TRT -Chapter 36 Breaking the City

Yesterday was vanilla, today it’s chocolate~ Hehehe, delicious ice cream, lick lick…

Oh, by the way, little Guan Ye has several really cute expressions, like this ┐(╯▽╰)┌ and this ε
I’m taking them all~~

Breaking the City

The decision I made at twilight that day was the hardest for me to judge as right or wrong among all my choices.

It cost many people their lives, but saved even more…

If I could choose again…

Sigh… where are there so many “ifs” in this world?

Xitai City had three great scourges:

A corrupt official, Liu Futai;
The ruthless strategist, Gu Junshi;
And the deadly poison, Seven-Day Soul-Cutting Powder.

Without Gu Junshi, killing Liu Futai would be easy.
Without the poison, killing Gu Junshi wouldn’t be hard either.

So having me go was the best plan.

Young Master Han said Liu Futai had long wanted to see my performance. If I went in full disguise, I could trick him into opening the city gates. Then all we had to do was assassinate Gu Junshi, capture Liu Futai, and force the guards to hand over power.

“No.” Guo’er said coldly.

“Yeah, it’s too dangerous.”
Sitting on the ruined wall with a blade of grass in my mouth, I added, “That Gu Junshi is insanely cunning. Even Han, that sickly guy, couldn’t deal with him. So many people failed. And you think you can just go and take him out?”

“Hey, bro, trust my IQ~~”
I slung an arm over his shoulder (which turned into me hanging on him due to size difference) and gave him my most reliable look (apparently like a puppy).

He wasn’t convinced.

“…IQ?”

“Yes!”

“Do you even have that?”

………… =□= …………

“Do you know who Young Master Han really is?” Guo’er asked quietly, cutting us off.

“Well… I can guess.”
I smiled and looked at him provocatively. “You should know better than me.”

Guo’er fell silent.

And my fighting spirit dropped by half.

When Han’s servants brought clothes and musicians, I had already won everyone over—and even got a “female disguise companion package.”

We spent the night planning in the shabby hut.

Late at night, I fell asleep in someone’s arms.

At dawn, loud noises woke me.

Rubbing my eyes, I sat up and froze.

The hut was packed with people, blood, and medicine.

Someone, no longer joking, was sternly ordering people to boil water, prepare medicine, and bring towels.

“What… happened?”

In the corner, a sack was… moving? With muffled sounds?

People rushed in and out.

The name I heard most was…

“Ahei?”

The one being treated in the center…

Guo’er?!

Everything connected in my mind.

His blood-covered, pale face filled my vision.

That idiot!!

I threw off the blanket and rushed over, grabbing his collar.

“Are you crazy?! How dare you break into the city alone?! Do you know how many soldiers there are?! Are you insane?!”

“…If I didn’t go, you would,”
he said weakly with his eyes closed.

“That’s why we should’ve been careful! We should’ve used strategy—!”

I stopped.

Because he suddenly opened his eyes and looked at me gently.

So gently.

I had seen gentle looks before.

But this one shook me.

Staring into his eyes, breathing in the scent of blood and sweat, I realized—

This man who always stood behind me…

Was a real man.

I was dragged aside as they treated his wounds.

Outside, chaos reigned.

Rumors flew everywhere.

Xitai had fallen.
No, it hadn’t.
Gu Junshi was hung on the gate.
No, he was chopped up.
Ahei had captured Liu Futai.
No, the guards rebelled.

Worst of all:

Ahei was said to have been poisoned by the Seven-Day Powder.

And that poison had no cure.

I used to think families waiting outside emergency rooms were foolish.

Now I understood.

I couldn’t eat.

I was even stupider than them.

At noon, Young Master Han arrived with troops and took control.

By evening, the gates were opened and refugees were allowed in.

He kept his word.

At night, I sat outside the hut, exhausted.

Guo’er drifted in and out of consciousness.

Ying hadn’t rested all day.

“Miss Minmin, the refugees are settled. Please move to a better clinic.”

I shook my head.

He wasn’t awake.

Young Master Han squatted beside me.

“You haven’t eaten all day. Please eat something.”

I refused.

He sighed.

“Guard Yang has done great service. He’ll be rewarded… The Fourth Prince will assign you better guards…”

“Guo’er is not a guard!”

I snapped.

“Sixth Prince, you got what you wanted. Keep your promise and treat the refugees well. And leave me alone!”

“You… know who I am?”

“You’re the Sixth Prince?!” Ying shouted.

“How is he? Is he poisoned?”

“He’s badly hurt. The wounds are manageable. The poison is the problem.”

“He was poisoned by Seven-Day Powder. If we find a sample, I can make an antidote.”

Thank heavens!

“But… he has more than one poison.”

My heart froze.

“The older poison is worse. He’s been suppressing it with medicine. Now it mixed with the new one.”

“I can’t cure it.”

He’d been poisoned before…

By the royal family.

Ying snorted.

“Your royal family really uses every trick.”

The Sixth Prince coughed.

“I don’t agree with my brother… but people are unpredictable…”

A big guard shouted angrily.

“We follow His Highness willingly!”

Ying said calmly:

“The royal poisons are limited. You probably have the antidotes. Give them to me, and I’ll help cure you.”

“Will that save Guo’er?”

“Sixty percent chance.”

“Good enough!”

But the Sixth Prince shook his head.

“I’m an exile. I no longer have those medicines.”

“My illness… is fate.”

“If thirty years of sickness can repay royal sins, it’s too cheap.”

He didn’t have long.

“You’ll live less than five days,” Ying said.

“I know,” the prince smiled.

“With treatment, six months.”

He refused.

Then he spoke quietly.

“The Fourth Prince is my brother…”

He told his story.

About loyalty.
About betrayal.
About hostages.
About his sister-in-law’s suicide.

She left him a letter.

Asking him to support the Fourth Prince.

So he took fourteen cities.

As his final gift.

“That’s why you needed me,” I said.

“Not entirely.”

He touched my face gently.

“You resemble her. Smart. Alert. Visionary.”

“But not as decisive.”

“You’re still young.”

He sighed.

“If she’d been half as lively as you, things wouldn’t have ended this way.”

Standing shakily, he said:

“The Fourth Prince is in Ren City, three hundred li away. Take Wen Biao and get a fast horse. Find him. He has the antidote.”

“I can’t go with you.”

“To the world, we’re still enemies.”

“You must bring him here yourself.”

“Can you do it?”

I looked at Guo’er.

“Yes.”

“Before I die… I want to see my brother again.”

“I understand.”

He walked into the night.

Lonely.

Thin.

And unbearably fragile.