Being someone who had long weathered the battlefield, that utterly unhidden killing intent in his gaze sent a sudden shiver through Xie Ning, making her tremble involuntarily.
Xie Ning squeezed her fingers tightly as the image of Xiao Rong rubbing her left wrist flashed before her eyes.
A hideous scar resided there, marking Xiao Rong’s darkest hour of the past.
Every time Xiao Rong was lost in thought, she would unconsciously stroke that scar on her left wrist, yet she never displayed it to others. Even during their intimate moments, if Xie Ning accidentally brushed against it, an expression of pain would cross her face as an involuntary reaction. Heartbroken, Xie Ning had once kissed that scar with utmost tenderness, until Xiao Rong finally relented, raising her hand to expose her left wrist entirely before Xie Ning, only to say, “It serves as a constant reminder that fear and cowardice are merely fierce beasts putting up a bluff. Once you have truly taken a turn at the gates of hell, you realize instead that nothing in this world is that big of a deal.”
Indeed, nothing was that big of a deal.
Xie Ning had also taken a turn at the gates of hell; she was no longer that timid, cowardly girl consumed by fear.
Thus, despite her body’s natural urge to quake with fear, Xie Ning gritted her teeth, tilting her head high to force her gaze directly upon Xie Yuanshan: “I have only one thing to say: unless you give me a younger brother, I will never, under any circumstances, become this Crown Princess!”
She did not state her words to a dead end. This was also something Xiao Rong had taught her: when holding the opponent’s lifeline, never reveal your cards easily. The more ambiguous you remain, the more hesitant and undecided the other party will grow, leaving far greater room for maneuver.
Xie Ning believed Xie Yuanshan understood her meaning.
Sure enough, Xie Yuanshan lapsed into complete silence like a volcano on the brink of erupting. His gaze locked onto this frail daughter, countless thoughts flashing through his mind in an instant.
Yet he dared not act rashly. He did not even dare to speak too plainly, because this was the capital. This General’s Manor had been personally arranged and managed by the imperial court; even the servants within were all meticulously positioned by the inner court. Calling it imperial favor sounded pleasant enough, but put bluntly, who knew how many ears and eyes were planted here?
Xie Yuanshan dared not gamble.
And what Xie Ning wanted was precisely Xie Yuanshan’s hesitation.
Once a person harbored hesitation and possessed misgivings, they were not far from defeat.
Xie Yuanshan’s silence hung in the air like a muffled thunderclap gathering in the skies. As time ticked away second by second, Xie Ning kept her head held high, without the slightest intention of yielding or stepping back.
This brief confrontation left General Xie’s wife, Li Wan, unable to even catch her breath.
She looked first at the gloomy, overcast face of Xie Yuanshan, then at the unyielding spine and stubborn eyes of Xie Ning. It felt like falling into a nightmare: her husband remained the same husband who barked orders and showed constant dissatisfaction, yet how had her daughter—who had always let herself be kneaded and molded at will—become so imposing, bearing an posture that made others shrink from looking at her directly?
Li Wan stood frozen where she was. She could have pinched Xie Ning and given her a thorough scolding like before to teach her how to please her biological father. Yet at this moment, looking back and forth between the two, she found both of them utterly terrifying. Even her hand, which had frozen while attempting to wipe the blood from Xie Ning, remained stiffened in place!
This silent storm finally came to an end with a cold snort from Xie Yuanshan. He realized that if this stalemate continued, he would completely lose his upper hand. Thus, he flicked his sleeves and turned away, ordering servants to lock Xie Ning in her room before departing.
Xie Ning knew this was a battle that would not yield an easy victory, but she would never back down.
She could have left directly. However, seeing Li Wan hurry over to check on her injuries earlier had given Xie Ning an uncontrollable glint of lingering hope toward her mother, which was why she refrained from resisting on the spot.
Xie Yuanshan watched coldly as the servants led her away, only then catching a slight breath of relief. Yet with his rage finding nowhere to vent, he had no choice but to summon Li Wan, harshly berating her for how she had raised their daughter.
Li Wan lowered her head in submissive fear. No matter how Xie Yuanshan vented his fury, she could only remain kneeling in place with her head bowed, not even daring to weep out loud, letting out only an occasional, uncontrollable sob.
