In the royal city, inside the Earl’s mansion.
At this time, there was still one and a half days left until the graduation major exam.
Suo Ningbing had not slept for a full three days. She had been sitting behind the door of the Earl’s mansion waiting, so that the moment Lan Ling returned, she could see him with her first glance.
Her body had always been delicate and soft. At this time she was even thinner than a yellow flower, looking so haggard that it seemed a gust of wind could blow her over.
The servants of the Earl’s mansion had advised her countless times, but she was unwilling to go back. Every time they brought food, she would only drink a few sips of porridge.
Every time the sound of horse hooves rang outside the main gate, she would startle and stand up. However, every time it was a disappointment.
Her heart became more and more afraid and more and more panicked. She prayed to heaven for Lan Ling’s safety at every moment.
Another day passed. There was now less than one day left until the graduation major exam.
At this time, Suo Ningbing’s entire body was already completely cold, with almost no warmth left.
She was not worried that Lan Ling would miss the graduation major exam. She was worried that Lan Ling would never come back. Then in her mind she kept imagining scenes of Lan Ling being killed by monsters or bad people at the southern barbarian border.
Next, she felt无比 regret in her whole heart and mind. She regretted agreeing to let Lan Ling go to the southern border.
And just at this moment, the sound of horse hooves rang outside.
Suo Ningbing felt a surge of joy. She jumped up fiercely. Her weak body moved with incredible agility as she rushed forward to open the door.
At the entrance was a snow white carriage, luxurious yet low key.
Then, stepping down gracefully from it was Princess Zhi Ning, the person she feared and hated seeing the most.
“Your Highness the Princess, you are not welcome here.” Suo Ningbing said in a rare tone.
“Are you waiting for Suo Lun to return?” Princess Zhi Ning asked with a smile.
“It has nothing to do with you.” Suo Ningbing said, but she was too gentle. Even when unhappy, there was no trace of fierceness in her words.
Without asking for permission, Princess Zhi Ning walked straight into the Tianshui Earl’s mansion. Strictly speaking, every place in the royal city belonged to the royal family, and the Tianshui Earl’s mansion was no exception.
The Tianshui City territory belonged to the Suo family, but the Tianshui Earl’s mansion had been granted by the royal family.
After entering the Earl’s mansion, Zhi Ning gently pulled her cloak and said, “No need to wait any longer. Suo Lun will not come back.”
As soon as these words came out, Suo Ningbing’s delicate body trembled violently. She said, “You, you… are talking nonsense.”
“Suo Lun is already dead.” Zhi Ning said indifferently.
Suo Ningbing swayed. Her mind roared, and she could barely stand. She was about to fall to the ground.
“No, no, you are lying, you are lying…” Suo Ningbing felt as if her eyes could see nothing, only endless darkness. It took quite a while before some light gradually returned.
Zhi Ning did not answer. She just looked at Suo Ningbing with pitying eyes.
This silent response made Suo Ningbing even more desperate. She said slowly, “It was you. Did you kill Suo Lun?”
Zhi Ning shook her head and said, “Of course not. Have you heard of the Black Widow from the Viper Tribe? She likes nothing more than to torture and kill handsome men. Your Suo Lun fell into her hands. He was sucked dry of blood, then chopped into minced meat and made into pies for the barbarians to eat.”
Then, Zhi Ning took out a sachet embroidered with a cute cat. The embroidery was exquisite beyond compare, and it was stained with dark red blood.
This sachet had been sewn by Suo Ningbing herself. Inside was a safety talisman she had begged for. The night before Suo Lun left, Suo Ningbing had personally hung it around his neck.
“This is Suo Lun’s, right? The Black Widow sent someone to deliver it. There is no head because it had already been chopped to pieces, so only this was sent.” Zhi Ning said.
Staring blankly at the blood stained sachet, Suo Ningbing fell into complete despair. Instantly she could no longer hold on. Her eyes, which had just regained some light, turned completely dark again.
Her delicate body collapsed to the ground and she fainted directly, losing all consciousness.
