Chapter 1883: Betrayal
Zu An silently walked into the courtyard and saw that it was surrounded by several dozen purple-armored soldiers. His brows furrowed deeply. He had initially thought that they were the capital magistrate’s people, or perhaps even military officers. But these purple-armored guards made things a bit more interesting. After all, only a prince’s imperial bodyguards could use such purple armor. He wondered which prince’s subordinates these were. After all, when had capturing fugitives become the responsibility of a prince?
Meanwhile, Chu Youzhao was blocking the entrance with her arms spread. She cried, “You’re not allowed to search inside! You don’t have the Commandant of Justice’s orders, so what right do you have to search the premises? Let alone the house of a state duke!”
At the head of the troops was a middle-aged general, clearly the leader of the group. He couldn't help but sneer, retorting, “State duke’s home? Are the two state dukes still in good health?”
Chu Youzhao immediately became more anxious. She said, “The Qin clan’s state dukes are imprisoned at the moment, but the court will definitely state that the Qin clan is innocent one day! This is no place for people like you to mess around!”
“Heh, a state duke manor? What frighteningly great prestige. Unfortunately, even though that could be enough to scare off others, we came on the orders of King Jin. We are here to catch the court’s criminals. No matter how great your Qin clan’s state dukes are, are they greater than our King Jin?” the middle-aged man replied, cupping his hands toward King Jin Manor with a proud expression.
Zu An was stunned. King Jin? He had spent a substantial amount of time in the capital and naturally knew who this King Jin was.
Zhao Han had many children, but the late empress had only birthed two children. One was the stupid Crown Prince Zhao Ruizhi, and the other was King Jin, Zhao Ruiyong.
Zhao Ruizhi’s name meant 'wise and farsighted', but he was actually an idiot. Meanwhile, Zhao Ruiyong's name meant 'astute and brave', but he was sickly and weak. Quite a few famous doctors had already said that he didn’t have much hope for a long life. It was only thanks to Zhao Han’s influence reaching from sea to sea that he had accumulated enough precious medicine to preserve his life, preventing an untimely death. Still, even with all of those medicines and Zhao Han himself using his incredible cultivation to nurture him from time to time, the palace doctors had still privately reached the conclusion that King Jin was unlikely to live past the age of thirty-five. After all, this was a world of cultivation. Any given cultivator's lifespan was already far greater than that of anyone from Zu An’s previous world. As such, thirty-five years was just way too short.
Zhao Han had also felt pity for his son’s impending death, and thus gave him the best treatment out of all of the princes. It was even more preferential than that of the crown prince. Still, everyone knew he wouldn’t be alive for long, so no one had felt much jealousy. It was to the extent that even the former empress and crown princess had never mentioned him when they were talking about the princes that would fight over the throne.
Zu An wondered if there was something wrong with the head of the one who had named these two brothers, as they had gotten it completely wrong. At the same time, he was curious as to why a prince who stood aloof from worldly affairs would suddenly come to catch a court criminal.
Chu Youzhao looked a bit nervous as she asked, “Not even King Jin can go against the law, right?”
“The law? The emperor has been attacked and we do not even know if he is alive or dead. King Jin is absolutely overcome with grief and wants to get revenge for his majesty. Is there anything wrong with that?” the middle-aged leader said with a sneer. “Meanwhile, young master Chu is sheltering a criminal, and yet you have the nerve to invoke the law?”
…
At the very edge of the courtyard, Zu An thought to himself, As expected.
King Jin had always been doted on by Zhao Han, so he naturally respected and loved his father a lot. Unlike that stupid big brother of a crown prince, he understood that everything boded ill for his father. As such, he evidently wanted his people to vent his frustrations.
“What connection does Murong Qinghe have to the ambush?!” Chu Youzhao exclaimed angrily. She was childhood friends with Murog Qinghe and they were really close, so of course she wanted to help her out of danger.
“Her father is the Supervisor of Attendants and should have been in charge of his majesty’s safety. Now that his majesty has been attacked, her father needs to shoulder responsibility. Furthermore, she was even a part of the army that escorted his majesty back then, and also bears the crime of negligence. Now, she actually dares to run, which only further proves her guilty conscience!” the middle-aged man replied, gradually growing louder and louder.
The other imperial guards of the king manor gradually pressed forward, all full of killing intent. Their unified steps carried the pressure of an execution order, leaving Chu Youzhao and the others alarmed and terrified. Because the Qin clan’s two clan masters and young masters had been captured, the entire clan had already dispersed. There weren't many guards left in the Qin manor. There were only four trembling guards left at Chu Youzhao’s side. All of them swallowed with difficulty, their legs shaking as they watched the scene play out.
Among them, one said softly, “Young master Chu, it is difficult for even our Qin clan to take care of ourselves. We really cannot shelter Miss Murong…”
“Exactly, and they are only here to investigate Miss Murong. They might not really do anything to her. How about we…”
“Shut up!” Chu Youzhao glared angrily at them and immediately cut them off.
