Cries of shock and wonder rang out among the crowd. No one could believe the bombshell that the messenger had just dropped.
"The legendary strategist is a female? And she's going to be our empress!?"
"Where has she been hiding!? Was the Emperor sheltering her for all of these years?"
The messenger raised his arms in an effort to silence the crowd.
"Everyone listen! His Majesty has announced that they have decided to marry in order to stabilize our country! They are both deeply in love and wish for nothing but to join forces to help us, the people of the Wei Kingdom!"
The rest of the messenger's words faded away as Feng Yao turned around and left. It looked like there was no more time to stay here.
I don't have time to get what I came here for. I hope it's still safe in the medicine shop.
Her steps were calm in order to not attract attention, but each move she took was swift as she left the increasingly crowded main city area.
More and more people began to appear out of their homes as the news of the old man's hanging corpse and the emperor's sudden decree spread like wildfire. Feng Yao had no choice but to stick to the edges of the building in order to not be swept away by the crowd.
"What if she brings us into ruin like she did with the Yuan Kingdom?"
"Shh! Don't say that! I'm sure that our Emperor made the correct decision!"
"Yes! His Majesty is a wise and powerful ruler! I'm sure that His Majesty will lead us into a great era!"
Their voices drifted into Feng Yao's ears as she hurriedly walked away. Her head was down, but her eyes continuously scanned each person that appeared.
Feng Yao's plan from earlier had been to use the blanket of night as her cover to escape from the Wei Kingdom. But the fact that the Emperor was willing to announce her identity to his entire country meant that he was confident she couldn't escape.
And that is because--
Suddenly, she heard the crunch of dirt suspiciously close behind her. She had been paying attention to everyone else's footsteps around her, but this one seemed a bit too sharp and clear.
The pathway she had chosen had mud splattered over the road. If one wasn't careful, he'd accidentally step on a part that looked dried but was still wet underneath. As a result, it would slightly crack the mud on top and produce a small noise.
To anyone else listening, they wouldn't have even thought twice about the sound. But Feng Yao instantly knew that there was a person behind her that was not supposed to be there.
She continued calmly down the street. There were no more sounds of footsteps behind her.
They've caught on to my trick. I can't hear them anymore.
Her sharp eyes searched around her for more signs of who was following her. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Besides the larger than usual crowd during this early morning, everything was the same.
At that moment, a slight breeze blew towards her from behind. Feng Yao discreetly inhaled.
...The scent of metal. More specifically, a newly sharpened blade. They are close behind me.
Now the question is...which country are they from?
Her lips imperceptibly tilted upwards into a wry smile.
The fact that the Emperor had announced her identity so freely without caring how Feng Yao would react meant that he knew she wouldn't be able to escape. And the reason?
Because he'd already leaked out her identity to the other kingdoms weeks ago.
That was the only conclusion Feng Yao could come with. If the other countries knew, then they'd no doubt also want to send men after her. She was sure that they'd all already invested and found out her name and face. Whether they wanted to kill or capture her depended on their individual Emperors, however.
But regardless of what they were ordered to do with her, the fact remained that they were all closing in on her. Meaning that...
I have a bigger chance of staying alive inside the Wei Kingdom than leaving it.
Of course, Long Yi already knew that. No wonder he didn't care about killing the old man. No wonder he could casually announced her as his empress to his people.
It was because he already knew she couldn't leave.
He didn't even have to send his own men after her. As he sat safe in his palace, all he needed to do was wait until she had no choice but to come crawling back to him.
Feng Yao wanted to laugh. Of course, he'd want to sit back and enjoy his show.
So sorry, Your Majesty. But I'm just a simple peasant girl. My job is not to entertain you.
At that moment, a familiar noise suddenly sounded out behind her. It was the noise of a knife quietly being drawn.
Her senses were immediately on edge. Were they so impatient that they couldn't wait until out of the city to attack her? Or was it because they wanted to get her before the other assassins from the other kingdoms found her?