Xie Yuanshan delivered another kick toward her, raging like a storm: “Crying, crying, crying! All you know is how to cry! Let me ask you—regarding Xiaohu’s matter, did you fail to keep your mouth shut and let that little wretched girl find out?”
By now, Xie Ning had been reduced to “that wretched girl” in his words.
Xie Yuanshan was born with immense physical strength; a single kick dealt Li Wan piercing pain that made her waist and hips feel as though they had snapped on the spot. She collapsed onto the floor, utterly devoid of strength: “Where would I ever get such courage! I have never mentioned it in front of her!”
Unconvinced, Xie Yuanshan pressed further with intense questioning. Only after confirming that Li Wan had indeed never spoken of it did he feel slightly relieved.
“Then why did she suddenly bring this up? Could it be she sensed something?” Xie Yuanshan muttered to himself. Li Wan was dizzy with pain, not daring to answer. After a long silence, Xie Yuanshan said impatiently, “Go ask her how much does she actually know?”
Li Wan dared not delay. She scrambled up from the floor with great difficulty, her body aching terribly, stumbling several times before barely managing to stand.
Xie Yuanshan was still shouting from behind: “Let that girl see as well though I cannot beat her to death, if she dares act so lawless again, I won’t let her off easily! Tell her that a father beating his daughter is justified by heaven and earth! As long as I don’t beat her to death, I will have my own accounting before the Emperor!” Though he feared that if pushed too far, Xie Ning might truly expose his precious son, scaring her a bit was harmless enough.
Upon hearing these words, Li Wan did not even dare to fetch wound ointment. Carrying her swollen face, she limped over to seek out Xie Ning.
Seeing her mother bruised and battered once again, Xie Ning surprisingly felt no heartache like she had in her past life. She merely watched with cold eyes, possessing a question she absolutely had to ask her mother.
The moment Li Wan saw Xie Ning, she burst into loud wailing.
“My child! Save your mother!”
“If you don’t agree, your father will beat me to death!”
“What is so bad about becoming the Crown Princess? In the future, you will have endless wealth and glory, and perhaps even become the Empress one day. Ning’er, why are you being so ungrateful! Just treat it as your mother begging you grant your mother a way to live”
With a loud thud, she dropped to her knees before Xie Ning, tears and snot streaming down her face.
Xie Ning looked down at her biological mother, her lips parting. Just as she was about to speak, she realized her voice had inexplicably turned hoarse without her noticing. Uncharacteristically, she did not kneel down facing Li Wan, nor did she reach out to support her. She merely gazed calmly at her mother kneeling in plea, waves of chill surging straight into the depths of her heart. Yet, refusing to give up hope entirely, she asked, “Mother, are you willing to leave with me?”
Li Wan froze. “Leave for where?”
“Anywhere is fine, as long as we leave Xie Yuanshan as long as you divorce him.”
Hearing these words out of nowhere, Li Wan was stunned on the spot. A moment later, she scolded angrily, “You child, what nonsense are you spewing! No matter what, he is still your biological father! He is the dignified Zhenyuan General. Without your father, let alone you, even I wouldn’t have the face to go on living!”
Indeed, it was always like this. Hearing such words once more was hardly surprising. The single thread of reluctance and heartache in Xie Ning’s eyes faded completely away.
Noticing the change in Xie Ning’s expression, Li Wan felt an inexplicable trace of fear in her heart, yet she dared not fail to ask on her husband’s behalf: “Have you lost your mind today? How dare you speak to your father like that? And what nonsense were you blabbering about a younger brother? Where would you get a younger brother? I only gave birth to you alone! If not for the fact that you were born a girl, I wouldn’t be disliked like this by your father!” Her tone still did not conceal her resentment toward her daughter.
Since words had reached this point, Xie Ning lowered her eyes. “Mother, bring a message to Father for me.”
“Tell him: if he can reject this marriage, everyone will naturally be happy. Otherwise, what he loses will be far more than just the position of Crown Princess.”
