chapter 15

Cui Yuehua burst out laughing. “Wanyi, you and I are ultimately different. Some people live beyond the courtyard, while others spend their whole lives gazing at the sky from the bottom of a well. You have lost.”

The ladies, of course, were unwilling to sit and wait for death. Some cursed Cui Yuehua, others sat on the ground wailing and sobbing. Cui Yuehua rummaged through her jewelry box and pulled out a knife, stabbing it into the belly of the leading troublemaker. The lady screamed in pain and, before everyone’s eyes, breathed her last.

With perfect composure, Cui Yuehua withdrew the dagger, blood dripping onto the velvet carpet. She turned the blade and advanced toward me.

“Zhang Wanyi, I wanted you to see your Parents one last time. You refused. Don’t say I didn’t give you the chance.”

I hadn’t expected Cui Yuehua to truly want to kill me.

Terrified, I kept retreating, guarding my abdomen. I stumbled, nearly falling onto the dead lady, but someone helped steady me just in time.

Cui Yuehua was in high spirits. “The time, the place, and the people-all are on my side. Zhang Wanyi, the Capital City’s land of wealth is not for you. Prince Duan said that once he becomes Emperor, he’ll betroth me to Duan Jing.”

“Since you like Duan Jing, why did you get engaged to Second Young Master…?”

Cui Yuehua smiled radiantly. “Otherwise, how could I have brought the Duan Family onto Prince Duan’s side?”

I had nowhere left to retreat. The cold blade pressed against my throat, ready to pierce it at any moment.

I was about to die, without even seeing Duan Jing one last time.

“Miss Cui, the Prince has urgent orders for you.”

Cui Yuehua’s smile froze, her impatience clear. “What is it?”

Reluctantly, she moved the knife away from me and walked out. I collapsed to the ground, trembling uncontrollably.

I had thought I would live a long life, never imagining I’d be swept into such a storm and lose my life because of it.

The ladies looked at me with sympathy, but none dared step forward to help.

“Impossible!” Suddenly, Cui Yuehua’s shrill voice rang out from outside. “Don’t even think about it!”

“The Prince’s personal order, Miss. Please hurry.”

Moments later, Cui Yuehua returned, her face frighteningly dark. She grabbed my collar and dragged me out the door.

I staggered a few steps, barely keeping up with her pace.

“Go tell Duan Jing to choose Prince Duan,” Cui Yuehua hissed through clenched teeth. “Why is he so stubborn!”

“…”

Sweat soaked my thin shirt, and the wind made me shiver uncontrollably.

She pressed the knife against me as we left the room. The cold blade, now with force behind it, quickly broke my skin. I dared not stop walking. After a long while, I saw the Front Hall, packed with people.

Cui Yuehua shoved me hard, and I stumbled into the hall. There, a figure in bright yellow sat at the head, with guests divided into two groups. Few dared approach the Emperor.

A middle-aged man in a lake-blue python robe sneered coldly. “Duan Jing, a wise man submits to circumstances. If you refuse, I’ll kill her Parents with a single stroke.”

My Parents were held in the hall, blades pressed to their throats. The Guard’s sword was sharper than Cui Yuehua’s, able to slice iron like mud. Blood was already trickling down their necks.

Mother had long been scared out of her wits. Now, seeing me, she wailed like a ghost. “Wanyi, hurry and tell the Son-in-law! Your father and I can’t die… We’re just common folk, we only want to live in peace!”

I saw many familiar faces-Lord Duan, Madam Duan, Second Young Master. They shrank back, quietly watching the spectacle.

Originally, Duan Jing stood by the Emperor’s side, gripping his sword. When I appeared, his hand trembled, and for the first time, his gaze wavered.

My heart ached, and I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

Forget it. The surprise I’d prepared would only make things harder for him now. I guarded my abdomen, saying nothing.

My Parents, seeing my silence, cursed me. “Ungrateful wretch! We raised you with such hardship. If we’d known you’d turn against us, we should have strangled you at birth.”

Duan Jing moved a step toward me. The Emperor said, “Duan Jing, have you decided?”

He clenched his jaw, dropped his sword, and slowly approached me. “Zhang Wanyi is my life. Yuehua, let her go.”

Cui Yuehua pressed the blade tighter. “Jiming, she’s just a village woman. Kill her and be done with it.”

Her tone was light, almost hypnotic.

Duan Jing’s expression tightened. “Don’t be reckless. Today is your wedding day-it’s inauspicious.”

Cui Yuehua laughed wildly, forcing me to retreat and widening the distance. “So many have died, and you talk of bad luck? Jiming, do you not know what I’ve done all this for?”

Duan Jing’s eyes were fixed on the blade, his face pale. “I know, I understand. Slow down… I beg you, slow down…”

Hatred twisted Cui Yuehua’s features. “You used to revolve around me… Did she bewitch you?”

Duan Jing gradually walked into Prince Duan’s encirclement, alone and vulnerable. My heart leapt into my throat.

Suddenly, Cui Yuehua screamed hysterically. “Say something! Why don’t you love me anymore? Why marry this village woman!”

A sharp pain radiated from my neck. I furrowed my brow, biting my lip until it turned white.

Duan Jing’s lashes trembled, his jaw clenched, his hand slowly tightening.

“Wanyi, on our wedding day, my promise was not made in jest.”

“Someday, I will return glory and wealth to Zhang Shi Wanyi. Heaven and earth bear witness-I will never betray you in life or death.”

In that instant, I understood his meaning.

Duan Jing wanted to gamble.

In a flash, I twisted Cui Yuehua’s wrist, pushing her away in a desperate, clumsy move. Amid her startled cry, I broke free and ran with all my strength toward Duan Jing, not far away.

Surrounded by blades and flames, only Duan Jing was a beacon of light, drawing me in like a moth to a flame.
Swish!

