Chapter 49

Ye Rui was utterly baffled. She stepped onto the sandy ground of the mountain stronghold, then climbed the bamboo steps, and the creaking sounds gradually pulled her back to her senses.

Her hand was still being held by the child. The little hand was cold, and the child looked only seven or eight years old, yet the anxious expression on their face was exactly like a mother worrying over her own children.

“Uh…”

Oh gods, she had only meant to come scout the enemy situation. How had she somehow infiltrated the enemy stronghold instead?

“Sis, you must be from Ping’an Village too, right? You don’t look badly hurt, so please help us. Our boss was injured in the back, and I don’t know how to bandage her…”

Halfway through, the child’s voice choked up. Ye Rui found it hard to refuse any longer. Though this accident had made her scalp prickle with tension, she couldn’t very well break the child’s heart.

“Alright, I’ll take good care of her. Don’t worry.”

Boss Hua; could that be the chief? Wait, am I, a woman, going to treat a man? Ye Rui had always assumed the chief would be male, but when she reached the doorway of the tallest dwelling and caught a whiff of fragrance from inside, she suddenly understood.

She had been too rigid. The chief of a bandit stronghold could be a woman too.

“Boss, Boss, I found someone to help you apply medicine!”

The child didn’t open the door, only called in through it. Inside, candlelight flickered; a thin female silhouette could be seen faintly. Ye Rui glanced around and noticed that no one seemed to dare approach this place. The others all kept well away from the building.

“Fine, come in.”

Sure enough, it was a woman.

After the child thanked Ye Rui, Ye Rui carefully pushed the door open and stepped inside, all the while remembering the information Mu Xue had given her about the chief’s martial skills. According to the intelligence, the chief was skilled in fists, palms, and blade work, with flexible and unpredictable moves; her weakness was an unstable lower body, so striking at her legs would win the fight.

The room was extremely bare: a hard bed, a low table, a small cabinet, and not even a single chair. The woman stood with her back to the door, bracing herself against the table with all her strength so she wouldn’t collapse. Two shocking bloody gashes marked her back, staining her off-white coarse cloth shirt red.

Good heavens!

Ye Rui shoved everything else from her mind at once and hurried to the woman’s side. “What kind of wound is this?”

Oh gods, there’s so much blood I’m getting phantom pain. The old injuries I had before seem like they’re starting to ache too; this is terrifying.

“It’s a blade wound…”

The woman said it flatly, then moved the small bottle on the table aside. “Trouble you to help me apply the medicine.”

Ye Rui took the bottle and opened it to sniff. A pungent medicinal smell rushed out, making her face crumple. It was a very cheap styptic powder; she’d vaguely smelled this same odor at the apothecary before. It was unpleasant, and she’d seen several poor families buy it.

Whether it actually stopped bleeding or not, Ye Rui didn’t know; but the woman’s wound was so deep that this stuff was probably… a drop in the bucket.

After hesitating for a moment, Ye Rui still set down the medicine bottle the woman had handed her. Just as she was about to take out the brocade pouch at her waist, the woman had already undone her belt. Her simple outer robe slid down, but the blood on her back had stuck the cloth to her skin, so it wouldn’t come off. The pain made the woman groan several times.

Just watching made Ye Rui hurt; her whole body went numb. “Do you have scissors? I can cut it off for you.”

The woman said a little awkwardly, “…I don’t have any other clothes.”

Ye Rui: “…”

If she couldn’t cut it, should she just rip it off by force? Wouldn’t that hurt to death?

“I can endure it. Do it.”

Ye Rui’s palms were cold. You can endure it; I can’t!

But the woman had already said she didn’t have any other clothes. If they cut the garment to pieces, was she supposed to go around naked?

In the end, after the woman nearly fainted from pain several times, the clothing was finally removed. Because she had practiced martial arts for many years, her muscles were firm and her skin a healthy wheat color. Since she was naked from the waist up, she didn’t once turn to look at Ye Rui; she only raised one hand to shield her chest.

