They traveled swiftly through the dark, deep mountains. Suddenly, the sound of swords clashing came from the dense forest not far away, and the faint glow of fire seemed to be approaching them.
Chu Changning's eyes darkened slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "Let's go there; there's still a glimmer of hope."
Xiao Yan immediately nodded, "Let's go."
The group immediately headed towards the mountainside.
In the depths of winter, Kyoto had just experienced a snowfall, and lingering snowflakes still covered the mountains. Branches lay beneath one's feet, and the road ahead was shrouded in darkness.
When Sima Yao caught up, she saw a figure leaving ahead.
She followed the footprints and ordered people to clear a path ahead.
Before long, Chu Changning and his group arrived at the edge of a cliff halfway up the mountain. It was winter, and the area below the cliff was a vast expanse of white, hazy and indistinct, so nothing could be seen clearly.
She pondered for a moment, then immediately ordered her guards to leave using their light-footed skills.
"Princess."
"You all go first, leave a few of you behind."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan left behind a few secret guards with profound internal strength, while the others quickly disappeared from the mountains.
"Go, get down."
As soon as Chu Changning finished speaking, a group of people suddenly sprang out from the dense forest behind him.
The woman at the head of the group was dressed in riding attire and had a striking appearance.
"Princess Jinling, I have long admired you, but seeing you in person is far better than hearing about you."
Upon seeing the cliff surrounded by people, Xiao Yan immediately led his guards to protect Chu Changning by his side.
Chu Changning glanced over indifferently and saw that the woman had already put her hair up. He asked softly, "Who is Madam?"
Sima Yao raised an eyebrow as she looked at the unmoved person.
"Sima Yao, the legitimate daughter of Prince An, Princess of Nanping."
"Speaking of which, we met once in Kyoto when we were young. It's amazing that the princess has no memory of it. Noble people have such bad memories."
Chu Changning narrowed his eyes slightly, "Why has the princess come to see me?"
Sima Yao stared intently at her and chuckled softly.
"On the orders of the Marquis of Yan, I killed the princess."
A biting wind howled, and the edge of the cliff remained eerily silent.
The sky was overcast, and a thick fog filled the air, with the roars of wild beasts echoing all around.
“Prince An and Yan Beimo have always been on good terms, but because he died in the capital, is the princess treating her enemy as her master?”
"My father is old and nearing the end of his life. It is his honor to die in battle for the Marquis of Yan to become emperor."
Chu Changning, "---"
"If Prince An knew this in the afterlife, he would probably be so angry at the princess that he would come back to life."
Sima Yao wasn't angry. She looked her up and down a few times, her gaze settling on her slightly protruding belly, her eyes darkening slightly.
After a moment, she smiled faintly and looked directly at him.
"The princess thought that she could do whatever she wanted because she was pregnant with the Marquis of Yan's child. Now she has tasted the bitterness of being abandoned?"
Chu Changning didn't respond, calmly observing the troops behind her, calculating his chances of winning by breaking through.
“Princess, stop looking. No one will come to save you. Marquis Yan hates trouble the most. He would rather get rid of trouble like you as soon as possible. Besides, you have angered him.”
Chu Changning seized on the loophole in her words and looked up.
"Weren't you ordered by Yan Beimo to kill me? Why would he come to save me?"
Sima Yao choked, then chuckled.
"He just said, take him back, life or death."
Even though Chu Changning knew she shouldn't have any such thoughts, she still felt a chill in her heart when she heard that he had sent people to kill her.
Her fingertips curled up, and she didn't speak.
Seeing that she remained silent, Sima Yao looked her up and down a few more times and then sneered.
"Lord Yan is a dragon among men, hailed as the most outstanding person in Jiangzuo. It is your honor to have climbed up to him, but you are ungrateful and tried to kill him. How could such a cold-blooded person let you go?"
"Chu Changning, you are not good enough for him."
Chu Changning couldn't help but retort, "You like him?"
Sima Yao was taken aback, chuckled, and remained silent.
"If I'm not mistaken, the princess has already married, hasn't she?"
