How Dare You?! 成何体统 (Cheng He Ti Tong)
By 七英俊 Qi Ying Jun
Translation by Spider
In the pitch-black curtain of rain, a figure gradually emerged, step by step, onto the fragmented grand hall.
The disguise on her face had been washed away by the rain, her long hair drenched and sticking to her pale face. The coldness in her eyes from when she fired a gun had not yet dissipated.
She didn’t wait for him to return.
She had come to find him, just like that night so long ago.
On that day, An Xian suddenly said to him, “There’s something strange about the concubine who’s coming to attend to you today. Her makeup and appearance are quite different from usual…”
He didn’t understand, “What do you mean?”
An Xian looked surprised, “His Majesty ordered me that if a concubine who comes to attend him appears different from before, I should report it to His Majesty.”
Only then did he remember that it was an old instruction from a long time ago. Back then, he hadn’t given up on finding someone like him who had also transmigrated. Over so many years, he had almost forgotten it himself.
In any case, he followed the procedure. When he felt the woman kneel by the bed, he said, “Go away.”
Then, behaving like someone who had just arrived, he asked the guard, “Will she die if she doesn’t stay to attend to me?”
If the other person was a transmigrator, they should have reacted by now.
He dismissed the guard. Behind the bed curtain, the woman remained motionless for a long time.
Xiahou Dan chuckled self-mockingly.
At that moment, a fair small hand pulled aside the bed curtain.
Sure enough, she was dressed stunningly, but had very clean eyes.
He no longer dared to trust anything clean. But he didn’t want to easily dismiss those eyes, so he casually let her sleep on the floor for the night.
After a moment of silence, he heard a trembling voice ask “How are you?” in English.
Xiahou Dan smiled at her, “You’ve come.”
Yu Wanyin knelt in front of him, hands trembling, tearing a piece of cloth to bandage his chest wound, “It’s okay, it’s just a minor injury, stopping the bleeding is enough…”
“Wanyin,” Xiahou Dan looked at her, “I need to confess something to you.”
His lips were turning pale, and what he said sounded like the opening words of his last will and testament. Yu Wanyin’s eyes immediately turned red, “No! Hold it in, say it after you survive and come back!”
Xiahou Dan smiled, “Are you afraid I’ll die as soon as I finish speaking?”
“Shut up!”
“Don’t worry,” he said, “I won’t die until you agree. I haven’t fulfilled your dreams yet…”
His voice abruptly stopped.
Yu Wanyin couldn’t dissuade him, so she used another method to silence him.
Xiahou Dan couldn’t remember when his senses began to numb. Perhaps it was on the first day he arrived, or perhaps it was the day he killed someone, or perhaps it was after days of persistent headaches that his body activated its self-defence mechanism.
But at this moment, it felt like he was being reborn into this inexplicable world once again.
The rain pounded deafeningly, as if someone had lifted a curtain of soundproofing.
Every pain in his body intensified a thousandfold, every nerve screaming in agony.
Her lips seemed cast from molten lava. The strong taste of rust spread from his throat, entwined with entangled lips and tongues, not knowing who fed whom a mouthful of blood.
His body recoiled reflexively, as if avoiding flames. But Xiahou Dan tensed his muscles instead, leaning forward, and reached out to grab her neck.
The torrential rain shattered into a thousand specks of dust, people were dying on the ground, and some were kissing.
Until Yu Wanyin couldn’t breathe, struggling slightly.
Xiahou Dan released her and smiled, “Sweet.”
Yu Wanyin, “…”
“You’re quite skilled, huh?”
She moved closer in a trance, ready to fight again.
“Excuse me,” said Bei Zhou.
Bei Zhou’s mouth was bleeding slightly. He had suffered internal injuries.
The two Shadow Guards brought by Yu Wanyin helped at a critical moment and subdued Tur together. Bei Zhou stood aside, patiently watching them reluctant to part, not knowing how long he had waited before politely interrupting.
