Han Yunxi only assumed that Baili Yuanlong had motives for coming here, but she never anticipated his attitude. Indeed, this old general was treating her as a “prisoner” instead of a “hostage!” What was he planning to do if she didn’t answer his questions? Leaving aside their individual stances and statuses, Han Yunxi didn’t like such muddle-headed people.
When two countries were at war, they didn’t kill the messengers. When two countries were cooperating, they wouldn’t cause difficulties for their hostages. Even amateurs understood such rules. Beyond that, they were the kind of attitude and bearing one was supposed to possess! Although East and West Qin weren’t truly cooperating, they had at least agreed to stop fighting. Baili Yuanlong was Long Feiye’s number one general. Could hatred really twist him so far?
Even without Long Feiye sitting here, Han Yunxi could stand tall and straight, to say nothing of his presence at her side now. Today, she wouldn’t budge a step!
“This princess would like to see just what kind of forfeit East Qin will make me drink!” Han Yunxi intoned.
“You!” Baili Yuanlong didn’t know what to do. He had only been threatening her without thinking to truly act. He and His Highness Crown Prince had already argued over this West Qin princess for an entire night. In the end, he had to acknowledge her status as a hostage and put her in a tent one li away from the main barracks instead of locking her up in a cell.
Naturally, he understood the rules. He had the bearing and demeanor too, but he didn’t want to show them off in front of his enemy. Han Yunxi was so stubborn that Baili Yuanlong found himself riding a tiger that was difficult to dismount. He looked gloomily towards Long Feiye, but the man had already moved on to steeping himself a cup of tea. Han Yunxi glanced at Long Feiye as well, but she almost laughed at his free and easy ways.
Meanwhile, Xu Donglin couldn’t help but sympathize with Baili Yuanlong as he eavesdropped from the entrance. Baili Yuanlong’s set for a tragedy now. He can’t even defeat the West Qin princess on his own, to say nothing of His Highness’s secret support for her.
In the end, Baili Yuanlong put on his thick skin and ignored Han Yunxi’s challenge to ask, “Han Yunxi, does Ning Cheng have any news about the Black Clan? And the Li Clan?”
Han Yunxi was secretly surprised. Baili Yuanlong’s questions meant that Long Feiye hadn’t found out any news regarding the two clans. But their respective identities as East and West Qin royalty were already public. They’d also started fighting, so why hadn’t the Black and Li Clans shown their faces yet? She had heard Long Feiye tell her in the past that all of the Seven Noble Families, with the exception of the Shadow Clan, held real strength. They’d simply hidden their identities and scattered within various places in Cloud Realm Continent.
In the past, the Black Clan had been loyal to East Qin and the chief culprit for West Qin’s fall. Afterwards, they’d turned their troops against East Qin itself. Meanwhile, the Li Clan had always been a centrist faction. At the last battle, the Di Clan took the lead, while the Black and Wind Clans joined hands to destroy East Qin. If the Li Clan had moved at that time, the ending would have been very different, because the military power they possessed were no less inferior to the other two.
The Wind Clan’s best technique was the Qimen Dunjia arts and deploying troops in battle formations, while the Li Clan excelled in the true art of war. They were descendants of an ancient military family that had mastered all sorts of war manuals and had plenty of followers. Many of East Qin’s soldiers hailed from the Li Clan’s tutelage. Besides that, the Li Clan had an unusual influence in the military. Thus, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they held the power to change the ending of the war. However, at the most critical moment, they gave up on fighting and dismissed their battle legions.
Where were the Li Clan’s[1] descendants? Were they hiding themselves, or concealed within another army?
So it turns out Baili Yuanlong wants news of the Black and Li Clan. Admittedly, their whereabouts were very important, because these two clans could very well affect the conclusion of the world’s chessboard today. No wonder he lacked any bearing or demeanor when asking her.
“I don’t know!” Han Yunxi said bluntly.
But Baili Yuanlong grew conflicted. “Is it that you don’t know, or that Ning Cheng doesn’t know?”
“I don’t know if Ning cheng knows,” Han Yunxi answered.
“You!” Baili Yuanlong suppressed his temper. “How could you not know? Han Yunxi, who are you trying to fool!” As the West Qin princess, Ning Cheng was her servant. She had to know everything about him.
“If I don’t know, then I don’t know. I’m tired now, may General Baili go back!” Han Yunxi ordered her guests to leave, too lazy to keep arguing. Her attitude couldn’t help but make Baili Yuanlong suspicious. He glanced at Long Feiye again, only to see the man still drinking his tea. A vicious light came to the general’s eyes.
He demanded, “Han Yunxi, this general will give you one last chance. Will you speak or not? Don’t blame this general for not reminding you–the jail cells of our East Qin are water prisons!”
By now, the soldiers were already standing by Han Yunxi’s side and ready to make their move. She immediately rushed in front of Long Feiye, stole the teacup from his lips, and tossed it onto the ground. The ensuing crash silenced the room.
Baili Yuanlong was stunned as well. After following His Highness for so many years, he hadn’t seen anyone dare to snatch his teacup. Han Yunxi…was simply seeking death! Despite this, he had to rejoice in her misfortune. It was good for Han Yunxi to be so bold and reckless. If His Highness was offended, then he might agreed to Baili Yuanlong’s suggestions and lock Han Yunxi up in the water prisons.
