Volume 5, Chapter 4: Ambush from Ten Sides (2/2)

Within the Flying Ser, Qing Dai sat in a chair, occasionally plucking the strings of the pipa in her hands Theany melody None of thethat she was co Dai’sA racket suddenly broke out outside, as a ently said, “General shi+, the uests”

Before the , the sound of hurried footsteps thudded from outside Then the door to the roo outside with a serene expression on his face However, Qing Dai could see the discourage looked at the so Dai, can I co Dai wished to refuse his request However, seeing the sorrow in his eyes, Qing Dai found herself softening, and she answered in a soft voice, “General, please co directly at Qing Dai without any fear The rooarment the color of teal The shape of her lithe and slender pampered body could be faintly seen beneath Her jet-black, lustrous hair was scattered around her shoulders, causing her to appear evenMaybe because she was alone, her typical proud and aloof look had beco her seehtiness shi+ Ying felt sorrowful He had spentDai in such a state However, now that he had seen her, everything had changed

Qing Dai frowned slightly shi+ Ying’s passionate, yet sorrowful gaze left her uneasy Setting down the pipa in her hands, she grabbed the cloak hanging nearby However, when she went tohad already arrived before her She was then pulled into shi+ Ying’s ar Dai panicked Just as she was about to strike at shi+ Ying, her raised hands suddenly dropped because she could sense that there wasn’t a hint of lust in shi+ Ying’s htly in his e down to the ground Qing Dai had always preserved her chastity Although she had said that she had once lost her chastity to Duan Wudi, she was still a virgin After the initial nervousness and panic, Qing Dai found herself infatuated by the intense odor of theDai reached out and pushed shi+ Ying away Since the two of them were separated by a vast ocean, as the point in her being soturned around When he turned his head back again, his recent shedding tears of tears could no longer be seen S Dai, I a to pay a piece on the pipa for eneral want to listen to?”

shi+ Ying had never been so clear-headed as today After walking out of the White Tiger Sanctu at the wo Dai, I do not knohy your personally corievances between you and Wudi I even don’t know your actual identity However, I know that it was only wishful thinking that I would be able to marry you Now that it is beyond ed, I hope that you will be able to sympathize withDai concentrated as she picked up her pipa, not saying a word The expression on her face was as cold as ice Her slender fingers were already on the neck of the pipa A mechanism was located there that could shoot out a poisoned needle

shi+ Ying laughed candidly and said, “There is no need for you to be afraid If I wanted to harm you, I would have acted earlier I do not blame you It was I who decided to deal with Duan Wudi No ler and corrupt It is unfortunate that the Grand General would actually side with hi Dai, I have already become completely disheartened Before I die, I only want to listen to you play a piece Are you unwilling to agree to such a request?”

Distress shone in Qing Dai’s eyes She i Dai is asha to play a piece for the general”

shi+ Ying watched Qing Dai with rapt attention The iciness of Qing Dai’s expression was filled with heartlessness He felt his heart ache, knowing that this woazing at Qing Dai’s beautiful coh todown in a chair, Qing Dai began to softly play the pipa With the plucks of the strings, sonorous and powerful, ian to envelop the Heavens and the Earth, stirring the heartstrings shi+ Ying sighed softly He knew this piece, “Ambush fro Dai, she had been playing this piece It was partly why he had fallen in love, and had been unable to liberate hi Dai had once explained to hi understood that this was the first verse, “The Ca could hear in thebuilt—the sounds of war dru of armored cavalry

Then, thethe spick and span forht of an army on the march Subsequently, the te had heard this only a few ti a General”

Intoxicated and shaken by the e of time After he had listened to the “Ambush” and “Skirmish” verses, he could finally discern the essence of this piece Qing Dai’s fingers flew, displaying hersound to the shouts of a ht of a fierce battle shi+ Ying straightened in his seat This was his favorite verse Every single time he heard it, he would feel his spirits rise

shi+ Ying could not help looking around When he glimpsed a pot of wine on the table next to the , he walked over with giant strides Not bothering to pour a cup, he directly drank his fill fro sight of several figures darting across froly His pursuers should have already arrived by now shi+ Ying could not help but begin to wonder if he would be able to finish listening to the piece

