Unnecessary Explanations

"Yan Ying!"

Chen Sui lowered his voice. "Although Yayu dotes on this youngest son, Hu Huan has the weakest bloodline and talent of all. His wife is merely an ordinary snake demon, so their descendants can only have an even poorer bloodline. Yayu may not care. Before this matter gets out of hand, all we have to do is..."

Qin Yanying cut him off in a low voice. "When we return to the Capital, we're going through the front gate!"

Chen Sui panicked. "Yan Ying, why take it this far?"

A trace of ferocity flashed across Qin Yanying's face. "Chen Sui, I've had enough!"

Chen Sui fell silent.

Qin Yanying took a deep breath. "You should know how much I've suffered all these years! You also know what I want to do. Since you know, don't ask. Just support me!"

Chen Sui fell silent.

For the first time in all these years, he wanted to cry.

Of course he knew how much Qin Yanying had suffered, because he had suffered just as much.

After Great Gan endured years of chaos, the country was impoverished and weak when the new emperor ascended the throne. Through alliances and diplomacy, they had restored the realm to its former borders.

Back then, the Demon Officials had been riding high, their achievements enough to cover up all their shortcomings.

Then, in one battle, Great Gan reclaimed a lost city, only for the Demon Officials' second-generation offspring to devour every child in it as nourishment.

Qin Yanying and his third younger brother, Qin Yanting, had been serving in the army at the time. The siblings had been plied with wine at the victory banquet and failed to notice the strange behavior of those demon second-gens. By the time they realized what was happening, it was too late.

In their fury, the siblings slaughtered every last one of those demon second-gens.

Afterward, once the wine had worn off, they knew that with the bigger picture at stake, there was almost no chance of escaping the death penalty. They were young, after all, and not strong enough to bear the consequences, so they fled.

The emperor could not bear to see them executed and deliberately turned a blind eye, so he sent Chen Sui to capture them.

But the Demon Officials refused to agree and sent out a great demon exceptionally skilled at Tracking as well.

The two parties made almost exactly the same progress. There was no way to hold back.

Chen Sui could only find the siblings first. Qin Yanting had long guessed that he would come, so he had knocked his sister unconscious beforehand.

Chen Sui would never forget what Qin Yanting said that day.

"Brother-in-law! I have no regrets!"

"Even if I could choose again, I'd still slaughter those beasts."

"Put all the blame on me. Please, you must protect my sister."

"One day, our Qin Family will prove to the whole world that even without these Demon Officials, we can still safeguard Great Gan's golden age! My sister has more talent than me. It's only a matter of time before she breaks through to the Grandmaster realm, and she's more useful than I am."

"Besides, she has someone to keep her tethered. If she can survive, she's more likely than I am to bear it."

"Please treat her well!"

"Swear it!"

After Chen Sui swore the oath, Qin Yanting killed himself with his sword.

Three years later, the Yi-Expelling Army in the Southwest drove out every Demon Official and repelled the southwestern states with nothing but human troops. A few years after that, they destroyed Nanzhao, the most brazen of them all.

Just as Qin Yanting had said, they proved it to the whole world.

It was just a pity that the powerful and privileged refused to believe it—or perhaps simply didn't want to.

Why wouldn't they believe it?

Why?!

Chen Sui knew exactly how stifled Qin Yanying felt. Making this choice was nothing more than her way of seeing what the powerful in the Capital—including the emperor—would choose after all these years.

Whatever the outcome!

It would be her answer to Qin Yanting, waiting beneath the earth!

Qin Yanying smiled unconcernedly. "Don't worry! With my brother in the Southwest, no one in the Capital will dare kill me. At worst, I'll spend a few decades in prison.

"This time, you have to enforce the law impartially. Don't let anyone bring you down. If you lose your position, no one will come to prison to keep me company on those long, lonely nights."

Chen Sui's eyes reddened. "Yan Ying..."

"Aunt!"

"Yuji?"

"Aunt! You..."

Bai Yuji hurried over. When she saw the snake corpses being carried by the Imperial Guards behind them, her scalp prickled.

She had already hurried as fast as she could, yet she still hadn't changed anything.

She knew this scene meant Nanzhao's plan had gone off without a hitch.

But she still found the outcome hard to accept.

Qin Yanying wiped the snake's blood from her hands with the hem of her clothes, then took off her waist token and handed it over. "Your aunt's fine. Hurry back to the Capital and tell Muye not to leave the house. Tell the servants and maids not to talk about this, either. Don't let him find out what's happening outside until his condition stabilizes."

"But, Aunt..."

"Go!"

"...Okay!"

Bai Yuji clutched the waist token and nodded firmly, then used her footwork to hurry away.

But once she was out of everyone's sight, she stopped by the river.

The unease in her conscience nearly drove her to collapse.

The plan had gone too smoothly.

So smoothly that even though she had done nothing at all, Qin Yanying had carried out Nanzhao's entire plan herself.

She had seen it. Qin Yanying was uninjured. The former renowned general had crushed the snake demon mother and son before Hu Huan's eyes.

