Chapter 56

Proofreader : Mim

The words Cui Dynasty Treasure weighed down on the tent like a mountain, suffocating in its oppressive silence.

After a long pause, Xie Lanxu finally spoke. “The so-called Cui Dynasty Treasure is nothing but hearsay. Does King Moqi truly believe such a thing exists?”

Moqi Chuanmin did not take offense. Instead, he smiled and raised his cup. “This third cup of wine, I dedicate to the heroes of the Yi Kingdom who have given their all for its restoration!”

Cheers and laughter echoed through the tent as the soldiers raised their cups in a celebratory toast.

Behind Xie Lanxu, Li Zhi picked up the wine jug. Using the cover of her sleeve, she dropped a small black object into the mouth of the jug.

Fifteen minutes earlier, Li Zhi had been pulled from the tent where she was being held. When the guards shoved her forward, she pretended to stumble and fall at the tent’s entrance. By the time she stood back up, her clenched fist held a secret item.

It was impossible for her and Xie Lanxu to smuggle anything into the camp, as they would inevitably be searched. However, the supposed Yi Kingdom royal descendants—grandmother and granddaughter—had not been subjected to such scrutiny.

“Elder Sister,” Li Cien had whispered earlier, holding up two tiny, bright orange peppers no bigger than fingernail clippings. “These peppers grow only in Mingyue Tower and are called Fire Dragons. If their juice touches the skin, it causes excruciating pain that lasts three days.”

“After we infiltrate the camp, I’ll leave these at the entrance of the tent where you’re held.”

“And I’ll put them into the wine jug prepared for His Highness,” Li Zhi had replied.

The two sisters had exchanged knowing smiles.

“Before the great battle begins,” Moqi Chuanmin declared loudly, “let us all enjoy ourselves to the fullest! No need for restraint!”

As cheers and drinking games erupted throughout the tent, Moqi Chuanmin finally turned to face Xie Lanxu again with a smile.

“If Your Highness wishes to hear the rest, I ask you to do me this small favour; share a drink with me in the presence of these warriors.”

He raised his wine cup, watching Xie Lanxu intently. The distance between their tables was but a single step.

Xie Lanxu reached for the cup on his table, and Li Zhi immediately refilled it.

On the hillside earlier, Li Zhi had protested the plan. Her expression was full of doubt. “What if Moqi Chuanmin has laced the wine with poison or something worse…?”

“If his only goal were to kill me, he would not have walked so willingly into this trap,” Xie Lanxu had replied. “What we are betting on is his greed.”

Now, under the brightly lit tent, Xie Lanxu raised the wine infused with Fire Dragon peppers and drank it all in one go.

“Excellent!” Moqi Chuanmin slapped his thigh, clearly pleased with Xie Lanxu’s show of cooperation. “How does it taste? This is Yuyao wine, brewed only in the imperial cellars for honored guests.”

Xie Lanxu seemed to savor the flavor. His expression remained calm as he replied, “It is indeed a fine wine.”

To fully release the Fire Dragon’s power, the longer it soaked, the more potent it became. Li Zhi had once tasted water that had been used to rinse the peppers—it was so fiercely hot that it felt as if her throat might ignite. Yet here was Xie Lanxu, drinking it without so much as a twitch of his brow.

“Now can we continue?” Xie Lanxu asked with an air of faint mockery.

“Certainly. As I was saying about the Cui Dynasty Treasure—it appears Your Highness is unaware of the full story.” Moqi Chuanmin leaned forward. “The Cui Dynasty lasted for over two hundred years, a time largely free of war or natural disasters. Yet when the current emperor usurped the throne, the imperial treasury contained less than a hundred thousand taels of silver. Where do you suppose all that wealth went?”

Li Zhi kept her eyes lowered, but her gaze remained fixed on Xie Lanxu’s face, studying every nuance for signs of deception.

Did he know about the treasure’s existence? It was a question that had plagued her for some time.

“If such a vast treasure truly existed,” Xie Lanxu replied with faint disdain, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly, “would the current emperor—who served as the last regent of the Cui Dynasty—not have gone to the ends of the earth to find it?”

Moqi Chuanmin sneered. “And why do you think the Cui royal family was all but wiped out? The current emperor wanted that treasure but couldn’t find it. Only the Cui emperors themselves knew its whereabouts.”

“The secret of the Cui Dynasty Treasure died with its last emperor, who hanged himself while fleeing south,” Moqi Chuanmin continued. “The current emperor slaughtered nearly all members of the Cui royal family and still failed to uncover the treasure’s location.”

Xie Lanxu’s brow furrowed again. “And yet you are so certain the treasure exists?”

