Chapter 245: Leave Him A Whole Corpse

Before?

There were simply too many things he had said to her before, and Jiang Xuening couldn’t recall which one it was, so she could only look at her in confusion.

But Yan Lin merely smiled and said no more.

This brief delay allowed an army, one that no one had ever seen before, to approach. They effortlessly formed a standoff with the Xinzhou army, and in terms of numbers, they didn’t seem to be at any disadvantage!

Lu Xian’s eyelids twitched as he glanced at Xie Wei.

Xie Wei only watched, saying nothing.

But Shen Lang was ecstatic, no longer showing the submissive demeanor he had in front of Xie Wei. The regal bearing of an emperor suddenly returned to him, and he raised his arm, laughing heartily: “I knew it! It’s the blood of my imperial clan after all! It won’t let my painstaking efforts go to waste!”

The Xinzhou army immediately went on high alert.

Yet Xie Wei didn’t seem surprised.

He gazed at Shen Zhiyi and smiled faintly, lightly waving a hand behind him.

Yan Lin glanced at him and then commanded the entire army: “Make way for Her Highness the Princess.”

The order was utterly baffling.

Yet, from the border to the capital, through countless battles, Yan Lin, as their commander, had earned enough authority that no explanation was needed. Though puzzled, everyone swiftly parted like a receding tide.

Before the Taiji Hall, which had been surrounded like an iron barrel, a path was cleared.

Shen Zhiyi looked at Xie Wei and also noticed Jiang Xuening in the corner, watching her with a hint of doubt. At that moment, her steps faltered briefly. Then she lowered her gaze, showing no trace of fear, and led a troop of black-armored soldiers through the Xinzhou army’s formation like a sharp arrow.

With reinforcements arrived, what did Shen Lang have to fear?

These were the contingency forces left by the late emperor after the rebellion of Prince Pingnan, to prevent such betrayals from happening again!

Raised in secret at the border of Zhili and Tianjin with the emperor’s private treasury!

Generations of these soldiers answered only to the imperial clan, immovable without the royal bloodline wielding the military token!

Feeling victory within his grasp, Shen Lang found this sister, whom he had previously looked down upon, more pleasing than ever. He sneered at Xie Wei: “Did you really think I would surrender without a fight? As soon as I learned of the unrest in Xinzhou, I began planning. I had Zhou Yinzhi deliver half the military token to Leyang. Three days ago, among the many court officials, I carefully selected Zhang Zhe to deliver the other half. Zhou Yinzhi is cunning—I promised him great rewards. Zhang Zhe is upright—I appealed to his sense of righteousness. Those two would absolutely keep the secret and manage to pull this off right under your nose!”

Zhang Zhe, upright and secretive?

Xie Wei agreed with the first half, but the second…

He recalled how that day, the Assistant Minister of Justice had openly and candidly declared his intentions without any concealment. Xie Wei suddenly chuckled and glanced at Jiang Xuening.

Shen Lang, however, was completely unaware of this. As his gaze swept over the corpse lying on the ground, a look of humiliation flashed in his eyes, twisting his face.

He immediately gave the order.

Pointing his blade at Xie Wei, he declared loudly: “The Heavenly Sect has conspired with the Xinzhou army to rebel. Seize the traitor at once and quell this rebellion for me!”

There were already plenty of soldiers before the Taiji Hall.

When the emperor announced the arrival of reinforcements, everyone was invigorated.

Almost the moment Shen Lang gave the order, they grabbed their weapons and charged forward!

The Xinzhou army and the Heavenly Sect instinctively assumed the situation had turned against them. Already taut as a drawn bowstring, they were ready to snap at the slightest touch!

Those wielding swords roared with fury.

The archers in the rear let loose thousands of feathered arrows, raining down like a storm!

How could the small force at the Taiji Hall compare to the Xinzhou army?

Not to mention, the enemy held the advantage of archery.

In an instant, a swath of men fell behind Shen Lang. A look of stunned disbelief appeared on his face—

Because, the moment he gave the order, Shen Zhiyi, standing on the steps, merely closed her eyes and didn’t move an inch!

Shen Lang was dumbfounded: “Leyang, what are you waiting for?!”

An ominous premonition rose within him.

He flew into a rage, shouting at the black-armored soldiers behind Shen Zhiyi, who also remained motionless: “Are you all useless?! I ordered you to quell the rebellion!”

The black-armored soldiers weren’t without hesitation, but Shen Lang had just killed his own kin and was now in such a frenzied state that it sent chills down their spines.

Their gazes all turned to Shen Zhiyi.

Shen Zhiyi never gave the order, so they endured the verbal abuse, standing still and silent!

Xie Wei watched coldly, intrigued.

Shen Lang finally realized something was wrong. He changed his tone: “Zhiyi, what are you trying to do?”

Shen Zhiyi saw the corpse on the ground.

And her brother, holding a bloodstained blade.

It wasn’t hard to guess what had just happened here.

Even on the day she was sent to marry into a foreign land, she had never felt such despair and disappointment: “What have you done?”

