The Princess Wei Yang Chapter 89 Part2
Chapter 89: Be Superior To Your Opponent
千金1 – An
honorific term for daughter, usually used for richer families.
母妃2 – lady
mother
五马分尸3 – a death sentence whereby the offender’s limbs
and head would be tied using rope to five horses, and the horses would move in
separate directions to tear the offender apart.
属下4 – subordinate.
The next morning, someone discovered the tracks
of the white wolf near the hunting grounds. The emperor was superbly excited
and brought out a huge regiment of cavalry to hunt it down.
The
ladies were equally thrilled at the news.
“The white wolf is a sly animal, whoever
catches it each year is hailed as a hero!”
“Bi Xia had ever caught it alive before, but
what a pity it died after a few days because it stopped eating and drinking!”
“I’ve heard that its pelt is warm and
comfortable, so if you wear it in the winter, you won’t have to wear another
fur coat. If it is used to make a fur collar, it’ll definitely be gorgeous and
impressive!”
“Yes yes, I wonder who will be the champion
this year!”
Everyone was enthusiastically discussing about
the highlight of the hunt.
After staying in her tent for three days, she
attracted quite a lot of attention the moment Li Weiyang came out.
“Xianzhu, previously you fell from the horse
while riding, are you feeling better now?”
“Yes I am, thank you, Liu Xiaojie, for your
concern.” Li Weiyang smiled gently at the Qian Jin1 of the Finance
Minister.
“You’re so brave, Rou Fei Niang Niang has been
praising you; she has been telling everyone that if not for you, Jiu Gongzhu
would have been in danger!” quipped her neighbour Sun Xiaojie. Hailing from a
military family, Sun Xiaojie admired ladies who were valiant and graceful, so
after hearing how Li Weiyang rushed forward bravely to protect Jiu Gongzhu, she
inevitably had formed a good impression of her.
Li Weiyang smiled modestly. “If Sun Xiaojie had
been around, I’m sure you would have done the same, and possibly even better
than me.”
Sun Xiaojie grinned back. That was true, her
riding and shooting skills were one of the best.
“You’ve missed quite a lot of thrilling action
in the two days that you were away! At the moment, San Dianxia and Wu Dianxia
are currently tied at second place, and Qi Dianxia has the lead with most
quarry caught!” Lin Xiaojie was enraptured by the activities at the hunting
grounds.
Li Weiyang glanced into the distance, hearing
the rumble of horse hooves, seeing the clouds of dust they kicked up. Countless
riders were storming the hunting grounds, capturing their prey. It was indeed,
a magnificent sight.
“Hng, some people are obviously trying to use
their wounds to gain attention, flaunting her prowess just because she saved Jiu
Gongzhu. It was only a trivial matter after all!” A cold voice pierced through
the ruckus.
Li Weiyang arched her brows towards the source,
which turned out to be a cool and haughty Gao Min.
Gao Min met her eyes, and her heart skipped a
beat. She continued her tirade. “It was only an eagle which spooked the horse,
what is there to show off!”
Li Weiyang lowered her gaze. Gao Min’s presence
at the scene could not be just a random coincidence. It may be that she was
watching her, or she had something to do with the incident. Either way, she was
definitely up to no good.
Li Weiyang gave it some thought, then stood up
with a smile on her face. “That day, I saw how Biao Jie was riding splendidly,
I wonder if you would dare to pit your skills against mine?”
Gao Min hmphed coolly. “Of course I’m not
afraid!” She saw how Li Weiyang fell from her horse, so naturally she felt that
her riding skills were just so-so. She wanted to take this chance to squash Li
Weiyang’s pride and reputation; let everyone see for themselves who is the most
outstanding lady!
Sun Xiaojie clapped excitedly. “Good, good! I
love watching riding compet.i.tions! I’ll be the judge!”
Gao Min leapt up onto her horse, smirking at Li
Weiyang as if to goad her.
