There was a series of chaotic footsteps, and the guards ran up and down.

Yao Ying glanced downstairs and saw that all the bodyguards brought by Zhu Luyun had been subdued. She let go of Zhu Luyun, took out a few pieces of parchment, and spread them out on the long table.

Zhu Luyun was so frightened that she lost her mind. Seeing her let go, she turned around and tried to escape. But she was stopped by her personal guards just after she took a step.

"Princess, since you have repeatedly asked to see our princess, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

The personal guard laughed and pushed Zhu Luyun to sit in front of the open window.

Yao Ying sat opposite Zhu Luyun, without even raising her eyelids, holding the dagger in her right hand and tapping the parchment with her left hand, "Let her sign it."

The guard agreed, lifted Zhu Luyun's hand, and forced her to stamp her seal on each piece of parchment.

Zhu Luyun struggled for a few times but was unable to move, and watched her fingerprints left on the parchment.

In a flash, it was done in one go.

Before Yuanjue recovered from his shock, Zhu Luyun also looked terrified. Yaoying had already taken away all the parchments, examined them carefully, and handed them to Yuanjue.

"The Princess of Beirong intended to harm me while I was on a diplomatic mission to the royal court, but was caught by my personal soldiers. It is written in black and white, and the evidence is solid."

Zhu Luyun could understand some nonsense. When she heard this, her face suddenly turned pale: "Qiniang, you framed me!"

Yao Ying smiled faintly, raised the dagger, and stabbed Zhu Luyun's hand fiercely which was pressed on the long table.

The knife flashed and was as fast as lightning.

Zhu Luyun was terrified and screamed.

With a buzzing sound, the dagger brushed against the back of Zhu Luyun's hand and got stuck in her sleeve.

Yao Ying raised her eyes slightly and looked at Zhu Luyun's eyes full of fear. She gently drew the dagger, and the sharp tip of the knife cut through Zhu Luyun's sleeve.

"Yes, I am setting you up."

Amid the rustling sound of the blade cutting through fabric, Yao Ying said word by word, "I can still kill you here."

Zhu Luyun was terrified, but she calmed herself down: "Qiniang, I am the Princess of Beirong now. If you kill me, Beirong will not let it go."

Yao Ying raised her lips and said, "You were sent to the royal court as an envoy and asked to see me several times in the name of Princess Fukang. I agreed to meet Princess Fukang instead of Princess Beirong. Zhu Luyun, I am not from the royal court. This is not a royal temple or an inn. You and I are old friends meeting. If I kill you, I can take the responsibility alone."

She changed the subject, "The Beirong delegations sent to other countries have always had chief envoys and deputy envoys, most of whom are officials and children of noble families. This time when you went to the royal court, Beirong did not send an official from a noble family to accompany you. You are just a pawn to Beirong. Beirong will never go to war with the royal court for you."

Zhu Luyun was silent for a while, then trembled and said, "If you kill me, you will also have to pay with your life, Qi Niang, are you crazy?"

Yao Ying stroked the dagger gently with her fingers and said, "If I was moved by what you and your aunt said and thought that you really came to atone for your sins and compensate me, then I would be crazy."

Zhu Luyun bit her lip and her face turned pale.

Yaoying looked up at Yuanjue and said, "The things are packed."

Yuanjue was holding Zhu Luyun's "evidence" in his hand, and was in a dilemma.

The king said that Princess Wen Zhao knew her limits. Is this what she meant by limits?!

Should I stop it? But the princess didn't seem to have hurt anyone yet... If the king was here, would the princess be more restrained? The princess didn't seem to be afraid of the king at all...

Yuan Jue stood there in a daze, his mind torn between thoughts and actions, his jaw unable to close for a long time.

At this moment, there was a shouting sound from downstairs.

Yao Ying's lips curled up slightly, and she tapped the back of Zhu Luyun's hand with the dagger: "Look downstairs."

Zhu Luyun shuddered and looked downstairs with her eyes wide open.

Downstairs, the personal soldiers dragged several of Zhu Luyun's bodyguards into the snow and forced them to kneel. Among them was the Han bodyguard who had frequently exchanged glances with Zhu Luyun. A personal soldier next to him drew his sword and pointed it at the bodyguard.

Zhu Luyun asked tremblingly, "Qiniang, what do you want to do?"

Yao Ying said calmly, "I will ask you a few questions, and your guards will need to answer the same questions. If your answers are different, it means one of you must be lying. I will have someone chop off one of your guards' fingers. Once theirs are chopped off, it will be yours next."