The two guards were checking the casualties in the hall. Several guards were still alive, being helped up for treatment. They also found two Yan operatives who hadn’t breathed their last, tied them up together and threw them next to Tur.
Yu Wanyin suddenly regained her senses and turned awkwardly. Bei Zhou’s face darkened when he saw Xiahou Dan’s chest wound, “Dan’er!”
Xiahou Dan was dressed in a dark dragon robe, and the blood stains were barely visible, but the cloth that Yu Wanyin had used to bandage him had been completely dyed red.
Xiahou Dan looked down, “It’s nothing.”
Bei Zhou’s face darkened, his hand hanging over Tur’s head, “Do we need to keep him?”
Tur had not expected that this opportune action would end in defeat. At that moment, he felt completely dejected, with only his deeply sunken eyes staring at Xiahou Dan, and two ghostly flames burning in them.
“Sure enough, the Xia Kingdom has only insidious weapons and androgynous monsters.” He spat.
Bei Zhou struggled to restrain the urge to slap him, “Dan’er, shall I kill him?”
“Kill him!” A sharp female voice suddenly rang from the corner.
Yu Wanyin was startled. It was only then that she noticed the Empress Dowager sitting on the ground, looking wretched.
“Why do you keep him around and wait for him to conspire with Prince Duan?” The Empress Dowager shouted.
Xiahou Dan was surprised, “I almost forgot you were still alive.”
Empress dowager, “…”
Xiahou Dan had completely shown his true colours before this assassination attempt began, and now he didn’t intend to reel it back in. He didn’t even look at the Empress Dowager. He was staring at Tur, lost in thought.
Yu Wanyin was distracted by this interruption, her thoughts returning to the right track. The prince’s people were still lurking in the woods, unable to see the situation in the grand hall, and would not directly attack for the time being. But if there was no movement here in a moment, they would come to investigate.
Once they found out Xiahou Dan hadn’t died, what would their reaction be? At this point, would they go all out, directly committing regicide and framing it on the Yan operatives?
Bei Zhou obviously also thought of this point, glancing outside, “At this moment, direct confrontation is not in my favour.”
Yu Wanyin looked cautiously at the Empress Dowager, lowering her voice, “Yang Duojie has gone to mobilise the Imperial Army.”
“I’m not sure if he can succeed.” Xiahou Dan said.
“I trust his mouth.” Yu Wanyin nodded.
Xiahou Dan smiled, “Then we’ll wait.”
Tur suddenly laughed, “No need to waste your energy.”
He stared at Xiahou Dan’s chest, a malicious joy gleaming in his eyes, “You’ll die soon. We’ve coated our weapons with poison from the Qiang Kingdom. Your wound won’t heal, your blood will keep flowing, and flowing, until it runs dry.”
Yu Wanyin’s expression changed sadly.
Bei Zhou grabbed his collar, “The antidote?”
Tur burst into loud laughter.
Knowing his death was imminent, he just wanted to use their suffering for his own self-fulfilment. “Just like Wang Zhao! Why are you looking at me like that? Of course he died, along with the real envoy team, intercepted halfway by us, hahaha, dying muddy, stretching his neck towards Xia Kingdom before dying!”
Yu Wanyin shuddered.
A cold hand grabbed her wrist.
Xiahou Dan used his strength to stand up, picked up a sword from the ground, and walked unsteadily toward Tur, leaving bloody footprints with each step.
But he passed Tur and went toward another Yan person nearby, raising his sword.
The Yan person screamed in misery.
Another scream.
Xiahou Dan mechanically raised the sword and stabbed again, avoiding vital points each time, the Yan person’s intestines spilling out, screaming like a slaughtered pig.
Yu Wanyin covered her mouth and turned away.
A few drops of hot blood splattered on Tur’s face. His pupils contracted, struggling violently, “Xiahou Dan! Are you still a ruler? Let them go, have the courage to face me!”
