"So many guards, and they can't even beat a woman? What a bunch of useless trash!" Qin Junhao, who was watching the battle from beside the broken carriage, suddenly focused his gaze and rushed over.
During the fight, Ye Qianmei pierced the heart of a guard with her sword. As blood splattered, a gap opened in the encirclement. Overjoyed, she leaped into the air, ready to escape, when Qin Junhao's tall figure suddenly appeared in front of her, looking at her with a cold smile.
Is Qin Junhao planning to take action personally?
In the instant Ye Qianmei was shocked, Qin Junhao's gaze turned cold. He suddenly pulled out the hairpin from his chest and plunged it fiercely into her chest! This bitch wants to die, so he'll grant her wish!
"Stop!" Dongfang Zhan's angry roar finally came, but it was too late.
He sat on the fast horse, watching helplessly as the long golden hairpin pierced through Ye Qianmei's slender body from front to back. Her golden figure, like a fluttering butterfly, fell straight down from the high sky.
"Qianmei, Qianmei..." He abandoned his horse, leaped into the air, and frantically reached out to catch Ye Qianmei, but he caught nothing. Her body grazed his fingertips and crashed heavily onto the ground in front of his horse, and bright red blood quickly stained the yellow ground.
"Qianmei!" Dongfang Zhan landed on the ground and squatted down next to Ye Qianmei, carefully examining her injuries. The hairpin had pierced her heart; Qin Junhao had used a deadly technique, and she was beyond saving. Blood flowed slowly, staining her clothes and the yellow earth on the ground.
Ye Qianmei looked at him quietly, a hint of joy appearing on her beautiful face. Her lips moved, but she didn't say anything. Her sparkling eyes seemed to say, "You've come."
"Yes, I'm here, but I'm late." Dongfang Zhan held Ye Qianmei's hand tightly, his eyes filled with glistening tears.
"It's alright, it's good that you came. Thank you for coming to see me off on my final journey. I'm going to see my mother and brother now. How happy it would be to be with my family." Blood trickled from the corner of Ye Qianmei's mouth, and her blood-stained hand quietly slipped from Dongfang Zhan's grasp.
She looked at the sky and smiled happily, a smile so similar to the one she wore when her mother passed away—so helpless, so reluctant to leave.
"Ahhh!" Dongfang Zhan wanted to shout, wanted to roar, opened his mouth but couldn't say anything, and tears streamed down his cheeks.
At three years old, he was a weak child who watched helplessly as his mother passed away.
Now, he is the powerful Zhan Wang of Qingyan, yet he is powerless to stop his younger sister from dying before his eyes.
Just one step away, he could save Ye Qianmei!
How could this be? How could this be? Her jade-like fingers clenched tightly!
"Prince Zhan, we just parted ways, why did you catch up again? We're hundreds of miles away from Qingyan now."
With his back to Qin Junhao, Dongfang Zhan didn't see the tears and pain in Dongfang Zhan's eyes, nor did he know that they were siblings and that he and Dongfang Zhan were still cooperating. Subconsciously, he thought that Dongfang Zhan had come here to find him.
Qin Junhao, it was Qin Junhao who killed his sister!
Dongfang Zhan's slender body trembled, and a fierce rage flashed in his sharp eyes. His white jade fingers suddenly opened, gathering ten layers of power, and he turned to strike Qin Junhao. However, when he saw the Southern Border guards surrounding him out of the corner of his eye, his movements suddenly stopped.
Qin Junhao was seriously injured, and his guards were no threat. It would be easy for him to kill Qin Junhao, but what would he do afterward?
The dignified Crown Prince of Southern Xinjiang died in Qingyan. The Emperor of Southern Xinjiang will never let this go. Even if the Emperor goes to war with Southern Xinjiang for his sake, he will definitely dislike him. Once he ascends the throne, he will have no hope of becoming emperor.
Moreover, he made Qianmei suffer humiliation and die such a tragic death. To kill him with a single sword strike would be too lenient!
A gentleman takes revenge even after ten years. Once he has planned everything and avenged himself tenfold or a hundredfold for the pain Qin Junhao inflicted on Qian Mei, it will not be too late to kill him and seek revenge.
Dongfang Zhan's ability to control his emotions had reached an unparalleled level. When he looked up again, the pain in his eyes had completely disappeared, leaving only the most appropriate intense anger: "Ye Qianmei is the princess of Xiliang, how could you kill her?"
Qin Junhao glanced at Ye Qianmei's corpse and said dismissively, "What princess of Xiliang? She's just a stray dog abandoned by her father after her mother's death. She didn't know her own mortality and tried to assassinate me. I killed her with a hairpin. That's too good for her."
