Barely dodging, Lizhu tripped over the threshold and fell hard, pain shooting through her knee.

She turned, holding her short sword, and faced Cui Shiyong in confrontation:

“The crown upon your head bears the name of the Shen clan, the seal at your waist is the official seal bestowed upon you by the Shen court! You eat Yong stipends, yet wish to kill a Yong princess. Rebelling as a minister, you are disloyal and unfilial!”

“I have been disloyal and unfilial for over ten years. Killing the princess today is the only way I can be loyal to Great Yong!”

“Sophistry! Utter nonsense!”

As though struck in his most painful spot by her words, Cui Shiyong did not immediately attack again, but began to argue.

“Has the princess, through all these years of upheaval, still not seen how rotten the administration of Hezhou has become? Only if the princess dies here will my retainers, carrying the death pledges signed with their own names, send them to Luoyang—only then will His Majesty’s thunderous wrath descend upon Hezhou, splitting it open! Let all under heaven know their crimes of deceiving the emperor, colluding with bandits, so that His Majesty may personally cut away this festering sore, renew the world, and let the realm be reborn!”

Cui Shiyong’s disheveled hair hung loose, tears streamed down his aged face—each word like blood.

Only now did Lizhu glimpse the intention buried beneath his killing intent.

Unexpected, yet not entirely so.

“…So, when the empress wished to kill me, you presented the scapegoat of Hongye Stronghold before her. After the Tan clan’s plot failed, you still refused to give up, moving instead through Dan Zhu, deliberately provoking Hongye Stronghold’s uprising, so that my death could be pinned upon them. Elder Sister Dan Zhu’s misfortune, was it related to you?”

“Why would I need to do it myself?”

Cui Shiyong’s eyes filled with hatred.

“Zhao Weizhen and his lot have entrenched themselves in Yiling, treating themselves as local kings. Apart from the Zheng Danzhu case, which of his subordinates is clean? Search at random and you’ll find those who seized women, beat innocents to death, framed good men with false charges—tell me, are these not the evils their own Hongye Stronghold brought upon themselves by sheltering corrupt officials?”

He grew more agitated as he spoke.

“Hongye Stronghold colluded with officials and merchants, monopolizing all the salt ponds of Hezhou, causing deficits in the salt tax. This is taking money straight from the soldiers’ pay at the Nanyong front! How could I allow such banditry to shake the very foundation of Nanyong?”

Lizhu’s heart quieted.

If she had heard this half a month ago, she might have regarded him as a kindred spirit.

But after all that she had endured these past weeks, Lizhu could no longer divide the world so easily into black and white.

Her breathing gradually steadied. Lizhu lowered her guard slightly, keeping a cautious distance from Cui Shiyong.

She said: “Cui Shiyong, what you say is not wrong. In the future the wars of Nanyong will arise; if there is not sufficient military funding, Nanyong will sooner or later be trampled by the iron hooves of Beiyue and Wuhuan. Salt and iron state enterprises are a necessary measure, not to be shaken by anyone.”

Cui Shiyong’s face showed a faint stir.

“But, Hongye Stronghold is not wrong.”

“Since you stepped into this room, you speak of rivers and mountains and of Nanyong’s foundations at every turn, but not a single word about the common people. Hongye Stronghold are not Zhao Weizhen and those corrupt officials who prey on the people. They are bandits, yes, but they are also commoners. The common people wanting salt they can afford is not wrong, the common people wanting to live is not wrong—”

“Shallow-minded view!”

Cui Shiyong interrupted in bitter pain:

“When the state is no longer a state, how can one speak of home? These shortsighted commoners, how can they understand that once Nanyong falls, what fate will befall them? Today they breathe for a moment, tomorrow they will be bones in a grave!”

“They are shortsighted common people, but does that make you, Cui Shiyong, some far-sighted upright official?”

Lizhu suddenly rose, listing one by one the achievements and deeds Cui Shiyong had accrued since entering office.

“If you are so worried for the state and the people, why in each of your appointments did the coffers not increase, why did the granaries not yield more? The state gains nothing, the people gain nothing, yet you, Lord Cui, have gained the reputation of being upright and incorruptible!”

Cold sweat welled on Cui Shiyong’s brow, his pupils trembling as he listened to Lizhu cut through his heart with each word.

“Do you hate Hongye Stronghold for stealing Nanyong’s salt tax, or do you hate Pei Zhaoye for being able to mediate between people and officials, to make Zhao Weizhen and those like him fear him, while allowing the people of Yiling commandery to live in peace?”

“He is but a bandit, yet he does what you cannot do, holds what you cannot hold, therefore you must have him dead, and you must wrap it in a banner of serving the state and people to send Hongye Stronghold to die!”

Cui Shiyong: “I—”

Veins bulged on his neck, tears and snot on his face.

“The Cui family for four generations and three ministers have all been loyal ministers and fine generals! How could we be inferior to a salt-smuggling bandit!”

“He is not a bandit.”

Lizhu’s voice was very calm, her gaze steady.

“No true bandit would seize fields from officials for the people, no true bandit would restrain his men from harming the good people. If he were truly, as you say, a traitorous rebel, I have now placed the copper tiger token that can mobilize three thousand troops into his hand. Lord Cui, guess—will he come to rescue me, or will he turn against me?”

Cui Shiyong’s pupils contracted: “You—”

“If today Lord Cui kills me, he will be sung throughout the land as the loyal minister who came to rescue the princess, and you, Lord Cui, will be the traitorous rebel, the shame of the Cui family.”

Cui Shiyong slightly opened his mouth, apparently shaken by the picture Lizhu painted.

