Chapter 38: Chapter 38: Naming the Lines
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The Li Family’s junior was furious, no longer calling for “Dragon” as he grabbed the sword from a general beside him and chopped straight at Yang Xiu’s head!
Yang Xiu sat there, neither dodging nor flinching, with a smile curling up at the corners of his mouth, loaded with utter disdain and sarcasm.
“Li Pinghai, step back,” at this moment, a woman’s voice rang out.
Li Pinghai felt even more rage, why would someone stop him now, when these people had nearly defiled the Li Family!
“Step back!” Suddenly, the woman’s voice became more severe.
Li Pinghai halted, mysteriously trembling all over without knowing why, even his grip on the sword became unsteady.
As the sword fell to the ground, Li Pinghai looked in shock toward the side entrance of the hall, where a woman stood, unbeknownst to him when she had arrived, with a tall and majestic presence, exuding an extraordinary aura.
And indeed, it was she who had just issued those words like an inescapable curse.
“Li Yunzi??”
Li Pinghai couldn’t believe it. Why could this woman make him shiver with just a single sentence…
“Spare his life, I need him to deliver a few words to Ling Luotian for me,” said Li Yunzi.
Under everyone’s gaze, Li Yunzi walked towards the grand hall.
She was dressed in light armor.
The armor clung to her, not only accentuating her figure but also highlighting her valiant air.
Her black hair was coiled up, with brows like drawn swords and bright eyes, bare of excessive makeup. As she marched into the solemn hall, she resembled a female general about to head into battle, in stark contrast with the festive garb of everyone else and the crimson of the honor guard!
In fact, when Li Yunzi had previously appeared in this deliberation hall as a Female Monarch, her attire had been similar. But she was no longer a Female Monarch now, and today was the day that the Lingxiao City’s wedding procession was due to arrive.
“Your Highness, Yang Xiu pays his respects, ” Yang Xiu rose from his chair and performed a bow.
After bowing, Yang Xiu no longer paid any attention to the junior, then surveyed Li Yunzi and said, “It is indeed the familiar Your Highness. If you favor this appearance for your entry into the bridal palanquin, I believe our City Lord might like it even more. Oh, I forgot to say, regarding the conditions for ceding the four cities, we will not budge, and you must arrive at the Ling
Family in Lingxiao City as scheduled, otherwise there will be no peace talks!”
Having said this, Mr. Yang Xiu let out a strange laugh.
This laugh was thick with sarcasm and hinted at sleaziness.
“Mr. Yang Xiu, I have a gift here; how about you accept it on behalf of your City Lord?” Li Yunzi did not take her seat but stood in the deliberation hall.
“Your Highness, whatever charm you have, save it for your wedding night with our City Lord. I dare not accept on his behalf,” said Yang Xiu, bending slightly.
Li Yunzi paid no heed to his mocking words. She sent a look to Commander
Cheng.
Commander Cheng nodded and raised his hand to give a firm clap.
The sound carried, and immediately a dozen soldiers arrived carrying objects shrouded in black cloth.
They walked in an orderly fashion up to Yang Xiu and placed the wrapped objects at his feet.
Arranged in a row, their contents indiscernible to Yang Xiu.
His face filled with confusion, Yang Xiu wondered what Li Yunzi meant by this.
“Unwrap them and see if there are any faces you recognize,” Li Yunzi said indifferently.
Yang Xiu immediately commanded two attendants beside him to unwrap the objects. Upon opening the first black cloth and seeing the messy hair, spotting a bloodstained head turning brown, Yang Xiu’s face turned pale.
“Unwrap the next one!” Yang Xiu inhaled sharply.
Feeling that the two attendants were too slow, Yang Xiu began to do it himself.
Within the black cloths were all heads!
That stench of blood instantly permeated the hall, and many young ladies who had rarely seen wars turned pale and were nearly screaming and fleeing.
Yang Xiu continued to unravel the cloths, but now his hands trembled non-stop.
He recognized every single head!
Before he had led the wedding procession to Ancestral Dragon City, he shared a drink with each one of them. At that time, their heads were still firmly on their bodies, now they were wrapped up one by one in dirty black cloths, about to roll off without support…
These faces, Yang Xiu knew them all too well; weren’t they supposed to have already penetrated the west side of Ancestral Dragon into its four western cities following Zhi Gorge!
Why were they all here, and only their heads!!!
Yang Xiu’s hands were now covered in filth. When he looked again at Li Yunzi, gone was his frivolous attitude, replaced by sheer terror!!
She killed everyone!!
She killed everyone!!
This Demon Lord, she slaughtered all the Lingxiao City soldiers who ambushed the four western cities and even had the heads of their commanders severed and sent here…
What about raising the stakes opportunistically, what about harboring ill intentions at the last moment…
It not tor having absolute confidence, how would he, Yang Xiu, dare to make a scene in Ancestral Dragon City’s deliberation hall??
In fact, on the very first day the Lingxiao City’s wedding procession set out, Lingxiao City’s army had already entered Ancestral Dragon’s territory along Zhi Gorge!
Calculating the time, at the same moment I signed the peace treaty, their Lingxiao City-State’s Sudden Attack Team would completely stir trouble, collaborating from within and without with the border army, and in one fell swoop, they would take down the four cities to the west of Ancestral Dragon City!