Feng Yao waited until she was at an angle where the men following her could only see her backside. Slowly, she reached into the front side of her robes and took out a single hairpin. It was incredibly plain with only a single red gem placed at the end of the metal stick, but it was good enough to serve the purpose Feng Yao required.
She quickly glanced up and noticed that an intersection was nearby.
Oh ho ho? How convenient~
As she walked closer, she let her foot casually nudge a rock in the road until it was sitting near the corner of the intersection.
Suddenly, she switched directions and went down a different road. As soon as she disappeared out of view, she immediately ducked down into a hidden compartment within the shadows of the building.
The vibrations of the men's feet running past her location let her know that they had also hurriedly followed her down this path. But she knew that they wouldn't be fooled for long.
Quickly, she took her hairpin in her hand and moved it just far enough away from her body to catch the rays of sunlight. The moment she managed to see the glint of light on it, she immediately reflected it towards the eyes of one of the citizens walking on the other side of the street.
"What the--!?"
Feng Yao retracted her hand and hid it back into the darkness just as she heard the person suddenly trip over the rock she had moved earlier after being blinded by her light. As expected, the assassins from earlier were distracted by the noise and ran over in that direction.
As soon as their backs were turned towards her position, Feng Yao twisted her body out of her hiding spot and sprinted down another road. Her main focus was to put as much distance between herself and them.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a single horse calmly standing at the edge of a fence. The hair on his body was of the deepest midnight black and somehow reminded her of those noble steeds that many royals fancied. Seeing Feng Yao running towards him, the horse gave a calm neigh before shaking his head as if watching her in amusement.
"Stop right there!"
The sound of rushing footsteps thundered behind Feng Yao as she heard threatening shouts from the men. Feng Yao didn't dare look behind her, but she knew that they were gaining distance.
Her eyes flickered to the beautiful horse again who was still watching her calmly. Something about him was a bit different. He clearly seemed much larger and bigger than the types of horses that were sold here in the city to the commoners. It was almost as if he was a war horse, although his cool temperament was the complete opposite.
Who would dare leave such a priceless creature out here to freely roam in the middle of the streets?
"Stop! Stop right now!"
The men were almost upon her. Feng Yao quickly ran towards the animal and tightly grasped the reins. Giving a silent apology to the owner of the horse, she swiftly hopped onto the horse's back.
The horse was much bigger than she'd expected. Even using all of her leg strength, her jump almost hadn't been high enough for her climb on. Luckily, the animal almost seemed to foresee this and stayed absolutely still while Feng Yao hurriedly tried to upright herself. From beneath her, she could feel the horse shake his head as if exasperated by her puny legs.
Geez, sorry okay! It's not my fault I'm so petite!
She scowled as she raised the reins in her hands and slightly kicked the horse's side to go.
"Hyah!"
Her voice sounded out loud and crisp. She had been worried at first that the horse wouldn't go since war horses often didn't like to obey people other than their masters, but to her surprise, the horse immediately took off.
Feng Yao's eyes widened as the scenery around her began to blur. They had suddenly went from standstill to a speed that was faster than her eyes could keep up within just the first few seconds.
Now that the creature was in action, it was like its temperament did a complete 180. At first it had been quite docile. But now, it was like an unstoppable and powerful beast. It was definitely clear that this was no ordinary horse she had stolen.
She wanted to cry.
Ah, gosh darn it! Mr. Horse, you tricked me!
Not only are the four countries trying to kill me, but now a random war general who left his beloved war horse outside to experience the scenery is going to write me at the very top of his to-slaughter list too!
She cursed her terrible luck. Suddenly, the horse picked up his speed again forcing Feng Yao to clutch even tighter at his reins. She was almost thrown off by his insane speed and swiftness as they continued down the path out of the main city.
"Holy heavens! Are you trying to kill me?"
Feng Yao whispered harshly to the creature beneath her as she tried to keep herself from being thrown off. The horse simply snorted and threw his head backwards in response as Feng Yao tried to desperately hold on.
Her face scrunched up into another scowl. She was pretty sure that this horse was laughing at her.
Suddenly, there was a faint buzzing noise behind them. Abruptly, Feng Yao tugged on the reins of the horse and shifted them to the left just as an arrow came flying from behind.