But in the next moment Lizhu said:

“Why must it come to this? Lord Cui is plainly a loyal minister who longs for Nanyong, why make it reach such a point?”

Lizhu knew Cui Shiyong was guilty—guilty of incompetence, guilty of jealousy, guilty of foolishness.

But unlike Zhao Weizhen and the others, he was not a great villain.

Lizhu said: “If today circumstances of heaven, earth, and people align, Pei Zhaoye will lead troops into the city and take control of the entire Yiling commandery. Lord Cui as Yiling magistrate will have the authority to appoint and dismiss subordinates. At that time, there will be no need for us to perish together; Lord Cui himself can remove Zhao Weizhen and the others, reform the administration, and return peace to Yiling commandery, can he not?”

She seemed to have proposed an option he had never imagined; Cui Shiyong’s pupils trembled, and he looked at her in disbelief.

The long sword fell heavily to the ground.

Cui Shiyong choked and stepped forward, his figure moving, and he prostrated himself before Lizhu.

“Princess, for recognizing me, this subordinate…”

Lizhu was just about to exhale in great relief when suddenly someone burst through the door and smashed a stone into the back of Cui Shiyong’s head!

“Cui Shiyong!”

Lizhu stared in extreme shock at Cui Shiyong, who collapsed suddenly to the ground, unsure whether dead or alive, taken utterly off guard by the abrupt turn of events.

She staggered back and looked at the unfamiliar man who had broken into the chamber.

“Luckily I, this young master, came this once; I heard something truly marvelous!”

The man wore embroidered silks, clearly of noble birth; at a time like this, few could come and go freely within the government office.

The man tossed the stone aside, his gaze swept over Lizhu, making his eyes go blank as if his soul had been snatched away.

“Truly a branch of the imperial line…a beauty…calling her the First Beauty of Nanyong would not be an exaggeration…and she even has attendants? Beauty Princess, flee with me. If my Zhao family survives this calamity, we will not treat you unfairly!”

Lizhu immediately understood who he was.

Zhao Weizhen’s son, Zhao Ji!

That beast who had ruined Elder Sister Danzhu!

Lizhu had no time to think further; anger surged from her heart, she tried to pick up her sword to defend herself, but the sword lay at the man’s feet.

The moment Lizhu lunged, he one-handed hoisted her crosswise onto his shoulder.

“Let go of me! How dare you be insolent, I will slaughter your nine clans!”

Zhao Ji had long heard of Princess Qinghe’s beauty; hearing that his father had put the princess under house arrest, he had intended to take advantage of the chaos to steal a kiss. Unexpectedly hearing this news forced him to temporarily restrain his lust and flee would be best for now.

He tossed Lizhu into the carriage, and at once ordered the driver to hurry to the north city gate at top speed.

That gate was the farthest from Hongye Stronghold; leaving now might still be in time.

The carriage raced wildly at great speed, bumping all the way.

In the midst of life-or-death flight, Zhao Ji still could not resist the sight before him; both hands began to roughly pull at Lizhu’s garments.

“Beauty Princess, do not struggle. Though I am ineffectual, I did train in the army for a few years; your soft little fists to me are no more than an itch. Do not harm your delicate jade hands…”

Lizhu had never seen such a lecherous fiend; she was so terrified her soul seemed to fly away, and tears streamed uncontrollably.

Her helpless resistance and retreat only inflamed Zhao Ji’s desire.

Even with disheveled hair, the beauty before him was like a pear blossom in rain, shy and moving, making one want to fold her into one’s arms to cherish and protect.

“…If today we can escape alive, I, Zhao Ji, shall be utterly loyal to the princess. I will never marry another woman in this life. If the princess does not believe me, I can even cut out my own heart to please the princess, Princess, Princess…”

Lizhu had been pretending all along; finally, when he began loosening his own robes, she seized the moment.

Just as Pei Zhaoye of her past life had said—between man and woman, the difference in strength was vast.

If she gave him a second chance to strike back, she would have no chance of winning.

So she did not hesitate—gathering every ounce of her strength, she kicked hard at the thing he had stretched toward her!

“Ahhhhh!!!”

Blinded by lust, Zhao Ji exploded in agony, his body jerking violently as he crashed into the solid wall of the carriage.

The carriage, already galloping at high speed, lurched at the impact and instantly overturned.

The horses screamed; Zhao Ji was flung out entirely.

But Lizhu fared no better, the overturned carriage was still being dragged madly by the horses.

She was tossed about inside like a dice in a cup; her vision spun, her body felt as if it were coming apart.

Was she going to die again?

That thought rose up, yet she felt little fear.

Only regret.

If she had understood more of Pei Zhaoye’s past life, she could have prepared in advance for this one—how could she have fallen into such a desperate situation?

Through her tears, Lizhu closed her eyes.

“Shen Lizhu—!!!”

With that shout, she heard the pounding of hooves approaching fast. She immediately opened her eyes.

Then came the sound of blades being drawn—a cut, as if slicing through the carriage shaft—followed by a surge of tremendous force that pulled the horses to a halt.

The carriage’s speed began to slow.

Dragged for a short distance, the runaway carriage finally stopped just a zhang before the city wall.

Lizhu, half-unconscious from the crash, could not move for a long while.

The next moment, the carriage curtain was violently lifted.

“Lizhu!”

Through a blur of tears, Lizhu stared blankly at Pei Zhaoye, who appeared before her like a god descending from the heavens.

Even though this “god” looked just as she did—dusty, grimy, and as disheveled as a beggar—

To Lizhu at this moment, he shone brighter than anyone.

Meeting his bloodshot eyes, his face taut with fury and anguish, Lizhu sniffled.

She opened her bruised and trembling arms, and with a choked voice said softly:

“Hold me.”