Return of the Swallow

ooked at Mu Jinghu with surprise.

The gentleman dusted off his hands and explained diffidently, “It’s not good that he cussed at you.”

He was very put out that someone had yelled at his friend’s wife. That guy would probably die a worse death if that fox was here, which was why he’d taken action without hesitation.

Her senses returning to her, Qin Yining smiled gratefully at Mu Jinghu.

The swift reaction cowed the assassins, and the would-be attackers were slowly defeated and captured alive from the Silver Masks’ fierce onslaught.

Coincidentally, the fires weakened at the same time.
This was when the assassins realized that firebreaks had been dug around the peak.
The blazing flames had just been to hem them in and wouldn’t have caused a forest fire.
Sadly, they’d failed to notice something was amiss in their rush to get to their target.

The Silver Masks dislocated all of the assassins’ jaws before turning them over to Qin Huaiyuan.
The marquis had the new captives bound with the original three for dismemberment.

Having completed her part, Cao Yuqing raised a silent cupped fist salute to Qin Huaiyuan in the distance.
The marquis smiled gratefully at her and raised his hands in return.

The concubine blushed and ducked her head, avoiding his smile.
She turned to form a line with her men.

The third elder master suddenly broke out in tears and laughter when he saw all of the assassins trussed up like chickens.
“Good! Damn this is good!”

Throwing an arm around the third elder master for comfort, Qin Huaiyuan whispered, “Don’t worry, third brother.
They don’t have long to live.”

“Yes brother, I believe you.” The third elder master wiped his face with a hand.
Though he itched to slay these vermin where they stood, he still had to consider the greater picture and not ruin the plan.

The procession descended the mountain with great fanfare, assassins in tow.

“Have our people get ready.
We’ll parade the captives on the street in a short while,” Qin Huaiyuan murmured to Qitai.

“Understood!” Qitai nodded and whipped his horse for greater speed.

The people had been frothing with rage all this while, particularly the refugees at Ning Park.
This fury boiled over when the latter learned of how the Qins, loyal servants to the people, had almost been exterminated and the culprits captured.

They’d had been terrorized by the specter of their nation falling for far too long.
When the Great Zhou emperor had unilaterally ripped up the successful peace accords, hatred of him reached new highs.
It was easy enough to imagine the fate of the butcherers of peace when paraded out on the streets.

So the emperor forbade the Qins to dismember the assassins? Alright, they wouldn’t then.

But surely it wasn’t the fault of the Qins when the assassins were the victims of an angry mob.

……

Qin Yining lifted her window curtains to see the assassins being prodded along like animals at the rear.
Satisfaction hummed in her veins.
The boulder pressing down on her heart in the last few days was finally rolled away.

So was the rest of the family.
The two elder masters occupied the same carriage, carrying on a hushed conversation on how to handle the actual burial.

Qin Yu was remembering his wife and cried all the way back, his hands drooping helplessly in front of him.
Qin Han silently offered what comfort he could.

Just as the procession reached the city gates, they noticed a disturbance in front of the walls.
A chaotic mess of civilians and soldiers milled around, obstructing passage completely.
This struck the marquis as odd and he sent servants on to inquire.
The news he received however, was utterly shocking.

“What did you say?! The Prince of Ning entered the city with ten thousand men?!”

“In response to milord, yes! The prince summoned one thousand from the Firearms Division, the Division of Three Thousand, and six thousand from the Division of the Five Armies as soon as he received the command token! He’s surrounded the palace and charged in with some of his men.
His war cry is that the trampress is causing the destruction of the nation and that the riffraff needs to be cleared from around the emperor!”

Qin Huaiyuan blinked, not sure what his next step should be.
The marquis never would’ve thought that mutiny would be the prince’s first move once he took control of the armies!

Cao Yuqing and the Silver Masks abandoned their current mission when they heard this and headed for the palace.
Meanwhile, the assassins bound in a line attracted the people’s attentions.

Hem hem, y’all see why the teaser was title withheld? XD

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