Chapter 400: Chapter 400: Thankfully, This Time, You Didn’t Fall in Love

“Not planning to spare me? Hah…”

Song Lianhe’s laughter was jarringly out of place.

’She was so done with this nonsense!’

“General Yan!”

Song Lianhe’s voice suddenly rang out. “How boring, sending your men to die for you! You are a general of Nanchen, and I am a princess consort of Da Cheng. Our statuses are the highest here. So why don’t you and I fight a duel to the death?”

Xuan Mei’s eyes flew wide. “A duel to the death?! Absolutely not!”

Cao Jin also frowned. “That’s not a duel. It’s suicide.”

Clearly, Yan Jiayu on the other side thought so too. He let out a short laugh. “Princess Qing, do you think this will buy you time for King Qing to come to your rescue? He can barely save himself. He can’t even scrape together ten thousand fighting men. Facing my fifty-thousand-strong army is just like what you’re doing now—it’s like throwing an egg against a stone. You’re just courting your own doom.”

’Fifty thousand…’

Song Lianhe quietly suppressed her unease, a disdainful smile on her face. “Why all the talk? Are you scared? Then just say so! Just admit you don’t dare. Admit that you want to use the lives of your men to save your own skin. If you’re that honest about it, I’ll have nothing more to say.”

The adjutant’s face darkened, and he stepped forward to rebuke her. “Cease your slander! Our General Yan…”

Yan Jiayu raised a hand.

The adjutant suppressed his anger and stepped back.

A slight smile played on Yan Jiayu’s lips as he slowly raised a hand and removed his mask…

It was a remarkably handsome and youthful face. In another time and place, Song Lianhe might have taken a moment to appreciate it. But she’d been spoiled by the best; having grown accustomed to Zhou Cangyan’s flawless features, it was hard for any other handsome face to catch her eye.

She watched him calmly, the slight upward tilt of her lips a clear sign of provocation—and contempt.

Yan Jiayu suddenly swung himself off his horse, casually unbuckling his sword and tossing it to his adjutant.

“In the Nanchen Kingdom, it is tradition that any challenge issued must be answered. To refuse is to be branded a coward.”

Song Lianhe smiled faintly. “Clearly, the General is no coward.”

Xuan Mei stepped in front of her. “I will accept this challenge!”

Cao Jin’s expression was grim. “No, I’ll go.”

Yan Jiayu raised an eyebrow, his tone casual. “So, Princess Qing intends to use her subordinates’ lives to save her own?”

“Why would I do that?” Song Lianhe, still smiling, walked over and lightly patted Xuan Mei’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I don’t die easily.”

“How could you possibly…”

This time, Xuan Mei was truly frantic.

“Xuan Mei, that’s an order.”

“…”

Xuan Mei took a deep breath. “As you command.”

Her face taut with tension, she retreated.

“CAW—”

Chun Hua swooped down to land on Song Lianhe’s shoulder, its eyes incredibly sharp.

Song Lianhe slowly walked to the middle of the street, where Yan Jiayu was already waiting. The look he gave her was no longer filled with contempt; instead, it held a hint of admiration.

Regardless of whether an opponent was strong or weak, anyone who dared to face him deserved respect.

Especially this woman, who was doing it to protect commoners she didn’t even know—even though just a moment ago, they had wanted her dead.

“Since this is a duel to the death, there are rules to follow.”

Yan Jiayu glanced around, first at the people behind her, then at his own adjutant. “No one else is to interfere.”

“The first to fall, loses.”

“If you win, I will let you all go.”

“Deal!”

He raised an eyebrow, enunciating each word. “No quarter given.”

Song Lianhe’s gaze darkened. “No quarter given.”

The adjutant immediately ordered his men to form a circle around them, preventing Xuan Mei’s group from getting close.

Yan Jiayu used no fancy moves, simply striking with his bare hands. He moved with incredible speed, not holding back in the slightest just because she was a woman with no strength to speak of.

Song Lianhe stood her ground, her heart about to leap out of her throat.

’But she couldn’t back down!’

This was the only chance she had to save the people behind her.

