Chapter 155 Part 2

His arrows never missed its targets, and this distance was also the most powerful range for shooting.

The arrow pierced deeply into Li Meng’s arm holding the fire stick, and the broken bones pierced through the skin. However, under such a fierce attack, the fire stick did not fall from his hand.

His body swayed on the beam as he absorbed the impact of the strike, but he quickly regained his footing. With his other hand, he seized the fire stick, then—gritting his teeth—wrenched the arrow still embedded in his wounded arm straight out, flesh and blood tearing as it came free. Blood gushed from the wound, but he pressed on, continuing toward the center of the main beam.

By now, the Yulin guard who had rushed up were also shooting another array of arrows.

Arrows rained down in chaos. In the blink of an eye, seven to eight more shafts pierced Li Meng’s body. At last, his advance was halted. He stopped in place.

With a “whoosh”, another arrow shot out and pierced Li Meng’s knee. His body swayed until he fell to his knee on the beam. Then, he lay down and continued to crawl along the beam towards the groove ahead.

Pei Xiaoyuan swiftly climbed onto the corridor railing, steadied himself, and leapt forward. His body soared through the air, crossing the gap between the corridor and the beamwork. With both arms, he grabbed hold of the nearest crossbeam and, flipping himself upward, climbed onto the overhead structure. Then, across the crisscrossing network of intersecting beams, he launched into several more leaps—soaring from one beam to another—until, after a final vault, both feet landed squarely on the main beam. He turned and charged forward.

The firelight flickered against Li Meng’s face, now twisted—whether from pain or hatred, it was hard to tell. Gritting his teeth, he continued crawling forward several more feet. When he saw Pei Xiaoyuan had already ascended the main beam and was sprinting toward him with sure steps, his eyes burned with fury. He snarled, “Cheap glory for that dog emperor!

“So be it! Back at Dacheng City, you slipped from my grasp by sheer luck. Today, you’ve come to me yourself—then let that dog emperor see with his own eyes how you’re buried beneath the ruins, entombed alongside this grand hall he built to boast of his so-called achievements, as a burial offering to His Highness the Crown Prince!”

He stopped, pulled a leather flask from his body, bit off the plug with his teeth, and poured the liquid in the bag onto the beam. The liquid flowed into the groove. The pungent smell of kerosene spread.

Then, he swung his arm and threw the fire stick into the groove amid the angry curses of the Yulin guards.

Even if one ran as fast as they could, the distance was still too far.

The fire stick was about to fall, but Pei Xiaoyuan was still seven to eight steps away from it. Seeing that there was no way to reach it in time, he did not slow down. While sprinting at full speed, he swiftly pulled off his outer robe, gripped it tightly in his hand, and with a fierce swing of his arm, flung it forward. With a sharp whoosh, the garment unfurled in midair and wrapped around the fire stick.

He swung again, and the stick was flung away. Moments later, it landed on the ground with a loud bang. The flames were extinguished.

Crisis averted.

The Yulin guards snapped out of their daze—relieved, they burst into cheers.

The smug look on Li Meng’s face froze instantly, and in the next moment, his expression became extremely ferocious.

Before the cheers of the surrounding Yulin guards died down, he shouted loudly. Despite being heavily injured, he leaped up from the beam like a ferocious tiger and pounced on Pei Xiaoyuan, grabbing him around the waist.

“Let’s die together!”

Li Meng roared, and amid the anxious shouts of the Yulin guards calling for the prince consort, he dragged Pei Xiaoyuan and the two of them fell off the beam together.

“Pei Xiaoyuan!”

Xuyu hurried over upon hearing the news, rushing into the main hall. When she looked up and saw this scene, her whole body turned cold and she screamed.

Li Meng, driven by the desperate desire to die together, unleashed all his remaining strength in one sudden lunge. Pei Xiaoyuan was dragged down from the main beam, tumbling headfirst. At the critical moment, his legs snapped upward, hooking tightly onto the beam and halting his fall just in time.

Li Meng now resembled a crazed tiger. Dangling in midair, he clung to Pei Xiaoyuan’s waist with a death grip, twisting and writhing violently in an attempt to fling him down along with him.

But Pei Xiaoyuan, relying on his formidable core strength, stabilized his upside-down body. Clenching his fists, he delivered two heavy blows to Li Meng’s temples—then, with a swift motion, drove his thumbs straight into the man’s eyes.

Amid screams, blood gushed out of Li Meng’s eyes, his hands slipped, and he fell straight down from the height of the beam, his brain bursting, and he died on the spot.

After getting rid of Li Meng’s pressure, Pei Xiaoyuan controlled his body, swung several times in the air, stretched out his arms to grab the beam, turned over, and stood firmly on his feet.

The breath that had been stuck in Xuyu’s chest finally came out.

The guards in the hall knelt down when they saw her. She closed her eyes and calmed herself down, waiting for her legs, which had just been weakened by fear and were still shaking, to finally regain strength. Opening her eyes again, she lifted her skirt, walked past the body that was broken into pieces and completely deformed, climbed the stairs, and walked up quickly.

