After the Alluring Beauty Was Forced into a Political Marriage - Chapter 36

Shiqin Bari sat high atop his horse, the beast standing stone-still beneath him. He gripped a longbow in his palm, his emerald green eyes dark and terrifying, his entire being radiating a bone-chilling frost. He raised his bow once more, aiming an arrow directly at Lu Jingce’s heart.

“Brother!” Lianzhi’s pupils contracted sharply. He lunged forward, putting all his strength into pushing Lu Jingce aside, barely managing to evade the arrow. Lianzhi turned his head, his blood feeling as though it had curdled in his chest. He screamed at the man on horseback, “Shiqin Bari, listen to me! Listen to me!”

Shiqin Bari’s hand holding the bow trembled slightly. He turned his head, his gaze fixed intensely on Shen Lianzhi. The hatred and grief in those eyes were so vivid and profound that even in the dim light, Lianzhi could see them clearly. He was so shaken by the look that he involuntarily took a step back.

“I misjudged you! I misjudged you!” Shiqin Bari roared at Shen Lianzhi through the night, his voice striking the deepest part of Lianzhi’s soul. Lianzhi’s lips trembled. Seeing his pale face, Shiqin Bari suddenly let out a sorrowful laugh. “I was never asleep. I was never asleep at all!”

“Shiqin Bari, Shiqin,”

“Lianzhi!” Lu Jingce suddenly barked, grabbing Shen Lianzhi and pulling him violently to his side. “Get on the horse! Stop wasting words on him!”

“You dare!” Shiqin Bari threw down his longbow and flipped off his horse. He drew his crescent blade and swung it with all his might at Lu Jingce. He put every ounce of strength into that strike, the wind of the blade fierce and sharp. Had Lu Jingce not dodged in time, his head would have rolled onto the ground.

“Ugh!” Even as fast as he was, Lu Jingce could not completely avoid the lethal blow. The blade sliced across his upper arm, and blood gushed from the wound. The sight of that crimson red stung Lianzhi’s eyes. “Cousin!”

Lianzhi knew absolutely nothing of martial arts, yet at that moment, he threw himself in front of Lu Jingce, physically forcing Shiqin Bari to halt his mid-swing. The crescent blade hung just inches from the tip of Lianzhi’s nose. Shen Lianzhi’s entire body shook violently. “Do not kill him, do not kill him.”

Shiqin Bari’s jaw was set tight, the words practically squeezed through his teeth, “Move.”

“This has nothing to do with my cousin. Shiqin Bari, it is not what you saw! Listen to me, please!”

“Get out of the way!” Shiqin Bari no longer felt even a shred of pity for him. He raised his hand and shoved Lianzhi aside. That shove sent Shen Lianzhi’s head spinning; he crashed heavily onto the ground, hitting a hard rock. The pain caused his whole body to convulse.

“Lianzhi! Lianzhi?” Lu Jingce’s eyes widened in horror. He moved to help, but another gust of blade-wind swept past him. Lu Jingce gritted his teeth, drew his longsword, and turned to face Shiqin Bari’s assault head-on. Sword met curved blade with a sharp clang. Shiqin Bari had lost his mind, hacking wildly with his blade, his eyes nearly splitting from rage as he sought to cut Lu Jingce into a thousand pieces. Lu Jingce was equally unwilling to back down, his sword strikes aiming for vitals. The two were locked in a stalemate, neither gaining the upper hand.

Lianzhi lay prone on the ground. Once the initial pain subsided, he slowly crawled up. Then, hearing something, he froze in place. He slowly turned his head. In the distance, the sky was lit up by a sea of red torches. The thundering sound of hooves drew closer, and Shen Lianzhi’s limbs went cold.

“You brought men!” He nearly shredded his voice screaming. “Shiqin Bari, you brought men!”

Lu Jingce’s sword hand faltered for a moment before he switched from defense to attack. The longsword flashed through the air, moving so fast it left streaks of white light. “Lianzhi, get on the horse! Go!”

But Shen Lianzhi only gave him a sorrowful look. He did not run. Instead, he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Shiqin Bari’s waist. The swinging blade was a killing instrument that knew no mercy; as Shiqin Bari brought his arm down, the edge of the blade sliced through half of Lianzhi’s long hair. Countless black strands fluttered to the ground. In the blink of an eye, Lianzhi’s ink-like hair was cut at the waist, falling unevenly across his shoulders. “Shiqin Bari, do not do this.”

Lianzhi wailed, his falling tears tasting bitter and salty as they entered his mouth. “Do not do this! Brother, go! Someone is coming! Go!”

