The War King's Mansion was no place to be underestimated; it held a pivotal position in the Southern Ling Kingdom, and the War King himself was a powerful figure in the court, possessing military authority. Therefore, the guards in the mansion were all formidable experts. Upon seeing someone break in, they were enraged, and dozens of guards rushed over, their long swords blocking Hai Ling and the others' path.
The head guard shouted, "Who goes there? How dare you trespass into the Prince of War's residence? Are you courting death?"
Hai Ling raised her hand, and Shi Zhu and Shi Ju stepped back. She walked over slowly, exuding a murderous aura, yet her smile was as beautiful as a summer flower. However, the coldness in her eyes made the guards opposite her feel uneasy. She spoke slowly and deliberately.
"I am still your Princess Consort's elder sister. I never expected that I couldn't even enter a small place like the War King's Mansion. How arrogant is the War King's Mansion?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she moved swiftly, her fiery boots moving like arrows, flashing past in the blink of an eye. The guards were stunned. Before they could react, a flash of silver light appeared in Hai Ling's hand, and a sharp scalpel pierced the shoulder of the leading guard. She then stabbed his thigh and one hand. In the blink of an eye, the leading guard had been stabbed three times. His face changed drastically, and he retreated. He also realized who the newcomer was: the Empress of Bei Lu.
The fact that the Princess Consort's sister was so ruthless shocked everyone. Upon learning Hai Ling's identity and her cruel methods, they were all stunned.
The steward of the Prince's mansion was a knowledgeable man. He knew that it was impossible to prevent the Empress of Beilu from seeing the Princess Consort, so he rushed over and spoke in a panic.
"Your Majesty, please forgive us. We were unaware of Your Majesty's identity and were impolite. Now, Your Majesty, please come with us to see the Princess Consort."
It's impossible to prevent them from seeing each other. They wouldn't gain anything from a fight, and they might not even be able to beat her. The Empress is clearly ruthless, and it would be reasonable for her to injure everyone in their palace. The elder sister is coming to visit her younger sister, and they're not even letting her see her.
"lead the way."
Hai Ling was too lazy to waste words with them and gave a cold order. The person in charge didn't dare to say anything more and his face turned slightly pale. Although he knew that they would be punished when the prince returned, it was more important to settle the important person in front of him first.
The steward led Hailing, Shizhu, and the others inside. The guards behind them immediately surrounded the guard who had been stabbed by Hailing. Seeing that his wound was deep and sharp, and that it didn't bleed much, some people began to murmur that the attack was too ruthless.
"The Queen of Northern Lu is amazing."
Hai Ling ignored the people behind her and didn't bother to appreciate the scenery of the Prince Zhan's mansion. With a gloomy expression, she followed the steward of the mansion and walked all the way in. Apart from the maids, there were no other women she saw along the way. After walking around for a long time, she finally arrived at Xi Liang's residence.
However, when the group of them stood in front of a small courtyard, Hailing narrowed her eyes, realizing that things were worse than she had imagined.
This courtyard was the worst she had seen since entering the Prince of War's mansion. The walls were mottled and weeds grew on top of them. Several guards were loitering around the gate. As soon as they saw the steward leading people over, they raised their eyebrows and walked over with gloomy faces.
"Butler Wang, what's going on?"
Steward Wang, who was in charge of the Wang residence, pointed to Hai Ling and calmly reported, "This is the Princess Consort's sister. She has come to visit the Princess Consort."
"His Highness has ordered that no one—?"
Before the guard could finish speaking, Shi Zhu kicked him, then swiftly stomped on the man's hand bone, hearing his muffled groan. She stomped on it twice more before speaking in a chilling tone.
"How dare your prince treat our Princess Qinyang of Beilu like this? He really doesn't respect the people of Beilu at all. He's courting death."
When Shi Zhu hit someone, several guards from the Prince's mansion were so enraged that they wanted to rush forward. But when Steward Wang saw how ruthless these people from Bei Lu were, he was afraid of causing trouble and quickly stopped them: "Alright, it is only natural for Her Majesty the Empress to come and visit her sister. Do you want to cause trouble? The Prince said that no one is allowed to see the Princess Consort, but that does not include her sister."
After Butler Wang finished speaking, he stepped forward, opened the door, and respectfully invited Hailing inside.
"Your Majesty, please."
Hai Ling stepped inside. The small courtyard wasn't large; one could see to the end at a glance. At the back were three main rooms, with some side rooms on either side. However, these rooms were dilapidated and old, and weeds hadn't been cleared from the doors, making it look desolate and gloomy. At this moment, a little maid was looking around under the eaves. At first, she was incredulous. When she saw the group of people walking on the path, she rubbed her eyes, looked around again, and finally believed that the people in front of her were indeed the people she had been waiting for. Overjoyed, she quickly ran over. It turned out that this little maid was Xiao Qiao, the maid from Nanling Kingdom that Xi Liang had brought. When Xiao Qiao saw Hai Ling earlier, she thought she was seeing things. Now that she confirmed that the person who came was the princess's sworn sister, the Empress of Bei Lu, she couldn't help but burst into tears. She ran over and threw herself at Hai Ling's feet, crying so hard that she couldn't catch her breath.
