Guo Zimu was very afraid, much more since he was once captured. He was facing Huhar people who wouldn’t hesitate to kill, Huhar bandits with deep-seated enmity towards Great State of Yan. But now, even if he was scared, he couldn’t hide like this. He was from the Rong family. If he remained so timid, he would disgrace him, the King Luo Rong’s mansion, and the imperial family of Great State of Yan!
Cen Jueyuan stood in his way, and Guo Zimu took a step back, forcing himself to stare directly at Khan Keqin’s blatantly predatory gaze, with blood seeping from his tightly clenched lips.
“Are you claiming to be a hero?” Guo Zimu placed his trembling hand behind him, trying to keep his voice steady. “To me, you’re nothing but a bully!”
Khan Keqin narrowed his eyes slightly, his smile sending shivers down Guo Zimu spine. Guo Zimu’s fingernails dug into his palms: “A hero doesn’t burn, kill, and plunder on someone else’s land, doesn’t wantonly destroy someone else’s homeland, and certainly doesn’t shamelessly treat another man’s wife as some prize to be won.”
Thinking about how Yunan would curse these Huhar bandits, the beautiful eyes of Guo Zimu gradually emitted a glow called courage.
“You call me a beauty, then I thank you. But the hero in my heart will definitely not be someone like you, uncivilized barbarians! For the hero in my heart, you’re not even worthy to carry his shoes!”
Khan Keqin made a move, and those blocking him, including Cen Jueyuan and others, couldn’t stop him at all.
Someone shouted: “Madam!”
Just as Khan Keqin was about to grab Guo Zimu, suddenly, several tiger roars came from outside. Khan Keqin’s attack abruptly stopped as one person quickly grabbed Guo Zimu and pulled him behind them. Then several people pushed him into a private room, and those outside forcefully closed the door and locked it from the inside.
Outside, Princess Wu Uzhen and Dai Zhanxiao were teaming up to attack Su Charshan, but they couldn’t overcome him. Just as the tiger roars sounded, the two heard someone roar: “Huhar bandits, don’t be arrogant!”
“Roar, roar, roar!”
Three big tigers descended from the sky, with the largest one charging straight at Su Charshan. Su Charshan’s expression changed drastically as he fiercely wielded the iron knife in his hand to meet the attack.
“Princess, you go save King Madam!”
“Be careful!”
Princess Wu Uzhen hastily said to Dai Zhanxiao and rushed into “Qingyuan”. The three Huhar people who did not participate in the fight came out to protect Khan Keqin. When they saw Princess Wu Uzhen, the three Huhar people moved to attack her.
Princess Wu Uzhen was furious: “Does the Kingdom of Huhar dare to bully our Great Mountain tribe?!”
Khan Keqin: “Stop.”
Princess Wu Uzhen glared angrily at Khan Keqin, raised her curved knife, and pushed aside the Huhar people blocking her path, rushing in.
Outside, cries of agony rang out as Tiger Brother mercilessly faced off against Su Charshan, and the fierce Dai Zhanxiao bit down on any Huhar person who dared to obstruct them. Khan Keqin shouted: “The Huhar envoy is here, who dares to be rude!”
“The Huhar bandits causing trouble in my capital, insulting my royal family, and harming my people of Great State of Yan, capture them all!”
Khan Keqin looked towards the person who spoke, his eyes flashing coldly. With Tiger Brother, Dai Zhanxiao, and a crowd of Imperial Guards, Wang Shijing responded with cold anger. Because the Empress was worried about the safety of Shao Yunan, the Imperial Guards sent to protect Wang Shijing and Shao Yunan were not withdrawn after the two returned to the capital, especially after the various envoys entered the capital. To ensure the safety of the two, especially Shao Yunan, Emperor Yongming even sent additional personnel, and the General’s Mansion also sent people over. Upon learning that the Huhar envoy was causing trouble in “Qingyuan” and had injured Su Jinyu, Wang Shijing immediately brought Dai Zhanxiao and all the Imperial Guards from the mansion to rush over, leaving only the private guards of the General’s Mansion to protect it.
When Shao Yunan learned of this, he exploded with anger at the time. Wang Shijing was afraid of hurting him and the child, so he didn’t allow him to come along. Dai Yinxiang and Su Chenyi also tightly held him back, and it was not easy to persuade him.
