CHAPTER 20

Time was of the essence. Lian Sheng hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and stepped forward to help him undress.

The two of them were very close, and Lian Sheng could feel Yi Qiancheng looking down at her. She didn’t dare look up and her hands were slightly stiff. After she finished undressing him under his gaze, she went to take the armor from his hands.

“There are also pants,” he suddenly raised the clothes in his hands. Lian Sheng couldn’t reach them and grabbed air. She looked up and met Yi Qiancheng’s smiling eyes. His face showed no hint of joking.

“Maybe you want to do it yourself?” Was his hand broken today? Lian Sheng gritted her teeth, trying not to show her displeasure.

“This is your duty. You’ve been married to me for so long, and yet you haven’t served me in dressing.”

Lian Sheng was about to be driven mad by this jerk. It was him who didn’t like her, who refused to live with her. Now, everything was being pushed onto her! But she couldn’t argue with him now. Yi Qiancheng wasn’t the type to reason.

She bent down and roughly tugged at his pants. It didn’t move…

Yi Qiancheng let out a light laugh, and Lian Sheng could feel her ears burning with embarrassment, wishing she could crawl into a hole. A pair of hands pulled her up, and she didn’t want to see Yi Qiancheng’s mocking expression, so she kept her head down.

Yi Qiancheng took her hand and guided it around his waist. Lian Sheng froze, feeling something cold and hard. She blinked. With a “click,” a dagger appeared in her hand.

“...” What was this man thinking? There was a dagger tied behind him, and she couldn’t take off his pants until she removed it.

“Take this and protect yourself.” Yi Qiancheng looked at her, and a feeling of pity and reluctance slowly grew in his heart. This dagger was made for him by his father when he turned ten. It was delicate and sharp, capable of cutting through iron like clay. He had kept it on him for all these years, and now, on a whim, he wanted to give it to her.

Lian Sheng stared blankly at the beautiful dagger in her hand. Yi Qiancheng was... giving her a gift? He stopped tormenting her and quickly changed into his battle armor. Once done, he saw that Lian Sheng was still in a daze, looking at the dagger. Yi Qiancheng’s heart softened.

He should have been nicer to her sooner.

“Come here and say goodbye to me.” Yi Qiancheng said. Wasn’t the liar always the one who could speak the best? He always spoke so sweetly, but why was he so stiff today?

“Take care, husband. Be careful.” Lian Sheng responded, following along. There were only these two sentences of advice. Originally, to make this man happy, she should have said something like, “I’ll wait for you to come back,” but today, Yi Qiancheng’s demeanor had changed so much that she felt a little afraid. It seemed like their roles had switched. The affectionate words were stuck in her throat, and she refused to say them.

Yi Qiancheng squinted his eyes in dissatisfaction, took a few steps forward, and pinched her chin, making her look at him. “Is that all?”

“That’s all.”

Yi Qiancheng stared at her for a moment, then suddenly smiled. Lian Sheng felt something was wrong, and just as she was about to step back, Yi Qiancheng pulled her into an embrace, lowering his head to kiss her lips. His kissing technique was awkward, and he could only give a light peck at first. Her lips were soft, and it made him feel like he was floating in the clouds.

“Mmm...” Lian Sheng’s eyes widened. Yi Qiancheng’s face flashed with an almost imperceptible trace of embarrassment as he released her chin to cover her eyes.

“Let go...” She only uttered one syllable before he silenced her by kissing her mouth. Yi Qiancheng, with no teacher, held her waist tighter, kissing her relentlessly.

At first, Lian Sheng remembered to struggle, but her weak attempts were useless. Her eyes were covered, and her senses heightened. Soon, she felt light-headed, almost unable to breathe, and Yi Qiancheng finally let her go reluctantly.

He released her and kissed her forehead, his voice low and hoarse. “Wait for me to come back.”

Then, he turned and left. His eyes still held a lingering desire, and Yi Qiancheng was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he wouldn’t want to leave. Lian Sheng, the heartless liar, might forget him as soon as he left. At least, this way, she would remember him more deeply.

Liu Momo entered as soon as the general left, and saw Lian Sheng holding a dagger, her eyes dazed and her face flushed, with her ears reddened too.

Here is the translation of the text you provided:

...

Lian Qi knew that Yingdong City was about to fall, the city that had nurtured him was going to be mercilessly slaughtered.

He was exhausted. The sunlight was blinding, piercing through, leaving him only able to see the glint of blades coming at him from his enemies. He fought instinctively.

“Ah——” Lian Qi let out a hoarse scream as soldiers around him fell one after another. He swung his long spear down forcefully, and a Western Qiang soldier fell in response. Pain shot through his shoulder as he grasped the sword lodged there, stabbing back with his other hand, piercing a Western Qiang soldier’s throat.

He was so tired. In over a month, he had gone through countless battles. The Western Qiang were like tireless beasts, always waiting to bite at their throats. The soldiers of Yingdong no longer had the strength or will to fight; they had been relentlessly pushed back to the city gates.

