Chapter 795 Grand Finale (Part 1)

Chapter 795: The Grand Finale (Part 1)

Though Xingxing had already suspected it, hearing the man confirm that Yang Xiangdie’s back bore the treasure map sent a shiver through her.

Seeing Xingxing remain silent, the man wasn’t annoyed—he was clearly in high spirits.

He sauntered over to Xingxing and lifted her chin with his hand. “My lady, I’m curious. Are you truly indifferent and unafraid?”

Xingxing turned her face away without a word.

The man suddenly laughed again, too smug to care about her small act of defiance. With a wave, he had her taken away.

Fortunately, on the third night of her captivity, Xingxing heard unusual sounds.

In the darkness, her eyes flew open.

The faint sounds of battle reached her from outside.

The man who had abducted her rushed in, holding a torch, all pretense of composure gone. He dragged Xingxing roughly, pulling her deeper into the caves.

Xingxing’s hands were still bound, and she staggered as he yanked her along, even bumping into the cave wall.

It stung.

But Xingxing smiled.

When the man glanced back mid-flight and saw her smile, he was provoked into a frenzy, gasping hysterically, his eyes red. “What are you laughing at, huh? What’s so funny?! I’ll tell you this—even if I lose, I’m taking you with me before I die!”

Xingxing only kept smiling, ignoring his outburst.

“You’ve lost,” she said softly, then fell silent.

Her words proved prophetic. Soon after, the man’s forces crumbled.

Wei Shiyan, Yu Yonghuai, and Yu Yonggui led the charge. Wei Shiyan, his eyes wild with rage, was the first to charge into the cave. Despite taking an arrow, he fought his way to Xingxing, sweeping her into his arms.

Then… the man, seeing his defeat, struggled away, covered in wounds, and fled into the underground cavern marked on the treasure map—before detonating explosives.

Wei Shiyan, Yu Yonghuai, and Yu Yonggui wasted no time, urgently shielding Xingxing as they escaped.

By some miracle, they made it out just before the cave collapsed.

Yu Yonghuai and Yu Yonggui immediately checked on Xingxing, cradled in Wei Shiyan’s arms, breathed in relief, “Thank goodness we got her out.”

Yu Yonggui added bitterly, “Burying him alive was too kind for that bastard! I wanted him to suffer in Chaoyang Tower’s torture chamber!”

Xingxing wanted to smile at her two brothers, but seeing Wei Shiyan’s bleeding shoulder, her heart twisted. “…Brother Yan, put me down first. Let me bandage your wound.”

Wei Shiyan looked down at her, his voice hoarse as if he hadn’t heard her. “…I can’t lose you.”

Xingxing’s heart pounded. She murmured an assent, but insisted, “Put me down first. Let me see your injury.”

Wei Shiyan at last complied, setting her down.

Xingxing hurriedly examined his wound—an arrow injury sustained while saving her.

Wei Shiyan had already yanked out the broken shaft and hastily applied some carried medicine to stop the bleeding.

But after carrying her for so long, the wound had reopened, soaking half his shoulder in blood.

Xingxing suppressed her heartache and quickly gave Wei Shiyan first aid.

Seeing Xingxing's reddened eyes, Wei Shiyan wanted to say he was fine, but his body swayed, and he passed out from blood loss, collapsing onto Xingxing.

On the carriage ride back, Wei Shiyan, weakened by blood loss, was forced to rest inside the carriage by Xingxing.

"Good thing I was sharp and brought a scout with an exceptional sense of smell. We followed the trail of medicinal powder you scattered along the way," Yu Yonggui said in the carriage, bragging about how great he was.

Xingxing knew her fourth brother was trying to cheer her up, afraid she had suffered during these past few days.

She played along, not wanting things to get too gloomy, and smiled. "When I woke up, I noticed they only took the sachet from my waist but missed the hidden medicine pouch in my sleeve. I carefully used the ropes binding me to tear the pouch open, letting the special powder scatter as the carriage moved. Just as I hoped, Fourth Brother came through—he followed the trail and found me."

"Of course! You wouldn’t believe how panicked we were when you went missing..." Yu Yonggui glanced at Wei Shiyan and coughed lightly.

Since Wei Shiyan was still in the carriage, he refrained from telling Xingxing just how out of his mind Wei Shiyan was at the time.

