Dandere General and his Lord
Chapter 44.2 - Harbinger of Disaster

Translated by Shiny

……..

44.2. Harbinger of Disaster

Concubine Yu screamed in fright and rose up. Two sturdy palace maids ruthlessly pinched her mouth open and poured the poisoned wine inside.

Concubine Yu covered her throat as she choked and spat out white foam, rolling and beating against the ground until she gradually curled up and ceased moving.

Two imperial guards held up Mo Qiao Sheng who did not show any resistance. Just as they were about to force him to drink the alcohol, Mo Qiao Sheng abruptly twisted his wrists and escaped from their grip.

He stretched out his long legs and kicked one man before taking advantage of everyone’s surprise to stand up and run away from the palace hall.

“Rebel, rebel.” Old Madame Yang was furious as she slapped the table and said, “Go bring him back quickly. I’ll see how far he can run.”

In the courtyard outside the palace hall, several armed palace guards swarmed towards him. Mo Qiao Sheng who was unarmed assumed a defensive posture and, just like a trapped beast, he burst out with the most powerful force in his life.

More than ten armed soldiers jointly attacked him, yet they were unable to gain an advantage over him even for a moment.

Old Madame Yang pointed her finger to the courtyard and turned to Lu Ao, the chief of the guards, and said, “These are the soldiers you trained? So many people can’t even take down an unarmed slave? What’s the use in keeping you?”

The muscles in Lu Ao’s face twitched and his eyes shone with a cruel glint. He turned his wrist and personally strode outside of the palace hall to join the fray.

In the midst of the chaotic fight, Mo Qiao Sheng felt a vicious strike land against his jianjing¹ pressure point.

Half of his body went numb, causing him to stagger. He knew that the situation was far from good. This move had been done by an expert, his technique of recognizing and attacking the pressure point had been both accurate and ruthless.

Nonetheless, his current circumstances did not allow him to ponder over this as several weapons sliced through the wind and rushed towards him. His body went soft and was finally unable to support him as he slumped down onto the ground.

Mo Qiao Sheng managed to dodge them with some difficulty, only for another vicious strike to land against his shen que² acupoint.

He was escorted back to the palace hall by several armed soldiers who pressed him down in front of Old Madame Yang.

Old Madame Yang pointed at Mo Qiao Sheng who was on the ground and cursed furiously, “A lowly thing like you who does not know the immensity of heaven and earth,³ I ought to have killed such a troublesome bastard like you a long time ago.”

An attendant stepped forward and lifted up Mo Qiao Sheng’s face to give him the poisoned wine. Mo Qiao Sheng clenched his teeth and resisted to the last breath.

There was a sudden cacophony of noises.

The palace hall’s entrance was opened wide and a group of armed guards swarmed inside. Every one of these men had come back from the battlefield and they had seen blood with the crossing of real swords and spears.⁴ With their bodies enveloped in a murderous aura, they glared at the people inside as they lined up against them.

Cheng Qianye strode inside with her hands clasped behind her back and quietly gazed at the situation inside the room for a long time.

She spoke softly, “Mother, what are you doing?”

Her voice was not loud, but everyone inside the palace hall felt their scalps tingle.

In an instant, there was a commotion with people kneeling on the ground.

Old Madame Yang stood up. Confronted with Cheng Qianye’s emotionless gaze, she felt a groundless fear crawling up her spine.

What am I afraid of? He’s my own son, no, my own daughter. How can she do something to me?

Old Madame Yang comforted herself.

She recalled that when her daughter had been young, she had secretly raised a stray dog she had found from somewhere, and afraid of being found out, she had concealed it very carefully.

But what matter could escape her eyes inside the palace? That dog had been too ugly and tarnished her dignity as a princess. Hence, regardless of how her daughter had cried and pleaded with her, she had still mercilessly ordered the servants to deal with that dog.

Hadn’t her daughter only cried and made noise for a short while before easily being coaxed back by herself?

It would be the same this time. Her daughter was still her daughter, nothing was going to happen.

Old Madame Yang calmed down and said, “My Child, this man and Concubine Yu…..”

“Mother. Dismiss the servants first.” Cheng Qianye interrupted her.

Without waiting for Old Madame Yang to respond, she waved her sleeve and shouted, “Get out!”

The palace maids inside the hall bowed their heads and withdrew quickly.

The armoured soldiers brought over by Cheng Qianye were the last to leave, closing the doors behind them and guarding the entrance from the outside.

Inside the palace hall, only Old Madame Yang, Cheng Qianye and the immobile Mo Qiao Sheng who was lying on the ground were left inside.