Lowering her body closer to the horse's soft black mane, she slightly tilted her head to look behind her.
Well...this may be bad...
The sight of 30 masked men jumping towards her from tree to tree at an alarmingly fast speed greeted her eyes. Each assassin had in his hand a drawn bow or dagger as if ready to attack at any moment.
Feng Yao quickly shifted her attention forwards again. Her eyes were beginning to tear up from the raging wind that cut into her face. She leaned downwards towards the horse's ears and whispered.
"You think we can get rid of them?"
The horse let out another snort as if he could understand her words before picking up his speed once again. This time, Feng Yao really was almost thrown off.
How fast can this horse even go!?
She suddenly grinned and laughed as a bright twinkle appeared in her eyes.
"I like your way of thinking, little buddy! I have a feeling we might become really good friends!"
The giant horse whined at her calling him , "little buddy." It was like he was protesting being demoted from a fearless war horse to a measly, pint-sized stable-pony.
Feng Yao simply laughed again, letting her voice be ripped away by the strong winds.
"Onwards we go, little buddy!"
She gripped the reins with a grin and suddenly changed their directions. The horse underneath her let out a loud powerful neigh before speeding off the path and into a large grove filled with trees stretching out far into the horizon.
Branches flew over the top of them at a dizzying rate. Feng Yao daringly reached upwards and broke off a smaller overhanging one. At the same time, a few objects fell off of it and onto her.
Huh? This is...?
She looked at the two items that had somehow managed to fall onto her lap from the leaves up above.
They were two oranges. Two small mandarin oranges.
A look of surprise crossed her face at her unexpected luck for literally running into fruit trees.
"Fu fu fu...I always knew my love for food would come in handy."
Her lips tilted upwards in a smile. Holding the reins in one hand, she used her other to place the oranges into the pocket of the saddle.
Another wave of arrows whizzed right past her head. Feng Yao immediately ducked and steered the horse into a zig-zag pattern while still skillfully managing to avoid all the trees.
At that exact moment, another group of men in black appeared in the far distance in front of her. It was clear that they were trying to trap her between the two groups.
"Hyah!" Feng Yao whipped the reins in her hand as she harshly tugged the horse to make a sharp right angle through the trees away from both groups currently pursuing her.
But if I remember correctly...this way is towards...
She didn't have time to finish her thought as the trees around them abruptly ended and a clearing at the edge of a cliff appeared.
"Ah, stop!"
Feng Yao yanked the reins and the horse hurriedly stopped just in time before they both flew over. He let out a cold huff at Feng Yao as she whipped her leg around and slid off of him. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the assassins getting closer.
She quickly glanced down the cliff. Below her was a violent river that tumbled and crashed loudly against the jagged rocks on either side of it. She could take her chances and jump, but it was so far down that the ginormous river looked only as big as her pinky finger.
At that moment, an arrow pierced through the air towards her. She barely had time to jump out of the way, before it sliced directly into the ground where her feet just were.
Quickly turning around, she reached up and into the saddle pocket before taking out one of the oranges. Meanwhile, the black steed urgently pawed at the ground.
"Go." She whispered in a voice oddly much more serious than before. "Run back towards your master. You have helped me enough."
The horse looked at her for a moment with eyes as dark as coal and clear as night. Although he was an animal, he seemed to understand that she was telling him to leave.
He tossed his head and gave a loud neigh before turning and sprinting away. His glossy mane flying in the wind was the last thing Feng Yao saw before his large and powerful gallops led him out of view.
As soon as the creature was gone, she turned back around to face the quickly advancing assassins. There were only two options left. Fight her assassins to the death, or jump off of this cliff. Frankly, she didn't want to do either one.
Initially, she'd been hoping that they were only trying to capture her. But ever since they had begun their pursuit, they'd only been trying to shoot her down.
Feng Yao sighed as her fingers delicately tossed the orange in her hand up into the air as she waited for them to arrive. She only had one chance. There were no rocks or other things she could use in this area, so this little orange was her only friend.
