Shi Rongyao appeared to know that Elder Princess was Jing Donghua and Leng Changxi’s weakness. Shi Rongyao dragged her near to his side, though Elder Princess came to herself. She was too feeble to open her eyes. It seemed that the man in black must have drugged her with enough doses.

With one hand coercing Elder Princess, Shi Rongyao’s other hand was holding a curved knife tightly. The crescent-like blade was at her throat. Noticing that, Leng Changxi thrust his dagger into the gap of steps. He then took over a crossbow from Leng Wu’s hand. Such crossbow was unique to West Xia, which could shoot three arrows at a time. Leng Changxi threw away two arrows sideways and left the sharpest central one. He closed one eye to aim at Shi Rongyao’s eye.

Shi Rongyao sneered. He dragged Elder Princess closer like a shield in front of him. He provoked, “You are outstanding for power and accuracy in archery, I know. But right now, we are so close. The arrow is so powerful. General Leng, you have to be careful. After all, she is your natural mother, and you’ve found her for so many years. In any case, the thirteenth prince will kill her after returning to Qi. For her, earlier or later, time is not the matter. But for you, that’s not… Ah!”

Shi Rongyao’s threatens turned to whines with deep agony. An arrow made by pine twig shot into his eye socket straight. His eye socket continued bleeding. When Shi Rongyao was groaning, Leng Changxi changed the arrow to a cross-shaped one with a barb. Such an arrow was hard to be pulled out once it shot into a human’s body unless Shi Rongyao gave up his eyeball.

Leng Changxi wiped the bow in his hand seriously with his head low, “I hate men who are womanishly fussy when talking.”

Though Shi Rongyao covered his eyes painfully, he didn’t loosen his grip on the binding Elder Princess. Noticing that, Leng Wu put the rest of the arrows onto the bow and aimed at Shi Rongyao’s arm. Shi Rongyao trembled because the two arrows thudded into his flesh. Leng Shuang leaped forward to bring Elder Princess back.

Shi Rongyao was exasperated. His voice was weaker than before, “Go! It is the third prince’s order: Whoever kills Leng Changxi will be awarded a thousand tael of silver and conferred with the Centurion. Whoever captures Leng Changxi alive will be awarded silver ten thousand Liang and conferred with the High Position.”

Leng Changxi grinned, “Sounds like I’m pretty valuable.”

Almost the same time, those assassins who pretended to be envoys rushed towards Leng Changxi. They could not earn ten thousand tael of silver even though they worked themselves to the bone for the emperor over ten years. Qin Yunuan protected Jing Donghua to retreat. Shi Rongyao was out of anger, and his pay came immediately. He arranged all his top master-hands to attack Leng Changxi, but he forgot Jing Donghua was the owner of this palace of West Xia.

Like what was happening inside the hall, killers arranged by Dou Meishuang used ropes to jump down through gold pillars from the roof of the hall. Dou Meishuang appeared herself. Unlike the weakness and charm that she had expressed before, she dressed in a martial attire with hair tied up. Her arched eyebrows set off her handsomeness in the chaos. Dou Meishuang was holding a long whip which was made up of steel segments. Stabs were set on every part of the steel. The whip would leave a long and deep stab wound on the flesh with every hit.

“It was you.” Qin Yunuan held her soft blade. The wound reminded her of several strange cases in Prince Ning’s Mansion. Some manservants and maids were assaulted at midnight. Their stab wounds were long but nameless. Though Prince Ning reinforced the guard in the mansion, these cases continued. At that time, Qin Yunuan thought the attacker was skilled. That was the reason why he could come and go without leaving a trace. The truth about the assaulter inside Prince Ning’s Mansion was far beyond Qin Yunuan’s imagination. Dou Meishuang used to perform her weakness. She fell sick almost every day. Qin Yunuan was aware of her but neglected to learn more about her.

Jing Donghua made preparation beforehand. Behind him were soldiers in black armor fighting with assassins. Though he arranged them for an active attack, they were now on the side of the defense. Still, Shi Rongyao couldn’t prevail in the hall within such a short time.

Using one man’s strength to challenge five persons, Leng Changxi took it easy. When he was in Yeren Valley, Chen Jingrui asked Meng Man to activate the Qigong of Tongming Gate in his body. He then gained abundant energy and strength. Nobody could compare his martial skills with him throughout the world except Yun Chuchen, the master of Qigong in the previous dynasty.

Qin Yunuan turned her head around to see Leng Changxi. After she turned back, she saw Dou Meishuang stared at Leng Changxi deeply, even though Leng Changxi was fighting with a ferocious expression and blood tainted his face. Qin Yunuan was familiar with the emotion in Dou Meishuang’s eyes because it was the way she looked at Leng Changxi day after day. Dou Meishuang fell in love with Leng Changxi?

“Your Grace, you are staring at my husband.” Qin Yunuan spun her soft blade. The aura in her moist eyes made Dou Meishuang absent-minded for a moment. Dou Meishuang shook her steel whip and suddenly got nerve. “But he will be mine in no time.” Dou Meishuang said. She swung the steel whip at Qin Yunuan’s face.

