The Splendor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 107 The Queen's Guards

Firelight shone from the edge of the camp.

Xiao Yi chased after Li Ye and heard shouts coming from behind.

"Make way! The Empress wishes to mourn the deceased Emperor."

"No one may leave without General Xiao's orders!"

"How dare you disobey the Empress's decree even when you are directly in the inner palace?"

"Let me report to the general first."

"Do it!"

Two groups of people were facing off. One group consisted of Xihou, Hudeng, Wu Gouzi, Jin Sanshui, and Wang Jiu, while the other group consisted of twelve soldiers dressed as Crane Control Guards, including Empress An and two palace maids.

When Xiao Yi was still more than ten steps away from them, suddenly, the Crane Control Guards drew their swords and rushed through the door.

Hu Deng and Wu Gouzi were trying to stop them when they were immediately struck down. Fortunately, they were wearing heavy armor, so they only suffered minor injuries.

The scene suddenly became chaotic.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Li Ye dashed out and disappeared into the Yingling woods to the north.

Judging from his appearance, he doesn't seem to be part of the same group as these Crane Control Guards.

Xiao Yi turned his head and saw horses prepared on the path to the east, and immediately gave the order.

"The assassins have taken the Empress hostage! Kill them! Guard the east flank and prevent them from mounting their horses!"

"kill!"

He ran over quickly and led his soldiers in pursuit, soon killing the two men.

On the east, Fan Si, who was guarding the watchtower, also arrived with his men, blocking the enemy's path and preventing them from reaching their horses. The two sides then surrounded and killed five people, some dead and some wounded.

The remaining five guards then escorted Empress An into the woods to the north.

"Little Monkey, you chase after that white-clad attendant, and blow the whistle whenever you encounter enemies."

"Here."

"Hu Deng, how are you? Guard the camp gate and keep an eye on the prisoners. Send someone to find Hua Nong to transfer people to protect the Empress Dowager."

"Here."

"Fan Si, leave two men to guard this place, and send two men back to your watchtower. There must be no more oversights."

"Here."

"Jin Sanshui, Wang Jiu, follow me."

"Here."

Xiao Yi brought two people with him just in case, but it would have been better not to bring them at all. New recruits wearing heavy armor and sneaking into the forest at night would have been a burden.

He calmly walked toward the distant firelight, keeping an eye on the path beneath his feet, when behind him came two cries of "Ouch!" and the sound of armor clashing; his men must have tripped over tree branches.

"Go back and keep watch."

"General, we'll protect you..."

"Get back!"

"Here."

Xiao Yi knew that the other party was with a woman and could not walk fast, so he adjusted his breathing and caught up with her at a leisurely pace.

The firelight appeared and disappeared intermittently, drawing ever closer.

Ahead, a woman was crying and sobbing; it was the two palace maids who had run too far and were squatting by the edge of the woods.

"General Xiao..."

"Just be patient."

Xiao Yi walked straight past them. Not far away, five Crane Control Guards were escorting Empress An. Two of the wounded soldiers turned back to cover their retreat when they saw him chasing after them.

"Protect the woman and get her out of here!"

"Shh-"

He slashed his sword at Xiao Yi's neck.

He neither dodged nor flinched, but slightly turned his body, and the moment his shoulder armor clashed with the blade, he drew his sword.

The ceremonial sword, reflecting the moonlight, flashed like a shooting star, piercing through the lamellar armor and slicing from the lower abdomen to the chest.

"puff."

One person fell down.

Xiao Yi then took the opportunity to cut down another wounded soldier.

The palace maid behind him screamed in fright.

Ahead, Empress An turned around, her face showing surprise. She pointed a finger and shouted, "Chase me again...chase me again and I'll kill you..."

Xiao Yi pretended not to hear and continued walking forward.

"kill him."

The remaining three turned around at the same time.

Xiao Yi suddenly accelerated and pounced in front of them.

The three men immediately took action: one crouched down and swept his leg, another thrust his short sword straight at the joint of his armor plates on his waist, and the third lunged forward to grab his waist.

Xiao Yi moved even faster, stomping hard on one person's knee; his right hand swung back with his ceremonial sword, the blade grazing the armor plate and slicing at a tricky angle onto another person's wrist; his left hand raised high, causing another person's head to collide with his breastplate, and with a quick snap of his left elbow, the armor plate clamped the other person's head.

