{"id":3967,"date":"2026-06-14T04:05:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T04:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/pursuit-of-jade-114\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T04:05:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T04:05:47","slug":"pursuit-of-jade-114","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/fr\/chapter\/pursuit-of-jade-114\/","title":{"rendered":"Pursuit of Jade 114"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 114

Aside from the vast roar of the wind, the battlefield was utterly silent.

Several dozen zhang away, the rebel troops who had been reorganizing their formation paused briefly. Several young officers on horseback exchanged looks and glanced back, waiting for orders from the central command.

Perched high atop her horse, Fan Changyu’s expression remained calm. She gripped her long saber tightly, showing not the slightest hint of fear.

For some reason, however, no response came from the distant enemy camp.

Fan Changyu frowned.

After Shi Yue and Shi Hu had died at First-Line Gorge, and after Prince Changxin had been slain in Chongzhou, the rebels had lost many capable generals. Under Sui Yuanhuai’s command now, there were scarcely any military officers left who could shoulder major responsibilities.

She had resorted to this desperate tactic solely to buy time.

If Sui Yuanhuai saw through her intentions and chose not to waste any more of his remaining capable commanders, instead sending the full army forward, she and the dozen soldiers behind her would not be able to hold out for long.

After a moment’s thought, an idea came to her.

Pointing her saber toward the enemy, she shouted,

“Listen well, rebels! Prince Changxin already died beneath my blade! Sui Yuanqing was captured in Kang City! The man you follow is nothing more than a coward who can barely lift a sword. He doesn’t even have a single brave general under his command capable of fighting in his stead. What ability does he have to lead you all to the capital? To grant you wealth and glory? If you abandon darkness and return to the right path, all previous offenses will be forgiven!”

The moment those words rang out, a noticeable commotion spread through the rebel ranks.

On the city wall, Deputy General He and the others realized Fan Changyu’s intention and immediately joined in.

“Sui Yuanhuai is a coward!”

“He fled from Chongzhou to Lu City like a stray dog! He doesn’t have a single capable fighter under him and is counting on you common soldiers to die opening a path for his escape south!”

“The Sui family’s fate was sealed long ago! Sui Yuanqing was at least brave and skilled in battle. Everyone knows Sui Yuanhuai is just a sickly medicine jar hanging on by a thread! Following him is seeking death!”

The disturbance within the rebel army grew even larger.

A scout hurried back to report.

After tremblingly describing the situation at the front, the carriage surrounded by numerous experts only emitted a cold snort.

“Meng Changyu?”

The voice from inside was cold and sinister, like a chilling wind passing through a dark forest, enough to raise goosebumps on one’s neck.

He seemed to chuckle softly.

“What a fine attempt at sowing discord and undermining morale. Sui Ping, take some men and capture that remnant of the Meng family alive.”

The burly family retainer standing outside the carriage immediately cupped his fists.

“This subordinate accepts the order!”

The military strategist who had rushed over upon hearing the news quickly objected.

“Young Master, you mustn’t! Absolutely mustn’t!”

He laid out the pros and cons.

“That female general is clearly using provocation. At present, General Sui Ping is the only commander in our army capable of bearing major responsibility. If anything happens to him, then even if we capture Lu City, once Tang Peiyi and the Marquis of Wu’an arrive, who will command the army? How will we resist the enemy? It would be better to seize the opportunity and attack the city immediately. Even if we must pile up mountains of corpses and seas of blood, we should fill Lu City’s walls first.”

A pale hand adorned with a white jade thumb ring lifted the carriage curtain.

Because its owner had spent years ill and out of the sunlight, the hand was pale and thin. Blue veins and tendons beneath the skin were clearly visible.

A nearby scout accidentally caught sight of it and shuddered, quickly lowering his head.

Rumors had long circulated throughout the army that the Young Master suffered from a chronic illness and possessed a cruel, sinister temperament. Servants who stayed near him often died suddenly.