A cold gleam stabbed at my eyes. Duan Jing casually grabbed the hilt of someone’s blade, drew it swiftly, sharp edges clashing, the sound of weapons ringing out.

With the commotion surging all around, the air in the hall grew tense, every shadow seeming like an enemy.

I was pulled tightly into a warm embrace.

Duan Jing held me firmly against his chest with one arm, shielding my view, while his other hand gripped a blade, holding it horizontally in front of us, pressing it to Prince Duan’s neck. His tone was chilling: “Who dares harm her!”

Beneath his chest, hearts pounded wildly-his and mine, tangled together.

I trembled, burying my face in his arms, not daring to speak or move.

Prince Duan was caught off guard, his aged face flushing with anger: “Everyone, stop!”

The mood shifted instantly, becoming delicate and fraught.

Duan Jing, with his strength alone, had turned the tide of battle.

No one could have imagined that a minor official, whose entire family had defected to Prince Duan, could remain so calm in the face of danger and capture the prince in the midst of chaos.

Cui Yuehua, eyes bloodshot with rage, shrieked, “You wretch! How dare you deceive me!”

She lunged forward recklessly, only to be run through the heart by one of Prince Duan’s guards. She fell to the ground without even a scream, lifeless.

Duan Jing pressed my head into his chest, holding me close. “Be good, Husband is here. Don’t be afraid.”

I wasn’t afraid. Just now, I had already prepared myself to live and die with him.

If we lost, we would go to the underworld together.

Someone-whose side, I couldn’t tell-shouted that reinforcements had arrived. The tension in the hall was about to explode.

The two armies faced off, blood splattering everywhere. The cold gleam of blades blurred into shadows; a single misstep could mean decapitation.

Several skulls rolled at our feet. Duan Jing shielded me, kicked them aside, and pushed me toward the Emperor: “Your Majesty, please look after my wife! Only then can your subject fight without worry!”

“Granted.”

I was taken under the Emperor’s protection. Turning back, I watched Duan Jing’s figure weaving through the storm of blades. More than once, a blade nearly grazed his neck. My heart leapt to my throat, and I nearly fainted from fear.

“Little Madam, don’t be afraid,” the Emperor said. “I won’t let your Husband lose.”

My eyes reddened. Clutching my belly, I shrank into a corner, trembling as I spoke: “Your Majesty, if we win… could you grant my Husband a high official post?”

“Of course.”

When the clatter of hooves and armor thundered through the gates, the reinforcements had arrived.

Duan Jing stood in a pool of blood, wounded in several places. I forced myself to stand, rushed to him, and burst into tears.

His blood dripped from his chin onto my face, the jade-colored sash now entirely stained red.

Duan Jing gently touched my soaked back, his breath weak: “Did I scare you?”

I shook my head hard. “No… not afraid…”

After a long moment, he trembled as he hugged me tightly. “But Wanyi, I’m afraid…”

Clang-the blade fell to the ground. Duan Jing’s arms tightened around me, as if he wanted to fuse me into his bones and blood.

Duan Jing was only twenty-two this year.

The Duan Mansion was in shambles. Those who had defected to Prince Duan were thrown into prison.

The Emperor’s guards approached Duan Jing. I nervously spread my arms, afraid they would take him away too.

“Let him be,” the Emperor called out at the crucial moment. “I promised his little wife I’d grant him a high official post.”

I looked at the Emperor gratefully, then mustered my courage: “Your Majesty, I’d like to take my Husband to dress his wounds…”

Duan Jing shielded me. “Zhang Shi is pure and innocent, Your Majesty, please don’t blame her.”

The Emperor laughed heartily. “I’m not so petty. Go on, let your little wife take you. Look at her, she’s worried sick.”

I led him out to the courtyard, returning to the small residence where we once lived.

The farther we walked, the more frightened I became. I hadn’t cried before, but now the tears came pouring down.

I kept my head down, pulling Duan Jing along in silence.

When we entered the courtyard, he suddenly grabbed me, hugging me from behind, his cheek pressed to mine.

“Wanyi…” His voice was low and hoarse, the shouting from earlier having drained him completely.

My body shook as I sobbed uncontrollably.

“Good Wanyi… don’t cry… don’t cry…”

But I only cried harder, sobbing and sniffling. My hands hurt, my back hurt, all covered in wounds, but none of it compared to the pain in my heart.

I would never forget the sight of Duan Jing fighting alone against the world.

Nor would I ever forget that feeling of helplessness.

I almost lost him.

Fortunately, there was medicine in the house. I stubbornly pressed him into a chair, peeled off his sticky, tattered clothes. Where his skin had once been smooth, it was now covered in fine cuts.

“This will hurt a bit. Bear with it…”

Duan Jing gently caressed my face, his gaze filled with longing.

As I applied the medicine, my sleeve slipped down, revealing a wound on my elbow. His sharp eyes caught it, and his expression changed dramatically. He grabbed my wrist. “Does it hurt?”

He startled me, pulling at the wound on my back, making me grimace in pain.

I didn’t scold him, but he got angry anyway, grumbling as he picked me up and tossed me onto the small bed. “You women have such delicate skin-are you mute? Don’t know how to speak? Or don’t know pain? Lie down! Show me your back!”

I hesitated, still sitting upright, and whispered, “Maybe… it’s not very convenient.”

Duan Jing snapped, “What could I possibly do to you? Let me put on the medicine!”

I could already guess how Duan Jing would react. Shrinking my neck, I said cautiously, “I… I’m pregnant… Some medicines aren’t suitable…”

Crash!

The small porcelain bottle fell to the ground and shattered.

I stared in shock as Duan Jing froze, his hands empty.

Then, with a thud, Duan Jing collapsed to the floor, unconscious.