Die together with Xue
She continued, "From this sentence alone, I know that Li Mingyuan will not come back alive." She laughed sarcastically, "Although everyone says they are sacrificing for the world, no one will sacrifice themselves. The result of collective decision-making is only to abandon those outside the collective."
At this moment, A Qiu could guess seven or eight parts of what had happened. Li Mingyuan originally thought that his army was a supporting "surprise force," but he never expected that after being discovered by the enemy, it would become bait, attracting the enemy's heavy forces to attack and surround him.
Instead of providing aid, Pei Yuanli's Jianzhang army seized the opportunity to launch a rapid advance, sweeping through the enemy's main camp and burning all their supplies and provisions. Nearly a million Northern Qiang troops collapsed and fled overnight, with the Northern Qiang emperor fleeing hundreds of miles in a single night, never to recover.
This is the truth behind the decisive victory in the Battle of Crossing the Yangtze River, which laid the foundation for the North-South divide for nearly a decade.
The Shuofang army lost its commander, and its morale was greatly dampened. If Li Chongyu had not been rescued by Fan Ying, the Dahuan Dynasty could have killed two birds with one stone, achieving a great victory in crossing the river and smoothly taking over the Shuofang army.
Mu Huaying, a practical person, said in a deep voice, "How could there be loopholes in the decision made by so many people, allowing Fan Ying to rescue Li Chongyu afterwards?"
Li Chongyu is not dead, which is why there is a sword hanging over our heads today.
Pei Yuanli smiled bitterly and said, "This is probably a case of man proposes, God disposes. No one expected that Li Mingyuan's isolated army could hold out for so long, nor did they expect that in the end only Li Chongyu would escape. If Fan Ying had arrived a moment earlier, he might have saved Mingyuan Gong as well, and there would be no such thing today; or if he had arrived a moment later, he might have died along with Li Chongyu, and there would be no such thing today."
He sighed, "The cycle of revenge is endless, and each one is interconnected. Of those who made the decision that led to the sacrifice of Mingyuan Gong, besides Fan Ying, who had been kind to Li Chongyu, I was the only one left alive." He said self-deprecatingly, "If he doesn't take revenge on me, who will he take revenge on?"
Emperor Sima Yan, the deposed emperor of the Former Huan Dynasty, had already died in a coup, while Shangguan Jin, the Grand Secretary, committed suicide the night after presenting the "Heaven and Earth Settle the World" sword dance at the founding ceremony of the Dayan Dynasty.
All the friends from back then have passed away.
Mu Huaying said decisively, "That depends on whether he has the ability to get past my 'Handsome Yama' test."
Pei Yuanli showed surprise for the first time and said, "So your hiring of the Hidden Moon Clan assassins is just a pretext; in reality, you plan to take action yourself."
A Qiu on the beam also felt a tremor in her heart.
The Thirteen Shadows of Divine Weapons should be able to hold off Princess Wanshou and her group from the Hidden Moon Clan. However, it's hard to say what will happen if Mu Huaying, a top expert of the Imperial Guard and one of the former Four Guards of the Flying Phoenix, personally takes action.
After all, Mu Huaying was not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also had a variety of tricks up her sleeve and was ruthless in her schemes.
Mu Huaying said expressionlessly, "If I fail, I have a way to immediately disfigure my face so that they cannot recognize the corpse. That way, I won't be associated with the Pei family."
Pei Yuanli was greatly shocked, then smiled bitterly and said, "It's no use. As a first-rank noblewoman of the Pei family, if you suddenly disappear, and a dead expert suddenly appears on Li Chongyu's side, how could His Majesty not suspect that it was you?"
Mu Huaying said calmly, "If it gets to that point, His Majesty will definitely do his best to cover for you, so you don't need to worry."
A Qiu could understand it in a moment's thought: if Mu Huaying failed to assassinate Li Chongyu and died disfigured, Xie Lang would do everything in his power to cover it up for the Pei family, even if he knew it was her.
Otherwise, would the Pei family, or even the entire Southern Dynasty, have already lost Mu Huaying, and then have Grand Marshal and General-in-Chief Pei Yuanli cut off his head to apologize to Li Chongyu?