Zhu Luyun's teeth were trembling. "Qiniang, I am indeed sorry for you, but I really didn't mean to hurt you! I can swear to heaven that I have no ill intentions towards you! My aunt told me that the people in the royal court hate Han people and will not treat you sincerely. Fuzi is a monk, and you will have nowhere to go after one year... I am Han, and you are also Han. You and I are in a foreign land, so why not let go of the past grudges... Have you been imprisoned by Haidu Aling? You don't have to be afraid. Haidu Aling is afraid of my uncle. As long as my uncle speaks, Haidu Aling will not dare to..."

Before Zhu Luyun could finish her words, Yao Ying stood up and pointed the dagger in her hand towards her face.

As the cold tip of the knife approached, Zhu Luyun stepped back in fear.

Yao Ying smiled, "You are a Han Chinese, so I should trust you? I have been away from Chang'an for more than two years. There are good people and bad people, both Han and Hu people. I have met many good people, but also many bad people, and made many new friends. I will repay the people who are good to me with sincerity, whether they are Han or Hu people. I remember clearly the bad people who have harmed me."

She leaned over and tapped Zhu Luyun's face with the back of the knife.

"Zhu Luyun, if you truly repented and knew what had happened to me in the past few years, you wouldn't be so stupid as to think you could impress me with just a few simple words."

Yao Ying looked straight into Zhu Luyun's eyes.

"You haven't bothered to inquire about my situation. In your eyes, I'm just a 14-year-old girl who was forced to marry, who cries when she sees an old friend from the Central Plains, and who will make peace with you and beg you and your aunt to save me from the sea of ​​suffering after hearing a few words of assurance, right?"

Zhu Luyun was speechless.

…

After Li De and Li Xuanzhen rescued Zhu Luyun, they obeyed her every word and met all her requests. She was the best in terms of food, clothing and other expenses, and all other girls in the Li family had to take a back seat. Li Yaoying was weak and sickly, and lived in Jingnan with Li Zhongqian for many years. She was busy quarreling with Li Xuanzhen, and didn't know much about Li Yaoying. She only heard that Qi Niang was a beauty.

Later, Li De defeated his enemies one by one and became the overlord of the Central Plains. As Li Yaoying grew older, her reputation for beauty spread throughout Guanzhong. Zhu Luyun met her several times at banquets and found that she was indeed as beautiful as the legend said. At that time, Zhu Luyun was full of hatred for the Li family and had no friendship with Li Yaoying.

Before and after Li De became emperor, the conflict between Li Xuanzhen and Li Zhongqian became more and more serious. The staff headed by Wei Ming frequently fought with Li Yaoying. Zhu Luyun ran into Li Xuanzhen and Wei Ming arguing over Li Yaoying several times.

At that time, she still didn't take Li Jia Qi Niang seriously.

Later, Zhu Luyun and Li Xuanzhen had a quarrel, and was deceived by her aunt's loyal servant. In anger, she agreed to the marriage, but then regretted it. In order to protect her, Li Xuanzhen and his staff let the lustful chief of the Yelu tribe meet the beautiful Li Yaoying at the Buddha's birthday ceremony...

After several twists and turns, Li Yaoying married Zhu Luyun on her behalf, and Zhu Luyun breathed a sigh of relief.

She thought it was all over.

Li Xuanzhen hated Concubine Xie deeply, and he also hated Li Yaoying to the core. Marrying her off with the daughter of his enemy was a perfect way to kill two birds with one stone. She could also watch Li Yaoying marry far away with peace of mind.

However, after Li Yaoying married Li Xuanzhen, he had a gloomy face all day long, not at all like someone who had avenged his great hatred.

Zhu Luyun knew that she was fickle and wavering between hatred and restoration of the country, which made Li Xuanzhen very embarrassed. He would rather use shady means to push his sister into the fire pit in order to keep her. She was deeply moved. When the Crown Princess Zheng Biyu forcibly took her into the East Palace, she resisted and struggled for several days, and began to waver, thinking: It is better to let it go. Li Xuanzhen saved her, and she has no way to repay him, so she will repay him with her body.

Li Xuanzhen didn't touch her.

Zhu Luyun cried all night.

She didn't know what was going on. Li Xuanzhen was her enemy. She should be happy that he didn't touch her. Wasn't it because she hated the Li family that she refused to marry him all these years?

Why did she burst into tears when Li Xuanzhen would rather read military books in the next room all night than set foot in her room?

The next morning, Zhu Luyun pretended nothing had happened, dressed up, and went to pay her respects to Zheng Biyu.

When she raised her head, she saw that there was no jealousy on Zheng Biyu's face, only ridicule and sympathy.

Zhu Luyun seemed to be hit on the head with a stick. All her pretense became a joke in an instant. Her eyes were red and she couldn't even stand steadily.

Zheng Biyu held the teacup and glanced at her calmly, without a trace of surprise on his face: "Yunniang, do you know what you did wrong?"

