FBC -Chapter 313 Plotting

Another strip of white mourning cloth was stuffed out through the crack of the door.

Chi Yu laughed coldly. “Tell your king to come out personally and greet our Yong Prince and Princess Consort. Otherwise, we’ll set the place on fire right now and burn to death that sin-born child you raised!”

The palace doors suddenly burst open. A woman rushed out. “No—don’t kill my Ling’er! I’ll open the door, I’ll open it!”

Right after her, the King of Qi stumbled out as well.

The palace gates opened, and when the King and Queen of Qi saw their daughter—her face frozen with pitch-black blood, life or death unknown—they wailed and ran forward.

The woman pulled the comatose concubine into her arms and cried, “My child, my child… who has harmed you like this?!”

Seeing his daughter’s tragic state, the King of Qi glared hatefully at Mu Junyan.

“You already killed my kin—yet you still dare threaten me!”

Mu Junyan looked down at him arrogantly. “The one who killed your daughter was not us. It was you.”

The King of Qi’s expression changed. Just as he opened his mouth, the deranged queen beside him slapped him hard across the face.

Then, like a madwoman, she dropped her daughter, jumped on top of the king, and pounded him with her fists like falling rain.

“It was you! You believed that Liang dog Wang Heng! You were stupid enough to oppose the Mu Army! It wasn’t enough that you doomed our daughter—do you want us all to die with you, you old fool?!”

Clearly, the king was older and weaker, while the queen—like most people of Qi living in the mountains—was younger, stronger, and physically powerful.

Qi citizens lived deep in the mountains; men and women alike were robust, though poverty was common.

The Qi guards and attendants didn’t dare intervene, only watched in terror as the Black-Armored Guards completely surrounded the palace.

Gu Hua tightened her reins and said coldly, “Kill him, and you won’t live either.”

The queen paused mid-strike, then lifted her head abruptly—only now noticing among the fierce Mu soldiers and Black-Armored Guards stood a stunning woman.

She shot to her feet and glared. “You’re Gu Hua! Because of you, Princess Shu He became the official consort in the marriage alliance—stealing my daughter’s rightful position!”

Gu Hua laughed. “Qi is a minor state in Nanjiang. To Dali, you’re just one of many small nations. With your current strength, your daughter becoming the Princess Consort of Dali? Dream on.”

“You’re lying! When my daughter married over, they promised her the Princess Consort’s title! Duan Yu used you as an excuse to force Princess Shu He to ‘voluntarily’ enter the marriage alliance. You—you seduce men and—ah!”

Before she finished, Mu Junyan snapped his whip across her face.

A bloody welt instantly appeared. The queen screamed, her hands trembling—but she dared not shield her face.

Under the sharp eyes of the Mu Army and the Black-Armored Guards, no one dared move.

The King of Qi trembled as he crawled up. Seeing the queen’s face bloodied, he forgot his fury and scrambled forward to kowtow before Mu Junyan and Gu Hua.

“I—I was deceived by Wang Heng! He said Bianjing had sent 300,000 Yuan soldiers to surround Ju Prefecture, and that if I led all the small nations and tribes to attack the Mu Army, they would help me seize Dali!”

Mu Junyan laughed. “King Qi, you’ve dreamed this dream your whole life—still not awake? Even if 300,000 Yuan soldiers came, my Mu Army wouldn’t fear them. Besides, the Yuan Army is struggling—they’re busy with the northern war. And Wang Heng? No military power, no authority. A discarded exile. And you believed him.”

“No wonder your supposedly mighty Qi is ruined under your hands. Useless.”

“Yes, yes! I am useless! Prince Yong, please show mercy… I truly knew nothing…”

Gu Hua snapped, “It was your daughter who leaked General Zhou’s wedding date to you! It was your people pretending to be Dali citizens who kidnapped and insulted our woman! Using a woman as a bargaining chip—you’re not even human!”

Cold sweat poured down the king’s face.

A nearby official could no longer hold back. He crawled forward. “Your Majesty, those men were not ours! Please stop covering for Wang Heng!”