Xingxing thought of something. "It was Yu Mingzhu..."

Before she could finish, Yu Yonggui eagerly nodded, jumping in to boast. "Don’t worry, don’t worry. The moment you disappeared, my scouts traced it back to Yu Mingzhu. Coincidentally, we had recently captured one of her maids named Qi Huang. That maid was tough—she held out through multiple interrogations without spilling anything. But then, Granny Da Xi saved the day! She gave us a poison that supposedly makes pain feel ten times worse. We used it on the maid, and she couldn’t take it—spilled everything. We immediately arrested Yu Mingzhu."

Yu Yonggui paused, then added, "There were also some unexpected surprises..."

He went into detail.

For instance, Yu Mingzhu had indeed known about her biological parents long ago.

In fact, the fire and wiping out her family had been her own doing.

Yu Mingzhu was now locked up in the imperial dungeons.

Hearing this, Xingxing let out a sigh.

What Yu Yonggui didn’t mention was that as soon as Yu Mingzhu got into trouble, the old dowager from Prince Cheng’s residence immediately dropped her like a hot potato.

But that was a minor matter.

Wei Shiyan sat quietly nearby, listening.

Still pale from blood loss, he said nothing, his gaze fixed on Xingxing.

Yu Yonggui continued, "You don’t know how worried our grandparents were when you disappeared—it was like the world was ending. And your grandparents from the Duke of Xinguo’s residence were just as frantic..."

Xingxing winced with guilt. "If only I’d been more careful."

Yu Yonggui grew agitated. "How is this your fault? It’s all that Tuoba bastard’s fault!"

Only then did Xingxing learn that her kidnapper was indeed from Xi Yi, also surnamed Tuoba—though not the same as Tuo Bachi. He was from the Xi Yi royal court, a member of the exiled faction after losing a power struggle.

They had caught wind of rumors of a secret treasure left by the former dynasty in Great Xia and had infiltrated the country for years. It wasn’t just Yu Mingzhu—many other noblewomen had been played by the Tuoba clan, unknowingly leaking information.

Yu Yonggui could already guess that things were about to get messy.

"At least that Tuoba blew up the treasure spot. Otherwise, who knows what other chaos they’d have caused," Yu Yonggui sighed.

Xingxing hesitated but didn’t respond.

She wasn’t so sure.

She had the other half of the treasure map—and it seemed to lead to another path to the same treasure.

However, with the entire ancient imperial treasure now destroyed, she would rather it stay lost forever to prevent more trouble.

Xingxing sighed.

...

Xingxing's carriage slipped quietly into the capital.

Wei Shiyan headed back to the palace first.

Before leaving, Wei Shiyan seemed to have something to say to Xingxing, but Yu Yonggui stayed by her side, giving him no chance, so Wei Shiyan ultimately never got to say what he wanted.

Xingxing seemed to sense something. She looked up and smiled at Wei Shiyan: "Rest well and recover. I’ll come see you when you’re better."

Wei Shiyan held Xingxing's gaze before nodding slowly.

After parting ways with Wei Shiyan, Xingxing returned to the Yu residence.

As soon as Xingxing’s carriage came to a stop, Wei Pozi, who had received the news, came running out of the estate. She hugged Xingxing tightly, checking her over while patting her repeatedly, her eyes red with emotion: "Just having you back safe is enough, just being back is enough!"

Touched by her love, Xingxing hugged Wei Pozi back: "Grandma, I’m fine. I'm sorry I worried you."

Her considerate words made Wei Pozi’s eyes well up: "Silly child, how could this be your fault?"

Holding Xingxing close, Wei Pozi thought of the sleepless nights filled with fear and was on the verge of tears.

Thankfully, the child had returned unharmed!

"Come, come, everyone’s waiting inside," Wei Pozi turned her head to wipe away a tear and ushered Xingxing into the estate. "Today, our family have to throw a proper celebration!"

Of course, Wei Pozi didn’t forget to send word to the Duke of Xinguo’s residence.

Xingxing had planned to visit the elderly couple at the Duke of Xinguo’s residence after the meal, but to her surprise, the two elders couldn’t wait and came straight to the Yu residence to see with their own eyes that Xingxing was safe and sound.

Aside from the Duke of Xinguo and his wife, Jiao Shi, Yu Chongjie, and Yu Chongen—who were still in the capital—also came.

