Xie Shiluán refused to look after those young children and have them admitted to the Imperial Academy to study alongside the imperial clan's offspring. Instead, she kept pushing people toward Xiao Jing'an. Someone would always remember the favor of their maternal clan.
She never considered how much this action would hurt Xie Shiluán.
As Lu Qingwǎn had said, Xie Shiluán had not only known Lu Qingwǎn for a day, but she also knew her own mother.
When she heard Li Su's words, she knew it was true.
The mother she had desperately protected had, while she was out of the palace, sent other women to her husband.
Even if that husband was fake, and she didn't love Xiao Jing'an, the very act of Zhongyong Hou's wife doing this was enough to wound Xie Shiluán deeply.
Lu Qingwǎn could feel Xie Shiluán's dejection without even looking.
She lightly tapped the carriage wall and instructed Li Su, "Go to the Reincarnation Hall."
Didn't Liu Hanyan want to snatch the position of Saintess from her?
She wanted to seize the Saintess position and also drag her and Si Fengwú down, preventing their combined power from growing too strong.
Present-day Northern Wei was a crucial juncture. Once Northern Wei was conquered and the southeastern three kingdoms plus a part of another were integrated, her and Si Fengwú's power would undergo a qualitative leap.
She was very curious. If Liu Hanyan knew she was returning to the Reincarnation Hall, how would Liu Hanyan choose between snatching the Saintess position from her and preventing Si Fengwú from conquering Northern Wei?
Li Su was startled. "Your Highness, going to the Reincarnation Hall from here is much farther than crossing the entire length of Great Gan. Are you serious?"
They were in Xiliang, but the Reincarnation Hall was in the southern part of Great Gan. The distance between them was greater than returning to the capital.
Of course, distance alone wasn't the issue. But if Lu Qingwǎn went to the Reincarnation Hall, she would be too far away to intervene in any matters in the northwest.
How could Lu Qingwǎn not understand Li Su's unspoken meaning? However, "If I'm not here, the Prince will handle matters.
Right now, the Reincarnation Hall is more important than the northwest."
Li Su looked at her in confusion, unable to comprehend what could be more important at the Reincarnation Hall than the battle in the northwest.
Lu Qingwǎn saw her doubt but had no intention of explaining further. She merely instructed, "Dispatch more shadow guards from the Reincarnation Hall and Wufeng Hall.
Arrange for several skilled archers to follow covertly. Have them remain hidden and try not to be discovered."
Although she didn't know what Lu Qingwǎn intended to do, Li Su's danger-sensing radar immediately perked up. Without a word, she carried out Lu Qingwǎn's orders.
She feared that if she was careless, Lu Qingwǎn might suffer harm, and she wouldn't be able to explain it to Si Fengwú.
However, until they entered Great Gan and traveled south, nearing Cangwu City, everything remained peaceful and quiet.
Li Su was almost driven to her breaking point by the constant tension.
Lu Qingwǎn, however, was still leisurely teasing her, "Relax a little. Look at how tense you are, you're almost becoming overly sensitive."
Li Su felt like crying. "Your Highness~"
"Alright, I'm not teasing you anymore. Get ready, it's time to receive guests."
Lu Qingwǎn handed her something she had prepared earlier. "Distribute this to the brothers. Take the red ones immediately, and keep the jade-colored ones for yourself.
If you see blood during the upcoming fight, take it immediately. If not, save it for later."
Li Su looked around in bewilderment, detecting no abnormalities.
Just as she was about to ask Lu Qingwǎn, several crisp bird chirps sounded, and Li Su instantly understood.
"I'll go now."
Having spoken, she turned and huddled with Ru Yue and Ying Er.
One was responsible for the Reincarnation Hall's shadow guards, and the other commanded the dark guards of Wufeng Hall. Each had their own methods of delivering the medicine prepared by Lu Qingwǎn to the dark guards without alerting anyone hidden.
Shortly after the antidotes were distributed, Lu Qingwǎn and her entourage passed a section of the official road flanked by lush green forests.
A dense volley of arrows rained down from all directions without warning. Before Lu Qingwǎn and those in the center of the encirclement could react, a group of black-clothed figures darted out from the dense woods.
Their powerful qi, combined with their sharp Miao sabers, bypassed the numerous dark guards and headed straight for Lu Qingwǎn.
"Your Highness!"
Li Su cried out. At first hearing, it sounded like panic, but only Lu Qingwǎn and those around her knew that Li Su was simply informing Lu Qingwǎn that they were about to act.
The instant those black-clothed figures emerged, the crackling sound of gunfire erupted one after another.
The charging black-clothed figures fell in large numbers. Simultaneously, Ru Yue and Ying Er led their respective dark guards into the dense forests lining the road.
The fierce battle startled flocks of birds in the woods. The black-clothed figures hidden within the trees, without even revealing themselves, became victims of the swords of the Reincarnation Hall's shadow guards and Wufeng Hall's dark guards.
Inside the carriage, Lu Qingwǎn calmly watched the scene of carnage, meeting Xie Shiluán's complicated gaze.
"Guess what? Will she come to save you?"
Her expression was calm, her tone playful, as if the bloodshed outside had nothing to do with her.
She had forgotten that the person who had ordered so many assassins to intercept her was her own mother.
Xie Shiluán turned her head and said coldly, "I don't want her to save me."
Lu Qingwǎn offered no comment, merely looking at her with an expression that could easily provoke anger. Xie Shiluán endured it, but finally burst out,
"The victor is king, the loser is the bandit. I accept my fate in your hands.
Kill me or torture me as you please. If Xie Shiluán so much as frowns, I'm a coward. Give me a quick end, alright?
If you're not going to kill or fight me, what exactly do you want?"
Xie Shiluán's fierce spirit, forged from her military background, had long since been extinguished by years of scheming.
If she could still maintain some semblance of a heroic general's demeanor when Lu Qingwǎn had first placed her under house arrest, then after nearly a month of Lu Qingwǎn's neglect, her patience had been completely worn thin.
Now, she was essentially an empty shell, appearing strong but inwardly weak. A little more pressure from Lu Qingwǎn would be enough to drive her mad.
"I don't want anything. I just want to take you to see someone."
Lu Qingwǎn said playfully, reaching into a hidden compartment in the carriage and pulling something out, which she then threw.
*Boom!*
After a loud explosion, an enraged roar echoed, "Lu Qingwǎn, you're seeking death!"
As the voice fell, a woman in black emerged from the bushes not far from the carriage, gritting her teeth. "Take this wretched woman down for me!"
"Wretched woman?
Are you referring to yourself?"
The carriage curtain was lifted, and Lu Qingwǎn gracefully emerged. The first thing she saw was a young girl in black, her face covered in soot, looking as if she had just returned from mining.
Seeing her, the girl paused for a moment, then revealed a look of disdain. She deliberately puffed out her chest, just as she was about to say something, but Lu Qingwǎn cut her off.
"Should I call you Princess Yicheng, or Miss Lingzhu?"
Ignoring the sudden widening of the black-clothed woman's eyes, Lu Qingwǎn smiled brightly. "No, I should be asking your mother that. How can I ask you?
Whether you are Princess Yicheng or Miss Lingzhu, you probably don't even know yourself, do you?"