Chapter 86
Chapter 86
Yelü Bao split off part of his force in an attempt to tie down Zhang Mingan and Chengde.
Without Pei Xianjing, he truly would have succeeded.
Zhang Mingan was already gravely wounded. He could not last much longer.
Blood loss alone would kill him within a few hours.
Yelü Bao sat calmly on his horse, watching coldly as he waited for Zhang Mingan to die.
Behind him, a ghostlike shadow in black appeared without a sound.
The shadow wielded a long spear forged from dark iron, and the white hair at his temple streamed in the fierce western wind.
His arrival was like a tornado sweeping across the wilderness, carrying thunder from the heavens as it struck down behind Yelü Bao.
Yelü Bao felt a surge of killing intent rise along the back of his neck.
He turned on instinct. With a metallic ring, the long spear came cleaving down at his face.
The force drove Yelü Bao from his horse.
His ears rang without cease. When he lifted a hand to touch one, his palm came away covered in blood.
Buzz… He could hear nothing else, only the ceaseless hum of blade force.
How powerful must that man’s inner strength be to render him temporarily deaf?
Yelü Bao could only see the subordinates surrounding him open their mouths wide. He tried to make out what they were saying, but could not hear a word.
They hauled him back onto a horse.
Guarding him closely, they tried to retreat along the left flank.
But the shadow in black charged straight after them.
Yelü Bao clutched the reins. He could not rid himself of the feeling that a long spear would come flying at his back at any moment and sever his neck.
Nothing but the whistling of blade force filled his ears.
Suddenly, the horse beneath him pitched forward and crashed hard to the ground.
A trap had already been laid along their path of retreat.
Inside the deep pit, Yelü Bao and his men tumbled together with their horses.
Yelü Bao scrambled to his feet and tried to mount again, hoping to use the horse’s height to climb out of the pit.
Just as he finally managed to get into the saddle, a dark spear appeared before him, its spike-like blade pressed directly against his throat.
Yelü Bao tilted his head back. Above him was a sharply defined and remarkably young face.
Short black stubble surrounded a pair of cool, tightly pressed lips.
Eyes as deep and black as a frozen pool stared fixedly at him.
He could not believe such a young man had outmaneuvered him.
How could this young man be so audacious? He had dared to lie in ambush along Yelü Bao’s route of retreat all by himself!
The scouts must have been killed by the man before him.
Pei Xianjing was stained with blood, and the leather bracer around his wrist had split.
Countless wounds covered his body as well.
“D-don’t kill me.” Yelü Bao raised both hands.
Only when a blade rested against his neck did he realize that death truly could descend at any moment.
“I will not kill you.” Pei Xianjing’s voice seemed to come from an ice cavern. “Yelü Han is dead. You are the only person left who can clear General Xu and his family of wrongdoing.
“Tell me where the evidence used to frame General Xu is hidden. Otherwise, I have a thousand ways to make you wish you were dead.”
* * *
Beyond Qizhou’s walls, blades fell like rain. In the capital, dark currents also surged beneath the surface.
Within the glittering golden hall, the aged Emperor sat upon the dragon throne.
Pei Congxian stood before the imperial desk.
“More than twenty years ago, I appointed you an imperial commissioner and ordered you to eradicate the remnants of the Xu clan.
“You did well, so I permitted you to enter the Grand Secretariat and stand against Qi Yusheng as his equal all these years.
“You were supposed to use Qi Yusheng’s hand to eliminate Yelü Han and his son for me, then recover the thirteen cities the late Emperor abandoned. But you have disappointed me, my dear Minister Pei.”
Age roughened the Emperor’s voice. He leaned back against the dragon throne and looked down imperiously at Pei Congxian.
“You know better than I what that fine son you raised is capable of.
“If Yelü Bao is successfully escorted to the capital, both witnesses and material evidence will be present.
“I will merely lose my glorious name for the ages. But you, Pei Congxian, will lose your entire clan to the ninth degree.”
Pei Congxian dropped to his knees and knocked his forehead against the floor three times. “Whatever His Majesty commands, this subject will carry out, even if I must lay down my life.”
The Emperor did not even raise his eyelids. His entire body radiated weary feebleness. “Destroy the evidence and kill Yelü Bao.
“Tell that fine son of yours that Qi Yusheng has now been eliminated, and the Empress’s natal-clan faction is no longer a force to be feared.
“The Qizhou defense case should be closed.
“If he continues investigating, your Pei family will draw the flames onto itself.”
“Complete the task, and you will become my Chief Grand Secretary and one of the ministers entrusted with the heir.
“Fail, and someone else will deal with you and your son for me.”
Cold sweat soaked Pei Congxian from head to toe.
He bowed his head to the floor. “This subject respectfully obeys the imperial command.”
The Emperor said nothing more.
A eunuch helped Pei Congxian up and led him out of the great hall.
Pei Congxian was walking along a white-marble palace road in a daze when a young eunuch hurried past and abruptly bumped into him.
He was about to berate the eunuch when he discovered that a letter had appeared in his hand.
Pei Congxian looked all around. Seeing no one else, he hastily tucked the letter into his sleeve and strode out of the palace.
* * *
Qizhou.
The Qizhou and Panzhou armies entered the city one after another.
Zhang Mingan was carried on horseback to the ancient well in Xujiakou Alley.
“Weiwei.” Covered in blood, he called weakly when he saw Xing Shuwei approaching.
He tried to dismount, but instead rolled from the saddle.
“Oh!” Wang Yanqing exclaimed, quickly jumping down to support him.
He and Xing Shuwei helped Zhang Mingan into a chair.
“I will find a physician.”
His wounds were too severe for Xing Shuwei to treat.
But Zhang Mingan caught her wrist and refused to let her leave. “Stay with me for a little while.”
Pei Xianjing had come. Zhang Mingan was afraid Pei Xianjing would steal Xing Shuwei away from his side.
He understood better than anyone how much Xing Shuwei meant to Pei Xianjing.
Otherwise, back in the capital, he would never have used Xing Shuwei to make Pei Xianjing exonerate him.
“We have to stop the bleeding now, or it will not stop.” Xing Shuwei’s voice trembled slightly, choked with emotion.
Zhang Mingan had returned alive. Her heart had been hanging in suspense; it should finally have settled.
Yet she was still deeply uneasy.
“Weiwei, will you return to the capital with Pei Xianjing?” Zhang Mingan’s sudden question interrupted her thoughts.
Instead of answering, she blurted out a question of her own. “Is he alive and unharmed?”
The moment the words left her mouth and she met Zhang Mingan’s mist-veiled eyes, she realized-
Pei Xianjing must be fine, or Zhang Mingan would never have asked her that question.
Of course. How could anything have happened to Pei Xianjing?
Not one military commander in the entire Great Yue court could match him.
He would certainly make it out alive from among thousands upon thousands of soldiers.
Xing Shuwei blinked, then finally answered, “I will not go back.”
She continued, “Pei Xianjing and I ceased to have any ties long ago.
“I wanted no ties with him before, and I will want them even less in the future.
“I will never return to the capital with him in this lifetime unless I have become a corpse and can no longer resist.”
Xing Shuwei made Zhang Mingan release her. “I will find Madam Xu and ask her to treat your wounds. Her medical skills are excellent.”
Zhang Mingan did not want her to worry either. “Do not be afraid. Pei Xianjing has gone to find the evidence, so he will not enter the city anytime soon. I will not let him take you away.”