The curtain was fully raised.

Sui Yuanhuai sat with a cloak draped over his shoulders. His pale face carried obvious signs of illness, while a faint smile rested on his lips. His entire person exuded a gloomy, almost demonic aura.

Unhurriedly, he said,

“The strategist has worked hard. However, after suffering defeat after defeat, the army’s morale must be restored. That female general killed my royal father. If I do not avenge him, how can I face him in death?”

The strategist still hesitated.

“But…”

Sui Yuanhuai raised a hand to stop him.

Though he was clearly a sickly man, the moment the strategist met his gaze, he felt an inexplicable pressure.

Hurriedly looking away, he secretly thought that perhaps this eldest young master was not the useless invalid dependent on medicine that the rumors claimed him to be.

Taking in the strategist’s expression, Sui Yuanhuai’s lips curved slightly.

“The army departed in the middle of the night. Even if Tang Peiyi discovers something wrong after attacking Chongzhou and gives chase, it will take him at least half a day to arrive. The Marquis of Wu’an remains occupied in Kang City and cannot come to aid them in time. She is merely a woman. What is there to fear? Let us not become a laughingstock before those imperial dogs on the city walls.”

The strategist only wanted Lu City captured as soon as possible to avoid complications.

After hearing Sui Yuanhuai’s reasoning, many of his concerns eased. He bowed and withdrew.

Watching him leave, Sui Yuanhuai tapped his fingers rhythmically against the carriage window before instructing his personal guards:

“You will also go and assist. As long as the Meng girl remains alive, it doesn’t matter. Kill everyone else.”

Instantly, half of the experts surrounding the carriage departed.

Lan Shi, Zhao Xun’s mother, carefully glanced at Sui Yuanhuai before speaking.

“Your Highness intends to use the Meng girl to expose the Jinzhou tragedy that Wei Yan orchestrated all those years ago?”

Sui Yuanhuai lifted his eyelids slightly and looked at her with a faint smile, saying nothing.

Lan Shi couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

Ever since Yu Bao’er had been recovered, Sui Yuanhuai’s suspicion toward her and her son had grown steadily stronger.

She understood what he feared.

Over the years, she had never harbored disloyal intentions, but once the seed of suspicion was planted in a member of the imperial family, it became a thorn forever embedded in the heart.

Especially now, when no further news had come from Zhao Xun, Sui Yuanhuai’s trust in them had likely diminished even further.

After all, she had watched him grow up.

The situation left a bitter taste in her heart.

She lowered her head.

“This old servant has spoken out of turn.”

The hostility around Sui Yuanhuai suddenly vanished.

Adopting a gentler expression, he personally poured her a cup of tea.

“Aunt Lan has become increasingly distant from me. Wei Yan is cunning and crafty. Even if the Meng girl accuses him, she wasn’t even born seventeen years ago. The only evidence has already fallen back into Wei Yan’s hands. He has countless ways to refute any accusation. What puzzles me is why Aunt Lan believes I intend to use her to bring down Wei Yan.”

When he acted gentle, he truly bore some resemblance to the late Crown Prince Chengde.

The sadness that had just arisen in Lan Shi’s heart immediately dissipated.

“Then why does Your Highness want her captured alive?”

Sui Yuanhuai’s lips curled.

“The usurping emperor tried to win over the Marquis of Wu’an through a marriage decree. Yet the Marquis cut off the ear of the eunuch delivering the decree and openly defied the imperial order. Though the palace suppressed the news, there are no secrets that remain hidden forever. Tell me, Aunt Lan, for whom do you think the Marquis of Wu’an rejected the marriage to the Princess?”

Realization immediately dawned on Lan Shi.

“Your Highness wishes to use that woman to restrain the Marquis of Wu’an?”

She hesitated.

“But… she is Meng Shuyuan’s descendant. Even if Meng Shuyuan was used by others back then, her biological father served Wei Yan. She surely cannot be unrelated to the Jinzhou case. With such blood hatred between them, would the Marquis of Wu’an still care whether she lives or dies?”

