Chapter 38

That young general of the Li family suddenly flew into a rage, not even summoning his dragon, and grabbed a sword from a nearby general, slashing directly at Yang Xiu's head!

Yang Xiu sat there, neither dodging nor flinching, a smirk of utter disdain and sarcasm on his lips.

"Li Pinghai, step back," a woman's voice rang out.

Li Pinghai's anger only intensified. Why was someone trying to stop him at this moment, when someone had almost defecated and urinated on the Li family's head!

"Step back!" Suddenly, the woman's voice became sharp.

Li Pinghai stopped in his tracks, inexplicably trembling all over, even unable to hold his sword steady.

The sword fell to the ground, and Li Pinghai looked in shock to see a woman standing at the side door of the hall, her posture upright and her demeanor outstanding.

The words that had sounded like a spell, impossible to resist, had come from her mouth.

"Li Yunzi??"

Li Pinghai couldn't quite believe it. Why could this woman make him shiver with just a few words...

"Keep him alive; I need him to deliver a message to Ling Luotian for me," Li Yunzi said.

Li Yunzi walked into the hall under everyone's gaze.

She was wearing light armor.

The light armor fit snugly, accentuating her figure and adding a touch of heroism.

Her long black hair was tied up, her eyebrows like swords, her eyes like stars, with no excessive makeup. Walking into the solemn and dignified hall, she looked like a female general about to head to the battlefield, in stark contrast to the festive attire of the people in the hall and the vermilion of the honor guard.

In fact, Li Yunzi had appeared in this council hall in this manner before when she was the Lady, but she was no longer the Lady, and today was the day the Lingxiao City wedding procession arrived.

"Lady, Yang Xiu greets you," Yang Xiu got up from his seat and bowed.

After the bow, Yang Xiu no longer glanced at the young general, instead sizing up Li Yunzi and saying, "Indeed, it's the familiar Lady. If you like this appearance for entering the grand sedan, I think our City Lord might like it even more. Oh, I forgot to mention, we won't budge on the condition of ceding four cities. The Lady must arrive in our Lingxiao City on time, or there will be no peace talks!"

After saying this, Mr. Yang Xiu let out a strange laugh.

The laughter was full of sarcasm and a hint of lewdness.

"Mr. Yang Xiu, I have a gift for you. Why don't you take it on behalf of your City Lord?" Li Yunzi did not sit in her seat but stood in the council hall.

"Lady, any charm you have should be reserved for the wedding night with our City Lord. I dare not accept it on his behalf," Yang Xiu bowed slightly.

Li Yunzi paid no attention to his mocking words and gave a nod to Commander Cheng.

Commander Cheng nodded and clapped his hands heavily.

The sound spread, and immediately, several soldiers carried black-clothed objects into the hall.

They walked orderly to Yang Xiu and placed the black-clothed objects at his feet.

Lined up, Yang Xiu couldn't tell what was inside.

He was puzzled, not understanding what Li Yunzi meant.

"Open them and see if there are any familiar faces," Li Yunzi said calmly.

Yang Xiu immediately ordered his two attendants to untie the black cloth. When the first one was opened, and he saw the disheveled hair and a head stained with dried blood, his face turned pale.

"Open more!" Yang Xiu gasped.

Feeling that the attendants were too slow, Yang Xiu did it himself.

Inside the black cloth were all heads!

The stench of blood immediately filled the hall, and some of the young ladies, who had never seen war, were so frightened that they almost screamed and ran away.

Yang Xiu continued to open the black cloth, but his hands were trembling uncontrollably.

He recognized every head!

Just before he led the wedding procession to Zulong City, he had drunk with each of them. At that time, their heads were still on their bodies, but now they were wrapped in dirty black cloth, even rolling around without support...

He knew these faces all too well. Weren't they supposed to have already attacked the four western cities of Zulong through the western branch canyon?

Why were they all here, and only their heads?!

Yang Xiu's hands were covered in blood. When he looked at Li Yunzi again, his eyes were no longer filled with frivolity but with sheer terror!!

She had killed everyone!!

She had killed everyone!!

This female demon had killed all the Lingxiao City soldiers who had ambushed the four western cities and had even sent the heads of the commanders here...

What about raising the terms, what about a sudden change of heart...

If he, Yang Xiu, didn't have absolute confidence, how could he dare to act so wildly in the council hall of Zulong City?

In fact, on the first day the Lingxiao City wedding procession set out, the Lingxiao City army had already entered Zulong City territory through the branch canyon!

