Chapter 67 A figure in red leaps into the ceaselessly surging...
She trembled as she pulled an oil paper packet from her sleeve.
He was covered in blood, but the oil paper package was clean, wrapped in several layers.
She stuffed it into Xue Lanyi's hand, saying, "Miss, if you have the chance in the future, please send this bag of money to Maple Leaf Village."
"Give half of the money inside to the elder brother and half to the younger brother; that's enough for them to get married."
"And... there are a few pieces of jewelry inside that are for my mother. My mother... she has never seen jade before..."
As soon as she finished speaking, her hand went limp and fell to the ground.
Xue Lanyi took her hand and looked at the girl's simple appearance, noting that she herself only had a silver hairpin in her hair.
"And what about you?"
Silly girl!
Xue Lanyi felt heartbroken and gestured to Granny Liu to help her up.
"Don't give up, it's not a dead end yet. I'm a very good horseman, second best in Shengjing. I can definitely do it, I can definitely do it..."
"Miss Xue."
The concubine collapsed in a pool of blood, shaking her head stammeringly, indicating to Xue Lanyi that it was unnecessary.
Just now, when she saw Xue Lanyi's smiling face like the morning sun outside the cave, she was filled with hope for a moment and wanted to try to escape with Xue Lanyi.
But she wasn't so lucky.
I can't keep going like this.
There's no need for someone to die and drag others down with them.
Her stiff fingertips bent one by one as she struggled to grasp Xue Lanyi's hand. "I...I was born into a lowly family. Xiao...Xiao Cheng is my family's only hope. I...I should stay..."
Xue Lanyi was taken aback.
She had heard Granny Liu say that the concubine's family was originally of low social status.
It was Xiao Cheng's fleeting glance at her at the border that led him to take her as a concubine. The local governor, in order to curry favor with Xiao Cheng, secretly manipulated the process to remove the concubine's family from the list of lowly people.
If the concubine escapes with Xue Lanyi today, she will be Xue Lanyi's accomplice.
In Xiqi, Xiao Cheng's confidants will most likely investigate her family, and the good status she had worked so hard to obtain will be lost.
If she died here, it could be said that Xue Lanyi kidnapped her as a hostage, or even that she died for Xiao Cheng.
Xiao Cheng was fond of women, and his subordinates would often bury his concubines with him.
Although it was utterly disgusting, at least the precious citizenship that had been sought after for countless lifetimes was preserved.
Their family and their descendants will no longer have to suffer scorn.
"At a time like this, who cares about social status?" Granny Liu couldn't bear to see the young girl suffer like this, so she helped her up.
Xue Lanyi stopped Granny Liu, her other hand tightly clutching the thick oil paper package.
This was all her savings, all her long-cherished wish.
Xue Lanyi looked at the concubine, whose face was growing paler and whose breath was growing weaker, and felt a mix of emotions.
After pondering for a long time, he stuffed the oil paper package into his clothes. "Don't worry, I will definitely help you bring the silver and jewelry to Maple Leaf Village. May I ask if you would like to tell me your name? I will go to find your family."
"My surname is Lü, I have no given name, my family calls me Sanya." She said calmly.
A flicker of surprise crossed Xue Lanyi's eyes, but it was quickly overwhelmed by a surge of emotion.
Clearly, the Lü family did not value her.
If he cherished her, why would he give her to Xiao Cheng?
Xue Lanyi suddenly felt that the oil paper package on her clothes was much heavier, making her feel suffocated and uncomfortable.
I even want to ask, on what grounds?
But she didn't. She looked at the blood flowing slowly beneath her skirt and couldn't bring herself to say it.
She knew the bleeding had stopped, not because it had stopped, but because it was almost completely drained.
A woman shed countless tears and blood to pave a smooth road for her family.
Xue Lanyi could not take her away.
Even if we take her body back, it probably won't be treated well.
