Chapter 222 Working Together
Princess Rongning's eyes narrowed, and she gripped the hand tightly.
The skin, already marked with red welts from being pinched, was touched again, causing a wave of pain.
Princess Rongning frowned in pain, but calmed down a bit: "Aheng, what are you thinking? This hairpin was a gift from my mother. I miss my family and can't help but play with it often."
Qiu Heng pulled up a chair and sat down opposite Princess Rongning, asking gently, "Where do you think my thoughts are?"
Princess Rongning stared at Qiu Heng, her expression soon becoming increasingly unreadable.
Did Aheng guess it?
Qiu Heng didn't let Princess Rongning hesitate for long before directly stating her question: "Does Your Highness intend to assassinate the King of Xijiang?"
Princess Rongning was startled. Her first reaction was to look at the door. Seeing that the door was closed properly, she bit her lip and stared at Qiu Heng.
Qiu Heng's gaze swept over the hairpin inserted in Princess Rongning's hair, and she asked, "Use this?"
Her voice was soft, yet it was like a heavy hammer, shattering the defenses that Princess Rongning had built.
Princess Rongning pulled out the hairpin and clenched it tightly in her hand. Her voice trembled as she spoke, but her tone was fierce: "Aheng, I want to kill King Xijiang, I want to kill him!"
Qiu Heng grasped Princess Rongning's hand that was holding the hairpin: "Your Highness, have you thought about it? Once you make a move, regardless of success or failure, you will not survive."
She had already gleaned information about Princess Rongning's actions and fate from old documents. Now, standing right in front of Princess Rongning, she still wanted to ask her directly.
Was it a momentary impulse? Was it a willing act? What were they thinking when they failed and died?
Bearing a heavy burden, she traveled against the flow of time and returned here. To be able to ask her in person, for some reason, Qiu Heng felt like crying.
It seems that besides eliminating traitors and saving the country, her return also had another meaning.
No longer can we simply rub the scrolls that record these figures and feel only regret and lamentation, but we can actually hear their voices with our own ears.
“I know,” Princess Rongning’s voice rang out, with a deathly stillness. “I didn’t want to live. I’d be laughing even as a ghost if I could kill that shameless King Xijiang.”
She grew up to be seventeen, carefree and full of vigor. Her biggest worry was losing a football match and someone else's football skills surpassing hers... But one ordinary day, her life suddenly changed.
She was going to leave the place where she had lived since childhood, leave everything familiar, and go to a foreign country to marry an old man who was about the same age as her father.
Her father said that as a princess, she had enjoyed the support of the people, and that she should stand up when the country was in trouble.
She thought it made sense. Besides, the imperial decree had already been issued, and she couldn't let her selfishness harm her father, mother, and brothers.
She was unwilling, but she accepted it anyway, and traveled a long way to Xijiang, only to be told that Xijiang had reneged on its promise.
What does her resignation to fate mean?
She couldn't live a single day without harboring the thought of assassinating King Xijiang.
"What if we can't kill him?" Qiu Heng asked again after hearing Princess Rongning express her thoughts.
Princess Rongning gave a self-deprecating laugh: "That's because I'm incompetent, but at least I tried."
To save her life, she would rather die than endure this humiliation than assassinate the wicked and despicable King Xijiang.
"Aheng, now that you've found out, I don't want to hide it from you anymore. I'll make my move once the group that brought me here leaves."
"Why don't we make our move on the night of the wedding?"
Princess Rongning was taken aback: "What did you say?"
"He attempted to assassinate King Xijiang on his wedding day."
“No.” Princess Rongning refused without hesitation. “That would result in even more deaths; it would be an unnecessary sacrifice.”
“Your Highness wants to assassinate King Xijiang with a hairpin. Isn’t that an unnecessary sacrifice? Does Your Highness know that King Xijiang was known as the eagle of the grasslands when he was young? Now he is in his prime and is still as formidable as ever.”
Princess Rongning's face was pale and her tone was resolute: "The King of Xijiang is unwilling to kill the craftsmen we brought. If we fail, it will only cost me and my maids a few lives. We cannot let the entire wedding procession be buried with me."
"Your Highness," Qiu Heng called softly, looking into Princess Rongning's eyes, "We're not going to be buried with you; we're also people of Great Xia."
What we need to do is not for any particular person or benefit, but actually for ourselves.
Princess Rongning was startled and stared blankly at Qiu Heng.
It seemed like she was meeting this girl for the first time.
"Whether a sacrifice is worthwhile cannot be measured solely by the number of people who die; it also depends on the feasibility of the plan and the likelihood of success. Was it a well-thought-out plan, or merely an act of venting anger...?"
Princess Rongning's eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she had been touched.
"Your Highness, let's cooperate." The girl spoke softly, smiling as she extended her hand, but her words shook the heavens and earth: "Let's join forces to assassinate King Xijiang!"
Princess Rongning stared at Qiu Heng as if petrified. After a long while, her gaze shifted downwards to look at the outstretched hand of Qiu Heng.
It was a long, slender hand, with visible blue veins beneath the skin, and nails that were trimmed round and full but not painted with nail polish.
The owner of such a hand was to assassinate King Xijiang with her.
Princess Rongning struggled and hesitated, not daring to grasp that hand for a moment.
"Ah Heng, aren't you afraid of dying?"
Qiu Heng smiled slightly: "Of course I'm afraid. Who isn't afraid of death?"
"Then why—"
"Everyone dies eventually, just like I said, it's all about whether they have any value."
"What about Xue Han?" For some reason, Princess Rongning thought of the quiet young man at this moment.
Perhaps because her marriage was already like this, she especially hoped that Qiu Heng and Xue Han, such a well-matched couple, could have a good outcome.
“Xue Han?” Qiu Heng’s eyes softened when she mentioned her beloved. “He’s with us. With him there, we have a better chance of escaping when we try to assassinate Queen Xi Jiang.”
Escape?
Princess Rongning sensed something was amiss. After pondering for a long time, a sudden realization dawned on her: "You mean, Xue Han helped us escape, and then the King of Xijiang—"
Qiu Heng smiled and said, "We two will kill King Xijiang."
The one who could truly approach King Xijiang without layers of protection was not Xue Han, but Princess Rongning and her sister who was being escorted to her wedding.
King Xijiang certainly couldn't expect Xue Han to kill him.
"The two of us?" Princess Rongning looked stunned.
Qiu Heng said firmly, "Yes, only the two of us."
Her hand was still outstretched towards Princess Rongning, as firm as her words.
Princess Rongning finally reached out and grasped his hand: "Alright, the two of us."
Qiu Heng picked up the hairpin and inserted it back into Princess Rongning's thick, black hair. A little of the simple and heavy auspicious cloud hairpin tip peeked out, making the girl with the hairpin look even more graceful and noble.
Qiu Heng nodded: "Hairpins look better when worn."
"Aheng, what should we do then?" Princess Rongning couldn't think of a better option.
She considered using a dagger, but to King Xijiang, she was a foreign woman, and Xijiang had broken their promise. King Xijiang couldn't possibly be unsuspecting of her, and hiding a dagger on her person might be discovered before she could even make a move.
“I plan to do this…” Qiu Heng said softly.
(End of this chapter)
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