The wound was fairly deep; the flesh had split open, and blood was still seeping out. The bleeding had slowed, but if she moved too much, that definitely wouldn’t do.

Ye Rui thought it over and did not use the cheap styptic powder. Instead, she took out the wound medicine Daxi had given her from her brocade pouch. First she used the bucket of water beside the woman to clean the wound, then applied her own medicine.

The woman endured the pain. By the time Ye Rui had finally finished applying the medicine, the woman had already placed the bandages on the table for Ye Rui to wrap her up.

As soon as Ye Rui picked up the bandages, the woman asked, “Who are you?”

Her tone turned icy instantly. Ye Rui’s alarm bells rang at once; she held the bandage in one hand and the purple blade at her waist in the other, on guard.

Ye Rui’s silence made the woman even more wary, her voice carrying a trace of killing intent. “Are you one of the court’s people?”

“Not exactly.”

Only then did Ye Rui speak. “Don’t move around. I have no intention of hurting you right now; perhaps we can talk properly.”

Ye Rui released the Purple Blade and watched the woman’s every movement like a hawk. The woman seemed unable to strike back at the moment; besides the wound on her back, Ye Rui also noticed multiple bruises on her hands and that her breathing was unstable. She was probably injured internally too.

“People outside all say you’re bandits, but I see that your stronghold has men and women, old and young, and you’ve taken in a lot of wounded people. What’s going on?”

As she asked, Ye Rui wrapped the bandages around the woman. The woman was fairly cooperative and didn’t struggle. She only let out a cold laugh. “Bandits? Hah.”

After a couple of breaths, she continued, “The court troops went to Ping’an Village to collect taxes. Ping’an Village was already a poor place, so how could they possibly pay the tax? Those court troops then swept through the village.”

“When we heard about it, we rushed over and fought the officials. In the end, we drove them off and quickly brought all the surviving villagers back to the stronghold.”

Ye Rui found the whole thing unbelievable. Ping’an Village should be near Mount Yu, and could be considered close to the capital city. Yet under the Emperor’s very nose, there were still officials burning, killing, and looting? Was there no law at all?

The woman gritted her teeth, hatred flashing in her eyes. “It was that She Wolf’s order. Damn her!”

Remembering the devastation in the village, the villagers with their heads and bodies separated, blood flooding the ground, the houses going up in flames, and the screams that seemed to pierce the sky, the woman’s hatred deepened. Those officials still sat high on their horses, trampling over corpses with iron hooves and treating human lives like weeds. Truly hateful!!

Ye Rui frowned sharply when she heard that this had been ordered by Xie Tinglan. “Impossible. She would never do something like that!”

Doing this would bring Xie Tinglan no benefit at all. She had no reason to slaughter civilians like this. Unless…

“Those officials kept saying it was She Wolf’s order. How could it not be true?”

The woman clenched her fists. Under the agitation, the wound bled a little more. Ye Rui immediately pressed a hand to her shoulder. “Don’t get agitated.”

After taking a deep breath, the woman forced herself to calm down. “Hearsay is not proof. Let’s not talk about that for now; tell me, are you really bandits?”

First a village massacre, then bandits; the two things had happened one after the other, as if they had been calculated. The massacre was said to be Xie Tinglan’s order, and now this bandit suppression operation had dragged Xie Tinglan’s people—and her, in fact—into it. This was clearly designed to pin all the blame on Xie Tinglan.

That group of garrison troops had never intended to eradicate bandits at all. If there were survivors here, and they learned that she came from the Xie residence, wouldn’t that further confirm Xie Tinglan as a heinous villain?

This was obviously a trap laid by the Emperor. No, more precisely, the Emperor was paving the road; he wanted to package Xie Tinglan as even more detestable, to make the world hate that bloodthirsty She Wolf. If he wanted to get rid of her later, he’d have even more excuses. This was laying the groundwork for crossing the bridge after it was burned.

Hah, that dog Emperor!

Ye Rui quickly finished bandaging the woman. Only then did the woman turn around, revealing a bright, heroic face before Ye Rui. She looked to be in her thirties, with wheat-colored skin and star-bright eyes. Her hair was tied high, and there was an old scar on her neck; she looked exactly like someone who had been rolling around the jianghu for a long time.