Sui Yuanhuai merely smiled.

“The stage has already been set. Now all that’s left is to watch the play.”

Lan Shi pondered the meaning behind those words, but Sui Yuanhuai offered no further explanation.

Ever since Zhao Xun’s disappearance, he had indeed become even warier of the mother and son.

Even the scheme he had arranged with the Li family to frame Wei Yan had been concealed from Lan Shi.

Since the fire at the Eastern Palace, he had never fully trusted anyone again.

At that moment, a disturbance suddenly arose from the carriage behind them.

Sui Yuanhuai frowned impatiently.

“What is it now?”

Before the Shadow Guard could investigate, a servant hurried over.

“Master, the young master has fallen ill.”

A flash of disgust crossed Sui Yuanhuai’s eyes.

“If he’s sick, send the military physician. Why make such a fuss?”

The servant replied softly,

“It’s… Concubine Yu insists on seeing you.”

Sui Yuanhuai silently rotated the jade ring on his finger.

The servant delivering the message kept his head lowered, yet after only a brief moment, he felt as though thorns were pressing against his back. Cold sweat soaked him.

Lan Shi was also surprised.

That Concubine Yu usually avoided His Highness whenever possible. Why would she suddenly ask to see him today?

Thinking that the battle at hand surely left him no time to deal with a woman, she answered on his behalf.

“The city assault is imminent. The Young Master is occupied with countless matters. I’ll accompany you to see the child.”

Unexpectedly, before she could finish, Sui Yuanhuai said,

“I’ll go myself.”

His usual cold smile hung on his lips, but there was also a trace of undisguised interest in his eyes.

He seemed to be in rather good spirits.

Lan Shi frowned.

When it came to Concubine Yu, His Highness was truly unpredictable.

Supported by the Shadow Guard he trusted most, Sui Yuanhuai stepped down from the carriage and leisurely walked toward the carriage behind them.

When he arrived, attendants had already lifted the curtain.

Stepping onto the carriage using the coachman’s back as a footstool, he looked at the woman sitting tightly against the corner and the smile on his lips turned colder.

His gaze fell upon Yu Bao’er, who lay sleeping on her lap with his eyes shut, though his small body trembled slightly.

Amused, Sui Yuanhuai said,

“I thought this little beast was sick?”

Yu Qianqian looked at him calmly.

“Bao’er isn’t sick. I wanted to see you.”

The smile on Sui Yuanhuai’s face stiffened for an instant.

He raised his eyes and carefully examined her again.

She wanted to see him?

That was a joke.

She had never voluntarily sought him out unless she wanted something.

A trace of gloom flashed through his eyes.

“You need a favor from me?”

Yu Bao’er no longer dared pretend to sleep. He tightly gripped Yu Qianqian’s sleeve.

Without changing her expression, Yu Qianqian gently squeezed his small hand and calmly met Sui Yuanhuai’s gaze.

The neat bangs that had once covered her forehead had long since grown out during the past half year. Swept back, they revealed a smooth forehead that made her round face appear even more graceful and elegant.

She said,

“I once knew the female general challenging your army. What grievance between men justifies harming a woman? Spare her life.”

She still didn’t know that Sui Yuanhuai had already ordered Fan Changyu captured alive.

Throughout the northwest, there was only one famous female general.

The moment she heard the woman identify herself as Meng Changyu, she had guessed it was Fan Changyu.

Sui Yuanhuai commanded twenty thousand troops.

How could Lu City’s remaining two thousand defenders withstand them?

She couldn’t save everyone.

All she wanted was to obtain a favor from Sui Yuanhuai and preserve Fan Changyu’s life no matter what.

Sui Yuanhuai immediately laughed coldly.

“You can barely protect yourself, yet you’re sympathizing with random strays outside?”

Yu Qianqian pressed her full lips together.