Xiao Yan, who had been listening for a while, wanted her to make sarcastic remarks, so he explained in a low voice.
“The husband of Princess Nanping is Prince Cui Xun of Qinghe.”
The Prince of Qinghe?!
Chu Changning had no idea; he had absolutely no recollection of it.
Seeing her confusion, Xiao Yan said directly, "They are members of a collateral branch of the Cui clan of Qinghe, who are kings in the southern region and whose titles are hereditary."
"---"
don't know.
Chu Changning didn't care what he meant, and simply gestured with his eyes to strike.
Xiao Yan understood and rushed towards Sima Yao, who was about to speak, at lightning speed. Her bodyguards immediately became alert and drew their swords to stop him.
At the edge of the cliff, the sounds of fighting rose up.
The Linwei are all secretly trained bodyguards with extremely high martial arts skills.
Sima Yao arrived in haste, with a large number of troops still behind him. His personal guards were no match for him and began to retreat in defeat.
Chu Changning dared not delay and hurried westward along the alleyway lined with secret guards, but Sima Yao, who was skilled in martial arts, leaped over and blocked their way.
Chu Changning was entangled with her and couldn't break free.
Sima Yao kicked her directly in the stomach, her expression terrifyingly vicious.
Chu Changning quickly protected her belly and dodged away. The child was already big; if both she and the baby died, all her efforts would have been in vain.
"Even the Marquis of Yan doesn't want this child anymore, so why is the princess protecting him?"
Chu Changning ignored her and directly pulled out the musket behind him, signaling the guards beside him to engage in combat.
Surrounded, Sima Yao was caught off guard and had a musket pointed at his head.
"Do you dare kill me?"
Before Chu Changning could speak, countless footsteps echoed from the forest behind them, flames rose, and a sharp arrow arrived accompanied by a clear voice.
"Please have mercy, Madam."
Chu Changning quickly grabbed Sima Yao's arm and looked at her seriously.
Deep in the dense forest, a large number of soldiers surrounded them, and the man at the head of the group, dressed in a dark blue cloak, strode in.
"My husband."
Sima Yao was overjoyed and immediately shouted it out.
"My husband, save me!"
Chu Changning finally understood why Xiao Yan looked that way. Although Cui Xun had a handsome appearance, he was a man with a missing arm.
My left arm is empty.
Cui Xun stopped, looked around, and after assessing the situation, did not act rashly.
Seeing Chu Changning staring at his arm, he couldn't help but laugh and ask, "What are you looking at, Madam?"
Chu Changning quickly looked away and turned to look at him.
"I hope you'll forgive the ailments I picked up on the battlefield."
Chu Changning pursed her lips, glanced at Sima Yao whom she had captured, and said calmly.
"If Your Highness wants your princess to be safe, please lead the army to retreat."
As she spoke, she pressed the musket in her hand hard against Sima Yao's forehead.
Cui Xun's eyes darkened slightly, and the hidden weapon concealed in his sleeve flickered subtly.
He chuckled lightly, "The princess is young and injured the lady. How about this, I'll escort the lady down the mountain and release her?"
A smiling tiger who speaks human language to humans and ghost language to ghosts.
Chu Changning felt uneasy, but gave a subtle warning on the surface.
"Your Highness, please do not act rashly, otherwise, my musket will not discriminate."
Sima Yao was captured by her, and when she was threatened, her face twisted with anger.
"My husband, you need not worry about me, please go ahead—"
Before she could finish speaking, the gunshot wound on her forehead went even deeper, causing her to gasp in pain.
She couldn't help but sneer, "The princess's husband wants your life, but my husband is only focused on saving me—"
"Shut up."
Chu Changning felt a headache coming on and pulled her back.
But Cui Xun was also a veteran of the battlefield. Even though he had lost an arm, he was still extremely fast, and his hidden weapons flashed out swiftly.
The guards around him rushed to block, but a palm wind struck Chu Changning. Xiao Yan hurriedly tried to block it, but Chu Changning was forced back several steps by the force, and his body slipped, causing him to fall straight down the cliff.
"lady."
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