In terms of combat power, the Imperial Guards were not opponents of the brave warriors of the Huhar nation, and only the soldiers who fought the Huhar people on the border all year round could stand a chance against them. The Tiger Army brought back by Dai Zhanxiao was not stationed in the capital. Although he was the commander of the Army, soldiers belonged to the country and the Emperor. After returning to the capital, he followed the rules and handed over these people to the Ministry of War for arrangements. If not for this, he wouldn’t have been so passive.
However, there were only fifty Huhar people here. With the Imperial Guards, the private guards of the General’s Mansion, Princess Wu Uzhen’s guards, the subsequent arrival of the capital guards, and the addition of Tiger Brother and Dai Zhanxiao, the number of troops directly exceeded five hundred. With the fifty members of the Huhar envoy, apart from Khan Keqin, the dead were dead, the wounded were wounded, and the most arrogant Su Charshan could never have imagined that he would die in the capital of Great State of Yan like this. Su Charshan died in front of Khan Keqin, with his neck bitten off by Tiger Brother. Khan Keqin’s face couldn’t be described as anything other than extremely grim, and Wang Shijing gave the order in front of him to capture all the living Huhar people and lock them up in the dungeon.
Khan Keqin gritted his teeth almost to the point of grinding them to powder.
“Loyal and Brave Marquis, are you trying to provoke a war between my Kingdom of Huhar and the State of Yan?”
Wang Shijing looked at Dai Zhanxiao, who spat out a mouthful of blood onto the ground, the broken spear pointing towards Khan Keqin: “If you want a fight, bring it on!”
Wang Shijing raised his thumb towards Khan Keqin, then slowly turned it downwards: “If you want a fight, bring it on!” This gesture twisted Khan Keqin’s face in rage.
The sound of hooves approached, and everyone turned to look. Wang Shijing immediately stepped forward. The leader of the group jumped down even before the horse came to a stop, and Wang Shijing and the arriving Dai Zhanxiao hurriedly reached out to protect him.
“Where is King wife?”
King Luo Rong grabbed Wang Shijing anxiously and asked, and Dai Zhanxiao replied: “Madam is inside, probably accompanied by Princess Wu Uzhen.”
King Luo Rong let go of Wang Shijing and rushed into Qingyuan. Passing by Khan Keqin, King Luo Rong stopped, didn’t even look at him, but gnashed his teeth in anger: “I have learned today about Khan Keqin’s etiquette!”
Without waiting for Khan Keqin’s response, King Luo Rong rushed into Qingyuan: “Zimu! Zimu!”
The door of the bamboo house opened, and Princess Wu Uzhen appeared: “Lord Rong! Your Madam is here.”
King Luo Rong rushed over, and inside the room, Guo Zimu, who was being treated for injuries, saw King Luo Rong and rushed towards him. King Luo Rong held the trembling person tightly, his anger making him almost spit out blood.
“Rong…”
Guo Zimu grabbed King Luo Rong’s clothes, his hand turning white, filled with fear, anger, and shame… a myriad of emotions.
“Don’t be afraid, it’s over now.”
Dai Zhanxiao walked in: “Lord Rong, you should take Madam back to the mansion to calm down. Leave this to me and the others.”
However, King Luo Rong gently patted Guo Zimu on the back, whispered in his ear: “Zimu, you go find Yunan, and I’ll help you vent this anger.”
Guo Zimu came out of his arms, his eyes red but no tears in sight, he couldn’t cry in front of so many people!
King Luo Rong took Guo Zimu’s hand and turned to Dai Zhanxiao, saying: “Zhanxiao, you take my wife to find Yunan. I’ll have a word with Khan Keqin.” Then, he released Guo Zimu’s hand, bowed deeply to Princess Wu Uzhen, who hastily exclaimed: “Lord Rong, you must not!”
“Princess’s great favor, I remember it.”
Now was not the time to repay favors. King Luo Rong asked Dai Zhanxiao to take Guo Zimu to the Loyal and Brave Marquis’s mansion he also asked Princess Wu Uzhen to go with them. After the battle with Huhars, Princess Wu Uzhen was also injured. King Luo Rong, who never cared about politics, erupted in unprecedented anger because Guo Zimu was insulted. Facing Khan Keqin’s protest, his attitude was consistent with Wang Shijing’s, not giving in at all.
