The moment Xie Huaizhou appeared, Yuan Fuyu’s thumb, which had been resting on the umbrella handle’s hidden mechanism, shifted away…
Yuan Fuyu had considered that if Pei Du truly betrayed his master, tonight would become a fight to the death.
But she never expected Xie Huaizhou to appear.
It seems Pei Du’s loyalty to Xie Huaizhou is as steadfast as the heavens and earth!
He Yichen, forced to kneel, looked up and saw the figure standing beyond the threshold. His eyes widened, and he gritted his teeth: “Xie Huaizhou? Pei Du, you have indeed betrayed your master!”
Xie Huaizhou didn’t even glance at He Yichen at his feet.
Sitting calmly at the front of the hall, his narrow phoenix eyes, which tapered towards his temples, fixed on the woman shielded by the remnants of the Golden Banner Eighteen Guards.
Yuan Fuyu held an umbrella with one hand and pressed her other hand on Li Yunping’s shoulder, who stood guard with a spear. Through the wind and snow, she met Xie Huaizhou’s gaze.
When she resolved to return to the capital, Yuan Fuyu knew she would eventually face Xie Huaizhou again.
But she hadn’t anticipated it would be so soon, nor under such circumstances.
Steeped in the ways of the court, Xie Huaizhou now carried an air of dignified composure, exuding the authority of a powerful minister who stood above all others.
Although she hadn’t come entirely unprepared, Xie Huaizhou’s sudden appearance was completely unexpected.
Du Baorong gripped his gleaming Horse Chopping Blade tightly, shielding Yuan Fuyu from behind as he glared at Pei Du, who stood at the center of the courtyard gate across the wooden bridge. He was ready to fight Pei Du to the death.
Jinshu and Yuan Fuyu’s six guards were already ensnared in the iron nets of the Mystic Eagle Guards, with blades pressed to their necks.
Pei Du sheathed his sword and stood tall at the entrance, signaling the Mystic Eagle Guards to close the gates.
“Release!”
At Pei Du’s command, the Mystic Eagle Guards on the rooftops hurled bamboo tubes toward Yuan Fuyu and her companions.
Su Ziyi sliced through a bamboo tube with his sword, releasing a cloud of powdery white smoke. “Beware, it’s smoke!” he shouted in alarm.
The bamboo tubes landed and exploded around Yuan Fuyu’s group, thick smoke billowing upward.
They immediately raised their arms to cover their noses and mouths.
Yuan Fuyu glanced back at Pei Du and ordered, “Baorong, kill Pei Du!”
Du Baorong charged toward Pei Du, his Horse Chopping Blade at the ready.
“Yunyan, capture their leader!”
Yu Yunyan, swift as a swallow, drew the twin short blades from her back. Using her exceptional lightness skill, she leaped across the roof tiles, swift as an arrow. Before the Mystic Eagle Guards could react, she had broken through their defenses and closed in on Xie Huaizhou.
Xie Huaizhou remained seated, unmoving. Before Yu Yunyan’s cold blades could reach him, the Mystic Eagle Guards intercepted her with their swords.
Iron nets, typically used for trapping large beasts, were cast over Yu Yunyan and Du Baorong, who was charging at Pei Du.
Bamboo tubes attached to the edges of the nets landed and exploded, spraying thick smoke in all directions.
Yu Yunyan, with her remarkable lightness skill, twisted mid-air to evade but found herself surrounded by four Mystic Eagle Guards.
Du Baorong, hampered by an old injury to his waist, couldn’t exert his full strength. Though he dodged the iron net, he was engulfed in the smoke, his body swaying unsteadily. The force behind his swing of the Horse Chopping Blade at Pei Du weakened considerably.
Unwilling to engage Du Baorong, Pei Du leaped aside and swiftly returned to protect Xie Huaizhou.
Catching Pei Du’s lightning-fast movement from the corner of her eye, Yuan Fuyu tightened her grip on Li Yunping’s shoulder and halted her retreat.
“Yunping, Ziyi, seize the gate!”
Yuan Fuyu hadn’t truly expected Du Baorong to kill Pei Du; her aim was to delay him and draw out the Mystic Eagle Guards’ beast-trapping nets.
With Pei Du returning to guard Xie Huaizhou, Li Yunping and Su Ziyi could secure the main gate as an escape route without issue.
Following the order, Li Yunping and Su Ziyi held their breath and charged toward the main gate.
Yuan Fuyu glanced toward the left rooftop. The Mystic Eagle Guards on that side had just cast their iron capture nets to seize Yu Yunyan, creating the perfect opportunity to seize the high ground.
