After Rebirth, I Married my Archenemy - Chapter 68

As soon as the words were spoken, several people’s expressions changed, and their hands raised long blades.

Fang Xie said, “No one is allowed to harm her.”

The secret guards had no choice but to retreat step by step.

Qun Qing tightly wrapped one arm around Fang Xie. She could feel both of them trembling—Fang Xie from pain, and herself from nervousness—as they slowly moved toward the exit.

In this lifetime, it had been a long time since she had felt so surrounded by enemies. Any lapse in concentration could mean her death.

When they stepped outside the cabin, the wind howled, and the ship swayed unsteadily.

Under the watchful eyes of the secret guards, the young man who killed fish moved swiftly. He tossed the small boat into the river, deftly handled the ropes with both hands, and within moments had lowered the boat into the water.

“You…” A secret guard glared at him.

The young man quickly jumped onto the small boat himself, hugging his arms in fear. 

“Miss, you may board now.”

Qun Qing carried Fang Xie onto the boat, her long blade poised defensively in front of her. Fang Xie ordered, 

“Let them pass.”

“Your Highness!” An older secret guard couldn’t help but grab the rope. “Miss Qun, if you want to go somewhere, we can discuss it. The river is wide, and the waves are high. Relying on this small boat to escape is sheer folly.”

Qun Qing tied Fang Xie to the small boat using her scarf. When a flash of silver light appeared before her eyes, she warned, 

“No one is to come down. Otherwise, I’ll throw Him into the water immediately. Without the antidote, he will die from the poison.”

This petite young lady, so slim and delicate, seemed the easiest prey for a blade in chaotic times. Yet her dark, piercing eyes held a ruthless indifference that made no one dare to act rashly.

“Sister, as long as we’re not separated, I’ll go anywhere with you. I won’t let you become a slave or a concubine. I just want to take you away. I never intended to deceive you, nor did I think things would come to this.” Fang Xie stopped struggling. He lay on the small boat, bl00d staining his lips, his jet-black eyes gazing at the sky. His fingers twitched slightly, making him look pitiable.

Qun Qing couldn’t help but ask, “Isn’t Physician Li your master? Why do you speak of him so coldly?”

Fang Xie remained silent.

Qun Qing continued, “It’s because he wasn’t the one who raised you. You were sent to his medical clinic after the fall of the kingdom, so you have no deep feelings for him.”

“Your Highness, which prince are you?” Qun Qing asked. “Emperor Chu Huang had no other sons besides Crown Prince Zhao. In the royal family, only the young son of the Changping Princess, weak since childhood, was raised in a monastery. Lingyun Nuo, is that you?”

Fang Xie’s body trembled violently. “Don’t mention that name. My surname is not Lingyun.”

It was understandable that he hated the surname, given how Lingyun Yi had betrayed the Changping Princess, turning her young son into a puppet emperor.

“I once heard that the Changping Princess set her child on fire, which many found unbelievable. She must have had a backup plan. After you escaped, you hid in Physician Li’s clinic, and then you met me.” Qun Qing spoke her conclusions slowly.

“Then what about my mother?” She choked slightly, eventually voicing the question.

It had always been Fang Xie who relayed the news about her mother from Physician Li.

“You’ve been leading me with information step by step. Each time I got close, something unexpected happened. You wanted me to leave the palace.”

Fang Xie heard the trembling in her voice, turned his face, and awkwardly said, 

“Sister, your mother is in Southern Chu. Come back with me. Once I seize the throne, I will reunite you with her.”

“My mother is not in Southern Chu.” Qun Qing looked at him calmly. “If she were in Southern Chu, Crown Prince Zhao would have used her to threaten me long ago.”

Large raindrops began to fall, turning into a torrential downpour. Whirlpools appeared one after another on the river’s surface.

“Is my mother already dead?” Qun Qing held a short blade to Fang Xie’s neck.

The small boat was tethered to the merchant ship by ropes, rising and falling with the waves amidst the storm.