Just moments earlier, Pei Xiaoyuan had been wholly focused on dealing with Li Meng, shutting out all external noise. He hadn’t realized her arrival. Now that the danger had passed and he had returned from the beam to the corridor above, he was speaking with those around him, giving orders for the aftermath, when he suddenly heard someone below calling out for the Princess. He quickly wrapped up his instructions and rushed down. Turning around a spiral staircase, her figure appeared in his line of sight. At the same time, she looked up, saw him, and came to an abrupt stop.

She had climbed all the way up from the main hall in one breath. Her chest was heaving, and a thin sheen of sweat had formed across her brow.

Earlier that day, he had galloped back from Cangshan ahead of the others to handle this crisis. Fortunately, nothing went wrong and he finally eliminated Li Yan, Wang Zhang, Li Meng and others before the day of the captive offering ceremony.

There would never be true harmony in the court, and no one could guarantee what the world would be like down the line. But at least, in the foreseeable future, the court, from top to bottom, would see no great upheaval. Those ambitious men still lurking in the shadows would have no chance of gaining momentum, nor stirring any significant waves.

Pei Xiaoyuan met her gaze for a moment, a smile rising on his face. Just as he was about to step down the stairs to meet her, he suddenly saw her lift her foot and rush toward him, thudding up the steps—thump, thump, thump—until she threw herself into his arms and wrapped him in a tight embrace.

At first, he didn’t quite understand. He only felt the soft curve of her chest pressed tightly against him, and beneath it, her heart thudding wildly—ba-dump, ba-dump—furiously pounding. Quickly, he guessed that she must have seen the scene moments ago—his desperate fight with Li Meng atop the hall’s beams—and been terrified by it. He gently whispered to reassure her, “I’m fine, don’t worry.” But she seemed not to hear. She simply kept her face buried in his chest and held him tighter still, arms locked around his waist, refusing to let go.

Pei Xiaoyuan had no choice but to stop on the stairs.

Behind him and behind her, the Yulin guards who were about to go down or up were blocked. Seeing the princess hugging prince consort so tightly, they dared not look at them any longer and turned their heads away. However, they all secretly glanced over again, occasionally stealing a few looks.

Pei Xiaoyuan was slightly embarrassed, yet along with it came a subtle joy—an almost quiet, self-satisfied delight. He thought to gently remind her that others were watching them, but in his heart, he couldn’t quite bear to interrupt this moment. As he hesitated, she suddenly opened her eyes, released him, and instead took his hand—then, turning swiftly, she led him away down the stairs. The Yulin guards quickly stepped aside, scrambling into the corners, crowding together to clear a path for the two of them. And just like that, Pei Xiaoyuan was pulled along by her, descending the steps under the watchful eyes of many, walking out of the grand hall.

Night had fallen completely. Palace lanterns now glimmered here and there like stars scattered across the surface of water, flickering and drifting through the winding covered corridors and paths of the palace garden. He followed her out of that grand hall, turning into the rear garden—into the grove of purple catalpa trees, where Chengping and Yuwen Zhi had once fought fiercely over her.

He didn’t know why she brought him here. He looked around and found that apart from them, the area was quiet and there was no one else in sight.

“Hao’er…” He stopped and called her. Suddenly she turned around, pulled him into a dense thicket of branches and leaves, and then pressed him against the tree trunk.

Pei Xiaoyuan’s heart skipped a beat.

“Hao’er…”

Without a word, she threw herself into his arms once more, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. She forced his head down, making his face lower toward hers—then, suddenly, she kissed him, hard, on the mouth.

He had no defense against such a fervent, urgent kiss. In the span of a heartbeat, by the time he realized what she was doing, a rush of heat had already surged through him, like mist rising with the blood, clouding his vision. This was nothing like the scene moments ago, under the eyes of many. Her attendants had stopped smartly at a distance. Around them was only darkness and silence, the quiet rustle of branches, and the two of them—alone.

His heart thudded wildly in his chest. He reached out, arms spreading to gather her into his embrace, ready to respond, to lose himself in her kiss under the cover of night. But just then, she abruptly stopped—and shoved him away.

“Why did you take such a risk?”

She questioned him, her voice trembling slightly, obviously she had not yet completely calmed down from the shock just moments ago.

Pei Xiaoyuan was startled, and immediately explained: “Your guess this morning was correct. Before Li Yan left Chang’an to go to the southwest to start a war more than a year ago, he should have already made plans for the possibility of failure later on and planned this scheme. His original intention should have been to launch an attack on the day of the celebration, hoping that everyone including His Majesty would be buried here. Fortunately, it was discovered early, but Li Meng was fierce and had no plan to survive. If I hadn’t stopped him like that, I’m afraid Chongtian Hall would have been destroyed in his hands—”

“Let alone one Chongtian Hall, even if there are ten or a hundred of them, what would it matter if they were destroyed? The sky won’t fall!”

Xuyu interrupted him.

“Do you know what I went through when you were trapped in Dache City?”

Her voice caught despite herself, choking with suppressed emotion.

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