Chapter 3

Chapter 3

His body was so cold that he could not wait to pull me into his arms.

My face pressed against his chest, and the scent of cedar filled my nose, mingled with the smell of blood.

Then I lifted my head and met his eyes.

His gaze was dark and unfathomable. In the quiet, dim blue bed curtains, emotions churned in the depths of his eyes.

I quickly lowered my lashes, then, in a panic, began tugging at his inner robe, wanting to see exactly where he had been hurt.

But he stopped me. He leaned down over me, wearily burying his head against my neck-

“Yuzi, sleep. I’m so tired.”

I did not sleep. My gaze drifted toward the bed curtains. Dawn light seeped into the room, making even the space within the curtains seem less dark.

Day was about to break.

When the sun was already high in the sky, Xia Zhan finally woke.

As I helped him dress, I got what I wanted and checked his body for wounds.

He let me examine him, his gaze heavy as he watched me. Then he asked, “Yuzi, what was your original name?”

My hands paused, and I looked at him in confusion.

His eyes were as deep as the sea. “Liu’er? Or Qingliu? Or should I call you Liu Qingliu?”

I remained blank.

He seized one of my wrists, looked into my eyes, and stated the facts. “You said that during the Jiangnan slave uprising, you fled to Huizhou to seek shelter with distant relatives. In the end, those relatives sold you to a trafficker, and after many turns you ended up at Chunri Lou in the capital. That was when you met me. Isn’t that right?”

I nodded. He gave a cold laugh. “Last night, someone impersonated the people of Dingguo Duke Manor. They took my handwritten order and used it to remove Chen Sifa and Cui Jiangben from the Ministry of Justice prison. When we led men after them, we discovered the other side had come prepared. A rain of arrows came down on us. We were nearly turned into targets.”

Chen Sifa, Cui Jiangben… They were the leaders of the Nose-Cutting Band of Jiangyin and the Litong Society of Jingzhou, both Slave Uprising groups captured by the Imperial Court a year ago.

Naturally, the ones who could save them would be their accomplices.

Xia Zhan’s grip gradually tightened. “Do you know why I locked them in the Ministry of Justice prison and interrogated them for an entire year, yet never killed them?”

“The Qing Gang was such a large organization. It suddenly vanished without a trace, not a single ripple left behind. Do you think I would believe that?”

I looked at him, my brows knitting slightly.

Cold light shot like stars from his black eyes. “Back then, I was just one step away from capturing Xiao Yuanshan alive. We had set an ambush and should have been able to wipe them out smoothly. But the moment Xiao Yuanshan entered the valley, he suddenly received secret information and turned back.

“When we led troops after him, he still escaped. But during the fight, a Qingyu Jade Pendant fell from his body. Do you want to see what that pendant looks like?”

I shook my head and closed my eyes.

“So many people are locked in the Ministry of Justice prison, and I couldn’t bear to kill a single one of them. All of it was to dig out the true mastermind behind the Jiangnan slave uprising. The leader behind the Qing Gang is not Xiao Yuanshan, but someone named Liu Qingyu.

“Liu Qingyu and Xiao Yuanshan hid themselves very well. To this day, we haven’t found where they’re hiding. But I learned that Liu Qingyu has a younger sister named Qingliu. Like you, she was a Yangzhou Slender Horse. And she was mute.”

My eyes flew open, and my expression shifted.

His hand was somewhat cool as it slowly stroked my slender neck. “You are very good at acting. You hid by my side and gained my trust. A Yangzhou Slender Horse is trained in many arts, and you can even imitate my handwriting. You stamped my seal on it and quietly sent out an order real enough to pass for mine.”

I gripped his hand and shook my head in terror. Tears fell before I could stop them.

He chuckled softly, leaned close to my ear, and said in a low voice, “Stop acting. It’s all over, little liar.”

My arms were bound, and I was hung from the west city gate in the outskirts of the capital.

For three full days.

Before that, portraits of me had been posted all over the city. Written on them were the words: Sister of the rebel Liu Qingyu. To be killed within three days!

Before the time was up, Xia Zhan would not allow me to die.

I was hung there until I was barely breathing, weak beyond measure.

But every so often, someone would lower me, force a few mouthfuls of water down my throat, stuff a handful of grain into my mouth, and then hang me back up.

