Great Zhou World
"Alright, System, do whatever you want. I'm really at my wit's end with this kind of hero." Ning Yangyang's voice was weak, as if all the bones had been drained out of her. She allowed two expressionless guards to hold her arms and drag her along, her toes scraping across the rough ground, kicking up a fine cloud of dust. "My political schemes didn't work out, so I tried to frame him for treason? But he actually rebelled, and with such a clear conscience! I can't beat him, and I can't kill him... oh, I can't kill him." She twitched her lips in self-mockery, her eyes vacant as she stared at the rough canvas texture of the tent ceiling, like a torn rag doll. "I'm lying flat on my back, for real this time."
A month had passed since that thrilling, failed escape attempt. During this time, Ning Yangyang felt completely trapped within this moving cage—Xiao Ziyi's vast military camp. Xiao Ziyi's movements were astonishingly swift, dashing from the capital to the western border, taming his former subordinates with lightning speed, and then immediately marching eastward, heading straight for the capital. The entire journey took less than a month. His efficiency was despairingly high.
Ning Yangyang, on the other hand, hadn't seen Nangong Xi since she was thrown from her horse. She'd tried every possible protest: a hunger strike? The food would be taken away untouched until she was starving, and Xiao Ziyi would personally pinch her chin and force her to drink rice soup, his eyes as cold as an ice cellar. Faking her death? Her carefully orchestrated "fainting" didn't even attract a military doctor. Only Xiao Ziyi looked down at her clumsy performance and said lightly, "Looks like my sister is in good spirits. I'll keep her under house arrest for two more hours." All her struggles were like fists hitting cotton, silently dissolved and ignored.
She even felt, absurdly, like she was engaging in a bizarre "robbery" drama with this nominal "brother." She felt like a rotten fish on the chopping block, thrashing around in vain. The only thing holding her back from total collapse was Nangong Xi's unwavering "Love Value" on the system dashboard. Fortunately, her heroine, the baby, hadn't been seduced by Xiao Ziyi's sweet talk; this was perhaps the only silver lining in this hopeless situation.
Ning Yangyang was almost certain that Xiao Ziyi had Nangong Xiang under her control! Otherwise, given how much Nangong Xi valued her sister, she would never have "surrendered" so easily, much less revealed that... almost docile, exhausted demeanor. The abomination was, how had Xiao Ziyi been able to track the sisters' whereabouts so precisely throughout their journey from the capital to the western border? Ning Yangyang was baffled, as if an invisible net had already enveloped them.
At that moment, she sat cross-legged on a mat covered with coarse felt. The tent was dimly lit, with only a faint ray of light filtering through the slits in the curtains, illuminating the fine dust particles suspended in the air. She carefully twisted her left arm, injured from a recent fall from a horse, and a dull ache still lingered in the joint. On the low table before her sat a small, delicate dish of mung bean cake, delivered for lunch today. It stood out against the cruder fare of the barracks, a subtle gesture of comfort.
She picked up a piece and took a small nibble. The sweet, delicate flavor melted on her tongue, the only solace in this oppressive cage. However, her eyes showed no sign of enjoyment. Instead, they were like two dim flames, flickering with the rapid plotting in her mind. Her thoughts, like a winding mountain road, repeatedly collided between power struggles, betrayal, and rescue.
At that moment, an unusual commotion erupted outside the tent, accompanied by the distinct sounds of footsteps and deliberately subdued voices. Ning Yangyang's ears pricked up instantly. Xiao Ziyi's rebels had now reached Shangrao, barely a stone's throw from the capital. The so-called "battles" along the way seemed, to her, highly exaggerated, with surprisingly few casualties. It felt like a staged performance, as if the enemy had already assumed their own doom. However, it was rumored that a negotiating envoy from the imperial court had arrived at the camp today.
She couldn't leave the tent, but... she could peek.
Ning Yangyang moved silently to the edge of the tent curtain like a swift cat, holding her breath and carefully using her fingertips to pry open a tiny crack. The glaring sunlight suddenly poured in, and she squinted her eyes to adjust, her gaze like a hawk darting towards the distant group of envoys, surrounded by personal guards, heading towards the main tent.