Xue Lanyi's eyes stung with tears, and she forced a smile to hide her other emotions. "Miss Lü, I... I used to have a beautiful name, Zhaoyang. It was given to me by a master at Qutan Temple. He said it would bring me the Buddha's blessing and endless good fortune. How about... I give you this name?"
A very strange gift.
Granny Liu looked at Xue Lanyi with a puzzled expression.
Miss Lü's eyes, which had been gradually losing focus, suddenly flashed with a faint light, and her lips moved slightly, "Zhao... Zhaoyang?"
“Yes, Lü Zhaoyang.” Xue Lanyi smiled back at her, suddenly finding the name quite pleasant to hear.
“Lü Zhaoyang, all women face the rising sun.”
As she spoke, a gentle breeze blew behind her, the dense leaves above her swayed softly, and a ray of morning sunlight pierced through.
The light, like scattered gold, shone on her, shimmering and sparkling.
The dying woman reached out to touch it, and a speck of light fell from her fingertips.
It turns out, she too can touch the rising sun.
"Lu Zhaoyang." She called out the three words softly, and her hand fell to the ground with a thud.
Xue Lanyi reached out to grab her hand, and that stiff, cold hand brushed against hers.
Ms. Lü slammed her hand on the ground, and the last two words she uttered were "Thank you."
Xue Lanyi took a deep breath and tucked a handkerchief embroidered with the words "Zhaoyang" into the girl's sleeve.
May she remember how to write her name when she goes to the underworld, and stop saying she has no name.
"sorry."
There's no other way.
Xue Lanyi's power was too small; this was all she could do.
The sour sound echoed through the dense forest.
After a long while, it was interrupted by the chaotic sound of horses' hooves.
Shadow Seven's men are searching from all directions, and the encirclement is getting smaller and smaller.
We can't afford to delay.
Granny Liu patted the girl's spine. "Girl, why don't we bury Miss Lü quickly? We should be going now."
Xue Lanyi stared at the lifeless woman on the ground for a long time, then shook her head.
It cannot be buried.
If they buried her, wouldn't that prove that Miss Lü had a close relationship with them?
Hopefully, Xiao Cheng's men will bury her properly, as if she were a concubine.
Xue Lanyi sighed inwardly, her gaze slowly shifting away from the girl, and then she saw the white velvet flower petals in the girl's hair fluttering in the wind.
She picked the girl's white flower and placed it on a high branch facing the sun.
Flowers grow towards the sun, thus basking in its warmth and remaining untouched by pollution.
"Bye now."
Xue Lanyi took one last look at the woman lying quietly, then pulled Granny Liu away.
Granny Liu thought of her daughter again. After mounting her horse, she looked back every three steps, saying, "Why bother? To have her lowly status erased, to have those heartless parents and brothers leave her to rot in the wilderness."
"The mother-in-law does not know the suffering of those of lowly birth."
Xue Lanyi was also of low social status and had come into contact with many women of low social status.
She knew that many people spent their entire lives trying to get rid of their citizenship.
Therefore, although Xue Lanyi did not agree with Miss Lü's decision to remain by Xiao Cheng's side after her death in order to be removed from the social class, she respected and understood it.
May she not be trapped by her lowly status in her next life.
Xue Lanyi glanced behind her, tightened her grip on the horse's belly, and rode away.
With one person suddenly gone, Xue Lanyi felt a void in her heart.
The two stood one behind the other, remaining silent without saying another word.
After walking a short distance, the layers of trees ahead rustled.
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept towards Xue Lanyi.
Before she could react, a white-feathered arrow struck Xue Lanyi's brow with lightning speed.
"Grandma, be careful!" Xue Lanyi turned around and pressed down on Grandma Liu.
The arrow's energy barely grazed the top of their heads, creating a sharp gust of wind.
The rustling of branches all around continued for a long time.
Still shaken, Xue Lanyi looked in the direction from which the white-feathered arrow had come, panting.
At the highest point of the hillside, a bloodied, burly man sat in a chair, holding a bow and aiming at Xue Lanyi once again.
