The Sovereign – Chapter 105

Volume Six: A Cold Rainy Night Buries the Famous Flower

Everywhere the eyes look is filled with death

Holding the severed head brings no satisfaction

In the battle of Luo County, the Red Armor Army’s might shook the four seas (idiom meaning “the whole world”), dealing a heavy blow to the Yu Kingdom. However, this cruel massacre would bring a destructive reputation to Qin Junlan, a ruler known for benevolence and virtue.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty…”

Qin Junlan was studying a map, preparing to give her next instructions, when she heard a messenger rushing to report.

“What’s the panic about?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty, we’ve won a great victory in Luo County. General Bai’s forces were like breaking bamboo (meaning: overwhelming force), taking the city in just one day.” The messenger delivered the good news, but Qin Junlan showed no joy, instead asking expressionlessly, “And?”

The messenger looked at her fearfully, bowing even lower, “According to the military report, the soldiers and civilians of Luo County refused to surrender, fighting to the death and attacking our forces multiple times. General Bai had no choice but to…” He hesitated, seeing Qin Junlan’s displeased expression, and with closed eyes and gritted teeth, said, “had no choice but to massacre the city.”

“Massacre the city??” Yun Jin, who stood nearby, looked at Qin Junlan in shock. She had only seen the term “massacre the city” in books and never imagined it would happen in the present day.

How could such a cruel thing be ordered by a Ji Kingdom general? How could so many innocent civilians lose their lives for nothing?

Qin Junlan sat back in her chair silently, but her previously calm eyes now shot sharp rays. Her brows showed a heroic spirit, and her gentle features instantly transformed into a severe expression that inspired fear.

“Imperial Sister…” Yun Jin felt that Qin Junlan seemed to be waiting for something, remaining so calm despite such shocking news.

Soon, a shadow guard hurriedly arrived with a secret letter for Qin Junlan. The letter detailed how the Red Armor Army attacked the city and carried out the cruel massacre. After reading it, she passed it to Yun Jin, her face instantly darkening.

The letter was filled with every word a pearl (precious), reporting the battle thoroughly. Yun Jin could almost see the cruel battle scene and hear the painful cries of Yu Kingdom’s citizens. What a tragic situation – a once peaceful city had become a human hell, and it had pushed Qin Junlan into a precarious position.

“Bai Yifei!” Qin Junlan’s fist slammed the table, startling the palace servants and guards to their knees.

“Deceiving superiors and subordinates, secretly ordering a city massacre, making me appear heartless and bringing dishonor to all of Ji Kingdom.” She burned with anger, gritting her teeth as she spat out each word.

Bai Yifei would never have guessed that Qin Junlan always had spies in his army. She had arranged people in every stationed force, like her eyes, monitoring every move these generals made. Despite the saying “A general in the field need not heed the sovereign’s orders,” Qin Junlan would not allow anything to escape her control, especially the military.

As the sovereign, wherever her armies went, her words must be the highest command, with no one allowed to act on their own authority.

“This is utterly cruel!” Yun Jin said indignantly, thinking of the innocent Yu Kingdom civilians.

“Jin’er, how do you think this matter should be handled?” Qin Junlan didn’t reveal her own stance, giving all authority to Yun Jin to decide.

“He acted without authority – that’s disloyalty. He massacred civilians – that’s inhumanity. He deceived the throne and implicated other generals – that’s unrighteousness. Such a disloyal, inhumane, and unrighteous person cannot shoulder great responsibilities, let alone lead our Red Armor Army.” Yun Jin’s gentle eyes gradually turned cold, her subtle aura carrying an intimidating presence.

“What should be done?” Qin Junlan gazed at her. A cold light flashed beneath Yun Jin’s gentle eyes as she slowly uttered, “He should die!”

“This…” The messenger broke into a cold sweat.

Qin Junlan glared at the messenger, then looked at Li Yue, “Draft an imperial decree: all Red Armor Army officers of fifth rank and above in Luo County are to be executed by military law! Immediate execution!” Her resolute tone allowed no discussion. “Bai Yifei…” she paused, closing her eyes deeply, memories of childhood flashing through her mind – they had been green plum and bamboo horse (referring to innocent childhood friendship), had wished together to strengthen the nation, even shared ambitions and beliefs, but now…

Qin Junlan’s mood was extremely heavy, but she had zero tolerance for such matters, showing no leniency! She decisively said: “Grant Bai Yifei the death wine!” (traditional method of forced suicide for nobles)

“By your command.” Li Yue transformed each of Qin Junlan’s commands and anger into supreme imperial edicts. Dealing with a great general like the Marquis of the South was an extremely important matter, yet she didn’t consult any important ministers. No one could plead for Bai Yifei – his death wouldn’t be worth pitying!