The figure at the head was slender and delicate, dressed in the finery of an imperial lady, yet her youthfulness couldn't be concealed. When that face came into clear view, Ning Yangyang felt a buzzing in her head, as if struck by a heavy hammer! She instinctively covered her mouth to prevent a scream from escaping her throat. Half a mung bean cake between her fingers fell to the felt with a clatter, shattering into pieces.
Nangong Xiang? !
How could it be her? Nangong Xiang, barely a teenager with no roots in the capital? She became the negotiating envoy? Even more absurd, a line of small text flashed across the system panel: [Emissary Identity: Crown Prince's Favored Concubine].
Ning Yangyang was completely stunned, a chill running from the soles of her feet to her crown. The plot… the plot had completely spiraled out of control! How old was Nangong Xiang this year, and how did she become the crown prince's favorite concubine? A woman from the far west suddenly became a powerful figure in the capital.
Even if she devoured that so-called "original PDF" verbatim, she couldn't stop the data from developing its own mind and running amok! What was going on? She, Ning Yangyang, was nominally the Crown Princess! But at the same time, she was also the "favored" sister of the rebel leader, Xiao Ziyi? This dual identity sounded impressive, but in reality, it was incredibly awkward. Neither side supported her, and she had no real power. She was simply the most fragile and ironic part of the power vortex!
She slid weakly against the cold tent wall, the broken mung bean cake crumbs clinging to her skirt, just like her equally shattered cognition and plans. Outside, Nangong Xiang vanished behind the curtains of the main tent, leaving Ning Yangyang alone in the dim cage, savoring this absurd reality a thousand times more complex than the mung bean cake itself.
"System, I don't quite understand this."
"Host, I don't quite understand this bunch of gibberish. The original world's Nangong Xiang has nothing to do with your official match."
"Don't even mention the official match, it's disgusting."
"And what's going on with these two brothers?"
"System, I figured it out. The PDF mentioned that my father seemed to be framed by the emperor. In fact, this emperor was just a son-in-law. He relied on his legitimate wife and good brother to ascend to the throne, but once he ascended to the throne, he kicked them both out and replaced them with his childhood sweetheart. I guess this was a drama arranged by Xiao Ziyi and Xiao Yuhuan, just to cooperate with the outsiders and ascend to the throne as soon as possible."
"The host is right. Whoever is planning a rebellion wouldn't first attack the palace and then flee to the border. This is an uncontrollable plot."
"The current plot seems to be unscrupulous in order to achieve the desired result. Qi Yiwen, you haven't fixed your bug yet."
"We'll have to wait a while."
"Host, please be patient. The mission is still possible."
A month ago, the candlelight flickered in the gusts of wind that blew through the halls, casting ghostly, panicked shadows of the Imperial Hospital staff on the cold palace walls. The heavy smell of blood, mixed with the bitterness of spilled ginseng soup, practically solidified, weighing heavily on everyone's heart. Xiao Yuhuan lay pale, breathless on the couch, his bright yellow nightgown drenched in a glaring crimson. A dagger lodged deep in his upper left chest, its every subtle movement arousing the nerves of everyone present.
While Imperial Hospital Director Cui was examining Xiao Yuhuan's injuries, Chen Gongming, standing outside, sensed impending disaster. Director Cui noticed the wound was strategically placed, seemingly hitting a vital spot but missing the mark by a hair's breadth. He knew that if he could stop the bleeding, his life would be saved.
From outside the palace, the solemnity of the court was no longer the humiliation, but the clamor of the rebels! The sound surged like a surging tide against the foundations of the imperial city, pouring in from all directions. Flames dyed the night sky of the capital an ominous orange-red. Shouts, the clash of weapons, desperate wails, and the frantic shouts of the rebels intertwined, piercing the palace walls like cold iron needles piercing everyone's eardrums, heralding the collapse of order.
