Chapter 40: The Obsessive, Lustful Hostage Prince vs. The Favored, Spoiled Princess (40)

Emperor Chu An was dead, and the tightly sealed palace gates locked away the news. Everything inside the palace remained as usual, with unknown dangers lurking beneath the restless, dark night. No one knew when the Liao army would launch their attack. It could be tomorrow, or it could be tonight.

In recent years, buoyed by a few successive military victories, Great Chu had grown arrogant, self-satisfied, and contemptuous of everyone, no longer drilling its troops with the diligence of the past. The military camps were filled with good-for-nothing gluttons who ate their fill and lived in idle luxury, fit for nothing more than feeding the enemy's blades if rushed onto a battlefield. This war could not be fought.

Amidst the shrill wails of suonas, Shu Yao boarded the red sedan chair. The bridal sedan, draped in red silk, trembled as it swayed across the palace path. The gilded, phoenix-carved curtains fluttered in the wind. Peeking through the gap, Shu Yao saw that the fingertips clutching her handkerchief had turned completely white. For some reason, she had a lingering ominous premonition. Inside the palace, it was all too quiet. She was not surprised that Empress Xiaohe and the third-rank princes had failed to come and bid her farewell, but Emperor Chu An had not come either. Wasn't he the one who cared most about this marriage alliance?

The system chimed: [Host, are you nervous?]

Shu Yao retorted internally: "Nonsense, I am about to die. Put yourself in my shoes and see if you are nervous?"

Although the system repeatedly assured her that it could timely block her pain receptors the moment Shen Jingmu raised his sword to strike, the scene from her nightmare was terrifyingly vivid. Even now, she could still recall the bone-deep agony of a sharp blade piercing straight through her chest. The first sensation to well up was coldness; the edge of the iron blade carried a chilling frost, and she could even hear the tearing sound of skin and flesh being sliced apart. Immediately after, scorching hot blood spurted out. Her limbs felt as though all their strength had been drained away, making it impossible even to lift her eyelids.

Pain—pain racked her entire body. Her muscles felt as though they had been smashed to pieces by a heavy blow, reassembled, and then smashed again.

Shu Yao drew a sharp breath, snapping back from the nightmare. Lowering her gaze, she saw that the cold sweat on her palms had soaked right through her handkerchief.

"After the Princess marries over, you must strictly remember the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, submit to your husband's family, and strive to secure benefits for your motherland."

The senior matron from last night had accompanied the bridal procession, her peripheral vision scrutinizing the woman clad in the phoenix coronet and embroidered robes through the sedan curtains. "You are a princess of Great Chu. Even if you step into that wolf's den, you must remember the dignity of being of noble birth."

She was the matron Emperor Chu An had personally invited to teach her proper etiquette, and these words were naturally instructed by the emperor himself.

Shu Yao let them go in one ear and out the other.

The bridal sedan jolted abruptly and came to a halt in front of the palace gates. Atop the towering palace walls, the banners of Great Chu whipped fiercely in the wind.

"Princess, please dismount and scatter the five grains."

Passage Gate had been reached.

Supported by her maidservants, Shu Yao stepped down from the sedan and immediately felt a biting, bone-chilling wind rush against her face. Her bright red skirt hem fluttered wildly in the wind, and the phoenix coronet atop her head emitted a crisp, metallic clinking sound.

The accompanying retinue consisted of five hundred guards, currently standing at attention, waiting for Shu Yao to burn incense and scatter the grains.

She opened the flint striker, but the tiny flame, upon touching the incense tip, was instantly blown out by the fierce wind. Shu Yao tried several times before she managed to barely ignite the incense.

"Farewell to the Son of Heaven!"

Shu Yao crossed her hands, holding the three sticks of incense high as gray ashes drifted away.

The moment she bowed her head, a system prompt rang in her mind:

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing Plot Point Five—The Marriage Alliance!]

[Please proceed to your death in accordance with the plotline and complete the mission as soon as possible.]

Golden grains were scattered into the midair, and a fine, dense drizzle began to fall.

"Princess, please return to the sedan. The auspicious hour has arrived, and it is time to depart."