Xiao Cheng!
He's not dead yet.
This realization sent a chill down Xue Lanyi's spine.
She clearly checked him and found he was no longer breathing.
She had planned that once Xiao Cheng's men discovered their prince was dead, they would be thrown into chaos, allowing her to ride her horse at full speed, break through Xiao Cheng's defenses, and escape from the sunny side of the mountain.
When the Shadow Seven men catch up, they will encounter Xiao Cheng's group, and a conflict between the two sides is inevitable.
Xue Lanyi was able to survive in the cracks.
But she underestimated Xiao Cheng's physique.
As a barbarian tribe that had been dealing with wolves and wild beasts since childhood, their physiques were stronger than the people of the Central Plains had imagined.
In order to escape death, Xiao Cheng deliberately held his breath and pretended to be dead.
Having narrowly escaped death, he felt a surge of resentment at the thought of kneeling and begging for mercy at a woman's feet. Gritting his teeth, he shouted, "Catch that bitch! I want her alive or dead!"
Even as it roared, blood was still gushing from its smashed head.
Her guards poured out from behind her, and at the same time, white-feathered arrows were shot at Xue Lanyi one after another.
Arrows rained down in an instant, a dense net of gleaming silver arrowheads enveloping everything.
"It's over!" Granny Liu was terrified. "Should we...should we go back and find Lord Shadow Seven?"
"I won't reply."
Xue Lanyi had nothing to do with this matter.
He pulled on the reins, turned the horse around, and disappeared into the dense forest on the left.
The mountains here are lush and green. Even if you are surrounded by wolves and tigers, as long as you can stay in the forest until nightfall and when visibility is poor, you may be able to break through the encirclement in one fell swoop.
Xue Lanyi would not surrender easily and send herself back into the gilded cage.
She hated both Xiao Cheng and Wei Zhang to the core and wished she could stay far away from them.
From his vantage point, Xiao Cheng watched helplessly as Xue Lanyi disappeared into the dense forest, never to return. His eyes widened in fury.
"You bitch, you bitch! Stop! Stop!"
"Whoever catches Princess Zhaoyang, I will bestow her upon them! One hundred people who catch her, I will bestow her upon one hundred people!"
A towering man, over 1.9 meters tall, was covered in blood and exuded a murderous aura.
He couldn't wait any longer, so he signaled his subordinates to carry his chair down the mountain and chase after him.
A large group of guards rushed down the mountain.
"Oh no!" Xue Lanyi suddenly realized something and looked back.
It was too late. When Xiao Cheng was chasing Xue Lanyi, he passed by Miss Lü's corpse.
At that moment, the curved knife in his hand was piercing into Miss Lü's chest.
A thin, low stream of blood splattered out.
Miss Lü is completely lifeless.
However, Xiao Cheng's anger did not diminish at all when he saw the unresponsive corpse lying in the pool of blood.
"How dare you betray me, you wretch! You wretch! You wretch!" Xiao Cheng cursed as he stabbed repeatedly.
The woman beneath the pristine white dress was soon unrecognizable.
The last drop of blood was drawn.
The guards behind him couldn't bear to watch and turned their heads away.
Xiao Cheng, however, was extremely excited, his lips twisting into a ferocious arc.
The knife that had pierced Miss Lü's body spun around, hissing and twisting as it ripped through her flesh, bones, and blood, and also severed the ties on her outer garment.
The stiff, cold corpse had its outer garments wide open.
Xiao Cheng suddenly had a brilliant idea, and a shrewd light flashed in his bloodshot eyes. "Go! Strip this woman naked and throw her into the Yellow River, so that people passing downstream can have a good look at her slutty appearance."
"this……"
The guard got goosebumps from listening.
Desecrating a corpse is a serious taboo.
Xiao Cheng glared at him, "Aren't you going to do it?"
The guards jumped in surprise and hunched over as they carried the body away.
Xiao Cheng's anger, however, could not be quelled.