If it were at the Qingyan Inn or the Southern Border Palace, he would definitely spare Ye Qianmei's life, throw her into a snake pit, or make her a Daughter's Red wine, making her die an even more miserable death.
"She was given to you by the Emperor, after all. You killed her before you even left Qingyan. Isn't that going too far?" Dongfang Zhan stared coldly at Qin Junhao, his every word and action showing that he was thinking of Qingyan's best interests.
"Your Highness, Ye Qianmei's surname is Ye, not Dongfang. The Azure Emperor bestowed her upon me, so she is my person. Her life and death are in my hands, and the Azure Emperor will not interfere." Qin Junhao spoke casually. An unwanted orphan girl would not care if she died.
Dongfang Zhan's large hand, hidden in his sleeve, clenched again: Qin Junhao doesn't value his sister's life!
Qin Junhao turned around and saw Dongfang Zhan's white horse, its hooves covered in dust, indicating that it had rushed over in a hurry: "Prince Zhan, is there something urgent?"
Dongfang Zhan's gaze darkened, and a lie slipped out: "There are secret guards following you..."
What? Someone is following them?
Qin Junhao's gaze sharpened, and he quickly looked around. His sharp eyes were like cold swords, and wherever they passed, there was nothing but emptiness; not a single person could be seen: "Where is everyone?"
"I have already ordered my men to lure them away..." Dongfang Zhan continued to lie without batting an eye, "I came here personally to tell Crown Prince Qin to be careful on his journey, to always be aware of his surroundings, and not to be followed again..."
"Who are they?" Qin Junhao's cold eyes narrowed slightly. They actually dared to follow him; they must be tired of living.
"The specifics haven't been clarified yet, but judging from their movements, they seem to be secret guards from the Holy King's Mansion..." They haven't been away from Qingyan Capital for long, and there's not enough time to investigate things in detail. If Dongfang Zhan speaks too definitively, someone as clever as Qin Junhao might become suspicious. An ambiguous answer is most likely to arouse suspicion.
"The Holy King's Mansion? Dongfang Heng?" Two sharp, cold glints shot from Qin Junhao's sinister eyes.
Dongfang Zhan deliberately frowned: "This is just a guess, I'm not entirely sure..."
"It should be him." Qin Junhao smiled coldly. Back in Weiyang Palace, Shen Lixue had said that she would tell Dongfang Heng everything that had happened.
Dongfang Heng cherishes Shen Lixue like a treasure. She was almost bullied by him, so how could Dongfang Heng let him off easily? From the time it happened until now, it has been a short time, and there are a large number of Imperial Guards guarding outside the post station. Did Dongfang Heng not expect that his perfect plan would be used to ambush him on the way?
Dongfang Zhan coughed lightly: "Fortunately, my men lured the guards away, otherwise, the fact that you killed Ye Qianmei would definitely have become common knowledge..."
"Ye Qianmei is now like an orphan without parents. Even if they know she was killed by me, neither Xiliang nor Qingyan will seek justice for her." Qin Junhao sneered: People can say whatever they want, it doesn't concern him, and he can't be bothered to care.
"With Ye Qianmei dead, Xiliang and Qingyan will indeed not attack Nanjiang. However, as far as I know, Crown Prince Qin has a very powerful younger brother. If you are accused of indiscriminately killing innocent people, will your father still allow you to ascend the throne?" Dongfang Zhan raised an eyebrow at Qin Junhao, secretly hating him for his indiscriminate killing of innocent people.
Qin Junhao's face instantly darkened. Although Gu magic was prevalent in the Southern Frontier, as the heir to the throne, one must first be an upright person who loves his people. If he indiscriminately kills innocent people, the emperor will not pass the throne to him, and the people will curse him: "Thank you for your help, Prince Zhan."
Unbeknownst to him, Dongfang Zhan averted a great calamity.
"Your Highness, there's no need to be so polite. Be careful on your journey, and it would be best to take different routes to avoid the guards of the Holy King's Mansion..." Dongfang Zhan emphasized the last sentence, as if the guards of the Holy King's Mansion were indeed monitoring Qin Junhao.
"I understand." The old prince of the Holy Prince's Mansion, the Holy Prince, and the Prince of Anjun have all led troops on the border for three generations and have many loyal subordinates. When Qin Junhao returns to the Southern Frontier, he will inevitably pass through the Qingyan Border. If the Holy Prince's Mansion's secret guards and the border soldiers attack from both sides, his Southern Frontier guards alone will not be able to handle it.
He wasn't afraid of Dongfang Heng, but he didn't want to die unjustly at Dongfang Heng's hands.