Hearing that she was called “witch”, Qin Yunuan seemed angry which could be told from her eyes. Mu Qingyu looked at Qin Yunuan with guilt, but she shook her head at last. She sighed, “Madam Leng, sorry. I’m ordered to do so. His Majesty doesn’t want this to ruin his relationship with General Leng, but he couldn’t stop officials from complaining. Madam Leng, I hope you can understand.”
“You talk to me politely, but the thing you do is the most disgusting,” Qin Yunuan said when looking at Mu Qingyu with a smile. They once fought with enemies together and cherished their friendship. But unexpectedly, they should end up like this. “Your Highness, I really saw you as my friend. How ironic it is.”
Mu Qingyu’s mouth corner twisted. She said, “West Xia is my homeland. I have to protect its interests. And I’m truly reluctant to confront you.”
When Mu Qingyu just finished, a man who dressed like a lieutenant led a group of people to break in, and the small tent became very crowded. Leng Shuang shouted outside, but she sounded weak as if she had taken knockout drops. Qin Yunuan also felt dizzy. Taking a look at the cold tea she drank just now, she wore a weak smile.
“Reluctant?” Qin Yunuan raised her hand slightly and pointed at soldiers behind Mu Qingyu who made the tent crowded. “You mean you are reluctant?”
“Madam Leng,” Mu Qingyu said, and she looked as if she couldn’t bear to see what would happen. “I hope you can cooperate with us. General Leng is missing now. He left with the most powerful troop this morning and hasn’t come back yet. Madam Leng, do you…”
“Hasn’t come back?” Qin Yunuan said and shook her head with a bitter smile. “I also hope he can come back. Fine, you won’t listen to me anyhow. I know how you convict people. You don’t care whether she or he is guilty, and your ultimate purpose is just to ‘prove’ this person is.” If she directly told Mu Qingyu and her soldiers that Sima Ray didn’t die but lived as Yu Haitang now, they and those pedantic officials wouldn’t believe at all. That was impossible for them.
The lieutenant standing next to Mu Qingyu apparently was her helper that her father, a prince in West Xia, sent. He was not tall but short and strong. He looked so cunning and neat and even ignored Mu Qingyu to directly order his men, “You, tie this witch up.”
Qin Yunuan took a look at Mu Qingyu. Leng Shuang who was outside had been drugged, so she could only shout to ask them not to hurt Qin Yunuan, although she was really loud. Then Leng Shuang held the tent pillar weakly and supported herself to stand up while gasping.
“Want to capture me?” Qin Yunuan asked and wore a creepy smile, looking unpredictable now. She didn’t tell others that she had internal skills and could practice martial arts. Because she hadn’t fully mastered them and she practiced martial arts through having sex with Leng Changxi. It was not appropriate to talk about that with others.
Just when the lieutenant exchanged glances with 8 soldiers around, telling them to walk to Qin Yunuan, she already secretly leveraged her genuine energy in the way Leng Changxi taught her. Then the lieutenant gritted and waved his hand to ask soldiers to encircle Qin Yunuan. But she suddenly turned around so fast that even Mu Qingyu, the No.1 Female General in West Xia, was a bit surprised.
Immediately, Qin Yunuan used an extremely thin bronze thread that she hid in her sleeves before to cut one soldier’s throat. At once, blood came out from the wound that was too small to notice, oozing at first and then gushing out, because this seemingly small wound was so deep that the soldier’s artery had been cut. When no one had realized what happened, Qin Yunuan had already gashed the tent with the thread, jumped out and left.
Mu Qingyu and Lieutenant Shu were shocked. Lieutenant Shu apparently had prepared for this, but he was still astonished by this woman who seemed so weak.
“Your Highness, didn’t you say that she couldn’t practice martial arts?”
Mu Qingyu changed an expression and didn’t look shocked anymore. She squinted at Lieutenant Shu and said, “First of all, I haven’t said whether she can practice martial arts. Second, I didn’t call her witch. You have to keep in mind that her husband is Leng Changxi no matter what happens. Show some respect.”
Lieutenant Shu curled his lip and shouted at people near him, “Hurry up to chase after her. She is a weak woman, and she won’t be far now.”
Later, he looked at Leng Shuang who leaned against the door and ordered, “Put this woman and the maid, Maner who is in coma in that tent, in prison.”
“Wait,” Mu Qingyu suddenly shouted out. Always a tender woman, she should suddenly say in such a high-pitched voice, really freaking soldiers at the site, especially Lieutenant Shu, out. “They haven’t been convicted yet. Why do you put them in prison?”
