Chapter 597 – My Man and My Woman

My Man and My Woman

Amidst the wind and snow, a bright-red dress was very eye-catching. Feng Yu Heng immediately recognized Prince Lian. Unfortunately, now was not the time to reminisce about the past. Although the formation had been broken, the enemy army was numbering in the thousands. Even if they did not fight back, cutting them down one at a time would still exhaust them.

Prince Lian leaned against the railing of the tower with both hands and had two guards protecting her on each side. The red dress was blown very beautifully by the wind. While watching, she praised: “Ya Ya, your talent is amazing, and this prince feels utterly inadequate.”

“Hmph!” Following this, Duan Mu An Guo let out a cold snort, “You only feel inadequate? Based on what this commander sees, your Highness Prince Lian doesn’t know any martial arts at all.”

Prince Lian did not get angry and nodded very seriously. She then pointed to the guards at her side: “If the masters all know martial arts, what’s the point of keeping these guys around? Duan Mu An Guo, this prince has taken a great interest in physiognomy today from having seen quite a few ancient texts and examples. Right now, seeing how your glabella is dark while your eyes are dim, I fear that a calamity of death will befall you!”

“Nonsense!” Duan Mu An Guo angrily raised his hand and subconsciously wanted to slap her.

But the four guards at Prince Lian’s side were not so easy to handle. One of them reached out and grabbed Duan Mu An Guo’s wrist. “Commander, pay attention to your status.”

Duan Mu An Guo had a martial background, but he was indeed getting old. In addition to not regulating his private affairs, his body had long since been drained dry. If it was not for the assistance of some supplements to keep him hanging on, how could he still have his current vitality.

His hatred for Prince Lian was extreme, but now that the generals of the North had all been taken away by Prince Lian, he was the only one left standing at the top of the tower. Even if he wanted to throw a tantrum, he did not have the right to do it. Duan Mu An Guo felt annoyed in his heart; however, he was still wondering about what Prince Lian had said earlier. He could not help but ask: “What exactly happened to Qian Zhou’s ruler?”

Prince Lian rolled her eyes beautifully, saying with a smile: “That’s not something you can worry about.”

Duan Mu An Guo knew that his wordplay was not enough to take on Prince Lian, who had always had a twisted personality. With a belly full of anger and no place to vent, he simply stood to the side and fell silent. At least now that there were thousands of soldiers as enemies, even if the ninth prince and imperial daughter Ji An had extremely great abilities, they would have trouble overcoming the numbers. A hero could not take on many enemies. With 5000 people, even exhaustion would be enough to kill them.

But at this time, Prince Lian, who had already turned around and moved to observe the fight, suddenly spoke up, saying something that nearly caused Duan Mu An Guo to suffer internal injuries out of anger. She said: “Ah! How could this prince have forgotten. My troops are from Qian Zhou, yet why must they sacrifice their lives for some lowly northern provinces? No good, no good.” She grabbed a guard at her side, “Quickly tell them to stop! Have them all stop! Stop fighting!”

Duan Mu An Guo became covered in a cold sweat, quickly saying: “That must not be done! What are you doing? Qian Zhou dispatched soldiers to protect these provinces. This was part of the alliance treaties that this commander swore to Qian Zhou’s ruler. You were given an imperial order. Do you know that retreating your soldiers now would be defying imperial orders?”

“Imperial orders?” Prince Lian helplessly shook her head, “Duan Mu An Guo, oh Duan Mu An Guo, what was it that this prince said again? The ruler is having trouble protecting himself. How could he have any time to worry about any alliance treaties.”

Duan Mu An Guo’s heart was filled with urgency! This Prince Lian repeatedly said that Qian Zhou’s ruler was having a hard time protecting himself, but what exactly did this mean? In what way was he having a hard time? Could it be that there was some internal strife in Qian Zhou?

