Chapter 103
Yang Yan didn’t struggle . He quickly said in a low voice, “Everyone Qi Sheng brings is an elite . There is no way I can get away with you . Since he is alright, there must be something wrong with the ninth elder brother . I have to save him . You have to let me go . They are already at the foot of the mountain and they’ll be here in no time . ”
My life meant so little compared to that of his ninth elder brother! I was increasingly infuriated . Since you were merciless with me, don’t blame me for being cruel to you . If you want me to die, then we’ll die together . I clenched my teeth and jumped on him, tearing his clothes madly . Let’s see what Qi Sheng would do if you made him a cuckold . He would never spare your family!
Yang Yan was struck dumb, and immediately realized what I was up to . He gripped my wrist and fumed, “What are you doing?”
I sneered, leaned over and bit the side of his neck .
He froze but didn’t push me away .
“I’ve already tried my best . ” He took a deep breath and continued, “They have been tailing us for a long time . I’ve been detouring for four days and couldn’t get rid of them . Now they’ve surrounded us, and there’s nothing I can do . ”
I slowly let him go, straightened up and looked at him .
His Adam’s apple moved and said with pain, “I do want to get away with you but I can’t make it . Qi Sheng comes for you by himself, which means you are someone dear to him . If you stick to the story that you were abducted by me, even if he takes you back, he won’t kill you . But I don’t know if the ninth elder brother is still alive, so I have to find him . ”
He suddenly raised his arm . I felt a pain in the back of my neck and everything went black in front of my eyes, then I lost my consciousness .
When I woke up, I was already in a tent . I lay on a low bed, and the candle on the low table not far away magnified Qi Sheng’s shadow on the tent wall, quite vague .
Qi Sheng heard me moving, and calmly looked up at me .
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I looked at him as well, pondering between life and esteem, which was more important . Then stupidly I realized that it wasn’t even a problem for me because every time I chose life .
Qi Sheng heard me moving, looking up at me calmly .
I quietly looked at him . Calm on the outside, but on the inside, my heart and intestines were all twisted .
Should I throw myself into his arms and cry and thank God for letting him live? Or should I bitterly and angrily accuse him of summoning me to travel thousands of miles to Norther Desert when he was indeed fine? Are you joking me?
Or maybe I should be honest with him . Yes, I want to defeat you and be an Empress Dowager myself . Do whatever you wanted to do and I don’t care anymore .
We stared at each other for a long time . Qi Sheng sighed heavily, and asked, “How do we get into this place?”
As soon as I heard this, I knew he had known everything .
So, playing dumb would only make me look like a clown . Nothing else .
I turned around and looked at the dark ceiling of the tent . I couldn’t help but sneer .
Qi Sheng continued in a low voice, “I used to tell myself, as long as you came for me, I would let everything you did go…”
I couldn’t listen to this anymore, straightened up and threw the pillow towards him . I shouted, “Qi Sheng, how dare you say this? Let everything I did go, what the hell! We are not so much different! You know my plan from the beginning . But you slept with me, asked me to have Qi Hao, forced me to study government affairs in Da Ming Palace . Aren’t these all for developing my ambitions? You pointed out the road for me, forced me into this situation with your power . Why are you playing lover now?
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Qi Sheng silently looked at me, and after a long while he said in a hoarse voice, “I gave you choice every time, but you never chose to trust me . ”
I was so mad that I laughed, “What have you done to make me trust you? You only schemed against me every time, and put your guard against me all the time, so why should I treat you with the bottom of my heart?”
“Zhang Pengpeng, in all conscience, did I only scheme and guard against you!” Qi Sheng was furious and his voice trembled . Under the reflection of the candle light, there was a faint red hue in his dark eyes .
Suddenly a corner of my heart collapsed and I felt sour .
Qi Sheng straightened up, widened his eyes to stare at me . He asked, “Zhang Pengpeng, tell me, do you even have a heart?”
The sourness surged, and my eyes blurred . I turned around and pressed my lips, refusing to say anything .
But Qi Sheng suddenly stood up, took a few steps towards the bed, pulled me towards him, grabbed my hand and put it on my chest . He asked, “Tell me, what is this thing that is pounding inside? Why did you turned around to plan assassinating me with someone else while the moment ago you were praying for a baby in front of the buddha with me? I lied to myself, I told myself that I owed it to you, that I made your heart cold, and I had to warm it up again… I even tried to keep you with me with kids, but what about you? Zhang Pengpeng, what have you done?”
