Chazi reached outside the hall and called to the black-clothed fighters, “Withdraw!”
Mu Si turned his head, glancing at Dan Shuang. Dan Shuang was fighting a Liaodong assassin, her sword strikes sharp and all killing moves.
He glanced once more at Murong Yi, then without a word turned and left.
The group leaped onto the rooftops where whistles sounded continuously, with countless people providing cover.
Just moments ago, when Duanmu attacked the palace city and the palace responded with full force, when Xia Houchun was blocked outside the palace walls, when Tie Ci was also held back by Sang Tang—this was the most vulnerable period for the imperial palace’s defenses in two years. During this time, far too many people who shouldn’t have infiltrated had done so.
The ministers were escorted outside the hall by some guards. They still hadn’t recovered from the great shock, except for Zhu Yi, who saw Murong Yi being carried out covered in blood and immediately understood what had happened.
He suddenly sprang up, pointing at Murong Yi and shouting, “Don’t let them leave! Don’t let Murong Yi leave! Baize Guard! Baize Guard! Even if you die, you must stop him!”
Chazi sneered coldly, shaking her sleeve to scatter poisonous powder. The pursuing Baize Guards either collapsed or retreated, while she had already swept far away under everyone’s protection.
Zhu Yi stumbled and fell, pushing away those who tried to help him as he looked for a horse to give chase. The palace was in chaos now, with many guards still at the city walls unable to return in time. He needed to catch up and promptly order an intercept.
But where could one find horses within the palace grounds at this moment?
He looked up to see the Crown Princess slowly walking out from the inner hall.
Up to this point, facing sudden catastrophe, she had remained silent throughout.
She hadn’t even ordered an intercept.
Zhu Yi understood in an instant.
It was time for the words his master had instructed him to say.
Beside him, Qi You was supporting him and asking if he was alright.
He suddenly grabbed Qi You and urgently asked, “How is your lightness skill?”
“Passable.”
“Carry me in pursuit!” Zhu Yi commanded harshly. “We must stop him!”
He rushed to Duan Yande’s side and yanked the token from his waist. Before Duan Yande could cry out in alarm, he rushed toward Qi You.
Qi You hesitated slightly, glancing at the sky, but ultimately said nothing and carried Zhu Yi as they swept away.
Zhu Yi lay on Qi You’s back, facing the endless cold wind and vicious snow of this night. Opening his mouth, it filled with icy coldness.
He pursued the dim figures ahead in the wind and snow, raising high the token in his hand—the palace guard command token that only the Vice Prime Minister possessed, allowing him to mobilize palace guards in times of crisis.
Holding the token high, he shouted through the wind and snow, “All Baize Guards along the route, heed this command! Immediately assemble to intercept the black-clothed assassins ahead! Spare no cost to keep them within the palace gates! Those with merit will be promoted three ranks and receive generous gold rewards!”
“Spare no cost to keep them within the palace gates!”
“Spare no cost to keep them within the palace gates!”
Countless figures rushed forward, the sounds of military boots and weapon clashes ringing through the snowy dawn.
The snow showed no sign of stopping, falling cold and stubborn, without sorrow or joy.
“Spare no cost to keep them within the palace gates!”
The voice grew louder and louder, yet increasingly hoarse, carrying far through the wind and snow.
…
Inside Chongming Palace, seeing the Liaodong assassins rescue Murong Yi and depart, the ministers finally came to their senses. They wailed loudly and crawled into the hall.
They suddenly stopped their movements.
Kneeling in the bloodstains and snow mud, they saw the Crown Princess finally slowly walk out from the inner hall.
She looked quite normal, without even an expression, but everyone who saw her felt their hearts shake.
Because the Crown Princess of old always had smiling eyes, eyes filled with light.
Gentle and compassionate.
But at this moment, across the icy wind and cold snow, the deep red palace walls, the Crown Princess standing in the hall looked as if she too had been molded from ice and snow, and the light in her eyes had disappeared.
Someone suddenly began to sob.
The mournful sound, like a weeping flute, echoed around the walls of Chongming Palace.
Tie Ci didn’t listen to these cries. At this moment she couldn’t hear anything.
She slowly sat down beside Father Emperor.
Only now could she quietly look at Father Emperor.
She looked for a long time, even carefully examining those ugly pustules.
Finally, she reached out to straighten Father Emperor’s crown, arrange his disheveled hair, adjust his collar, and used her sleeve to wipe the blood from Father Emperor’s face with her own sleeve.
Past events rushed by like yesterday.
Every scene belonging to him flowed past.
There was him carrying tiny her on his back riding a big horse, scattering countless laughs throughout the Imperial Garden.
There was him placing her on his lap, guiding her hands to personally teach her writing.
There was him at the Crown Prince investiture ceremony, looking at the small child performing the rituals properly, his eyes containing apology as he gently touched the top of her head.
There was him after being humiliated by the Empress Dowager, forcing a smile before her while still trying to amuse and comfort her.
There was him pointing at the beautiful landscape with a small stick, chasing after her wanting her to choose one.
There was him whose face turned iron-blue with anger over those broken engagement letters, yet still said to her “my girl is the best.”
