Chapter 473: Chapter 457 Jade Seal
Xie Xun drew his sword, while Fang Lingjun sat in the carriage, looking out with worry etched across her face. Xiaoqi furrowed his brows, clearly not expecting Xie Xun to chase after them. He hastily said, "Sister, untie me."
"No!" Fang Lingjun shouted back at her younger brother, staying cautious. Without her elder brother’s orders, she would never untie Xiaoqi.
Xiaoqi growled in frustration, "How can Brother possibly defeat Xie Xun on his own?"
"As if you’d help him."
"...!" Xiaoqi’s anger boiled over. He had no intentions of helping Fang Chuning, nor Xie Xun either. If Fang Lingjun untied him, he would simply seize the opportunity to escape.
Xie Xun’s longsword cut through the blazing sunlight, tracing a dazzling arc of white light—a strike that knew no equal. "Brother Fang, why bother resisting in vain? I have hundreds of soldiers with me, and you won’t be able to take Xiaoqi away. If we keep fighting and both sustain injuries, we’ll only anger my elder brother. Release Xiaoqi, and I’ll let you leave!"
"Xie Zhixu, taking my own younger brother—what gives you the right to stop me?" Fang Chuning’s sword lifted the carriage curtain. "Xiaoqi, tell him: who do you choose to leave with?"
Xie Xun’s face remained expressionless, his demeanor inscrutable. Xiaoqi gritted his teeth in fury. His elder brother was clearly threatening him, yet Xiaoqi refused to reveal his identity in front of Xie Xun. "I will go with him. He is my brother."
Fang Chuning let the curtain fall, gazing at Xie Xun. "You heard him."
Xie Xun showed no signs of surprise. He had already glimpsed Xiaoqi bound tightly with ropes through the brief opening in the curtain. "If he’s truly your brother, why is he tied up like that?"
"Xie Zhixu, you were once bound and sent back to the Capital City by Ting Feng—surely you understand how brothers tying each other up can make sense?" Fang Chuning’s voice was calm and relaxed.
Clutching his sword hilt tightly, Xie Xun’s cold gaze bore into Fang Chuning as he ripped apart the facade. "He is the orphaned child of the former Crown Prince. Leave him behind, and you and Fang Lingjun can leave. Otherwise, I won’t hesitate to drag all of you back!"
"How do you know his identity?"
"That’s none of your concern," Xie Xun replied in a low voice. "Today, I must take him with me!"
"That depends on your skills then!"
Xie Xun urged his horse forward, his sword slicing toward Fang Chuning. The black steed beneath him let out a sharp cry, as though reluctant—or perhaps unable to comprehend why it would be forced to cross blades with Zhuifeng one day. Fang Chuning pulled the reins tightly, urging Zhuifeng forward. His sword met Xie Xun’s head-on. Xie Xun’s hand stung fiercely from the blow, pain spreading up his arm as the horses crossed paths before quickly turning to advance again.
Blade light and sword shadows flashed as swiftly as lightning.
Snowflakes danced like cotton tufts; the howling gale swept through as the scene bore the likeness of a battlefield forged of weaponry and war.
Soon enough, both combatants bore wounds across their bodies. Fighting bare-handed differed starkly from engaging with blade and sword, the latter being far deadlier and swifter. Xie Xun and Fang Chuning, frequent duelists of the martial drills’ arena, knew each other’s tactics intimately—no ground was yielded in their exchanges, locked in ferocious stalemate.
The soldiers observing from afar dared not intervene. Without Xie Xun’s explicit orders, they wouldn’t dare encircle them. A united assault would surely overwhelm Fang Chuning, but single combat was a wholly different matter.
As their swords clashed once more, their gazes hardened. Fang Chuning coldly questioned, "Yuwen Jing’s crimes have nothing to do with him. Why do you want him?"
"Fang Chuning, Marshal Fang and my father were once inseparable brothers—you’ve forgotten?" Xie Xun’s eyes turned icy. "So much so that, years ago, when Marshal Fang personally ventured into Sannan to rescue him and nearly lost his life there, my father knew of it. By chance, that day I had broken his vase and, unable to cover up the mess, hid in the cabinet and overheard their conversation. That’s how I know the Imperial Jade Seal currently held by Yuwen Jing is a counterfeit. The genuine Jade Seal is in the hands of this Crown Prince’s orphan. Otherwise, why would Marshal Fang personally travel to Sannan, and why would you come to West State? You can take him, but the Jade Seal stays behind."
"Dream on!" Fang Chuning’s face darkened as his sword parried Xie Xun’s strike. In the distance, two horses surged forward—it was Xie Jue and Fengyu.
