What If...I Remember?

Chapter 53

"You want to hunt Xuan Nü down. And capture her at Ying Zhou?" Li Jing's voice rose higher, his black eyes gleaming with some red flecks from the reflection of the light in the room, "Crown Prince, I respected all your plans, but I will not accept such a risk of my sister." "By risking your sister, we can protect Bai Qian, Li Jing. As well as the child she carries." Ye Hua spoke calmly, and Li Jing retorted back before he could calm himself down, "What, your child? Why would I have any obligation to protect your child?"

There was a silence, before Ye Hua's eyes turned icy, and he spoke coldly, "You have no obligation, of course, Ghost Lord. But that is the child of Qian Qian and I. If you do not intend to help, it matters not. I will send my troops forth anyway." "And if I obstruct you, Ye Hua?" Li Jing challenged, although he had already made up half his mind to aid the Crown Prince, having understood that Ye Hua had been clearly reminding him that it wasn't just the Crown Prince's child, but also A-Yin's child.

"Then I will order my soldiers to take yours down, Ghost Lord. And let us see whose side has better trained soldiers." Ye Hua gave Li Jing a cold smile, "So, what will you do, Li Jing? Risk having your soldiers lose to me and have a loss of men, or help me in my capture of Xuan Nü?"

And Li Jing grimaced, knowing that his sheer cheek had forced himself to a dead end, before he bowed his head in submission, "How many of my men do you need?"

And Ye Hua's expression turned passive as he replied:

"All of them."

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"Yan Zhi...I have some news..."

Zi Lan had set up a privacy barrier, such that no one could listen to him or Yan Zhi, and even as Yan Zhi lifted her head to look at him, Zi Lan gave a sigh, before he spoke softly, "Yan Zhi...there's been a discussion regarding the steps that will be taken, and...the verdict is that if your Sao Zi and the Zhao Ren Princess can make it out from Ying Zhou alive, there will be a party sent out to capture them at once."

"Capture?" Yan Zhi repeated, a feeling of realisation washing over her after a while as she gaped at the Kun Lun disciple, "That wasn't in the original plan!" "I-I know. But plans change, and..." Zi Lan faltered, unable to continue. Ye Hua had promised that the soldiers would try their best to protect Yan Zhi, but that was not what Yan Zhi cared for the most. The trusting Ghost Princess saw goodness in everyone, and Zi Lan knew that it would have taken a great amount of evil done to Yan Zhi to make her finally realise Xuan Nü's cold heart.

"You will end up killing them, won't you?" Yan Zhi spoke quietly, forcing Zi Lan to look at her, "I could care less about the Zhao Ren Princess - the inner issues of the Celestials matter me not. But you all will kill my Sao Zi. My brother...I do not know why he hates her so, if she was the wife he welcomed officially with all those formalities, but he will allow it, will he not? He will allow this cold-blooded murder of my Sao Zi!"

"Perhaps not...perhaps the Crown Prince might let her off...perhaps he might give her a chance...?" Zi Lan felt desperate for Yan Zhi's cooperation. Ye Hua had ordered him to do whatever the situation called for to get Yan Zhi's cooperation, and yet as much as he had to obey the Crown Prince's orders, he could not bring himself to lie to Yan Zhi.

"You lie!" Yan Zhi yelled, causing Zi Lan to flinch. Never once had he heard Yan Zhi yell, and neither had he ever heard her sound so wounded, so angered, so betrayed. "The Crown Prince will whole-heartedly agree to kill my Sao Zi! She kidnapped his son and his brother and almost made them into a pill for her own son to recover! She is currently plotting to kill his wife and his unborn second child! Of course he would kill her!"