Jiao Shi had been losing clumps of hair these past few days. When the evidence of Yu Mingzhu’s misdeeds came to light, she had a complete breakdown.

For the sake of such a cruel person, she had nearly lost her own flesh and blood!

Though Yu Chongjie and Yu Chongen had long realized that Yu Mingzhu was not the pure and flawless sister they once believed her to be, it wasn’t until the evidence was laid bare that they fully understood how blind they had been.

But Xingxing, having narrowly escaped death, couldn't be bothered with hearing these so-called family members’ remorse and apologies.

She only met with the Duke of Xinguo and his wife.

As for the others—what did they have to do with her?

...

After resting at home for two days, Xingxing finally entered the palace.

Unexpectedly, she was intercepted in the palace corridor by the Southern Barbarians’ Princess Youluo.

Princess Youluo looked Xingxing over from head to toe before sighing after a long pause: "I couldn’t win against you."

This abrupt statement left Xingxing completely confused.

You Luo pursed her lips but offered no explanation before turning and walking away.

Xingxing found Princess Youluo really strange, but she didn't dwell on it too much. She shook her head and kept walking.

However, before she had even walked halfway down the long palace corridor, Wei Shiyu suddenly popped out from nowhere: "Xingxing!"

Xingxing chuckled: "Did you and that Nanzheng princess agree to take turns trying to scare me?"

Wei Shiyu immediately got defensive: "That southern barbarian? She didn’t say anything strange to you, did she?"

Xingxing was still puzzled: "No? She just muttered something about losing to me, then ran off... What was there for me to compete with her over?"

Wei Shiyu let out a sigh of relief and gave an awkward laugh: "Don’t mind her, she’s just a bit crazy."

Xingxing looked at Wei Shiyu for a beat before generously replying: "Alright."

Wei Shiyu moved closer, walking side by side with Xingxing, seemingly trying to make conversation: "Are you here to see my mother?"

"Yes."

"Aren’t you going to see my second brother?" Wei Shiyu coughed lightly.

Xingxing gave him a strange look: "Of course I’ll see him."

Wei Shiyu's face lit up: "Heh, alright, alright."

Xingxing couldn't help but sigh. Why was everyone acting so strangely today?

As Xingxing and Wei Shiyu headed toward Zhaoyang Palace, they coincidentally found someone else there.

The fourth prince, Wei Shibu, was kneeling there, pleading with Empress Nie.

"Mother, I truly didn’t know she was that kind of person before," Wei Shibu said, looking haggard. "I didn't know half of what she was up to. If I had known even a little, I would never have agreed to marry her!"

Wei Shibu kowtowed several times to Empress Nie. "Please, Mother, help me!"

Empress Nie sighed, clearly not wanting to get involved: "This marriage was decreed by your father. If you want him to revoke the order, you should plead with him."

Wei Shibu kowtowed again: "Mother, Father... Father won't even see me... If I remain betrothed to such a wicked woman, it would be a disgrace to the royal family!"

Empress Nie frowned and finally gave in: "Fine, get up. I’ll speak to your father."

Wei Shibu lit up with joy: "Thank you, Mother!"

Only after rising did Wei Shibu notice Xingxing and Wei Shiyu approaching.

Realizing his earlier pleading had been witnessed, his face fell, and he awkwardly retreated.

Empress Nie, however, her face lit up with a genuine smile at the sight of Xingxing: "Xingxing, come here, let me take a good look at you."

After paying her respects, Xingxing stepped forward as instructed.

Empress Nie looked her over carefully, holding her hands. "It’s good you’re safe, thank goodness you're safe."

Xingxing whispered: "But Prince Cong... was injured because of me."

Empress Nie smiled: "Don’t blame yourself. While his father and I are upset that A-Yan was hurt, a real man doesn't mind getting hurt to protect someone important."

Xingxing blushed slightly.

Especially at the words "someone important."

She lowered her head.

Empress Nie suddenly changed the subject, bringing up Prince Cong's residence: "...Earlier, A-Yan was made Prince Cong, right? His residence is still being renovated by the Ministry of Works, with lots of areas still needing work. Later, have A-Yan take you for a tour. See if there’s anything that doesn’t suit your taste, or needs changing."

Xingxing let out a surprised "Ah," not getting it at first.

But she was clever and caught on quickly. With another "Ah," her face turned beet red.