“That’s why I’m asking you.”

Without warning, a pale, cool hand seized her chin.

Forced to lift her head, she met Sui Yuanhuai’s dark eyes and felt as though a venomous snake had coiled around her body\u2014cold, wet, and suffocating.

Her body immediately stiffened.

Standing less than half a foot away, he looked down at her.

“And this is how you ask a favor?”

Having consumed medicine for years, his body carried a persistent herbal scent.

At such close range, it completely filled her senses.

The cool touch of his fingers against her jaw remained painfully clear.

Frowning slightly, Yu Qianqian looked at the pale, gloomy man before her.

“Then how do you want me to ask?”

Sui Yuanhuai seemed caught off guard by her calm response.

For a moment, hatred twisted across his eyes.

Without regard for Yu Bao’er still being present, he suddenly lowered his head and roughly kissed her.

A sharp pain shot through her lips.

Recovering her senses, she quickly covered Yu Bao’er’s eyes with her hand.

Fortunately, he soon pulled away.

Wiping her lips, she found blood on her fingers just as expected.

It hurt.

She frowned.

Seeing the blood on her lips, some of the darkness in Sui Yuanhuai’s eyes finally receded.

Half-lowering his gaze, he spoke in a mocking tone, though it seemed as though he used ridicule to conceal some deeper emotion.

“Come to my room tonight.”

Even after he left the carriage, Yu Qianqian remained silent.

Yu Bao’er looked at his frail yet resilient mother with his large dark eyes.

“Mother…”

One hand still gripped her sleeve tightly.

His lips were pressed firmly together.

He didn’t want his mother to go see that man alone.

Yu Qianqian pulled him into her arms and gently patted his back.

“Don’t be afraid. It’ll be alright. If it can save your Aunt Changyu, what does any of this matter?”

Yu Bao’er still said nothing.

Looking at the carriage curtain swaying in the wind, Yu Qianqian spoke gently.

“Ning Niang is even younger than you. She’s already lost both parents. If she loses her elder sister too, what will happen to her in the future?”

At last, another emotion appeared in Yu Bao’er’s dark eyes.

Yu Qianqian stroked his head.

“Just endure a little longer.”

After several rounds of verbal taunting on the battlefield, Fan Changyu finally saw the enemy formation part.

A broad path wide enough for several men opened through the ranks.

A burly general rode out, wielding twin-bladed axes.

“Enough boasting! Let this general test your skills!”

Alongside him came more than a dozen others.

Their clothing was uniform, yet they didn’t resemble military officers.

The instant Fan Changyu laid eyes on them, her right eyelid began twitching uncontrollably.

An indescribable sense of unease spread through her body.

The armored general had already charged forward with a battle cry.

Pushing aside her thoughts, Fan Changyu spurred her horse to meet him.

Their collision sent sparks flying as her Mo Saber crashed against his axes.

After crossing several zhang apart, both wheeled their horses around and attacked again.

Within moments they had already exchanged several rounds.

His strength was impressive, but his techniques were rigid.

If she truly wished to kill him, she could have knocked him from his horse within three moves.

But her goal was to buy time.

So she deliberately held back.

The two circled the battlefield for nearly half a circuit without a victor.

After roughly a quarter of an hour, the spectators on the enemy side finally realized she was intentionally stalling.

All of them spurred their horses forward at once.

Fan Changyu immediately sensed trouble.

She struck the enemy general off his horse with the flat of her blade.

There were exactly sixteen of them.

The sixteen elite soldiers behind her assumed the enemy intended to fight one-on-one and rode forward to meet them.

Instead, it became a one-sided massacre.

Those sixteen men moved like ghosts.

Before the Jizhou soldiers wielding spears and swords could even reach them, their heads had already been severed by precise and vicious strikes.

They resembled executioners who had trained for decades.

Every swing existed solely to kill.

Using the advantage of her longer weapon, Fan Changyu managed to save one soldier standing closest to her.