Xie Jue called out solemnly, "Stop!"
As his voice echoed, he arrived at the scene. The soldiers parted to create a path for him and Fengyu, who rushed forward upon seeing the blood staining Xie Xun’s arm. Her pupils dilated in alarm. "Zhixu..."
"It’s nothing, just a surface wound."
Xie Jue reined his horse between the two combatants. Fang Chuning sheathed his sword but maintained a complex expression. Fengyu dismounted near the carriage, leaning against its window as Fang Lingjun peered out. "Ayu, why are you here?"
Fengyu’s gaze flicked complicatedly toward Xiaoqi, who pressed his lips tightly together before calling out fervently, "Sister, save me!"
With Xie Jue and Fengyu’s arrival, the tension dissipated slightly, halting the duel by default. Xie Xun felt a pang of guilt—his pursuit of them had been a hidden act from Xie Jue and Fengyu. Snowflakes accumulated in thin layers upon everyone’s hair as the winds carried more.
Xie Jue faced Fang Chuning from afar. His pale visage in the snow seemed carved of jade. Calmly, he asked, "You’re determined to take him away?"
"Yes!" Fang Chuning responded briskly. Sheathing his sword and gripping the reins, he faced them coldly. "Whether for public or personal reasons, he must come with me. If you try to stop me, prepare for a fight to the death. On other matters, I may compromise, but this is non-negotiable."
Initially intending to spirit Xiaoqi away in silence, someone’s loose lips had complicated matters. Fang Chuning’s unwavering resolve left no doubt in Xie Jue’s mind about his intentions. He spoke with an air of light detachment, "Let them go."
"Second Brother!" Xie Xun urged his horse forward to ride alongside Xie Jue, lowering his voice. "Xiaoqi carries the Imperial Jade Seal. They can leave, but the seal must remain!"
Fang Chuning sneered, the sentiment mirroring past conversations between himself and Xiaoqi.
In the carriage, Xiaoqi—his identity now exposed—listened to Xie Xun’s words. His intensity had ebbed, leaving him to cast shadowed glances in Fengyu’s direction. The glimmer of hope in his gaze dimmed steadily.
The Imperial Jade Seal, passed down since the first dynasty, symbolized ultimate power. It marked the authority of rulership, as well as the highest dignity. Six centuries after its initial inception under the first dynasty, the empire shattered into fragments. The jade seal fell into the hands of warring factions, with 300 rival lords contending for possession amid continuous strife. Ultimately, it came into the hands of the SouthWestern faction, whose consolidation of power birthed new order. Since then, the seal had been safeguarded within the palace across successive dynasties.
The Jade Seal resembled a hunted deer.
Rival lords played the role of hunters—victors claimed kingship!
Before Emperor Wen Hui’s death in the inferno, the seal was entrusted to the Crown Prince. After the massacre at the Crown Prince Mansion, the seal accompanied his son out of the palace. This marked only the second instance in imperial history where the jade seal had fallen into the outside world. The Yuwen Royal Family dared not expose this secret, forging a replica of the jade seal—thus, the one currently in the palace was counterfeit. Marshal Fang had known about this ever since the Crown Prince’s orphaned heir fled and vanished into exile.
Emperor Jianming and Yuwen Jing were aware as well but chose silence, keeping this truth hidden from the world. Marshal Fang, meanwhile, covertly searched without cease. Years ago, he tracked Xiaoqi to Sannan, leading him there in an attempt to bring the boy back, yet Xiaoqi managed to escape. Still, Marshal Fang never gave up his pursuit of him. Marquis Zhenbei uncovered discrepancies in the jade seal imprint on imperial decrees and, upon consulting Marshal Fang, learned the truth. It was a closely guarded secret. Xie Zhang, Xie Jue, and Xie Xun had been kept unaware, as Marshal Fang handled all investigations himself. Xie Xun’s accidental eavesdropping on a conversation between Marshal Fang and the marquis planted seeds of realization, though he never acted upon them.
If this affair were exposed, it would deliver a fatal blow to the Yuwen Royal Family.
Even Xie Xun hadn’t known whether Marshal Fang had truly located the authentic jade seal until Fang Chuning seized Xiaoqi that day. Only after Eastern Palace Guards who’d protected Xiaoqi sought aid from Xie Xun did he piece the puzzle together: Fang Chuning’s true purpose in the West State wasn’t Han Ziqi, but Xiaoqi and the jade seal.
It was Marshal Fang’s order—to bring both Xiaoqi and the jade seal home.
"I understand. Let them go!"
Xie Xun said firmly, "No. They may leave, but the jade seal must stay!"