There was him who loved visiting her Ruixiang Hall to secretly pet her cats.
There was him who made an exception to leave the palace and personally came to fetch her.
There was him who placed her on his lap to let her sleep peacefully.
There was him at Maple Garden enjoying himself thoroughly for the first time, laughing like a child.
There was him standing before the snowy hall, pointing at the “Thousand Li Rivers and Mountains” relief behind her, smiling as he spoke his last words to her.
Those words she hadn’t heard clearly then, but now suddenly rang clearly beside her ear.
If she had known those were the last words Father Emperor would ever say to her in this life.
If she had known that was the last time she would see Father Emperor.
If she had known that was Father Emperor’s last smile in this life.
She would definitely have chased after him, chased into Chongming Palace. Even unto death, she wouldn’t have let today’s Chongming Palace be stained with blood, wouldn’t have lost all her most beloved people in one night, wouldn’t have let endless regret fill the world, writing only of cold halls and lonely lamps from then on.
How could she pursue this life that had stopped abruptly while racing toward its peak, now retreating and about to slide into the abyss?
She raised her hand and gently closed Tie Yan’s wide-open eyes.
Bending down, she pressed her face against Father Emperor’s chest.
Just as before age twelve, when tired and in pain, this was what she most loved to do with Father Emperor.
But now, no one would embrace her, raise their hand, and gently pat her back to comfort her.
But now, the chest beneath her face had no warmth, no familiar heartbeat.
She would never feel this again in this lifetime.
Perhaps this was her fate—only to forge that imperial heart as hard as iron, undeserving of the world’s burning warmth. Once obtained, it was instantly lost.
She suddenly leaned forward, her whole body prostrating on Tie Yan.
Behind her, Dan Shuang’s cry was heart-rending: “Your Highness!”
Large amounts of blood gushed from Tie Ci’s mouth, flowing down Tie Yan’s robes. She knelt prostrate in her own pool of blood, her forehead pressed hard against the disk buttons on Father Emperor’s robe, her arms trembling, unable to rise.
Everyone could only see her thin shoulders that rose and trembled slightly, and between the gap of their two bodies, the continuously dripping blood that was shocking to see.
Footsteps sounded as Chi Xue, Jian Xi and others also supported each other rushing in. Chi Xue pushed away Jian Xi who was supporting her and shouted, “Summon the Imperial Physicians! Summon the Imperial Physicians!”
“Seal Chongming Palace!”
The shocked cabinet members finally reacted, giving orders and rushing up the steps.
But at this moment, light and shadow flashed.
Like a sudden wind that blew snowflakes sideways, revealing a narrow gap through which cold light flashed.
The next instant the cold light reached Tie Ci’s back!
Cries of alarm arose!
Tie Ci still lay in her original position.
Dan Shuang, who was closest, saw her pupils dilate.
She knew that at such speed, she couldn’t even throw herself in the way in time, let alone strike out.
The next moment, wind swept by and Tie Ci suddenly disappeared.
The instant she vanished, that point of cold light seemed to pause, then whistled out again.
Dan Shuang had already thrown herself to Tie Ci’s position. Seeing the figure gone, she was overjoyed—the Crown Princess must have successfully teleported.
But then she felt herself crash into something soft, cold, and faintly smelling of blood.
She stared wide-eyed.
There was clearly nothing before her eyes…
The next instant her shoulder and back exploded in pain as that cold light landed on her shoulder.
The moment blood burst forth, Dan Shuang didn’t flee. She actually gritted her teeth and slammed backward, letting the cold blade pierce through her shoulder blade. Twisting her body, she forcibly clamped the sword that had stabbed into her shoulder, then charged in the opposite direction.
Cold light like silk, blood like red ribbon—she actually used her own flesh and blood to trap the assassin’s sword, leaping to another direction.
The assassin lost their sword and let out a cold laugh. Still no one could see this person’s appearance, only feeling a shadow like light flashing by.
At this time Baize Guards had already rushed into the hall. They saw neither the Crown Princess nor the assassin, only Dan Shuang gritting her teeth as she violently pulled out the sword from her shoulder and back, looking around.
The hall was empty, only wind blowing the curtains in gentle sways.
Tie Ci slowly raised her head.
She was now behind a fallen screen that formed a dead angle with the wall behind it, invisible from any direction.
But how she had gotten from Father Emperor’s side to here, she couldn’t remember at all.
It definitely wasn’t her own teleportation.
She could feel that at least now, the innate abilities within her body could no longer be used.
Just moments ago, when cold wind touched her body, in that instant she knew an extremely skilled assassin had come. She couldn’t resist at all in her current state.
The plots were linked like chains. After killing Father Emperor, she would naturally be next.
The opponent was extremely powerful, with impeccable timing.
She closed her eyes.
Fatigue struck. She didn’t want to struggle.
Let it be.
But the next instant she felt a warm, soft body cover her. Someone held her and rolled once, at the moment Dan Shuang threw herself forward to take her place, bringing her rolling to this corner and hiding her here.
At this moment her rescuer had already disappeared. She didn’t even know who it was.
Figures moved as Baize Guards searched the hall futilely.