…
One hour later, under the acupuncture of a female medical officer, Suo Ningbing woke up faintly.
Her eyes were full of bloodshot veins. She could only see blurry shadows. When she discovered that Zhi Ning was still there, she said with grief and anger, “Why have you not left yet? You are not welcome here.”
Zhi Ning said, “Suo Ningbing, you need to accept reality. Suo Lun is already dead. Your last hope has also been extinguished. If you want the Suo family to continue its lineage in the future, you can only rely on yourself.”
Suo Ningbing seemed as if she had not heard. She just looked up at the ceiling, thinking of Lan Ling’s face, his smile, and the way he secretly looked at her chest.
Zhi Ning continued, “Become the woman of His Highness Zhi Li. In twenty years, your son will become the new master of Tianshui City. This is the only chance for your Suo family.”
Suo Ningbing still paid no attention at all.
Zhi Ning said, “You are very, very beautiful, but what His Highness Zhi Li values is not your beauty, but your wisdom. The women he values are the luckiest women in the world.”
“Get out…” Suo Ningbing said coldly.
“You will submit.” Zhi Ning smiled with pursed lips, “Women have a name called weakness. I am waiting for the day when you kneel to serve His Highness Zhi Li. When that day comes, I definitely will not laugh at you.”
With that, Princess Zhi Ning left gracefully.
Afterwards, the room fell into complete silence. Suo Ningbing lay quietly on the bed.
“Young miss, drink a bowl of ginseng soup.” The maid said worriedly from the side. When Zhi Ning had announced Suo Lun’s death earlier, as servants they had to stay far away, so they had not heard it. Otherwise they would also have cried their hearts out.
The maids in the mansion all knew that Young Master Suo Lun was not ambitious, but they all liked him very much, because every pretty maid had had intimate relations with him.
Suo Ningbing opened her small mouth and drank the ginseng soup little by little.
“Alright, I am tired. You all go out. I want to sleep well.” Suo Ningbing said softly. Then she curled up her delicate body and shrank into the corner of the bed.
“Yes.” The maids said, “Young miss, we will sleep outside. If anything happens, call us immediately.”
The two maids went to their own beds. Before long they fell into deep sleep, because they had been exhausted these past few days. Since the young miss had not slept, they could not rest peacefully either.
After the maids outside had fallen asleep, Suo Ningbing quietly got out of bed. She walked to the corner of the room and opened a box. Inside lay a jade bottle.
The jade bottle contained poison. She had prepared it a long time ago. If not for Lan Ling’s appearance, she might have already drunk it.
After drinking this poison, there would be no pain. It would feel just like falling asleep, and then she would die directly.
Taking a deep breath, she truly felt completely without any desire to live now.
Her father, whom she had cared for for many years, was gone. Then, without warning, her own younger brother Suo Lun was also gone.
At that time she had already been unable to hold on. Later, a lovely boy had walked into her life and filled the emptiness in her heart.
Perhaps it was fate from heaven, or perhaps in their previous life the two had truly been sibling lovers. With almost no barriers, the two had become the closest people.
This boy had become all her hope and all the hope of the family. He was so lovely, so outstanding, and so, so good to her.
Now he was gone too. All hope was lost, and there was no need for her to live in this world anymore.
“Little Ling, do not be afraid. Elder sister is coming down to accompany you.” Suo Ningbing said softly. Then she opened the jade bottle and slowly poured the poison inside into her small mouth.
…
The southern border was more than three thousand miles away from the royal city. Lan Ling and Ye Jingyu travelled without sleep or rest, rushing day and night. Almost every two hundred miles, Lan Ling and Ye Jingyu changed to fresh horses, making sure the warhorses remained in a state of galloping.
The journey of more than three thousand seven hundred miles was completed in just three days. In the middle of the night, the two finally arrived below the city gates of Zhi Capital.
“Finally, finally back.” Lan Ling let out a long sigh.