Calculating the time, at the same moment he signed the peace treaty, the Lingxiao City ambush force would launch a full-scale attack, working with the border army to take the four western cities of Zulong City in one fell swoop!

Peace talks??

From the beginning, they never intended to make peace!

As long as they took the four western cities, they would get the Li family's matriarch, Li Ying, and a disgraced Li Yunzi would be no problem.

But Yang Xiu never imagined that the heads of all the commanders of the ambush force would appear in the hall!

"Commander Cheng, what is this..." Li Ying, who did not recognize the heads, asked in confusion.

"Lord, this elite force of Lingxiao City infiltrated our territory through the branch canyon while we were focused on the peace talks. They were captured by our military guards," Commander Cheng reported.

"What military guards?" Li Ying asked.

"They are the former subordinates of the Lady. I gathered them from various camps and, following Li Yunzi's instructions, searched the canyons where the enemy might have infiltrated... We then discovered this ambush force of Lingxiao City and killed them all in the canyon," Commander Cheng said.

"Lady's military guards!!" Yang Xiu couldn't help but exclaim, collapsing to the ground as if struck by lightning.

The Li family members in the hall were also drenched in cold sweat.

The Lingxiao City army had already invaded?

While they were celebrating, thinking the Lingxiao City was sincere about the marriage alliance, they had already launched an attack on the four western cities?

What about ceding the four cities?

If Li Yunzi's military guards hadn't uncovered their scheme, they would already have the four western cities.

The blood on these heads had dried long ago!

"You... you will not die a good death, Li Yunzi, you wicked woman, you will go to hell," Yang Xiu shouted, almost mad.

"Don't act crazy here; I'm keeping you alive," Li Yunzi said coldly.

Yang Xiu's face changed immediately, crawling towards Li Yunzi in utmost humility, repeatedly kowtowing and saying, "I have always heard that the Lady's word is law. Thank you, Lady, for sparing my life. Thank you, Lady, for sparing my life."

This Yang Xiu was truly laughable, sometimes polite, sometimes wildly aggressive, sometimes mad, and sometimes as humble as a dog.

"Did you not find the one you care about the most among these heads?" Li Yunzi asked from above.

"Yes... yes..." Yang Xiu felt that all his thoughts had been seen through by this woman, and he dared not show any disrespect.

"Your Ling family's young master is still alive. This is the message I want you to deliver to Ling Luotian," Li Yunzi said.

Yang Xiu slowly raised his face, not quite believing Li Yunzi's words.

Still alive??

The Ling family's young master is still alive??

No matter how many generals, none could compare to the Ling family's young master, the future heir of Lingxiao City. The Ling family's patriarch had always been very concerned about his eldest son and had even put him in charge of this ambush force to establish his reputation and make him a hero in breaking through Zulong City.

It was supposed to be a sure thing and a way to gain fame, but it ended in this disaster...

"I will sign the peace treaty now, right now, with no conditions, and I dare not mock the Lady again!" Yang Xiu started looking for the peace treaty on the ground. After finding it, he looked up to see Li Yunzi's cold gaze.

Peace talks??

With the Lady here, there was no possibility of peace between Zulong City and Lingxiao City!

"Sit down and use your literary skills to draft a letter to ransom your young master's life... Before that, clean up the mess on the floor," Li Yunzi said.

Pits, peels, spewed fruit flesh, and some phlegm, Yang Xiu looked at the disgusting mess on the floor and felt an urge to slap himself.

Li Yunzi turned and ignored Yang Xiu, who was cleaning the floor.

"Yunzi, you have done a great service for us!" an elder in the clan said.

"Truly worthy of the Lady, a blessing for our Zulong City," someone immediately added.

"The Lady's name should be restored; Li Yunzi has suffered a lot recently."

Li Yunzi paid no attention to the clan's words and walked to the front of the hall, towards Lady Kong Tong.

Lady Kong Tong forced a smile, looking at Li Yunzi, unsure of what she was going to do.

Li Yunzi took the thick marriage ledger from Lady Kong Tong's hand and, in front of everyone, crossed out her name.

Lady Kong Tong's face changed, but she dared not speak.

Erasing "Li Yunzi" from the ledger, Li Yunzi threw the ink brush, which landed in front of Li Kongxi and Mu Qing and the other Li family young ladies.

The ink splattered, staining their delicate, fair faces...

"The matter of selling oneself for peace should be left to them. If there is a battle I cannot win, they are all excellent consolations for the enemy city," Li Yunzi laughed.

But this laugh made Li Kongxi, Mu Qing, and the so-called well-behaved Li family girls turn pale with fear!