Chapter 30

The War Drum Beats

Xie Sui’an and Huang Yankun were sitting across from each other in a private room on the second floor of a riverside restaurant.

Huang Yankun was extremely attentive, serving Xie Sui’an food and pouring her wine. In the face of someone she didn’t like, Xie Sui’an’s greatest show of politeness was a forced, mechanical smile, and she responded to all of Huang Yankun’s words with non-committal “mm” and “oh.”

As the sky outside grew darker, Xie Sui’an set down her chopsticks, clutching her stomach, her brows furrowed deeply.

“Miss Xie, what’s wrong?” Huang Yankun noticed that Xie Sui’an was feeling unwell and quickly stood up, trying to help her.

Xie Sui’an raised a hand to stop him, doing her best to make her voice sound weak. “It’s nothing, maybe I ate something bad... I’ll step out for a moment, please wait here.”

She tried to get up but suddenly froze mid-motion—she really didn’t have the strength. Realizing this, she glared at Huang Yankun in anger.

“Did you poison me?!”

Huang Yankun tore off the mask of politeness from his face and instead broke into a strange smile, as if signaling his sure victory. He walked over to the window and closed it.

“Miss Xie, I know you’ve always looked down on me and have just been using me, but I am a dignified governor, after all. You can treat me like a tool, but don’t you think you should give me something in return?”

Huang Yankun sat next to Xie Sui’an and grabbed her hand.

“You shameless scoundrel!”

“Miss Xie, it’s only by being shameless that one can go far in this world. Right now, I’m doing this to protect you. This place is the safest tonight. If you fall into the hands of the Qi people, not only will you, a daughter of a noble family, suffer, even Princess Lingfu met such a tragic end...” 

Xie Sui’an glared at Huang Yankun in hatred—she had let her guard down. It’s always hard to guard against such villains.

The afterglow of the sunset had already painted the sky in hues of red, and judging by the time, the evening drum would soon sound at the hour of You.

Nan Yi, waiting outside the city under a hooded veil, was anxious and restless. She didn’t know what had gone wrong with Xie Sui’an. If she didn’t appear, would the arrow still be shot?

If the arrow was fired but there was no one to catch it, the rescue would become a joke. This would inevitably attract the Qi army’s attention, strengthening the guards on the city walls. The plan couldn’t be used again.

Nan Yi desperately wanted to rescue Xie Zhi. She was genuinely anxious—what had happened? What went wrong?

She looked up at the city wall and saw that Gusha was personally leading a patrol. What seemed like an ordinary day was actually the Qi army setting up a trap, waiting for the right moment.

Suddenly, an explosion rang out, and the city gate became chaotic. The citizens screamed and scattered, while the guards moved quickly to assess the situation. On the city wall, Gusha immediately became alert, raising his hand, signaling the soldiers to prepare for battle.

At the same moment, the first drum of the evening sounded.

The deep, resonant sound of the drum echoed through the sunset and biting winds, lingering for a long time. It felt as if a whole day and night had passed in that single moment.

Nan Yi felt as though her body was being filled with the life-draining sound of the drum. Her heartbeat, pulse, and muscles tensed in unison—the war drum beat within her body.

Even though she had warned herself never to step onto any battlefield, her subconscious had already made the decision for her. Perhaps she had been on the battlefield all along, but hadn’t realized it.

Her mind went blank, unable to think too much, and she lashed the whip, driving the mule cart into the city.

If Xie Sui’an didn’t show up and had informed Chang Yan, she would just have entered the city unnoticed. But if Xie Sui’an hadn’t managed to reach Chang Yan, then the task of rescuing Xie Zhi would fall on her.

An arrow shot out from a high building in the distance, hitting the ropes binding Xie Zhi on the city wall. The ropes snapped, and Xie Zhi fell, landing perfectly on Nan Yi’s mule cart.

Nan Yi gritted her teeth and charged forward without hesitation.

Gusha quickly reacted, leading his men down the city wall.

“Stop her!”

Nan Yi had seen the city defense map and was familiar with the general positioning of the guards and streets, but in this emergency, her mind went blank. She couldn’t recall anything, relying entirely on instinct to guide the mule cart.

The two nights when she had been chased by Xie Que Shan’s men through the city proved invaluable at this moment.

Maps were abstract, only by walking the roads repeatedly did one learn them intimately. Nan Yi steered the cart through narrow alleys, twisting and turning to shake off the pursuing soldiers.

But she could only hide and delay, not knowing where to go.

—Huachao Pavilion? Chang Yan should be there. If she couldn’t reach Xie Sui’an, maybe she could find her there.

Nan Yi turned the cart in the direction of Huachao Pavilion. However, the cart was too large a target, and Gusha soon realized the enemy was familiar with the terrain and defensive positions. Finding it difficult to corner her, he ordered the archers to get in position and directly shoot to kill.

Arrows flew toward Nan Yi. She instinctively dodged a few, but her luck couldn’t last forever. Just as an arrow was about to pierce her back—

A flash of silver light appeared. With a clang, the arrow was knocked to the ground. Nan Yi looked up in shock—it was Xie Sui’an.

Wearing a mask, Xie Sui’an stood in front of Nan Yi, exuding a killing aura. She drew her sword with a swift motion, cutting down several soldiers who had managed to catch up. In the familiar battlefield where force was needed, she showed her decisive side.

“Sister-in-law, abandon the cart.”

Nan Yi hesitated. Xie Zhi was a grown man—how would they transport him without the cart?

She had clearly underestimated Xie Sui’an’s strength. Xie Sui’an had already lifted the unconscious Xie Zhi from the cart and hoisted him onto her shoulder.

Nan Yi quickly stepped forward to help, and the two of them carried Xie Zhi into a dark alley.

Before leaving, Xie Sui’an struck the mule’s hindquarters with her sword. The mule neighed and bolted in the opposite direction.

The back door of Huachao Pavilion was near the dark alley, slightly ajar, and the courtyard was empty. The three of them managed to enter without trouble.

Once inside, Nan Yi breathed a sigh of relief, only to notice that Xie Sui’an’s right hand was covered in blood.

“Little Six, when did you get injured?”

Xie Sui’an’s face was pale, but she didn’t seem to care. She glanced at her bloodied right hand and said, “It’s just a small injury.”

Earlier, in order to escape from Huang Yankun, she had used her right hand to grip the blade of her sword, enduring the pain to fight off the drug’s effects, allowing her to knock out Huang Yankun and flee.

When she was about to head toward the city gate, she discovered that the Qi soldiers were already chasing Nan Yi. She quickly followed and fortunately was able to save her.

By this point, Xie Sui’an was exhausted. Her body swayed, but she mustered the last of her strength to keep herself upright.

“Sister-in-law, I’ll take Third Uncle to Chang Yan for safekeeping. You can’t meet her, so wait for me here. We’ll return to Wang Xuewu together later.”

Xie Sui’an climbed the stairs to the guest room from the small door, and Nan Yi waited alone in the courtyard. Seeing that the Qi soldiers hadn’t yet caught up, the stone in her heart finally loosened.

At first, she thought this task would be as difficult as climbing to the heavens, yet she actually succeeded. Looking back, these events seemed unbelievable to her. It seemed she was stronger than she had thought.

...In fact, there was even a strange sense of accomplishment.

From the main building ahead, the sound of silk and bamboo instruments floated over. Nan Yi tiptoed to look, seeing that the place was brightly lit, as if a grand banquet was underway, very lively.

A sense of unease subtly stirred in her heart... Would anything go wrong?