Chapter 190

The moonlight was like ink.

Xiao Jingyuan rode a black horse, galloping swiftly through the woods, his black eyes beneath the azure ghost mask sharp as a hawk.

The sound of hidden arrows breaking the air came from behind; Xiao Jingyuan held the reins with his left hand and gripped his spear tightly with his right, the spear tip precisely flicking away the incoming arrows.

He stared fixedly at the woman he had shielded in front of his horse.

The woman wore a mask that concealed her face. She was slender, and from behind she resembled Shen Shuangning by about seventy percent. The mask seemed to have been tampered with, making it impossible to force open.

But he quickly realized she was not Shen Shuangning.

At that moment, the woman suddenly drew a dagger and lunged at him to stab!

A cold light flashed in Xiao Jingyuan's eyes; his reaction was faster than hers.

He jerked the reins loose with his left hand, then grabbed the wrist of her dagger‑hand with his right, squeezing hard—only a crisp 'Crack!' was heard as her wrist bone snapped.

Before she could cry out in pain, Xiao Jingyuan retracted his right‑hand spear and smashed the butt hard against her neck.

Accompanied by a muffled thud, the woman's carotid artery shattered instantly, blood spraying out and speckling the icy azure ghost mask, making his expression ever more cold.

He released his grip expressionlessly, flinging the woman's corpse from the horse's back in a clean, swift motion.

Immediately he pushed off with both legs, leaping up like a leopard, then landed steadily on a branch of a tall ancient tree nearby; the dense foliage instantly concealed his silhouette.

Soon the sound of pursuers' hooves and shouts came from below; someone dismounted to inspect the woman's corpse, then hurriedly resumed the chase, and no one noticed the hidden figure in the treetops.

Xiao Jingyuan watched coldly as the pursuers rode away, then his gaze fell once more on the woman's corpse below.

In fact, he had suspected that Prince Rui would set a trap, and the woman accompanying him was likely an impostor, but even with a one‑in‑ten‑thousand chance, he dared not gamble.

Knowing it was a scheme, he still wanted to rescue her and get her out.

Not long after, the elite troops Prince Rui had sent out returned empty‑handed.

"A thousand men to chase one person, and you still lost him?" As soon as the words left his mouth, Prince Rui's white‑jade wine cup slammed 'Pop!' onto the junior officer's head—'Trash!'

Had he not still been lacking his vital energy and personally gone after him, how could Xiao Jingyuan have escaped?!

The junior officer dared not dodge, taking the blow full force; his forehead split open instantly, and through the pain he said, 'I am incompetent!'

Shen Shuangning stood in the corner, listening to Prince Rui's angry tirade, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

After Prince Rui finished his tirade, his gaze suddenly shifted to Shen Shuangning, as if he saw mockery in the depths of her eyes.

In truth, Shen Shuangning bore no mocking expression, but Prince Rui perceived it that way; the anger in his eyes almost devoured her, twisting his features somewhat.

"You need not return anymore; from today on, you will stay by my side! When he appears again, I will surely take his dog's life!"

Outside the tent, a guard suddenly said the military advisor had arrived; Prince Rui did nothing to Shen Shuangning and stormed out in anger.

The military advisor the guard spoke of was none other than Pei Zhi.

Shen Shuangning wanted to leave the commander's tent, but the guard forced her back with his blade.

Shen Shuangning recalled unpleasant memories and dared not close her eyes; fortunately, Prince Rui did not return all night.

When she saw Prince Rui again, it was already the second day; his eyes were bruised and bloodshot, his expression grave, as if pondering some thorny matter, and he had no mind to glance at Shen Shuangning beside him.

The great army set out once more.

Shen Shuangning was kept at Prince Rui's side; except for certain necessary occasions, she basically remained within his field of vision.

Last night's incident was a disgrace to Prince Rui, and outsiders knew nothing of what had happened.

A junior officer gazed at the slender, graceful masked woman beside Prince Rui, assuming she was still the earlier stand‑in, and harbored improper thoughts.

Thus, when the army arrived at Healthy City for a brief rest, taking advantage of Prince Rui's absence, this junior officer approached Shen Shuangning.

But before he could act, Prince Rui returned, without a word of explanation, and ran him through with a single thrust.

This junior officer was a commander from Eternal City who had only recently defected to Prince Rui; he believed that since Prince Rui was in need of men, he would not lightly kill an ally, which emboldened him to act so recklessly.

He did not know that Prince Rui had an ironclad military regulation: no one in the army may insult or violate civilian women; violators are punished with the bastinado.

To dare violate Prince Rui's regulations right under his nose is to court death.

After that precedent, no one dared to harass Shen Shuangning again.

Though she was within the army, she occasionally managed to learn some news from the front lines.

Prince Rui moved with extreme speed; before the imperial court could even react, his vanguard of 100,000 troops had already taken three cities in succession, morale high and momentum unstoppable!

Faced with the mighty Prince Rui army, some weakly garrisoned cities, knowing they could not hold out, even surrendered before his troops arrived to minimize losses.

The Prince Rui army sought only 'speed'; for those cities that voluntarily submitted, they temporarily refrained from violence, merely confiscating weapons before continuing northward.

When they encountered a tough stronghold, after taking it they would slaughter the city, then behead the high officials and display their heads at the next city as a warning; consequently, later commanders, seeing this, grew fearful and most surrendered without a fight.

Suzhou was one such tough nut, and it suffered a brutal massacre.

Thus, the Prince Rui army drew ever closer to Jingcheng, poised to strike straight at the heart of the dragon.

