Chapter 111 The Tiger Tally is Still in My Father’s Hands
Before Xiao Yan left the palace, the news that Concubine Yun was pregnant spread as fast as wings.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks, his face instantly became so gloomy that water could drip out of it. He turned around without hesitation and returned to Ci'an Palace again.
Inside the palace, Empress Dowager Zhou accidentally dropped a teacup, the crisp shattering sound masking the sound of her son's return. After dismissing all the palace attendants once again, Xiao Yan could no longer suppress his rage: "I never thought... he would actually have a child! This has given him a lot more confidence!"
Empress Dowager Zhou's well-maintained face was now frosted with frost. Her voice was as sharp as a knife, laced with undisguised malice: "It's just an unborn fetus! Born before full term, those few breaths it took don't count! It's too early for him to be happy now!"
Xiao Yan's eyes were also filled with sinister intent. He continued, "What the Queen Mother said is true. She's only just gotten pregnant. Who can say what will happen in the next ten months?"
Queen Mother Zhou snorted coldly, her tone carrying a hint of anger and disdain at being used. "I gave him a chess piece, and he actually treated it as a treasure! That lowly servant, I spent three months searching through thousands of options to find someone who looks just like that dead woman, but I never thought he would actually…"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan's eyes flashed with regret and ruthlessness: "Back when he was in the cold palace, I should have just put an end to him! To eliminate this trouble forever! And to avoid all this trouble now!"
When Queen Mother Zhou mentioned the past, her face was instantly consumed by years of jealousy and resentment. "We tried back then! Someone risked their lives to save that bastard! The people I sent almost died in it!"
Xiao Yan was startled and asked, "I always thought it was Father who was secretly protecting me... but it turned out to be someone else? Who is it, Mother?"
Queen Mother Zhou curled her lips into a cruel yet smug sneer. "It was Yun Chongshan. However, he'll never know in this lifetime. When the matter is accomplished, I will tell him in person how he 'repaid' his lifesaver! I'm sure his expression will be quite interesting!"
Xiao Yan suddenly understood, a calculating glint in his eyes: "So that's how it is... Back then, there weren't many people in the inner palace who were capable of saving someone from my mother's clutches. At that time, Yun Chongshan was only the commander of the Feathered Guard..."
"Go ahead," Empress Dowager Zhou waved her hand, regaining her graceful demeanor, but her tone was icy. "Go and congratulate him. He's only asking you to be regent now because he's been forced by the cabinet. Take this opportunity to spread the rumors about me even more widely! Make it even louder! I want everyone in the world to know that this blind, insane wretch is unfit to sit on the throne!"
…
Late at night on the second day after the Yun family convoy left the capital, everything was silent and the wilderness beside the official road was shrouded in thick darkness.
The expected siege finally came.
Although he was mentally prepared, the dull sound of swords cutting into flesh and the screams of the servants and guards before their death still aroused Yun Zhao's immense anger.
She stood in front of her parents' carriage, her long sword like a rainbow, emitting a cold light in the night.
During the fight, she keenly noticed that most of the opponent's attacks were concentrated in her direction - the mastermind behind the scenes was determined to kill her first!
With the cover of his father and loyal guards, Yun Zhao, like a ghost in the dark night, silently bypassed the chaotic battlefield where long swords clashed, and sneaked accurately to a hidden command point behind the group of killers.
Catch the leader first!
She suddenly jumped up like a cheetah, and hit the back of the neck of the leader with the hilt of the sword. At the moment he collapsed to the ground, her other hand was as fast as lightning and ripped off the black scarf covering his face!
Under the moonlight, Su Mingli's face, filled with horror and resentment, was fully exposed!
Yun Zhao's sword tip slashed upwards without any hesitation. The cold sword edge instantly cut off a large strand of her black hair and even drew a bright red bloody wound on her fair cheek!
"Stop it all!" Yun Zhao's cold voice was like ice exploding, echoing throughout the chaotic battlefield. "Your master is in my hands now!"
The sounds of fighting suddenly stopped. All the assassins turned around in shock, and seeing Su Mingli being pointed at by the sword, they froze in their places, hesitant to use their weapons.
Su Mingli put her hands on her chest, trying to remain calm, but her voice trembled slightly: "Yun Zhao! Let me go!"
Yun Zhao's sword tip moved closer, his voice colder and more ruthless than ever before: "Let you go? Why? Because you're stupid? Or because you're vicious? How many lives do you, Su Mingli, have to pay for the loyal servants of my Yun family who died tonight?! I tell you, even if the Jade Emperor came today, you would still be dead!"
Su Mingli seemed to be in disbelief that Yun Zhao would dare to kill her. She screamed fiercely but weakly, "Don't you dare touch a hair on my head! If I die, everyone in the Yun family will be buried with me! Xiao Jin is now a blind cripple, unable to protect himself! Rumors are spreading all over the world that he is being forced to abdicate! Everyone connected to him must die!"
Yun Zhao sneered as if he had just heard a ridiculous joke. "Really? Well then, let's see who abdicates first, or my sword cuts your throat first! Let's see who's faster!"
Su Mingli felt the cold sword edge on her neck and finally revealed a trace of genuine fear, but she still insisted: "You...if you kill me, the Su family will never let you go! You will never be able to return to Jinzhou safely!"
"Pfft..." Yun Zhao burst out laughing, his laughter filled with endless mockery. "Two hundred thousand northern border troops can't crush the Su family, a family of insignificant profiteers? Su Mingli, what are you dreaming about! Why hasn't Xiao Yan dared to act rashly until now? What do you think he's afraid of?"
Her tone suddenly changed, like dropping a bombshell: "The real Tiger Tally has never left my father's hands! What you hold onto is nothing but a self-righteous fantasy! With only the 50,000 private soldiers that Xiao Yan secretly raised, plus the 30,000 ragtag troops your Su family has gathered together, less than 100,000 troops, you think you can shake the world? This is truly ridiculous!"
Su Mingli was struck by lightning, her pupils suddenly contracted, and she screamed, "What did you say?! Yun Zhao! You're talking nonsense!"
Yun Zhao stopped looking at her, as if she were already dead. He simply sighed, with a knowing pity in his eyes: "Let me calculate... Tomorrow is the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, right? Are you still dreaming of celebrating the New Year in the palace?"
When these words were spoken, even Yun Chongshan, who was standing beside him, was surprised. How did his daughter know these confidential details?
Before Su Mingli could recover from her shock, Yun Zhao had already issued a cold order, his voice clearly echoing throughout the room: "Come here! Tie her up tightly and keep her under strict watch! If she escapes, you will be held responsible!"
She sheathed her sword, her gaze sweeping across the devastated battlefield and her frightened family. She spoke in a calm, decisive tone, "We'll camp here tonight and rest. We'll set out tomorrow morning!"
She wanted to keep Su Mingli firmly under her control and let her see with her own eyes how everything she relied on, the conspiracy that she, her family, and her lover had painstakingly planned, collapsed step by step and ended in complete defeat!
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