“Command General Liu Yin to succeed as commander of the Red Armor Army. Issue an imperial edict to all stationed troops: anyone who randomly harms civilians will be executed without mercy!”

Li Yue immediately arranged for the imperial edict to be distributed. After handling this matter and dismissing everyone, Qin Junlan stumbled back into her chair, her eyes showing grief, powerlessness, and deep sorrow.

“I have failed Xi’er and Old General Bai.” Qin Junlan thought of Bai Ruoxi’s tragic death and how the Bai family had always been loyal and righteous, and her heart ached at how things had turned out.

“Imperial Sister, this isn’t your fault.” Yun Jin hurried to support her. The poison was still in her body, she hadn’t fully recovered, and this anger had affected her health again.

“An entire city of civilians, massacred completely. I never knew Bai Yifei could be so cruel. These years he’s been guarding the border cities, rarely returning – perhaps he changed without my noticing. I wasn’t unaware of what he did in Peak City, but I didn’t want to lose the bigger picture for small matters, so I let it be. Who knew he would be so bold as to provoke Ling Yu’s killing intent, leading to Xi’er’s death, and even dare to massacre a city.” Qin Junlan’s eyes showed deep pain. Although she wanted to conquer the world, she never intended to harm innocent civilians – she even wanted to minimize killing while achieving her grand goal of unification.

All under heaven returns to one, all people return their hearts (meaning: unifying the world and winning people’s hearts) was meant to achieve an eternal era of peace and prosperity, not for deception and suspicion between people, or frequent warfare – this was Qin Junlan’s lifelong aspiration.

“Jin’er, I’m afraid I can’t leave right now. Where is Aunt currently? Is she with Xun’er?” Qin Junlan lightly pressed her forehead, saying helplessly. She had hoped to wait for a victory before seeking Liu Qianxun, but instead received terrible news.

“Yes, Mother Imperial Consort wrote days ago saying she’s in Shennong Valley, instructing me to take good care of you.”

“I’m relieved Aunt is there, surely Xun’er is safe too. Now that war has broken out, news of the massacre will quickly spread across the world. I fear the Luo and Qing kingdoms won’t remain peaceful.”

“Have the border Red Armor Army stand ready, send military letters to all generals. If Luo and Qing kingdoms make any moves, attack their cities with minimal bloodshed. These two countries pose little threat, with armies no larger than 200,000. They surely won’t attempt to throw eggs against rocks (meaning: fight a losing battle), they just want to use Yu Kingdom’s war with us to tie us down and protect themselves. When the Red Armor Army truly arrives in force, they’ll surrender when they can’t resist.” Yun Jin’s far-sighted analysis thoroughly grasped the military situation in a short time.

Qin Junlan nodded with satisfaction, her tense nerves finally relaxing slightly. Gazing at Yun Jin, she sighed, “Jin’er, how fortunate I am to have you in this cold palace. Seeing you gives me the only warmth and comfort in my heart.”

Hearing these words, Yun Jin felt unspeakable bitterness, her heart growing heavier instead of joyful. Who could understand the sourness and pain in her heart? But even just this much was enough.

For this massacre, someone must pay the price. Over ten messengers from Jidu carried imperial edicts and secret letters to various stationed armies, with the punishment orders for Luo County personally delivered by the deputy commander with a team of shadow guards.

The early autumn rain was cool. Since the battle began, rain hadn’t stopped in Luo County. But no amount of rain could wash away the bloody smell; it took a long time to deal with so many corpses. The Red Armor Army camped in the city, Bai Yifei moved directly into the governor’s mansion, and the remaining troops set up separate camps.

“Xi’er, brother has avenged you.” Bai Yifei, wearing battle robes, stood before the hall facing a Buddhist shrine, lighting incense for Bai Ruoxi. “May Buddha protect my younger sister. She was kind in life and never harmed anyone. If these blood debts must be repaid, I alone can go to hell.”

His gaze was gentle, bowing deeply, appearing devout – a complete contrast to his cruelty during the massacre, like two different people.

Outside, wind and rain swayed, fierce gusts howled through the doorway, blowing the door open, extinguishing half the candles, making the door crash against the wall with a rattling sound. Bai Yifei walked to the entrance, trying to close the door firmly, when suddenly a strong wind struck him, making him lose balance. He stumbled back several steps, crashing into the Buddhist shrine.

