CHAPTER 568: CHAPTER 567: NOT THAT HE’S NOT STRONG ENOUGH, BUT NOT RUTHLESS ENOUGH

Liao Cuihua stumbled as she left the tent, nearly falling over.

Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a severed head.

Feeling a wave of ill fortune, she kicked the head far away and swiftly departed.

The head rolled down the slope of the tent floor, outside the curtains, into the sunlight...

Yan Wanqing and Xiao Pingfeng fought from the tent to the training ground, from the air to the ground, until, exhausted and hindered by old injuries, after exchanging blows with Xiao Pingfeng in midair, Yan Wanqing spat blood and the curtain came down on the fight.

She was indeed no match for Xiao Pingfeng.

"Wanwan..." Xiao Pingfeng wanted to move forward, but he saw her stubbornly pick herself off the ground and stand.

She tried to speak, but a rush of blood welled up in her throat, and, unable to help herself, Yan Wanqing had to bend over and spit out a large mouthful of blood.

This mouthful of clotted blood was tinged with black; expelling it made her chest feel slightly less suffocated.

Yan Wanqing wiped the fresh blood from her lips with the back of her hand.

Surrounding her were the soldiers of Dawei, their eyes full of hatred as if she were an unforgivable criminal.

They held their weapons, vigilantly watching her, as if fearing she might harm them.

Yan Wanqing felt desolate inside.

Times had changed; such treatment was what she deserved.

"...I am inferior in skill. If you wish to kill or mutilate me, do as you please," she said, looking up at Xiao Pingfeng.

His hair was only slightly ruffled, far from her disheveled state.

"I will not kill you," Xiao Pingfeng began slowly, "You are the mother of the Crown Prince; I will not kill you."

Yan Wanqing’s eyes flickered.

The Crown Prince... the child in the palace wasn’t hers.

Her child was far away in Qin State.

This also revealed Xiao Pingfeng’s ambition to unify the land.

Chu Kingdom was the first step; Qin State would be the second.

Yan Wanqing’s voice was hoarse: "If you won’t kill me... then let me go."

"Let you go to Chu Qi’s side, is that it?" Xiao Pingfeng’s black eyes were full of mockery: "Do you think the green hat on my head isn’t green enough?"

"My relationship with Chu Qi is innocent and clean. If you don’t believe it, then it’s pointless to say more." Yan Wanqing struggled with the taste of blood in her throat: "Either kill me or let me go!"

"In your dreams!" Xiao Pingfeng scoffed: "In life, you are my person; in death, you will be my restless spirit. Don’t even think about leaving! Bring in the Empress to rest!"

He signaled with his hand, and soldiers came forward.

"Don’t touch me, I can walk on my own!"

Yan Wanqing glared at him fiercely, then began walking toward the tent.

She wanted to stay with her uncle and Cong Ge.

Xiao Pingfeng saw her slender and frail back, and in his black eyes, finally, a trace of reluctance flashed; stubbornly, he chose to follow behind the crowd.

This direction led to his own tent; going there surely wouldn’t result in jeers and sneers.

Xiao Pingfeng laughed at himself.

For a woman, he had become so cowardly; it was truly laughable.

He shook his head in resignation. Suddenly, an exclamation came unexpectedly from the front of the crowd.

Xiao Pingfeng’s eyelids twitched, and he immediately moved forward.

The severed head from Yan Jing had rolled outside the tent, a puddle of blood flowing down the slope like a small creek, evidence enough of the dire situation inside the tent.

"Where is the Empress?" Xiao Pingfeng urgently grabbed a soldier and asked.

The soldier pointed inside the tent.

Xiao Pingfeng hugged the severed head and, without another word, lifted the curtain and entered.

What scene was before him?

He would probably never forget it in his lifetime.

Cong Ge, covered in blood, hunched over in a pool of blood, arms positioned as if embracing, mouth agape, dried and blackened blood clearly visible in her teeth, eyes wide open, face twisted with rage, her gaze full of hatred and defiance...

Cong Ge was dead.

He died in his own camp.

Not far away, there was a soldier who had died from a knife wound to the abdomen.

Yan Wanqing knelt beside Cong Ge’s body, stretched out her hand to touch her, but retracted it as if pricked by a needle the moment she touched the clothing.

She opened her mouth, wanting to scream out loud, but she couldn’t make a sound.

Her eyes, like peach blossoms, were filled with the tragedies of the world; she was like a helpless child, and at this moment, a single breath seemed enough to scatter her frail being.

Cong Ge... Cong Ge...

This was her Cong Ge... the playmate she had grown up with, a sister, her family.

The one who, regardless of her own safety, had always stood in front of her to protect her!

Why?

Yan Wanqing finally controlled her trembling hands and silently embraced the body in her arms, holding Cong Ge like a child.

Her right hand, shaking, rose up to close Cong Ge’s eyelids.

Time stretched on, seemingly for centuries.

Yan Wanqing did not cry.

She lifted her head to look at Xiao Pingfeng.

Or more accurately, she looked at the filthy head of her uncle in his arms.

In just one day.

She had lost her uncle and her sister Cong Ge, whom she had grown up with.

Suddenly, the words of her fifth sister, Hongzhao, flashed through her mind.

She said, "Sister, I want to become strong. Only by becoming strong can one protect those they wish to protect."

Is that really the case?

Was she, Yan Wanqing, not strong enough?

No, it was not that she was not strong enough; she was not ruthless enough.

She always left room for mercy, embodied others’ concerns, and was entangled by those laughable human sentiments. Living again, she still couldn’t break free from this cursed path of emotions!

"I want to leave," she said calmly, as if it took all her life’s strength, her normally expressive peach blossom eyes now tranquil and undisturbed.

At that moment, her state of mind suddenly aged decades.

"Wanwan, I will definitely explain this to you," he said.

Xiao Pingfeng shook his head, "You can’t leave, I won’t allow you to leave." How could he let go of a person who had finally come back into his life!

Yan Wanqing moved her hand away from covering Cong Ge’s face.

By then, Cong Ge had already closed her eyes, her expression transforming from ferocious to peaceful. Even in death, being by her mistress’s side brought her immense peace.

Yan Wanqing gently picked up Cong Ge, placed her on the chair beside her, and slowly turned to walk toward Xiao Pingfeng.

She extended her ice-cold, blood-stained hands, took her uncle’s head from Xiao Pingfeng’s arms, then picked up the Brocade Box from the ground. She gently placed her uncle’s head inside, closed the lid, and set it on the table.

"Your Majesty, please trouble yourself to find my uncle’s entire body," she said, sitting down obediently and looking at Xiao Pingfeng.

Xiao Pingfeng let out a sigh of relief, thinking she had compromised.

So he nodded, "Rest assured, before nightfall, I will find it for you."

"Thank you," Yan Wanqing said, then became silent, her eyes open but Xiao Pingfeng noticed they were void of light.

He clenched his fists, went over to his desk to order people to search, and proceeded to handle state affairs in front of her.

From dawn to dusk, Yan Wanqing was as quiet as the air.

In the middle of the camp, on the table, there was a Brocade Box; she and a corpse leaned on each other. With open eyes, silent, motionless, it seemed as though they had placed the disaster of the world out of their concern.

Nobody’s calls reached her, as if she heard and saw nothing.

The evening sky was like blood.

The soldiers brought two pieces of news.

One was that Yan Jing had been found.

The other was that the murderer Liao Cuihua, who had killed dozens of soldiers, was now fleeing toward the Chu Kingdom.