Zhu Luyun looked at her blankly.

Zheng Biyu took a sip of tea and said, "You did one thing wrong: the person who arranged the marriage on your behalf was not someone else, but the Seventh Princess."

After arriving in Beirong and reuniting with her only relative, her aunt, Zhu Luyun often thought of the Crown Princess' words.

She didn't understand the hidden meaning behind the Crown Princess' words.

What's so special about the Seventh Princess?

Zhu Luyun felt mixed emotions when she heard that this beautiful princess had fallen into the hands of Haidu Aling and had been imprisoned by him for half a year. Then she heard from her aunt that Wang Ting Fuzi had saved her, ignored rumors, informed various countries on her behalf, and would rather be criticized than not protect her. Gradually, she understood something.

The special thing about the Seventh Princess is her beauty. Chief Yelu was attracted to her the moment he saw her. All the people in Beirong knew that Haidu Aling liked to possess beautiful women. The Buddhist son of the royal court must have been fascinated by her beauty, which was why he made an exception for her.

So, when her aunt asked Zhu Luyun about Li Yaoying's character, she replied: "Li Qiniang is weak and sickly. She has been dependent on her brother since she was a child and has been brought up to be spoiled."

Zhu Luyun did not mention Li Yaoying's plan to defeat Haidu Aling and send troops back to the Central Plains to warn people. Everyone in the Central Plains knew about Princess Wen Zhao's great deeds, but in the Northern Rong, these things were rarely known. Obviously, Haidu Aling did not want to be laughed at, so he deliberately concealed the matter.

The aunt pondered for a long time and decided to ask Zhu Luyun to go to the royal court to meet Li Yaoying to find out what secrets there were between her and the Buddhist.

"Wang Ting is a Buddhist who observes strict precepts. He never even glanced at the beauties sent to him by various countries. But he repeatedly made exceptions for Li Qinniang. There must be something special about Li Qinniang."

Zhu Luyun refused to agree at first. She had finally made up her mind to leave Li Xuanzhen and had just reunited with her aunt. She didn't want to travel thousands of miles to be an envoy to the royal court.

Her aunt insisted that she come, so she had to come.

…

Yaoying was not wrong. Zhu Luyun did not bother to inquire about what Yaoying had experienced in the past few years. She only heard some general ideas. She judged Yaoying by herself and thought that Yaoying was isolated and helpless now and would definitely agree to the conditions she proposed.

However, before she could put forward any conditions or say what her aunt had taught her, Yao Ying turned hostile upon seeing her and directly held her hostage.

Although Zhu Luyun was a princess of the previous dynasty, she had been spoiled since childhood and had never suffered any hardship. After arriving at the Li family, she was pampered and had never been treated so rudely. Facing Yaoying, who was younger than her and who held her tightly under her control, she felt ashamed, angry, and annoyed, and could not speak for a long time.

Yaoying turned around and went downstairs.

Yuanjue quickly followed her.

Yao Ying motioned him to show the parchment to Zhu Luyun's guards and said to them, "This is what your princess herself admitted."

After reading the parchment, the guards were shocked and angry: Princess Fukang is really confused. With these confessions, Princess Wenzhao can make trouble! Before leaving, Princess Yiqing gave her many instructions, but Princess Fukang didn't listen to a word!

Yao Ying stood at the steps and signaled to her guards with her eyes.

The guards dragged the guards away, wrapped them in black cloth hoods one by one to cover their faces, and took them to different rooms, leaving only the Han guard behind so that Zhu Luyun could see him being tortured. Then they began to interrogate him at the same time: "How did Princess Fukang become the Princess of Beirong?"

Several people had their faces covered and were in different rooms, so they didn't know what the others would answer. After hesitating for a moment, he felt that the question was not confidential, so he answered in a low voice.

After they finished answering, the guard walked into the room of the person who answered the slowest and chopped him down with a knife, causing the guard to scream.

This scream was filled with pain, and the blood drained from the others' faces.

Yuanjue tightly gripped his long knife, hesitating whether to step forward to stop them. Yaoying shook her head at him.

He sighed and thought to himself: The princess didn't kill anyone...she just injured someone...she still has some sense of propriety, right?

Upstairs, Zhu Luyun's face turned pale as she looked at the Han guards kneeling in the yard and listened to the howling sounds coming from different rooms.

The bodyguard continued to ask questions, and this time, as soon as he finished speaking, several bodyguards answered at the same time.

After a few questions, the soldier's tone suddenly changed and he began to ask about Princess Yiqing.

The guards responded noticeably slower.

After they finished answering, a bodyguard trotted upstairs. After a while, he stood in front of the window and shook his head towards the people downstairs.

Zhu Luyun's answer was different from that of the guards.