A drop of cold sweat dripped down from his forehead, as he suddenly recalled that Prince Lian had said earlier that the troops excavating the dragon vein in Jiang Zhou had already been pulled back to their territory. Now, all that remained in the three provinces were Prince Lian’s forces. Those troops had been recalled in a hurry. At that time, he felt that it was odd, but it happened to coincide with word of Duan Mu Cong’s death. That caused this matter to be left until a later time. Now that it had been brought up once more, Duan Mu An Guo had to think about it carefully. The more he thought, the more he felt that this hasty retreat made it seem as though there was some sort of large problem in Qian Zhou. Could it be... that there was another struggle for the throne?

But normally speaking, this was not possible. This ruler’s brutal methods were not something a normal person could compare to. Back when he had seized the position, he did not hold back in the slightest. None of his brothers met with a good ending, including Prince Lian, who had been ruined from a young age. The current Qian Zhou, everyone that could potentially threaten the throne had been killed. All of his children were still young. Where could there be anyone to fight with him!

Duan Mu An Guo thought about this endlessly in his mind. At this time, he just saw Prince Lian spread her arms and hook them around the necks of the guards at her side, calling out: “Let’s go. Bring this prince to meet with an old friend. While we’re at it, let’s help out commander Duan Mu by taking care of the people that need to be taken care of.”

Once this was said, Duan Mu An Guo finally regained some composure. He thought to himself, so what if you are arrogant, you still need to obey your ruler’s orders.

But at this time, two of Prince Lian’s guards leaped up and acted as though they were carrying some sort of treasure and brought her to the middle of the army. At the same time, the other two guards stabbed their swords forward, the tips of their swords waving wildly, as they flew straight toward Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng.

Duan Mu An Guo’s heart began to feel moved; however, he did not dare to lean too far forward. In fact, he did not even dare to expose himself on the outside. He was still able to remember how those people earlier had died. He also recalled that hole in the middle of Duan Mu Cong’s forehead. Da Shun’s imperial daughter Ji An had a unique weapon, and he had to defend against it.

Hiding in the tower, Duan Mu An Guo watched the two guards from Qian Zhou stab their swords forward, and he had already begun to imagine Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng immediately dying under their blades. But he never thought that the dignified Prince Lian of Qian Zhou would secretly be helping them... The two swords actually stabbed through two assassins from the North that had mixed in with the army.

The heart of the battle was already very close to the tower. After Duan Mu An Guo watched the two assassins that he had secretly dispatched get stabbed through the chest, his head immediately exploded, but he quickly made a reasonable decision. He did not continue to linger, as he turned and immediately ran away.

Prince Lian’s appearance caused the people of the army that had been doing their best to chase after Xuan Tian Ming and Feng Yu Heng to suddenly stop. Everyone put down their swords where they stood. Only when Prince Lian was put down by her guards did a few people come forward at the same time to kneel and shout in unison: “Long live your Highness Prince Lian!”

Feng Yu Heng frowned upon hearing this. Was it not enough for there to be a problem with the woman? There were even problems with all of her subordinates? What sort of time was this. In front of the enemy, they actually had the mind to salute?

Xuan Tian Ming had heard about Prince Lian before, thus he was not too surprised. He just retracted his whip and flicked it a few times to remove the blood. He then helped Feng Yu Heng tidy her hair, which had become messy over the course of the battle. He then tied her cloak on a little tighter, asking in a quiet voice: “Were you injured?”

Feng Yu Heng shook her head: “No injuries.”

“Are you cold?”

“A little.”

Upon hearing a little, Xuan Tian Ming quickly removed his own cloak and tightly wrapped up the girl. Underneath the cold and unfeeling mask, there was an unconcealable tenderness.

Prince Lian stood across from the two and watched. She did not even get a chance to tell the soldiers to rise. She just spoke to a guard at her side: “Do you see that? The people that are most lacking in conscience are people like this. You save her, but she does not know how to be grateful. She only knows how to fawn on other men. It really is a waste of this prince’s efforts.”

