Chapter 43: A Wicked Woman
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Lu Jinrong felt the darkness closing in around her. Her head rang, and the sounds of the outside world had faded completely.
So this was what dying felt like?
She did not want to die. She wanted to live.
But who was going to save her?
Just as Lu Jinrong was beginning to despair, her body suddenly dropped, and she crashed heavily to the ground. The strangling pressure around her neck vanished at once. She sucked in several deep breaths, pain stabbing through her lungs as she choked and coughed repeatedly.
Her maids and old nurse rushed over, surrounding her and weeping uncontrollably. “My poor girl, you nearly scared us to death!”
Lu Jinrong wanted to speak, but her neck hurt so badly that she could not make a sound. She could only glare resentfully at Lin Wanqing.
What a vicious woman!
She had actually stood by and watched her hang herself!
Lin Wanqing said coolly, “You didn’t really think I was joking when I spoke to you earlier, did you? Lu Jinrong, this time I saved you for the sake of these servants. But there will not be a next time. If you don’t believe me, you are welcome to try again.”
Remembering the terrifying experience just now, Lu Jinrong shuddered violently.
She never wanted to endure that kind of agony again.
Seeing her expression, Lin Wanqing knew she no longer dared to try anything. She turned to the maids and nurses beside her and said, “Have the physician examine your mistress properly and determine whether she is physically unwell or mentally unwell. Take good care of her. If anything happens to her under your watch, every one of you will answer for it. Not a single one of you will live.”
All of Lu Jinrong’s servants went pale with fright.
They had assumed that since Lu Jinrong did not take Lin Wanqing, her sister-in-law, seriously, they themselves did not need to show her much courtesy either.
Who could have imagined that Lin Wanqing would be so ruthless?
She did not even care about Lu Jinrong’s life. In her eyes, what were the lives of mere servants worth?
One by one, they lowered their heads in fear.
Seeing them act this way, Lu Jinrong was furious. She wanted to say something, but she could not open her mouth, and all she could do was glare angrily.
Lin Wanqing did not bother with her again. She merely said to the physician, who was sweating profusely, “Thank you for your trouble, Doctor. I will pay you double the consultation fee. As for what happened today…”
The physician hurriedly said, “Rest assured, Madam. What happened today will never pass my lips.”
Lin Wanqing nodded in satisfaction. “Thank you.”
After giving her instructions, Lin Wanqing led her people back to her own courtyard.
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Banxia glanced at the food on the table and grumbled angrily, “They do nothing but make trouble all day long. Now all this perfectly good food has gone cold!”
She was about to have the dishes cleared away and fresh ones prepared when Lin Wanqing said, “There is no need. We can make do with these. The weather is warm now, so eating something cool is not a bad thing.”
---
The Border Garrison.
After finishing a day of training the troops, Lu Jinxiao returned to his tent.
He had hurried along as quickly as he could and had only arrived two days earlier. Under normal circumstances, half a month would have been more than enough, but on the way they had been ambushed by assassins from an enemy state, and dealing with the trouble had cost them some time.
He removed his heavy armor and, bare-chested, turned to search for clothes in a chest.
His hand touched a bundle.
Taking a closer look, he saw that it was the one Lin Wanqing had given him before he departed.
He picked it up casually and opened it. Inside lay a soft armor vest that gleamed with golden light.
The armor had some weight to it, and its texture was rather stiff. He lifted it and held it against himself for comparison, then simply shook it open and tried it on.
“The size is exactly right.”
Though Lu Jinxiao spoke carelessly, his movements were extremely cautious. After taking it off, he did his best to fold it back into its original shape.
“What a timid woman. I have been in military camps ever since I learned to walk. What kind of scene have I not witnessed? Why would I need something like this?”
He wrapped the armor back up and placed it in the chest.
Yet the next morning, he took it out again.
“Forget it. At least it represents her thoughtfulness. I may as well wear it.”
His lips were saying that he was unwilling, but the corners of his mouth had lifted high.
When he stepped out of the tent, his deputy, Mo Li, stared at him as though he had seen a ghost.
“General, what has put you in such a good mood? Did you gain some insight from reading military treatises last night?”
Lu Jinxiao blinked. “In a good mood? Am I?”
Mo Li nodded. He raised both hands and pushed up the corners of his own mouth. “You looked exactly like this just now.”
Lu Jinxiao reached up as though he meant to touch the corners of his mouth and confirm it, but stopped himself. Deliberately hardening his expression, he said, “Such frivolity is forbidden in the military camp. What will the soldiers think if they see you acting like that?”
With that, he strode away.
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Mo Li was utterly bewildered. He pushed up the corners of his mouth again.
“Frivolity? This counts as frivolity? He was the one who started doing it!”
—
It was the middle of the night.
The military camp lay utterly silent. Flames danced in the braziers, and every so often a patrol of soldiers marched past.
Suddenly, the sound of a horn came from the distance.
It was the signal of an enemy charge.
The patrolling soldiers heard it and immediately seized their drumsticks, pounding furiously on the warning drums. The sound spread through the camp, and the warning drums in other sections soon joined in.
The entire camp sprang into action. Soldiers hurried out of their tents while pulling on their armor.
Before long, the whole army was ready. Lu Jinxiao swung onto his horse and called out to the troops, “Nanyue has launched a surprise attack! Soldiers, follow me and drive these invaders from Great Liang! Kill!”
All the soldiers shouted in unison, “Kill!”
The gates of the camp opened, and Lu Jinxiao charged out at the head of the army. Behind him came more than a thousand elite cavalrymen, followed by tens of thousands of soldiers carrying torches and spears.
The enemy army was no small force either. The moment the two sides met, they plunged into a fierce and chaotic battle.
Mounted on his warhorse, Lu Jinxiao fought the enemy commander to a standstill. Their strength was evenly matched, and while the two men battled, almost no one dared approach them.
After nearly half an hour of struggle with no clear victor, Lu Jinxiao hardened his heart and deliberately exposed an opening.
The enemy commander fell for it and seized the opportunity to thrust toward Lu Jinxiao’s chest. At the same moment, Lu Jinxiao drove his sword into the man’s lower back.
The enemy general stared at Lu Jinxiao’s chest in disbelief. Beneath the torn armor, a flash of gold could be seen.
Lu Jinxiao pulled out his sword, and blood sprayed from the wound. The enemy commander toppled from his horse, dying unwillingly. Seizing the moment, Lu Jinxiao swung his sword and severed the man’s head. He held it aloft and shouted across the battlefield, “The commander of Nanyue has fallen beneath my blade! Will you not surrender at once?”
When the soldiers of Nanyue heard that their commander had been killed, their morale collapsed. They threw down their weapons and fled.
The soldiers of Great Liang immediately gave chase.
The battle did not end until dawn.
Looking at the corpses and blood covering the ground, Lu Jinxiao said to Mo Li, “Gather the remains of our fallen brothers. Cremate them, then arrange for them to be transported back to their hometowns. As for the bodies of these Nanyue bandits, burn them and scatter the ashes.”
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