Denghuangtai

Pei Qingyan crawled forward a few steps, and by the dim light of the oil lamp outside, he could barely make out the words on it—A month ago, the Military Council Commandant sent a messenger to the capital with a letter. The messenger was killed en route, and the murderer and the person who received the letter are still being investigated. I hope that you, my lord, will take good care of yourself while you are imprisoned.

After reading it, she put the note in her mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it.

Outsiders assumed that the Pei family had been defeated, with the father and son dead, leaving Pei Qingyan as a helpless woman, which was why they desperately tried to pin all the blame on her. But they overlooked the fact that Pei Qingyan was no ordinary woman.

In the sixteenth year of the Jianyuan era, Pei Xuan disappeared while leading his troops on a northern expedition, plunging the front lines into crisis. At that time, Pei Qingyan was only fifteen years old. Faced with this devastating news, she remained calm and volunteered to lead five thousand cavalry to the north to provide support. She then decisively defeated the enemy army at Yanran Mountain, reuniting father and daughter. From that moment on, she became famous and repeatedly achieved great feats.

A year later, the army returned to the capital in triumph, and Pei Qingyan was granted the title of Marquis of Yin'an, becoming one of the few female marquises in the court.

How could such a courageous and resourceful woman be a weakling who could be slaughtered at will?

When Pei Qingyan received news of the army's attack, he suspected that there was a traitor in the army.

She mustered troops to provide support while simultaneously dispatching retainers from the Marquis of Yin'an's residence to investigate.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

She failed to save her father and brothers, and the traitorous military officer she had painstakingly captured was silenced before she could even interrogate him.

With the trail going cold, Pei Qingyan could only send people to Yongzhou, the hometown of the Military Council Commandant, to look for clues. The people he sent had a lot of trouble before they found out that someone with a Chang'an accent had visited the Military Council Commandant's family, after which the family disappeared.

The clues pointed directly to Chang'an, but Pei Qingyan, as a border general, was not allowed to return to the capital without an imperial edict. Moreover, the Xiongnu were still launching continuous southward attacks, and Pei Qingyan was unwilling to let the entire northern region fall. He could only temporarily send a few trusted confidants to the capital while he led the remaining troops to continue the resistance.

The power dynamics in Chang'an were complex and intertwined. Her trusted confidants investigated for half a year without making any progress. Later, the emperor died and ascended the throne. Empress Dowager Yun, abusing her power, ordered Pei Qingyan, the chief justice, to be arrested and brought back to the capital for questioning.

When the officials from the Court of Justice arrived in the north, Pei Qingyan's troops immediately erupted in chaos. The burly men were trembling with anger, and their curses were incessant.

Pei Qingyan, clad in silver armor, sat calmly in a chair in the central command tent, appearing remarkably composed among them.

Her silence quickly drew everyone's attention.

"My lord, what are your plans?"

"The war in the north is still raging, and the Xiongnu cavalry are eyeing us menacingly. Without your presence to guard the region, we fear we will find it difficult to resist!"

"Yes! Why don't you use this as an excuse to refuse to return to Beijing?"

Everyone chimed in, each offering their own advice and strategies to Pei Qingyan.

"go."

As Pei Qingyan's clear voice rang out, everyone fell silent, looking at her with confusion, not understanding what she meant.

"Returning to the capital still offers some room for maneuver. But not returning would be disobeying the imperial decree, and if we were used by someone with ulterior motives to frame us for treason, none of us would be spared."

Pei Qingyan's tone was calm, but the meaning behind his words sent chills down everyone's spines. Since ancient times, those who lead troops have been most wary of the word "treason." Countless generals have perished because of it, their fame and future ruined.

"There are dead ends both ways, what should we do?"

Among the generals, a young officer, with a mournful face, almost choked out his thoughts.

Upon hearing this, everyone sighed, a sense of powerlessness washing over them.

"You're wrong." Pei Qingyan looked at the young general, his eyes deep. "This is a rare opportunity to return to the capital and investigate the truth."

What dead end?

In Pei Qingyan's eyes, crisis and opportunity always coexist. Even if it's a dead end, she will bravely forge ahead and carve out a way to survive.

"All generals, heed my command!"

At the command, everyone roused themselves and stood ready for battle.

Pei Qingyan divided the generals present into two groups: one group continued to lead troops to fight against the Xiongnu, while the other group secretly went to the capital with her to investigate the mastermind behind the leak of information in Linhe.

She had just finished making arrangements when a bugle call suddenly sounded outside, and soldiers rushed in in a panic, shouting, "General, the enemy is attacking!"

"Fight the enemy!" Pei Qingyan turned around, picked up his spear, and strode outside.

Inside the prison, Pei Qingyan sighed. Suddenly, her peripheral vision caught sight of the white silk on her wrist. She was startled at first, then realized that the figure she had seen bandaging her wounds when she was in a daze earlier was not an illusion.

She looked down at the snow-white figure, and Yun Zheng's image seemed to appear in her mind's eye.

As a martial artist, it was inevitable that she would be accidentally injured by swords and knives. In the past, whenever this happened, Yun Zheng would always jump out and rush to find white silk to apply medicine and bandage her wounds. Later, she got used to this. The first thing Pei Qingyan did when she was injured was not to go to the physician of the Grand Marshal's mansion, nor to the Grand Master of Ceremonies in the palace, but to go to Yun Zheng.

Habits are the most grueling thing.

During her years in Shuobei, whenever she sustained new injuries, she couldn't help but think of Yun Zheng.

At first, she would hide in her tent and shed tears, but after a while, she gradually became numb to it. Later, when she occasionally thought of him on a cold night or when her wounds itched, she could force a smile and laugh at herself.

Time has passed, and who in this world would remember her? Yun Zheng would no longer remember her either.

