The imperial court’s army was currently on the other side of Mingyin Mountain which was about two to three miles away from here. Ji Xinhe was not worried at all about Song Yalin meeting up with the imperial army at this moment. However, she overlooked one thing: the remnants of the Rouyi army were currently retreating towards the back of Mingyin Mountain and just happened to be passing through here.
As soon as these words were spoken, the people at the bottom of the hill became agitated, and someone even cursed, "Princess Pingyang?! The one who killed our commander? Kill her!"
With that said, they seemed to want to rush up, but the rational Rouyi soldiers were calming their emotions. After all, they were defeated remnants of an army and couldn’t take any advantage now, especially when they had already witnessed the abilities of that woman?!
So they stared at each other in disagreement at the bottom of the hill.
Ji Xinhe wanted to capture Song Yalin, but Song Yalin was already standing at the edge of the hillside and could jump down with a gentle leap.
Song Yalin suddenly burst into laughter, losing all her former calmness and sophistication, she was entirely like a mad woman, grinning grotesquely at Ji Xinhe, "Ji Xinhe, you can’t catch me anymore. If you have the guts, jump with me!"
Little Firewood led a group of people rushing up, killing all the people in the merchant team who were protecting Song Yalin and stood in front of Ji Xinhe, staring at Song Yalin coldly.
Ji Xinhe had become much calmer at this point, and her eyes were filled with tranquility as she looked at Song Yalin. "Below is the Rouyi army, not the imperial court’s army. The Rouyi Army has just been brutally defeated by Da Qian’s army, and their commander is dead. Now, if they come across any Da Qian people, they will brutally take revenge. You better think carefully about what the consequences of jumping down are."
Song Yalin’s face changed, but she still bit her teeth and said, "You can’t scare me! The Rouyi army and the imperial court’s army are allies, and the imperial court will certainly protect me and not let me be harmed! They can’t afford to lose me! The Rouyi army wouldn’t dare to lay a hand on me either."
Ji Xinhe narrowed her eyes, but she was carefully analyzing the meaning behind Song Yalin’s words. It seemed that Song Yalin was well aware that the imperial court still had great interests in her.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so confident.
Seeing Ji Xinhe fall silent, Song Yalin felt a wave of pleasure spreading within her. The smile on her face turned even more hideous and she laughed loudly, "Ji Xinhe, just you wait and see. Today is the turning point. When we meet again in the future, things will be different. Do you think you won today? In fact, everything you won today, will be mine in the future! Everything you fought for today, was fought for me! You probably don’t know this, but I hope more than anyone else that you could win this battle today, because everything you have won will eventually be mine!"
Song Yalin’s words were incoherent. It was unclear whether she had gone mad or was just overly excited.
Ji Xinhe’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Yours?"
Song Yalin raised her eyebrows: "Of course! That’s why I was willing to leak information to you, telling you when the imperial court was going to attack Yu State. I was hoping from the bottom of my heart that you could win. Otherwise, my importance might not be highlighted."
With that, Song Yalin laughed, "Just wait and see, Ji Xinhe. The humiliation you inflicted on me in the past will be returned twofold! Even your daughter will have to repay it! The day we meet again, you will undoubtedly kneel at my feet and beg for mercy! The mistress of Yu State can only be me!"
After saying that, she turned around and jumped down.
Ji Xinhe’s eyes flickered. Her mind was full of doubts from Song Yalin’s previous words. She watched Song Yalin jump down but didn’t have time to stop her.
Little Firewood rushed to the edge of the hill and looked down. As expected, Song Yalin had jumped directly down and landed in the ranks of the Rouyi army.
"Should we follow her, Princess?" Little Firewood asked immediately.
Ji Xinhe looked at the chaos below and shook her head, "No need. She jumped down and there’s no good ending for her."
Little Firewood pursed his lips, naturally understanding Ji Xinhe’s meaning.
No matter what the plan and interests between Song Yalin and the imperial court were, Song Yalin had now entered the Rouyi army’s territory.
Song Yalin was usually quite smart, but this time she made a foolish decision - perhaps because she didn’t understand the military camp or the battlefield.
The military camp was a completely different place from the harem. When rules were paramount, there could be no defiance. But when rules were disregarded, anything went.
Song Yalin had been back in the harem since childhood and was not accustomed to such things.
She did not understand how much resentment a defeated army could have; particularly towards people from the enemy country. Men, women, the elderly, and children who fell into their hands all met very cruel ends.
She thought that since she was very important to the imperial court, it was a must to protect her. The imperial court and the Rouyi army had become allies. Once she revealed her relationship with the imperial court, the Rouyi army wouldn’t dare to do anything to her and would even protect her.
This idea was quite naive, to say the least. The so-called alliance was merely a group of people who could be wealthy together. The original promise of the imperial court to the Rouyi army must have been that the war would be very easy, because of their collusion, and also because Marquis Mu was not in Yu State. Attacking Yu State would be a piece of cake. But now that the Rouyi army was defeated and hated Yu State to the extreme, wouldn’t they resent the imperial court as well?
They came all this way only to lose their commander and get defeated. The anger and resentment in their hearts couldn’t be suppressed easily. Now, suddenly, a Da Qian woman appeared. Regardless of her relationship with the imperial court, the Rouyi army wouldn’t easily let her go in their desire to vent their anger.
However, perhaps Song Yalin had already been driven to a desperate situation by Ji Xinhe. She might have been aware of the risk of jumping down, but if she did, there was still a slight chance of survival. If she didn’t jump, she would end up in Ji Xinhe’s hands and everyone knew what the outcome would be.
Little Firewood took one last look at the bottom of the hill and said, "Princess, you should go down the mountain first. It’s not safe to stay here for long. I’ll keep an eye on things here."
Ji Xinhe asked, "Where is the imperial court’s army now?"
"They are still three miles away. They should be meeting up with the Rouyi army soon," Little Firewood replied.
Ji Xinhe pondered for a moment and nodded, "You take your men and keep an eye on the situation here. The moment anything happens, send someone to report immediately and find out what the deal between Song Yalin and the imperial court is."
Until this point was made clear, Ji Xinhe couldn’t put down the stone that was hanging over her heart.
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