Xiahou Dan’s sword was stuck in his opponent’s ribs and so it couldn’t be pulled out. He bent down and picked up another one, switched to another Yan person, and continued the physical work.
Tur raged helplessly, ranting incoherently.
Xiahou Dan raised his sword again but couldn’t bring it down. Yu Wanyin hugged him from behind, her voice trembling, “Stop it, you can’t bleed anymore…”
Xiahou Dan paused. In that momentary pause, Bei Zhou struck like lightning, swiftly dealing with those two.
Gasping for breath, Xiahou Dan relaxed his grip, and the long sword clanged as it fell to the ground. He struggled to remain upright, slipping downwards but unwilling to collapse in front of Tur. Yu Wanyin felt it and struggled to support his body, signalling to the guards.
The guard fetched a chair from the hall and helped Xiahou Dan sit down. When Yu Wanyin released him, she noticed her hands were stained dark with blood. She gritted her teeth and wiped them discreetly behind her back.
Xiahou Dan lowered his eyes to look at Tur, whose eyes were bloodshot. He calmly said, “Wang Zhao’s mission was a secret, unknown even to his parents. I warned him of the danger of this trip. If he didn’t want to go, he could have refused.”
Tur was bewildered by this sudden change from madness to reason, staring at Xiahou Dan with incomprehension.
“He said peace talks were crucial for the nation and had to be attended. In case of unforeseen events, I instructed people to inform his elderly parents, so they could prepare a burial to comfort his departed soul.”
Xiahou Dan looked at Tur. “I want him to die peacefully and comfort his departed soul.”
Tur, “?”
Xiahou Dan said something that nobody expected. “Now, let’s negotiate.”
Except for Yu Wanyin, everyone alive in the room doubted their hearing.
The silence in the room was shattered by the Empress Dowager’s furious curse. The woman’s composure was on the verge of collapse, dragging her injured leg as she crawled towards them, seemingly intending to take matters into her own hands and kill Tur herself.
Xiahou Dan gave a brief instruction to the guard, “Take care of the Empress Dowager.”
The Empress Dowager was taken care of.
Xiahou Dan said to Yu Wanyin, “Give the gun to Uncle Bei and have him watch outside the main gate.”
Yu Wanyin looked at him worriedly, and Xiahou Dan responded with a reassuring smile. He knew what he was doing.
“What nonsense are you talking about? You are a condemned man, and I am a fugitive. What is there to negotiate?” Tur barked.
Xiahou Dan remained calm. “Indeed. You can treat it as the ramblings of a dying man. By this time tomorrow, my esteemed elder brother and your beloved uncle will likely be raising their cups in celebration.”
Unconsciously, the streets and alleys of the capital were deserted, like a ghost town washed clean by heavy rain. The people living under the emperor’s feet had the instincts of wild beasts and closed their doors and windows and hid in their homes.
Yang Duojie waved the shackles on his hands. “Sir, where are the people?”
The deputy commander, sitting in front of him, cracked sunflower seeds and ignored him.
This person had been promoted by Commander Zhao. Commander Zhao ordered him to detain and interrogate Yang Duojie, but he understood that this man only needed to be detained, not interrogated. Dragging the emperor down from the mountains would suffice.
Yang Duojie smiled. “Sir, it’s fate that we meet. There’s nothing else to do. Let me tell you a story.”
The deputy commander spit out the sunflower seed shells and turned to look at the rain outside the window.
Yang Duojie didn’t care if he was listening or not. “In the past, when Cao Cao went to attack Yuan Shu, there was a great drought in the army and a shortage of food. The grain officer asked Cao Cao what to do if everyone had no food to eat? Cao Cao said, ‘You can change the large measurements of grain into small measurements and distribute them.’ The grain officer asked again, and if the soldiers were discontented, what should we do next? Cao Cao said, ‘It doesn’t matter. I have a good plan.'”
The sound of cracking sunflower seeds slowed down.