“Changxue, Liu Mei, top left.”
Lin Changxue and Liu Mei instantly understood her meaning, dashing toward the left ridge to claim the elevated position.
It was as if they had fought side by side countless times—their tacit understanding was second nature.
With only Yang Jiancheng remaining by her side for protection, Yuan Fuyu held her umbrella, fingers tracing the mechanism in its handle as she calmly observed the Mystic Eagle Guards clashing with the Golden Banner Eighteen Guards.
The Mystic Eagle Guards seemed hesitant, almost as if they feared causing harm.
Yuan Fuyu raised an eyebrow…
How interesting.
If Xie Huaizhou and Pei Du weren’t willing to order the Mystic Eagle Guards to use lethal force against the Golden Banner Eighteen Guards, then breaking through the gate to escape would be pointless.
After all, Yuan Fuyu hadn’t come today merely to kill.
She had no intention of leaving empty-handed. Changing her retreat strategy, she stopped directing the battle and instead watched composedly.
Without masks in the thick smoke, even the Golden Banner Eighteen Guards at their peak wouldn’t have lasted long, let alone now when each of them bore old injuries.
Liu Mei, affected by the smoke, was the first to falter. Struck by a meteor hammer from the Mystic Eagle Guards, she fell from the roof and was ensnared in an iron net.
Yu Yunyan, entangled with four Mystic Eagle Guards, inhaled the smoke and knew she couldn’t hold out. She kicked down the guard on her right, backflipped out of the encirclement, and hurled her left short blade straight at Xie Huaizhou—so fast the Mystic Eagle Guards had no time to react.
Crossbow bolts shot toward Yu Yunyan from the roof. She deflected them with her knife but was thrown back by the force, landing unsteadily on one knee and stabbing her short blade into the ground to stabilize herself.
Everyone had assumed Yu Yunyan’s thrown blade was a certain kill, but no one expected the refined civil official Xie Huaizhou to easily dodge the blade by tilting his head, while Pei Du precisely caught the hilt at the critical moment.
Xie Huaizhou casually raised his jade pendant-clutching hand, using two fingers to brush aside the blade near his temple. His gaze toward Yu Yunyan was both arrogant and mocking, as if toying with prey.
Yuan Fuyu’s pupils constricted.
Xie Huaizhou… this agile?
After years of marriage, she had never known.
This was her first time seeing such a Xie Huaizhou.
In her memory, Imperial Son-in-Law Xie Huaizhou had always appeared, at least superficially, as a scholarly literati—forever aloof from the capital’s decadent pleasures and worldly temptations.
Now, his demeanor somewhat resembled her own former vulgar self.
Then again, gaining power and forgetting one’s roots was only human nature.
Now serving as Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and The Emperor’s Tutor, if he still lived as before, wouldn’t all his scheming have been in vain?
It seemed Xie Huaizhou held more secrets than she had imagined.
He Yichen, forced to kneel nearby, stared in shock, gritting his teeth: “Xie Huaizhou, you’ve been playing dumb to catch others off guard!”
Pei Du coldly flung the short blade, positioning himself protectively beside Xie Huaizhou. The sharp weapon sliced through the air and embedded itself firmly at Yu Yunyan’s feet, its hilt quivering.
“Surrender, and we’ll spare your lives!”
“Bullshit!” Yu Yunyan ignored her heavy body and charged at Pei Du again.
Pei Du waved his hand, and Mystic Eagle Guards descended continuously from the rooftops…
The courtyard became a scene of clashing weapons and flashing blades.
Yuan Fuyu took in the entire battlefield from all directions.
Just before the fierce battle concluded, Yuan Fuyu activated the umbrella handle mechanism.
A whistling arrow pierced through the clouds, its sharp, ear-piercing sound echoing across the entire Anxing District.
Li Yunping and Su Ziyi had already secured the courtyard gate, while Lin Changxue safely retreated to Li Yunping’s side.
Eight Mystic Eagle Guards were captured.
Jinshu led the Cui Family guards, forcing the Mystic Eagle Guards to kneel beneath the tiled eaves of the courtyard gate, with swords pressed against their necks.
Inside the courtyard, the blades of the Mystic Eagle Guards were likewise pressed against the napes of Yu Yunyan, Liu Mei, Du Baorong, and Yang Jiancheng.
Pei Du personally escorted Yuan Fuyu to the corridor, forcefully pressing down to make her kneel before Xie Huaizhou.