To behead
The Lancang River flows rapidly, with rolling waves. The water constantly hits the rocks, making a huge "pa pa" sound, like a beast swooping down and rushing down. The rocks along the coast are steep and dangerous.
Zhang Chao stood by the river, water splashing under his feet, majestic and powerful, like a silver bead curtain shining in the sun. A cool feeling swept over his trouser legs, as if he would be sucked into the belly of this raging beast in the next second.
The soldiers continued to salvage in the river. In some places, the river surface was frozen, and they used tools to break it up. It took a lot of time, but there was no trace of Wen Jingzhao.
It has been more than half a month, and Zhang Chao is extremely anxious. Li Bin ran over. It was such a cold day, but he was sweating profusely, with beads of sweat sticking to his forehead, and his body was also wet by the river water.
Li Bin shook his head and said, "Still no. We've sent people further downstream."
Zhang Chao hummed, "I'll take some people to the nearby villages to ask."
The two looked up and saw thick smoke rising above.
Yuchi Gong held a torch and watched the corpse burn quickly like a dead branch. The flames devoured everything and slowly turned it into ashes.
After days of fierce fighting, the shouts of the soldiers, the roar of the drums, and the atmosphere of slaughter will finally end with this fire.
The Wu State was defeated. Wu Erhan's head and the blood of his warriors turned into a letter of peace. The other party was willing to cede the city and marry the princess to demonstrate the friendship between the two countries.
The soldiers and horses piled up like a hill were sprinkled with strong liquor and burned fiercely. Yuchi Gong looked at the Lancang River below with a heavy look in his eyes. He could still hear the wailing of the wounded soldiers. This beating was terrible.
After resting for a few days, Yuchi Gong returned with a large group of people, leaving a team to Zhang Chao to continue searching for Wen Jingzhao.
Yuchi Gong held the knife he had just salvaged tightly and instructed Zhang Chao, "If you have any news, send a letter to me immediately." Yuchi Gong didn't believe that Wen Jingzhao died just like that.
"Okay." Zhang Chao hadn't slept for several days, and Li Bin was also sleepless.
Zhang Chao asked him to go back first. He had just gotten married, and the sooner he went back, the sooner his family would feel at ease.
Li Bin refused and went back safely without finding the young master. He was too embarrassed to face the general or He Yingchun.
He had already been injured on the battlefield, the most serious of which was a blow to the abdomen. If it had been more serious, his intestines would probably have flowed out. He had been searching for people for the past few days and was already at the end of his strength.
Zhang Chao didn't waste any time talking to him. He knocked him out and arranged for someone to take him back to take medicine and heal his wounds. The important thing was to keep him alive.
Having said that, Zhang Chao wiped his face and broke the ice with a chopping block. The temperature had dropped sharply in the past few days and the river surface was frozen overnight.
He looked under the ice and increased the strength in his hands. Wen Jingzhao, ah Wen Jingzhao, you have to come out to me even if you get soaked.
…
Thirst, extremely thirsty, as if standing on fire, burning every inch of skin, throat dry as if exposed to the scorching sun, craving for a little liquid to moisten it.
Wen Jingzhao felt as if he was on a battlefield. His lips were chapped and stuck together. He couldn't even call for help. Every breath was a sharp pain, and he could only let out dry sobs.
He tried to open his eyes and look around in the faint light, but all he saw was a desolate battlefield. The ground was smoked black, and there were broken arms and legs, billowing smoke, and dead bodies everywhere.
He was like a prisoner, trapped in the same place, longing for a little water, but the pain overwhelmed him. The broken limbs on the ground twisted and crawled over, grabbing his feet.
Where's the knife? Wen Jingzhao moved his fingers, but there was nothing.
Wu Erhan came towards him with an axe in his hand, his face ashen, no longer looking like a living person, "Give me your life!!" He shouted loudly, and the earth shook suddenly. Wen Jingzhao was gasping for breath, hot blood spilled on his eyelids, and saw his head being chopped off, but his body was still there.
"Huh! Huh! Huh!" Wen Jingzhao suddenly opened his eyes.
The severe pain in his body made his scalp numb. He looked around and saw a colorful snake spitting out its tongue above his head, staring at him with its vertical pupils.
Its body was wrapped around a nearby tree branch, its skin, a mixture of red, yellow, and green, possessing a deadly beauty. It was looking at its prey.
Wen Jingzhao tried to run, but his legs seemed to be stuck to the ground and could not move. He then realized that he could not feel the existence of his lower limbs.
His mouth was so dry as if it had been stabbed by a razor blade, but he could only move like a spotted snake, not daring to move, because his leg was broken.
Pain, heart-wrenching pain.
He Yingchun was also suffering in prison. Although there was no wound on his body, he was still in great pain. He Yingchun even wanted to dig out the flesh from his chest.
"Is she okay?"
"I don't know. It's baffling. We haven't beaten her yet, have we? Why is she dying there?"
"You're crazy, what's wrong with you? Are you possessed?"
…
There were two other people in the same cell. Originally, the older ones were taking care of the newcomer, but now seeing her like this, they were reluctant to approach her.
He Yingchun was in pain for three consecutive days. When Lady Wang, her mother and Xiaohe came to visit her, she had lost a lot of weight.