With a crisp cracking sound, one person rolled on the ground clutching their leg; another retreated, blood splattering onto the snow-covered leaves; and yet another's head was stuck in Xiao Yi's body. After struggling for a moment, Xiao Yi swiftly slit his throat with a twist of his blade.

"laugh--"

"puff."

"puff."

In the blink of an eye, all three perished under the blade.

Empress An stared blankly at the scene, her eyes wide with shock, and she covered her mouth with both hands.

"Your humble servant has arrived late to escort Your Majesty; please return, Your Majesty."

"Do not."

Empress An turned and ran away.

Xiao Yi didn't rush to chase after them. Instead, he picked up a torch from the ground to prevent the woods from burning down.

Sure enough, after only a few steps, Empress An's plain gauze dress got caught on a tree branch, and she fell.

"Don't come here."

Xiao Yi was about to go over and help him up, but stopped when he heard this.

Empress An was quite delicate. She tried to brace herself with her hands on the ground, but the pressure made her brows furrow. She finally managed to get up, but after taking only a few steps, her outer skirt ripped and fell to the ground again.

She finally broke down in tears.

Suddenly, a whistle rang out from the woods, followed by the shouts of monkeys.

"But General?! That white-clad attendant is nearby; be careful of a sneak attack."

Xiao Yi immediately became alert and glanced back.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a figure flash by.

Turning around again, Li Ye had already pounced out of the bushes, taking Empress An hostage, a dagger pressed against her snow-white neck.

"what!"

"do not move!"

Li Ye sneered and looked at Xiao Yi, saying, "Let me go, or I'll kill her."

"I don't care about her life, so what if you kill her?"

Empress An was terrified by his behavior and pleaded, "Please...save me...I don't want to die."

Li Ye said, "If she dies, An Shenqi will definitely raise an army. Once he joins forces with Liu Xin, your crime will be more than just dereliction of duty. But letting me go is just negligence on your part."

"Fine, I'll let you go. Our grudges will be settled."

"Throw the knife over here." Xiao Yi casually tossed the knife at Li Ye's feet, still appearing calm and composed.

Li Ye stepped on the knife and shouted, "Tell your men to get lost and bring a horse."

"Alright... Little Monkey! Go and fetch a fine horse, the rest of you return to camp."

"Here."

"Put the waist tag, no, the whole belt over here, and the armor too, take it all off and give it to me."

"If the emperor's brother-in-law were to hide his identity, his chances of survival would be much greater."

"Heh, what's the point of living a life of ignominy? I'd rather die than lose power! Lay down your arms!"

Xiao Yi threw the armor onto the snow-covered leaves with a clatter.

"Take off your military uniform too... and just take off your undershirt as well. Walk away naked. If you don't want to freeze to death, there are clothes on the corpses behind you. Hurry up! Otherwise, I'll kill her!"

The dagger drew blood from Empress An's neck, and she was terrified, tears streaming down her face like pearls.

Xiao Yi had never changed his clothes before, and without any hesitation, he took them off openly and generously. He bent down, lifted his foot, and took off his boots.

In that instant, I grabbed the helmet, scooped up snow, and threw it.

At the same time, he darted out like a cheetah.

"Oh!"

The helmet struck Li Ye hard in the face, and the snow swirled up, obscuring his vision.

At the same time, Xiao Yi arrived and bumped into Empress An.

As the dagger plunged down, Xiao Yi grabbed Li Ye's wrist, twisted it, and the moment the dagger hit the ground, he kicked him away.

"Oh!"

"Click."

With a powerful kick, Li Ye broke two small trees before stopping his fall.

"Surrender and..."

Xiao Yi caught up, but stopped mid-sentence.

A broken tree branch, dripping with blood, protruded from Li Ye's abdomen, with intestines still hanging from it.

He jokingly said he could kill someone with a tree branch, but little did he know, his words would come true.

The pain was excruciating, and Li Ye's face was contorted as he stammered, "Xiao Yi... it's not too late for you to wake up now and follow me to achieve great things..."

"it is good."

"Heh heh...really...really?"

"Really, you have been kind to me, and I should repay you."

With those words, Xiao Yi swiftly sliced ​​Li Ye's throat with his dagger and whispered, "That's it."

His final act of gratitude was to ensure Li Ye died without suffering.

Blood gushed out.

The hand that was clenched in mid-air fell limply to the ground.

Xiao Yi pulled the body from the broken branch and laid it flat on the ground, only to find that Li Ye had a brocade pouch hanging from his waist. He opened it and found only a key inside.

Being naked was too cold, and he couldn't worry about anything else for the time being. He turned around and decided to put on some clothes first.