Inside the sound of urgent, chaotic zither notes, raindrops splattered continuously. Lu Huating pressed down on the strings, but they trembled uncontrollably beneath his hands.

He heard footsteps. “Has it been three days?”

Jian Su hurried in. “Advisor, Shanggong Bureau says Lady Qing’s palace record is fake. The Crown Prince has sent people to arrest her.”

Lu Huating froze, his fingers resting on his belt. 

“Prepare a horse.”

With that, he removed his outer robe, folded it lightly, and placed it over the zither.

The prison door of Jinglian Pavilion creaked open, startling Zhu Su. As Lu Huating walked in, he took the whip from Zhu Su’s hand. His upturned eyes fixed on Lin Yujia, half-dead inside. 

“Hang him up. You wait outside.”

Zhu Su waited outside and soon heard Lin Yujia’s screams echoing within. 

“I’ll sign it! I’ll sign it…”

Jian Su frowned. “Weren’t we supposed to torment him for a while? Why are we interrogating him so soon?”

Zhu Su didn’t understand either and peered through the secret window. Lin Yujia’s ceremonial robes from the banquet were still on, the burn marks fusing fabric and flesh together.

He was pale, trembling, his eyes filled with hatred. 

“My contact was Qun Qing… You wouldn’t protect her, would you? You can’t protect her. I won’t die alone.”

Lu Huating took the signed confession, folded it, and tucked it into his robes before lifting his gaze.

Lin Yujia feared his eyes—cold, mocking, and growing darker every time he hit someone.

“One last question, Chief Lin.” Lu Huating stared at him. “For the marriage agreement with Qun Qing, was there a token of promise?”

“A token?” Lin Yujia moved slightly, his pain unbearable. After a long groan, he spat, “Our Lin family is an aristocratic clan. What official’s daughter wouldn’t want to marry into our family? Our token is this official hat and leather belt. Someone of lowly birth like you probably…”

Before he could finish, Lu Huating tore the belt from his waist and threw it into the fire pit, watching the flames rise higher. “You and Qun Qing are poorly matched. Today, I’ll annul this marriage on your father’s behalf. Go to your death with no ties.”

Without another glance at Lin Yujia’s struggles, Lu Huating exited, handed the whip to Jian Su, and said with a smile, “Interrogate Lady Qing’s childhood. If he can’t answer, kill him.”

The smile vanished as he added, drenched, “Zhu Su, come with me.”

On the deck, the older secret guard knelt. 

“Please, Miss, don’t harm His Highness. He truly didn’t know when we rescued him and sent him to the capital!”

Fang Xie’s face had turned ashen. He weakly glanced at the man.

“He didn’t know, but you did?” Qun Qing’s drenched hair stuck to her face, and rain streamed down her cheeks as she pointed her blade at him. “Then speak.”

The guard hesitated before saying, “Your mother was Lady Zhu Ying, who served the Changping Princess. During the kingdom’s fall, the princess sent her a secret letter instructing her to retrieve a certain item from the palace.”

“What item?” Qun Qing asked.

“I only know it’s related to the White Knights in the Palace and the Li family’s fourth son. Lady Zhu Ying went to Changqing Palace, but the Li family stormed in. She and the palace maids were captured by Prince Zhao, and later Minister Meng arrived.”

Qun Qing listened silently.

He continued, “Prince Zhao and Minister Meng also seemed to be searching for that item. They imprisoned the maids for over ten days. Later, all the maids were executed, but I didn’t see Lady Zhu Ying’s body. Since then, there’s been no news of her.”

Qun Qing felt her heart shatter into pieces.

Her mother was likely gone.

In the pouring rain, Qun Qing lowered her eyes.

She was alone in this world, rootless and adrift.

Fang Xie urgently said, “Sister, don’t listen to him… My sources say your mother was rescued by Southern Chu. Come with me. When I seize the throne, I’ll reunite you.”

Qun Qing looked at him coldly, her vision blurred by the rain.

There were now two answers: one possibly harsh and true, the other potentially beautiful but deadly.