“We’re not bandits; we’re just martial artists staying in the mountains temporarily. We occasionally gather materials to sell in town, and we’ve also driven off quite a few bandits. This stronghold used to belong to bandits anyway; the junk piles in the corner are all things those bandits looted.”

The woman looked at Ye Rui, her brow furrowing. “So you thought we were bandits.”

Ye Rui shook her head, her expression no better. “My situation here may be even more serious than yours. In any case, the massacre was not done by Xie Tinglan. I’m in the capital city, so I know a thing or two.”

“You’re one of She Wolf’s people?”

The woman’s instincts were sharp. Seeing Ye Rui repeatedly speak up for Xie Tinglan, she had already grown suspicious.

For a moment, Ye Rui didn’t know whether to admit it. She said, “In any case, she’s also one of the framed parties in this matter. I was also forced to come here under orders to suppress you, but I’m just meat on the chopping block too; I had no choice but to shake off those officials and sneak in.”

The woman naturally didn’t understand what Ye Rui meant. She only thought her words were all over the place and hard to believe. However, Ye Rui had used different medicine to treat her injuries and hadn’t taken advantage of her while she was down, so for now, the woman could trust her.

“My name is Ye Rui. I know that if I came here and failed to wipe you out, I’d never escape punishment when I return. But I’ve already decided I won’t hurt you. However, you must leave this place. Otherwise, one day that dog Emperor will really send troops to wipe you out.”

Ye Rui was deliberately trying to scare the woman. If the Yuan Emperor learned that she had come into contact with bandits and still came back alive, then the matter of framing Xie Tinglan would soon be made public. By then, he would surely send people to silence everyone.

If one mouth could be silenced, then better silence one more.

“My name is Lu Yihua; I’m the chief of this stronghold.”

Lu Yihua?! You’re Lu Yihua! Good heavens, then you absolutely can’t die! If you do, my main quest will fail!

Lu Yihua still hadn’t fully let down her guard. “Why are you helping us?”

“When I see injustice, I draw my blade to help. I can’t do something like flattening your stronghold.”

After saying that, Ye Rui tipped several healing pills out of her pouch and said, “These are excellent wound medicines. Your injuries need to heal quickly if you’re going to take so many people away.”

Ye Rui didn’t know what she would face after secretly letting these bandits leave, but she absolutely could not stand by and watch these elderly people, women, and children die under the hands of those officials.

“How can I trust you?”

Lu Yihua naturally didn’t take the medicine. Right now, she had to proceed step by step; if something happened to her, what would become of this stronghold?

“I don’t know how you can trust me. We don’t have time to build trust now; I still need your help.”

After thinking it over, Ye Rui realized there was no perfect way to protect herself right now, but perhaps there was still only one way to reduce the damage as much as possible.

“I need you to act in a play with me. There are only thirty imperial troops with us; you’ll pretend to fight, then escape. Ideally, you can defeat them so badly that they retreat and return home, and you’ll have an explanation too.”

Ye Rui paused, then thought it through and added, “No need to confront them head-on. We can work from the inside and outside together; use some traps to weaken their fighting strength, and I’ll lead the people down the mountain.”

Lu Yihua said nothing for a long while after hearing this. Ye Rui knew she still didn’t trust her, so she said, “If you can leave safely and I can live safely too, then half a month from now, we’ll meet in Dongfeng Ward in the capital city. And you must not spread the story that the massacre was done by Xie Tinglan.”

Lu Yihua took Ye Rui’s hand and asked, “Are you telling the truth?”

“Of course I am. If I’m lying, I’m a puppy.”

Lu Yihua was stunned for a moment when she heard that, then suddenly burst out laughing. Just a moment ago, Ye Rui had been speaking so seriously, so full of plans and foresight; yet now she was talking like a child. She was truly interesting.

Ye Rui took out the map and discussed strategy with Lu Yihua, deciding where traps should be laid tomorrow and where she would draw the enemy toward.