Just then, thewas shaken He had never heard this verse before However, he quickly understood that this verse was the one that Qing Dai always refused to play, “Suicide on Wu River”

Qing Dai’s tee Whenever she played this “Ambush from Ten Sides,” she would only play it up to “The Battle of Jiuli Hill,” never playing the subsequent verse, “Suicide on Wu River” Qing Dai had always stated that the three verses after “Suicide on Wu River” were too tiring and she was not fond of playing the and refused to play it Who would have thought that Qing Dai would actually play this verse for hihly honored and could not help s sardonically, as he drained the entire contents of the pot of wine

Just then, shi+ Ying caught sight of Xiao Tong’s figure Behind Xiao Tong was a youngwith his hands behind his back Fro could tell that he was an expert Without needing to hear the sound of Chu music on all sides,⁵ he knew that he was in a hopeless situation

With a crack, the aze as frosty as ice and snow, looking at shi+ Ying She had believed that their friendshi+p was pretend However, this boorish and blunt man had actually ainst that heartless man She could not help but wonder if this man before her would also resent her for her heartlessness shi+ Ying had always been a rude and impetuous individual However, at thisDai’s thoughts Walking to Qing Dai’s side, he grasped her delicate hands S, he said, “This is not your fault The Grand General has already become suspicious, otherwise he would not have co Dai asked, “It’s easy for so to be broken Is this worth the trouble?”

shi+ Ying felt his heart war to persuade hi to Long Tingfei Although he understood very well Qing Dai’s heartlessness, he was perfectly satisfied that she would even soften to such an extent By nature, shi+ Ying was straightforward and unyielding For hih to destroy all of his convictions, while Qing Dai’s heartlessness made hi’s sinister voice ca, “General shi+, the Grand General has summoned you to his presence If you do not want to i Dai, it is best that you co Dai shook inside Her hand once again touched the neck of her pipa If shi+ Ying changed his mind and decided to bend his knee and fei, then the consequences of her changing of the plan on her own initiative would be quite grave If that was the case, then the only recourse she had was to assassinate shi+ Ying herself Only in this way could she retrieve the situation shi+ Ying smiled softly In a clear voice, he said, “My affairs have nothing to do with Qing Dai Xiao frowned slightly It had not been difficult to find shi+ Ying, as he had nothad co Ser If this man resisted to the end, it would be detrihtly

Just then, a fe was startled When he was about to burst inside, his junior apprentice brother, Qiu Yufei, had already gone ahead, leaping into Qing Dai’s bedroo had also entered the rooer stabbed to the hilt in his lower abdoer Seeing Xiao Tong enter the roohtly and forcibly pulled out the dagger Xiao Tong could not bear to watch and turned away He knew that by doing so, shi+ Ying had turned his insides out, no longer being able to stay alive Blood flowed out nonstop With his blood-covered left hand, shi+ Ying pointed at Qing Dai and said, “Do not i, he was noDai’s complexion was as pale as paper She had never expected that this man’s death would cause her usual heartless and loveless self to feel such heartache and sorrow Picking up her pipa, her fingers began to ulfed the roo Dai wiped away her tears, her co walked to her side at thisDai, you are implicated in General shi+’s affairs We would like to teo back with us If the miss is uninvolved, ill very quickly return Miss’s freedoly replied, “Your servant does not dare to disobey Please allow your servant to change”

Footnotes:

<ol><li>深信不疑, shenxinbuyi – idio absolute certainty about soenjiudi – idioet to the bottobiao – idio to part ways</li><li>轻重缓急, qingzhonghuanji – idio to deal with i a sense of priority</li><li>Like “A Yu at the Battle of Gaixia (垓下之战) Xiang Yu’s army was surrounded by a numerically superior army and led to believe that the soldiers’ hos of Chu (四面楚歌)</li></ol>