Since the sixteenth year of the Jianyuan era, they have never been able to go back to the past.

Yun Zheng hated her father for his stubbornness and vowed to make him pay with his life.

Even though she still loved Yun Zheng, she could not abandon her father for him, especially since her father had done nothing wrong!

The battlefield is ever-changing; a single misstep can cost the lives of countless soldiers and destroy the vast land of the Great Zhao Dynasty. For this reason alone, her father could kill Yun Heng a thousand or ten thousand times over without any consequence.

"My lord."

The wind and snow were still raging when Yun Zheng slowly walked out of the green gate, his face extremely gloomy. The chief secretary, who was waiting outside the gate, hurriedly greeted him with an umbrella.

Yun Zheng pushed the person aside and quickly boarded the carriage against the wind and snow.

The car was warm and cozy, but it couldn't melt away Yun Zheng's icy expression.

He sat in the carriage for a long time before slowly speaking, "How are her injuries?"

"A long-term, untreated injury has spread to the internal organs."

Those few words felt like a boulder pressing on Yun Zheng's heart, making it hard for him to breathe.

"Tell Taichang to make sure the person is cured."

"Yes," the chief secretary replied, then his expression became conflicted, and he stammered, "However, I'm afraid it's only treating the symptoms, not the root cause."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Yun Zheng glared at him.

The chief clerk's heart skipped a beat, and he cautiously explained, "As you know, we will soon be interrogating Marquis Yin'an. The methods of the Court of Justice are such that they can injure the bones but not the flesh, and the internal organs but not the skin..."

He paused, then stabbed Yun Zheng in the heart, "It seems that before the old wounds can heal, new ones will be inflicted."

As he spoke, the chief secretary glanced at Yun Zheng's expression. Seeing that Yun Zheng was becoming increasingly gloomy, his voice grew softer and softer, until the last few sentences were almost a whisper.

"rule."

Yun Zheng's eyes flashed with malice, and his words were crisp and decisive, leaving no room for negotiation.

The chief clerk responded and dared not say another word.

The interior of the carriage was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, with only the clear sound of the wheels rolling over the bluestone slabs.

"Change course, go to the imperial prison."

The chief clerk was taken aback for a moment, not daring to say another word, and turned to tell the coachman to change course.

In the imperial prison, Pei Qingyan ate a hasty meal and then drifted off to sleep.

My dreams are still a jumbled mess of bizarre and fantastical images.

In the northern military tent, Pei Qingyan lay on the couch with his eyes closed and his body covered in blood. A dozen or so people stood before him.

Most of these people were generals under Pei Qingyan, with only two exceptions. One was an elder with a long beard, who was Pei Qingyan's strategist, and the other was a young man who looked imperious, who was the Vice Minister of the Court of Justice.

Shaoqing tilted his head back, looking down at everyone with his nostrils flared, "The Empress Dowager only gave us one month. Want to extend it?"

He glanced dismissively at the people in the military tent and snorted, "Absolutely impossible."

"Your Excellency was seriously injured while blocking the enemy, which is a great service to the country..." Inside the tent, a dark-faced general stared wide-eyed, trembling with anger. However, due to Pei Qingyan's prior instructions, he dared not attack the people from the Court of Justice. He could only try to persuade them with reason, just like the strategist usually did.

Unfortunately, the person before him was utterly unreasonable. Before the dark-faced general could finish speaking, the man snorted coldly again, "Whether someone has rendered meritorious service is not something you can decide with your words. Pei Xuan's misjudgment led to this disaster, and Pei Qingyan's actions can at most be considered as the son paying for the father's sins."

Upon hearing this, the faces of everyone in the tent turned grim. The men in armor clenched their fists, their knuckles cracking, as if they wanted to devour people alive.

Among the crowd, only the strategist remained calm. He narrowed his eyes slightly and said indifferently, "Young Minister, don't forget that our Lord was raised by Princess Huaiyang, and they share a deep bond. Aren't you afraid that the Princess will cause you trouble in the future by showing such ruthlessness?"

He had intended to use the Eldest Princess to put pressure on the Junior Minister, but the Junior Minister scoffed upon hearing this, "The Eldest Princess? After Pei Xuan's incident, the Eldest Princess moved back to the Princess's residence. Before we left the capital, the Chief Secretary of the Princess's residence specifically conveyed a message that the Eldest Princess had no further connection with the Pei family and that we could proceed with peace of mind."

"What did you say?"

On the bed, Pei Qingyan slowly awoke. Hearing this, he was startled and forced himself to sit up. "What did you say? Say it again?"

Shaoqing took an envelope from his sleeve and threw it in front of Pei Qingyan. "Here is a letter written by the Princess herself. Take a look for yourself."

Pei Qingyan opened it with trembling hands, and as soon as he saw the beginning, his eyes were filled with astonishment.

"This...this is impossible."

Pei Qingyan never imagined that such resolute words would come from the hand of the eldest princess.

She lost her mother when she was one year old. When she was five, her father was appointed Grand Marshal and was ordered to marry Princess Huaiyang. For the past ten years, she had grown up by the princess's side and been raised by her. She had always called the princess "mother" in her mouth and in her heart.

But now...

Now her mother is saying that they have no connection anymore and that they don't need to see each other in the future?

Pei Qingyan felt dizzy and disoriented. After finally regaining his balance, he felt a metallic taste in his throat and spat out a mouthful of blood...

Pei Qingyan suddenly jolted awake, her vision blurred, and she felt like she was drowning and couldn't breathe. She tried to raise her hand to relieve herself, but found that her hands were tightly bound again, and a heavy sack was covering her chest.

"Crushed to death by soil bags!"

The imperial prison was a common method used to silence witnesses without leaving any trace.

Someone wants to kill her!