“In any case, once we leave, you must get out of here as soon as possible no matter what. There should be villages nearby where you can take shelter. Split up and go separately; don’t stay together, or you’ll be too conspicuous.”

After Ye Rui finished instructing her, Lu Yihua finally asked after a long pause, “What will you do if you can’t complete the mission?”

“I don’t know… I’ll leave it to fate. If I don’t come to Dongfeng Ward half a month from now, or if I don’t send anyone, then I may have… run into some trouble. Go find Mu Xue at Yanyu Tower and say that Ye Rui sent you to find her; ask her for protection.”

Lu Yihua couldn’t enter the Xie residence. Ye Rui didn’t know whether her face had been seen and recognized by those officials. If she had to find another person in the capital city to rely on, then it would certainly be Mu Xue. She owed Mu Xue so much already, and didn’t even know how she was going to repay that favor.

Lu Yihua was bringing this entire group with her, and they were utterly destitute; someone had to support them. Mu Xue didn’t look like someone who did good deeds, but in order to complete the main quest, Ye Rui had to owe this favor somehow.

Ye Rui didn’t know what use Lu Yihua would have in the future, but since the main quest had set her up this way, she had to be important. Ye Rui had to protect her.

“Alright.”

After Lu Yihua agreed, she swallowed one of the healing pills Ye Rui had given her. She said nothing else, but Ye Rui understood her intentions.

Ye Rui left the mountain stronghold. On the way back, she discovered Tang Yan and another soldier searching for her; Ye Rui guessed that man was probably an Azure Dragon Guard disguised as a soldier. She helplessly said that the stronghold’s defenses were too tight and she couldn’t infiltrate, then followed them back to camp.

The next day, Ye Rui and Tang Yan pretended to discuss the strategy for attacking the mountain stronghold. As Ye Rui expected, Tang Yan refused to listen to her advice and insisted on following the strategy he had originally planned; and that strategy would inevitably take them along the narrow path Ye Rui and Lu Yihua had agreed to trap.

They were ambushed on that path, and the two sides launched into a fierce battle. Tang Yan clearly hadn’t expected the bandits to appear in this place and have traps laid in advance; he immediately regretted it, his mind filled with only one thought: he should have listened to Ye Rui.

After several rounds of fighting, the bandits withdrew safely by relying on their familiarity with the mountain paths. In order to protect the soldiers and Tang Yan, Ye Rui was injured by accident, though the wound wasn’t severe. Of course, this was also part of Ye Rui’s act for Tang Yan’s sake; she needed him to know that her heart was with them.

She hoped Tang Yan and that Azure Dragon Guard still had a shred of conscience and could say a few words for her.

Because everyone had sustained injuries of varying degrees, the mission could only be halted and they returned to the capital city. On the road, Ye Rui looked back at Mount Yu, coiled like a green dragon, and silently hoped that Lu Yihua and the others in the stronghold would leave safely. At the same time, she was also relieved that “successful bandit suppression” wasn’t even one of the main quest’s requirements; the important thing was to get Lu Yihua under her command.

Just as they returned to the capital, Eunuch Zhao Sheng’s imperial decree arrived, ordering all of them to enter the palace and face the Emperor.

A mere bandit-suppression operation, and the Yuan Emperor had to appear personally to punish them? Ye Rui felt that all of this was predictable, but she still thought the Emperor’s excessive grandstanding was rather laughable.

He really was going all out to deal with Xie Tinglan, even using every knife he could lay hands on.

A blade had slashed across Ye Rui’s back. Though the wound was not deep, she had been jostled on horseback for half a day and had had no time to apply medicine; now it truly hurt so much that she was breaking out in cold sweat.

“Mm…”

Her legs went weak, and she nearly lurched forward. Fortunately, Tang Yan caught her at once and asked with concern, “Miss Ye, are you alright?”

“I’m, I’m fine. Audience with the Emperor is the important thing.”

Ye Rui’s face was pale as she gripped Tang Yan’s forearm tightly to steady herself. Tang Yan frowned, remembering the sight from the mountains just now, when Ye Rui had been cut while saving him; his steps suddenly grew heavy.

