"What bad luck! What sins did I commit in my past life, or even the life before that, to end up here, experiencing this, and encountering these people? He's clearly a heinous villain, yet I have to risk my life to suck out the snake venom for him. I'm just...sigh." As Yi Shangyun walked, she casually picked up a blade of grass and tore it into pieces. But she still seemed unsatisfied, stopping and stomping her feet angrily, as if she were extremely frustrated and annoyed.
At this moment, Xuanyuan Han, leading several guards, galloped along the road and finally arrived at the foot of the North Mountain.
Seeing that they could bypass this mountain and go straight to the ancient northwestern road from Xiqin to Beilie, perhaps Tuoba Ze and Yi Shangyun were somewhere ahead of them.
However, at this moment, looking at the place before him that he could never erase the fear he felt for his entire life, he couldn't help but rein in his horse and slowly stop. After coldly scanning the changes around the place over the past ten years, he dismounted, walked to a rock by the roadside at the foot of the mountain, sat down, and took a deep breath.
No sooner had Yi Shangyun left than the man from the guards, whose face was deathly pale and who had been biting his lip as if he were still struggling to hold on, stepped forward and knelt heavily before Tuoba Ze with a thud. This man was none other than Tuoba Ze's close guard, who had escaped by tricking Cheng Liang and catching him off guard.
He bowed his head, frowned, and cautiously reported to Tuoba Ze with an unusually heavy expression, "Your Highness, I am incompetent. Please punish me. Those of us who stayed in Wanjiao Pavilion... were either killed or captured. In the end, only I escaped."
Upon hearing this devastating news, the few remaining guards surrounding him exchanged bewildered glances, completely stunned.
Tuoba Ze was also startled, and the smile that had just been on his lips vanished instantly. He then looked up in surprise at his personal guard, who was kneeling timidly before him, trembling, clutching his bleeding wound with one hand, which had not yet been bandaged. He stood up abruptly and shouted angrily, "What?"
After a moment's hesitation, he asked anxiously, "What about the madam and the Ice Beauty?"
The bodyguard bit his lip, steeled his resolve, and held his breath, saying, "The King of Western Qin is pushing us too hard, and his methods are too sophisticated. For some reason, that bitch Lanxiang ended up with the King's men and even dared to return to Wanjiao Pavilion with them. I wonder what she's up to?"
"Lanxiang, is she with the King of Qin's men?" Tuoba Ze asked in confusion.
Hearing that Tuoba Ze's tone had softened, the guard dared to raise his head slightly and nod at him forcefully.
But when he thought about the series of bad news that came from Wanjiao Pavilion during the pursuit of the madam, that the plan to poison Lanxiang had failed, the secret room had been discovered, Yu Niang had been successfully rescued, and the Beilie members in Wanjiao Pavilion had been thoroughly investigated, he was afraid that Tuoba Ze would question him one by one. Then, a flash of inspiration came to him and he thought of a good reason to exonerate himself.
He boasted arrogantly, saying, "No matter what that bitch wants to do, this time I won't let her get away with it again. But just as I was about to personally finish her off in Wanjiao Pavilion and tear her to pieces, I unexpectedly discovered that the madam had also successfully refined the Ice Beauty Gu. So, I ordered the madam to immediately poison the King of Western Qin. But I don't know what that bitch Lanxiang said to the madam, the madam seemed to be possessed and wouldn't listen to a word I said. Fearing she might harm the Ice Beauty, I panicked and thought of seizing the Gu first, protecting it, and then negotiating with her slowly. But she refused to let go, no matter what. So, we argued fiercely and broke through the defenses the King of Qin had set up outside Wanjiao Pavilion. But it was precisely because of this that Wanjiao Pavilion was left leaderless, and the King of Qin took the opportunity to ransack it."
"So what happened in the end? Was the Ice Beauty unharmed?" Tuoba Ze asked anxiously.
Even at this moment, the guard still didn't forget to flatter, saying with a sense of relief, "Your Highness's prediction was indeed correct. That madam is very good at hiding her abilities. I don't know where she learned her lightness skill, it's quite impressive. I chased her all the way and finally caught up with her in the willow grove not far from here. If it weren't for the fact that her figure has become so deformed over the years, I'm afraid I definitely wouldn't have been able to catch up with her. The concern is that she deliberately developed this bloated figure today to conceal her skills."
Upon hearing this, Tuoba Ze was furious, his eyes blazing with rage. He strode forward and, with lightning speed, drew his sword, pointing it directly at the kneeling guard's chest. He roared, "Useless trash! Didn't you hear me ask you if the Ice Beauty was unharmed? Your answer was irrelevant, completely nonsensical! Utterly stupid! After all these years, you still haven't realized that the madam has martial arts skills! How could I have raised such a stupid and useless piece of trash like you? If I had to belatedly remind you of even this, I might as well be a pig to be slaughtered. All these years I've treated you so poorly… You must really be tired of living!" Tuoba Ze was so angry that he didn't know what to say and refused to waste any more words with him.