She no longer wanted to be anyone’s pawn. She wouldn’t trust someone who had deceived her once.

“I’m not going to Southern Chu,” she told Fang Xie.

At that moment, the ship neared the Jiannan Road. From the shore came the sounds of hooves and voices. Dozens of men with torches were chasing the ship, shouting, 

“Stop! Pull over!”

Several secret guards exclaimed, “Dachen’s men have caught up. We can’t delay any longer, Your Highness!”

Before they finished speaking, arrows hit the ship’s canopy with loud thuds. The pursuers were preparing to leap onto the boat.

Qun Qing cut the connecting ropes with a swift slash, causing several attackers to plunge into the water.

She pressed the antidote against Fang Xie’s mouth and threatened the shadow guards, “If you want to live, let me go now. If you insist on entangling with me, none of us will make it out.”

“Sister!” Fang Xie stared at her in alarm. “What are you doing? I won’t leave!”

Qun Qing forced the antidote into his mouth and severed her silk sash. “If you still value this life-saving favor, go back, seize power, and grant me the title of ‘Heaven.’”

With that, she shoved him into the river.

The four shadow guards understood the urgency of the situation. They swiftly carried him away, retreating across the water. “Your Highness, hurry!”

Clinging to one of the guards’ backs, Fang Xie looked back at her, his eyes filled with panic that gradually turned to despair. Tortured by the poison, he fainted.

Qun Qing didn’t paddle but let the small boat drift along the river. She sat quietly, watching the shadows of the mounted soldiers pursuing along the shore reflected in her eyes. She recognized their attire—they were soldiers of the Crown Prince’s household.

If Li Xuan had caught up with her earlier, she might have felt despair.

But now, watching the soldiers draw near, she instead felt a tinge of satisfaction.

Her mind turned over the shadow guards’ earlier words, her chest welling with bitter resentment and unrelenting fury.

If she hadn’t discovered the reason for her mother’s disappearance, it might have been bearable. But now that she knew, her enemies still sat in the palace. She had passed them not long ago, memorized their faces—how could she be resigned to dying like this? What meaning was there in running away?

For someone with no ties or attachments, there was no fear of suffering. Such a person was perfectly suited to trade their life for a few others.

Something was suddenly draped over her head.

The boy who sells fish placed a piece of clothing over her. He was shivering from the cold yet still chewing on a flatbread. Noticing Qun Qing’s gaze, he moved the bread slowly from his own mouth to hers.

Qun Qing didn’t eat it. “Aren’t you afraid?”

“My mom said, ‘The bold get fed, the timid starve. If staying on the boat might mean death, it’s better to take a gamble and follow you. I’m alive now, aren’t I?’” The boy spoke cautiously. “Miss, my mom also said, ‘A bad life is better than a good death.’”

For a brief moment, Qun Qing felt her nose sting with emotion. She was surprised that such childish words could still move her. 

“If you follow me, your bad luck starts now.”

“Ah?”

Several grappling hooks shot out, latching onto the boat and dragging it toward the shore. The banks were littered with dried branches and fallen leaves, now trampled by horses and men. The soldiers’ silver armor gleamed coldly, their faces stern.

“Advisor Wang Xiang of the Eastern Palace, under orders from the Crown Prince, here to escort Lady Qing back to the palace.” The leading man cupped his hands in a polite but detached manner.

At that moment, the sound of galloping hooves and sharp whistles arose behind them. A new group of riders charged in, scattering the Eastern Palace soldiers into two columns as a formation of white horses burst through the ranks.

Qun Qing sat impassively on the boat, her gaze falling on the leader. He wore crimson official robes, drenched by the rain, making the red fabric and embroidered patterns all the more striking. His pale face and jet-black hair appeared so vivid it bordered on the otherworldly. He pulled his horse to a halt, his dark eyes meeting Qun Qing’s from a distance before turning to Wang Xiang.

“Prince Yan’s household is apprehending a spy. I must escort Lady Qing back to the palace for interrogation.”