But with a simple twist of his blade, one enemy left a long wound across her arm.

She immediately forced him back and widened the distance.

Her heart thundered in her chest.

Cold sweat soaked her palms.

She could barely hold the saber.

Never before had death felt so close.

These people were not ordinary humans capable of fear or hesitation.

They were killing machines.

Tireless.

Unafraid of pain.

The soldiers around her continued falling.

Fan Changyu struck one enemy with a slash powerful enough to nearly sever his entire arm.

Yet he didn’t even cry out.

Rolling directly along the path of her blade, he carved another bloody wound across her waist and abdomen.

Supporting herself with her saber, one hand clutching the blood pouring from her abdomen, Fan Changyu glared at the dozen figures surrounding her.

She had finally figured out their fighting style.

Against everyone else, they always struck to kill.

But that man had deliberately avoided her vital points.

He had chosen to wound her abdomen instead.

Suddenly, she understood.

They wanted to capture her alive.

A bead of sweat slid from her brow.

Removing the cloth wrapped around her hand, she tightly bound her abdomen to stop the bleeding.

The enemy seemed convinced she was already at the end of her strength and did not attack immediately.

On the city wall, Xie Wu’s eyes had turned red.

“Those aren’t soldiers! They’re specially trained death warriors! Open the gates! Let me go help the Commandant!”

Deputy General He was equally shocked by how quickly the sixteen elite soldiers had been slaughtered.

Yet opening the gates now would be equivalent to inviting the enemy inside.

Painfully, he said,

“The gates cannot be opened! Commandant Fan and those sixteen brave men went out for the people of Lu City. If we open the gates now, what about the hundreds of thousands of civilians inside?”

Looking at Fan Changyu trapped below and recalling the instructions she had given him earlier, Xie Wu slammed a fist into the wall.

Then, having made up his mind, he suddenly shouted:

“Bring me ropes!”

Below the wall, Fan Changyu finished binding her wound and took out a pair of deerskin wrist guards from beneath her armor.

She had originally intended to throw them away.

Yet when breaking camp for Lu City, she had inexplicably tucked them into her clothing.

Now they were proving invaluable.

The moment she gripped her saber again, one death warrior approached like a phantom.

As the blade once more targeted her abdomen, she swung her saber in a wide arc, forcing him back and cutting his stomach in return.

After glancing at the wound, the man exchanged looks with the others.

Suddenly, all of them attacked simultaneously.

The defenders atop the wall cursed hysterically.

“You sons of bitches! More than a dozen men ganging up on one woman! Only the Sui family’s dogs could do something this shameless!”

Minor unrest stirred among the rebels.

But in a life-and-death struggle, nobody had attention to spare.

The death warriors completely ignored the insults and relentlessly changed tactics.

Fan Changyu could no longer tell whether the liquid coating her face was blood or sweat.

Her entire focus was on the blades advancing toward her.

Their techniques were unlike those of any general she had ever fought.

Vicious.

Cunning.

Unpredictable.

Fortunately, she had survived several assassination attempts with Xie Zheng in the past.

Later, while sparring with him, she had experienced firsthand the strange speed and unpredictability of his techniques and learned several moves from him.

With that foundation\u2014and because they intended to keep her alive\u2014she managed to endure several more rounds under the assault of more than a dozen opponents.

Slash.

Hack.

Cut.

Lift.

Chop.

The Mo Saber became a blur of afterimages.

Her arms ached from constant swinging.

Blood drenched both sleeves.

Yet she dared not stop.

Time seemed to slow.

So slow that she could clearly see every movement of every death warrior.

Every raised hand.

Every swing.

The Mo Saber precisely intercepted all incoming attacks.

Even beyond her field of vision, the movement of air and the sound of blades slicing through the wind became startlingly clear.

Long ago, when teaching her martial arts, her father had said that once a person entered the path of martial cultivation, their techniques must become faster than the eye.

Yet at the highest levels, one returned to simplicity.