He turned to look at the soldier beside them, and that soldier was also frowning, as though making some difficult decision.

They passed the Longmen Gate, then Shenwu Plaza. Ye Rui was increasingly unable to stand or keep walking. Though she forced herself onward with inner energy, the capital city’s winter was truly bone-chilling.

After passing through two corridors, they finally reached Chengtian Hall. Ye Rui lifted her head to look at the palace atop the steps. Chengtian Hall stood imposing and majestic; its eaves jutted sharply upward, and its roof was covered in glazed yellow tiles that reflected countless golden rays under the winter sunlight, as if auspicious energy were swirling around it.

Once they climbed the steps and entered the great hall, a long red carpet stretched straight ahead toward the steps. Ye Rui no longer dared look up; she only felt the hall was terrifyingly quiet, like a place abandoned by all life. She stared at the jade-tiled floor and the floral patterns painted upon it, waiting for whatever fate, bright or dark, came next.

“Salute to Your Majesty—”

Ye Rui followed everyone in cupping her hands and bowing toward the figure atop the steps. The man gave no reply. Zhao Sheng opened his mouth: “All of you, kneel—”

That sharp voice was especially grating. Ye Rui didn’t want to kneel; no matter what, her knees refused to bend. Then she heard a familiar voice, and her whole body jolted.

“Ye Rui, why are you not kneeling?”

Ye Rui raised her head abruptly, yet didn’t dare lift it too high; she could only barely make out the dark red python robe, the jade-and-gold belt cinching a slim waist, and those black boots.

“May Your Majesty forgive me; this commoner has an injury on her back. It’s not that I refuse to kneel, only that my movements are a little slower.”

Only then did Ye Rui slowly bend her knees and kneel down. The man on the steps still said nothing; the atmosphere was deathly still, and an inexplicable pressure was closing in.

“May Your Majesty forgive me. This bandit-suppression mission failed… it is this general’s fault.”

After hesitating for a moment, Tang Yan still spoke. “Please punish me, Your Majesty!”

A trace of confusion flashed across the face of the man on the dragon throne. Frowning, he looked at Tang Yan, then at the soldier behind him. The soldier merely kept his head lowered and said nothing.

“Those mountain bandits slaughtered villages and harmed the common people. Your bandit suppression failed and damaged the court’s prestige; won’t those bandits become even more rampant? How are the people’s suffering to be relieved!”

When the Son of Heaven was angry, the hall fell silent.

The Yuan Emperor’s gaze swept toward the soldier behind Tang Yan, but that person still kept his head down and said nothing. The emperor’s brows shot up in fury. “You can’t even take down a mere bandit gang; with what face do you return to see me!”

Ye Rui lowered her head, but a cold smile curled at the corners of her mouth as she thought: This dog Emperor really is good at playing schemes. When slaughtering the village, he said it was Xie Tinglan’s order; now in court, he says the bandits did it, trying to gain everything for himself!

Now all of Ye Rui’s hopes rested on Xie Tinglan. The Emperor clearly had no intention of letting her off. If Tang Yan hadn’t taken the blame, the Emperor might have pronounced sentence the moment he opened his mouth; why bother saying so much useless nonsense.

The Yuan Emperor turned to Xie Tinglan and said, “My dear official, the garrison troops are under my command, and I will certainly punish them heavily. Ye Rui is the guard under your residence. With this mission ending in total defeat, how should she be dealt with?”

Xie Tinglan, dressed in a dark red python robe, had an expression as calm as still water. She held a jade tablet in her hands, her gaze resting on Ye Rui, and no one could tell what she was feeling.

Then she turned to the Emperor and said, each word ringing clear and hard, “Failed in suppressing the bandits; the people’s suffering remains unresolved; the military prestige has been harmed—she must be punished!”

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Author’s note: I’m here. I’ve been helping prepare my best friend’s wedding these past few days, and I’m exhausted. This is a stockpiled draft.[Crying][Crying][Crying]