at all. The plot had already begun when he secretly led his troops south after ascending the throne. Everything that happened after that was factored into your calculations, correct?"

Tang Ning said nothing when he heard this.

Ming Ke already understood. When she thought about what had happened during this period, she couldn't help but chuckle.

"Song Tangning, I didn't lose unfairly."

A hint of redness appeared on her originally pale face, and she suddenly turned her head to bite the collar of her clothes. Seeing her movement, Geng Ji quickly turned around and blocked the carriage, but saw that Ming Ke had no intention of attacking. Instead, she seemed to swallow something, and blood seeped out from the corner of her lips in a moment.

Mingke fell straight to the ground, as if something had cut his trachea in the throat, and blood flowed out, soaking him.

She just lay on the ground, looking at the direction of the carriage, feeling the suffocating pain in her throat, as if she was back in the day when she was less than eight years old and was leaving Beiling by carriage. There were more than ten children in the carriage, and each of them would be taken to a different place.

That day, the sun on the grassland was particularly dazzling.

It’s a pity that she didn’t win.

Geng Ji stepped forward and glanced at Ming Ke: "My Lady, the man is dead."

He lowered his head to examine her, and when he stood up, his expression was somewhat complicated, and also a bit frightened. "She had a poison needle hidden in the side of her clothes. It must be a poison that kills instantly on contact with blood. She swallowed the poison needle and it pierced her trachea. The poison penetrated her veins, and she bled to death and suffocated."

The needle hidden in the lapel was not too big, but it was hidden so that it would not attract attention. In addition, Ming Ke had been unable to fight back since he was captured, and he did not have any sharp weapons on him, not even the poison that ordinary spies and assassins used to commit suicide and silence themselves.

They just thought that Mingke had not expected that the plan would fail tonight, so she was not prepared at all. Who would have thought that there was a poison needle hidden in her clothes.

If the Queen had not said to kill Mingke directly, if they planned to take him back and torture him, when someone got close to him, whether it was the Queen or him, the poison needle that Mingke had hidden before his death would take someone's life.

Tang Ning naturally heard the fear in Geng Ji's words. She lowered her eyes and looked at the young woman lying on the ground. The needle tip piercing her throat reflected a cold light under the firelight.

She pursed her lips and said, "Find a place to bury the person."

Geng Ji: “Yes.”

There is a new mound of earth between the mountains and forests. It is desolate and bare, but perhaps grass and trees will grow on it after many years.

When Geng Ji returned, Tang Ning opened the carriage curtain and said, "It's time to return to the palace."