The moment the words left her mouth, a chop from her hand fell onto the back of Li Wan’s neck. Li Wan’s body instantly turned limp, falling straight into Xie Ning’s arms. Holding her—just as her mother had once held her in a soft embrace during her childhood Xie Ning gently embraced Li Wan in her arms, granting her mother a long-overdue hug that should have been given to her by a mother. Li Wan struggled faintly, not completely unconscious and still possessing awareness, yet physically too weak and in pain to wake up. Xie Ning leaned close to her mother’s ear and whispered another sentence
“He beats you simply because he wants to beat you. Whether I agree or not, he will still beat you. Mother,” Xie Ning’s voice was as light as a ghost, finally willing to acknowledge a piercing truth, “I cannot save you.”
Her mouth was as cold and unyielding as her heart, yet two uncalled-for tears spilled from her eyes, falling onto Li Wan’s face.
Xie Ning carried her mother onto the bed and covered her with a blanket before pushing open the door and stepping out.
Having eaten her fill at the Princess’s Manor, she retained plenty of strength. Easily subduing the two guards watching the door, she went to the rear courtyard, untied a horse, and galloped without hesitation toward the Gate of Supreme Peace.
The General’s Manor was located at the West Market, the most bustling area in the capital. However, the Gate of Supreme Peace was located at the easternmost edge, a place largely reserved for horses and military supplies with sparse population, taking roughly an hour’s journey from here riding a horse would make it slightly faster.
Xie Ning did not pause for a single moment, heading straight toward the Wild Boar Forest near the Gate of Supreme Peace.
By the time Li Wan fully regained consciousness and was able to move, half an hour had already passed. Her entire body throbbed with severe pain, her throat filled with the taste of blood. Vaguely recalling that Xie Ning had fled, a sudden shiver ran through her, scaring her to the point where her soul nearly left her body. She muttered, “That dreadful debt collector…”
Recalling Xie Ning’s words, she self-muttered, “It won’t happen. As long as you agree, your father won’t beat me. He definitely won’t…” Yet as she spoke, her voice lost all conviction, and Li Wan shivered violently from fear!
Yet she had no other choice. She was merely a frail woman; if she left her husband, how was she to survive? She never stepped outside her home, remaining secluded within the inner courtyard all her life. With her husband around, she still had a place to settle down. If her husband drove her out she would end up out there on the streets!
Out there! How terrifying was the world out there! So many men, just like those fierce bandits at Bianyang Pass a single glance from them was enough to fill Li Wan with terror! What was more, out there, anyone could look at her at will; she would be like a prostitute stripped naked and thrown onto the roadside, where people from all over the world would criticize her, berate her, and humiliate her!
Just thinking about the outside world filled Li Wan with utmost dread!
Such dread far surpassed the fear of being beaten, to the extent that Li Wan endured her severe pain, crawling on hands and knees to find Xie Yuanshan: “Master—Master! Our daughter… she ran away!”
Xie Yuanshan’s fierce eyes widened, “What?!” He struck his palm onto the table with a deafening crash, scaring Li Wan so badly that she collapsed onto the floor, kneeling without daring to utter a sound.
“What on earth happened!”
Li Wan lay prostrate on the ground, her body trembling like a sieve, unaware that she had already developed a fever and her mind was growing hazy. Knowing in her heart that a beating was unavoidable, she asked with obsessive persistence, “Master… Master! If our daughter agrees, will you stop beating me?”
Enraged, Xie Yuanshan stepped forward and delivered a kick straight to her. That single kick caused Li Wan to spit blood from her mouth, yet Xie Yuanshan paid it no mind: “I am asking you where that wretched girl Xie Ning went! Do you not understand human speech?”
Li Wan had only breath left to exhale, devoid of breath to inhale. Hearing Xie Yuanshan ask this, her feverish brain could no longer think clearly: “Before she left, she said…” No matter what, she had brought the message Xie Ning wanted her to convey, yet her mouth still wouldn’t stop, speaking with stubborn persistence: “You beating me is only right and proper. I failed to keep her… If I had kept her, if I kept her, you wouldn’t beat me… wouldn’t you? Xie Yuanshan… wouldn’t you…”
Before her eyes, she vaguely saw that sturdy young man from years ago, smiling with a face full of simple honesty, saying to her: “You… rest assured. For a grand lady like you to marry me, I… will definitely treat you well!”
