The Emperor's Phoenix

Chapter 39 | Her Revenge

刘 映 月

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Liu Ying Yue

An Fen met her pressing gaze with a blank stare, turning to the crowd of people with a brisk order. "Enter the back gate and surround the palace." He turned his back and hurriedly walked back to his horse as Ying Yue followed, burning with questions but finding that the situation wasn't exactly appropriate to ask them.

Did he really--? But then again, it was in Emperor Tang's nature to rile up people's emotions, after all...

"...He wasn't lying." An Fen broke in, throwing the reins of the other horse to her as she stood in stunned silence, "Will you view me any differently knowing that I really did kill my dear sister?"

Before she could get the chance to respond, he took off on his horse as she followed behind in hesitant silence. "No." That was the only thing Ying Yue could manage to say, the two riding side-by-side at a rapid pace back to the palace. "...Zhang Wei...told me about Yu Qi."

Ying Yue internally cursed herself out for being too straightforward as An Fen said nothing.

"...I came back too late after I was exiled from the palace during the events with the Blood Realm..." He locked his sight on the approaching structure of the palace in the distance and clenched his jaw. "After I found out about...what happened to her...She guided my sword towards her heart and begged me to kill her--in the appearance of suicide."

She made no further comment under the weight of his confession, her features shifting into a pained expression at the thought of his suffering.

"After that incident, I couldn't bear to return to such a dreadful place," he smiled bitterly to himself, an underlying emotion masked beneath the surface.

At the same time...I can't help but feel like he had another motive...

"Yue Er, get down!" He suddenly brought his horse to an abrupt stop and jumped off as arrows pierced his animal companion's flank.

She quickly did as he instructed, letting out a low curse at an arrow which grazed her arm. An Fen brought forth a shadowy shield with a wave of his hand as more townspeople appeared as reinforcements.

"Shit...! This means Zhang Wei--" He shared a grim look with her in their mutual understanding as screams pierced the air.

"...We left them for too long. I'm surprised if they're still managing to hold up the fort..." she muttered under her breath, rushing into the palace grounds under the effectiveness of An Fen's shield.

Hm. Despite my blood abilities, I've realized that they are overall ineffective for mere actions such as this...Although, I still haven't toned them completely...

Bodies were scattered along the grounds in pools of blood, some smoke from nearby billowing into the sky. However, the thing she found most bizarre was how it appeared that the fighting stopped, for there was now more commotion by the palace gates rather than on the grounds.

However, if I were to choose the most important lesson I've learned up until now--it would be to always be prepared.

She looked over her shoulder at the same time as she dodged an oncoming attack of flames, quickly standing back-to-back with An Fen in defensive positions as flame wielders appeared before them.