Shen Lang said, “I had the military token delivered to you! The blood of the imperial clan flows in your veins—you should shoulder your responsibilities! Or do you want to see this empire fall into the hands of outsiders?”

Shen Zhiyi sneered: “Haven’t I shouldered them?!”

In the palace, though she had been spoiled, she had always been gentle.

This sudden retort left Shen Lang stunned.

His face darkened: “What do you mean?”

Shen Zhiyi looked at him with sorrow: “You’ve harmed loyal subjects, caused turmoil at the borders, yet the one sent to marry the Tatars was me! The imperial blood flows in your veins too—you sit on the throne, but what have you done to deserve that position? The lord of the realm, the ruler of all people—do you think you’re worthy?”

She had changed.

This imperial sister had changed.

Shen Lang belatedly realized: all his past actions might not have been enough to doom him, but this one mistake might ruin all his carefully laid plans!

He said, “Do you realize what you’re saying?”

Shen Zhiyi raised her voice: “I know exactly what I’m saying!”

Shen Lang’s eyes burned red: “The words I sent through Zhou Yinzhi and Zhang Zhe—have you forgotten them?”

Shen Zhiyi replied, “It’s precisely because I haven’t forgotten that I’m here today!”

Xie Wei, listening nearby, suddenly found the imperial family somewhat amusing.

Shen Jie, meanwhile, had no idea what the two were arguing about. Empress Dowager Xiao and Xiao Shu’s bodies had already gone cold.

Arrows had even landed near him moments ago.

No one paid him any attention, except for Fang Miao at the edge of the crowd, who anxiously pulled him aside when no one was looking.

Shen Lang stared at Shen Zhiyi, silent.

The situation was now worse than the worst he had imagined!

He had handed the black-armored army to her on a silver platter!

Shen Jie was useless, and he didn’t trust other kin, so he thought of Shen Zhiyi. Back then, she was in Xinzhou, and with the public support from her willing marriage alliance, it seemed only natural that, sharing the Shen bloodline, she would stand with him.

But he was wrong.

Shen Zhiyi recalled the words in the letter and those brought by Lord Zhang from the Ministry of Justice. She felt her entire life had been manipulated by others, and a wave of emotion washed over her. She said slowly, “The words you sent were correct. The weak are prey, and if you’re the prey, you can’t blame others for being the butcher. So today, I came. But not for you.”

Shen Lang clenched his jaw.

Shen Zhiyi looked at him and said, “I came for myself.”

With those words, Shen Lang’s last shred of hope shattered.

Despair drove him to madness.

Gripping his blade tightly, he lunged at Shen Zhiyi. But the Xinzhou army, already controlling the situation, reacted instantly. Someone—nobody knew who—swiftly kicked him to the ground!

In recent years, alchemists had offered so-called “immortal elixirs,” and Shen Lang’s constant use of wushi powder had long hollowed out his once-decent health. The force of the kick nearly broke his leg, and he collapsed, unable to rise.

His face twisted into something feral.

All his rage was directed at Shen Zhiyi: “How dare you? Your name is Shen, you carry the blood of the imperial clan—how dare you kick me when I’m down?!”

Tears rolled from Shen Zhiyi’s eyes as she asked, “When I went to marry for the sake of the nation, it was my duty as a princess, and I went willingly. But you committed evil first, ruled foolishly after, imprisoned me, and forced me to the distant barbarian lands. Did you ever think that I, too, am a Shen, that I, too, carry the imperial blood?!”

There was a trace of hatred in her words.

Shen Lang’s blade fell to the ground. Though he couldn’t stand, he kept cursing, no longer showing the arrogance of moments before.

Xie Wei walked over, picked up the bloodstained blade, and sighed, “It seems no one can save you now.”

Shen Lang shouted hoarsely, “Shen Zhiyi!”

Shen Zhiyi closed her eyes, as if suppressing something. But the past two years had made it clear to her: some people deserved to live, and others only deserved to die.

Yet Shen Lang was still her brother.

At that moment, she slowly opened her eyes and looked at Xie Wei. Lowering her posture, she pleaded, “I beg you, sir, for the sake of past ties, leave him a whole corpse.”

Xie Wei gazed at her, then laughed softly. “Very well.”

But the next moment, his hand rose, and the blade fell!

A cascade of blood splashed across everyone’s vision. A head dropped suddenly, rolling to Shen Zhiyi’s feet, stained with still-warm blood, its eyes staring up, grotesque and terrifying!

When the crowd came to their senses, Shen Lang’s body and head were separated.

Some civil officials, unable to stomach such a gruesome scene, covered their mouths to suppress the urge to retch.

Shen Zhiyi’s body stiffened for a moment.

When she looked down and saw Shen Lang’s unseeing, resentful face, her fingers, hanging at her side, trembled as they clenched tightly.

She raised her head to look at Xie Wei—

This was his promise of “leaving a whole corpse”!

At that moment, even the slowest among them realized something was amiss: this didn’t have to be a fight to the death, so why had Xie Ju’an acted with such ruthless finality?

Even Jiang Xuening was stunned.

It seemed many things she didn’t know had already unfolded in the shadows.

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