I stared into his eyes, and slowly answered, “I’ve only done what I have to do to stay alive . Instead of complaining I don’t trust you here, you’d better return and think about why I don’t trust you . ”
After a long time, Qi Sheng finally let me go . He smiled wearily at me, then turned around to leave the tent .
I stiffly sat on the bed . Suddenly I felt cold . The coldness started from the bottom of my heart and pervaded from inside out . Soon enough, it drenched me, and my teeth start clenching .
I wrapped myself inside the blanket, lay on the bed and reminded myself, “Don’t fall for it . It was just another show Qi Sheng put on . I should only watch and not get involved, otherwise, there won’t be even a place for my burial after I die . ”
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Qi Sheng didn’t come to the tent that night . The next morning, when the tent was dissembled and we were about to set off, an unfamiliar guard came to keep an eye on me . Qi Sheng only glanced at me for a couple of times and he told me nothing .
We headed north along the mountain . Not a while after we left the mountain, we met with another troop . Xie Yi was there as well . She started crying as soon as she saw me .
I looked at her and said, “Stop crying . It’s so cold and your face will get wrinkled . And you won’t be able to get yourself married in the future . You should ask Qi Sheng to assign another act of play for you . I’m so annoyed seeing you cry every day . ”
Xie Yi gaped and looked at me confusedly, speechless .
I smiled and gently whipped the horse, marching forward .
This troop looked like a troop assembled by Qi Sheng’s henchman, and there were hundreds of them . Clearly, they were all elites so I gave up the attempt of escaping, and followed them to the north . Not a couple of days later, a city appeared in sight and a flag of Nanxia was flying on the city wall .
I squinted and read the words “Pingning” carved on the arch over the gateway . I was surprised and told myself that this would be the little Northern Desert city that Nanxia army rested in when Qi Sheng was “assassinated” .
Before we approached, the gate was wide open . Several cavalries came from inside and welcomed Qi Sheng to the city . Xie Yi approached me from inside behind and said to me reverently, “Your Majesty, let’s get inside . ”
I took a deep breath, and went inside with the others .
Pingning City used to be a town that carried military significance to the Northern Desert . After Qi Sheng conquered it, he felt it was quite a nice place, so he took it as a provision transfer station .
After entering the city, Qi Sheng went into a meeting with the generals and I was directly sent into the general’s mansion . After being in the wild for half a month, I was finally back to the life with houses, beds, pots, bowls, ladles, spoons, toilets, and bathtubs… When I rested myself in the steaming bathtub, I felt my life was completed .
Though food and clothes were not as delicate as they were in Sheng City, I could fill my stomach every day .
Though my activities were restricted, I could do whatever I wanted in this yard . I was even allowed to peek out at the gate .
But I wasn’t even able to have a couple of good days before I realized the situation turned tense in the city . I wasn’t being sensitive, but the number of soldiers patrolling outside the yard suddenly increased, and they were all wearing armors . Those armors weighed tens of jin (1 jin equals 500 grams) . As long as it wasn’t necessary, no one would like to walk around in it every day .
I instructed Xie Yi to go outside and ask about what happened . She returned and told me a Northern Desert army came from nowhere and already had Pingning City surrounded .
She asked me nervously, “Are we going into a war?”
Wasn’t it a funny question! Qi Sheng led an army of hundreds of thousand soldiers to their country . If he was not seeking for a war, was he planning to have a friendly visit?
“Yes, of course there’ll be a war . And it will be a major one,” I replied .
Everyone knew it without speaking it out . This was where the Nanxia army was and the Emperor was there as well, so there would be a lot of soldiers and horses . Since the Northern Desert army dared to surround this city, they must be well prepared .
A major war could not be avoided .
Maybe it was to prove my words, that afternoon people started to scream and kill outside the city . It was so loud that it could be heard in the house . Xie Yi was filling a bowl of porridge for me . She was so scared that her hands trembled, and the porridge fell into the pot again .
I looked at her helplessly and sighed, “Xie Yi, I’ve always thought you to be brave . You dare to be a double agent, so at least you are smart and courageous!”