Li Weiyang only smiled. She made her way down
and without anyone to help her, jumped onto her saddle. Seeing how nimble and
graceful she was while mounting her horse, Sun Mingyu knew at once what a good
rider she was. “We’ll take that red line as the boundary, I’ll count to three,
and whomever reaches first wins!”
“Li Weiyang, since you want to embarra.s.s
yourself so badly, I’ll grant your wish!” Gao Min tilted her chin, as proud as
a gorgeous peac.o.c.k.
Li Weiyang’s reply was a small smile, and she
exchanged a glance with Zhaoyue, who was on the stage.
Zhaoyue nodded, lightly gesturing to show that
she understood.
In these three days past, Zuo Yuan had been
waiting for a second chance, but Li Weiyang had stayed behind in her tent with
the entrance firmly shut, so he could not make his move. And just now, Li
Weiyang was constantly surrounded by the other Xiaojies, hence he couldn’t
commit any rash decisions either, lest he be exposed easily.
However, this foolish Li Weiyang suddenly
decided to compete against Gao Min; what an extremely good chance! Zuo Yuan got
excited just by thinking about it. He fixed his sights on the mounted Li
Weiyang, his intent to kill getting sharper by the second. He stayed hidden,
thinking hard of how to make her death look like an accident. Even if he killed
her himself, they might not be able to discover that it was him; with so many
people around, it couldn’t be that easy to investigate, could it? However, he
still did not dare to take the risk.
At this moment, the ongoing hunt seemed to be
drawing to a close, and a huge group of cavalry and foot soldiers alike were
heading back with their prey. All of them were carrying bows and arrows; Zuo
Yuan revealed a sinister grin, wasn’t this a chance granted by heaven itself?
He just had to hide in the crowd and direct his arrow towards Li Weiyang, so
that witnesses would think that it was just a stray arrow. Hence no killer
could be found, because how was that his fault!
He’d
be promoted faster than he could imagine!
“Three,
two, one!” Sun Xiaojie flourished her silk scarf, flushing red with excitement.
With a tight squeeze, Gao Min prompted the
horse into a gallop, flying ahead with the wind whistling freely in her ears.
The speed brought to her a sense of pleasure and pride. Li Weiyang gave a
slight smile, and brandishing her whip, she caught up with Gao Min’s pace,
leisurely just one step behind her. As Gao Min heard the clatter of hooves, she
turned her head, only to catch sight of Li Weiyang right behind her. Enraged,
she gave her horse another lick of the whip to get it to speed up.
The ladies on the viewing stage usually did not
leave their mansions, so they had never seen such a presentation before.
Everyone was thrilled, forgetting about their well-practiced manners and
cheering loudly for Li Weiyang and Gao Min.
Wei Guo Furen was watching on with cold and
unflinching eyes; in her heart, the winner would definitely be Gao Min. In her
utter confidence, she sat chatting with the other Furens, not paying much
attention to the race.
The scarlet line was just before their eyes. A
cold smile appeared on Li Weiyang’s lips; she flicked her whip, sending her neck
to neck with Gao Min.
It seemed like it was going to be a draw.
Amongst the crowd, shouts rang out from the
mounted archers, and someone with evil intentions was drawing his bow.
“Move away!”
“Danger!” From her viewpoint, Sun Xiaojie saw a
sharp flash of light streak towards Li Weiyang, and immediately shouted a
warning.
In that critical moment, Li Weiyang felt the
same lance of light rush past her eyes, and she smiled coldly. This is the
moment!
Right now, Zuo Yuan, Li Weiyang, and Gao Min’s
positions had formed up a straight line. Rather than suggest that Gao Min was
coincidentally the last person at the end of the line, it would be more
appropriate to say that Li Weiyang had purposely positioned herself behind Gao
Min, drawing the attention of the a.s.sa.s.sin.
The arrow had been loosened.
