Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 287 Princess (2)

As night fell, the entire city of Pingyang was shrouded in darkness. However, the bright moon hung high, the stars twinkled, and the city lights flickered. Even in the dim light, the outlines of houses could be seen.

Faintly, one could hear voices and laughter coming from elsewhere, which made it seem rather lively.

The house in front of them was different; it was very quiet, without a sound.

There was only one person living in the house, an old woman in her sixties.

Grandma Gui.

Although he is old, he is the strongest martial artist in the Prince Fu's mansion, no less than his cousin Luo Tianyi.

She had always stayed by her father's side, but he was always traveling and sightseeing, which inevitably led him to come into contact with all sorts of people, including outlaws and heroes. Having a ninth-rank martial artist by her side made her and her mother feel more at ease.

Grandma Gui has quite a background.

Gao Yang's grandmother, who was also the mother of Prince Fu, came from a prominent family. Naturally, she missed her daughter's family after she entered the palace, so she arranged for a woman who had taken care of her since childhood to enter the palace. In name, she was a palace maid or a nanny, but in reality, she only obeyed the orders of Prince Fu's mother and was only responsible for the safety of one person.

After the eldest daughter passed away, this woman went to live with Prince Fu.

Even Prince Fu was a junior in front of Granny Gui. When Granny Gui scolded him in anger, Prince Fu could only listen obediently.

Aside from Song Yan and others who knew about the faked death, Gao Yang didn't tell many people. Not wanting her parents to worry, she only told Prince Fu and the Princess. After learning that Gao Yang was still alive, Prince Fu probably understood that it wasn't appropriate for the father and daughter to meet now, so he sent Granny Gui over to protect his daughter.

Gao Yang originally wanted Granny Gui to live in the governor's mansion, but Granny Gui said that since she was already living under someone else's roof, it would be inappropriate for even an old servant like her to live in the governor's mansion. Moreover, there were many experts in the governor's mansion, such as Luo Tianxuan, Luo Tianyi, and Yu Shuang, all of whom were martial artists whose strength was no less than hers. Even if they were attacked, they could easily deal with it, so there was no need to protect her all the time.

Therefore, he randomly found a house in Pingyang City and settled down.

As for the two maids that Gao Yang mentioned, they were the ones who took care of Luo Caiyi in the governor's mansion.

A few days ago, Granny Gui was strolling around Pingyang City and lost track of time. By the time she got home, it was already dark. When she passed by the governor's mansion, she saw two women rushing toward the city gate. Out of curiosity, she stopped them and asked what had happened at the governor's mansion.

Unexpectedly, instead of answering, the two women drew their daggers and stabbed Granny Gui.

These two women, like the other maids in the Luo family, had some martial arts skills, but with only the strength of first or second-grade martial artists, they were no match for Granny Gui and were easily captured. The house happened to have a basement, so they were casually thrown inside.

Then, that very night, Luo Caiyi was kidnapped by Kong Lingyun.

Gao Yang learned about the two maids on the second day.

She wasn't good at interrogation and wanted to hand it over to Song Yan, but Song Yan had already begun investigating the maids in the governor's mansion and arresting the two maids. If she handed them over at this time, it would seem strange, especially since Song Yan already had some suspicions about her. Whatever the maids confessed, it would seem like she and the maids were in cahoots.

Because he failed to hand over the two maids immediately, they became a burden in his hands, and the longer he waited, the less likely he was to give them away. To this day, Gao Yang cannot help but feel annoyed whenever he thinks of the two maids.

Of course, she probably also harbored a desire to compete with Song Yan. She had only faked her death to escape and hadn't done anything wrong, yet she was inexplicably suspected, which was a bit unpleasant. She wanted to prove herself; what Song Yan couldn't find, Gao Yang could.

It could be considered a kind of competitive spirit in a young woman.

As a ninth-rank martial artist, countless people had died at Granny Gui's hands; calling her ruthless would not be an exaggeration. Although the two maids had been thrown into the basement, sometimes when she went outside the courtyard, she could faintly hear screams coming from inside, making the house seem eerie. Although she had never entered the basement, she could imagine from the sounds that the torture must have been extremely brutal. However, the two maids never revealed any useful information, which left Gao Yang quite helpless.

I heard that an old woman also came to Liaodong with Luo Caiyi and Luo Qingyi this time.

Last name: Liang.

Her name is Liang Qiaofeng.

They are masters of torture and interrogation.

Gao Yang, who originally wanted to handle the two maids on her own, had no choice but to ask Liang Qiaofeng for help. Several more days passed, and it was unknown whether she had made any progress.

Granny Gui glanced at her young mistress, hesitated briefly, and then took out a piece of paper from her bosom and handed it to Gao Yang: "That Liang Qiaofeng is a talented person."

Her mind involuntarily conjured up everything she had seen in the basement. Even after all these decades, she had witnessed many so-called hells on earth and the cruel tortures inflicted by the government, but all of this seemed like child's play in front of Liang Qiaofeng. She even doubted whether Liang Qiaofeng was really human.

If you're a human being, how could you come up with so many ways to torture people?
Gao Yang didn't pay too much attention, inwardly marveling at Liang Qiaofeng's remarkable abilities; it seemed she had made an extraordinary discovery. She quickly unfolded the paper, and two words almost instantly flashed into her eyes:
Kong Nianhan!
In that instant, Gao Yang felt a chill surge from the soles of her feet throughout her entire body. She could feel a layer of fine goosebumps rapidly appearing on her arms, neck, and face.