When he turned around, he found Empress An holding his inner robe and military robe, and his knife in her hand.

"Don't come any closer! Let me finish speaking before I let you get dressed. Do you even know who my grandfather is?"

"An Shenqi, the military governor of Shannan East Circuit."

"That's right. My grandfather was a meritorious official of three dynasties, serving as Grand Tutor and Duke of Qi, and he held considerable military power."

Empress An adopted a dignified and majestic demeanor befitting an empress, performing much more earnestly than usual. However, her hand holding the knife trembled violently, whether from the weight of the knife or from fear, it was unclear.

“My father wants to take me back to Xiangzhou. If you are willing to release me, you will be richly rewarded. Otherwise, you will freeze to death in this forest... Don’t move. You want to take off your clothes from behind? If you dare, I will stab you to death.”

Xiao Yi had already walked up to her and reached out to take her clothes.

"Ah! Don't come any closer, I'm the daughter of a military family..."

Empress An swung her knife wildly, but was so frightened that she closed her eyes, perhaps afraid that Xiao Yi's blood would splatter on her.

Xiao Yi grabbed her wrist directly; it was so slender that it didn't seem like the daughter of a military family. Before he could even twist it, the knife had already fallen to the ground.

Then, Empress An pushed his chest with her left hand, screamed, threw off her robe, turned and ran. After a few steps, she was so frightened by the corpse in front of her that she fell down and hugged her knees and cried.

A series of actions, vivid expressions, and eyes full of emotion, completely unlike the original vase image.

Xiao Yi put on his inner shirt and finally felt less cold.

He blew on his cold hands and said, "If your father wanted to take you back to Xiangzhou, he could have just talked to you, Lord Ming. Why go through all this trouble? Could it be that he wants to make an enemy of you and is afraid that you will be taken hostage?"

Empress An cried for a while, then tried to wipe away her tears, wiped her face, and said, "No, Father never participates in court affairs. Are you trying to use me to threaten Father?"

"It is my duty to prevent the Empress from falling under my nose."

“But I don’t want to be empress. I’m just a figurehead. Look, the Yingling Mausoleum has been closed. Even the Empress Dowager doesn’t plan to let me be buried with the late emperor.”

"Are those Crane Control Guards your men?"

“My grandfather sent me to the capital to protect me years ago. It has nothing to do with anyone else. Don’t implicate my grandfather.”

"How many more people are there?"

"Nothing."

"Don't lie to me, I've captured two of your men, and I can interrogate them myself."

"No, there isn't one."

Empress An also calmed down, abandoning her imperial demeanor and displaying the grace of a "daughter of a military family".

"Guo Wei and the Liu family are vying for the throne, and the outcome is uncertain. Aren't you afraid of impending disaster? I think you're a talented person. Why don't you join my father and send me to Xiangzhou? You'll be guaranteed great wealth and status. Just ask for the amount of money you want, and I'll give you double."

Xiao Yi remained unmoved and calmly put on his clothes.

For him, the outcome was already known, and he had a certainty that came from the bottom of his heart.

"Xiao Yi, I know who you are. You're an old servant of the Li family. Li Youniang and I are close friends, so I'm practically your master. How dare you disobey me?"

Xiao Yi did not respond to such foolish words.

“Really? Didn’t Li Youniang tell you about me? My maiden name is… Yuanzhen.”

"An Yuanzhen?"

"Who told you to yell? Damn it."

An Yuanzhen was taken aback and turned her face away.

After a while, she asked again, "Haven't you heard? She must have mentioned me. Hmm, stepmother? My brother and I were born to our grandfather in his later years. She used to call me stepmother."

Xiao Yi put on his military robe and fastened his belt, saying, "Whether you are Yuanzhen or Wanniang, as long as I serve in the inner palace, you are my empress. Please go back."

"you!"

"please."

"You're completely stubborn, a real rock with a hard exterior. You won't get away with offending me."

Suddenly, footsteps were heard.

The little monkey arrived just in time to witness this scene, and then turned and left.

"Huh? Where did the general go? I can't find him anywhere!"

"return!"

"Here."

"Put on my armor and take Li Ye's body back."

"Here."

Tonight, Xiao Yi has effectively "protected" the two palaces. In addition, he also realized from Li Ye's "Strategy of Uniting Various Garrisons to Pacify the Rebellion" and An Shenqi's attitude that Guo Wei still needs to get past the hurdle of the various vassal states if he wants to become emperor.

(End of this chapter)