The Ending (Part 1)

Consort Shu?

Xu Ruoyan really wanted to pick her ears to see if she had heard correctly.

She looked at the maid in front of her suspiciously: "Are you really Consort Shu's person? Or is Qi Feng trying to trick me?"

Hearing her words, the little maid seemed to have been insulted, and her face immediately turned cold, but she didn't say anything more because the person in front of her was her master's benefactor.

"My master sent me to escort you to the palace. If you trust me, please come with me. If not, just pretend we never met today," she said coldly.

Xu Ruoyan did not make a decision immediately, but instead looked her up and down again.

The maid didn't urge her, and of course, she didn't care at all what Xu Ruoyan was thinking. She just stared at her expressionlessly.

“Alright then,” Xu Ruoyan finally spoke first, “I’ll go with you.”

Her idea was that if this person was sent by Qi Feng, she would play along and pretend to be arrested, which would buy Pei Jue and the others time. If this person was indeed sent by Consort Shu, then she wouldn't need to bother figuring out how to sneak into the palace.

After all, judging from Qi Feng's posture, even if she were to have exceptional lightness skills, it would be difficult for her to sneak in unnoticed.

When the maid saw that she had agreed, she took a dress out of the basket hanging on her arm and gave it to her.

"Please put these on, Miss Xu, so that you can walk more easily."

Xu Ruoyan stared wide-eyed in disbelief: "We're changing right here?"

The palace maid nodded expressionlessly.

Xu Ruoyan wanted to laugh silently.

But now was not the time to dwell on such useless matters of chastity and reputation. She quickly changed her clothes and then put on the uniform veil that the palace maid had given her.

"Follow behind me, don't look up, and don't make a sound," she said calmly.

Xu Ruoyan followed the young maid around the back wall to the west gate of the palace. As usual, the guards stopped them and questioned them.

The maid handed over a plaque with a few pieces of silver underneath: "We are here on the orders of Consort Shu to go out and make purchases."

The guard touched the hard silver ingot, his eyes darted around, and he quietly slipped it into his waistband before going over to open the door for them.

After entering the palace and walking a short distance, Xu Ruoyan finally saw the familiar scenery.

We have arrived at Consort Shu's Qingyue Palace.

“This servant will escort you here, Miss,” she said, bowing slightly. “If you walk south from Qingyue Palace, you will see the Emperor’s Tailuan Palace. Also, my mistress has something to tell you: The Emperor is easily swayed, and this matter was not his intention. Please think it over carefully.”

After the maid left, Xu Ruoyan didn't rush to leave. Instead, she found a place nearby to hide.

Since Consort Shu had sent someone to take her to Qingyue Palace, it meant that it was safe there for the time being. She needed to think things through before taking any action.

Why did Consort Shu help her? The answer is quite simple, especially after hearing the girl's words. She understood Consort Shu's intentions perfectly. She simply wanted to repay a debt of gratitude and rescue her nephew. Her health wasn't fully recovered, and if she wanted to continue vying for the emperor's favor, she couldn't possibly watch Xu Ruoyan and Sun Yulin die.

But if that's the only reason, it's not enough to explain why she would risk her life to help Xu Ruoyan. A more reasonable explanation is that Consort Shu and Pei Huai are currently very close, but Qi Feng doesn't respect Consort Shu's background and tries to trip her up at every turn. Pei Huai, as she said, is "easily influenced," and as long as Qi Feng is around, she will never be able to climb to the position of Empress.

Now that she's so close to that position, how could she possibly give up?

Her telling Xu Ruoyan to think it over was actually just a warning not to touch Pei Huai. If she could use Xu Ruoyan to get rid of Qi Feng and also save Xu Ruoyan from death, then she would have achieved multiple goals at once.

Xu Ruoyan hid behind the bushes and raised an eyebrow at a shallow puddle on the grass.

It goes without saying that anyone who can climb to this position in the harem must have some tricks up their sleeve.

In the mirror-like cove, she saw her own calm gaze and straight lips.

Let's go then.

Along the way, because she was dressed as a palace maid, she did not attract anyone's attention or suspicion. Looking at the Tai Luan Palace that appeared before her, she could hardly believe that the process had gone so smoothly.

If what the maid said is true, and Qi Feng and Pei Huai are both in this hall, then how should she find an opportunity to get in?

She was hiding in the small garden behind the Tai Luan Palace, peeking out from behind the branches close to her face, when suddenly someone gently tapped her shoulder.

“It’s me,” Pei Jue whispered in her ear.

Before Xu Ruoyan could even be shocked, Pei Jue's breath sent shivers down her spine. She turned around in surprise because Pei Jue was so close that her lips inevitably brushed against his face.

How did you get here?

“I’ve said it before, wherever you go, Madam, I will accompany you.”

At a time like this, why are you still saying sweet nothings!

Xu Ruoyan looked around again, not seeing anyone else: "Are you alone?"

Pei Jue quietly took her hand: "Yes, they're all staying outside on standby, don't worry."

This time, Xu Ruoyan didn't shake off his hand. Being able to feel Pei Jue's body temperature was a great comfort to her.

"How did you get in?" She frowned.

"Hmm... I just easily dealt with a few people blocking my way. It was very simple."

When Pei Jue said this casually, Xu Ruoyan initially thought he was talking about what he had just eaten.

"How about we just barge in?"