Tie Ci closed her eyes and suddenly flicked her finger, shooting out a piece of wood.
The wood block made a breaking sound as it shot through the hall. Everyone stopped and instinctively chased the source of the sound.
Tie Ci closed her eyes and listened.
Wind and snow sounds, breathing sounds, footsteps from outside the hall, and inside the hall… the sound of robes carried by wind!
Everyone was standing still to listen.
Only an assassin would have such quick reaction and speed!
A figure flashed as Tie Ci flew out from behind the screen. Raising her hand, the jade brush shot like white lightning, chasing a wisp of black wind.
With a soft hiss, a line of blood crisscrossed in the air. The wind stopped and a person in mid-air turned back in shocked anger.
Only then did she reveal her form—small in stature with childish features.
It was Yannan’s little shadow who moved like a ghost, now the world’s remaining best assassin.
Surprise lingered between her brows, as if she hadn’t expected Tie Ci at her limit could still wound her.
Of course, it was indeed a very light wound, only scraping off a layer of skin.
Tie Ci met her gaze and walked out calmly.
She stepped over the ground covered with broken bricks and scattered wood.
Slowly she sat on the throne of Chongming Palace.
She sat in Father Emperor’s former seat, looking down from above, elbows resting on her knees, eyes weary.
She beckoned with her finger at the terrible assassin before her.
This contemptuous attitude obviously immediately enraged Xiao Ying. A streak of black light, like a swimming snake, had just reflected on the ground one moment and suddenly appeared before Tie Ci’s knees the next.
Like a shadow herself, when light arrived, life departed.
Tie Ci didn’t move.
Light and shadow reached her boot tips in a blink.
The next moment there was a thunderous crash. The ground before the throne collapsed, several steel plates rose on four sides, and the tops of the steel plates rattled as they instantly covered over.
Trapping Xiao Ying inside.
But it was only for a moment. There were several bangs inside, and the steel plates bulged with palm-shaped outlines. Obviously this couldn’t contain Xiao Ying—she’d break free in no time.
Tie Ci sat expressionlessly on the throne, her fingers tapping and flicking.
Rumble.
Another steel plate shot up from the ground, covering the previous cage.
Rumble.
Another one.
Rumble.
Yet another.
The rumbling sounds continued endlessly. The entire great hall shook slightly as cage after cage appeared, forcibly turning Xiao Ying into a nesting doll.
People inside and outside the hall stared at the suddenly appearing multi-layered fortress, dumbstruck and almost believing themselves in a dream.
Tie Ci sat on the throne, looking at the cage before her, closing her eyes.
How could just these layers upon layers of steel barriers contain the world’s strongest assassin?
In this hall, under the throne, behind screens, before writing desks, behind curtains—everywhere one could think of and couldn’t think of, there were mechanisms.
Each could trap and kill people. She had exhausted her ingenuity to rebuild this for Father Emperor, to ensure Father Emperor’s life safety to the greatest extent possible.
In the end, when doom truly arrived, all the preparations were useless.
She leaned against the throne without moving.
Not that she didn’t want to rise, but that she couldn’t.
People swarmed up shouting. Tie Ci’s gaze fell on the empty wind and snow as she said softly, “Seal Chongming Palace. No entry or exit permitted.”
“Have people properly prepare His Majesty’s remains, first carry him to the inner hall, and place him together with… Mother Consort.”
“Send people to protect all important ministers and officials.”
“Have people don mourning dress and leave the palace to report to the residences of all important ministers, saying… His Majesty has passed, the Crown Princess has died.”
Duan Yande, who was kneeling before her listening, suddenly raised his head.
Tie Ci closed her eyes and said, “After killing His Majesty, the next step is to kill me. What comes after that?”
Duan Yande understood, instantly breaking out in cold sweat.
The opponents had laid such a huge trap with endless assassination chains—of course it wasn’t just to disturb the palace city.
With results achieved, they would naturally come to claim them.
The Crown Princess wanted to use news of her death to draw out the deepest hidden mastermind.
Duan Yande’s aged tears flowed instantly.
He had thought that from today on, the sky would collapse.
How could the Crown Princess, suddenly meeting great change, losing father, mother, and beloved in one night, bear it all?
He had prepared for the worst—losing command in the short term.
He had prepared for himself and the few others to risk their old lives these few days to stabilize the situation.
But he never expected.
That woman who had knelt long before her father’s corpse spitting blood, as if to vomit out all her heart’s blood.
After this series of heavy blows and successive assassinations, still hadn’t forgotten the weighty responsibility on her shoulders, still sat in her rightful position. Though more pained than anyone yet more clear-headed than anyone, she turned the tables with one move.
She didn’t give herself even a moment of weakness.
How unfortunate for Great Qian to have such fate.
How fortunate for Great Qian to have such a monarch!
Duan Yande bowed his head trembling.
Tie Ci sat on the throne, gazing ahead.
This wind wailed endlessly, this snow lingered without cease, this dawn was so deeply dark, and everyone was leaving her.
From now on, she would be truly alone.
“Since it is so,” she said, “as long as I don’t die, I wait for you here.”
…