Yang Duojie pretended not to notice. “When food rations decreased, the soldiers were indeed angry. Cao Cao told the grain officer, ‘I need to borrow something from you to stabilise the morale – your head.’ The grain officer was shocked and cried out innocently. Cao Cao was quite distressed, ‘I know you’re innocent, but if I don’t kill you, will I be killed?'”
Lightning flashed outside the window. A thunderclap struck the top of their heads at this moment, like a pillar of heaven breaking and falling down.
The deputy commander, “…”
The deputy commander snorted coldly. “What exactly are you trying to say?”
Yang Duojie shrugged. “Sir, you’ve been unlucky because you read too little. Commander Zhao clearly told you to watch me. Why did he publicly order you to ‘interrogate’ me?”
The deputy commander was stunned.
Yang Duojie smiled knowingly. “Inadequate response would inevitably result in a loss. If the emperor dies, the Prince will pose a threat. Commander Zhao is Prince Duan’s dog. If something does go wrong, he will be fine, and the only one who will not be fine is the one who …… can’t get a result from the trial and delays the departure of the army.
He was calm and composed, “From the moment Commander Zhao gave the order, your head was already lent out.”
The deputy leader burst into laughter, “Your attempt to sow discord is so obvious. Did you really think I would fall for it?”
Yang Duojie shrugged. “’Believe it or not, everyone has their own fate.”
“Then shut up!” The deputy commander snapped.
Yang Duojie certainly shut his mouth and never said a word again.
The deputy commander finally finished half of his sunflower seeds, staring at him for a long time before he couldn’t help asking, “If what you said is true, how should I respond?”
Yang Duojie kept his mouth shut.
Here is the translation of the text:
The deputy leader slammed the table: ‘Speak!’
Yang Duojie sneered, “In this world, there are indeed such impolite people. When seeking advice, they don’t even bow…”
The deputy leader ‘whooshed’ and drew his knife, holding it to Yang Duojie’s neck, “I can be even more impolite. Will you talk or not?”
“I’ll talk, I’ll talk.” Yang Duojie shrank his neck. “I heard that Commander Zhao doesn’t actually handle things. Who manages his miscellaneous affairs? Can this sir get the military seal?”
In the Hall of Enjoyment,
“What do you mean? If the peace talks fail, why would Zafervahan celebrate?” Tur asked.
Xiahou Dan smiled. “Do you really not understand? At this point, do you still think Prince Yan was kept in the dark about your assassination attempt?”
“We left a blind spot. ”
“Can that old fox who has sat on the throne for decades be deceived by your little tricks for so long?”
Tur choked up.
He remembered the sachet left ‘coincidentally’ by the Queen of Qiang, and also remembered the unusually lax security during his escape.
“Years of war and turmoil have devastated the people’s livelihood in Yan. The morale of Yan’s people is low, and they are retreating step by step. You didn’t notice, but Zafervahan did. The people don’t want to fight anymore. He hates Xia and sent someone for peace talks as a stopgap measure. He needs time to recuperate and needs a new opportunity to stir up the people’s fighting spirit.”
There was a hint of mockery in his tone. “Isn’t it ironic? Last time, this was Shani. This time, it’s your turn.”
This statement precisely ignited the powder keg.
Tur was preparing himself. “How dare you mention her?”
“Why wouldn’t I dare? She wanted to kill me. Should I just stand and let her kill me?”
“Nonsense!” Tur roared, his muscles bulging all over. He even broke free from the ropes halfway, but was pressed down again by the guards. He struggled on the ground continuously, “Until now, you’re still spouting nonsense. The so-called assassination is all your lies!”
Xiahou Dan raised an eyebrow slightly. “The dagger she used was very exquisite, with deer and flowers carved on the handle.”
Tur’s struggle abruptly stopped.
Yu Wanyin half-opened her mouth in surprise.
How did Xiahou Dan know the details of this long-sealed palace secret? Was it mentioned in the original text? Didn’t he say he hadn’t read the text carefully?