Li Weiyang kicked lightly with her toes,
slowing her horse to a trot and arching her body away. The piercing arrow which
should have ended her life missed her just like that. With a shrill whistle, it
brushed past the top of Li Weiyang’s head and embedded itself deeply into Gao
Min’s shoulder; but that didn’t stop its burst of energy. The force of the
impact sent Gao Min flying entirely out of her saddle, as if she was a kite.
She landed heavily on the ground.
Tuoba Zhen, Tuoba Yu and the other princes were
part of the group that had finished the hunt, returning in time just to witness
this horrible scene. Wu Huangzi burst out: “It’s that witch!”
The sharp arrow had zoomed past Li Weiyang’s
head, shattering only her hairpiece, so her dark tresses were suddenly flowing
freely in the wind, and then falling slowly and smoothly like an ebony stream
of spring water, to her waist. The sight was so mesmerizing that it took the
crowd’s breath away. As she lifted her face away from her cloud of unbound
hair, her gaze was crystal cold and entrancing. Tuoba Yu gazed at her blankly,
lost in the confusing beauty she had. It was like a reflection of the moon on
water; unrealistic, but impossibly attractive and hard to look away.
Everyone
forgot about Gao Min in that minute; they were dumbstruck by Li Weiyang.
Until Wei Guo Furen let out a heartrending
wail, screaming as if she was torn apart and rushing down from the viewing
platform.
“Min Er!”
Many of them recovered their senses then,
sprinting towards where Gao Min lay; however, she had already lost
consciousness, her blood seeping and spreading onto the ground. She looked
broken, like a ragdoll.
“Get the royal physician, quickly get him
here!” Tuoba Zhen roared.
Li
Weiyang suddenly screamed out, “Capture that man! This arrow came from him!”
Zuo Yuan had originally planned to make use of
the chaos to escape the scene, but he froze on the spot as everybody’s shocked
gaze locked onto him. How could it be! In such a mere second, how did Li
Weiyang manage to dodge the arrow, and how did she know it was him! His blood
turned to ice in his veins; it was impossible!
Tuoba Yu took a single glance at him. An
unexplainable emotion flitted across his eyes, and he ordered coolly for him to
be tied up.
Completely stunned, Zuo Yuan was surrounded by
soldiers and pinned down to the ground!
The royal physician arrived swiftly, and after
checking on Gao Min carefully, he announced: “The arrow wound is not fatal, but
as she was riding at such a fast speed, the impact of the fall has broken her
spine. I’m afraid that for the rest of her life…”
Wei Guo Furen screeched uncontrollably in a
high pitch, rushing at Zuo Yuan like a mad woman and clawing at his face with
her sharp nails. Zuo Yuan was shouting in pain at her animalistic fury, but as
his hands and feet were bound tightly, he had no way to resist her. His face
was soon b.l.o.o.d.y and disfigured, but Wei Guo Furen did not stop her screams.
“You return me my daughter! Return her to me!”
Only Tuoba Yu approached Li Weiyang. “Are you
alright?”
Li Weiyang watched the scene coolly. “That man,
who is he?”
Tuoba Yu did not know how to reply her. His
well sculpted face was lit up by the rays of the afternoon sun, giving off a
golden glow. In the midst of his brilliant visage, he looked uncomfortable, as
if he couldn’t believe what was happening. “He is one of mine.”
After saying that sentence, he felt extremely
relieved. He could have chosen to lie to her, but such an untruth would only
let him feel guilty, so he’d rather be straightforward.
Li Weiyang’s gaze suddenly chilled him to his
bones.
In that moment, Tuoba Yu felt like his heart had
been frozen by her frosty stare.
He had known that there were ice shards in her
heart; doubt, indifference, distance. He had tried his best to understand her,
but he could still feel that these feelings were stubbornly enrooted in her; a
bit of simple warmth couldn’t melt her so easily. Especially now, the sharp
look she gave him was freezing.