Out of the blue, the first masked-man rushed at her from between the trees. In his hand was a sword that glinted sharply in the early morning light.
Feng Yao casually glanced towards the side of his waist and noticed an extra dagger hanging from it. The assassin didn't notice, but Feng Yao's smile slightly widened at the sight.
She continued to wait until the man was just a feet away from her. Suddenly, she dashed forward as her hand ripped off the top layer of her robes.
Using the large flowing cloth, she blinded the man and twisted out of the way of his weapon. At the exact same moment, she threw the orange at an angle so precise that it made the dagger on the assassin's flip out of his belt and fly into the air.
The assassin seemed slightly surprised at her dead-perfect aim, but it didn't faze him as he ripped the cloth off of his face and rushed at her again.
Using those few split seconds, Feng Yao rolled away on the ground from his attack before jumping outwards and grabbing the handle of the dagger in the middle of its free-fall.
She was able to grasp it just as the rest of the assassins appeared around her. Before any of them could react, she had already jumped towards the closest masked man and stabbed him in the heart.
Immediately, she whipped the dagger out of the man's bleeding chest, but even that almost wasn't enough to defend herself from the sudden sword that had swung down towards her head. The attack had enough force to crack a tree trunk.
Feng Yao's eyes sharpened as she was forced to twist out of the way again just as three more men brandished their weapons and also leaped at her. Each of the assassins' movements were incredibly efficient and slowly shortened the few seconds Feng Yao desperately needed to react in time.
Suddenly, she felt a sharp burning pain slice down her outer arm.
"Ah!"
One of their swords cut deeply into her skin, but Feng Yao had no choice but to keep fighting. After all, she only had a small dagger against all of their steel swords.
Her lungs were starting to burn from a lack of oxygen as the overwhelming number of men relentlessly attacked her from all possible angles. But although her face looked tired, her eyes were still bright with defiance.
"Fifty men against a single girl? How thoughtful of you all."
None of them answered as they continued to pelt her with attack after attack. Feng Yao didn't have room to make a single mistake if she wanted to stay alive for even just a second longer.
But she knew it was useless. It was obvious that their skills were much higher than hers. Especially since they greatly outnumbered her, it was impossible to escape let alone defeat them all.
She knew that she was going to die here.
Suddenly, she heard a loud groan along with a large thud. Feng Yao flicked her gaze behind her only to see one of the assassins abruptly collapse. A single golden arrow was sticking straight out of the center between his two unseeing eyes.
Immediately, the other assassins around her also began to individually collapse to the ground. Each one sported a single golden arrow stuck deeply into a vital point. Around them on the ground, the bright red color of blood was splattered everyone.
Feng Yao slowly turned her head to look at the shadows of the woods. Her eyes narrowed as more and more golden arrows flew past her figure while miraculously managing to miss her. With each gust of wind produced by the arrows, her long hair was whipped into the air as the aura around her grew colder and colder.
He is here.
Feng Yao's face was covered in mud and blood while her entire body was sporting large cuts and bruises, but there was something dignified about the way she stood in the middle of the bloody field.
"Your Majesty. You're going to have to drag me back if you want me to come with you." Her voice was a calm whisper, but she knew he would hear it just fine. A small chilling smile appeared on her lips.
Without warning, she turned around and ran straight towards the edge of the cliff prepared to jump towards the roaring waters and jagged rocks below. But just as she was just about to leap, a sudden agonizing pain pierced straight through her thigh. She could feel her leg muscles contract painfully together at the unnatural sensation.
"Ah!"
Feng Yao's legs gave out at the last minute making her about to tumble off the edge just like she had hoped. But at the last second, a warm arm snaked around her waist and sharply yanked her back up.
The movement caused the golden arrow in her leg to dig even deeper. Feng Yao gritted her teeth in pain as her paled face turned to face the handsome man with a dazzling grin and a bright glint in his eyes.
As her eyes coldly flickered downward towards the golden bow in his other hand, Long Yi let out a happy chuckle. In his usual deceitfully charming voice, he scolded her.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Who allowed you to jump off of the cliff? Zhen definitely did not."