Rejected Beauty Practices the Villain Play-Chapter 846 - 824: Death

Before the slaughter at the Chaoyang Palace, Han Ziqi sent Princess X and his mother consort back to the palace. The Noble Consort was fearful; the people of Sannan naturally yielded to Beining and had once suffered a defeat, so apprehension was inevitable. She feared she would lose everything in this battle, unable to protect her son and daughters. Gripping Han Ziqi’s hand tightly, she implored, "Son, negotiate well with His Highness; strive for the best terms and prevent further unrest. Your father is dead; in the future, you will be the Commandery Prince of Sannan. There’s no need to create more trouble."

She spent a lifetime contending openly and covertly with the King of Sannan’s other women. Though her son firmly held the position of Princely Heir, the other princes remained fiercely ambitious. Now that the King of Sannan was dead, her son would be the King of Sannan. She could finally breathe a sigh of relief; no one would bully them, mother and son, anymore. Whether Sannan survived did not matter as long as their family could live safely. A peaceful life was all she sought, without concern for the fall or ruin of Sannan.

Han Ziqi reassured her, "Mother, rest assured, I will handle things properly."

As soon as he emerged from the Noble Consort’s palace, Han Li hurried over, "Princely Heir, something is amiss; chaos has erupted at the Chaoyang Palace."

"How did this start?" Outraged, Han Ziqi rushed to the Chaoyang Palace, but it was too late. Just as Ying Yi was escorting Xie Jue outside, Han Ziqi was stunned. Upon leaving the Chaoyang Palace, the High Priest had been present, having promised him to calm the First Prince and prevent turmoil. How did it all escalate into violence?

A large contingent of the Forbidden Army pursued Xie Jue and Ying Yi, and Han Ziqi couldn’t stop them from behind. The fires at the Chaoyang Palace were fierce, spreading outward, with incessant sounds of killing. Han Ziqi frantically shouted for them to stop, but the frenzied Forbidden Army disregarded his commands entirely.

Han Ziqi dashed over a ground strewn with bodies, immediately spotting the stunned Third Prince and the headless corpse of the Great King. The corpse was easily recognizable even without a head, as its attire identified it.

Han Ziqi grabbed the Third Prince and shouted, "Third Brother, what’s going on? Why did this happen?"

"Ask the High Priest!" The Third Prince was equally startled, unable to comprehend.

The priests, untouched by dust and pure as snow, coldly watched the fighting soldiers. In their eyes, there seemed to be no death, no slaughter, as if they were performing a sacred ritual, indifferent to all lives. Han Ziqi felt like he’d been slapped hard!

"High Priest, what are you doing?" he asked with a trembling voice, his entire body trembling along with it. Behind the High Priest, fire and people fighting raged at the Chaoyang Palace, yet he appeared aloof, unaffected.

The High Priest Du Fang looked calmly at Han Ziqi. "We priests uphold the royal lineage, yet chose a weak ruler. Since Sannan is to submit, the royal family shall die in atonement!"

"You’re insane! If not to surrender, what else? We have no strength to fight; can the Forbidden Army withstand the Ningzhou Iron Cavalry?" Han Ziqi’s teeth trembled with hatred. "Everyone agreed to surrender—you never objected at the time. Now you regret—wait... Father King was burned to death... was it you?"

"No, he willingly sacrificed himself for Sannan, offering his lowly body. From the moment he signed the surrender document, he foresaw his fate."

"You’re utterly insane. Someone, stop this!" Han Ziqi shouted, "Han Li, have them cease at once!"

But everything was too late! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Xie Jue, leading the Ningzhou Iron Cavalry, launched a counterattack. Chen Yesheng and his spies arrived at the Chaoyang Palace even before Xie Jue and his men. The Chaoyang Palace was already a field of corpses; the entire palace had burned down and collapsed, with many heavily injured soldiers unable to escape, burned alive within, leaving the ground in chaos. Chen Yesheng’s eyes were bloodshot, "Lord, Lord..."

All the Jiangnan spies searched among the bodies for Fang Chuning’s figure. Outside the Chaoyang Palace, not a soul remained; the High Priest and Han Ziqi, along with the others, had vanished.

Only the ever-spreading fire continued to blaze.

"Lord..." Chen Yesheng and his men called out in desperation, as Xie Jue, with the Ningzhou Iron Cavalry, struck back. The Forbidden Army blocking ahead fell one by one. Xie Jue dismounted, face pale seeing the field of bodies, lips trembling. Without orders, Lin Xiao and Zhang Boxin swiftly dismounted to search for survivors, while military physicians hurriedly attended.

"Anning..." he felt an inexplicable ringing in his ears, almost unable to hear others. He saw Chen Yesheng and others continue searching through the corpses for Fang Chuning, identifying one by one.

"Here’s a survivor, come quickly!" Lin Xiao shouted, finding a heavily injured soldier among the bodies, as military physicians rushed to treat him.

"Anning..." Xie Jue swiftly joined the search, identifying one by one. To see living or dead.

Not far off, Ying Yi and Ying Er knelt beside two bodies: Ying San and Yingwu. One through Four were brothers; this time Ying Si remained in the capital to protect Ruyi and didn’t accompany Xie Jue to Sannan. Ying San died shielding his lord during the unrest, and Ying Er was tearful, wishing it was his brother leading the Prince away; he should have stayed.

Ying Yi wiped his tears and resumed searching for his brothers. Soon he found Six and Seven as well; Ying Qi was lifeless, and Ying Liu was gravely wounded, unconscious and near death. He called for the military physicians urgently.

Xie Jue never found Fang Chuning.

Chen Yesheng and the Jiangnan spies scoured all the bodies, but found no trace of Fang Chuning!

"Prince, we can’t find the Lord!" Chen Yesheng’s eyes filled with terror, as nearly all the three hundred Ningzhou Iron Cavalry who entered the palace with Xie Jue were lost here, with only a few severely injured soldiers barely surviving and uncertain to make it. Fang Chuning was missing, and Zhang Boxin quickly tallied the numbers; including Fang Chuning, over twenty were absent. They all turned toward the blazing remains of the Chaoyang Palace.

Everyone’s hearts chilled; could they have been engulfed by the flames?

"Prince... the Lord’s sword..." Chen Yesheng found Fang Chuning’s longsword, a weapon he always carried. The sword in hand meant life; fallen sword meant death.

Xie Jue stared at the blade that had accompanied Fang Chuning through countless battles, only briefly parted from him during those two years in Beiman; his blood ran cold. He looked up at the burning Chaoyang Palace, eyes filled with flames and blood.

For a long time.

The surrounding soldiers remained silent, even their searches for the wounded were subdued. At that moment, none knew what Xie Jue was thinking.

Suppressing the tumultuous hatred within, Xie Jue ordered, "Seal the palace gates, extinguish the fire, find the High Priest and Han Ziqi, leave no one behind!"

"Yes!"