But at this time the magnificent and grand city gates were tightly closed. At this hour, unless there was an urgent military situation or a royal order with proper identity, no one was allowed to enter or leave the royal city.
Of course, although the city walls of Zhi Capital were very high, exceeding ten metres, they could not stop experts like Ye Jingyu. Using tools it was completely possible to climb up.
However, every few hundred metres along the city wall there would be a spiritual type warrior. As soon as anyone climbed onto the wall, they would be discovered immediately.
Climbing the wall without permission in the middle of the night was a serious crime.
“Go, to the southeast gate.” Lan Ling said.
Then, the two galloped wildly towards the southeast gate. While riding, Lan Ling prayed that Ye Feidie must, must be on duty at the city gate.
Ye Feidie, one of Suo Lun’s old lovers, daughter of a gate commander. Her father was a viscount.
She had been Suo Lun’s first archery teacher and had been in a relationship with Suo Lun for several months. However, she had only stayed at the Royal City Academy for half a year. Feeling that life there was too boring, she transferred to the military and became a centurion in the city guard army.
The two soon arrived outside the southeast city gate. Lan Ling called out softly from outside the gate, “Teacher Ye, Teacher Ye…”
A moment later, a face peered down from the top of the wall. It was Ye Feidie, a very handsome looking woman with short hair reaching her shoulders, possessing extraordinary beauty.
Seeing this pretty and familiar face, Ye Feidie trembled in her heart and said, “What is the matter?”
“I have urgent business and want to enter the city overnight.” Lan Ling said.
Ye Feidie said, “Do you have a royal order? Do you have an urgent military situation?”
“No.” Lan Ling said.
Ye Feidie said, “Without that, no one is allowed to enter the city.”
She spoke very seriously, but she winked at Lan Ling. Fortunately Lan Ling’s spiritual power was strong enough now, otherwise he would not have noticed.
A moment later, Ye Feidie walked down from the city wall, took a pot of wine and said to the spiritual warrior beside her, “Come, drink some wine to warm your body.”
That spiritual power city guard had always been pursuing Ye Feidie, but she had never given him a good look. Now she actually took the initiative to bring wine. He was overjoyed and hurriedly took the wine pot, drinking it in big gulps. He removed his spiritual power and stopped monitoring this section of the wall.
“The spiritual power lock has been removed. Enter the city.” Ye Jingyu said.
Then, she took out climbing claws, put them on her hands and feet, and said to Lan Ling, “Climb onto me.”
Lan Ling stepped forward and lay on her fit and hot delicate body.
Ye Jingyu used her sharp climbing claws with both hands and feet. In less than one minute, she climbed over the more than ten metre high city wall and entered the city silently.
After entering the city, Lan Ling immediately ran wildly towards the direction of the Tianshui Earl’s mansion.
As a result, he directly crashed into a woman’s firm peaks.
“Dead ghost, after I left the academy, how many times did you come looking for me?” Ye Feidie grabbed Lan Ling’s ear, opened her small mouth and kissed Lan Ling’s lips fiercely, then extended her tongue for a wild, passionate kiss.
This handsome looking short haired woman was really so wild.
“I will not force you to marry me. What are you afraid of?” After the kiss, Ye Feidie leaned close to Lan Ling’s ear and said, “After you fail the graduation major exam, come find me immediately, do you hear? I am being transferred to the border army. It has been more than a year since I last did that. This time I must drain you dry.”
These wild words made Lan Ling feel as if his heart was about to jump out.
And just at this moment, Lan Ling’s heart suddenly throbbed violently. His entire body turned completely cold, as if something extremely terrible had happened.
“I have urgent business and need to go home first. Goodbye.” Lan Ling said. Then he ran wildly towards the direction of the Earl’s mansion.
Ye Feidie said angrily, “Suo Lun, remember this for me. Four days later, at the Jin Zi Room in the Fragrant Wind Tower. I will be waiting for you there. Try not coming if you dare.”
Lan Ling heard nothing at all. Almost like a madman, he ran wildly towards the Earl’s mansion.