Marquis Mu Houchu coldly said, "How do you think, that I summoned troops solely from Cangzhou? I mobilized soldiers from every place on the way from Lian’an Town. One less small town, a few dozen more, otherwise, what do you think I rushed back for? To fight you alone?"
Gongsun Yi shivered all over, nearly losing his balance. "You, you, you dare..."
So cunning!
Emperor Leng Yao sneered: "The soldiers collected along the way are not enough to deal with you, but you are stupid enough to bring yourself to the door and enter this siege. Now, it’s out of your control."
Gongsun Yi trembled all over with anger, pointing at Mu Houchu and bitterly saying, "So, earlier outside the palace, you deliberately let me in, lured me here!"
At that time, he was naïve enough to believe he was lucky, Mu Houchu really cared for Chen Yining, was willing to give up his kingdom for her. He only now understood that all of this was part of Mu’s scheme!
He had never thought that after all that planning, he’d ended up trapped in a dead end. In the end, he was still played by Marquis Mu Houchu!
Gongsun Yi spat out a mouthful of blood, nearly falling from his horse.
Mu Houchu watched him coldly, without any unnecessary words, he just said coldly, "Fire!"
The archers on the palace wall fired arrows simultaneously, making the entire space in front of the main hall filled with flying arrows. Gongsun Yi and his men struggled desperately in this rain of arrows.
Desiring to escape, but all exits before and after them were blocked off. Taking a step forward would mean getting cut down, but staying still would mean getting slain by the hail of arrows. Gongsun Yi spat blood with fury, his morale destroyed, his troops, naturally, also lost their morale. Chaos ensued, countless died, their bodies building up in front of the palace entrance.
The situation was settled. Regardless of how Gongsun Yi struggled, it was useless. Mu Houchu didn’t have the patience to continue watching this slaughter. He issued a cold command, "Leave no survivors."
Then, he turned and left.
Mu Xiang was ruthless and his means were cruel. This reputation was known to everyone in the capital.
——
Lian’an Town.
The Ji Xinhe family had moved into their new house, but the farce of their wedding day had eventually left a deep impression on everyone’s minds. Although the villagers were mostly honest and didn’t deliberately mention this to Xin He, it would still occasionally slip into their conversations. Seeing her also made them feel awkward.
Fortunately, Ji Xinhe had scared Lady Ding earlier, and those who wanted to scoff at her swallowed their words. They no longer dared to say a word, their minds filled with dread.
Apart from this, Ji Xinhe and her family had moved into their new house, and they no longer had to deal with Ji Dashan’s unlucky family, which naturally brought a lot more peace.
Ever since Mu Houchu left without a word, although Xin He was still busy with her shop’s business and appeared to be the same as before, her mood had obviously dropped a lot.
Ji Dong didn’t know how to comfort her, afraid that mentioning it would only make her more upset, he could only watch anxiously.
Until three days later, when shopkeeper Wu hurriedly came to the shop.
Ji Xinhe was calculating her accounts, when she saw him, she gave a hint of a smile: "Is shopkeeper Wu here?"
Shopkeeper Wu gave a sheepish smile. "Well, there is something I wanted to discuss with you."
Ji Xinhe invited him inside, "Is it related to that batch of grape wine for the palace?"
"Yes, it’s about that matter!"
"Judging by the look on shopkeeper Wu’s face, it seems like things did not go smoothly this time? Could it be that the Princess was dissatisfied with the wine we sent to her wedding banquet?" Ji Xinhe asked, confused.
The shopkeeper Wu’s face showed difficulty. "It’s not that she was dissatisfied, it’s just that there was no wedding banquet at all!"
Ji Xinhe was taken aback: "What do you mean?"
"The capital is a long way from here, and the news travels slowly. Almost no one in Lian’an Town knows about this yet. I just received the news today. On the day of the Princess’s wedding, someone staged a rebellion! It would have been bad enough if there was just a rebellion, but they also stormed into the capital during the Princess’s wedding, nearly causing a disaster!"
Ji Xinhe’s heart skipped a beat, she quickly asked, "What happened later?"
Did Mu Houchu rush back because of this?
Shopkeeper Wu said: "Fortunately, it was more of a scare than a danger, and the rebel did not succeed. But the Princess’s wedding was disrupted, and our grape wine didn’t even have a chance to be served, what a lost opportunity!"
Upon hearing this, Ji Xinhe didn’t care about the grape wine at all, she immediately asked: "Then, were there any special news from the capital?"
"What special news?" Shopkeeper Wu asked with confusion.
"Well...news about Mu Xiang?" asked Ji Xinhe tentatively.
"Ah! You mean Mu Xiang! I heard that he didn’t die, and actually returned to the capital just in time for the rebellion." Shopkeeper Wu said, showing interest.
"How is he now?" Ji Xinhe was afraid that something had happened to him, her heart was in a tight knot.
Shopkeeper Wu laughed heartily: "What’s wrong? Not only did nothing happen, but I also heard of a happy event in the capital."
"What?" Ji Xinhe was taken aback.
"On the day of the rebellion, Gongsun Yi, in order to break into the Imperial Palace, actually kidnapped Chen Yining, the daughter of Old Man Chen, intending to threaten Mu Xiang. It seems that he knew that she is the object of affection of Mu Xiang, hence he made such an audacious move. Unexpectedly, Mu Xiang really was ready to give up everything for love, he immediately ordered to let Gongsun Yi into the palace, saving Miss Chen. Luckily, Mu Xiang later led the imperial guard into the palace and killed the rebel, avoiding any greater mistake.
I heard that Mu Xiang has been missing for months before he suddenly appeared, which was to save Miss Chen."
Shopkeeper Wu was quite engrossed in the story, and did not notice that Ji Xinhe’s face was turning paler.
Only when he heard a bang, and the cup fell and shattered on the ground, the hot tea splashed, and frightened Shopkeeper Wu into a stop: "Oh, what happened? Be careful, that’s hot tea, you might get hurt."
Ji Xinhe sat there stiffly without looking at the broken pieces on the ground. She forced a smile and said, "If Shopkeeper Wu doesn’t have anything else, please go first." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
"What about the matter with the wine..."
"We can talk about it next time." Ji Xinhe’s voice was light and feeble, with a pale face.
Shopkeeper Wu realized that something was off, assuming that she was still not over her situation from being left by her groom at the altar, he hurriedly stopped bothering her: "Then I will come next time."
After he finished, he hurriedly left.
It was not until Shopkeeper Wu’s figure was out of sight that a tear unexpectedly fell from Ji Xinhe’s clear and bright eyes. Following that, the tears flowed down like broken pearls.
She forced a self-mocking smile, her fist clenched tightly inside her sleeve, the trembling voice carried determination and sadness: "Ha, an urgent matter, an affair more important than our wedding, was to save her? Mu Houchu, it’s my fault for being naïve, trusting only you, who I knew nothing about, yet in the end, I trusted the wrong person."
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