Chapter 80: In the End, It Twisted Back to Her
The air in the arena seemed to freeze. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at Wen Xueling, who had suddenly entered.
She could even hear her own heart pounding like a drum.
The gazes of the crowd made her feel as if needles were pricking her back. Wen Xueling turned her head and glared fiercely at Gan Qiongying—it was she who had pushed her in!
But since she was already inside, Wen Xueling was, after all, a princess, the jewel of Jingxi Wang. She wouldn’t cower and let Princess Duanrong laugh at her.
Wen Xueling simply stood up, cleared her throat, and raised her voice to say, “Stop fighting.”
“This is Princess Hui’an’s birthday banquet. Shedding blood at the Grand Princess’s celebration would be inauspicious, wouldn’t it?”
Wen Xueling glanced around and noticed everyone looking at her with strange expressions.
Suppressing her discomfort, she forced herself to continue, “Let’s all prioritize harmony…”
Wen Xueling truly didn’t know what else to say. She looked toward Zhongli Zhengzhen and the Regent, but upon seeing the expressions in their eyes, a chill shot up her spine, and she dared not speak another word.
The flames danced with the gentle breeze. Wen Xueling looked at Zhongli Zhengzhen; there was still undried blood at the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were filled with irritation at being interrupted during the fight.
Standing opposite him, Sima Rui’s expression was icy cold, the fury in his eyes burning even brighter than the torches. A single glance from him could extinguish all one’s courage.
Both men, driven to a frenzy by the fight, exuded a menacing and murderous aura. Wen Xueling feared that if she said another word, the two would charge at her with their daggers.
The onlookers snapped back to reality at this moment and began whispering among themselves, speculating about Wen Xueling’s sudden entry.
They scrutinized her from head to toe, their gazes like flames, making her feel as if she were being scorched all over.
“What is she doing?”
“What does this have to do with her?”
“She probably saw Jinchuan Zhizi injured by our Regent and felt sorry for him. Oh, I heard that Princess Xue’e has feelings for Jinchuan’s hostage…”
Hearing these speculations, Wen Xueling didn’t dare lift her head, feeling as if she had been publicly slapped.
The key point was that Zhongli Zhengzhen had indeed shown her special attention before, but this time, at Princess Hui’an’s birthday banquet, he had treated her with disdain.
Wen Xueling even felt a sense of humiliation, as if she had been played for a fool.
She stood there, trapped between advancing and retreating, the flush on her face spreading from her cheeks down to her neck.
Zhongli Zhengzhen had no time for pity or tenderness. Ignoring her, he twisted his wrist, adjusted the direction of his dagger, and used his sleeve to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, also wiping away the blood on his neck.
Sima Rui quickly averted his gaze as well. Consumed by rage, the veins on his neck bulged, clearly displeased with Wen Xueling’s sudden intrusion. His voice was icy cold: “Get out of here.”
Princess Xue’e, raised in the lap of luxury and cherished since childhood, had always been pursued and admired even after arriving in Yindu. How could she have ever experienced such a scene where she was despised by everyone?
Her eyes instantly reddened. Biting her lip to hold back tears, she wanted to leave as quickly as possible. But Zhongli Zhengzhen and the Regent didn’t wait for her to retreat before they clashed once more.
The glint of their blades crossed rapidly, less than ten feet away from Wen Xueling. The murderous aura emanating from Zhongli Zhengzhen and the Regent felt almost tangible, rushing toward Wen Xueling.
She could even feel the chilling cold of the blade, which made her legs more disobedient than the two men’s disgusted gazes.
Zhongli Zhengzhen wielded the dagger and brushed past Wen Xueling, the blade even grazing her long hair lifted by the night wind.
Wen Xueling stiffened all over, her eyes wide, her legs weak and powerless, unable to lift even an inch.
And Regent Sima Rui was originally a living king of hell, a general who had been on the battlefield, and would use everything at his disposal to win in a fight.
Wen Xueling had barged into the arena and stood there refusing to leave. In Sima Rui’s eyes, she was now just an object.
So Sima Rui directly used her as a wooden stake shield, using her body as cover, forcing Zhongli Zhengzhen to have some scruples.
One was a Jinchuan Zhizi, the other a Jingxi Junzhu, both backed by ambitious forces. Sima Rui completely disregarded them, his attacks growing more and more fierce.
The young masters in the arena, who usually cherished the fairer sex, actually became even more excited upon seeing this situation.
Human depravity always knows no bounds, and the Regent was equivalent to the true ruler of Nánzhào. As the saying goes, if the upper beam is not straight, the lower ones will go aslant. If those in power are like this, those below naturally can’t wait to flatter and take pride in emulating them.
Thus, Wen Xueling was treated as a target. She slapped her thighs with her hands, trying to regain feeling in her legs, but fell to the ground, tears streaming down like broken strings, lying there helpless and at a loss.
The fight between Zhongli Zhengzhen and Sima Rui was not over yet. After being interrupted, their anger grew even stronger, and their moves became even more ruthless. Clearly, they would not stop until one of them was dead.