Shu Yao climbed back into the sedan. Her bright red wedding gown was dampened, and the chill crept from the soles of her feet throughout her entire body. The charcoal fire inside the sedan burned ever brighter; amidst the sputtering sparks, Shu Yao caught a glimpse of her own pale face.

"Raise the sedan—!"

Bang!

The sedan bearers shouted, and the moment their voices faded, a dull, thunderous roar suddenly erupted from outside the city walls!

"Report—!"

A blood-soaked imperial guard stumbled through the palace gates, droplets of blood from his iron armor splattering onto the white jade stone steps.

"The Northern Liao cavalry has breached the moat and advanced all the way to Passage Gate!"

The sound of the suonas cut off abruptly, and the wedding procession instantly plunged into chaos.

Shu Yao lifted the sedan curtain to see billows of smoke surging into the sky in the distance, a hail of arrows sweeping across the palace walls like a black swarm of locusts. Her heart leaped into her throat, and a loud buzzing filled her ears, leaving behind only chaotic noise.

"Protect His Majesty! Protect His Majesty!"

Amidst the shrill cries of the eunuchs, Shu Yao's sedan chair was surrounded by guards and forced to retreat. Through the swaying curtains, the instant she saw the gates of Passage Gate smashed open, she witnessed razor-sharp curved sabers ruthlessly cleaving downward, splashing a sky full of blood.

"Princess, run quickly!"

The commander of the guards screamed at the top of his lungs, "The people of Northern Liao are inherently brutal and slaughter cities without leaving a single survivor!"

Before his voice faded, a sharp arrow came whistling through the howling wind.

The commander's corpse collapsed in front of the sedan, the arrow piercing straight through his throat. His wide-open eyes, dead yet unresisting, stared in terror toward her direction.

Bang!

The city gates collapsed. The roars of the Northern Liao cavalry, carrying the stench of blood and rain, rushed over them like a tide, and the golden-dragon-embroidered banners crashed to the ground.

"Capture Princess Jianning alive! Our lord offers heavy rewards!"

Wild, hoarse roars tore through the curtain of rain.

Hearing this, the sedan bearers dropped the palanquin and fled in all directions; only the guards charged into the crowd, engaging the Liao soldiers in fierce hand-to-hand combat. However, every single Liao soldier was tall and sturdily built, riding astride warhorses and cutting down everything in their path.

Shu Yao's embroidered shoes stepped straight into pools of blood. Without looking back, she turned and ran, ripping the cumbersome golden ornaments from her head and tossing them into the pouring rain.

She had to die by the hands of Shen Jingmu.

"Catch her! Capture Princess Jianning alive!"

The Liao soldiers roared behind her, but Shu Yao dared not look back.

The biting winter cold made her lungs ache with every breath, and the needles of rain threatened to tear her skin. The bright red rouge melted across her face, making her look utterly disheveled.

The palace pathways were even more chaotic. Palace servants frantically fought over jewelry, turning blades against one another. Blood wound its way along the ground in a gruesome tableau, and the stench of smoke and blood chilled her bones.

Daring not to linger, she sprinted rapidly toward the depths of the palace.

The Wutong Hall had been completely ransacked. The jewelry she frequently wore had been stolen by the servants, and even the expensive golden silk pillow on her daybed was nowhere to be seen.

Shu Yao dropped to the floor, shoved the heavy rosewood chest aside with all her might, and crawled straight underneath the bed.

Until Shen Jingmu appeared, she must not be discovered by the Liao soldiers. Otherwise, all her previous efforts would be wasted.

Outside, the sounds of footsteps were chaotic, punctuated from time to time by the agonizing screams of the slaughtered.

Swish!

A vibrant streak of crimson splashed across the palace doors.

Shu Yao shuddered violently, clamping her hands over her mouth to suppress any sound.

"Useless trash! A single woman, and you let her escape? Keep searching!"

"Yes!"

"Our lord has given the word—if you cannot find Princess Jianning, bring your heads to him!"

Their lord...

The lord they spoke of was undoubtedly Shen Jingmu.

That brute—the very first thing he did upon conquering the city was to exact his revenge on her, going so far as to dispatch this many personal guards to hunt her down.

Very well.