Countless soldiers lay in ambush along both sides of the streets inside the city.

On the third day, Xia Zhan stood atop the city gate. Beside him was Zhao Mingyu, dressed in a silver-white fox-fur cloak, looking so frail she seemed unable to withstand a breeze.

The Noble Heir stood high above, dressed in black, his hair like dark jade, his sword-like brows sweeping into his temples, the corners of his eyes slightly upturned. His face was cold and sharply defined.

They were waiting for the Qing Gang to appear, so they could capture them all in one net.

He also wanted Zhao Mingyu to see with her own eyes that the vengeance for her family’s extermination was about to be repaid.

But I wagered he would be disappointed.

Sure enough, as the sky darkened, there was still no movement on the road leading into the city from the suburbs.

Xia Zhan refused to give up, so he hung me there for one more day.

At dusk on the fourth day, he finally realized in fury that no one was coming to save me.

He ordered someone to lower me, crouched in front of me, and pinched my face in his hand-

“Why didn’t they come to save you? Did Liu Qingyu abandon a younger sister just like that?”

I struggled to lift my head and look at him. My expression was just as it had always been. No resentment, no hatred, only endless terror and misery.

Xia Zhan froze. I moved my lips and soundlessly spoke a few words to him.

He did not catch my lip movements, so he leaned closer. “What did you say?”

I smiled. One word at a time, with absolute clarity, I silently questioned him-

“Why Call Me Slave?”

Why Call Me Slave?

That was the first questioning slogan cried out three years ago, when the Jiangnan Slave Uprising began.

When the household that owned me was slaughtered, fire burned and burned across the sky. The powerful and noble knelt on the ground like lambs awaiting the butcher’s blade.

Thousands upon thousands of slaves questioned them: Why Call Me Slave?

Why impose such harsh taxes and force me into slavery?

Why make it so that our children and grandchildren, generation after generation, can never leave the slave registers?

Why let slave-owning become common practice, leaving us with no food for our bellies, no skirts to cover our knees and ankles, no patch of whole skin on our hips or backs?

When a slave girl was not yet wed, her virginity was taken early. When a woman had not yet borne a child, her freshness was cut away first.

If the mistress grew jealous, there would be torture of the most private parts, shaving and stitching of skin, the sounds of ugly agony drifting beyond the walls.

Why treat us like livestock, penning us in, selling us off, humiliating us until we died?

…

I gazed at Xia Zhan, my face full of suffering. Then I closed my eyes and slowly pressed my cheek against his palm, as obedient as I had been before.

But he jerked his hand back, a flash of panic crossing his eyes.

In that moment, I was certain Xia Zhan would not kill me.

He lowered his voice and said to me, “Yuzi, all you have to do is write down where they’re hiding. I will let bygones be bygones and treat you the same as before. All right?

“They abandoned you. Why throw your life away for them? You like me, don’t you? As long as you write it down, I will still be yours.

“Tell me. Where is Liu Qingyu? I want to see him.” His voice was sincere, patient, coaxing.

I smiled. When my tears fell, I finally nodded.

Xia Zhan smiled too. He stroked my head, his expression soft, then lowered his head and untied the ropes around my wrists.

He pulled me into his arms and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. “Come. Come home with me.”

I forced myself to my feet, leaning on him for support. Before we could take even one step, a long arrow shot out from somewhere, cutting through the air with unstoppable force and a sharp whoosh.

No one had expected that even an abandoned pawn would be worth silencing at any cost.

Xia Zhan yanked me into his arms to shield me. The long arrow grazed his forearm. The sleeve of his dark robe hid the wound, but I caught the sharp scent of blood at once.

Just as they were preparing to close the net, the Qing Gang arrived, vast in number and seething with killing intent.

They fell upon us in a fierce, brutal clash.

Xia Zhan had laid ambushes on all sides, but these people appeared after his men had let down their guard and begun to withdraw.

And they came with ferocious momentum, armed and equipped to the teeth.

They loosed countless fire arrows bound with oil packets. Before long, flames were roaring all around the city gate.

Amid the firelight and thick smoke, the man mounted on a tall horse outside the gate sat with an imposing, chilling bearing. Once more, he aimed the bow in his hand at us.

I heard Xia Zhan grit out, “Xiao Yuanshan!”