However, Tur’s reaction had already fully confirmed that these details were true.
“Shani was a weak little girl. She shouldn’t have been sent as an assassin without reason, right? Tell me, who gave her the order? How did the person who gave the order make her obedient? Was it coercion, enticement, or using someone she cherished as leverage?”
He let the silence linger for a while before looking at the back of Tur’s head with pity. “It’s truly pathetic to be a puppet without realising it, unable to save the woman you love, and unable to find the real enemy. Do you think you came secretly to assassinate? No, you were sent by The King of Yan, just like Shani. Your deaths in the Xia Palace are far more valuable than dying by his hand. Once the news reaches Yan, he can weep bitterly and demand blood from Xia.’
‘…’
Tur laughed hoarsely.
“You call me a puppet?” He stared at Xiahou Dan with bloodshot eyes. “Aren’t you one yourself?”
“Of course.” Xiahou Dan didn’t blink. “When I was young, I thought I could break free from their control by taking a chance. Later, I slowly realised that every decision I made, every rebellion I undertook, all played into their hands. I am their puppet, the knife in their hands used for killing…”
He glanced at the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager trembled.
Xiahou Dan withdrew his gaze. “Actually, we are quite similar. But I refuse to accept it. I refuse to pretend to be oblivious, refuse to passively accept fate while deceiving myself and others, claiming there was no other choice. Do you accept it?”
These lines… each word seemed chewed up with blood, spit out with clenched teeth, Yu Wanyin thought.
Tur heard them, more like waves crashing against him.
Lying to himself.
He couldn’t help but ask himself: Was I really unaware?
Many years ago, when my uncle shamelessly said, “Her status was the most suitable,” how did I respond?
Years later, did I really not see the sachet, the security, all those signs, or did I deliberately ignore them? This game of mutual destruction was supposed to let me believe I avenged the great grudge and smiled as I passed into the nine springs. yet I dare not look back even in death.
So that’s it, he suddenly realised.
So I, Yan’s greatest warrior, actually feared Zafervahan.
Suddenly, Xiahou Dan’s tone changed: ‘It’s a pity, a pity I’m dying soon. Otherwise, I could send someone to help you kill Zafervahan. Now, committing regicide, I’m afraid you won’t be able to leave Xia alive.’
“…”
“…”
It was as if Yu Wanyin could hear the gears turning frantically in his mind.
After a while, he said bitterly, “I really have no antidote. That woman from Qiang only gave me poison. Can you ask the imperial physician to find a solution?”
Xiahou Dan, “…”
“Then pray hard for me.” Xiahou Dan said.
Bei Zhou by the door suddenly knelt down, pressing his face to the ground to listen. “There’s a large troop heading up the mountain, it should be the Imperial Army.”
Before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, he quickly got up and fired a shot outside.
“People lying in ambush in the woods are coming,” he spoke rapidly, “run first, hold out until the Imperial Army arrives.”
Run? But where to?
Yu Wanyin abruptly turned to look at the rear door, making a quick decision. “Into the underground palace!”
Looking out from the rear door of the Grand Hall, the entrance to the unfinished underground palace was just a hundred metres away.
Bei Zhou fired another two shots. Seeing the shadows emerging from the woods, with no reinforcements in sight and ammunition running low, he shouted, “Let’s go.
Bei Zhou carried Xiahou Dan on his back. One Shadow Guard carried the Empress Dowager and another dragged Tur, leading a few wounded out the back door.
People came running from all directions. It seemed that Prince Duan’s ambush, sensing that they were about to fail, had decided to go all out.
Rain poured as Yu Wanyin sprinted a hundred metres.
The burial passage was still under construction. Its entrance was not fully tiled and the mud already turned into puddles. With each step, her foot sank deeper into the mud and she struggled to pull it out.
The fastest pursuer had drawn them into range. Various hidden weapons flew, and a few wounded behind them screamed and became human shields.