Dou Meishuang regarded Qin Yunuan, the daughter of a concubine from the mansion of Grand Commandant as a porcelain doll that was weak and vulnerable. She didn’t expect Qin Yunuan pointed her blade to escape from the deathblow. Dou Meishuang couldn’t believe it. Qin Yunuan swung her soft blade. Leng Changxi only taught her the simplest ones, but once he said, three skills were enough for her to repel a second-rate assassin.

Training daughters secretly was the Dou Family’s tradition. Dou Meishuang had stayed in the Qin Family, Prince Ning’s Mansion, and West Xia. To escape detection, she gave up practicing her martial skills for a long time. Meanwhile, Qin Yunuan had double-cultivated with Leng Changxi for long. Leng Changxi also instructed her to use a soft sword. Therefore, how could Dou Meishuang, who lacked practice, win against Qin Yunuan?

Several punches later, Dou Meishuang was in retreat. She put her hands on the wall. Blood seeped in the corners of the mouth and flowed down her lower jaw. Her face was bloodlessly pale. She only got a few injuries in her arm. Why was she that weak?

Qin Yunuan was puzzled. She stepped forward to grab Dou Meishuang’s right hand. Despite her resistance, Qin Yunuan felt her pulse. Her pulse obviously answered.

“You’re pregnant?”

Dou Meishuang turned her head. She refused to talk to Qin Yunuan obstinately.

“And it was a three-month pregnant.” Qin Yunuan continued, “But it’s only two months since you’ve married into West Xia. This child was not Jing Yuanchu’s offspring, was it?”

“Hah!” Dou Meishuang sneered with disdain, “Me? Give birth to a henchman’s child? How can it be possible? We are only husband and wife in name. I have never slept with him.”

Qin Yunuan lowered her voice, “Was it the child of Sima Ray?”

The relationship between the Dou Family and Sima Ray was complicated in ambiguity. As the daughter born of her father’s legal wife, Dou Meishuang was safe after the falling of the Dou Family. It was a strange thing. From the Qin Family to Prince Ning’s Mansion, those who took Dou Meishuang in were impossible to acquire a peaceful end in political struggles. However, Dou Meishuang was safe alone. It appeared Dou Meishuang, and Sima Ray’s connection was far away beyond imagination.

“Hah, giving birth to his child wasn’t appeal to me.” Dou Meishuang despised. The scorn on her expression soon faded. She looked gloomy and dismal and said, “I was forced that night. He kept calling your name. Qin Yunuan, what kind of power did you have? Two men fought against each other only because of you. The whole country and their families were upside-down.”

All at once, Dou Meishuang raised her head. She wretchedly yelled at Qin Yunuan, “If it weren’t for you, my family would lead a wealthy and secure life in the regions south of the River. If it weren’t for you, Leng Changxi wouldn’t come to this circumstance. If it weren’t for you, Qi wouldn’t fall into Sima Ray’s hand. You are the reason for everything! You dangerous beauty!”

“You’re wrong. I don’t account for them.” said Qin Yunuan coldly, “If I were capable of mastering those things, I would reveal Dou Qing’e’s crime earlier. Dou Family in cahoots with East Qin sold out Qi’s interest. They were doomed to be executed earlier. Changxi got a rough origin which too many interests involved. He was bound to undergo twists and turns. About Sima Ray, his ambition swallowed him. Therefore, without me, he would revolt for the throne. As for calling my name, I’m sorry about that. It has nothing to do with me.”

Dou Meishuang put her hands on her abdomen and mocked herself, “Now you understand why I was sent to West Xia for the imperial matrimony for peace. Sima Ray knew this child was his. Therefore, he wanted to get rid of me and made Jing Yuanchu be the father. It was so sad that Jing Yuanchu refused to touch me on the wedding night no matter how hard I tried. I’m going to die anyway. Why don’t I bring someone down to the hell with me?”

Finish talking, Dou Meishuang made a sudden dive to Qin Yunuan like a madwoman. Hadn’t until Qin Yunuan realized what happened, an arrow thudded into Dou Meishuang’s heart. The moment half of the arrow pierced her body, Dou Meishuang’s cruel face was fixed. She glimpsed the archer with a bitter smile. Then she fell dead straight.

Qin Yunuan turned her head and saw Leng Changxi. He was holding the bow with blood all over his clothes. The previous battle made him exhausted. But when Qin Yunuan was in danger, he came to assure her safety just like a miracle.

“Why don’t you kill her immediately with your blade? Why were you listening to her talking rubbish?” Leng Changxi blamed her out of concern.

Qin Yunuan was stunned a second. She then turned her head to Leng Changxi and said, “Changxi, she was pregnant.”

Leng Changxi was a poker face, “That’s none of my business. She was killing you. That’s all I know. And I won’t allow you to get hurt.”

Combat came to an end. Shi Rongyao blankly watched the scene. His elite killers were killed by soldiers in black armor in a breeze. At the same time, the generals of West Xia who previously were forced to drink poisonous tea stood up. Even the civilian officials knocked the dust out of their clothes with elegance. Their calm laughed at Shi Rongyao and drove him crazy. Shi Rongyao covered his wounded eye. He almost got frozen.

“You thought the tea was poisoned?” Jing Donghua said to Shi Rongyao in a dominant bearing. “The real poison was put early in your way into the palace. Now, everyone, listen to my order! I hereby appoint Leng Changxi as the commanding general. West Xia will pick an auspicious day, march to Qi, and raid the unjust Sima Ray!”