xymnovel Chapter 474 - 459: Divergent Paths—Original Book Extra (Part 1)
Chapter 474 - 459: Divergent Paths—Original Book Extra (Part 1)
If destiny leads to different paths, this turbulent world will ultimately be as you wish.—— Foreword
...
The thirteenth year of Taixing, in late autumn.
Eastern Palace, Lizheng Hall.
The vermillion door of the hall was wide open, like a picture frame.
Within the frame, the background was the deep halls, and the sky was sparse.
The unparalleled beauty walked into the picture.
The Crown Prince Li Shu eagerly stood up: "Ah Rong, you’re here!"
No one in the Capital City did not know that the daughter of the Assistant Minister of Rites, Ye Qingrong, was the moon in the sky, the snow on the mountaintop for the Crown Prince Li Shu.
But the moon in the sky and the snow on the mountaintop are both cold.
"Where is he?" Ye Qingrong asked coldly.
Li Shu made a gesture with his eyes.
The Imperial Guard brought up a young boy.
A boy of thirteen or fourteen, with skin like snow, as delicate as a good girl.
He looked at Ye Qingrong with surprise, then his brows curved, and he laughed like a child: "Miss Ye really came!"
Ye Qingrong nodded at him: "I am your sister."
The boy tilted his head, showing a pure yet confused expression: "But Ah Wu has no sister."
"Now you do." Ye Qingrong said calmly.
Li Shu frowned, interrupting their conversation: "Is Li Mu in Zhenzhou?"
Ye Qingrong finally moved her gaze to him: "He is in your heart!"
"Ah Rong!" His tone was displeased.
Ye Qingrong laughed.
In truth, there was no such thing as love to the point of madness; she had long anticipated that Li Shu was after news of the former Crown Prince Li Mu.
"Am I wrong? He’s in your heart, constantly reminding you, reminding you to see yourself clearly, reminding you to remember how your position as Crown Prince came about!"
"How did I come by the position of Crown Prince?" Li Shu laughed coldly, "What did Li Xingyuan tell you?"
Ye Qingrong laughed without speaking.
"The Changshan Prince Mansion has harbored treacherous intentions for a long time, Li Mu was just their excuse. Whether or not there was a Li Mu, they would have put forth a Li Mu."
Ye Qingrong still laughed without speaking.
Li Shu’s face sank: "Ah Rong, I have not treated you poorly!"
"But Li Xingyuan treats me better!" Ye Qingrong finally spoke, holding out her fingers to indicate a number, "He gave me sixty thousand Zhenzhou troops, sixty thousand!"
The Zhenzhou Army has a total of 120,000.
Sixty thousand, that is precisely half of the military power.
Li Shu, as well as Ah Wu on the side, were moved by this.
"He really gave you half the military power?" Li Shu was incredulous.
"Yes," Ye Qingrong smiled, "can you afford to give that?"
Li Shu himself didn’t have an army of 60,000.
"You, a mere woman, are so ambitious," Li Shu’s eyes darkened, "do you perhaps wish to rebel with Li Xingyuan?"
Even last year when the former Crown Prince Li Mu "died of illness," Prince Changshan Li Mingyi began acting frequently.
However, not long ago, Li Mingyi suddenly died a violent death.
After that, the 120,000 troops of Zhenzhou fell entirely into the hands of the Princely Heir Li Xingyuan.
And just as Li Xingyuan obtained complete control of the Zhenzhou army, he immediately handed half to a beauty.
But what does Ye Qingrong want with these 60,000 troops?
She’s just a woman.
Yet Ye Qingrong only smiled and said nothing.
"But now that you’re here, aren’t the 60,000 troops gone?" Ah Wu was still full of innocence and confusion.
Ye Qingrong looked at him with a smile: "For us who are closest in blood, even if it’s 120,000 troops, I can still let go."
Ah Wu immediately brightened, as if black glass had turned into something crystal clear and shining: "They all said you’d come, I didn’t believe it, I just wanted to see... Now that you’ve really come, I won’t—" The words paused, and he covered his lips with a cough.
Ye Qingrong’s gaze suddenly sharpened, and she rushed towards Ah Wu.
Her figure flickered, swift as the wind.
But it was too late.
Ah Wu collapsed on the ground, and black-red blood spilled from the fingers pressed against his lips.
"You should leave." He said with a smile.
Li Shu also realized and immediately ordered: "Catch her!"