In the mansion of the Loyal and Brave Marquis, Shao Yunan was furious. Upon receiving the news, Jiang Moxi immediately rushed back to the mansion, while the old general went directly to the palace. Jiang Moxi had the frightened Nizi sent back to her room, while Wang Qing, Zhao Congbo, and Wang Yan were also retrieved by Shao Yunan’s orders. In the imperial palace, Emperor Yongming and the Empress were also furious. Because of the incident with the embassy, King Luo Rong had been discussing with the ministers in the palace during the day. When he received the news, Emperor Yongming naturally knew what had happened.
In a certain house in the capital, an old man who had returned from the palace started to vent his anger as soon as he entered the study. His eldest son, in a low voice, asked: “Father, what should we do now?”
The old man slammed the table in anger: “These barbarians are just barbarians, causing such trouble as soon as they arrive. Couldn’t they hold back a little for the sake of beauty?”
“If I had known Khan Keqin was so eager, I wouldn’t have told him about Guo Zimu’s existence.”
“It’s too late to say anything now.” The old man sat down, exasperatedly saying: “We absolutely cannot plead for the barbarians in front of the Emperor, it would be a small loss of face at best, but it could lead to a bigger problem.”
He gestured to his son, who immediately leaned over. After whispering something in his son’s ear, the old man cautioned: “Be careful.”
“Father, rest assured.”
Then he hurriedly left.
In the mansion of the Loyal and Brave Marquis, when Shao Yunan saw Guo Zimu, he flew into a rage, frightening Wang Qing, who grabbed him and shouted: “Little uncle, be careful of the younger brother; you can’t get angry.”
The still-shaken Guo Zimu also advised Shao Yunan not to get angry, fearing that if he frightened the baby in Shao Yunan’s belly, he would be at fault.
“Yunan, don’t be angry. Your family’s divine beast killed the person Princess Wu Uzhen was talking about. That guy was indeed formidable, but now he’s just a corpse under the jaws of our family’s divine beast.”
“General, my brother.” Jiang Moxi spoke up, and Dai Zhanxiao looked over curiously, while Wang Qing hurriedly explained: “Second uncle, don’t scare my brother.”
Dai Zhanxiao was puzzled, what scared him? But Jiang Moxi knew that he shouldn’t mention the word “corpse” in front of his brother, prenatal education was important!
Qin Niang brought soup over and also brought medicine for Dai Zhanxiao and Princess Wu Uzhen and the other injured. Shao Yunan asked sternly: “Brother, how is Su Jinyu?”
Dai Zhanxiao frowned: “He’s seriously injured. I’ve already ordered him to be sent back to the Lu State Mansion.”
Guo Zimu reminded subtly: “I gave him the medicine the one you give to me.”
Shao Yunan took a deep breath, telling himself that he had a baby in his belly who couldn’t get angry, and instructed: “Brother Qing, go to father’s room and get the medicine, then you personally go to the Lu Mansion to deliver the medicine, tell the Marquis of Lu that your uncle Su Jinyu’s revenge will be avenged by your uncle.”
Wang Qing immediately left. He knew the medicine from his father contained Spiritual Milk. Wang Qing wasn’t intimidated by such a heavy responsibility despite his young age. He was the son of the house and now was the time for him to share the burden for his father and uncle.
Jiang Moxi said: “Uncle Yunan, don’t be angry. I’m here for you.”
Dai Zhanxiao and Princess Wu Uzhen couldn’t help but look at Jiang Moxi a few more times. Who was this child? Yunan then said: “Brother, this is Moxi, Nizi’s fiance, brother Kangchen’s son, my nephew and Jiang Kangning’s nephew.”
Dai Zhanxiao nodded. So, this was the child. He had heard quite a bit about him in the past few days but hadn’t seen him yet. He only knew that this child had entered the private affairs department and was quite capable. Princess Wu Uzhen knew that Yunan daughter had already been engaged and it turned out to be to this kind of kid. No wonder.
Yunan gritted his teeth: “Thanks to your timely arrival, my brother Guo would have been in danger. Those thugs clearly targeted my brother Guo.”
Princess Wu Uzhen said: “Some of my people happened to be at ‘Qingyuan’ and immediately informed me. I had just arranged to spar with the general today at the General’s Mansion.”
Dai Zhanxiao was quite interested in the brave warriors of the Great Mountain Tribe, so he arranged for the private soldiers of the General’s Mansion to spar with the other side, as there was also a martial arts arena in the General’s Mansion. This was also the reason why Dai Zhanxiao and Princess Wu Uzhen arrived together.
Yunan fiercely slammed the armrest. “I’m not done with them yet!”