The couple talked about life and death back and forth, but every sentence was based on facts, and there seemed to be no emotional fluctuations whatsoever.
Although Mu Huaying was cold and ruthless, her composure at this moment made A Qiu admire her.
Only because he admires her can he take her seriously and prevent her from doing whatever she wants.
A Qiu's hand slowly pressed against the "Rainbow Rift" at her waist. This was a weapon that Mo Yimingyue had prepared for her in advance.
The assassination attempt on Pei Yuanli must not reveal the identity of the assassin, therefore the famous "Luyue" given to them by Gu Yi cannot be used, nor can the "Assassination of Qin" used to make them famous in the martial arts world be used.
Without her prompting, Lie Changkong knew she was about to act from her movements, and immediately took the thick-backed knife from his back with one hand, ready to provide cover at any time.
Although Pei Yuanli and Mu Huaying appeared calm tonight, they were actually filled with emotions and worries.
When one is preoccupied with worries, their attention to the environment is greatly diminished.
A Qiu's figure darted silently off the roof like a gecko, hugging the wall as he went. Lie Changkong followed closely behind.
Inside the room, Pei Yuanli gazed at Mu Huaying's proud, stubborn, and unwavering beautiful face, and suddenly felt a lump in his throat.
He reached out, as if wanting to touch her face.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew behind me, and a chill swept over me. It was A Qiu, carrying a sword, who had entered through the window.
Although it was only one sword strike, both people inside the room knew it was bad.
The moment the sword was unleashed, its chilling killing intent locked onto the area around Pei Yuanli, carrying an unshakeable, deadly aura.
It is a sure-kill sword strike.
Despite being suddenly attacked, Pei Yuanli remained calm and, upon hearing the sound, parried with his sword.
It would be unwise to meet a sword with one's bare hands, because a sword has a sharp edge and a blade. If one is not careful, one's wrist could be cut off, or even the entire arm could be dislocated. Moreover, he didn't even have time to turn around and look at the sword; he could only guess and parry with his backhand.
The best way to deal with this sword strike is, of course, to parry it with a weapon.
However, Pei Yuanli was going to bed, so it was impossible for him to bring weapons to bed with him.
Secondly, there's the option of dodging. With Pei Yuanli's martial arts skills and agility, whether he could avoid A Qiu's sword strike in time if he deliberately tried to dodge is another matter, but it's better than directly confronting the sharpness of metal with his flesh and blood.
But Pei Yuanli had no other choice.
Because Mu Huaying was standing in front of him, if he dodged, the sword would surely pierce Mu Huaying's chest. Therefore, he was willing to lose an arm to block A Qiu's sword.
A strong wind rushed towards him. Before Pei Yuanli's palm strike could even reach the sword, he watched helplessly as Mu Huaying's fair, jade-like hand, renowned throughout the world, pressed against his chest. He was then sent flying to the side, barely avoiding A Qiu's sword.
At the same time, Mu Huaying flipped the ledger off the table with her other hand and threw it straight at A Qiu.
Her internal strength was formidable; these ledger pages, brimming with true energy, were like hidden weapons, and if struck, they could cause serious injury.
Even so, it only stopped A-Qiu for a moment.
Wherever the rainbow cracked, the ledgers instantly transformed into swarms of paper butterflies, swirling and falling across the sky and the ground.
The sword blade still aimed at Mu Huaying's chest in the same manner.
Mu Huaying was a former master of the Imperial Flying Phoenix Guard. Although he had been retired for many years, his skills were still profound and his reactions were quick, living up to his former reputation.
However, as the number one assassin on the Immortal Ranking, A Qiu's assassination skills are so advanced that they are beyond comprehension.
Now, with Gu Yi reshaping his meridians and giving him pointers on swordsmanship, his self-taught swordsmanship has become even more unique, as if it were a gift from heaven.
Having gained the upper hand, even with the cunning and shrewdness of "Delicate Hands Yama" Mu Huaying, she could not escape her fate.
Mu Huaying stared at the blade that was about to reach her chest, sensing the chilling aura about to touch her body, but her arrogant expression remained unchanged.
She experienced many great storms in her life and witnessed countless brutal tortures.
