Три мандариновые утки и полторы пары

Глава 63

Feeling the desire stirring within him again, she couldn't help but chuckle.

"While you were about to embrace me, you couldn't believe it. My body already belongs to you, and my heart will belong to you too. What more proof do you want from me?"

Her red lips lightly kissed him, their tongues entwining and licking. After a moment, meeting his deep, fixed gaze, she smiled softly, closed her eyes, and felt his caressing hands lifting her waist...

Below, various birds and swallows flew about, making the garden seem like a secluded paradise. The thought of leaving today made her feel a little reluctant to go.

"Young Master Su!"

"It's Mom!"

The carefree and sorrowful children on the second floor waved excitedly when they saw her.

"You two be careful, especially since the Worry-Free Poisoning has just been cured."

Seeing two pretty figures jumping and skipping, rushing towards her, she smiled and turned around. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of two lightning-fast figures who were already in front of her in an instant.

"The Wild Goose Under the Ice Moon?"

"you--"

She was surprised that the other party had managed to arrive without alerting the group of well-trained guards and Feng Yan's keen hearing, but before she could even speak, the man in blue had already drawn his sword, sharp and swift, unleashing three consecutive strikes towards Su Shaochu in the blink of an eye—

With almost simultaneous reaction, she turned to the side, and before she could even touch the folding fan at her waist, the sharpness of the sword sliced it in half. The second sword missed its mark, and the third sword tore a corner of her sleeve. Su Shaochu had already retreated to the other side of the high slope in an instant.

"It really is the Ice Moon Goose." He tested its form with his sword and confirmed his guess.

"Ran Liu Xuan Hong's people?!" Su Shaochu asked in surprise upon seeing the patterns near their ears, while also being astonished by the newcomers' swordsmanship.

"Did you kill Ke Luoqizhen?"

"Are you the Twin Swords of Sacred Lake?" Su Shaochu discerned the origins of the two men from their attire and swordsmanship.

"Tell me, is Ke Luoqizhen's death related to you?" the man in blue pressed closer, his voice deep and menacing.

Su Shaochu sighed and nodded calmly. "Your Highness can be said to have died under my interrogation."

"Very well." The man in blue gleamed with a fierce light. "Whoever forced my lord to his death will pay with their life—"

The longsword returned to the air, this time every move was filled with killing intent!

"Ah—help me—"

"There's an assassin—Father—"

Wuyou and Wuchou, who had just run downstairs, screamed in fright as soon as they entered the garden, and all the nearby guards rushed over!

The two men's swordsmanship was ruthless, fast, and sharp. Either one of them made it difficult for Su Shaochu, who was still recovering from her injuries, to defend herself. Moreover, the two attacked together. She dodged into the small rocky hill behind the artificial mountain. The long, sharp rocks, each higher than her waist, effectively blocked many of the sharp attacks.

The arriving guards leaped across the small lake, intending to rush up the artificial hill on the opposite bank. The man in blue turned around and slashed his sword diagonally in mid-air, creating a dazzling effect. The sword energy shot into the small lake, splashing water. The water droplets, chilled by the sword energy, shot towards the guards, causing screams of alarm to erupt. The guards, all pierced through the chest and shoulders by the sword flower, were seriously injured and fell into the water!

Su Shaochu originally intended to take advantage of the moment when the two swordsmen attacked together and one of them was gone in order to escape. However, she did not expect that the swordsmanship of the newcomer was so high. She retreated into the deep sharp rocks. The blue-clad man, who could not unleash his sword power for the time being, changed the way he turned his sword, and a whistling sound immediately rose up!

The swirling sword blade created a vortex, stirring up the surrounding airflow and shaking the long, sharp stones, producing a piercing whistling sound. Su Shaochu, who was in the middle of it, held his breath and tried to use his internal energy to resist the piercing sound, but he saw the sharp stones begin to break off and fly away, one after another, like a hurricane sweeping through, with fragments flying wildly!

"Young Master Su!" As Feng Yan's voice rang out, another sword aura swept in, temporarily blocking the sharp flying stones with the wind pressure of the returning air. "Quickly get out of the range of this sword aura—"

The man in blue turned to face Feng Yan again, who then threw the Ice Rainbow Sword to Su Shaochu.