’In terms of Martial Arts, how could she possibly be his match? He could crush her with his little finger!’

’The only thing she was good at was…’

Just as Yan Jiayu’s fist was about to connect with her face, Chun Hua flapped a wing and shot its head out to peck at him!

Yan Jiayu had anticipated this. He lowered his fist slightly, evading Chun Hua and her face, and struck her heavily in the chest…

He hadn’t held back. A punch like that could shatter a person’s insides.

Song Lianhe gritted her teeth and grabbed his hand tightly.

“Princess Consort!”

“Sister!”

Xuan Mei and Ah Jun were frantic. After a blow like that, forget someone like her with no Martial Arts—even Xuan Mei couldn’t have escaped unscathed!

“Stay back, both of you!” Song Lianhe lifted her head to look at the man before her, a grin splitting her lips. “General, a bet is a bet.”

Yan Jiayu frowned, then belatedly looked down. He saw the hand grasping his own—slender, fair fingers locked tightly around his wrist.

Between her fingers was a silver needle, half of which was already embedded in his hand.

Song Lianhe smiled. “Don’t move. The needle is poisoned. And in all the world, I am the only one with the antidote!”

Yan Jiayu looked down at the silver needle in his hand, his expression hesitant.

The adjutant was furious. “You used poison?!”

“Did anyone say I couldn’t?”

Song Lianhe’s tone was light and easy, but her chest felt like it was being torn apart.

’Dammit!’

’It hurts so much!’

Xuan Mei clutched her shortsword, finally understanding what Song Lianhe’s plan had been.

Knowing she was no match for Yan Jiayu, she had gambled with her own life.

And it was a gamble she could only make once.

Yan Jiayu slowly lifted his head. There wasn’t a trace of indignation in his eyes, only a spark of… curiosity.

He knew she wasn’t lying. As a martial artist, he could already feel the poison beginning to course through his meridians.

“Why trade your life for mine?”

It was the first time Yan Jiayu had ever encountered such a tactic—trading one’s life for another’s. It wasn’t that he had underestimated his enemy; he had simply underestimated *her*.

He thought he understood the nobility. They always treasured their own lives above all else. The fact that Song Lianhe had held out this long for a group of commoners had already forced him to see her in a new light. But he hadn’t expected this. He had still underestimated her.

Cold sweat beaded on Song Lianhe’s forehead. Her face was ashen, and her lips were trembling. “Why?” She shook her head. “I don’t know… Maybe I’m just a fool.”

’Dying again and again… it’s a terrible feeling. How can I still be so unafraid of death!’

’If that’s not foolish, what is?’

She struggled to lift her head and look at the man. Seeing the blood at the corner of his mouth and the dark tinge of his lips, she felt a flicker of satisfaction.

“General Yan, do you concede?”

Yan Jiayu raised a hand to wipe the blood from his lips. He glanced down at the crimson smear on his hand, then said without a hint of hesitation, “I have lost.”

“Then have them fall back!”

Yan Jiayu immediately gave the order for all his troops to fall back and to no longer harm the people of Sishui City.

The adjutant stormed forward. “The antidote? Where’s the antidote!”

Song Lianhe let out a huge sigh of relief, all the strength she had been forcing herself to maintain vanished in an instant.

She squinted, the smile on her lips looking stiff. Her gaze was beginning to lose focus.

“The antidote… If I don’t die, I’ll give it to you… How about that?”

She laughed freely, no longer hearing the curses of the man before her as her body tipped backward…

’It hurt so much. Her ribs were broken, and she was surely bleeding internally. In this state, not even a trip to the emergency room could save her.’

’But Song Lianhe was proud, after all. No matter how much it hurt, she would not cry in front of the enemy!’

’She was no stranger to death. The process was quite short, really. So short you barely had time to mourn your regrets…’

Suddenly, a pair of hands caught her, and she fell into a hard embrace.

The coppery scent of blood filled her nostrils, shocking her system like a potent drug. She slowly opened her eyes.

She saw a man’s devastatingly handsome, roguish face and his anxious, worried eyes. For a moment, she was dazed, then she murmured, “Good… this time, you didn’t fall in love…”

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