With her strength, Qin Yanying could have held out until Chen Sui arrived, yet she had still acted.

That madwoman understood Qin Yanying far too well.

Bai Yuji knew she was taking revenge.

But the person she sought revenge on had been willing to risk everything for children and pregnant women she didn't even know.

The avenger, meanwhile, had used children and pregnant women as bait without a second thought.

She couldn't find a single reason among all the principles she knew that could convince her to accept this reality.

Was I really not wrong?

If I hadn't stopped there, would Qin Yanying have failed to discover it?

"Princess!"

"Hmm?"

Bai Yuji looked up and saw He Xifeng's beaming face.

He Xifeng's voice trembled with excitement. "Princess, you did so well! The plan went perfectly, and Chen Sui arrived at just the right moment!"

Bai Yuji didn't want to talk about it at all. She simply got up and asked, "Did all our people get away safely?"

He Xifeng hadn't noticed anything amiss. Her expression turned serious. "Everyone got away safely. We're looking for Luo Qing now."

"Luo Qing? What happened to him?"

"Two of his Gu Puppets were destroyed right away. He didn't want to keep holding things up, so he left first."

"He's getting more and more out of line!"

Bai Yuji's face darkened.

He Xifeng didn't answer. She also felt Luo Qing had grown arrogant, but she could understand him.

These were all debts the Central Plains owed Nanzhao. There was no need for misplaced mercy when the women and children of the Central Plains were the ones bearing the risk for no reason.

But since the plan had succeeded, there was no need to upset Bai Yuji.

Bai Yuji shook her head. "I have to hurry back to the Capital. Keep looking, and when you find him, give him a thorough scolding! If he can't rein in his arrogance, he'll become a menace one day."

"Yes!"

He Xifeng nodded firmly.

Just then,

the Second Elder hurried over. "It's bad! Luo Qing... is dead!"

"Dead?"

The two women were shocked. "How did he die?"

The Second Elder's voice trembled. "By the time we found him, he was already dead. But the killer wearing the bamboo hat was still hacking at him like he was venting his rage. Luo Qing couldn't even touch the ground. We rushed over, but couldn't stop that person!"

The two women: "!?!?!?"

Southern Pacification Mansion.

"Damn it!"

Qin Muye cursed and sat up in bed.

Today's interception had failed, and he was seething with frustration.

Those Nanzhao bastards really knew no bounds.

Then, on his way back, he'd happened to run into that Anti-Dog!

He'd had no choice but to kill it on the spot!

He had to admit, the swordplay Gongshu Clan had recorded was excellent.

The first five slashes severed the tendons in its hands and feet—and its manhood.

The next forty-four slashes hacked at the Anti-Dog until it couldn't touch the ground.

If those Nanzhao experts hadn't arrived, he would have needed at least eighty-one slashes before he could barely vent his anger.

Too bad he'd only gotten forty-nine in.

It hadn't eased his anger one bit.

Qin Muye was full of pent-up fury with nowhere to direct it. He could only think how laughable his earlier plan had been: he'd actually considered taking a gentle approach and trying to appeal to Bai Yuji's feelings.

But now, thinking it over, how could the blood feud of an entire clan be washed away so easily?

He knew that from Bai Yuji's perspective, there was nothing wrong with what she'd done. Even if she'd poisoned an entire city, she'd have had a case to make.

But understanding didn't mean accepting it.

There was no way Qin Yanying's sudden decision to go after Hu Huan had nothing to do with Bai Yuji.

There was no way Bai Yuji knew nothing about those boys and girls, or the pregnant women.

Putting on an act had been fun.

He'd even enjoyed the faintly flirtatious atmosphere.

But it all ended here.

He strode toward the entrance of the Southern Pacification Mansion.

When a maid saw him, she jumped in alarm. "Young Master! The Young Madam said you can't..."

Her voice cut off abruptly.

Qin Muye's gaze was simply too frightening.

All she could do was watch helplessly as he left.

About half an hour later,

Bai Yuji rode back in a hurry and headed straight for the inner courtyard as soon as she entered the mansion.

But a maid rushed over to stop her. "Young Madam! The Young Master just went out!"

"He went out?"

Bai Yuji's heart lurched. "When did he leave? Why didn't you stop him?"

The maid was close to tears. "Half an hour ago! I—I couldn't stop him!"

Bai Yuji fell silent.

She cried out inwardly, This is bad! and hurriedly mounted her horse to catch up.

She shouldn't have taken the shortcut just to save time!

She galloped at full speed all the way.

But she was still too late.

By the time she caught up with the escort, there was already an extra carriage among them.

She hurriedly climbed inside and found that Qin Muye had grown so weak from rushing at full speed that he could barely hold himself together.

She grew anxious. "You—you're so weak. Why..."

Qin Muye gripped her hand tightly and stared into her eyes. "Tell me, was this your doing?"

"Qin Muye, this is complicated..."

"I don't want to hear any unnecessary explanations! Tell me, was it you?"

"...Yes!"