As the Imperial Guards poured in from outside the door, Ye Qingrong twisted and flew out—
...
The pursuing soldiers were relentless.
Thirty miles outside the city, Ye Qingrong suddenly stopped and turned around, and then, like a rain of arrows, she slaughtered the pursuing soldiers.
Outside the battleground, a handsome and imposing young man frowned as he looked at Ye Qingrong: "Didn’t rescue him?"
No one had expected that Ye Qingrong possessed such remarkable martial skills.
No one had expected that Li Xingyuan would personally bring people to meet them outside the city.
"He drank poison to end his own life," Ye Qingrong wiped her face and gathered her spirits, "Lend me a horse."
"Where are you going next?"
"To find someone." Ye Qingrong answered simply.
"For this rescue, most of the remaining manpower in the Capital City should have been almost worn out." Li Xingyuan did not agree.
Ever since Ye Qingrong had revealed her identity to ask him for military power, in his eyes, Ye Qingrong was merely an ally.
Between allies, it’s more about interests.
But Ye Qingrong was also very insistent: "The eldest daughter of Duke Yan is in trouble!"
Li Xingyuan was slightly stunned.
The eldest daughter of Duke Yan, Tang Jiaojiao, was a beauty of unsurpassed elegance.
He had secretly seen her a few times before, even considering whether he might have the chance to win the beauty’s favor.
But later, after numerous changes in Zhenzhou, having experienced betrayal and despair, those youthful romantic thoughts had long faded away.
At this moment, hearing Ye Qingrong mention her, the image of that girl’s stunning red attire appeared in Li Xingyuan’s mind again, but her face was somewhat blurred.
Only in his moment of daze, Ye Qingrong had already galloped away.
Li Xingyuan instinctively also mounted his horse, but was stopped by his follower: "Master—"
And all around were voices of persuasion.
Li Xingyuan gazed deeply into the distance...
...
The autumn wind scattered leaves, and dust rose from the road.
Ye Qingrong rode without stopping at all, not daring to slow her pace in the slightest.
She and Tang Jiaojiao actually had no friendship to speak of.
Even because of Li Shu, Tang Jiaojiao, who had been designated as Crown Princess Consort, had always disliked her.
Back then, the Duke Yan Mansion was ever so glorious, and the people whom Miss Tang disliked, without her saying anything, there were already those willing to trouble Ye Qingrong on her behalf.
As for those troublemakers, Ye Qingrong had never put them to mind, let alone Tang Jiaojiao.
Yet people always thought she and Tang Jiaojiao were like fire and water.
Thus when she first entered the Eastern Palace, the eunuch guiding her proudly told her of Tang Jiaojiao’s miserable condition.
After the disappearance of Duke Yan and his sons on the battlefield, the Emperor began targeting the Tang and Gu clans, and Tang Jiaojiao, seeking Li Shu’s assistance, revealed Ah Wu’s true identity to Li Shu.
But after Li Shu obtained Ah Wu, he did not spare Tang Jiaojiao.
The eunuch said, the Crown Prince ordered that Tang Jiaojiao be tied up and thrown out of the city.
Such a proud young lady, such a beautiful girl...
Ye Qingrong’s gaze darkened.
"Hyah—"
She whipped the horse, spurring it on, leaving a trail of dust...
...
After several searches outside the city, she finally stopped at an abandoned temple.
The crimson embroidered fragrant robe was in pieces, and the resplendent golden bird hairpin stained with blood.
The first glance nearly suffocated Ye Qingrong.
However, on the ground were three corpses, all with dirty faces, and eyes that couldn’t rest in peace—beggars.
Where was Tang Jiaojiao?
Ye Qingrong searched inside and out twice, never finding any trace of Tang Jiaojiao.
The neighing of a horse came from outside, and hurried footsteps entered.
It was Li Xingyuan.
He scanned the area, stepped forward to pick up the torn robe and broken hairpin, rubbing them between his fingers, unconsciously frowning.
"She might have been rescued, or might have escaped on her own—" Ye Qingrong finished, looking at the three bodies on the ground, thinking it didn’t seem like she had escaped on her own.
"Search the vicinity!" Li Xingyuan instructed his companions.
"Stop searching," this time it was Ye Qingrong disagreeing, "since someone has rescued her, there’s no need to look anymore, this place is not safe for us." With that, she swiftly mounted the horse, glancing back at Li Xingyuan’s puzzled expression.
"There are still two more—"