Like Stray Dogs
No one spoke along the way. Everyone was on edge, especially Emperor Jin Xuan, who kept muttering, "I don't want to die. I can't die yet!"
The Empress had long since been scared out of her wits, following the group in a daze.
The secret passage was pitch dark. Lily Evans couldn’t tell how long they’d been walking. Finally, when everyone was nearly exhausted, a faint light appeared ahead.
A guard opened the hidden door, and the group slipped out one by one. Lily Evans realized they had used the secret passage to escape the Capital City of Jin and were now in a rundown temple on the outskirts.
The exit of the secret passage was hidden beneath the base of the temple’s idol, making it nearly impossible to detect.
Having escaped with their lives, Emperor Jin Xuan and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Emperor Jin Xuan collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion, and the other guards weren’t much better off.
The tension and the long trek had left everyone drained. Only Lily Evans, heavily pregnant, looked completely unfazed, without a trace of fatigue.
"Your Majesty, please hide here for now. I’ll go contact the various vassal kings to come rescue you!" The emperor’s trusted guard left with Emperor Jin Xuan’s token, while the other guards stood watch. Emperor Jin Xuan and the Empress sat on the ground, looking like a pair of stray dogs—utterly wretched.
Lily Evans sat calmly, resting as she glanced at Emperor Jin Xuan.
Emperor Jin Xuan was furious at being stared at so brazenly by a captive woman. He glared at Lily Evans, but found no trace of fear in her eyes.
Irritated, Emperor Jin Xuan drew his sword and pressed it to Lily Evans’s neck. "What are you so smug about? Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you right now?"
"If Your Majesty wanted to kill me, you would’ve done it in the secret passage—why wait until now?" Lily Evans smiled, completely unafraid. "On the contrary, if you want to survive, you can’t hurt me. I’m the Princess Consort of Qin, carrying Alexander Hayes’s child. If you want Alexander Hayes to withdraw the Hayes Grand Army, you can’t harm me. If anything happens to me, even if you hand the throne to my husband, he’ll still kill you all to avenge me and our child."
Emperor Jin Xuan looked at Lily Evans’s relaxed demeanor, then at his own wretched state, feeling the urge to run her through with his sword.
But Emperor Jin Xuan truly didn’t dare.
Alexander Hayes’s mysterious weapon was simply too powerful, too overwhelming. And this was just three thousand men—if all two hundred thousand of the Hayes Grand Army had such weapons...
A chill ran down Emperor Jin Xuan’s spine. If a two-hundred-thousand-strong Hayes Grand Army wielded such weapons, they could wipe out both Jin and Chu kingdoms in one sweep.
In his heart, Emperor Jin Xuan hoped to win Alexander Hayes over with high positions, gold, jewels, and beautiful women—anything to pacify him for now. Later, he’d find a chance to kill Alexander Hayes.
So for now, Emperor Jin Xuan didn’t dare harm Lily Evans.
Lily Evans was fearless; she saw Emperor Jin Xuan’s hesitation and calmly pushed his sword aside. "Your Majesty should put the sword away, lest you accidentally hurt yourself."
Though unwilling, Emperor Jin Xuan sheathed his sword and sat down, fuming.
The Empress trembled, asking Emperor Jin Xuan, "Your Majesty, once the guards contact the vassal kings, can we drive out the rebels and return to the palace?"
Emperor Jin Xuan looked at the Empress, deeply annoyed, but nodded. "Of course. I am the true Son of Heaven. The Jin Kingdom is mine, and it will return to me."