“My Child, listen to what your Mother is telling you.” Old Madame Yang began to explain long-windedly.

Cheng Qianye watched her mouth opening and closing as she planned out what her next step should be.

The cruel and stupid old lady of over fifty years of age who was before her at this moment was the mother of this body.

With her foundation so unstable and the implementation of the new policy being at such a critical stage, she really did not wish to have a falling out with this woman and have people label her as being unfilial.

I’ll try and see whether I really can’t change the ideas in the bottom of her heart. If I can’t, even if I wind up being charged with a heinous crime, I cannot let her retain her life today so that I can avoid walking around with a demon behind my back every day.

She lifted her robes and knelt down beside Mo Qiao Sheng.

“Mother.” Cheng Qianye raised her head, revealing a delicate expression. “As a matter of fact, I have become really tired these days. Living is very tiring and pretending is very tiring.”

Cheng Qianye spoke as she carefully observed the state of Old Madame Yang’s emotional colours.

“Mother, you have no idea. At the beginning, those people next to me either looked down on me or conspired to murder me, none of them had good intentions.”

“Some men spoke maliciously behind my back while others tried to harm me with poisoned wine. I’ve been so afraid all day and night that I’ve been too scared to fall asleep.”

When it came to such a stubborn and irritable middle-aged woman, it would be difficult to reach the desired effect if you confronted her.

Sometimes, it was easier to achieve your purpose by using weakness and moving their emotions.

Cheng Qianye had originally just wanted to put on a play, but after she started talking, she thought back to those hard times from when she had first passed through to this world which affected her mood as well as she squeezed a couple of tears out of her eyes, appearing quite pitiful.

“It is just this slave, I genuinely like him and my thoughts are filled with joy when I think of him whenever I suppress the pain. With him by my side, I can relax a little and not be so tense all the time.”

Cheng Qianye quietly raised her head and watched as Old Madame’s emotional lustre which had originally been coloured with resentment rapidly changed to a tint symbolizing pity and sorrow.

Therefore, she persisted in her efforts and shed tears relentlessly.

Picking up the cup of poisoned wine on the table, she said, “If Mother really cannot allow him to remain, then…. then my life doesn’t matter either. If I drink this cup of wine with him, then I won’t need to spend the remainder of my life thinking about those troublesome matters either.”

A body suddenly slammed into her and knocked out the cup of wine from her hand.

Mo Qiao Sheng had knocked down the cup of wine from her hand and tumbled down to the ground with her.

He looked at her with an unwavering gaze, his eyes intermingled with a complex mix of emotions as he slowly shook his head.

“No. You can’t. You mustn’t!”

At this moment, the brilliant sapphire blue was like the ocean in the midst of a tempest, rolling with intense waves.

A rich cherry pink mingled with the blue, surging back and forth.

Oh no, I forgot about him and went too far. Cheng Qianye was momentarily stunned. Does this count as a direct confession?

The wine cup which fell to the ground rolled over and stopped at Old Madame Yang’s feet.

Old Madame Yang appeared as if she’d been scalded by something and hopped in fright.

She reacted immediately, picking up the cup and looking around in a fluster before throwing it into the innermost corner beneath the chair.

“My Child, My Child.” Old Madame Yang threw herself to the ground and embraced Cheng Qianye. “How can you pierce your Mother’s heart like this? You are the only child I have left, you must live for your Mother.”

“My Child is unhappy at heart, how can Mother be unaware?” She caressed Cheng Qianye’s head as her tears fell like rain. “You can’t do something so stupid. Since you like this slave, then he can stay. Mother won’t make things difficult for him anymore.”

“Mother, Bianzhou is the first city I captured and the place where my foundation lies.” Cheng Qianye decided to strike while the iron was hot. “If I can’t hold on to Bianzhou this time, I’m afraid I’ll be too ashamed to face all those ministers and even my prestige will drop drastically.”

“This….” Old Madame Yang stared blankly. She didn’t know why Cheng Qianye had suddenly switched the topic to talk about the new policy. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ n0vᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Cheng Qianye lifted up her head from Old Madame Yang’s bosom and looked at her seriously, “Mother, if Bianzhou is lost, we will almost have no direct troops. Without an army, what ability will I have to say anything in front of all these ministers from powerful families?”

“Mother, you need to understand that if we want to hold on to Bianzhou, we have no choice but to implement the new policy.”

“Now the arrow has already been nocked in the bowstring, if we do not carry out the new policy and fail to defend Bianzhou, then we will truly become the puppets of these nobles from the aristocratic families and have no place to stand.”

“My Child speaks rationally.”