Bei Zhou, carrying Xiahou Dan on his back, glided across the water like a ghost. He stepped onto the steps of the burial passage and hurried down without looking back. Yu Wanyin waded through the water close behind. Another heartbreaking cry was heard, the Empress Dowager had been struck.
From reading tomb raider novels on her way to work, she knew that in every underground palace there was a place blocked off by a stone door, with a mechanism behind it that couldn’t be opened from the outside. But once inside, there was no way out. Once the stone door was broken, they would be at the mercy of others.
The situation forced her hand. She took three steps and commanded, “Main mausoleum chamber!”
The view darkened as they finally entered the underground palace.
Bei Zhou used his eyesight to find the largest mausoleum chamber in the darkness, turning back to kick the top stone door.
The top stone door slowly tilted, like a macro version of dominoes, pushing the huge stone door closed.
Others rushed in, squeezing through the narrowing gap in the door. The main door slammed shut; the top stone door fell into its groove, forming a triangle with the stone door and the floor.
The last ray of light disappeared, plunging the tomb chamber into pitch darkness.
Immediately, banging on the door came from outside.
Yu Wanyin held her breath and listened intently; the heavy stone door did not move. Feeling as if all her strength had been drained, she sat down near the wall.
In the pitch-black chamber, she could only hear the Empress Dowager’s groans.
A group of conspirators, each with their own secrets, depended on each other in darkness and tombs.
Yu Wanyin belatedly felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. She touched it and found a wound from a hidden weapon.
She took a deep breath.
“Are you injured?” Xiahou Dan’s voice was close, as if he was sitting right next to her. Yu Wanyin tried to reach out and feel. She lightly touched his hand and held it gently.
She didn’t want him to worry about her at this moment, speaking lightly she said, “I’m fine.”
Xiahou Dan’s fingers were cold, tracing up her wrist to the edge of the wound. “Tur,” he asked softly, “was there poison on the hidden weapons of the ambush?”
Tur, “?”
“Are you mistaken? I have no idea who sent the ambush. Was it the Prince Duan you mentioned?” Tur said.
Xiahou Dan, “…”
A Shadow Guard’s voice came from the corner, “Your Majesty, the subordinate was slightly injured by a hidden weapon, but he didn’t feel any poison.” Thinking that Xiahou Dan was worried about the Empress Dowager, though slightly suspicious, he dutifully reported, “But Her Majesty’s injuries are quite serious and need to be bandaged as soon as possible.”
Xiahou Dan didn’t respond.
The banging on the door continued, and the stone door trembled slightly, but didn’t budge.
Feeling a bit relieved, Yu Wanyin leaned close to Xiahou Dan and whispered, “The stability of the triangle.”
Xiahou Dan actually chuckled at this critical moment. “An ancient wisdom.”
They held each other’s hands tightly, quietly listening to the sounds outside.
A moment later, the banging on the door weakened suddenly, followed by the sharp clash of blades.
The Imperial Army had finally arrived.
They had overwhelming superiority in numbers. Those trapped in the underground palace had no escape. After a brief resistance, the sounds of fighting diminished.
Someone shouted at the stone door, “Your Majesty? Empress Dowager?”
Bei Zhou remained composed, sending his voice out, “They’re inside.”
The person rejoiced, “Please wait, Your Majesty. We’ll go fetch tools to break the door!”
In the darkness, the Empress Dowager suddenly cursed with a weeping tone, followed by Bei Zhou’s cold voice, “Behave yourself.”
“What happened?” Yu Wanyin asked.
“This woman tried to ambush Dan’er, but I caught her.” Bei Zhou replied.
Yu Wanyin was dumbfounded. Anyone who could contend with Prince Duan for so many years was indeed ruthless. At this point, even with no way out, she still hadn’t forgotten her initial intentions.
Translation by Spider
Next: Chapter 16
Previous: Chapter 14