Chasing Jade (Zhu Yu)

Strange movements arose below the city walls as the sound of approaching hoofbeats drew near, the north wind howling and whipping the tattered banners still clinging to the battlements.

The embrace was brief—as if Xie Zheng had only pulled Fan Changyu into his arms to dissipate the force with which he'd yanked her up.

Before Changyu could even process what had happened, Xie Zheng had already released her, leaving behind an icy command: "Stay on the walls. Don't come down."

Having said this, he himself gripped his long-handled blade, seized a rope tied with an eagle claw hook, and slid down the city wall like a swooping hawk.

Changyu scrambled to her feet, leaning over the parapet to watch as he charged straight after Sui Yuanqing.

Among the rebelling peasants were many of Sui Yuanqing’s hidden scouts, dressed in the same coarse clothing as ordinary farmers. They darted through the crowd, sowing chaos. Thousands of people stood packed together, the constant jostling making movement nearly impossible, hindering Xie Zheng’s advance.

From atop the wall, Changyu had a clear view of Sui Yuanqing’s movements. She pointed in one direction and shouted to Xie Zheng, "That bastard’s fleeing southwest!"

Hearing her, Xie Zheng vaulted over the shoulders of the tightly packed peasants, leaping toward the southwest in pursuit of Yuan Qing.

The Martial Assassins hidden among the peasants swarmed to intercept him. Xie Zheng forced several back with a single slash of his blade, but some, relying on their patched peasant garb, pretended to be ordinary farmers, shouting, "The man in the blue devil mask is killing people!"

"I wasn’t part of the group that stormed the walls! Why’s he swinging his blade at me?"

Unaware peasants, seeing Xie Zheng attacking those in short robes, assumed he was slaughtering common folk. Enraged, they grabbed whatever weapons they could and rushed to block him.

Against a group of Martial Assassins, Xie Zheng could fight ruthlessly—but against deceived peasants, he had to hold back. Trapped, he could only watch helplessly as Sui Yuanqing was escorted to the edge of the crowd by his personal guards.

The two men locked eyes across the throng, and Yuan Qing flashed Xie Zheng a taunting grin.

Behind the blue devil mask, Xie Zheng’s gaze was glacial.

From the wall, Changyu watched Sui Yuanqing escape using such underhanded tactics and angrily punched the parapet in frustration.

The already crumbling wall crumbled further under her fist, sending chunks of debris raining down.

Changyu froze, staring at the crumbling wall, then at her own hand. She glanced at Head Constable Wang and the county magistrate, who were gaping at her in shock, and promptly took several steps back, putting as much distance between herself and the wall as possible.

She absolutely could not be held responsible for repairs!

Meanwhile, He Jingyuan had led his troops to block the only official road outside Qingping County’s gates. Seeing the chaos among the peasants surrounding the city, he frowned in confusion.

Spotting soldiers in Jizhou uniforms mixed in with the crowd, his aged eyelids drooped slightly. "Why are Jizhou Prefecture troops here?"

He ordered a nearby personal guard, "Signal the Jizhou soldiers in the crowd to come here."

Amid the deafening clamor of battle, verbal commands were useless—advances and retreats were directed by signal flags.

The guard quickly retrieved two small flags and signaled to the Jizhou soldiers now at the crowd’s periphery. They saw the command but didn’t approach—instead, they swiftly fled in the opposite direction.

The guard turned to He Jingyuan. "General, what do we—?"He Jingyuan said in a deep voice, "They're not soldiers from our Jizhou Prefecture. They might be from that unmarked army Wen Chang went to suppress. Capture them!"

A young officer quickly led several dozen men to pursue Sui Yuanqing and his fleeing group.

Meanwhile, the Martial Assassins hidden among the crowd pushed farmers forward to block the pursuing soldiers while shouting, "The soldiers are killing people!"

"The officials don't care about our lives at all!"

"This corrupt court—we might as well rebel!"

Some Martial Assassins took advantage of the chaos to stab several soldiers chasing Sui Yuanqing. The remaining soldiers, thinking their comrades had been killed by rebelling peasants, angrily began cutting down the civilians blocking their way.

Seeing the soldiers killing indiscriminately, some terrified farmers shrank back into the crowd while others, enraged, raised their hoes and rakes to fight back.

He Jingyuan frowned deeply at the escalating chaos.

Another officer under his command watched with gritted teeth and stepped forward, saying, "Lord He, let me lead a thousand troops to suppress the rioters and support Commandant Hu!"

As He Jingyuan pondered, a black-clad man suddenly emerged from the crowd. Tall and wielding a Yanyue blade, his face hidden behind a blue devil mask, he spoke in a rough voice: "The one fleeing in Jizhou military uniform is Sui Yuanqing, second son of Prince Changxin. His men are disguised as rebels, stirring up trouble among the crowd."

He Jingyuan thought this explained everything. Studying the young man before him, he couldn't help asking, "Might I know who you are, brave warrior?"

