The Regent Forced Me to Become Emperor and Marry Her [GL Yuri] - Chapter 2

“Shen Changyin”

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“Are you a young lady from a noble family?” Xie Yu peeked out of the alleyway, confirming that the Rebel Army patrol had left the street. “Your servants must be looking for you by now.”

Shen Changyin followed her out of the alley, her footsteps as soft as snow. “My attendants were scattered by the chaos of the rebel forces,” she said.

“Judging by your appearance, you probably can’t make it home alone.”

Having already rescued her, Xie Yu decided to go all in. “You can stay with me for now,” she said. “I’ll find a safe place for you to hide later.”

“But since you’re from the nobility, you must know more about the Rebel Army. Can you tell me who their leader really is?”

Shen Changyin replied, “Everyone knows she’s ruthless, tyrannical, cruel, and heartless.”

“Wow, she sounds formidable!”

Xie Yu’s eyes lit up as she replied, “Leading twenty thousand soldiers to silently ambush the heart of a dynasty—that’s a military miracle! I can’t even imagine the level of control she must have over her army.”

Though she planned to escape from this rebel leader’s clutches, such a figure truly piqued her curiosity.

The streets were deserted, but the civilians who had taken cover were now emerging in small groups from their hiding places.

Xie Yu’s gaze swept the area, searching for a lone child in a pale yellow outfit. “Besides,” she added, “isn’t the title ‘Fiend’ a bit of an exaggeration?”

“Perhaps not,” Shen Changyin replied, standing beside her. A faint, melancholic medicinal fragrance drifted into Xie Yu’s nostrils. “Are you looking for something?”

This person’s health is truly poor, Xie Yu thought.

“Have you seen a three- or four-year-old child in a pale yellow outfit, holding a dragon-shaped candy figurine?” she asked.

“Is she someone you know?”
“No,” Xie Yu explained the circumstances of rescuing the child.

When she finished, she received no response. Turning back, she found Shen Changyin silent and assumed she was frightened.

“Don’t worry,” she reassured him. “The canal is well-hidden, located in the eastern part of the city. Once we find the child, we can take refuge there.”

“Judging by the current situation, the Rebel Army leader doesn’t seem to be planning a full-scale assault. At most, everything should be settled by tomorrow night.”

Shen Changyin studied her intently before suddenly saying, “I saw the child in the goose-yellow padded jacket on East Third Street. He should still be there.”

“That’s wonderful!” Xie Yu exclaimed, her face lighting up with relief. She grabbed Shen Changyin’s wrist again. “Lead the way! We need to hurry!”

She dragged him into a frantic sprint, the wind whipping against her face. Faint instructions of “left” and “right” echoed behind her. Twenty minutes later, they reached East Third Street.

Glancing back, Xie Yu noticed that Shen Changyin’s pale complexion had flushed crimson. Her lips were pressed tightly together, and her chest heaved with rapid breaths.

Oh dear, Xie Yu thought.

Xie Yu, who had been pulling Shen Changyin along like a sled dog, scratched her head, realizing not everyone shared her stamina. She patted Shen Changyin’s back apologetically.

East Third Street was now nearly deserted, with many small stalls overturned and ablaze, the air thick with the acrid smell of burning.

“Little Sister!” Xie Yu shouted. “Your older sister sent me to find you!”

“Little Sister!”

Afraid of losing Shen Changyin in the chaos, Xie Yu kept a firm grip on her hand, pulling her along as she called out. She scanned the tightly shuttered shops for possible hiding places for the child.

Suddenly, she heard the clatter of hooves and clamped her mouth shut.

Rebel Army? Why are they back?

Sure enough, a squadron of cavalry appeared at the end of the street.
Xie Yu grabbed Shen Changyin and spun around to flee.

But another group of rebels had appeared on the opposite side, trapping them in a pincer movement.

The rebel leader closest to her had eyes like a hawk—the same man she had locked eyes with at the alley entrance moments ago.

So they had been discovered all along, and he had no intention of letting them escape!

The two groups closed in, dozens of long blades glinting in the firelight, their shadows overlapping and falling over Xie Yu and Shen Changyin.

Xie Yu’s hand tightened instinctively, as if she wanted to crush something, but she suddenly heard a muffled groan of pain.

Snapping back to her senses, she released Shen Changyin’s hand and whispered urgently, “I’ll distract them. You run. As fast as you can, as far as you can.”

She aimed for the pudao in the leader’s hand, ready to lunge, but her right wrist was suddenly seized in a firm grip.

