Chapter 120 Epilogue (Part 5) Are you thinking...?
Chapter 120
Duan Keji, holding a long sword, rode on horseback. A strand of silver hair fluttered in the wind. He recognized Shen Suining, who had been thrown to the ground. His expression changed, and he immediately dismounted.
Upon realizing this, Tuoba Dian instantly changed his mind about silencing her. He drew his long sword and held it against Shen Suining's neck, snarling, "Take one more step and I'll kill her!"
Duan Keji immediately stood still, no longer daring to move, and neither did the men he led.
Enraged, Shen Suining roared at Duan Keji, "Duan Keji, are you stupid? Don't you hate me, this heartless man? Now is the perfect time for you to take revenge! Do it now! If you kill this traitor, the military merit will be yours alone! You can kill two birds with one stone, so why are you hesitating!"
"Shut up!" Tuoba Dian warned, tightening his grip. Blood instantly seeped from Shen Suining's neck, and the skin on her face peeled off as Tuoba Dian ripped it off.
“You’re not bad looking, huh? Such a fiery temper, you’re much more courageous than those worthless officials like you! I like people like you!” After tearing off Shen Suining’s mask, Tuoba Dian put away his knife, grabbed Shen Suining by the neck, lifted her up from the ground, and held her upside down in his arms, facing Duan Keji.
Tuoba Dian said he liked it, but he showed no mercy in his hands. Blood seeped from Shen Suining's neck. This Dan man had immense strength; it looked like he could snap a person's neck with just a little force.
Shen Sui would rather not die such a gruesome death. She was so young and beautiful, she didn't want to be a headless ghost.
So she softened her tone and said, "Brother, we Central Plains people don't express affection so rudely. Why don't you go a little easier? If you really strangle me, that young general over there will be secretly delighted."
Although she had been in Huadu for over a year, when Shen Suining deliberately softened her tone, her Wu dialect was still so gentle that it made one's body go numb.
Tuoba Dianyi, a northern man, was still somewhat tempted. He laughed and said, "Don't try to poison me, little girl. If I can't leave this imperial city alive, you'll have to die with me. We'll keep each other company on the road to the underworld, and be a pair of star-crossed lovers so we won't be alone."
Shen Suining thought to herself, "Screw your doomed lover! I don't want to die with a mutton-smelling brute like you."
When her attempt to bewitch Tuoba Dian failed, she turned her gaze to Duan Keji, who was not far away.
Shen Suining didn't know why Duan Keji was in the army, nor did she know when He Hansheng had taken him under his command. Perhaps it was on the night she last met Duan Keji that she fled in panic after seeing the masked man, and He Hansheng took the opportunity to take away the seriously injured Duan Keji.
To be fair, Duan Keji is a capable person. Even if there are some grudges between them, Shen Suining will not deny his abilities because of this.
But in the current situation, she was being choked by Tuoba Dian, and several elite soldiers were surrounding her. Even if she could break free from Tuoba Dian's grasp, these burly men who came with Tuoba Dian could easily riddle her with holes in the next second.
It's not impossible to get out unscathed, but it's a gamble.
So, Shen Suining called Duan Keji's name, and fearing that Tuoba Dian might understand, she deliberately asked in Yangzhou dialect, "How well have you mastered the Yushan sword technique?"
Duan Keji was slightly taken aback. Seeing Shen Suining's eyes darting around and her gaze sweeping over the people around her, he instantly understood and nodded solemnly to Shen Suining.
Shen Suining sighed and replied in Mandarin that Tuoba Dian could understand: "It had better be that way, otherwise I'll haunt you even as a ghost."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tuoba Dian tightened his grip on her neck, forcing her to tilt her head back completely, exposing her fragile neck, where the bloodstains were shockingly visible.
Tuoba Dian asked her fiercely, "You bitch! What kind of coded language are you spouting!"
"Ahem! We were saying—"
Shen Suining rolled her eyes, her mind racing. "I betrayed his feelings back then, so I'll go first on the road to the underworld and tell him not to hold a grudge against me!"
Tuoba Dian glanced at Duan Keji with amusement, then looked at Shen Suining, "I knew this young general's eyes weren't innocent when he looked at you. So you two have this history? In that case, I'll have to find a way to help you two."
"No, I don't want to die with him, I'll have nightmares," Shen Suining said, her voice hoarse as if she were using her last strength to speak, "But there's an old saying in the Central Plains, 'Debts must be repaid, it's only right and proper.' I owe him, and I'll repay him now, so I won't be unable to repay him when I'm done for. Brother, you don't mind, do you?"
Tuoba Dian sneered and remained silent, wanting to see what tricks this soft-spoken young lady could pull.
After receiving tacit approval, Shen Suining reached into her pocket with her left hand, as if searching for something. The surrounding elite Dan warriors instantly became alert and looked at her. At this moment, Duan Keji flew forward and almost instantly pierced the throats of the people in front of him. The speed was so fast that no one had time to react.
At that moment, Shen Suining unfastened the bracelet on her wrist with her right hand, took out her wrist sword, and stabbed it hard into Tuoba Dian's right hand. At the same time, she took out spices with her left hand and sprinkled them on his face, then kicked him in the lower body and grabbed his knife-wielding hand with both hands for a beautiful over-the-shoulder throw.