"The military advisor's tactics really work! They've saved me no end of trouble." Prince Rui patted Pei Zhi on the shoulder, his tone full of praise, "Once I have taken this world, ask for whatever you wish."

Pei Zhi's gaze unconsciously drifted toward Shen Shuangning not far away.

During the massacre, Pei Zhi had already sent people to rescue Su Wan in advance; she now remained by Shen Shuangning's side in the guise of a maidservant, her true identity unknown to anyone.

The maidservant also wore a mask, though it differed from Shen Shuangning's.

Upon learning that Suzhou had fallen, Su Wan was overcome with despair.

The realm was in great turmoil, human lives as cheap as weeds; even a former noble crown princess, in the face of the advancing army, was no more than a blade of grass, easily trampled.

Su Wan could not recover for a long time, whereas Shen Shuangning, having witnessed countless tragic scenes while following the army, had grown numb and was comparatively calm.

"I thought I would never see you again," Su Wan's choked voice came from behind her mask.

Originally, when Shen Shuangning intended to go to Spring Prefecture with Pei Zhi, Su Wan had strongly objected, thinking that even if assassins were lurking outside, hiding anywhere would be better than going to Spring Prefecture.

At that time, Su Wan never imagined that Prince Rui would suddenly rebel!

When war broke out, soldiers fought with blood‑red eyes, and swords showed no mercy; for women in such chaotic times, the fate was all the more tragic.

Now it seems that although Shen Shuangning is in the tiger's den, she is actually safer than she would be outside.

Shen Shuangning firmly grasped Su Wan's icy hand, offering silent comfort.

The news of the emperor's demise spread quickly through the army, saying that the crown prince had committed regicide.

Thus Prince Rui's army had a justifiable reason to advance on the capital—to clear the ruler's side and punish the rebel!

What a case of the thief shouting "catch the thief!"

Shen Shuangning guessed that the crown prince must have been framed by the empress with a chamber pot of filth; after all, he was already the heir apparent, no matter how eager he might be to sit on the dragon throne, there was no need for him to commit regicide.

Su Wan heard this, her body jerked, and she was completely panicked.

It wasn't worry about the crown prince, but concern for the state of the realm. The emperor is the pillar of Liang; with the emperor dead, wouldn't the rebels become even more rampant?

"Xiao Jingyuan has not shown himself; it seems he has made up his mind to act like a shrinking turtle." Prince Rui said mockingly.

These past few days, Prince Rui stopped feeding her the mute drug, so she could speak, but she kept her lips tightly shut, simply unwilling to acknowledge him.

Prince Rui brought Shen Shuangning up to the high watchtower; his tall figure stood behind her, one hand gripping her shoulder, the other pointing toward the distance, the direction of Jingcheng, and he said half-jokingly:

"Once I seize that position, may I make you empress?"

Shen Shuangning remained unmoved.

Prince Rui's intention in doing this was merely to humiliate Xiao Jingyuan; she would not naively think that Prince Rui truly liked her.

Shen Shuangning gazed toward Jingcheng, her thoughts on her family, not knowing how the Duke of Rong's mansion was faring now.

……

The Duke of Rong's mansion, like many neutral factions, was surrounded by the imperial guards.

The third lady, Yang Shi, hearing that Prince Rui's army was fast approaching Tongzhou and learning that the emperor had died, was terrified out of her wits; she hurriedly went, weeping, to persuade Second Master Shen Wei to quickly surrender to the empress's city in order to preserve the Duke of Rong's mansion.

The Duke of Rong's second master was a weakling, accomplishing nothing in officialdom and accustomed to going with the wind, but this time he rebuked Lady Yang and stood firm.

Lady Yang muttered in private that Shen Wei's backbone was hard when it shouldn't be and soft when it should be; finding her persuasion ineffective, she turned to seek out Elder Sister Liu.

Lady Liu soothed her with a few words, but her attitude was the same as Shen Wei's: even in death she would never submit to the rebel's will.

After repeatedly hitting a wall, Lady Yang lost all patience; in private she cursed Shen Wei, saying his backbone was in the wrong place, and cursed Lady Liu, saying she cared more about face than suffering. She then secretly packed her valuables, intending to flee with her only daughter.

Unexpectedly, she did find an opportunity; taking advantage of the guard change, Lady Yang pulled Shen Ling and slipped out through the back gate.

The next morning, the imperial guards kicked open the Duke of Rong's vermilion-lacquered gate and threw Lady Yang's corpse inside.

And Shen Ling vanished without a trace.

……

With the emperor of Liang dead, the restless Northern Qi and the Jurchen state could no longer hold back; as if they had agreed beforehand, they launched hostilities on the same day.

Liang momentarily fell into a situation of external threats and internal troubles!

Prince Rui's forces had gone berserk, the army never paused, and on this day they finally reached Tongzhou; once they took Tongzhou, the capital would be next!

The morale of Prince Rui's army surged to an unprecedented height!

Under Tongzhou's walls, dark clouds pressed upon the land.

"Your Highness!" General Li beside him spurred his horse forward, his voice loud as a bell, enough for the front‑rank soldiers to hear clearly: "The garrison at Tongzhou numbers no more than a hundred thousand, and its provisions will last only three days! We have two hundred thousand troops, we have just taken Suzhou, morale is high; today we need only make one concerted push to crush them, and we will surely take Tongzhou in one fell swoop!"

Prince Rui, clad in battle armor, stood on the high platform outside Tongzhou, full of vigor and high spirits.

He stared fixedly at the figure on the city wall clad in the golden kirin‑light armor, his teeth grinding with intense resentment as he spat out a name: "Xiao Jingyuan!!"