No matter how fast a move was, true mastery meant being able to see it clearly.

Fan Changyu had always been stuck at that threshold.

She had never understood what her father meant by the eyes surpassing the techniques.

Yet at this very moment, she broke through that bottleneck.

Again and again, she evaded strikes that should have been impossible to avoid.

She even killed three death warriors in return.

The remaining warriors all suffered injuries.

These were Sui Yuanhuai’s most elite assassins.

Even against Wei Yan’s highest-ranked death warriors, they had never fallen behind.

Yet today, sixteen against one, they were being held at bay by a single woman.

The leader’s gaze changed.

His attacks immediately became fiercer.

Fan Changyu barely exchanged several moves before her strength finally began failing.

Unable to defend everything, she took another slash across the back.

Blood seeped from the corner of her tightly pressed lips.

She could clearly see every attack coming.

But severe injuries and exhaustion slowed her body.

Even though her eyes perceived the strikes, her saber could no longer keep up.

The final blade aimed at her scraped against the tip of her Mo Saber, losing much of its force before slashing toward her right arm.

Clang!

A crisp metallic sound rang out.

The incoming blade was blocked by Xie Wu, who had descended from the city wall on a rope.

Knowing they were marching toward death, nearly ten soldiers had willingly followed him down to help.

Fan Changyu was utterly exhausted.

She could only remain standing by leaning on her saber.

Seeing her injuries, Xie Wu’s eyes reddened.

“Commandant! Go!”

Seven or eight soldiers joined him in using their lives to block the death warriors.

The others grabbed Fan Changyu and pulled her back.

“Commandant! There are ropes by the city wall! We’ll get you back! General He said you’ve already bought us over half an hour! That’s enough! We’ll use the rest of our lives to defend Lu City together… urgh…”

The soldier supporting her suddenly stopped speaking.

A long blade had pierced completely through his chest.

He looked at the bloodied tip protruding from his body.

As he collapsed, he repeated only one sentence.

“Commandant… go…”

Of those holding back the death warriors, only Xie Wu possessed the strength to truly contend with them.

Outnumbered, he suffered multiple blades through his body.

Facing away from Fan Changyu, he fell to his knees in a pool of blood.

This time, he did not rise again.

Fan Changyu could barely lift her saber anymore.

Seeing this scene, blood seemed to surge into her eyes.

A grief-stricken roar escaped her throat like the cry of a tiger.

Swinging her saber, she instantly beheaded the nearest death warrior.

Another who had intended to kill the soldier supporting her was cut nearly in half at the waist.

Even after collapsing, the man continued convulsing.

Blood and organs spilled across the ground.

The brutality of such a strike left even these hardened killers with numb scalps.

Blood dripped from Fan Changyu’s saber.

Slowly, she raised her head.

The whites of her eyes had turned entirely crimson.

Her disheveled hair hung loose.

She truly resembled a demon crawling up from hell itself.

The death warriors felt fear.

None dared approach.

Then a voice suddenly rang out from the rear formation.

“The Lord commands! Attack the city!”

The rebel troops who had been resting prepared to charge again.

With the army behind them, the shaken death warriors regained their courage and prepared to move.

Suddenly, however, the yellow earth beneath their feet began trembling.

Tiny grains of sand vibrated.

It was as though some colossal beast were crossing mountains and valleys, threatening to split the earth apart.

Woooo\u2014

The first horn sounded.

The Jizhou soldiers atop the walls didn’t react at first.

Woooooo\u2014

When the piercing horn sounded again, the defenders erupted into ecstatic cheers.

“The reinforcements are here!”

The Chongzhou soldiers below instinctively turned around.

Yellow dust filled the horizon.

The approaching hoofbeats rolled like thunder.

Moments later, a crimson banner bearing the character “Xie” appeared above the swirling sands.

“The Marquis of Wu’an! The Marquis of Wu’an has brought the Xie Army!”