Lieutenant Shu paused for a while and didn’t expect that Mu Qingyu who always listened to her father would object to his order.
“And, father has said to leave everything to me. So who are you? You’re just a lieutenant. How dare you rashly give orders before I do? Soldiers, drag him down and strike him 20 times.”
Mu Qingyu said eloquently. It was a severe punishment to strike him 20 times. If Lieutenant Shu was punished for just saying a wrong sentence, it would do more harm than good to him.
Outside, Qin Yunuan, who ran out of the camp in haste, merely wore a piece of thin clothes. Her cloak was left in the tent, so she was only in a thin piece and a wool jacket now. The dress was padded, but it became largely wet for that Qin Yunuan ran quickly in humid woods. The wet dress stuck to Qin Yunuan’s thigh, and she shook. The thread in her hand was a tailored weapon made by Leng Changxi based on her inner Qi and agility.
At this moment, the cold thread stuck to her finger. She stood on the top of a tall pine tree and looked at the military camp of West Xia where it seemed quiet, but something big happened just now. But in the camp of Qi in the distance, it was peaceful and looked as if nothing wrong happened. In the firelight, it was unknown what they were doing in secret.
Qin Yunuan looked at the mark on the trunk that became wet because of rain. She left this mark secretly on her way back. Only Yuanyang and she knew this. Following marks, she could go back to where she was this morning without falling into Yu Haitang’s trap.
Now, she was alone. Looking at the lush trees, she leveraged her genuine energy secretly and jumped down from the tree. Leng Changxi’s efforts that taught her how to use light and powerful internal skills were paid off. Now she could leverage these two kinds of skills at ease.
Changxi, don’t worry. You always protected me before, but this time, let me find and protect you. Wait for me. I would find you and bring you back.
In Qi’s military camp, soldiers were dreadfully serious. Yu Haitang, their new leader, somehow captured Leng Changxi, the chief commander of West Xia, alive today. They should feel cheerful about this, but they did not and were fearful instead.
“General has ordered that everyone shall stay 30 meters away from the tent. You have crossed the line.”
“No, General. I just stumbled. General, please spare me.”
“Guards, cut off his foot that crossed the line,” a short but imposing man ordered while pointing at the solider whose one foot crossed the line demarcated with the red powder. “Cut it off.”
At once, the soldier yowled. Soldiers aside thought the rule was truly too much, but they could do nothing but looked at their companion’s feet were cut off. That short general was just promoted. It was said that he was Yu Haitang’s page and got promoted for having taken care of Yu Haitang for dozens of years.
Seeing the half-dead soldier who lost his feet was dragged away, the short general looked around and pointed at a maid who was so scared that she cried. “You! Come here! Clear it up.”
That maid originally was very scared. Hearing that, she was even more frightened. She took a few steps back and shook her head fiercely. The short general glared at her. Seeing that, other people knew the maid would be cruelly punished too.
“Our Chief Commander is busy with business inside. But you should refuse to do such a simple favor for him. So what are you here for?” Hearing the short general said so, they knew he would convict the maid. But at this time, another thin maid who was not pretty walked forward and said to the short general with a smile, “General, there’s no need to be angry with her. She’s scared. I will clear it up. I promise to wipe all blood away and won’t let it stain Chief Commander’s tent.”
The maid who was scared to cry didn’t realize what happened yet. That thin maid who stepped forward smiled at her and patted her on her shoulder. “Don’t be afraid. It’s fine now.”
The maid remained shocked, but she knew she wouldn’t be killed now. She was so grateful for the maid who stepped forward. The crying maid was one of maids who Yu Haitang found in Ping Town to serve himself several days ago. Yu Haitang was temperamental. He had not only sent away all maids serving Sima Ray before but also found new ones who were all disabled. For example, Cui, that crying maid, was slightly lame and not severely disabled. Among those maids, some were deaf and dumb, while some had no arms. People assumed that Mr. Yu did so to prevent maids from running away. But no one knew what on earth he was thinking.
But another maid looked unfamiliar and healthy. It was unknown what was wrong with her. The short general seemed suspicious and looked back several times. Then he found that the maid who bent down to wipe away the blood on the ground couldn’t stand upright at all. There was a large lump on her back, and she looked as if she had a large pot cover on her back.
Oh, she was a hunchback.
The short general suddenly knew what was wrong with her. So he just asked the person near him, “Have you prepared everything Chief Commander needs? There is a full moon tonight, and he has something big to do.”