“I know that this incident had nothing to do
with you, but you have to give me an explanation. If anything like this happens
again, I cannot guarantee you that the arrow will not be targeted towards De
Fei Niang Niang.” She might have sounded indifferent, but she made it extremely
clear that she would not grant any mercy on Tuoba Yu’s behalf. If they made her
angry, she could always give her information to others; Tuoba Yu need her help
more than she needed him. Did this mother and son pair misunderstand the
situation?
“I will speak with Mu Fei2 and clear
things up. This will not happen again.” Tuoba Yu looked dejected.
Li Weiyang watched coolly as Zuo Yuan was
escorted away. “I want him to pay with his life.”
Tuoba Yu could only nod. “I’ll bring you his
head.”
“For those who dare to lay a finger on me, I
won’t care if they’ll have to be torn apart.” Li Weiyang blinked calmly.
Tuoba Yu was speechless, but finally nodded.
“Of course.”
From one point of view, Li Weiyang was much
crueller than him, but she was also very decisive and ruthless towards enemies
who wished her harm.
“How did you discover him just now?” It must
have been hard to find him amongst the crowd.
“Zhaoyue, show Qi Dianxia your treasure.” Li
Weiyang waved her forwards.
Zhaoyue had already rushed over to Li Weiyang
earlier. As stony-faced as her mistress, she flashed the bronze mirror hidden
in her sleeves, and Tuoba Yu understood at once.
“I had asked Zhaoyue to pay attention to our
surroundings, so when that person shot the arrow, she signalled me.” Li Weiyang
only gave him a simple explanation, but the details were much more complicated.
How did Zhaoyue discover Zuo Yuan, how to catch the best timing, and how to
pa.s.s on their pre-arranged signal; she did not bother with the specifics, but Tuoba
Yu knew it all.
It was merely a show.
Li Weiyang’s challenge to Gao Min was a sincere
invitation to her own death.
“Why did you choose Gao Min?” Tuoba Yu wanted
to know; because he understood that athough Li Weiyang was ruthless, she
wouldn’t prey on the innocent.
Li Weiyang smiled. “Somebody witnessed Wei Guo
Furen and Gao Min constantly paying visits to De Fei Niang Niang’s tent for the
past few days. Seeing how much they care for me, shouldn’t I repay them the
same kindness? Imagine being bedridden for the rest of her life, such kind of
torture for Gao Min should be slightly better than death, isn’t it? Wei Guo
Furen would be pleased that she won’t die, at least, and I doubt she would let
that man off easily too.”
Tuoba Zhen was watching them from afar,
thinking that they were exchanging words of intimacy as he wasn’t within
hearing range. He saw Li Weiyang’s small smile, and even though it was a cold
smile, he couldn’t bear the jealously. Wrenching his head away, he shouted out:
“Quickly lift Gao Xiaojie up!”
Onlookers hurriedly went over to carry Gao Min,
and some Xiaojies had fainted with fright, so others also helped them up. In a
daze, Sun Xiaojie remained where she was, lowering her head down to look at her
own hands. She had touched Gao Min just now, so her hands were filled with
fresh blood. Li Weiyang went to her side, hearing Sun Xiaojie mutter. “Blood,
so much blood…”
“Biao Jie must be severely injured.” Li Weiyang
sounded concerned.
As she wiped away the blood on her hands with
her scarf, Sun Xiaojie sighed. “I’m afraid that she will never be able to stand
for the rest of her life. Aiya, what a close shave, if that arrow had hit you,
it would have been fatal! I wonder who was such a blind fool, and to think that
accidental injuries like this happens every year!”
“Yes, Biao Jie is so pitiful.” Li Weiyang’s
smile was tinged with sympathy and regret.
Because such accidents occurred every year, no
one paid any special attention to what had transpired in the day. Everyone just
felt that Gao Min was plain unlucky. As for Zuo Yuan, his offence towards
Marquis Bo Chang caused him to be downgraded to a commoner, but his life was to
be spared until investigations were complete. However, it was as if he lost his
mind; he escaped from his holding area and ran out of the hunting grounds. The
next day, he was found torn to shreds by a black bear.