"Your Majesty, you've finally come! You must save our princess! You must save our princess!"
Seeing Xiao Qiao's appearance, Hai Ling was even more certain of Xi Liang's current situation, and said in a deep voice, "Get up."
Xiao Qiao got up, sobbing, and followed Hai Ling inside.
Wang Guan had been leading the Wang family's people behind him, but seeing the situation before him, he was a little scared and quickly and carefully slipped away. As soon as he left the courtyard, he ordered someone to immediately inform the Prince that the Empress of Beilu had come to see the Princess.
At this moment, the commotion outside was too loud, and Xi Liang, supported by a maid, came out of the room and stood on the veranda looking out.
Her small face was pale and thin in the sunlight, with a pointed chin and large eyes like a little fox, but her eyes were somewhat dull and lifeless, completely unlike the joy she had shown when she married into the Southern Ling Kingdom. At this moment, she was like a stagnant pool, without the slightest ripple. Hai Ling's heart couldn't help but clench. Xi Liang, how old is she? What's wrong with her?
"The mat is cool."
Hai Ling couldn't help but cry out. The little maid who was supporting Xi Liang was initially incredulous upon hearing Hai Ling's call, but then exclaimed, "Princess, Princess, Her Majesty the Empress has come to see you! You're saved now!"
Xi Liang was startled, finally regaining his senses. A glint appeared in his eyes, and then a smile appeared on his lips, but it was a smile that looked more like a grimace.
Hailin walked over and grabbed Xiliang's hand.
“Xi Liang, I told you, if things aren’t going well, you can go back to the Northern Lu Kingdom. No one in the world is indispensable. Why are you demeaning yourself like this?”
Seeing Xi Liang like this, she felt heartbroken and sad, but at the same time she was glad that she had come. If she hadn't come, she didn't know what would have happened to Xi Liang.
As Xi Liang listened to Hai Ling's words, tears slowly began to flow. He then threw himself into Hai Ling's arms and burst into tears, something that had never happened to him before.
Xiao Qiao followed Hai Ling to Xi Liang's side and quickly reported the princess's situation to the Empress.
"Your Highness, you don't know, the Prince has crippled the Princess's internal energy, so there's absolutely no way for us to escape."
It wasn't that they didn't want to escape; the princess had wanted to leave for a long time. However, during one of her escape attempts, the prince discovered her and crippled her martial arts. He also assigned several guards to watch over them from outside, making it extremely difficult for them to move, like ants.
Hai Ling was stunned. She hadn't expected Ruan Xiyin to do such a thing. Her face turned extremely ugly. Xi Liang, on the other hand, calmed down after crying and said indifferently, "He was the one who taught me that martial art. If it's ruined, then so be it."
After she finished speaking, she took Hailing's hand and walked inside. The two of them sat in the room, while Shizhu and the others waited outside.
Inside the room, Xiao Qiao served tea and waited on her side. Hai Ling looked at Xi Liang, at her small, pale face, and thought about how, as the princess of the Cangwang Mansion, the Cangwang Princess loved her very much. Moreover, she was her sworn sister. If she were in the Northern Lu Kingdom, countless princes and nobles would be vying to marry her. But in the end, she was treated like this.
"Xi Liang, I heard that you killed the Prince of War's concubine out of jealousy, which is why the Prince of War ordered you to be imprisoned. What exactly happened?"
She didn't believe Xi Liang would really kill that concubine. Most importantly, they had no idea that the Prince of Zhan's mansion had a concubine. If they had known that the Prince of Zhan's mansion had a concubine, she would never have agreed to Xi Liang marrying into the Southern Ling Kingdom.
“I didn’t kill her,” Xi Liang shook his head. “That day, the concubine greeted me as usual. I didn’t want to see her, but she said she had something to tell me, so I invited her in. But after she had a cup of tea, before she could say anything, something happened. She was poisoned, and I became the vicious concubine who was driven by jealousy and hatred. The Prince of Zhan ordered me to reflect on my actions. Later, I decided to leave the Prince of Zhan’s mansion and return to Bei Lu. So I planned to escape with Xiao Qiao and the others overnight. But the Prince of Zhan caught me and crippled my martial arts. He ordered people to guard me outside, so I can’t leave the Prince of Zhan’s mansion now.”
Although it was just a few words spoken lightly, they contained so much despair and heartache. Her tears had all been shed. It turned out that everything she had done back then was just wishful thinking. She thought he was interested in her, which was why he hadn't married any other women. But when she finally married him, she discovered that he had a woman he loved. It was too late for regrets. She hadn't harmed the concubine; all she could think about was leaving the Prince Zhan's mansion. But she hadn't expected that the woman would get into trouble. So, she ended up harming his beloved woman and being imprisoned here.
Xi Liang couldn't help but smile, a smile tinged with melancholy and etherealness. In truth, she was very young, but her experiences had made her composed, exuding a maturity beyond her years. Perhaps that was the true nature of them, people who had lived through two lifetimes, and that maturity was inherent in their hearts.
But Hailing's eyebrows shot up: "Doesn't he believe you didn't kill his concubine?"