"Master has arrived! Quickly retreat from Sharp Rock Hill—"

Su Shaochu gripped the Ice Rainbow Sword. The unsheathed blade was thin, translucent, and soft, its light reflecting a brilliant rainbow in the wind, deflecting countless sharp attacks. Using the broken rock, she launched a counterattack against the blue-clad man, using the opportunity to escape from the sharp stones. The blue-clad man's cold, gleaming sword flashed even faster—

"Flying Goose of the Ice Moon, today offer your life to my lord—"

Startled by his ghostly swordsmanship and speed, Su Shaochu raised his arm to retaliate, but the movement aggravated the injury on his shoulder. In that instant, the Ice Rainbow Sword slipped from his hand, and a sharp, penetrating force came from his waist and abdomen. The thought of "Oh no!" suddenly struck his heart, and his throat felt as if it were being constricted by gravity, making it impossible for him to utter a sound!

"Young Master Su—"

Upon seeing the Ice Rainbow Sword land, the white-clad figure stopped moving, his fingers, pressed against his waist and abdomen, were stained with deep blue blood.

"You—" Feng Yan roared in fury upon seeing this. "To poison your sword is utterly shameless!"

The clashing of swords and blades, along with Yan Pingfei leading more guards to surround them, gradually became a muffled whisper to Su Shaochu, and his senses began to distort.

"Young Master Su!"

Wuyou and Wuchou rushed forward, but a figure that arrived even faster caught her as she fell.

"Shao Chu!" Zhu Yu cried out in alarm.

“Third... Third Prince…” Su Shaochu stroked his face, as if she wanted to say something, but her lips and tongue had already lost the strength to even “speak”.

"Is the swordsman afraid that his disciple will die because of his own lack of compassion?"

"I'm afraid that you're indifferent to love but still play the field, which will ultimately bring disaster upon yourself."

As she gradually lost feeling in her hands and could no longer hear anything, she desperately tried to keep her eyes open, simply because it was the first time she had seen his face so heartbroken. She couldn't bear to see him like this, holding her tightly as if he had lost a treasure more precious than his own life, causing him immense grief. But she could no longer utter a sound...

"When you are indifferent to love, you deceive even yourself when your heart is moved."

"Shao Chu—Shao Chu—" Looking at the person in his arms who had no pulse or breath, whose brow had turned black and whose eyelids and lips had turned blue, Zhu Yu tore off a piece of Lan Chi Shi and fed it into her mouth.

Worry-free and sorrowful cried out in grief, knowing that Su Shaochu would never get up again to laugh and joke with them.

"Father, Father, please stop!"

"Father, Young Master Su, she..."

Seeing that Zhu Yu seemed to have lost his mind and was desperately feeding him Lan Chishi, Wuyou and Wuchou frightenedly pulled at Zhu Yu, but he pushed them away. He rushed to the lakeside and fed the water to the people in his arms.

"Third Prince—Danger—"

The man in blue, trapped among the guards, saw Zhu Yu by the lake. His eyes flashed, and he channeled his energy into his long sword, shooting it at Zhu Yu. Zhu Yu neither blocked nor dodged; he simply held Su Shaochu in his arms.

Feng Yan rushed forward to block, and was immediately shocked when he saw Su Shaochu's face and the area between his brows!

"The remnants of the Eastern Region have instantly severed the lifeblood of the people!" Feng Yan watched as Zhu Yu fed water and Lan Chishi, gently patting the person in his arms as if trying to wake him up. He couldn't help but say, "Third Prince... please wake up, Young Master Su is already dead!"

“Nonsense—Shao Chu won’t die—I’m taking her back to the capital—she’s going to become the Third Imperial Consort—” He picked up Su Shao Chu, glaring angrily at his subordinate.

"Third Prince!" Seeing that the prince had suffered too much shock, his eyes were unfocused and he had clearly lost his mind!

"Chief Steward Yan, the local troops have arrived," the guards on the outer perimeter reported as they entered.

"Excellent! Immediately order the archery team to stand by." As soon as he discovered that the newcomer's swordsmanship was extremely high, Yan Pingfei sent someone with his master's token to the nearest local official to mobilize manpower.

Seeing the growing number of people, the Twin Swords of Sacred Lake knew that waiting any longer would be disadvantageous.