He had given this woman enormous benefits, yet she dared to betray him for personal gain, showing utter ingratitude.
Xiao Cheng spat, "Send a message to Maple Leaf Village, and demote the entire Lü family, regardless of gender or age, to prostitution and throw them into brothels!"
The youngest girl in the Lü family is only five years old...
The prince's manhood was completely destroyed, making him even more vicious.
Silence fell over the surroundings, and people lowered their heads and looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Hurry up and go!" Xiao Cheng shouted angrily.
Before his rough words could be fully uttered, a sword was placed against his neck.
Immediately afterwards, all of Xiao Cheng's guards were restrained with knives to their necks.
“Maple Leaf Village is within the territory of Dayong. Our lord hasn’t given the order yet, so when did it become Prince Xiao’s place to make decisions?”
The heavy sound fell.
Xiao Cheng looked up and saw Ying Qi standing behind the chair.
"Wei Zhang's men?" Xiao Cheng narrowed his eyes, immediately becoming alert, then sneered, "What? Is the Duke of Wei going to kill the envoy in a fit of rage for a woman?"
It should be understood that killing an envoy is a major taboo in diplomatic relations, and such an act would inevitably provoke condemnation from other countries.
At that time, the collapse of Dayong's moral compass will be a minor matter compared to the ridicule he will receive.
If war breaks out between the two countries again, the people will be full of resentment, and Wei Zhang's position as chief minister will be in jeopardy.
Xiao Cheng knew that Wei Zhang was a man who valued fame and fortune above all else, and would not truly kill him.
He leaned back leisurely in his chair, "If I were to die within your Dayong territory, the Duke of Wei could not bear the consequences."
"Your Highness is too kind. Our lord is the most reasonable person, how could he indiscriminately kill innocent people?" Ying Qi nodded politely.
As soon as he finished speaking, the thirty knives held to the envoy's neck moved in perfect unison, slashing across him in a single motion.
Several streaks of silver light pierced the sky.
In an instant, all of Xiao Cheng's men collapsed into pools of blood, tumbling and rolling around like fish.
He stopped breathing.
"You!" Xiao Cheng suddenly sat up straight, his pupils dilating as he surveyed the corpses scattered on the ground. "Wei Zhang! How dare you..."
Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly noticed that the corpses at his feet all had extremely fine blades, like hair, the work of a ninja sword.
The method of killing was not Da Yong martial arts, but a closely guarded secret sword technique of the Yingzhou royal family.
"A person from Yingzhou... what brings a person from Yingzhou here?"
"Then you'll have to ask what grudge Prince Xiao has against Yingzhou that would lead someone to assassinate you." Ying Qi sneered, brandishing her sword.
A cold glint flashed before Xiao Cheng's eyes.
Before Xiao Cheng could react, a stream of blood flowed from his neck, and he fell silent.
Ying Qi glanced disdainfully at the mangled, bloodied figure. "Prince Xiao was hunted down by assassins from Yingzhou and is dead."
"Yes, sir!" Everyone stood up and responded.
Yingqi twirled his sword, sheathed it, and handed a booklet to his subordinate. "As per Master's orders, kill all the envoys listed in this booklet who are escorting the bride."
Since it was a surprise attack by assassins from Yingzhou, it's impossible that they only killed Xiao Cheng's wedding envoy and not the Dayong wedding envoy.
To gain people's trust, Da Yong inevitably had to lose some of his ministers.
The subordinate accepted the order and went to carry it out. Seeing Ying Qi leave the dense forest quickly, he hurriedly followed. "Lord Ying Qi, we still haven't found Aunt Xue."
“Go back and report to the Duke that the situation here is of utmost importance. How can we let a woman delay such a crucial matter?” Ying Qi waved his hand dismissively.
“However, Lord Qingyang instructed that if you continue to be disrespectful and indifferent to Aunt Xue, from now on…” The subordinate glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then lowered his voice, “from now on, Lord Qingyang will no longer make you sweet wine.”
"..."