“Xiaojie, I suppose this would count as being
drawn and quartered3.” Zhaoyue said.
Li Weiyang smiled. “It seems that Tuoba Yu is a
man of his words.”
Zuo Yuan had attempted to kill her twice, so
this was what he deserved. As for De Fei… Li Weiyang had a small smile on her
lips. She couldn’t make her move at this time, plus she had to give in on Tuoba
Yu’s behalf for now. But it did not mean that De Fei would not meet with any
troubles, because that simply wasn’t her style.
When Tuoba Zhen returned to his tent, it had
already grown dark. Among the serving maids who brought him his dinner was a
girl whom he did not recognize; she had a pair of bright and clear eyes.
“Dianxia, please enjoy your meal.” She offered him dishes from a serving tray.
Tuoba Zhen glanced at her, and his gaze was
fixed onto her beautiful eyes.
It was déjà vu; did he meet her before?
His eyes never left her face. “What is your
name?”
A red flush crept up her pretty face, and she
stammered. “Dianxia, Nubi is called Zhuo Er.”
Tuoba Zhen continued studying her, wordless.
He had instructed his trusted men to check on Li
Weiyang, but they had mistaken his purpose. They a.s.sumed that they had figured
out his intentions, and had tried ways and means to procure girls who had
features resembling Li Weiyang to serve him.
Zhuo Er tried to please him; she put down the
tray and demurely went to sit by Tuoba Zhen. “Dianxia, please have your
dinner.” As she sat down, she kept her eyes on an expensive jade pendant
hanging from his side. She was from the countryside, and did not know why she
had suddenly been brought here. Tuoba Zhen was handsome and admirable, plus,
the way he looked at her was especially different. All of these led to Zhuo Er
thinking that she was about to soar upward and onward to glory.
“You like me?” It was an out of character
question, coming from Tuoba Zhen, who still had his eyes fixed on her features.
Her blush deepened. “Dianxia is esteemed and
outstanding, Nubi… admires you greatly.”
Such a similar face but spouting completely
different words. Tuoba Zhen felt absurd, and he didn’t know whether to laugh or
cry. He smiled warmly, taking off his jade pendant and throwing it to Zhuo Er.
“A gift for you.”
Zhuo Er was delighted beyond words, thanking
him for his generosity.
“Dianxia, there are updates.” A man clad in
black stepped into the tent.
As Zhuo Er curtseyed and left, the smile on Tuoba
Zhen’s face faded and was replaced by a killer’s expression. “We’ve let someone
take the lead again.”
“Shu Xia4 is incapable.” He Tuo
lowered his head in an apology.
“I had thought he let Zuo Yuan go on purpose to
give him a second chance, but I never knew that he would be so decisive. He
used this chance to demonstrate his feelings to Li Weiyang; exchanging a life
for his own, how smart!” Tuoba Zhen laughed coldly, then sighed. “If only Zuo
Yuan had ended up in my clutches, I’d definitely have a way to get him to
expose De Fei.” After a moment of silence, he resumed his tirade. “Too bad we
were a step too late.” He could have had the chance to break apart Tuoba Yu and
Li Weiyang’s relationship entirely; if Li Weiyang heard with her own ears from Zuo
Yuan, how he was instigated by De Fei, she would definitely fallout with Tuoba
Yu.
“Ten of my important subordinates were removed,
Tuoba Yu is not simple at all.”
He Tuo kept his head lowered. “Dianxia, forgive
Shu Xia exceeding my limits, but information has been leaked yet again; I am
afraid that there are spies in our midst, we should get rid of them.”
“It seems like we have to investigate
thoroughly.” Tuoba Zhen sighed deeply, frowning.
At this instant, He Tuo suddenly called out.
“Who is it?!”
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Translator: Jaslynn
Editor: Pending
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