“Because my father swore a blood oath with the last Cui emperor when he passed through Mingyue Tower during his escape,” Moqi Chuanmin explained. “The emperor promised to use the treasure to rise again and grant the Yi Kingdom its independence.”

“Unfortunately, the emperor was surrounded and captured soon after. To preserve the royal family’s dignity, he ordered the deaths of all his consorts and children. Your mother only survived because your father arrived in time to save her.”

The tent filled with murmurs as Moqi Chuanmin’s voice dropped low. Only those close to him—Xie Lanxu, Li Zhi, and their guards—could hear the details.

The events Moqi Chuanmin described aligned with the rumors and fragmented history Li Zhi had uncovered.

During the regime change, the Cui Dynasty’s treasury had been emptied. Funds for public works projects, such as river embankments, were so scarce that the current emperor had to use his private funds. It was this inexplicable disappearance of wealth that gave rise to the legend of the Cui Dynasty Treasure.

As for the emperor’s final days fleeing south, Li Zhi had never heard such specific details before.

“If the treasure’s secret died with the emperor,” Xie Lanxu mused, his expression thoughtful, “then surely it is lost forever.”

“Every path leaves a trace,” Moqi Chuanmin said, his voice brimming with conviction. “The emperor passed through Mingyue Tower but did not open the treasure. From here to the place where he died, the treasure must lie hidden somewhere along the way.”

“My kingdom has skilled geomancers and craftsmen who can uncover it. If Your Highness and I join forces, I will provide you with all the manpower you need—free of charge.”

Moqi Chuanmin’s words rang with apparent sincerity, but to Li Zhi, they were nothing more than the rattling of an abacus calculating profit. If his men found the treasure, would it not ultimately fall into Moqi Chuanmin’s hands?

“Do I have the right to refuse?” Xie Lanxu said with a sardonic smile.

“I see no reason for Your Highness to decline,” Moqi Chuanmin replied confidently, certain he had Xie Lanxu trapped.

“In that case, allow me to offer you a toast.” Xie Lanxu picked up his cup.

Moqi Chuanmin’s face lit up with satisfaction. Just as he reached for his own cup, shouts erupted outside the tent.

“What’s all that commotion? What’s happening?” Moqi Chuanmin’s face darkened.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!” A disheveled soldier burst into the tent. “The supply wagons—they’ve caught fire!”

“What?!” Moqi Chuanmin’s expression shifted to shock and fury.

The supply wagons, which had only arrived that morning, were the lifeline of his entire army. How could they have suddenly gone up in flames?

Moqi Chuanmin’s mind raced. Suspicion flashed across his face as he recalled several individuals: Qin Ne, the surrendered officer from Mingyue Tower; the grandmother and granddaughter who spoke flawless Yi Kingdom dialect; and the man sitting before him—Xie Lanxu.

Though the full picture eluded him, Moqi Chuanmin knew he had walked straight into a trap.

“Guards!” he bellowed, turning toward Xie Lanxu.

“It’s too late to realize that now.”

Xie Lanxu smiled faintly and flung the contents of his wine cup at Moqi Chuanmin.

“Ahhh!”

The moment the liquid touched his skin, Moqi Chuanmin screamed. Tears and mucus streamed down his face as he clawed at it, overcome by a fiery pain so intense it was as if his skin were burning off.

“Your Majesty!”

Within the tent, many generals turned pale with rage, abruptly rising and drawing their long blades.

Li Zhi reacted quickly. She flipped the two tables in front of her, sending them crashing toward the approaching guards who were charging forward to protect their king.

With a sharp crack, Xie Lanxu crushed the empty wine cup in his hand.

The sound of running feet stopped. The shouts and commotion fell silent.

A suffocating, sticky stillness settled over the scene, like black dew falling on the fearful and trembling faces around them.

On the elevated platform, Xie Lanxu’s expression remained calm.

A sharp, jagged fragment of porcelain from the broken wine cup was now in his hand, pressed firmly against Moqi Chuanmin’s throat.

Thin streams of blood began trickling down, mingling with the remnants of wine. From his previously refined and gentlemanly demeanor, Xie Lanxu now exuded a sudden, raw violence.

Unlike the teacup shards Li Zhi had once used in their staged performances, the wine cup’s fragments were thin and razor-sharp—more than capable of slicing through the major artery beneath the skin.

“You traitorous scoundrel, release our king at once!”

The men below the platform finally recovered their senses, rising and brandishing their swords as the personal guards moved in closer.

Li Zhi snatched the gemstone-encrusted longsword from Moqi Chuanmin’s belt and stepped protectively beside Xie Lanxu.

“Anyone who comes closer, and your king will die,” Xie Lanxu said with a smile.