Pei Jue wasn't surprised by Xu Ruoyan's suggestion, after all, he knew that his wife was such an adventurous person.

While understanding her, he would never say anything discouraging, such as "This is too risky" or "Let's think of another way." He only knew that supporting all her decisions was what he should do, no matter what.

He gripped Xu Ruoyan's hand tightly:

"If you wish to play, Madam, then I will play with you."

Xu Ruoyan grinned and gently placed her other hand on the back of Pei Jue's hand.

They both knew how risky this move was, but when two crazy hearts came together, attraction replaced repulsion.

"I'll count to three, two, one." She turned her head, her eyes fixed on the tightly closed door, like a cheetah poised to pounce on its prey.

"three."

The wind around us seemed to have been paused.

"two."

Xu Ruoyan felt as if her breathing had stopped.

"one."

In the blink of an eye, two figures darted out from the layers of trees, flashing past the guards at the gate, leaving only two rolling heads behind.

With a loud crash, the heavy door panel flew out, sending suffocating wood chips flying, and slammed heavily to the ground, kicking up dust that filled the room. However, before the dust could settle, the clanging of metal against metal began one after another.

When they looked again, Xu Ruoyan was already flying straight toward Qi Feng, who was standing on the steps, while Pei Jue stopped in the center of the hall and engaged in close combat with the soldiers who surrounded him.

This was also part of their plan.

Xu Ruoyan had long anticipated that Qi Feng wouldn't be so foolish as to not even know she had slipped into the palace. Her smooth journey must have been due to lurking dangers. Just now, through the palace window, she had vaguely seen overlapping figures, leading her to realize that Qi Feng had already set an ambush inside. Therefore, she decided to have Pei Jue, with his superior martial arts, deal with the ambushing soldiers behind her, clearing her path, while she herself went forward alone to confront Qi Feng.

As she landed in front of Qi Feng, she heard the clanging of weapons behind her, and from just a few sounds, she knew there were quite a few people involved.

However, she was preoccupied with her own problems. Just as she raised her hand, a dark figure suddenly darted out from the side and snatched the sword from her hand with a single strike.

She took two quick steps back, barely managing to stop at the edge of the steps.

"It's been a long time, Physician Xu," Qi Feng gave her a meaningful smile. "The Emperor and I have been looking for you for a long time."

Xu Ruoyan didn't reply. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, he would disgust her so much that she would vomit.

Her gaze then shifted to the man in black standing to the side.

She realized from that last slash that this person's strength was definitely above hers, and it seemed that Qi Feng had no intention of letting her die a peaceful death this time.

Even if this person's physical strength is superior to hers, she doesn't believe that this person's intelligence can surpass hers.

In an instant, she pushed off with her right foot and charged forward again. As she swung her sword, it was unsurprisingly blocked by the man once more. The man held a long wind saber, which looked even larger than Xu Ruoyan. When the blade met Xu Ruoyan's sword, the sword trembled uncontrollably, as if it would shatter into pieces at any moment.

There's no way to confront them head-on.

Xu Ruoyan seized the opportunity to stop her attack, nimbly rolling to the side before landing steadily on one knee. A huge blade mark had appeared out of thin air where she had just stood. That person's strike had almost cleaved the entire Imperial Staircase in two.

She narrowed her eyes, her mind racing with calculations.

The man in black, however, wouldn't let her catch her breath. He swung his broadsword at Xu Ruoyan, who was kneeling on the ground. Xu Ruoyan reacted quickly and grabbed her sword to block, but the sword could no longer withstand such a fierce attack. The sword's clang grew more and more urgent, the blade trembled faster and faster, and tiny cracks spread rapidly from the hilt.

At this moment, Qi Feng stood with his hands behind his back, raising his eyebrows, looking down at Xu Ruoyan and waiting for her to completely lose the strength to resist.

finally.

With a "crack," Qi Feng's anticipated voice rang out. The sword, which had been so imposing just seconds before, shattered into seven or eight pieces, lying helplessly on the ground.

Qi Feng slightly opened his mouth, preparing to pronounce Xu Ruoyan's death sentence.

However, in the very next second—

A short knife, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, pierced straight through his heart.

If he still had the strength to pull out the dagger stuck in his body, he would find that the dagger was supposed to be a pair, and the other one was stuck in the heart of the man in black.

it's over.

The ending always comes so unexpectedly, and even Qi Feng never thought that his contest with Xu Ruoyan would end so hastily and quickly.

Xu Ruoyan watched as Qi Feng's breath gradually dissipated in the wind, feeling as if it were all a dream.

To prevent the two of them from possibly coming back to life, Xu Ruoyan grabbed the Changfeng Blade next to her and gave each of them a solid stab.

By the time she threw away the heavy broadsword, Pei Jue's battle had already ended.

This was something she hadn't considered.

"How could you be so fast?" Xu Ruoyan stood on the steps and raised an eyebrow at him.

Pei Jue walked around the mountain of corpses, stood below Xu Ruoyan, looked up at her and smiled, as if asking for praise.

"Am I amazing?"

Xu Ruoyan gave him a genuine thumbs up.

The people Qi Feng brought were all quite strong, but Pei Jue was able to deal with them so quickly, which shows that she had never really understood how powerful Pei Jue's martial arts were before.

Fortunately, I didn't become his enemy at the beginning, otherwise it's hard to say where my remains would be now, or how many pieces would be there.