The long arrow came whistling toward us. Xia Zhan shoved me away.

The man’s figure gradually came into view. He wore brown robes, tall and handsome, with heavy, rugged brows. Dark stubble covered his chin, and cold light gleamed in his deep-set eyes.

Beside him was a fair-skinned woman in a red cloak, also seated on horseback.

Xiao Yuanshan looked over from afar and laughed twice. “Noble Heir, I heard you were going to kill our Qing Leader’s sister within three days, so I brought her to you. My apologies. I’m a day late.”

The woman sat high above us, smiling. She looked serene, with a trace of aloof pride.

Xia Zhan stared at me in shock. “Yuzi, weren’t you…”

I lowered my eyes. After being hung from the city gate for four days, I no longer had the strength to answer him.

Xiao Yuanshan answered for me instead. “An impostor. I came to help the Noble Heir kill her.”

With that, he casually took three more long arrows, set them all on his bowstring, and aimed them at me.

It was rather amusing. The people I thought would come to save me intended to kill me.

The man who said he would kill me came rushing forward to save me instead.

As Xia Zhan strode quickly toward me, panic in his eyes, I swayed to my feet though he was only a step away. I lifted my head and gave him a faint, eerie smile.

I clenched the half-broken arrow I had picked up from the ground and drove it hard into his chest.

The broken arrow was barbed. It pierced my palm until blood flowed, carrying the same metallic scent as the fabric soaking dark at his chest.

Under his shocked gaze, I let go. Barefoot, I slowly turned around.

Xiao Yuanshan had already dismounted, and the woman in red was walking over with him. The woman came forward first, undid her fiery-red cloak, and draped it over my shoulders.

From a few steps away, Xiao Yuanshan bowed to me and called out,

“Qing Leader. Long time no see.”

I turned to look at Xia Zhan. Behind me gathered the ranks of the Qing Gang, and beyond them, flames blazed at the city gate.

Under his stunned gaze, I lifted my chin slightly, narrowed my eyes, and looked down at him with contempt as the corners of my mouth slowly curved up.

“Heir Xia, allow me to introduce you. This is my sister, Qingliu.”

The mute one was not me, but Qingliu, who stood beside me.

As for me, my voice had always been clear and forceful, every word sharp as a pearl.

Qingliu looked at me gently, her fair face full of smiles.

Xia Zhan finally came back to his senses. In disbelief, he said, “You are… Liu Qingyu?”

I smiled, my voice pleasant to the ear, my gaze on him filled with pity. “Who told you Liu Qingyu was a man?”

Yes. Before this, no one had known.

Three years ago, when the Slave Uprising broke out and different regions rose in response, Xiao Yuanshan had taken my token and met with Chen Sifa, Cui Jiangben, and the others.

They only knew my name was Liu Qingyu, and they were certain I had to be a man.

Even among the twelve hall masters of the Qing Gang, not many knew my true identity, and Xia Zhan had killed several of those who did.

I clicked my tongue twice and shook my head again and again. Then I sighed and took the long saber Xiao Yuanshan handed me.

Barefoot, I walked toward Xia Zhan step by step.

The blade scraped across the flagstones, the sound strangely pleasing.

The fiery-red cloak whipped wildly in the wind. I stood before Xia Zhan and looked down at him from above. “Xia Zhan, this time, I really am going to take your life.”

There was not much time left. The riot on the outskirts would soon draw reinforcements.

The imperial guards had twenty-six divisions. If they arrived, we would have no way out.

So I raised the long saber without the slightest hesitation and brought it down hard, severing one of Xia Zhan’s arms.

On the hand attached to that arm, a white jade thumb ring gleamed with cold, lifeless light on the index finger.

Xia Zhan cried out in agony. Clutching his severed arm, he stared at the one lying on the ground, drenched in cold sweat and unable to believe it.

“Yuzi…”

Perhaps he had never imagined that after even a day as husband and wife, with a hundred days’ grace between us, I would cut off his right arm so mercilessly.

Only a few days ago, that very arm had still been strong and powerful as it held me in his embrace, stroking the crimson crabapple blossoms on my back.

But I met his gaze calmly, without a single ripple in my eyes.

“Until a blade is pressed to your neck, people like you will never understand fear. So from this moment on, you will feel the same pain we have felt.”