Compared to the darkness she had experienced and witnessed, dying by the sword was nothing serious.
Long hair hung down, exposed bones, a bloody and mangled human figure.
As Mu Huaying faced death, this scene suddenly appeared before her eyes, and she was horrified and moved.
But all he could hear was Pei Yuanli shouting, "Don't hurt her!"
For some reason, after the initial pain in my heart, a touch of tenderness arose within me.
A thick-backed blade slashed out horizontally, striking the "Rainbow Rift" sword directly.
Even with A Qiu's skill, her sword trembled from the blow, and she had no choice but to follow the momentum and move downwards. She changed her move very quickly, immediately slashing out diagonally to stab Pei Yuanli, who was still in shock.
The knife was naturally fired by Lie Changkong. She didn't have time to think about why Lie Changkong was stopping her. Her target was not Mu Huaying to begin with, so she simply let her go.
Mu Huaying barely escaped death and wanted to thank him loudly, but she saw the newcomer dressed in black with a mask and gleaming eyes, holding a thick-backed knife and blocking her way.
He shielded her from the sword, but in doing so, he also prevented her from having the chance to help Pei Yuanli.
Mu Huaying's heart sank.
A Qiu's sword light shone brightly, and within just a few moves, Pei Yuanli was already in grave danger.
Mu Huaying's phoenix eyes turned cold, and her two pale hands emerged from her sleeves as she sternly said, "Excuse me!"
She spoke to Lie Changkong, then leaped up, seemingly ignoring his presence, and pounced straight at A Qiu.
Lie Changkong wielded his thick-backed sword with lightning speed, immediately slashing out to block her path.
Unexpectedly, Mu Huaying neither dodged nor avoided the blade, but went straight to meet it head-on.
Lie Changkong sighed inwardly. He refused to harm Mu Huaying, and this alone was enough to make Mu Huaying realize that he was the emperor's man.
Mu Huaying anticipated that she and her husband were no match for him and A Qiu, and would be unable to stop them from killing Pei Yuanli. So she decided to risk her life, betting that he wouldn't dare to kill her.
If it were anyone else, even without killing them, Lie Changkong's skills would be enough to subdue them and prevent her from disrupting A Qiu's plans.
But the opponent is a "delicate-handed Yama," and once you face him, you will either die or be seriously injured.
In an instant, he spun the blade and struck Mu Huaying with the back of the blade.
When facing an enemy, it is most important not to change tactics on the spot, because success or failure can be decided in an instant, especially when facing a master with keen insight like Mu Huaying.
In that brief moment of hesitation, Mu Huaying had already ducked to avoid his long sword and attacked A Qiu's back with both palms.
Mu Huaying had risked her life to overcome Lie Changkong's attack, and her timing was impeccable. However, the one thing she hadn't anticipated was A Qiu's ghostly speed, far exceeding her expectations.
At this moment, under A Qiu's relentless attacks, Pei Yuanli had already developed numerous weaknesses and his defenses were wide open. A Qiu only needed to deliver one more blow to send him to his death. However, she heard a palm strike coming from behind and, knowing the danger, immediately dodged to avoid it.
Mu Huaying never imagined that anyone in the world could react so quickly and retreat as fast as lightning while their attention was fully focused on what was in front of them.
Her renowned "fair hands" struck Pei Yuanli's chest with tremendous force.
Pei Yuanli's eyes widened in disbelief, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood as he flew backward.
The usually composed Mu Huaying slowly turned around, revealing a face as white as snow, eyes as red as blood, and fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles cracked.
Even with A Qiu's quick wit, he was momentarily stunned, unsure whether he should step forward to deliver the final blow to Pei Yuanli or flee the scene immediately.
The four men fought indoors for a short while, which had already alerted the Pei family's servants and guards. Footsteps and the sound of clashing weapons could be heard coming from this direction.
Lie Changkong shouted in a hoarse voice, "Go!"
A Qiu suddenly realized that if the Pei family's guards formed a pincer movement, neither of them could escape. He immediately brandished his long sword, leaped out of the window, and soared over the eaves.
At this moment, she feared that Mu Huaying, who was determined to seek revenge, would come after her and take her life.
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