The Jizhou soldiers seemed injected with new life.

Deputy General He was so excited he could barely speak.

“Quick! Open the gates! All soldiers in the city, follow me out and kill the enemy!”

The Chongzhou army, meanwhile, lost heart the moment they saw the Xie banner.

Their once-orderly formation quickly descended into chaos.

The young soldier Fan Changyu had saved fell to his knees in tears of joy.

“Commandant! The Marquis of Wu’an came personally! We’re saved!”

Fan Changyu barely heard him.

She had no strength left.

Her limbs felt numb and weak.

Leaning on her saber, she slowly knelt beside Xie Wu.

To her, Xie Wu and Xie Qi were both like family.

Looking at the blood-covered youth riddled with blades, her throat hurt unbearably.

Tears mixed with blood as they rolled down her face.

She couldn’t even choke out a single “Xiao Wu.”

The surviving soldiers, after the initial joy of survival, looked at the devastated battlefield and their fallen comrades.

Their expressions filled with grief.

Though the Chongzhou army numbered twenty thousand, repeated assaults had already drained their morale.

Upon seeing Xie Zheng personally leading reinforcements and realizing they lacked any respected commander, panic spread through their ranks.

They were quickly defeated by the combined assault of the Xie Army and Jizhou forces.

Only a small group of elite troops managed to escort Sui Yuanhuai away amid the chaos.

Several capable generals under Xie Zheng immediately led pursuit forces after them.

When Xie Zheng finally entered the city with a group of light cavalry, Deputy General He and all the notable commanders hurried out to welcome him.

Upon seeing Xie Zheng, tears streamed down the old man’s face.

“Fortunately, my lord arrived in time! Had Lu City fallen, I would have had no face to face its people, nor General He in the afterlife!”

Xie Zheng’s injuries had not yet healed.

He wore only light armor.

After racing here at full speed and fighting on the battlefield, the whip wounds on his back had reopened, soaking his clothing with blood.

Yet his tolerance for pain was extraordinary.

Aside from an unusual paleness, not a hint of discomfort showed on his face.

Only when he heard Deputy General He’s words did emotion finally stir in his eyes.

“Old General He… has passed away?”

Deputy General He wiped away tears.

“He died standing upon the city wall.”

Few generals throughout history met peaceful ends.

After a moment of silence, Xie Zheng said,

“Has a memorial hall been prepared? I’d like to offer incense.”

Deputy General He looked ashamed.

“Not yet. The rebels attacked too fiercely. We truly had no time to arrange his funeral. If not for Commandant Fan and Commander Zheng arriving with three thousand cavalry\u2014and Commandant Fan later challenging the enemy generals alone to buy time\u2014Lu City would never have survived until your arrival.”

Xie Zheng abruptly lifted his gaze.

“Commandant Fan is here?”

That title belonged to Fan Changyu.

Not understanding his reaction, Deputy General He replied,

“Yes, yes. But Commandant Fan fought more than a dozen vicious enemy commanders and suffered severe injuries. She’s currently with the military physicians…”

Before he could finish, a blur flashed before him.

His collar had already been seized.

The man before him looked terrifyingly cold.

In a rare display of lost composure, he demanded,

“Where are the physicians?”

Stunned, Deputy General He pointed in a direction.

The grip immediately released.

Before he could process what had happened, Xie Zheng was already gone.

“What happened to the Marquis?”

The old general frowned in confusion.

Then he suddenly remembered Fan Changyu’s earlier declaration that she was Meng Shuyuan’s descendant.

His heart skipped a beat.

Everyone knew that Grand General Xie Linshan and Crown Prince Chengde had died trapped in Jinzhou because Meng Shuyuan failed to deliver provisions on time.

Was the Marquis rushing to find Fan Changyu because he already knew her identity and intended to avenge his father?

Cold sweat broke out across Deputy General He’s body.

He hurried after him.

“My lord, please don’t act rashly! Whatever Meng Shuyuan did, Commandant Fan is a loyal patriot!”