Dai Zhanxiao cautioned: “Don’t be impulsive. We’re not afraid of them ourselves, but if the two countries really stir up trouble because of this, the civil officials will only consider the safety of Loyalty and Courage Marquis and Lord Wang.” Dai Zhanxiao told Shao Yunan about what happened after Wang Shijing arrived, then reminded him: “I’m worried that Khan Keqin did this intentionally and will use it to make some unreasonable demands to the emperor. I was already puzzled when the Huhar country suddenly asked for peace negotiations. Now it seems that something sinister is afoot. However, if a real war breaks out, certain individuals are bound to target the Loyalty and Courage Marquis and Lord Wang.”
Princess Wu Uzhen said solemnly: “Today’s events indicate that the real purpose of the barbarians is not peace negotiations. As for what it is, we’ll see at tomorrow’s palace banquet.”
“Hmph,” Shao Yunan laughed angrily: “I haven’t even gone to trouble them yet, and they’ve taken the initiative to come to me. They bullied little Guo, which means they bullied me! Uncle may endure it, but aunt can’t! I, Shao Yunan, have never let anyone bully me without fighting back. They’re so arrogant because they think they can fight? Then I’ll let them know what it means to fight and have no way back!”
Looking at Jiang Moxi, Shao Yunan said: “Moxi, don’t go back to the private affairs department today. Help Uncle organize the silver in the house. I want to know how much silver we have before the palace banquet tomorrow.”
Jiang Moxi nodded expressionlessly, not asking for the reason, only saying: “Uncle, brother, don’t be angry.”
“Yunan, what are you going to do?” Su Chenyi asked. The others all looked at Shao Yunan, their eyes asking the same question.
Shao Yunan sneered: “I’m going to teach those barbarians a lesson and let them know what ‘money talks’ means!”
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The King Luo Rong was furious because of his beloved wife. He didn’t do anything to Khan Keqin, but all the Huhar people who followed Khan Keqin into the capital were ordered by him to be thrown into prison, and the bodies of those killed (bitten to death) were ordered by the King Luo Rong to be hung on the city wall. In response to this, Emperor took a tacit attitude. The Emperor’s attitude greatly exceeded Khan Keqin’s expectations. It was at this moment that he realized that the situation seemed to be out of his control. At late that night, while being guarded in the official camp, 450 Huhar people seized war horses when the guards of the palace camp were changing shifts and rushed out of the official camp straight to the capital, arriving just as the city gates were opening at dawn. These people rode into the capital, clamoring to protect Khan Keqin, and the casualties of the capital’s defense army reached a hundred.
Dozens of courtiers entered the palace to see the emperor, asking him to restrain himself and not to make the situation worse. If Khan Keqin suffered any harm, then the war between the Huhar country and the Great State of Yan would be absolutely unavoidable. The recently established Great State of Yan couldn’t afford a war with the Huhar country.
The Emperor was so angry that he almost coughed up blood and overturned the imperial table. The actions of the barbarians were a blatant slap in the face. The Emperor immediately ordered the captain of the palace camp to enter the capital, and he ordered a strict guard on the over 400 Huhar people. Why were they still able to break out of the official camp?! The Emperor dispatched the Forbidden Army and the Capital Guard straight to the Huhar country’s embassy, ready to fight. If he let this go, he wouldn’t be the emperor of the Great State of Yan anymore!
Just as the tension between the two sides reached its peak, Wang Shijing entered the palace. Not long after, Emperor issued an edict to withdraw the troops besieging the embassy, leaving only a hundred to monitor it. Originally, Khan Keqin, who was already at his wits’ end after meeting up with his subordinates, was still worried that he wouldn’t be able to escape. When this decree from the Emperor came down, Khan Keqin burst into laughter three times brazenly. He knew that the emperor of the Yan country wouldn’t dare to do anything to him. The Emperor swallowed the humiliation, and the ambassadors of Dasi and Xianlu countries were hesitant about whether they needed to reconsider their attitude towards the Great State of Yan.
As the Emperor ordered the withdrawal of troops, in the capital’s prison of the Capital Guard, dozens of imperial guards surrounded a figure wearing a cloak and a hood, making it impossible to see his face. But from the figure alone, he seemed like a child.
The guards drove out all the others from the prison cell, then opened the cell where the Huhar people were held. The person walked into the cell and took off the hood. The Huhar people inside the cell looked at the person in astonishment, thinking they were seeing things. Was it really a child?!
Edited by: Jaisland
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