Long Feiye swept his eyes over the broken porcelain on the ground without giving Han Yunxi a glance. Coldly he said, “West Qin princess, what do you mean by this?”
Instead of speaking, Han Yunxi picked up the remaining teacups and smashed them one by one on the ground. Crash! Dash! Smash! The sounds rang out though the tent. In the end, Han Yunxi picked up the entire teapot and lobbed it at Baili Yuanlong, who fortunately backed up just as the thing shattered at his feet. Long Feiye was even a little surprised. Han Yunxi was now only three paces away from him as she glared and demanded, “What do I mean? Just this. A group of men like you gang up on a single woman like me. Aren’t you embarrassed? What do you mean by this, then? Speak.”
Was Han Yunxi unreasonable making a scene? Long Feiye hated woman who threw temper tantrums like female tigers, but now he almost wanted to laugh at the sight of Han Yunxi. Of course, he held himself back and remained expressionless. Han Yunxi looked like she was raging at Long Feiye, but her temper was directed completely towards Baili Yuanlong. Her questions left him speechless and even a little lost. Unexpectedly, Han Yunxi next picked up the tea table and lobbed it at him too.
Baili Yuanlong was caught by surprise and had no choice but to dodge out of the way!
“Bullying this princess, are you? I’ll say this one last time: no matter what you ask me, I won’t say a thing! Even if you treat this princess as a hostage or a prisoner, do as you like. You better lock up this princess in the water prison now, or else I’ll never have my end with you lot!” Han Yunxi raged.
Now everyone was stunned. What did she mean by those words?
She was going to keep making a fuss?
As predicted, Han Yunxi turned around and started smashing things left and right. Anything she got her hands on went flying into the air. As the disturbance increased, even the people outside could hear the commotion within. If Han Yunxi kept going like this, she’d alert the entire army. Baili Yuanlong finally realized that he’d lost control of the situation and sent a pleading look towards Long Feiye for help. Long Feiye was currently admiring Han Yunxi’s tantrum, so he only shot a cold, silent look back at Baili Yuanlong’s plea.
Now Baili Yuanlong was even more desperate. Deputy General Xie by his side hastened to speak up. “General, His Highness took great pains to bring Han Yunxi here as a hostage. If you mess this up, then it’ll ruin the grand plan!”
“General, what was the use of you pleading with His Highness? His Highness said that he couldn’t get any answers, yet you wouldn’t listen and insisted on coming over. Now look at this…” Deputy General Wang was panicking as well.
Finally, it was Deputy General Zhao who stepped forward. “West Qin princess, calm your anger, calm your anger! We generals never intended to force you into anything, we’re simply worried that the Wind Clan will join hands with the Black and Li Clans. In that case, both your West Qin and our East Qin will be in danger. That’s why we wanted to ask about news from the princess.”
The deputy generals had built a platform fo Baili Yuanlong to make a graceful exit. He had to take it now even if he didn’t want to.
“Han Yunxi, that’s exactly what this general meant! This has monumental implications, think it over carefully,” Baili Yuanlong reasoned.
Han Yunxi smiled coldly. Haven’t any of these men seen a woman lose her temper before? Would an unreasonable woman listen to logic?
Nope!
“I don’t care! Baili Yuanlong, this princess has had enough of living as a hostage!” Han Yunxi said loudly.
Outside, Xu Donglin couldn’t help but mutter, “Grandaunt, you’ve only been here a day–and you slept through all of it too!”
But Han Yunxi kept talking. “Either you send this princess back to Ning Cheng today or lock me up in the water prison. Don’t blame this princess for not reminding you: once I touch your water, you’d best make sure the rest of your drinking water isn’t poisoned!”
Baili Yuanlong was even a little floored. The deputy generals were out of ideas too. They’d originally come with the intention to scare their hostage, but now it had built up to this. All of them sent questioning looks towards Long Feiye, who finally deigned to speak.
“Han Yunxi, have you had enough yet?”
Han Yunxi gave a minute start. Why did those words sound so familiar? She quickly recovered her senses and said coldly, “Long Feiye, I’ll ask you one last time: am I a hostage or a prisoner?”
“Hostage,” Long Feiye said with certainty. Hostages could be treated well, while prisoners were only abused.
“Does anyone put hostages under house arrest like you guys do? All I have is this tent, do you want this princess to suffocate to death inside?” Han Yunxi asked.
“Then what do you want to do?” Long Feiye asked.
“I want freedom to go in and out!”
“Absurd, that’s impossible!” Baili Yuanlong cut in immediately. At this, Han Yunxi picked up the brush holder from the table and threw it at him. Baili Yuanlong evaded the blow and was about to lecture when Long Feiye glared him into silence.
“You may move about within one li of this tent, but Xu Donglin must follow you at all times. Any distance beyond one li and you’ll have to take the consequences for exposing your identity!” Long Feiye warned icily.
Han Yunxi had seized this chance to cause a riot, first to warn Baili Yuanlong that she wasn’t easy prey to be disturbed lightly, second to fight for a space where she could move about freely. She pretended to consider the offer for a long time before giving a cold sniff. “Fine, for now I’ll give you face.”
Then a crafty gleam stole upon her eyes as she added, “After all, you and I were once…”
1. Li Clan (离族) – one fun fact to note: the Li in Li Clan actually means “to leave, to part from, be short of, deviate from.” Quite a distant sounding clan, wouldn’t you say?