She was thin to begin with, and her plump cheeks were now sunken, making her look particularly weak. The clothes she wore also seemed particularly large on her, with her sleeves dangling in the wind, as if she was about to ascend to heaven in the next second.
Mum's tears immediately flowed down her face. "Why...how did you become so thin? Don't they give you food?"
"Nothing." He Yingchun shook her head. "What did Master Ma say?"
Madam Wang also burst into tears. She gritted her teeth and said, "We didn't even get through the gate. The two guards didn't even listen to what we said. They just said that Master Ma was gone and wasn't at the mansion, and then kicked us all out."
Yes, Ma Tongguang must have gone to the front line as well.
He Yingchun bit her lip, not knowing what to do.
"I haven't been tried yet. Let's see if I can delay it for some time..." He Yingchun thought that at least he could delay it until Lord Ma and the others came back, so that he could save his life.
Madam Wang, Mum, and Xiaohe were all silent. Xiaohe burst into tears, "It's gone! There's not much time left! Boss, they said he will be beheaded the day after tomorrow... Woohoo..." He couldn't help but burst into tears.
Madam Wang took the food out of the box. She had also lost a lot of weight, and she carried the plate with trembling hands.
If it weren't for the impending execution, they would never have seen He Yingchun.
Madam Wang lowered her voice and said, "I asked my younger sister from the Zhu family to inquire about it. She said someone used their connections to pay the government some favors. They want you to hurry up and do this."
"I don't know who reported it... Did he offend someone before?" Madam Wang guessed.
Mom suddenly grasped the iron bars of the cell and said, "I remember now! Is it Wen Wanrou? I saw her coming out from across from our noodle shop earlier... It must be her, it must be her."
"Why didn't I think of it sooner!" Mom slapped her forehead, full of regret. "The day after tomorrow... the day after tomorrow... there's still a chance. I'll go find her. I... I'll go beg her!!"
He Yingchun grabbed her mother's hand and said, "Mom, Mom! It's okay, don't panic, don't panic, let's not panic."
She held her mother's hand and said, "There must be a way... There must be a way..."
What else can be done? Unless the emperor grants amnesty to the entire country and lets go of her status as a criminal slave, no one can do anything to her.
Or maybe he was escaping from prison. He Yingchun looked at the iron walls around him and the inmates who were watching him closely from behind.
Forget it.
After the meal, the jailer came to urge Lady Wang and the other two to leave, "Let's go! Let's go! Don't dawdle! It's time! Hurry!"
"It's okay, I have my own way. Everyone, stay calm." He Yingchun only had time to say a few more words to everyone before watching them go away.
But everyone knows that she is in prison and no matter how many magical powers she has, she cannot use them.
Madam Wang just suggested to ask Madam He again to see if there was any other way. Mom just wanted to find Wen Wanrou immediately. At worst, both of them would be destroyed. Only Xiaohe believed that He Yingchun had a way.
"Boss, you better come out soon..." He sniffed, "Then we'll fight you."
"Okay!" As long as she can still get out alive.
He Yingchun agreed readily.
Although he comforted them and told them not to panic and stay calm, everything would be fine, He Yingchun panicked at night. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest. She thought it would last for some time, but it stopped within a quarter of an hour.
It was as if the surging waves suddenly stopped, or as if only the aftermath of firecrackers remained after the explosion, or as if someone had been whipping her continuously but suddenly stopped. She felt a little flattered, even panicked.
After a while, He Yingchun touched his chest and looked at the pattern.
Surprisingly, disappeared?
She suddenly tore open her clothes, and her flawless whiteness really disappeared. The pattern that had been following her for a long time was gone, and she moved her mind.
It’s gone, and the system is gone too.
He Yingchun suddenly got up from the haystack and checked her body. There was really nothing, nothing at all. The small moles on her arms and calves were still there, but the pattern was gone.
Wen Jingzhao...
He Yingchun had a dry throat and was breathing slowly. The sweat that had just come out due to the pain was now rolling down her forehead, leaving clear traces along her pale face.
With trembling hands, she grabbed her clothes and took out a small seal from her bosom. It had the words "Welcome the Spring" written on it. It had been rubbed very smooth by her. She held it tightly, as if it would disappear like the pattern.
The snoring and grinding of teeth around me pierced my eardrums like the sound of a knife scratching on a blackboard, amplifying the noise.
During this period, He Yingchun had many nightmares. Some of them were about herself being beheaded, being torn apart by five horses, and being cut into pieces. But she never dreamed of Wen Jingzhao. Perhaps it was because she was afraid that he was really dead.
That night, all that was left were the bodies of the dead on the battlefield, and Wen Jingzhao lay in the river of blood to bid her farewell.
He smiled, joy revealed between his eyebrows, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and the sunlight shone on his face, warm and bright.
It was a very relaxed smile, as if all the burdens had been lifted off.
"He Yingchun! Live well!"
He Yingchun was almost crying, and the smile she forced out must have been uglier than crying. "Okay, you too!"
She cried so hard that her vision was blurred. She watched Wen Jingzhao fall into a pool of blood. He saw her crying but could not speak. He only pointed upwards with his index finger.
He Yingchun looked up at the sky along the tip of his finger and saw an exceptionally bright sun.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