"Force them into the arrow formation."

The trained soldiers quickly launched a series of attacks in formation, giving the enemy no chance to breathe. They used personnel shifts to continue the attack, forcing the enemy to retreat to the position where the archers were waiting.

"The Third Prince Zhu Yu was also one of the masterminds behind the killing of Ke Luoqizhen!"

Suddenly, amidst the rapid attack of several guards, the man in blue seized the opportunity, leaping into the air and turning around, his sword pointing towards Zhu Yu, who was holding Su Shaochu at the summit—

"Third Prince—"

"father--"

Unable to block in time, Feng Yan struck Zhu Yu, who was holding Su Shaochu, with his palm. Zhu Yu was swept away by the force of the palm and crashed into the bamboo fence at the edge of the cliff. The person in his hand was knocked out of his grasp, flew over the bamboo fence, and fell into the rushing stream below the cliff.

"Shao Chu—" Zhu Yu immediately leaped down!

Feng Yan rushed to the edge of the cliff, grabbed his master's arm, and pulled him up with a burst of strength!

"Let go—Shao Chu—"

After the two assassins attacked Zhu Yu, they escaped the trap and quickly left. Yan Pingfei and the other guards arrived and blocked Zhu Yu from jumping down again.

"Third Prince—please wake up, Young Master Su is dead!"

"father--"

Wuyou and Wuchou also wept bitterly as they embraced Zhu Yu!

"Young Master Su is dead, are you going to abandon us too?!"

“Dead, Shao Chu is dead… dead…” With his disheveled hair and dazed expression, he seemed to be chewing on the chilling meaning of those words in a daze.

"Third Prince, I have offended you!"

Feng Yan slashed at Zhu Yu's neck, and the others quickly supported their master who had collapsed.

end

In Jinghui City, soldiers have been everywhere lately. The riverbank connecting to Chaosheng Waterfall is filled with them searching for people. They have also posted wanted posters for two foreigners. The city gates are under tight security, and the search has continued for days and nights without interruption. They are searching for people and also for the bodies in the river. The atmosphere is so tense that the people in the city are terrified and do not know what serious thing has happened.

Five days later, outside the western suburbs of the city, a young woman dressed in brightly colored clothes, accompanied by several attendants, rode at full speed. Upon seeing a group of people and carriages waiting under a bamboo tent ahead, the young woman immediately dismounted, rushed to one of the men, and hugged him tightly.

"I'm so worried about you!" Yan Shanshan hugged the boy in white tightly. "You fell off such a high cliff and were already injured. I was so afraid you would get hurt even more."

"With the old abbot, Shufang, and Xuechu here, any trouble would be nothing to worry about." Su Shaochu smiled and returned the hug. "But you were late; I was worried something might have happened to you on the way."

“There are soldiers everywhere inside and outside Jinghui City. In order to avoid the Three Emperors’ manpower discovering my whereabouts, I have no choice but to take a long detour.”

"Is that Third Prince still not giving up?" asked the old abbot of Miaofa Daoyuan, who had stepped out of the bamboo hut in a Taoist robe.

"He won't give up until he sees me in person, and maybe... he doesn't want to accept it!" Thinking of the face she saw when she closed her eyes, Su Shaochu sighed deeply.

"Why are you sighing? This time you've finally broken free from Zhu Yu completely." Yan Shanshan patted her cheeks, her expression excited. "You were 'dead' before you fell off the cliff. Even if he doesn't want to believe it, the people around him will make him believe it. You're finally free. Now, even if Xue Chu goes back to the Su family, it'll be fine."

"Yes!" she smiled.

Only her death can resolve all of this, put Zhu Yu to rest, and prevent anyone from being implicated; however, given Zhu Yu's abilities, it must have taken considerable effort to arrange this flawless play.

"Where is that melancholy boy?" Li Shufang was nowhere to be seen.

"You left before I arrived."

"You brat, are you so afraid of seeing his 'Aunt Shanshan'?" Yan Shanshan snorted.

“He no longer appears when the two of us are together.” Shao Chu laughed. “Without him and Xue Chu pretending to be the Twin Swords of Sacred Lake, it will be difficult to get past Zhu Yu. Let’s not hold his stinginess against him this time.”

"So you're just going to let this amusing, melancholic boy go?"