In the beginning, Xie Yuanshan had not been like this. Back when Xie Yuanshan was merely a deputy guard captain under her father, he had clearly treated her exceptionally well. When on earth did Xie Yuanshan begin beating her?
She could no longer remember clearly.
She and Xie Yuanshan had also experienced moments as sweet as honey.
At that time, her father, Li Yong, was a third-rank Guerrilla General in the military, while Xie Yuanshan was nothing more than a mere cook in the supply corps. It was General Li who possessed the keen eye to recognize talent, transferring him from the supply corps to the vanguard team, later promoting him to deputy guard team, advancing step by step from team member to deputy captain, captain, and finally vice general.
General Li favored his innate physical strength and believed him to be simple, honest, and loyal. Not only did he recommend him with all his strength, but he also betrothed his most cherished youngest daughter, Li Wan, to Deputy General Xie. While her father, General Li, was still alive, she and Xie Yuanshan had a wonderful relationship. Xie Yuanshan was illiterate, so Li Wan taught him character by character. Occasionally, when Xie Yuanshan was heavy-handed and hurt her, he would immediately show a face full of guilt, telling her that he was born with immense strength and could not control it well, truly lacking any bad intention, and Li Wan would forgive him.
Many years had passed, and Li Wan could not remember clearly when Xie Yuanshan’s unintentional acts became intentional, or when scolding and beatings became commonplace. It seemed that when her father, General Li, passed away, Xie Yuanshan was still relatively normal, right up until Xie Yuanshan assumed the position of Guerrilla General—
Her husband’s official position grew higher and higher, yet Li Wan’s life grew harder and harder. However, the harder life became, the more she reminisced about their good old days, constantly feeling that Xie Yuanshan would turn his heart around one day.
“Father, didn’t you say that as long as I didn’t marry high like Eldest Sister, I could live a peaceful life forever?”
Li Wan’s mind blurred from the pain.
Her eldest sister, Li Yu, had married the son of the City Patrol Commander, Wang Zhan. Although the City Patrol Commander was also a third-rank official, as a capital official tasked with guarding the peace of the imperial city, his actual power far exceeded that of General Li. Li Yu’s marriage back then was considered marrying into a higher status, which should have been a good thing. Regrettably, in the second year after her marriage, she died of difficult labor. Her father used to say behind closed doors that the Wang family had mistreated his eldest sister, which was why he sought a simple, honest family for his youngest daughter a lesser family background did not matter, what mattered most was good character and promise, so he could also support her younger brother, Li Ren, in the future. Yet her younger brother was accomplished in neither literature nor martial arts, lacking even an official degree. Had the Emperor not taken pity on him and granted a shadowed position as a Assistant Department Director, allowing Li Ren to make a living at least, Li Wan truly wouldn’t know where her brother’s future lay.
However, Li Wan no longer needed to worry about Li Ren’s future now; it seemed she herself was about to have no future.
She was still asking, “Is it… Xie Yuanshan, if Ning’er agrees, you won’t beat me, will you…”
Xie Yuanshan was anxious beyond measure, “Mad woman!” He had no time to pay attention to Li Wan. The two sentences Xie Ning had left behind caused a massive sense of crisis to surge in his heart—he had to find Xie Ning immediately!
“Come here—” Xie Yuanshan had barely called the servants over before dismissing them all. He realized he could not search for her with such fanfare; if the Emperor found out that Xie Ning had fled, he would certainly be displeased.
He had to bring Xie Ning back without causing a scene, and the best way was to search for her personally.
Fortunately, Xie Ning had taken a horse from the manor. Xie Yuanshan was exceptionally familiar with military horses; with a bit of inquiry paired with observing the hoof tracks, he quickly confirmed her direction: “Heading toward the Gate of Supreme Peace? Could she be planning to escape back to Bianyang Pass through the Gate of Supreme Peace?” Xie Yuanshan was nearly certain of his judgment, sneering out of extreme rage, “Let’s see if I don’t break your legs when I catch you!”
Knowing that Xie Ning had already been gone for over half an hour, he had no time to ask further questions, immediately giving chase toward the Gate of Supreme Peace.