Lu Jingce looked at him in disbelief, his eyes turning red. “You are staying here? After all this, you still want to stay here?” He pointed a finger at Shiqin Bari. “He will kill you!”

“He will not do anything to me, he will not.” Shen Lianzhi shook his head, weeping. “Go, run into the mountains! Do not let them catch you! Do not worry about me, go!”

His arms tightened around Shiqin Bari’s waist. Lianzhi used every bit of strength he possessed to pull him back, pleading over and over with the Rakshasa-like Shiqin Bari, “I will stay here. Let him go, let my brother go.”

Shiqin Bari’s lips trembled. His heart felt as heavy and painful as if it had been filled with molten lead. He gripped Lianzhi’s chin, his throat feeling so blocked that he could not utter a word. The sound of hooves grew louder, accompanied by the powerful shouts of the Xia men. The firelight turned the dark night as bright as day.

Lu Jingce closed his eyes, his teeth grinding audibly. His fingernails dug deep into the flesh of his palms. An expression of extreme pain and conflict appeared on his elegant face. He opened his eyes and looked solemnly at Shen Lianzhi. “Lianzhi. Come with me. Do not be a fool!”

When Shen Lianzhi instinctively turned to look at Shiqin Bari, Lu Jingce finally could not restrain himself from shouting. Lianzhi was startled, and his feet shifted back a step. That small shift stabbed into Lu Jingce’s heart like a dagger. At that moment, his entire body went cold. He could barely hear his own voice as his lips moved, “Have you made up your mind? Have you truly made up your mind?”

The shouting grew nearer, and the firelight reached the sky. Lianzhi’s arms, wrapped around Shiqin Bari, were so stiff with pain they felt dislocated. “Brother, what are you saying? It is too late! Go!”

Lu Jingce’s face was as pale as a ghost. He gave a faint, mocking scoff, then flipped onto his horse. He turned back, casting one last deep, agonizing look at Shen Lianzhi. “I will come back for you,” Lu Jingce said. “You do not belong here.”

At that moment, Shiqin Bari, whose head had been spinning with rage and grief, also snapped back to his senses and finally made a move. Shen Lianzhi struggled to hold him back as he tried to mount his horse to give chase, screaming, “Do not look back! Run forward!”

The whip cracked, and the powerful Ferghana horse galloped into the deep mountains without looking back. Shiqin Bari broke free from Shen Lianzhi, picked up his longbow, and fired several arrows into the night. Lianzhi looked up to see his dark, handsome face illuminated by the fiery red glow. Shiqin Bari’s men had arrived.

“Great King!” The leader, Xuri Gan, dismounted and bowed to Shiqin Bari.

“Chase him! Chase him for me!” Shiqin Bari pointed in the direction Lu Jingce had fled and roared, “Even if you have to dig three feet into the earth, find that adulterer for me!”

“As you command!”

Nearly a hundred men galloped into the depths of Mount Yudujin. Looking at the fading firelight, Lianzhi closed his eyes in despair. A rough-fingered hand lifted his face. “Yanzhi, you are wrong. I will not kill you. But I will make you long for life but be unable to live; long for death but be unable to die.”

“Ah!”

Lianzhi was thrown violently onto the animal-skin rug in the Royal Tent. He tried to crawl up, but Shiqin Bari pinned his chest down with his foot. The leather boot pressed down hard, making it impossible for Lianzhi to catch his breath and causing him to cough uncontrollably. He grabbed Shiqin Bari’s ankle, trying with all his might to move it, but the foot remained as steady as a mountain. “Shiqin Bari, let go.”

“Do you think you are worthy of calling the King by his name?” Shiqin Bari said coldly. He did not let up; instead, he pressed harder. “If I hear that name come from your mouth again, I will tear your mouth apart.”

Lianzhi looked at him blankly. He could not stand up, and he could not stop the tears from sliding from his eyes. “How can you, how can you speak to me like that?”

Shiqin Bari’s handsome face twisted into a snarl. “Because you are not worthy! I did not want to leave with him. I only wanted to see him one last time. Great King! If I truly wanted to leave, how could I have left Xiao Anzi behind and gone alone!”

Lianzhi thought Shiqin Bari was so angry because he misunderstood that he was trying to flee with Lu Jingce. But he was wrong. Shiqin Bari laughed in extreme fury. “Leave? You still want to leave? You still want to see him one last time. Shen Lianzhi, are you really that unable to let him go? Unable to let go of your adulterous lover?”

“Adulterer? He is not an adulterer. He is just, just my brother!”

“Do you still take me for a fool?” Shiqin Bari sneered. “I saw exactly what you two were doing.”