Gao Yang felt like his scalp was about to explode. His first thought was, "This is impossible. How could it be her?"
Did I make a mistake?
"Miss, do you want me to kill Liang Qiaofeng?" Granny Gui's sinister voice came from beside her. Killing someone was nothing to her: "Liang Qiaofeng is only responsible to Song Yan, and no one knows this yet."

Gao Yang's body suddenly trembled, and he came to his senses. Then he shook his head: "No... no need."

"I believe it definitely wasn't hers."

"Perhaps those two maids are slandering me."

“I think there must be some misunderstanding here. It wouldn’t matter if Song Yan found out.” Gao Yang said this, but her small hands unconsciously clenched tightly, making the paper crumpled.

According to the records on the paper, Kong Nianhan bribed the two maids to disappear when Kong Lingyun made his move, allowing Luo Caiyi to be kidnapped by Kong Lingyun, thus provoking conflict between Song Yan and the Kong family of Jindi, wanting to make the two families fight to the death.

But, this is impossible.

Kong Nianhan...that...that's her mother.

She is my father's queen.

Although she rarely left the Prince Fu's residence and had almost no friends she could talk to, Gao Yang knew that her mother and Aunt Yuheng had a close relationship and could definitely be called best friends.

No matter what, Gao Yang couldn't believe her mother would do such a thing, using her aunt Yuheng's youngest daughter as bait. She couldn't even imagine what good it would do for her mother.

There must be a mistake somewhere, there must be!

Gao Yang firmly believed this.

……

Pingyang Prefecture.

Xinhou County.

A small border town.

The place that suffered the most damage when the Jurchens broke through the pass.

Even though a new county magistrate had been appointed and troops were stationed there, and the people who had been hiding in the mountains and forests were gradually returning, their numbers were still small. But today, things suddenly became lively.

All eight thousand black-armored soldiers were mobilized. In addition, there were twelve thousand soldiers from Dingzhou Prefecture. Jiao Junze only left three thousand soldiers to guard his home, plus ten thousand soldiers from Pingyang Prefecture. Song Yan went even further, leaving no soldiers to guard his home.

The warhorses plundered earlier have all been equipped. Although training in mounted combat and cavalry coordination is not yet complete, the heavy cavalry is already taking shape. When a tall horse is paired with a suit of sturdy black armor, one can feel the overwhelming pressure even just by standing there doing nothing.

When Jiao Junze saw the eight thousand black-armored soldiers, he felt a chill run down his spine. He finally understood why Song Yan was confident that he could use infantry to fight against the Jurchen cavalry. Such exquisite armor was simply luxurious. In the more than one hundred years of Ningguo, there had never been armor made of hundred-forged steel. Even the founding emperor of Ningguo, who gathered all the hundred-forged steel in the world, only managed to forge a few precious swords.

Could it be that Song Yan has mastered the smelting method of Hundred-Refined Steel? Otherwise, how could he be so arrogant?

After the initial shock came envy, then greed. He longed for his soldiers to wear such equipment. If all 15,000 of his men could don such heavy armor, he was even confident he could lead them on a adventure across the vast northern grasslands…

Looking at the two thousand heavy cavalry, Jiao Junze felt his mouth go dry. He had no doubt that this was the fiercest and most ferocious force in the entire Central Plains, including the alien races. Once these two thousand heavy cavalry launched their charge, their power would be like the collapse of the sky and the cracking of the earth, an earthquake and a tsunami, engulfing everything in their path.

He also had a small number of cavalry, only a little over a thousand.

Even if it was a thousand against a thousand, Jiao Junze believed that his cavalry would have no other way out but to turn and run. If they were to fight head-on, they would be smashed to pieces in an instant.

Suddenly, Jiao Junze remembered what Prince Fu had said before. If he were asked to kill Song Yan, what would he do? Looking around at the dark surroundings, Jiao Junze suddenly felt that there probably wouldn't be such an opportunity.

Damn it, I want it so badly.

Unconsciously, Song Yan seemed to sense something, turned her head and looked up, and then met Jiao Junze's longing gaze.

hiss.

That eerie gaze, as if being watched by the cunning Zero, sent a chill down Song Yan's spine.

Could it be that Jiao Junze has some serious illness?
"Brother, what's the name of your unit?" Jiao Junze took a deep breath to suppress his restlessness.

Song Yan raised an eyebrow and smirked: "Ironclad Cavalry!"

Speaking of which, the Iron Pagoda was the most elite heavy cavalry of the Jin Dynasty during the Song-Jin Wars. The Jin Dynasty was, in fact, a state established by the Jurchen people. Now, using the Iron Pagoda against their ancestors—is that considered a betrayal of the Heavenly Spirit?

Thinking this, he felt a thrill, shook his head, and cracked his whip: "Let's go!"

Xinhou County was only taking a short rest; the real battlefield was still a hundred miles away.

This is the second time Song Yan has set foot in Jurchen territory since the last time he wiped out the Wugulun tribe.

Blood debts must ultimately be repaid with blood!

(End of this chapter)