The battle was one-sided, with the Western Qiang soldiers slaughtering with cruelty.

Asahan, the Western Qiang general, laughed loudly, looking at the towering city walls of Yingdong. He shouted in Western Qiang: “Break down the gates! Everything inside is ours!”

The loud battle cries followed, and with several resounding thuds, the Western Qiang soldiers began to smash the city gates. The archers atop the walls had been reduced to almost none, and those who remained were falling one by one. They couldn’t stop the never-ending waves of Western Qiang soldiers from attacking the city.

Lian Qi’s movements with his spear had grown mechanical and numb. From afar, he stared at the direction of the Western Qiang leader, hatred flashing in his eyes. He knew he wouldn’t survive. After this, the citizens inside the city would be next. His only consolation was that his family should have found a way to escape by now.

Ah Sheng... his most beloved younger sister, she had to live well.

“Boom—” The city gates collapsed with a loud crash.

The joy on Asahan’s face hadn’t yet faded when the next moment it froze. What did he see?

A man clad in dark armor, leading his army with a mighty presence, arrived. At the moment the gates were broken down, this man in dark armor ordered the soldiers to surround the gate tightly.

The man on horseback was as handsome as a god. He looked at Asahan, and a cold smile appeared on his lips. Five years ago, he had been powerless in front of the Western Qiang. Five years later, these people were nothing but ants to him.

Without further words, Yi Qiancheng raised his hand: “Kill——”

...

Lian Sheng had an extremely restless night, both Lian Qi and Yi Qiancheng were on the battlefield, their fates uncertain. Her heart twisted painfully, and she couldn’t settle down. Fortunately, she did not have the nightmare of the city’s fall again.

Her worry made her lose her appetite for food. Granny Liu tried to persuade her: “Miss, please eat more.”

Lian Sheng shook her head: “Granny, keep a close watch on the battle. Let me know immediately if there’s any news.”

“I’ll be careful, Miss.”

“Miss, I heard that the general sent someone to the city lord’s residence to protect you before leaving. If you’d like to know the battle’s progress, I can go and ask now,” Xi Yu spoke up.

“No need. Let’s wait until this afternoon,” Lian Sheng replied. News wouldn’t travel that quickly.

Just as she finished speaking, two uninvited guests arrived. Lian Si Tian and Lian Xi Yue walked in, glaring at Lian Sheng.

“Lian Sheng, now that you’ve married, you’ve forgotten you are a daughter of the Lian family! You’re actually helping outsiders to seize Yingdong City. Father must have raised such a heartless daughter for nothing!” Lian Si Tian said harshly.

Lian Sheng furrowed her brow. “What are you talking about?”

“The condition for Yi Qiancheng to send troops was that Yingdong would be under his control from now on. Don’t pretend you don’t know! Yi Qiancheng is a traitor, and you watched as father signed this treaty!”

“Lian Si Tian, shut up!” Lian Sheng’s gaze turned cold, every bit of warmth vanishing from her demeanor. She stood up and stared at Lian Si Tian icily, her voice devoid of any warmth. “What do you think you are? How dare you say such things? The one who married into the alliance was you, the one who fought on the battlefield was my brother and my husband. It’s because of the so-called traitor you speak of that you can stand here today. Now, you and your brother can leave immediately!”

Lian Si Tian’s face flushed red. She didn’t expect that the usually meek Lian Sheng would speak so sharply, ordering her and Lian Xi Yue to leave. Last night, her father had told Lady Sang about the treaty, and this morning when she and Lian Xi Yue went to greet him, they had learned of it.

The two siblings, furious, came to find trouble with Lian Sheng. In Lian Si Tian’s mind, now that Lian Qi was gone, Lian Sheng would surely be bullied. With both Lian Qi and Yi Qiancheng absent, they could come and scold her.

But Lian Sheng showed no weakness. The coldness in her eyes made Lian Si Tian feel a brief moment of fear. It was as if she had returned to her childhood, reminded of the presence of Lian Qi.

“Lian Sheng, don’t forget your identity. You’re a bastard child, and yet you dare to speak to me and my sister like this!” Lian Si Tian sneered.

“My identity? You don’t know my identity? In the past, I was your elder sister. Now I am the mistress of Shaji City. No matter what, you have no right to lecture me!” Lian Sheng almost laughed from anger. They couldn’t even understand the situation, and yet they were causing trouble.

She didn’t want to waste more time with Lian Si Tian and Lian Xi Yue. She turned to Xi Yu and ordered, “Xi Yu, you just said the general left someone to protect me. Now, please bring that officer here. Tell them this courtyard isn’t safe, and there might be mad dogs coming to bite at any moment. Have them station soldiers outside and deal with any uninvited guests on the spot.”

“You dare!” Lian Xi Yue shouted furiously.

“You want to see if I dare?” Lian Sheng didn’t even look at him and continued eating. They had been calling her a bastard child, treating her as if she weren’t their sister, so she didn’t need to treat them as siblings.