Shu Yao clenched her teeth, forcing her breathing as shallow as possible while cold sweat poured down her forehead. She loosened her grip, only to realize she had clawed several bloody marks into her palms, the pain belatedly washing over her.

The space beneath the bed was narrow, forcing her to maintain a rigid posture that quickly grew stiff and aching. Yet the footsteps outside remained clear and unyielding. The group searched every single corner, bypassing only the Wutong Hall for the moment—until finally, the Liao soldiers seemed to give up on this area, their footsteps gradually receding until they vanished completely.

Shu Yao let out a long breath, crawling out using hands and knees, and collapsed powerlessly onto the soft mat to catch her breath.

Pain. It hurt so much.

Clearly, the only actual wound on her body was the claw marks on her palms, yet Shu Yao felt as though her entire body ached. Extreme tension had triggered muscle spasms, and the compounding waves of acute pain made it impossible for her to stand.

At that moment, the Liao soldiers seemed to have circled back.

Had they finally remembered the Wutong Palace?

Alarm bells rang in Shu Yao's mind. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself up and slipped quietly out the back of the bedchamber.

The moment her toes touched the ground, she heard a Liao soldier roar from behind:

"There she is!"

Damn it all!

Furious enough to curse aloud, Shu Yao broke into a desperate sprint.

A delicate maiden of the inner chambers could never outrun countless robust Liao soldiers. Soon, the clanking sound of armor behind her grew closer and closer, encroaching relentlessly.

Faster! Faster!

Shu Yao felt as though her legs were about to snap. The heavy, damp, wide skirt hem became her greatest obstacle, making even lifting her feet a struggle.

Yet the Liao soldiers behaved as though they were toying with a mouse, showing no haste to pounce and kill. Instead, it felt more like—herding.

"Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!"

The lead Liao soldier laughed arrogantly, brandishing a severed head in the air as he cheered, his eyes filled with a terrifying, malicious cruelty. He could easily have captured her long ago, but he chose not to. He opted for the most agonizing method to exhaust Shu Yao's physical stamina and shatter her psychological defenses.

And Shu Yao was indeed on the verge of a breakdown.

The imperial court was in turmoil, the nation destroyed, and her home lost. On top of that, she was being terrified and hunted by countless fierce and vicious Liao soldiers. Even if she wasn't the original owner of this body, the immersion was absolute.

Finally, the three grand characters of the Imperial Ancestral Temple appeared before Shu Yao's eyes.

The temple doors were tightly shut, leaving her with nowhere else to run.

The dense swarm of Liao soldiers came to a halt, staring at her with mocking grins, like spectators watching the death throes of a cornered beast.

"Run! Keep running, Princess Jianning."

The lead Liao soldier smiled, baring a mouthful of sharp teeth while continuously swaying his hand.

Shu Yao forced herself to focus, finally recognizing what he was holding by her hair.

It was unexpectedly the severed head of Chu Lanqing!

A broken blade was jammed into the side of the skull, and a pale, yellowish liquid trickled down, mingling with the falling rain.

Shu Yao staggered two steps back, grabbing hold of the temple doors as she nearly collapsed to the ground.

Seeing the terrified, petrified expression on her face, the Liao soldiers laughed even more arrogantly, their taunts rising and falling in waves.

Shu Yao shoved open the heavy doors of the Imperial Ancestral Temple and stumbled inside.

Countless flickering candlelight flames greeted her vision, and the rich scent of dragon-saliva incense momentarily overrode the stench of blood.

This place was actually... the sanctuary where the spirit tablets of former emperors and ancestors were enshrined.

The rows of dark brown wooden tablets looked like pairs of unblinking eyes, staring down coldly from on high.

"My Lord."

The Liao soldiers behind her reined in their laughter, shouting the two words in neat unison.

Shu Yao turned around.

Emerging from the dense crowd of enemy soldiers was a familiar yet terrifying figure.

The man's silver armor was dyed a vivid red with blood, and his dark, gloomy gaze burned with a hatred that longed to devour her very bones. Yet despite the murderous fury in his eyes, the corners of his lips curled into a smile.

A smile that made one's scalp crawl.

"Long time no see, Your Highness the Princess."