Peace talks??
From the beginning, they never intended to negotiate peace!
Once they’ve taken the four western cities, even Li Ying, the head lady of the Li Family, would have to yield, let alone a disgraced Li Yunzi?
However, Yang Xiu could never have imagined that the heads of all the generals of this Sudden Attack Team would end up displayed in this great hall!
“Commander Cheng, what are these…” Li Ying did not recognize these heads and asked, puzzled.
“Family Head, while our attention was focused on the peace talks, this elite team from Lingxiao City infiltrated through Zhi Gorge and into our territory, intending to breach our border defenses, but instead, our Army Guard lay in ambush there and captured them,” Commander Cheng reported.
“What Army Guard?” Li Ying asked.
“They are the former subordinates of the Female Monarch. I called them out from various camps and, following Li Yunzi’s instructions, searched for gorges where the enemy might have infiltrated… Later, we discovered this Lingxiao City Sudden Attack force and shot them all dead in the gorge,” Commander Cheng said.
“The Female Monarch’s Army Guard! l” Yang Xiu couldn’t help but cry out, his whole body collapsing to the ground as if struck by lightning.
The members of the Li Family within the great hall simultaneously broke out in a cold sweat at that moment.
The Lingxiao City-State already had an army that had broken in???
While they were still in festive moods, believing Lingxiao City-State was sincerely seeking marriage and peace, had they already dispatched troops to seize the four western cities??
What cession of four cities.
If Li Yunzi’s Army Guard had not seen through their ruse, they would already be in possession of the four western cities.
The blood on these heads had dried a long time ago!
“You… you will not die well, Li Yunzi, you vile woman, you will certainly go to hell, ” Yang Xiu roared in near madness.
“Stop acting crazy here, I spare your life,” Li Yunzi said coldly and indifferently to Yang Xiu.
Upon hearing this, Yang Xiu immediately changed his demeanor, crawling humbly towards Li Yunzi, continuously kowtowing and saying, “I have always heard of the Female Monarch’s decisive words; thank you, Your Highness, for sparing my life, thank you for your mercy.”
This Yang Xiu was also ridiculous, at times polite, at other times wild and brutal, at times insane, and yet at other times as lowly as a dog.
“You didn’t find the head you’re most concerned about in these, did you?” Li Yunzi asked from a higher position.
“Yes… yes…” Yang Xiu felt that all of his thoughts were seen through by this woman and dared not show any disrespect.
“Your Ling Family’s heir is still alive, this is the message I want you to take back to Ling Luotian,” Li Yunzi said.
Yang Xiu slowly lifted his face, somewhat disbelieving the words of Li Yunzi.
Still alive??
The Ling Family heir is still alive??
No matter how many generals there were, none could compare to the heir of the Ling Family, the future ruler of the Lingxiao City-State, whom the Family
Head cherished greatly. To establish his renown, he led the Sudden Attack
Team intending to become the hero who conquered Ancestral Dragon City!
It should have been a flawless victory and would have brought him great fame, but who knew that it would end up like this…
“I will sign the peace treaty now, right now, without any conditions, and of course, I dare not make a fool of the Female Monarch any longer!” Yang Xiu began searching the ground for the peace treaty, and after some effort, he found it, but when he looked up, he saw Li Yunzi looking at him with cold indifference.
Peace talks??
With the Female Monarch present, there’s likely no chance of peace between Ancestral Dragon City and Cloud Heaven City-State!
“Sit down, and use your eloquence to draft a letter to ransom back your heir’s life… but before that, clean up everything on the ground,” Li Yunzi said.
Seeds, peels, spat-out fruit flesh, and some slimy phlegm. Facing the disgusting mess on the ground, Yang Xiu suddenly felt an impulse to slap himself.
Li Yunzi turned away, no longer paying attention to Yang Xiu cleaning the floor.
“Yunzhi, you have accomplished great things for us!” an elder from the clan said.
“Truly worthy of being the Female Monarch, the blessing of Ancestral Dragon City,” someone immediately exclaimed.
“We should restore the title of Female Monarch; Li Yunzi has suffered quite a few grievances recently.”
Li Yunzi didn’t pay attention to these words from within the clan; she walked straight toward the front of the great hall, towards Lady Kong Tong.
Lady Kong Tong mustered a smile, looking at Li Yunzi, but didn’t know what Li Yunzi was going to do.
Li Yunzi took the thick marriage ledger from Lady Kong Tong and, before everyone’s eyes, crossed her own name out from it.
Lady Kong Tong’s complexion changed, but at that moment, she didn’t dare to make a sound.
With the name “Li Yunzi” erased, the ink brush in her hand was tossed by Li Yunzi, aimed at the cases before Li Kongxi, Mu Qing, and the other well-behaved young ladies of the Li Family.
Ink splattered from the end of the brush, landing on the pristine little faces…
“Leave the task of selling oneself for peace to them; if there’s a battle I cannot win, they will be quality comfort offerings for the enemy city,” Li Yunzi laughed.
However, that laugh left Li Kongxi, Mu Qing, and the so-called proper maidens of the Li Family pale with fear, their faces completely void of color!!
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