“If you kill our king, do you really think you’ll walk out of this tent alive?” Moqi Chuanmin’s military advisor roared furiously, his eyes bulging with anger.

“I would consider it quite an achievement to have the King of the Yi Kingdom as company in death,” Xie Lanxu said coolly, his tone unyielding. “Isn’t that right, Your Majesty?”

Moqi Chuanmin, unable to open his eyes, trembled violently from the pain, helpless as a blind man at Xie Lanxu’s mercy.

“Move back! Everyone, move back and stay away!” he cried out in panic. “Xie Lanxu, what do you want?!”

At Moqi Chuanmin’s command, the soldiers and generals reluctantly withdrew. Meanwhile, Xie Lanxu remained as composed and serene as when they had been sharing a drink, his lips curled in an almost imperceptible smile.

“I don’t ask for much just a carriage to take us out of here,” he said.

“Give it to him! Now!” Moqi Chuanmin shouted, furious and desperate.

The wine infused with Fire Dragon peppers had entered his eyes, causing his eyelids and surrounding skin to swell and redden. His tear ducts continued to gush uncontrollably as he clawed at his own face in agony. Combined with the tremors wracking his body and the bloody scratches he had inflicted upon himself, he already looked like a man at death’s door.

At this point, he truly had no tomorrow to look forward to.

Li Zhi and Xie Lanxu boarded the carriage, bringing with them Moqi Chuanmin, who could neither see nor stop crying.

The carriage began to roll away from the blazing campfire-lit chaos of the rebel camp. Behind them, Moqi Chuanmin’s military advisor led several hundred soldiers in pursuit.

At the foot of Xian Naiyue Mountain, Xie Lanxu ordered the carriage to stop.

“Xie Lanxu! We already let you leave. If you don’t hand over the king now, are you planning to break your word?!” the advisor bellowed, his face pale with rage.

The vast grassland stretched endlessly, with the tall wild grass swaying like ocean waves under the night wind.

Xie Lanxu stood atop the carriage platform, Moqi Chuanmin still in his grip. He remained calm and dignified even as he faced countless swords, arrows, and spears. Under the cold moonlight that spread like a silver carpet beneath his feet, he smiled faintly.

“I always keep my promises,” he said.

The sharp porcelain shard plunged deep into Moqi Chuanmin’s throat. A surge of bright red blood spurted out, staining Xie Lanxu’s hand and sleeves crimson.

The military advisor and Moqi Chuanmin’s guards screamed in horror.

“Here—your king is returned to you.”

Xie Lanxu pulled the shard free. Blood sprayed like a fountain as Moqi Chuanmin’s body fell lifelessly from the carriage, staining the surrounding grass red.

“Your Majesty!” the advisor roared in fury. “Kill them both!”

Li Zhi lunged forward, tackling Xie Lanxu. He wrapped his arm protectively around her as they rolled beneath the carriage.

A volley of arrows pierced the wooden carriage, reducing it to little more than a pincushion.

At that moment, the thunderous sound of galloping hooves echoed from Xian Naiyue Mountain, shaking the very earth.

Moqi Chuanmin’s soldiers froze in terror, turning to see the source of the sound.

Led by the Moqi siblings and Li Xiangsheng, a force of five hundred cavalry charged down the mountain, their formation precise and unrelenting. At the forefront, the archers released a synchronized volley of arrows, skewering Moqi Chuanmin’s soldiers where they stood.

“Charge!” Moqi Ji bellowed, leading his younger siblings as they plunged into the panicked ranks of the enemy.

Li Xiangsheng leapt from his horse, charging into the hundreds of enemy soldiers alone.

Though he carried no sword, the armor he wore had been custom-made by Xie Lanxu. Unlike traditional armor designed solely for defense, his turned Li Xiangsheng himself into a weapon.

Every punch and every kick delivered by Li Xiangsheng left trails of blood in his wake, as the blades fixed to his armor tore through flesh effortlessly.

Ordinarily, heavy armor would slow a man down, crushing him under its weight. But Li Xiangsheng, blessed with unnatural strength, moved like a ghost, quick and deadly.

Wherever he passed, blood sprayed like rain. The enemies around him fell like brittle reeds, utterly helpless.

In a matter of moments, the rebel forces at the foot of Xian Naiyue Mountain had been wiped out.

Xie Lanxu handed Li Zhi over to Li Xiangsheng, who had fought his way to the carriage. He then picked up a blood-stained longsword from the ground and severed Moqi Chuanmin’s head. Mounting his horse, he raised the head high for all to see.

“Now it’s time to show them the true meaning of hospitality,” Xie Lanxu said with a cold smile. “All troops, follow me—charge back into their camp!”