“Mother, you must support me and support my new policy.”

“All right!” Old Madame Yang got up and said, “Tomorrow, I’ll go see your Uncle and explain these things to him clearly. I’ll make sure to let our Yang family stand behind My Child.”

~

Cheng Qianye pulled Mo Qiao Sheng along as they walked back to her chambers.

Mo Qiao Sheng had difficulty moving and paused after each step, walking very slowly.

“Are you wounded? Is it serious? Should I summon the imperial physician to take a look at you?” Cheng Qianye looked back at him and inquired.

Mo Qiao Sheng stretched out his hand to support himself against the wall for a while. “It’s nothing serious. Just now, when I broke free, there was an expert at recognizing pressure points among the soldiers and he struck my jianjing point several times. It’s caused my limbs to become numb and inconvenient to move for a while. I’ll be as good as new after a short period of time, there is no need for Master to worry about me.”

“Then let’s sit down for a moment.” Cheng Qianye pulled him over to sit on the balustrade of the winding corridor.

“Where does it hurt? I’ll rub it for you.” She took Mo Qiao Sheng’s arm and started to knead it gently.

“Does it feel better?”

Mo Qiao Sheng looked at her in a daze.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Cheng Qianye poked his forehead and said with a smile, “I received a big fright today. Fortunately, nothing happened to you.”

In her vision, a ring of cherry pink began to emerge from the splendid blue that surrounded Mo Qiao Sheng’s body, gradually becoming brighter. Just like the peach blossoms blooming outstandingly against the winds in spring, it was clear and beautiful against the blue lustre, no longer indistinct as before.

Mo Qiao Sheng turned his face to the side and raised his hands to cover his eyes. Transparent drops of water seeped out through the seams of his fingers and flowed down.

Cheng Qianye foolishly stood in front of him, staring blankly as he silently revealed his feelings. And these tears he was shedding was because he had come to realize what was in the depths of his heart.

She suddenly stretched out her hand and pulled away the hands covering his eyes.

Pinching his chin, she forced him to turn his head to face her.

Mo Qiao Sheng closed his eyes. His nose was red and his eyelashes quivered as glistening teardrops escaped from the corner of his eyes.

Cheng Qianye stared fixedly at his head which was trembling gently. Suddenly, she did not wish to endure any longer. She raised his chin and bowed her head, kissing his tense, thin lips.

Something soft and moist suddenly touched Mo Qiao Sheng’s lips.

His mind seemed to explode and the whole world suddenly went blank.

He couldn’t think about anything and he couldn’t move.

Yet that person refused to let him go. A sweet, slippery tongue swam past his lips and charged into his domain.

Mo Qiao Sheng’s whole body shuddered as he allowed that person to turn over his world and stir up his soul.

He completely lost himself in the wake of that person’s wanton plunder. He could only fall into that joyful abyss, closely following the rise and fall of those lips entangled with his.

“Oh my.” A woman’s soft exclamation interrupted them.

Cheng Qianye gasped slightly and stopped the kiss that had lasted for an unknown amount of time.

She showed an annoyed expression and turned back to look at that woman who didn’t have eyes.

“I didn’t do it intentionally, you go on, go on.” Yao Tianxiang covered her eyes with one hand and spoke insincerely.

Cheng Qianye had no choice but to release Mo Qiao Sheng as she spoke unhappily, “What’s wrong? Speak quickly!”

“I really have no choice but to interrupt you.” Yao Tianxiang became serious.

“Zhang Fu has been looking for you everywhere. Bianzhou is in a state of emergency. Mo Zang Peizhen and his army have already arrived at Bianzhou.”

~

Cheng Qianye and the others left the winding corridor. Two palace maids who had been sweeping the courtyard flashed up at the end of the corridor.

“Did…. Did you see that?”

“I saw, I saw.” The other person nodded desperately. “Leaning on the wall, he couldn’t firmly walk down the road, but My Lord refused to let him go and bullied him until he cried.”

“Truly pitiful.”

“Right, it’s too pitiful.”

~

^{1. Jian Jing is in the muscles of your shoulder, about halfway between your neck and where your arms begin. This point has been used in successful acupuncture studies of headache and muscle tensionTrusted Source. Jian Jing may also successfully treat the pain of a sore or stiff neck. Source: healthline↩}

^{2. Acupuncture point in the center of the navel.↩}

^{3. (不知天高地厚 – bù zhī tiān gāo dì hòu) – Idiom; having an exaggerated opinion of one’s own abilities.↩}

^{4. (真刀真枪 – zhēn dāo zhēn qiāng) – Idiom; as in, seen the real thing.↩}

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