"Have you forgotten that after you scolded your aunt on that rainy day last time, Lord Qingyang stopped your sweet wine for half a month?"
Yingqi's back stiffened, and his stomach rumbled.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, he put his feet on the ground, turned around, and chased after them up the mountain.
On the other side, Xue Lanyi saw the two groups of people converging in the distance. No longer caring about Miss Lü's corpse, she tightened the reins and ran away into the distance.
The wind whistled past my ears, the air grew increasingly humid, and a chill swept past my ears.
Like being cut by a knife.
"Girl, where are we going?"
"..." Xue Lanyi fell silent.
She wasn't familiar with this place and didn't know where to go, so running around was the best she could do.
She frantically whipped her horse, and the surrounding scenery rushed past.
It felt as if something was relentlessly pursuing them from behind, getting closer and closer.
Grandma Liu looked back.
There is a person flying in mid-air.
"Miss, a man in black has flown up!"
"Don't talk nonsense..."
Xue Lanyi subconsciously looked behind her.
It's Shadow Seven.
He moved with incredible speed and agility, as if he were truly flying through the air, neither falling nor landing.
Although Yingqi's ability to serve as Wei Zhang's personal bodyguard must be at the pinnacle of martial arts, this is simply beyond reason.
What kind of stimulus could make it fly?
Xue Lanyi's four-legged horse couldn't outrun his two-legged one.
The longer you run, the closer the distance becomes.
The horse seemed startled by the longing in the eyes of the person behind it.
After blindly rushing around, the view ahead finally became clearer.
As the lush trees were gradually parted, a ray of light suddenly appeared.
The horse galloped out of the woods, and the bright light made it difficult for people to open their eyes for a moment.
Xue Lanyi covered her eyes with her hand, and the next moment, she saw the roaring Yellow River estuary in front of her.
The horse headed straight for the Yellow River.
This place is high up, and the Yellow River rushes down, splashing up towering waves, as if the mouth of a giant beast is swallowing the sky and destroying the earth.
Behind them, Shadow Seven was less than a hundred paces away.
In another hundred paces, Xue Lanyi will be back by Wei Zhang's side, serving his lust, insults, and endless oppression.
Thinking of this, Xue Lanyi couldn't help but shudder.
“Mother-in-law…” Xue Lanyi didn’t stop, her voice trembling in the wind, “Today, I’m afraid we really have to perform a leap across the Yellow River.”
Grandma Liu was so frightened that she hugged Xue Lanyi's waist tightly and hid behind her. "Miss...did you really try it before?"
Of course not.
She had heard Wei Xuan say it with great pride.
The boy, fearless of heaven and earth, rode his horse to the Yellow River and pointed to the towering waves, saying, "Yiyi, I just tried it, and you can see a rainbow when you fly over here!"
"The view from the other side of the river is exceptionally expansive. Haven't you always wanted to leave Shengjing and see the outside world? Let me practice some more, and then I'll take you flying over there. I'm sure you'll love it!"
Who would do something so pointless?
You'll get hurt...
Xue Lanyi slapped him on the back of the head.
She did not fly across the Yellow River with him.
This time, she was going to go alone to see if the other side of the river was truly as he had said, a place where the world was wide open.
Xue Lanyi suppressed her wildly beating heart and breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't worry, Mother-in-law. I'm an excellent horseman, second only to the best in Shengjing. I will absolutely not let anything happen to you!"
In the entire capital, apart from Xue Lanyi, everyone knew about the number one equestrian. In order to master the skill of leaping across the Yellow River, he had fallen into the Yellow River estuary many times.
Even the best equestrian can stumble, so how can the second-best equestrian be guaranteed to do so?
However, Granny Liu still hugged Xue Lanyi tightly around the waist, "Alright! I'll go with you, Miss! There's a saying, what's it again, 'I'd risk my life to accompany... Miss!' Ah!"
The mother-in-law screamed in fright.
In an instant, the two people were lifted into the air and flew into the surging river.
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