\u2014

Fan Changyu lay on a wounded soldiers’ bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Because the blood vessels in her eyes had ruptured earlier, the redness had yet to fade.

Everything appeared hazy, as though viewed through a thin veil.

The military physician said it would take several days of rest before her vision recovered.

A female healer had already bandaged her wounds.

The injury to her abdomen was the most severe.

She had not slept at all the previous night.

Since morning, she had endured two separate battles.

Her entire body was exhausted beyond measure.

Yet sleep refused to come.

He Jingyuan’s death and Xie Wu’s critical injuries had dealt her heavy blows.

When she came off the battlefield and saw several blades embedded in Xie Wu’s body, she had thought he was dead.

Covered in blood, he had looked so fragile that she had been afraid to touch him.

After spending so much time together in the military camp, she had long regarded Xie Wu and Xie Qi as younger brothers.

If Xie Wu died, it would be like losing another family member.

Fortunately, the soldiers carrying him discovered that a faint breath still remained.

The physicians had rushed to treat him immediately.

He had been brought back alive.

But the physician said his injuries were extremely dangerous.

Whether he survived would depend on fate.

That single word\u2014fate\u2014weighed heavily on Fan Changyu’s heart.

When the door opened, she assumed the healer had returned to persuade her to take medicine.

Still staring blankly at the ceiling, she answered hoarsely,

“Ah Hui, I can’t eat. Leave me alone and go take care of the others.”

Ah Hui was the healer’s name.

She genuinely couldn’t eat.

Forget medicine\u2014even a sip of water sent spasms through her stomach until she vomited bile.

After she spoke, however, no reply came.

Nor did she hear anyone leave.

Sensing something, Fan Changyu’s expression changed.

She turned toward the doorway.

No matter how many times she had imagined their reunion, the moment she truly saw that tall figure standing there, her heart still clenched painfully.

Her vision remained blurred.

Yet she could still tell he had lost a great deal of weight.

He looked ill.

His frame beneath the black armor appeared noticeably thinner.

Even his lips lacked color.

Compared to her, a freshly wounded soldier, he didn’t seem much healthier.

Only the sharpness in his eyes had grown stronger.

Had he not been living well since they parted?

Their gazes met.

Neither spoke.

Fan Changyu wanted to exchange a few polite words.

But remembering what he had said during their parting\u2014and remembering the emperor’s marriage decree between him and the Princess\u2014she felt only bitterness and an indescribable ache.

She couldn’t bring herself to speak.

“My lord! My lord! Wait for me!”

Deputy General He finally came running after them.

Seeing one person lying on the bed and the other standing silently at the doorway, he found the atmosphere strange but secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Then another thought struck him.

Could it be that Fan Changyu still didn’t know that the man before her was the Marquis of Wu’an?

Since Xie Zheng hadn’t attacked immediately, the old general grew bolder.

He quickly signaled Fan Changyu with his eyes.

“The Marquis personally came to inspect the wounded soldiers out of concern for his subordinates. Commandant Fan, why don’t you greet the Marquis properly?”

So that was it.

Fan Changyu finally understood why he had appeared here.

Suppressing all her emotions, she forced herself upright.

With a faint smile, she cupped her fists toward Xie Zheng.

“This subordinate, Fan Changyu, greets the Marquis.”

He had once said that in the future he would regard her only as a fellow disciple and junior sister.

In truth, if not for Grand Tutor Tao’s connection, he likely wouldn’t have wanted any relationship with her at all.

Now the truth remained unresolved, and he was already engaged.

Fan Changyu could no longer ask him to trust her grandfather and father.

Better to act as though they had never known each other.

At least then neither of them would be embarrassed.

She believed it was the best possible solution.

Yet the moment her words fell, the room sank into complete silence.

One could hear a pin drop.

The man standing in the doorway gazed at her quietly for a long time.

Then he laughed softly.

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