Why won’t Shen Changyin let go?!

She strained her arm, about to struggle free, when two cold blades pressed against her shoulders.

The back of her neck tensed instantly.

These men had polished their blades until they were as white as mirrors, reflecting the firelight, but they couldn’t erase the stench. The overwhelming, nauseating smell of blood filled her nostrils.

The burly woman with hawk-like eyes dismounted and strode forward, her heavy armor clanking with each step, tightening Xie Yu’s nerves like a drawn bowstring.

Eight feet tall, with broad shoulders and a thick back… Could this be the Rebel Army’s Leader?

The burly woman stopped three paces away, clasped her fists, and bowed her head. “Leader, this subordinate is incompetent. I’ve searched every corner of the Imperial Palace but found no trace of the Third Princess.”

It took Xie Yu two seconds to understand what she was saying.

Leader? Who is she calling Leader?

The one they call the Fiend?

A sudden chill ran down her spine.

Her neck felt stiff, forcing her to turn her head in jerky, hesitant movements, like a wind-up toy.

She saw the person she had believed needed saving, the same person who had just seized her wrist.

She instinctively tried to shake free, but her hand was trapped as if by a python’s coils.

A faint smile flickered across that handsome face.

“No need to search any further.”

Shen Changyin tightened her grip on Xie Yu’s hand and raised her prize high.

“The Third Princess is right here.”

Two soldiers stepped forward and pinned Xie Yu’s shoulders.

Her hands were bound behind her back as she watched Shen Changyin take a clean white towel.

Every inch of skin that had touched Xie Yu’s—her fingers, her wrists—was meticulously wiped clean.

The burly woman pointed toward the rear of the column. “Leader, the child you’re looking for is back there.”

Xie Yu’s gaze snapped up. A small, pale yellow figure was clinging to the side of a horse.

Little Sister!

They had been together the whole time. When had Shen Changyin sent word to the Rebel Army to capture Little Sister?

“Excellent,” Shen Changyin said, handing the towel to a subordinate. “There’s a river east of the city. Search it.”

“What are you planning to do?!”
Xie Yu struggled violently, like a tiger trapped in a hunter’s net, unleashing tremendous force that nearly broke her restraints.

Four or five soldiers immediately pounced on her, pinning her to the ground and regaining control.

Even so, the veins in Xie Yu’s neck bulged with fury. “Those are just ordinary children!”

“Shen Changyin!”

Shen Changyin lowered her head, meeting Xie Yu’s gaze. Her eyes were deep black, reflecting the flickering firelight.

Xie Yu suddenly understood why she was called the Fiend.

In the Fiend’s pupils, she saw her own reflection: her eyes burning with anger, yet utterly powerless.

“Too noisy. Make her quiet,” Shen Changyin said calmly, straightening up and letting her robes fall gracefully.

A soldier swiftly stepped forward, stuffed a gag into Xie Yu’s mouth, and dragged her to the back of the formation. Ignoring her struggles, they began searching her.

Though gagged, Xie Yu continued to whimper and curse, watching as they pulled a kitchen knife, a packet of pear blossom cakes, and a jade pendant from her waist.

“The dignified Third Princess defends herself with a kitchen knife?” they mocked.

Xie Yu rolled her eyes.

In a desperate moment of escape, a kitchen knife was all she could find.

The soldiers confiscated the knife and snacks but reattached the white jade pendant to her waist.

By now, Xie Yu had calmed down, her gaze dropping to examine the pendant.

Its luster was even, the material exquisite. No matter how unfavored the Third Princess of a nation might be, her jade pendant wouldn’t be cheap.

Yet these soldiers showed no inclination to keep it for themselves. Why? Could ancient armies truly maintain such discipline?

They merely bound her into a caterpillar-like bundle with hemp ropes as thick as a finger.

One soldier said, “That’s enough. Let’s present her.”

To whom shall we offer her?

Xie Yu was hoisted onto a soldier’s shoulder, her stomach pressed so hard against his shoulder that she nearly vomited. Only then was the gag yanked from her mouth, and she was tossed face-down onto a carpet.

The two soldiers chuckled as they left. After struggling for what felt like an eternity, Xie Yu finally managed to flip herself over like an overturned turtle, only to realize she was in a spacious carriage.

She wasn’t alone.

Shen Changyin, the woman whose image in Xie Yu’s mind had already morphed into something akin to a female ghost, was also there.