A white figure appeared like lightning, sweeping their sleeve to slam the door shut. Before Bai Yifei could steady himself, his pressure points were struck (martial arts technique to immobilize opponents). He stared wide-eyed at this uninvited guest who approached step by step, like a soul-collecting ghost from hell, their gaze filled with a deathly aura.

“Ling Yu!” He tried to shout, but his throat couldn’t make a sound. He didn’t even know how Ling Yu had evaded the guards to get here, or how she had struck his pressure points without getting close.

“I fear you’re not even worthy of hell!”

Red candlelight slowly illuminated Ling Yu’s face. She wore plain white clothes with a white sash at her waist, her deathly pale face colder than winter frost. Bai Yifei had never seen such cold, beautiful eyes – one look sent chills through his heart and even fear. This strikingly beautiful face was like an iceberg in the extreme cold, chilling to the bone.

The terrifying thing was, she had no murderous intent or expression, yet just being near her brought a feeling of despair and grief, and even cold-bloodedness.

“I’ve killed many people in my life,” Ling Yu suddenly spoke, her icy words like a sharp blade, approaching Bai Yifei. She drew the dagger he carried from his waist and continued, “But why didn’t I kill you sooner?”

She pressed the dagger against his chest, and Bai Yifei’s eyes showed fear, yet his body felt petrified, unable to move.

“My biggest mistake was sending Ye Ming and Chen Qing to kill you. Otherwise, the young princess wouldn’t have died, Ye Ming wouldn’t have lost an arm, Chen Qing wouldn’t have died, and Xun’er wouldn’t have…” Ling Yu paused, raising her eyes as she slowly inserted the dagger into Bai Yifei’s chest. He felt his body being pierced by a sharp weapon, the pain so intense he couldn’t breathe, completely forgetting that civilians suffered the same agony during his massacres.

Ling Yu didn’t stab the dagger directly into his heart but stopped, glaring at Bai Yifei, who was sweating from the pain, shocked into gasping. She gripped the hilt, tearing downwards along his body, making Bai Yifei feel like a beast being butchered, his chest slowly cut open, wanting to scream but unable to make a sound.

“Blame me for not killing you sooner,” Ling Yu muttered, as if confessing or blaming herself. She spoke while withdrawing the dagger and stabbing it elsewhere in his body.

Bai Yifei convulsed in pain, feeling like Ling Yu was a demon crawling from hell, treating his body like a stone to carve and bleed, gouging out his flesh bit by bit.

More frightening was her extreme grief, making her extremely calm, yet every word was terrifying. To her, Bai Yifei’s bloody body was just an object.

Bai Yifei’s blood slowly spilled from his body, dripping onto the ground. Losing too much blood, he gradually lost consciousness, his body twitching slightly, barely alive. Ling Yu tiredly dropped the dagger and only then noticed her white mourning clothes were soaked with blood.

“General, the brothers want you to drink…” A guard suddenly ran in excitedly, but before he could finish, he felt a force pulling him in, and before he could react, someone gripped his neck.

“Drinking to celebrate the massacre?” Ling Yu’s cold aura enveloped him. He was too shocked to speak, and Ling Yu didn’t even give him time to feel terror before snapping his neck.

Since they were so jubilant, they might as well reunite in the underworld! Ling Yu swung her sword at Bai Yifei, his bloody head rolling down. She picked it up and walked outside. Only then did the guards notice something was wrong, seeing their commander Bai Yifei’s head in Ling Yu’s hand.

“Who are you?” The patrol guard shouted in shock as all guards surrounded her to attack.

Ling Yu remained silent, walking straight to the courtyard, lifting her face to let the rain pour over it. Holding Bai Yifei’s head, she felt no satisfaction. She knew that killing Bai Yifei a thousand times couldn’t bring back the lives of an entire city’s people – those citizens she had tried with all her might to protect. Each time she thought of this, her qi congealed with grief, sorrow suppressing her heart, blood from her internal organs surging up to her throat.

She hadn’t noticed the blood staining her lips, her temple hair strands clinging messily to her face, indistinguishable whether from hot tears or rain. Once a national beauty, her bewitching phoenix eyes now held only a layer of hazy mist, seeing nothing clearly.

“She’s wounded, take her down!” A large squad of soldiers advanced with spears, but Ling Yu’s figure suddenly vanished. When they looked back, she stood on the rooftop, archers launching their attacks at her.

She gave a cold laugh, her figure leaping into the air, becoming one with the rainy night. When the Asura (Buddhist deity of wrath) is wounded, heaven and earth turn desolate; when the Asura rages, the winds and clouds change color.

Ling Yu vanished in an instant, leaving only bewildered soldiers staring at each other, looking helplessly at the headless Bai Yifei.

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