The personal soldier immediately raised his sword, and with one blow the Han guard rolled on the ground in pain, leaving a broken finger and a pool of blood on the snow.

Several bodyguards in the room were trembling with fear.

The guards continued to ask questions.

Upstairs, Zhu Luyun looked at the bloody fingers on the snow and realized that Yao Ying was not trying to scare her. She almost collapsed.

"I'll answer whatever you want to ask! Stop it now!"

The bodyguard grinned.

…

An hour later, Yaoying got several confessions, compared them, and handed them to Yuanjue.

Yuanjue's face was full of amazement.

The personal guards were all well-trained men, and this method of comparing confessions would not actually have much effect on them, because they had already colluded with each other in their confessions. However, Yao Ying had her personal soldiers interrogate Zhu Luyun, the personal guards, and the servants upstairs and downstairs respectively. Among the three groups of people, the answers given by Zhu Luyun and the servants were always different from those of the personal guards. The personal guards watched the people upstairs shaking their heads again and again, and they knew that Zhu Luyun's answers were different from theirs, and she must have confessed. Their will gradually wavered, and their defense line was soon broken.

But the price was to cut off the fingers of Beirong's personal guards... If Beirong refused to give in, the royal court would not be able to protect the princess...

Yuanjue glanced at Yaoying secretly, feeling heavy in his heart.

Yao Ying, however, acted as if nothing had happened. She went back upstairs and asked her personal guards to let Zhu Luyun go.

Zhu Luyun lay paralyzed on the ground and couldn't stand up for a long time.

Yao Ying walked up to her and slashed her cheek with the dagger: "Zhu Luyun, I know you have never regretted it, because you think you did not take the initiative to harm me. You have always been like this. No matter how many people are innocently implicated because of your willfulness, you will not take it to heart. You think that everyone in the world has wronged you."

Zhu Luyun bit her red lips tightly with her pearly teeth.

Yaoying exerted slight force on her hands.

Zhu Luyun felt a chill down her spine.

Yao Ying patted her face and said, "Your father was dissolute and immoral, neglected state affairs, was incompetent, and imposed heavy taxes. The Zhu Dynasty is doomed. The world belongs to the people, not your father. You have been treated preferentially as a descendant of the Zhu family, and you have made big mistakes many times. No one owes you anything."

A trace of sadness flashed across Zhu Luyun's eyes.

Yao Ying looked down at her and said, "The marriage is between me, Li De and Li Xuanzhen. The entanglement between you and Li Xuanzhen is your business."

She flicked the dagger in her hand.

With a flash of cold light, a bunch of black hair on Zhu Luyun's temple was cut off by the dagger and fell down.

Zhu Luyun trembled.

Yao Ying said slowly, "This is just a warning. You'd better stay away from me in the future. Don't bump into me, and don't try to use me. Otherwise, I won't just cut off a strand of hair next time."

After she finished speaking, she tapped Zhu Luyun's forehead with the dagger.

"Send Princess Fukang down."

Zhu Luyun shivered a few times, was picked up by the personal guards and sent downstairs.

…

Yaoying tried to get back the parchments, threw them into the brazier and burned them.

Yuan Jue was stunned: "Princess, why did you burn this thing? Aren't you... aren't you going to frame Princess Beirong?"

Yao Ying laughed and said, "Do you really think this fabricated confession is useful? I was just trying to scare Zhu Luyun."

Only by attacking as soon as they meet can Zhu Luyun be separated from those personal guards. Without the personal guards, Zhu Luyun is vulnerable. Once Zhu Luyun collapses, it will not be difficult to find the flaws of those personal guards.

Yuanjue was stunned for a moment, shook his head and laughed, suddenly a light flashed across his eyes, he turned around and ran downstairs, came to the snow, rummaged on the ground for a while, found those bloody fingers, picked them up and looked at them carefully.

After a moment, he shook his head and smiled innocently.

These fingers are fake.

The king was right. Princess Wen Zhao really knew her limits.

Yuan Jue was completely relieved this time. He ran back upstairs and clasped his fists towards Yao Ying: "Princess, have you prepared those fingers long ago?"

Yao Ying nodded: "After all, they were sent by the Northern Rong. The situation in the city is tense now. If I hurt the Northern Rong envoys at this time, wouldn't that make life difficult for Buddhists? Don't worry, the Northern Rong envoys are unharmed. They just got a few injections. There are no internal or external injuries."

Yuan Jue didn't know whether to laugh or cry: those bodyguards screamed so miserably just now that he thought their fingers were really chopped off!

Yao Ying said: "After getting these confessions, we can go back to Wangsi."

Yuanjue hummed and carefully put away his confession.

The author has something to say: Ah, it's too late, I beat myself up