The king wiped more sweat and looked up fearfully. “Y-yes… Those men weren’t ours. Wang Heng and his people stayed here over half a year. Later he offered my daughter a thousand taels of gold to learn the wedding date. Then he said he’d provoke war between Dali and the Mu Army. While you were lured away, he told us to rally troops and attack Ju Prefecture…”

The king cried as he kowtowed. “Prince Yong, I was wrong! Spare me!”

Mu Junyan asked coldly, “Where are those men now?”

The official replied, “They disappeared after returning to their quarters last night at midnight.”

“Chi Yan, go check.”

Chi Yan rode forward, grabbed the official by the collar, threw him onto his horse, and galloped off with several men.

Soon, Chi Yan returned alone.

He handed Mu Junyan a jade pendant. “Master, this was found in their residence.”

Mu Junyan’s eyes darkened.

“Zhao Yuchen!”

Gu Hua froze. “The third prince of the Imperial Consort Xian? He’s the one stirring trouble here? No wonder Wang Heng could orchestrate this—he had a prince backing him!”

She suddenly thought of something. “Was Yuan Jieying involved?”

A chill ran through her body.

They had treated Yuan Jieying as a sister. She had volunteered to send word to her fourth brother in the Yuan Army. She had said only Consort Xian knew she was alive. If she had a part in this…

Gu Hua no longer dared trust too deeply.

Her heart burned with worry. She wanted to rush back—afraid something had happened in Ju Prefecture.

Mu Junyan gave her a reassuring look before turning coldly to the King of Qi. “Reveal everyone involved—now. If we uncover them ourselves, you won’t survive the consequences.”

The king scrambled over to another minister and dragged him forward. “H-here! He handled dealings with the Liang men—he knows everything!”

“Your Majesty!” the minister wailed in despair.

Mu Junyan waved his hand. “Take him away.”

Black-Armored Guards dragged the man off, bound him, and threw him onto a horse.

Gu Hua pointed at the queen. “Take her too.”

A hundred Black-Armored Guards mounted up, escorting the queen, her daughter, and the official, rushing toward the city gates in a dark wave of horses.

Once they left, the King of Qi collapsed to the ground.

Outside the city, after riding thirty li, the walls of Ju Prefecture appeared in the distance. Mu Junyan ordered the troops to halt.

Chi Yan stepped forward and reported the newly gathered intelligence.

Gu Hua couldn’t help but admire Mu Junyan.

Ju Prefecture had been a trap all along—once the Bianjing men entered, they were immediately detained. The small nations’ armies had already been eliminated.

Mu Junyan and Gu Hua’s reckless charge into Dali had been nothing more than a warning for Dali not to interfere. As long as Duan Yu didn’t send troops, crushing these tiny nations was effortless.

Gu Hua secretly breathed a sigh of relief, though confusion lingered. “Was the imperial edict from Bianjing real?”

“It was.”

Mu Junyan nodded. “I brought you out so their envoys would relax, thinking they could control the Mu Army. With Zhou Chunyu guarding the city, every faction had its own plan. Even without me, the Mu Army can win.”

Gu Hua grew increasingly uneasy. “Then… the true purpose of everything was to lure us away from Ju Prefecture?”

Mu Junyan nodded. “Yes. They wanted to draw the tiger from the mountain—so I used their plan against them.”

Gu Hua’s heart turned cold.

If that was the case, the kidnapping of Zhou Zhilan had been part of this massive plot.

No…

If Mu Junyan could plan things this thoroughly, how could he have overlooked such a critical detail—letting Zhilan fall into their hands?

Gu Hua stared at him, full of doubt.

Could he have known Zhilan would become a target… and allowed it?

The more she thought about it, the more possible it seemed.

After all, Mu Junyan was a veteran of countless battles—calculating and ruthless by nature.

If Zhou Chunyu had known beforehand too…

No. She couldn’t accept that.

She wanted to return immediately and confront them.

If it were true—she would kill Zhou Chunyu herself.

Mu Junyan noticed her pale expression. “Are you exhausted?”

Gu Hua hid her turmoil. The thought was unbearable.

She shook her head. “Can we return to the city now?”

She was too worried about Zhilan.

Mu Junyan looked to Chi Yan, who nodded.

“We can.”

Before he finished speaking, Gu Hua had already whipped her horse into a full gallop toward Ju Prefecture.