"Report! The main force of the rebel army Xiao Ziyi... the main force suddenly broke camp, heading... towards the western border!" A scout covered in blood almost rolled into the hall, his voice hoarse and distorted due to extreme shock and confusion.
This news was like a bolt from the blue, shocking everyone instantly.
Emperor Xiao Wufan suddenly jumped up from the chair beside the dragon couch, his body beneath the dragon robe shaking violently due to this huge turn, and he relied on the old eunuch to hold him tightly. His face was mixed with lingering horror and deeper confusion that was wrapped around him like poison ivy. "West... Western Border? They... They are not attacking the capital? Abandoning the city and fleeing?" The huge sense of absurdity hit him, like a club hitting the head. The moment he was still terrified that the rebels would break through the city, and the next moment the enemy retreated like a tide, aiming directly at the desolate border thousands of miles away? It felt like a punch with full force, hitting the air hard. What surged in his chest was not relief, but deeper panic and a sense of shame and anger at being completely fooled - Xiao Ziyi! He still couldn't let go of that thing!
This thought, like a venomous snake, instantly bit into Xiao Wufan's heart. That adopted son, whom he had meticulously sculpted and polished, considered his sharpest and most controllable weapon! That chess piece he had thought he held firmly in his grasp through kindness, power, and checks and balances! Now, not only had this piece broken free from the board, it had also taken over the entire game!
"He hates me... He's always hated me!" Xiao Wufan's pupils constricted with paranoid rage. The faint remorse he felt deep within him for what happened back then was now completely crushed by a crushing sense of betrayal and uncontrollable fear, transforming into an even more twisted resentment. "I gave him status! Position! Power! And he dared... dared to rebel! And even went to the Western Territory... What was he trying to do? To find that bastard's former subordinates? Or to unite with those barbarians?!" Xiao Wufan's thoughts raced wildly in fear, blaming every possible threat on Xiao Ziyi. He, Xiao Wufan, who boasted of controlling the world, couldn't even tether the "dog" he had raised! This sense of failure was more piercing than the sight of a rebel army at the gates.
He suddenly shook off the old eunuch's supporting hand, his withered fingers trembling violently with anger and a morbid excitement. His eyes flashed with the paranoid ferocity of a frightened bird, and his voice was sharp and distorted with excitement and a panic he tried hard to conceal, as if he wanted to use this shrill voice to pierce the rebellious son who was far away in the west:
"Issue an order! The bandit chieftain Xiao Ziyi, with his wolfish ambitions and ungrateful deeds, attempted to assassinate the crown prince and wreak havoc in the capital! Now, fearing punishment, he has fled to the western border. This is truly a godsend! This beast has colluded with foreign nations and plotted evil. His crimes are unforgivable!" He piled up all the crimes he could think of, as if this would prove his original "wisdom" and the "legitimate" nature of his current extermination. "Order all prefectures and garrisons along the way to mobilize all their troops and horses, at all costs, to block their way with all their might! This beast and his rebels must be wiped out on their way west! Eliminate them completely and serve as a warning to others! No mistakes can be made!"
He practically roared the last few words, his chest heaving violently as if he had exhausted all his strength. He wanted to crush Xiao Ziyi to death on the road before he could truly reach the Western Territory and potentially gain greater power! As if this could erase his own foolishness of nurturing a tiger to harm him, prove that he was still the emperor in control of everything!
"Crown Prince... How's the Crown Prince?" After roaring his order, he seemed to regain some clarity from his frenzy, remembering his son, whose life or death lay uncertain on the bed. His voice trembled, a tremor he himself hadn't noticed, strained by the immense pressure. His gaze remained fixed on the sky outside the palace, shrouded in flames and the unknown. It was filled with resentment, resentment, and a deep-seated fear that even he refused to acknowledge.
Could this really be his retribution? He'd done so much, sacrificed so much, to achieve that position. Was Xiao Ziyi's sword aimed solely at the throne, or...his own life? The thought chilled him to the bone, but was immediately overwhelmed by an even stronger paranoia and murderous intent—No! He would never allow this! Xiao Ziyi must die! Die on the road to the west!
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