The onlookers boiled over with excitement once again. They paid no attention to Wen Xueling struggling to move on the ground, their eyes fixed intently on the two combatants, their faces filled with agitation and excitement, each pair of eyes gleaming with a greenish light.
Meanwhile, Gan Qiongying, watching from outside the arena, was greatly shocked to see that the two living kings of hell in the arena did not stop because of Wen Xueling and even used her as a shield in their moves. She remembered this part of the plot wasn’t like this!
In the plot, Wen Xueling had said a few words like “stop fighting,” which worked better than an imperial edict. But now Wen Xueling was actually told to get lost and treated like a laughingstock. This was truly absurd beyond belief!
And those aristocratic young masters who pursued Wen Xueling in the plot were actually only focused on watching the spectacle. Not one tried to step forward to help her up, not even a concerned glance—only excitement.
Gan Qiongying even saw that the man standing closest to Wen Xueling, cheering and shouting encouragement toward the arena, was none other than the son of the Vice Minister of Revenue who deeply loved Wen Xueling!
At this moment, he was chanting slogans, cheering for the Regent.
With rhythmic slogans and rhythmic movements, he raised his fists and waved them. The usual image of an elegant, refined, and gentle gentleman had completely vanished. He was in high spirits, his face flushed redder than the flames of a torch.
He could have taken Wen Xueling away in just a few steps, but he didn’t spare her a single glance, his eyes only on the two men fighting.
In the plot, he clearly loved Wen Xueling to the point of life and death, even going so far as to break off an engagement with the royal family and abandon a promising career.
Gan Qiongying looked at him, thinking about how in the plot he would fall off a cliff for Wen Xueling, yet now he wouldn’t even help her up just to watch a fight. Was this still one of the male leads?
Gan Qiongying pushed through the crowd, ready to rush in and save Wen Xueling!
She truly hadn’t expected the plot to collapse to this extent. The plot… hadn’t it always forcefully corrected itself even when it fell apart?
If she had anticipated such a scene, she would never have pushed Wen Xueling into the arena, no matter what.
She wasn’t some living demon king!
As Gan Qiongying struggled through the crowd, trying to slip under the guards’ arms, Wen Xueling was also desperately crawling toward the edge of the arena.
She was literally crawling. With those two fighting to the death, Wen Xueling didn’t dare stand up.
The arena was littered with prey, and the dead big black bear might serve as good cover. Wen Xueling wasn’t brave, but at least the already-dead bear was safer than those two. She never imagined she’d have to rely on a bear’s corpse to save her own life.
Wen Xueling crawled with difficulty, dodging the two men who were fighting recklessly in the arena. Whenever a shadow flashed by, she froze in place, too scared to move. Repeating this, the short distance felt like an insurmountable chasm.
When she finally reached the big black bear, Wen Xueling’s tears poured out like a flood. Sobbing uncontrollably, she hugged her knees and hid helplessly behind the bear.
Gan Qiongying couldn’t bear to watch, but she was stopped by Song Ci!
“Why are you stopping me?” Gan Qiongying glared at Song Ci, pointing into the arena. “Aren’t you going to save Princess Xue’e?”
Gan Qiongying urged anxiously, “Didn’t your master tell you to protect Princess Xue’e with your life?”
In the plot, Zhongli Zhengzhen had indeed instructed Song Ci this way. Because of that, Song Ci repeatedly risked his life for Wen Xueling, surviving countless near-death experiences and eventually becoming one of her husbands.
Yet now, Song Ci was stopping Gan Qiongying from saving Wen Xueling!
“My master told me before entering the arena to watch over Princess Duanrong’s safety.”
Those weren’t his exact words, though. Zhongli Zhengzhen’s original instruction was: “Keep an eye on Princess Duanrong. Watch her closely. Don’t give her any chance to interact with the Consort!”
After meeting Lihua last night and believing his words, Zhongli Zhengzhen now wanted to keep Gan Qiongying under tight surveillance to prevent her from seizing any opportunity to humiliate Lihua.
Zhongli Zhengzhen even felt that Princess Duanrong’s attentiveness toward the Consort during yesterday’s banquet wasn’t out of kindness but to publicly shame him.
The food-laden table was chest-high when seated, and the Consort’s expression had shifted several times during the banquet. Who knew what Princess Duanrong might have done under the table?
After last night’s conversation, Gan Qiongying had become, in Zhongli Zhengzhen’s mind, a completely debauched and lustful devil.
And Lihua, while dealing with such a person, had still managed to obtain the list for him. Of course, Zhongli Zhengzhen had to ensure his “brother’s” safety—at least in public, he couldn’t endure humiliation like during yesterday’s banquet and pretend nothing was wrong.
This was truly a misunderstanding bigger than the sky.
Even if beaten to death, Gan Qiongying would never have imagined this part of the plot wriggling like an earthworm, twisting and turning until it landed squarely on her.