Feng Yu Heng frowned and looked at her, correcting: “It’s not other men. This is my man.”

“Then what about me?” Prince Lian moved forward and asked her with a smile, “What about me, what about me?”

“You...” Feng Yu Heng thought a bit, “I figure you can be considered my woman.”

“Then,” Xuan Tian Ming spoke up and pointed at the soldiers, “Woman of this prince’s woman, what do you have to say about today’s matters?”

Prince Lian smiled and kicked the soldiers at her side, “Get up, get up. Everyone, get up for this great one! Retreat! Hah, retreat a bit further back!” Not long later, thousands of soldiers were chased back dozens of steps, only keeping her guards at her side. Seeing that they had retreated a reasonable distance, Prince Lian said: “There’s not much to say. This prince just came to get some revenge on Duan Mu An Guo. I had to tear him down a peg. Not to mention helping with defending these northern provinces, even if there comes a day when you come knocking at Qian Zhou’s capital, as long as Duan Mu An Guo is present, this prince will open the city’s gates for you!”

When this was said, Feng Yu Heng immediately felt the hatred that she had felt back when they were in the tunnel. It was a hatred that Prince Lian felt for Duan Mu An Guo. She did not know the origin of this hatred. One was a member of Qian Zhou’s imperial family and the other was an official of Da Shun. The two were completely unrelated. How did such a deep-rooted hatred come to be?

Xuan Tian Ming looked at Prince Lian inquisitively for a while then nodded, “So it was like that.” These words had two layers of meaning and were very easy to understand. He had understood Prince Lian’s explanation. He had a deep understanding, thus he could also see the truth hidden under Prince Lian’s exterior.

He reached out and pulled the girl closer, saying quietly: “Don’t pay too much attention to him.”*

“Hey!” Prince Lian became unhappy, “Xuan family’s old ninth, aren’t you being a little too controlling? You can control the heavens and earth, but you’ll also control who your wife can be friends with? In this life, this great one has only this one good friend. If you dare to cause a mess for me, do you believe that I will call those 5000 soldiers back?”

Xuan Tian Ming nodded, “I do.”

“Then you still...”

“This prince is fine with it.”

Feng Yu Heng facepalmed. Alright, she believed it. Xuan Tian Ming’s arrogance ran up against Prince Lian’s arrogance. The two really were in an equal match!

“One surnamed Feng.” Feng Yu Heng raised her eyebrows and looked at her, “Such a grand favor will be granted to us with a cupping of your hands? Since Qian Zhou dispatched soldiers to protect the northern provinces, it must be a result of the ruler’s orders. How will you explain when you get back?”

Prince Lian’s eyes lit up, “Ya Ya, are you worried about me?”

Xuan Tian Ming frowned and corrected her: “She’s A-Heng.”

“I’m happy with calling her Ya Ya! You’re so annoying!” This person once again began arguing with Xuan Tian Ming, “In any case, I can be considered as a life-saving benefactor. Is there such a person that is as ungrateful as you? I’ll tell you that if it wasn’t for this great one being here, if it wasn’t for the people in the tunnels being this great one’s subordinates, and if it wasn’t for this great one chasing away Duan Mu An Guo’s soldiers, do you believe that Song Zhou City would have been so easy to break into?”

It wasn’t broken into, right? Feng Yu Heng looked in the direction of the city’s gate and found that the thick pieces of ice were still there.

“Hah, telling you guys about this is pointless. I’ve already done the good deed, thus this prince will not bother putting my name on it. But Ya Ya, you must remember that you owe this prince a favor, and it is a rather grand favor. When this prince asks you for that favor, you must not refuse!”

Feng Yu Heng furrowed her brow slightly. Prince Lian continuously mentioned the word favor. Exactly what sort of request would she make?

*TN: Him and her are pronounced the same in Chinese but written differently.