The middle-aged general from King Jin Manor roared with laughter, saying, “It looks like Murong Qinghe is here after all. Men, arrest her!”
“Who dares?!” Chu Youzhao retorted, drawing her sword as well. Even though she was a woman, she didn’t cower at all.
“Please do not overestimate yourself, young master Chu. With your cultivation, any random one of my subordinates can win against you. Even if you fight until you are drenched in blood, you might not be able to stop us from arresting Murong Qinghe. Instead, you will only guarantee your own crime of sheltering a criminal, so we will not just be arresting her alone at that point,” the middle-aged general said, his tone harsh and threatening.
The Qin clan guards immediately threw their weapons away when they heard that, saying, “This matter has nothing to do with us!”
“You guys!” Chu Youzhao cried. Her eyes darted around quickly, but she knew that she couldn't really blame them. The fact that they had stayed this long with the Qin clan was already a sign of their loyalty. In the end, only a private friendship with Murong Qinghe had led to all of this. There was no reason to involve them. A trace of decisiveness flashed through her eyes when she realized that; she held her sword in front of her, saying, “If you want to take little sister Qinghe, you’ll have to do so over my dead…”
“I’ll follow you!” a lovable voice cried out from inside the room.
Then, a tall and slender figure slowly walked out, her long and strong legs immediately drawing the attention of all the men there. Her tan skin in particular gave her an unruly aesthetic. Her appearance was clearly that of a young and inexperienced woman, and yet those two entirely different aesthetics actually combined perfectly to form a unique kind of beauty. However, there was only weariness in her expression; there was no more of her usual high-spirited nature. Her clothes were damaged, and her face had dried bloodstains on it; it was unclear whether they belonged to her or her enemies. As she stood there alone, she looked especially haggard and bleak.
“Qinghe!” Chu Yuozhao exclaimed, panicking.
Murong Qinghe gave her a look filled with gentleness. Her big brother Chu was normally so weak and elegant, and yet insisted on sheltering her like this. He was more brave and heroic than many soldiers in the army. She thought, No wonder I liked him for so many years.
But she didn’t reply; instead, she looked at the people from King Jin Manor and said, “I came here secretly on my own and didn’t alert anyone. The Qin clan’s people didn't know that I was here, so it has nothing to do with them. I hope that General Liu won't trouble anyone else.”
The middle-aged general nodded and said, “But of course.”
Murong Qinghe nodded in response. She threw the spear in her hands to the ground, and soldiers quickly walked up to shackle her.
“Let’s go,” she said coldly. She was already worn out after running for so long. She was ready to accept her own fate.
Then, General Liu said with a smile, “Hold on. Chu Youzhao has harbored a criminal, so arrest her as well for interrogation.
Murong Qinghe was stunned when she heard that. Then, she erupted into rage, exclaiming, “Bastard, you lied to me!”
It was precisely because the other side hadn't continued to question Chu Youzhao’s responsibility that she agreed to be captured. Otherwise, with her spear skills, if she really resisted, she wouldn't necessarily have been able to escape, but she could definitely have made these people pay a grave price. However, she was already completely restrained. She was already like a fish on a chopping board, without any strength to resist.
Chu Youzhao was shocked and furious. She exclaimed, “You’re shameless and despicable! Qinghe, you shouldn’t have trusted them!”
General Liu said coldly, “How can the law of a country be carried out based on personal transactions? The reason this general has acted like this is to lessen the casualties of my subordinates. What wrongs have I committed?”
As King Jin’s trusted aide, he naturally knew just how furious King Jin was after hearing about what happened to his majesty. He was completely devoted to getting revenge for his father, and the King Qi faction’s Murong clan and Qin clan were both thorns in his side. The Murong clan was one thing, but as for the Qin clan, that dead camel was still larger than a horse. There were a lot of their people in the army, so the two state dukes hadn’t been convicted even after all this time. If they could completely bring down the Qin clan through the accusation of harboring a criminal, King Jin would definitely be happy.
Then I'll be able to obtain the appreciation of the various big shots in the capital…
The two women were so angry they were shaking as they listened to him speak so forcefully and self-righteously. Still, there really was nothing else that they could do right now.
With a wave of the general's hand, several purple-armored guards surrounded Chu Youzhao. As the guards of King Jin Manor, their cultivation was naturally much stronger than that of ordinary soldiers.
Meanwhile, Chu Youzhao didn’t excel at cultivation. Even if they faced them one-on-one, she wouldn't necessarily be their match. When she thought about how her crossdressing would definitely be exposed if she was captured, her face paled. She immediately sank into despair.
Suddenly, a cold voice said, “I was wondering what kind of skills King Jin Manor’s people had, but it turns out all you're good at is tricking some young juniors. These two are mine, so none of you can bring them away!”
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