CH 58

It was said that relationships between those related by blood were the most secure and long lasting, as they are like a lock. But there was also another saying that the most intimate couple, no matter how many things in the world you could give them, you wouldn’t be able to exchange their partner for anything. 

Xie Yu Zhi could kill and slaughter in the midst of the battlefield, without a care for himself and unafraid to die, but the one thing he had come to be afraid of was that when he died Chen Miao Ping would not be safe.

Each day that Xie Yu Zhi remained alive meant another day that Chen Miao Ping would be protected. If Chen Miao Ping left the Xie family, left the area of his territory, he would never be able to protect him again in this lifetime……

The dark of the night was slowly thickening and a misty rain was starting to fall. There seemed to be a bloody stench mixed in with the mist, and having to breathe it in was extremely nauseating. 

Completely drenched in a deathly and terrifying silence, the estate had been dispersed of all its servants as much as it could have been, to have them all away from Chang Guo Gong’s estate, and leaving only a few strong fighters to guard the entrance.

The Imperial Palace was on the east side of the city, and standing on top of it and looking out, the only source of light were the fires crackling in the sky. Not even the rain water had the ability to extinguish those burning fires. 

Groups and groups of soldiers and horses were running straight towards the Imperial Palace, sounding very hurried. The sound of the clangs and clashes of blades and armor rang in the night, and numerous arrows were glimmering like tiny needles with frosted tips, hiding in the dark of the night until it hit its target.

Extra candles and firestarters1 had been prepared for Chen Miao Ping in the underground chamber. And it was well needed as the lantern torch that Xie Yu Zhi had brought in was already dimming away, but Chen Miao Ping paid no attention to that. Instead, he was sitting down and leaning against the wall with his legs crossed. Unmoving until there seemed to be chaotic foot movements above his head.

He opened his eyes and snapped back to alertness. Gathering the bottom of his robe up to his waist, he crouched and slowly walked up the stone stairs. He couldn’t see what was going on, but he put his ear on the floor and this way, he could hear some sounds of movements.

Someone has entered Qu Feng Courtyard and it wasn’t only just one……

The movements were chaotic and there were sounds of fighting. But it all stopped very soon and following the decrease in metal clashing against each other were the sounds of footsteps coming closer and closer. Whoever it was had walked into the room and Chen Miao Ping could even feel that person walk above him.

Like a band of bandits storming in, they began to flip and destroy everything, at least from what he could hear from the sounds of the items in the room shattering against the floor. The tables and chairs were being smashed and even without seeing it happen in front of his eyes, he knew that the room must be a disastrous sight. Chen Miao Ping’s heart immediately dropped cold, and he couldn’t help but think of the worst.

The Liao Empire soldiers were camping outside the city, and Li Qin Wang would be assisted by the military power of Sun Tong and his own personal private army in his attempt in mutiny. That tallied to three armies already under his command. 

If Xie Yu Zhi needed to hold down the fort against the Liao Empire rushing in and hold the line for the safety of the Emperor and the Noble Consort of Brightness, he would have to split up his soldiers that were already not in high numbers. 

It didn’t look good at all.

Chen Miao Ping slowly stood up, pacing back and forth in the chamber. He reached out to touch the cold, freezing bricks on the walls and asked the system, 

“What time is it now?”

[ Ding! The galaxy’s strongest self-sufficient system reports the time for you. It is currently 1:15 am in Da Jin. ]

Chen Miao Ping paused in shock, unable to believe that it was already the second day, and his fingers started to shiver without his control. After a long time, he asked again, 

“Will Xie Yu Zhi die?”

Notes:

*1 firestarters: a special kind of device made with usually tightly wounded paper, where you usually just blow and it will start a small invisible flame that doesn’t last very long, but can light a candle, etc. But that’s mostly for wealthy people/the imperial palace where the paper goes through a special process that has to be like submerged into a special type of processed water and then pressed and then add cotton and other things, and then sun dry and then add a lot of other things/materials like saltpeter or fragrances before putting it into a bamboo pipe/tube.

For most less wealthy people, it’s usually just very rough paper, usually ones used to make paper money or like papyrus which then are cut to the length of the bamboo tube and rolled up. It will be lit and then be put into that tube with the entire thing closed off so no air is in or out and when you need it, you open it, blow lightly and it will create a fire.

>>Based on feedback, I’ve added a cliffhanger warning up top! Hopefully that will help some who haven’t read the chapter yet… (;´Д`) Plum and I were batch editing and proofreading, so we might have been overly biased on what counts as a major cliffhanger… Sorry about that (and to those who have already read this without the warning)!