Xie Zheng replied coldly, "Just a commoner, unworthy of naming myself before Your Lordship." As he spoke, his gaze shifted to the young officer who had spoken earlier. "I'll borrow your horse and bow."

The officer felt his collar yanked violently, and before he knew it, he was pulled off his horse. Stumbling several steps to regain balance, he looked up to see the man already galloping away on his steed.

Indignant, the officer shouted, "How dare you—" but stopped mid-sentence when his eyes met He Jingyuan's, hanging his head in shame. The stranger had dismounted him within five paces, and he hadn't even been able to resist—clear proof of his inferior skills.

He Jingyuan didn't reprimand him, instead watching Xie Zheng's retreating figure with a complicated expression before ordering his troops: "Sound the horns and form ranks."

With the rebels in complete disarray, restoring order was the only way to minimize casualties.

The mournful sound of buffalo horns echoed as shield-bearing soldiers formed the front lines, rhythmically striking their thick shields with swords while thousands of troops shouted in unison—a deafening display that successfully intimidated all the rebels present.

The farmers still held their tools defensively against the armed soldiers, but fear showed on their faces as they instinctively shrank back.

He Jingyuan addressed them: "I am He Jingyuan, Governor of Jizhou. You are all people under my jurisdiction. Why rebel?"

Hearing it was him leading the troops, though still clutching their tools, the crowd erupted in hushed discussion. Their expressions softened, and some even began quietly sobbing.

Soon someone dropped their tools and knelt, crying bitterly, "Lord He, you must deliver justice for us!"

As the front rows knelt, others gradually followed suit, dropping their tools and kneeling until the field was filled with weeping voices: "We had no other choice!"Even those who were still unwilling had to accept that the tide had turned. These farmers, who only knew how to wield hoes, stood no chance against well-trained soldiers. Rebellion was a crime punishable by the extermination of one's entire clan. It was better to obediently admit their mistakes now and beg for mercy, hoping the authorities would let the matter slide since the blame couldn't be pinned on everyone.

For a moment, the area beneath the city tower was filled with the cries of the common folk—some genuinely lamenting their hardships, others feigning distress to avoid punishment.

But regardless, the riot had been quelled.

The county magistrate collapsed onto the tower floor, gasping for breath. The thought of nearly losing his life to a blade made his plump face tremble uncontrollably. He said to Head Constable Wang, "Head Constable Wang, you saved my life. I’ll reward you handsomely later."

Head Constable Wang, covered in countless wounds and smeared with blood, pushed aside the body of a fallen Martial Assassin. Wiping the blood from the face of a young constable with his sleeve, he grinned through reddened eyes and said, "Just doing my duty, my lord. If you wish to reward anyone, give more compensation to the families of these young men."

He looked at the dead young constable. "This is Xiao Wu, the youngest constable in the Yamen. He was the most filial—his eighty-year-old blind mother relied on him. Every month when he got his pay, he’d buy a piece of meat from the butcher to make porridge for her. The one next to him is Li Da. His wife is pregnant, due in two months. With the family’s breadwinner gone, I don’t know how they’ll survive…"

His voice choked up as if stuffed with cotton, and he could no longer speak. He simply covered his eyes with his bloodstained hands.

Fan Changyu stared at the fallen constables, her lips pressed tightly together.

She glanced down from the tower but saw no sign of Xie Zheng, Sui Yuanqing, or their group.

Sui Yuanqing and his personal guards had already fled in the planned direction when He Jingyuan sent pursuers after them.

Martial Assassins held back the pursuing soldiers while Mu Shi protected Sui Yuanqing. Mu Shi fired a whistling arrow into the sky, but the thousand men they had stationed at the hillside failed to come to their aid.

As the pursuers grew in number and their Martial Assassins were mostly dead or wounded, unable to hold off the soldiers any longer, Mu Shi was about to fire a second whistling arrow when Sui Yuanqing stopped him. "No need."

With a cold smirk, he suppressed his fury. "The one leading the troops is He Jingyuan, not Wei Xuan. After all, he’s a renowned general of Great Yin. I suspect he’s already discovered our thousand men lying in ambush at the hillside."

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Mu Shi’s heart sank. "This subordinate will fight to the death to escort the Young Master back to Chongzhou."

Sui Yuanqing merely chuckled indifferently, even slowing his pace. The cavalry behind them closed in, firing arrows as they urged their horses forward.

Dodging an arrow, Sui Yuanqing snatched one midair. As a warhorse galloped past, he grabbed its reins and swung himself onto the saddle.

The mounted soldier panicked, slashing backward with his blade, but Sui Yuanqing leaned away and drove the arrowhead into the man’s throat.

The soldier died instantly, and Sui Yuanqing shoved the corpse off the horse.

Mu Shi also seized another soldier’s horse and caught up. Sui Yuanqing grinned roguishly. "If we want to return to Chongzhou, four legs are faster than two."

