After speaking, Jiang Lai gave Murong Dun a direct look, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
"I have no idea who that person is, and His Majesty didn’t make it clear. I just hope that person can behave in the future so I don’t discover them! Oh right... you asked me how Han Zhao and Luoyang are, didn’t you?"
"Mm... Mm."
"Han Zhao is likely to be exiled to the frontier as a garrison soldier, not allowed to return to the capital for ten years. His father got demoted by three ranks. As for Luoyang, her future looks grim, since she should have been executed back then. I’ve heard there’s a lot of courtiers who helped her escape. His Majesty is currently investigating the matter thoroughly, and the whole court is on edge."
Execution...
Murong Dun, tense and worried, forced himself to remain calm, serving Jiang Lai a dish as he bowed his head to mask the sorrow in his heart.
In the end, is it still the same fate?
Soon, the Emperor’s edict was issued: the rebel’s daughter Luoyang was to be executed at noon three days later, supervised by Lieutenant General Jiang Ling.
Jiang Lai looked at the execution location, which was not far from the nearby marketplace.
Murong Dun awoke early in the morning, sitting outside in a daze, lost in thought.
After Jiang Lai got up, he voluntarily asked a question.
"There’s an execution at the market today. Want to go take a look?"
Murong Dun shook his head instinctively, then immediately nodded as if sleepwalking.
"Alright... might as well take a look."
He still held onto much hope in his heart. After all, if Luoyang could escape last time, surely this time too. No matter what, he had to witness it himself—perhaps the person on the execution stage isn’t Luoyang at all.
By the time they arrived at the market, the crowd was already packed tightly together. Murong Dun, in a wheelchair, couldn’t see clearly. Jiang Lai simply got a guard by Jiang Ling to give them a guest seat, sitting right behind Jiang Ling to watch the execution up close.
It wasn’t just Luoyang being executed this time, but also an official’s entire family who helped her escape and hide.
Now the laws are strict, and the wrongdoing of one implicates the whole family. Watching the family, young and old, on the execution ground, Jiang Lai asked Jiang Ling.
"All of them to be executed?"
"All to be executed."
For one Luoyang, a whole family paid with their lives. The path of growth for the female protagonist truly is paved with a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
That official continued to angrily curse the Emperor’s injustice, rage at the unfair heavens, and curse Jiang Xiong to die a miserable death. Just before being beheaded, he shouted to the sky.
"Oh heaven, the Princess’s entire family, they’re wronged!!"
While cracking sunflower seeds, Jiang Lai remarked.
Yeah, only her family is wronged. The entire family going to the afterlife is but a stepping stone on the path of the protagonist’s growth.
Just as it was about to be Luoyang’s turn, Little Buding suddenly shouted.
"Jiang Lai, someone is aiming at your brother!!"
"No, wait. Jiang Lai, someone is aiming at the male lead, and the person next to you... the second male lead! And you, the female cannon fodder! You don’t have fate’s protection, hurry and dodge!"
At that moment, an arrow whistled past Jiang Lai’s ear as if in mockery. Just as Jiang Lai was about to dodge, a hand firmly caught the arrow moving at high speed, then with a forceful snap, broke it with one hand.
"Sister, are you alright..."
"Husband!!"
The enthusiastic Jiang Lai was startled by such a shriek, dropping her sunflower seeds. Before she even had time to curse, her actions were quicker than her mind. She immediately tilted Murong Dun’s wheelchair with effort and then kicked him with a foot, sending him and the chair tumbling out of the execution ground.
Without checking whether Murong Dun had survived the fall, Jiang Lai quickly turned back, seeing the disappointment and gloom in Jiang Ling’s eyes that hadn’t been concealed in time. She rushed to him and hugged him, using momentum to press him backward.
As the arrow brushed past her shoulder, Jiang Lai’s eyes bulged in pain, but you can’t catch a wolf if you can’t sacrifice a child. To deal with Jiang Ling, that son of a virtual turtle, you have to be better at acting than him, so Jiang Lai, who was only scratched, went pale, her face losing all color, and fell limp into Jiang Ling’s arms.
"Jiang Lai?!"
Jiang Ling held her by the shoulders, blood covering his hands, red and jarring, causing him to instantly lose his usual calm composure.
"Jiang Lai, hang in there. I’ll take you to see a doctor."
Jiang Lai weakly opened her eyes, trembling as she reached out to touch Jiang Ling’s face, her eyes filled with reluctance and affection.
"Ling, the things that happened when we were kids were my fault. If I die, promise me... take good care of our parents, okay?"
"Don’t think too much. You’ll be fine."
With that, Jiang Ling picked her up and shouted to the people behind him.
"Catch anyone who has disrupted the execution, and execute them without exception!"
Jiang Lai also knew her wound wasn’t that serious, but there was no choice. The arrow was meant for Jiang Ling. Since she took the hit for him, she had to milk it for all it was worth.
For example, now, amidst the chaos when Jiang Ling is out of his depths, sprinkle some poison powder on the arrowhead that fell to the ground, and rub some on her wound too.
The doctor, upon seeing Jiang Lai’s wound, couldn’t help but shake his head.
"The wound isn’t deep, but the arrowhead is coated with poison, and it’s the kind of deadly poison that kills subtly. This poison is rare, and there’s currently no antidote. Lieutenant General, you should seek another expert!"
Jiang Ling clenched the arrowhead in his hand, his expression terrifyingly grim.
He hadn’t expected that in his orchestrated play, someone would genuinely attempt to take his life.
If Jiang Lai hadn’t intervened today, it would be him lying on the bed, gravely injured.
Previously, everything was arranged. He’d feign serious injury to have those people rescue Luoyang from the execution ground, then use Luoyang to deal with Jiang Xiong.
For revenge against Jiang Xiong, he didn’t want to reveal himself personally; Luoyang was the best leverage.
But now, it seems someone in the opposing camp has had ulterior motives.
Luoyang, such greed! Given a way out, and still wanting his life!
"Jiang Lai!"
At this moment, Murong Dun’s anxious voice came from outside. He entered with difficulty, using a crutch, and upon seeing Jiang Lai lying lifeless on the bed, his eyes immediately reddened.
"You... what do you want?! Why did she end up this way?! Why can’t you protect her?!"
Murong Dun glared at Jiang Ling, new hatred mixing with old, making him want to kill him immediately.
Jiang Ling stared coldly at Murong Dun.
"And you? A cowardly, useless thing!"
"I’m her husband, your brother-in-law!"
"Murong Dun, as the man you’ve become, do you still have the face to continue dragging others down? Blind in the eye and heart, wasn’t the maid beside Jiang Lai actually Luoyang? You married Jiang Lai to avenge against Jiang Xiong for her, using Jiang Lai to steal secrets from the Jiang Family to inform His Majesty. That was you, wasn’t it? And in the end, your deceit backfired, demoted to a commoner by His Majesty.
Jiang Lai, that foolish woman, still sticks by you without abandoning, yet all you think about is that Luoyang.
Heh...
You two truly deserve each other."