Upon seeing the sword tip just inches from his chest, the guard was utterly stunned and terrified. Tuoba Ze had never pointed a sword at him like this before; this must be a sign of extreme anger and disappointment. The guard, regaining his composure, repeatedly apologized and answered the guard's questions, "Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, spare me! The Prince of Qin's deputy general brought a stranger today. I heard that vile woman Lanxiang tell the madam that she was from Nan'an and had come to Wanjiao Pavilion specifically to see her. But for some reason, the madam, who always wanted to see someone from Nan'an, is now feigning madness and refusing to see him. Just now, in the willow grove, while the Prince of Qin's deputy general was entangled with me, the madam escaped to the waterfall, and that stranger chased after her. But when I escaped from the Prince of Qin's deputy general and went to the waterfall to look for him, I saw…saw…saw…"
"What did you see? Speak up!" Tuoba Ze roared at him, pressing his sword forward a few inches in an instant, blood soaking through his white robe. His men, witnessing this terrifying scene, stared wide-eyed and gasped in unison.
The guard, sweating profusely, stammered, "I saw the madam lying in the arms of a strange man... dead."
"What?...What about the Ice Beauty?" Tuoba Ze was extremely surprised, and then hurriedly asked.
"I hid nearby and searched carefully for a long time, but I didn't see the Ice Beauty. I only saw that the glass bottle used to hold the Ice Beauty was open, and there was a layer of ice flowers shimmering with five colors at the bottom of the bottle. But it wasn't the bright red, tearful blood flowers that I saw in the Wanjiao Pavilion when the Ice Beauty poison was refined," the guard said, puzzled.
"Are you sure that's what you saw at the end?" Tuoba Ze asked, pointing his sword at him without withdrawing it even an inch.
"I swear on my life, I'm absolutely not mistaken," the guard said confidently.
After a moment's thought, Tuoba Ze asked again, "Did you see any changes in the madam?"
The guard was so frightened that he almost lost his soul. Upon hearing the sound, he carefully recalled the scene he had witnessed and muttered, "What changes have you noticed in the madam... Right, I remember now, the madam seems to have become younger and more beautiful, as if she has returned to the age of seventeen or eighteen."
Tuoba Ze's heart skipped a beat, and the sharp sword in his hand fell to the ground in front of the kneeling guard with a 'clang'. The guard and his men behind him breathed a long sigh of relief when they saw the sword fall to the ground.
At this moment, Tuoba Ze seemed to have lost a few strands of his soul, and slowly said in a daze, "'All is lost,' it's all over. You stupid and useless piece of trash, back then, if it weren't for the fact that you took that fatal poisoned arrow for me with your own body, why would I have used you? Indeed, I was too 'womanly-hearted,' which is why we have such a mess today."
"So, Yu Niang and everyone else who were locked in the secret room were rescued?" After a long while, Tuoba Ze asked listlessly, looking dejected.
The guard timidly raised his eyes and nodded.
"Hahahaha...hahahahaha..." Unexpectedly, Tuoba Ze suddenly let out a deafening burst of wild laughter, then staggered back two steps, as if he could no longer stand, and then fell heavily to the ground on the rock where he had just been.
Upon seeing him, everyone stared blankly at his face, at a loss for what to do.
"What did that unfamiliar man look like?" After a long while, he leaned weakly on the rock beside him and asked seriously.
"That man's appearance was quite alluring, with a pair of slender, almond-shaped eyes and a strong sense of cosmetics. He wore a purple-red brocade robe, which gave him an air of refinement... Oh, right, when I went around to his back to look for the Ice Beauty, I noticed a red mole behind his ear. The madam died, and he seemed extremely heartbroken. A grown man, someone he had no relation to, was even shedding tears?" the guard said disdainfully.
"Could it be him?" Tuoba Ze squinted and guessed.
Hearing that Tuoba Ze seemed familiar with this person, the guard cautiously inquired, "Does Your Highness know this person?"
No sooner had the guard finished speaking than Tuoba Ze burst into another fit of wild laughter, saying, "Hahahaha... It's truly the will of Heaven that cannot be defied. This Lingkong Continent is neither too big nor too small. As the saying goes, 'Raising children is for old age security,' she was born without raising any, yet in the darkness, her son, who was thousands of miles away, was able to accompany her at the moment of her death. In this life, she can be said to have not worried about this son for twenty years in vain."
"What? He's the son the madam has been longing for her whole life?" The guard was extremely surprised upon hearing this.
Tuoba Ze glared at him fiercely, but suddenly made a very important decision in his heart. The Crown Prince of Nan'an had also come to Western Qin and even formed an alliance with the King of Qin. It was truly a case of heaven never closing off all doors.
Upon realizing this, Tuoba Ze immediately ordered his few remaining defeated soldiers, saying, "I have suddenly made a decision. We will not return to Beilie for the time being, because we have more important things to do in Xiqin."
"What?" They had finally looked forward to the day when they could return home and reunite with their families, but this order left everyone looking at each other with worried expressions...
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