Now mounted, they paid no heed to the Jizhou soldiers behind them.

"Whoosh!"A white-feathered arrow whistled through the air, grazing Sui Yuanqing's ear before embedding itself deep into the frozen ground several zhang ahead, its white fletching still trembling.

Everyone was startled—had that arrow been aimed at Sui Yuanqing, the tip would have pierced through his back and the shaft would have emerged from his chest.

Sui Yuanqing stared at the arrow that had landed nearby, his usual arrogance fading from his expression as he turned to examine the archer.

The official road had been churned into mud, and remnants of thin snow still clung to the treetops in the forests on either side. At the end of the road stood a man wearing a Blue Devil mask, his long-handled Yanyue blade planted casually in the ground while he held a large bow in hand.

He had already nocked another arrow but made no deliberate effort to aim. The eyes behind the mask were cold and indifferent.

With just one glance, Sui Yuanqing's face twisted in fury.

"Split up and run!" he bellowed.

His personal guards, though confused, immediately scattered on their stolen warhorses.

Xie Zheng's lips curled into a cold smirk as he released the bowstring. By the time the arrow was in flight, he had already nocked a second one.

His movements were astonishingly swift, arrows raining down like meteors. In mere moments, over a dozen arrows had been loosed, and Sui Yuanqing's guards all tumbled from their saddles.

Seeing his men fall one after another, Sui Yuanqing had no time to worry about the archer behind him. Gritting his teeth, he spurred his horse forward, pressing himself as low as possible against its back.

Xie Zheng's quiver was empty by the time he gave chase. As he passed a fallen cavalryman, he reached back and snatched the man's quiver, plucking an arrow with one hand before tossing the quiver aside.

Only Mu Shi remained among Sui Yuanqing's guards, still riding close behind. Glancing back, Mu Shi's eyes widened in horror. "Young Master, watch out!" he roared.

Sui Yuanqing turned at the warning and froze in shock. The man in the Blue Devil mask had fanned nearly ten arrows across his bow, releasing them all at once like a swarm of locusts hurtling toward him.

Terror gripped Sui Yuanqing—he had never witnessed such extraordinary archery in his life. Who was this masked man?

Forced to twist in his saddle, he raised his sword to desperately deflect the incoming arrows. But then his horse screamed as its legs were struck, collapsing and sending Sui Yuanqing flying. He rolled several times before finally skidding to a stop.

The sound of hooves drew near, yet the masked man didn’t rush forward. Instead, he reined in his horse, advancing at a leisurely pace, exuding an air of indifference.

Sui Yuanqing's face darkened. This cat-and-mouse game—wasn’t this exactly what he had done to that little maid from the magistrate’s residence on the city wall earlier?

What connection did this masked man have with that maid?

When he had seized her, hadn’t she been calling out a name?

Mu Shi, fearing Xie Zheng would harm Sui Yuanqing, charged forward on horseback, his spear leveled. "Don’t you dare touch my general!"

Xie Zheng caught the spear mid-thrust, twisting and wrenching it upward with such force that Mu Shi was flung from his saddle. His palms, clenched too tightly around the shaft, were nearly skinned raw from the violent tug. Pain forced him to let go.

Now armed with Mu Shi’s own weapon, Xie Zheng sat calmly astride his horse, the silver spearpoint resting against Sui Yuanqing’s throat. His voice carried a faint mockery.

"Changxin Wang’s heir, Sui Yuanqing?"Sui Yuanqing clenched his teeth so hard that a faint taste of blood filled his mouth. The veins on his temples bulged, but after a moment, he suppressed the humiliation and burst into laughter. "Indeed, it is this heir."

Below the official road roared the raging waters of the Nu River, which, even in the depths of winter, never froze due to the swift current.

Sui Yuanqing stole a discreet glance downward, his entire body appearing utterly relaxed under the tip of Xie Zheng's spear. "And who might you be? If you're here to take this heir's life, surely you wouldn't dare withhold your name."

Xie Zheng remained silent. If Sui Yuanqing had been captured by military forces, they wouldn't kill him now. Taking him to the battlefield in Chongzhou to negotiate terms with Changxin Wang would be far more advantageous.

Sui Yuanqing's deliberate question was an attempt to fish for information.

Seeing that Xie Zheng wasn't biting, Sui Yuanqing suddenly smirked and asked, "Who’s that little maid on the city tower to you? Her skin was so fair, and her lips tasted sweet."

Xie Zheng's gaze turned icy in an instant. Sui Yuanqing had been waiting for this moment of distraction. With a swift motion, he knocked aside the spear at his throat and dove headfirst toward the river.

Xie Zheng reacted with lightning speed, sweeping his spear toward Sui Yuanqing and striking his flank. Sui Yuanqing grunted in pain, and the next moment, his entire body vanished into the churning river, leaving only a spreading stain of crimson on the water's surface.