Tuoba Dian was tall and strong, and his over-the-shoulder throw almost broke Shen Suining's waist. Just as she was about to kneel down, Duan Keji immediately stepped forward to support her, turned her around, and casually slashed the throats of the people behind her, successfully leading Shen Suining back to safety.
After her life was saved, Shen Suining was still in shock and collapsed to her knees. Duan Keji quickly grabbed her and said, "Hey, it's not over yet."
"...With so many of you here, do you really need me to go?!" Shen Suining said irritably.
Duan Keji thought about it and realized that the team he led was enough to deal with Tuoba Dian and his so-called elites. However, what he couldn't understand was why He Hansheng was still willing to give him this chance to be a hero and save the beauty, even though he knew about his past with Shen Suining.
The surroundings were chaotic, filled with the sounds of battle between the two sides. Tuoba Dian's defeat was inevitable. Duan Keji, fearing that Shen Suining would be trampled by some inconsiderate soldier, helped her sit against the palace wall to catch her breath.
Shen Suining asked him, "Are you wondering why He Hansheng didn't come in person? After all, if any of us had made a mistake just now, it would have been the last time he saw me."
Duan Keji was silent for a moment, then asked in return, "And what about you? When you saw it was me just now, you looked very disappointed."
“Yes, I’m a little disappointed, even angry, because he didn’t come this time, and I may never see him again,” Shen Suining smiled and frankly admitted her emotions. “But I understand that in his position, he always has things more important to do than save me. It’s actually better that he didn’t come, because I guess he wouldn’t have been as calm as you were just now.”
When Shen Suining was dragged out of Baohua Hall, it was just dawn. By the time the Dan people and the rebel army that aided and abetted the tyrant in the imperial city were cleared out, it was already evening. In addition to the team that Duan Keji brought in, several more armies with the character "He" in their banners entered one after another. Shen Suining knew that He Hansheng should already be nearby.
There were no imperial physicians in the palace, so Shen Suining simply bandaged the wound on her neck and tidied herself up by using a water vat as a makeshift dressing table.
Duan Keji mocked her: "You almost lost your life, and the young master still has the leisure to put on a show?"
Shen Suining: "Of course I want to. Even if I'm going to die, I want to be a decent and beautiful ghost. Otherwise, it would be a waste of the good-looking face my parents gave me."
Duan Keji stood to the side, holding his sword, watching Shen Suining frantically fiddling with her cascading black hair. He suddenly remembered the first time he saw her.
At that time, Shen Suining was only about fifteen or sixteen years old, and she was even more talkative and unreliable than she is now.
He felt at the time that this girl was naturally carefree and should not be bound by any worldly conventions or rules, and that someone like him, with his background and personality, would probably only be a burden to her.
Then Duan Keji suddenly asked Shen Suining, "So, young master, you plan to leave Shuyu Manor and live permanently in the capital?"
Shen Suining paused in his movements.
Duan Keji: "Does he treat you well? Does he make you willing to go against your nature and be trapped in one place? Besides, I don't think there's anything good about Huadu. Everyone is deceiving and scheming against each other. It's terrible."
Whether or not Shen Suining will stay in the capital permanently is still uncertain, but the only thing she is certain of is, "I will not be trapped by anyone, Duan Keji. Even He Hansheng, who is willing to pay the price to keep me alive, will not trap me. If I stay in the capital, it will only be out of my own free will."
Duan Keji gave a cold laugh and said nothing more.
When the two walked out of the palace wall one after the other, He Hansheng and the others were already waiting at the city gate.
Upon seeing her emerge, He Hansheng immediately dismounted, opened his arms, and forcefully caught Shen Suining, who was rushing towards him. Due to inertia, he spun her around twice in his arms.
He Hansheng hugged Shen Suining tightly, his eyes reddening. He nuzzled her cheek, feeling her warmth, and whispered "I'm sorry" countless times in her ear.
"What are you apologizing to, He Hansheng?" Shen Suining hugged his neck, her eyes also a little sore, but her tone was still smiling.
Jiang Yuchu carried Prince Zhao over. After Shen Suining took him out, Lin Qingrong entrusted him to He Hansheng for protection. He Hansheng found someone to treat him overnight, but his leg bone was broken by Tuoba Dian and it would take some time to recover. He should have been resting at this time, but Prince Zhao insisted on personally visiting the imperial city after the disaster.
Seeing that Shen Suining was safe and sound, King Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, "With my sister-in-law well, Shao Yu can rest easy now."
The vermilion palace walls lost their former brilliance in the twilight. The mottled plaster peeled off along the cracks, revealing the gray bricks underneath, like an old scar torn open by time. Dark red scabs still clung to the gilded bronze lions in front of the palace gate.
As the crowd stepped over the city gate, their shoes crunched over pebbles and dry grass, the soft sounds echoing through the empty palace corridor.
The afterglow of the setting sun pierced through the clouds, casting a warm glow on the dilapidated palace. Even those scarred corners seemed to exude a gentle and hopeful sense of rebirth after the catastrophe.
But everyone knows in their hearts that this abhorrent disaster is far from over.
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