She sat ramrod straight, her posture impeccable, examining a stack of yellowed letters in her hand. Her face was cold and serene, her lashes lowered slightly, lending her an almost divine air.

A fiend wearing such a beautiful mask.

Xie Yu watched for a while, then, finding her position uncomfortable and fearing she might roll off the carriage at any moment, she wriggled toward the center.

Shen Changyin silently shifted her feet further away.

Xie Yu noticed.

She dares to look down on me?!

This vile, cruel, deceitful, and heartless woman, who preys on the innocent, has the audacity to be fastidious? To look down on me?!

She kicked the cabinet in the carriage with a loud bang.

Her opponent didn’t flinch, merely turning the page of her letter.

Xie Yu was about to voice her indignation when her stomach suddenly growled.

The long, echoing rumble reverberated through the carriage.
Shen Changyin finally looked up.

Xie Yu’s cheeks flushed instantly, her entire body growing hot.

After a few seconds, she decided to brazen it out. “What are you staring at? Never seen a hungry person before?”

She jutted her chin toward a white porcelain jar in the carriage. “Give me two pastries from that jar.”

When she had been planning her escape from the palace, she had seen similar jars in the Imperial Kitchens, usually neatly stacked with pastries.

“Third Princess, this isn’t a pastry jar,” Shen Changyin said, stroking the smooth, warm jar. “It’s an urn, though it’s still empty.”

She fixed Xie Yu with a piercing gaze. “A dear friend, on her deathbed, asked me to grind her bones to dust and keep her restless remains in this jar. I’m just waiting to fill it.”

Her voice was soft, yet it carried an icy chill that made Xie Yu shiver. Then, it suddenly dawned on her.

Reduce to ashes?

Isn’t that just cremation?

It’s a perfectly civilized funeral custom!

The carriage rumbled onward as Shen Changyin resumed reading her letter.

Moments later, a burly woman on horseback pulled back the carriage curtain and reported:

“News from the palace. As you instructed, we’ve surrounded the Emperor in Chaoyang Hall. She’s barricaded herself inside with three thousand Imperial Guards. Since you wanted her alive, we’ve halted our advance.”

“The remaining six Princesses, the other Imperial Clan Members, and the Daoists are all confined in Qinzheng Hall, guarded by the Third and Fourth Battalions.”

“Understood,” Shen Changyin nodded slightly.

The burly woman withdrew respectfully.

Xie Yu lay on the carpet, blinking.
The Rebel Army was on the verge of victory, perhaps even a complete triumph. All thanks to Shen Changyin’s strategic brilliance. The rumors were true: she truly possessed flawless tactical acumen.

This was a rational woman, driven by self-interest.

If she could make “releasing these children” advantageous to Shen Changyin…

Xie Yu, abandoning all pretense of conscience, declared sincerely, “Heaven has eyes! The Xie Imperial Clan is cruel and heartless, unworthy to rule. Even the heavens couldn’t bear to watch any longer, and thus bestowed upon us you, our Sage Ruler.”

Shen Changyin set down the letter and cast a faint glance her way.

“Your soldiers didn’t even covet my jade pendant. This speaks volumes about your strict military discipline and your exceptional leadership.”

Shen Changyin’s gaze fell upon the pendant. “Third Princess,” she suddenly asked, “do you know what this pendant signifies?”

“What does it signify?” Xie Yu asked, puzzled.

“This pendant is the engagement token of the eldest daughter of the Jiangnan Shen Family.”

“Oh,” Xie Yu replied.

So she’s been arranged into a feudal marriage? Just escape afterward. That won’t stop me from flattering her.

“Oh?” Shen Changyin’s tone suggested she had heard something extraordinary. “Do you realize the eldest daughter of the Shen Family is renowned throughout the realm for her beauty and talent? Countless suitors have sought her hand.”

“That’s not important,” Xie Yu insisted, continuing her flattery. “What truly matters is you. Even amidst the chaos of war, you haven’t forgotten to shelter lost children. If that doesn’t make you a Sage Ruler, then who does?”

She cleverly avoided directly asking Shen Changyin what he planned to do with the children, instead saying:

“Will you send someone to return these little ones to their families, or have their parents come to claim them? Either way, your virtuous benevolence will surely spread throughout the land.”

At this, Shen Changyin’s eyes curved slightly, as if in a faint smile.

“And what concern is the fate of these children to you, Third Princess?”

Xie Yu’s heart sank.

This person isn’t falling for my tricks.

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