Lianzhi’s face was as white as paper; he was suddenly defenseless. As Shiqin Bari looked at him, his own heart twisted in agony. As long as he closed his eyes, he could recall that scene: his Yanzhi, in another man’s arms, kissing his true love. How tender, how sincere, how moving it was. Shen Lianzhi had never looked at him with that kind of gaze. When he was loving Lu Jingce like that, had he ever considered that he, Shiqin Bari, was his true husband?

All his suspicions were correct. There was an affair between them; there truly was an affair. It was not just Lu Jingce; Shen Lianzhi loved him too. “You have been lying to me. Shen Lianzhi, you have been lying to me the whole time!”

Shiqin Bari’s mind had never been so clear. Every time he mentioned Lu Jingce, Shen Lianzhi’s panic and grief finally made sense. That was why Shen Lianzhi was so angry about him bringing Lu Jingce here. Because he loved Lu Jingce! Shiqin Bari’s jaw trembled. He wanted to stab Shen Lianzhi to death, and then stab himself. The pain in his heart was so great that he could barely see what was in front of him or say another word.

At that moment, another person entered the Royal Tent. It was Su Rina. Since the commotion was so large, she had naturally found out the whole story.

“Where is the adulterer? Where is Shen Lianzhi?” Su Rina’s words cut off the moment her eyes fell upon Lianzhi lying on the animal skin. She looked at the snarling Shiqin Bari, then at Lianzhi’s tear-streaked face, and seemed momentarily stunned. But she did not remain dazed for long. Su Rina gave a cold sneer. “I knew long ago that this Shen Lianzhi was no good. Back then, you kept arguing with me and humiliated me in front of everyone. Now you know? Who was right all along! This thing is a demon. Shen Lianzhi, I have to ask: those three letters of yours that were burned, what exactly was written in them? You were so desperate to destroy the evidence!”

Lianzhi’s soul shuddered. His lips moved as he looked up at Su Rina, but she only gave a biting, mocking laugh. “You really think I forgot?”

“Yes,” Shiqin Bari spoke as well. “Those three letters, what was written in them?”

Lianzhi closed his eyes in pain. Shiqin Bari’s words were like an arrow aimed at his brow. He did not answer, but the truth was already obvious. Shiqin Bari stared at him for a long time. He wanted to sneer, but the corners of his mouth refused to lift. His eyes felt as though they had been pierced by a thousand needles; it hurt terribly. “Haha. So that is how it is. Shen Lianzhi, so that is how it is! I was actually that stupid. Stupid enough to believe every word you said! For you, I overthrew the laws of Great Xia. I would not allow anyone to disobey you. And you, this is how you treat me. Trampling on my heart and carrying on a secret affair with another man!”

“I did not. I did not. I wanted to stay in Great Xia. I wanted to stay by your side. I wanted to be your Yanzhi.” Lianzhi sobbed, his head shaking uncontrollably.

In truth, during the confrontation between the three of them just now, Shen Lianzhi’s bias toward him had been so obvious. Unfortunately, Shiqin Bari was far too dissatisfied. He wanted Shen Lianzhi to be completely clean from any other man. Therefore, Lianzhi’s parting from Lu Jingce, in his eyes, was a display of deep affection and mutual longing. As for Shen Lianzhi staying behind, he saw it as a sacrifice to hold him back so Lu Jingce could escape. How deep the love, how moving the scene. They were the match made in heaven, and he, Shiqin Bari, was the stumbling block between the two of them, the club that beats the mandarin ducks apart!

Su Rina was terrified that Shiqin Bari would be enchanted by a few tears again, so she prepared to cut the knot quickly. “Why listen to more of his nonsense? Just kill him!”

Shiqin Bari reached for the curved blade at his waist and drew it out. Lianzhi looked at him in disbelief. Shiqin Bari truly hated him. The blinding image of the two of them kissing kept flashing in his mind, as did the sight of Shen Lianzhi’s retreating back. But under Lianzhi’s gaze, he simply could not bring himself to strike!

“Strike! What on earth are you hesitating for? Shiqin Bari, have you truly lost your mind?”

“Shut up!” Shiqin Bari turned his head, his eyes blood-red. He panted heavily. “Shut up.”

He was like a wolf, a cornered, mad wolf approaching insanity. Su Rina was shaken by the bloodthirsty tyranny in his eyes; she could not speak. Then, a sudden male voice broke the stalemate. It was Xuri Gan.

“Great King,” Xuri Gan said. “Your servant is incompetent. We failed to capture the Prince of Chu of the Great Zhou.”

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