Chapter 392 Troops at the Gates, a Forced Wedding

Chapter 392: The Army at the Gates, Seizing the Bride by Force

Xiao Huaijin strode into the palace’s banquet hall.

Within the resplendent great hall, the warmth inside made the early spring chill of Beiling outside feel like another world.

Crystal chandeliers hung high, shining brilliantly, illuminating the smiling faces and elegant attire of the assembled guests.

The music of strings and woodwinds filled the air, as dancers moved gracefully, their long sleeves fluttering.

To keep his Daye “moneybags” happy, the Beiling Emperor spared no effort or expense, throwing this wedding banquet with extreme luxury. Not only had he invited all the court officials and noble families of Beiling, but the scale nearly matched his own wedding to the Empress.

Xiao Huaijin, in an elaborately embroidered red wedding robe, could barely contain the joy in his eyes.

After tonight, he and Jiang Shuning would be husband and wife in both name and fact.

With so many eyes watching their wedding ceremony, even if it was a gamble, she couldn't back out.

Even if Xiao Lingchuan came for her later, there was nothing he could do.

Jiang Shuning, after all, was his woman.

The Beiling Emperor, wine cup in hand and beaming, walked over: “How is it? The wedding feast I, the Emperor, have prepared for you, Prince Ning—are you satisfied?”

“Your Majesty is too kind; I'm deeply grateful!” Xiao Huaijin raised his cup in return, unable to hide his smile.

“We're all family—no need for formalities!”

Just as host and guest were enjoying the happy occasion, a sharp, discordant voice cut through the music and revelry.

“Your—Your Majesty! Something terrible!”

A eunuch stumbled and scrambled into the hall, dropping to his knees before the Beiling Emperor, his voice shaking like a leaf in the wind.

“The Prince Regent of Daye... is at the palace gate with an elite force... saying he's come to take the bride!”

Xiao Huaijin's mind went blank.

The music stopped abruptly, and every eye turned.

The lively clinking of glasses and chatter gave way to dead silence.

“What?!” The Beiling Emperor's wine cup crashed to the floor, spilling wine across the tiles, his face turning extremely ugly in an instant.

Xiao Huaijin's blood went cold.

“No way... absolutely no way... Daye is so far from Beiling—how did he pull this off?”

The Beiling Emperor had completely lost his composure. He pointed outside, his voice shaking with shock and fury: “What... what is this? Hurry, take me to the city wall!”

Xiao Huaijin snapped back to his senses and immediately followed.

Impossible.

He tried to convince himself it must be one of Xiao Lingchuan's tricks.

The two of them, along with a group of bewildered guards, rushed up the towering city wall.

The biting wind hit them, making Xiao Huaijin's wedding robe snap loudly.

He looked down and his eyes widened.

Outside the heavy gates of the imperial palace, Xiao Lingchuan, in black armor, sat astride a jet-black warhorse, straight as a pine.

Behind him was a dark army, armor glinting with cold light. Though not numerous, each soldier radiated the deadly aura of battle-hardened veterans, surrounding the gate in a tight formation.

His strikingly handsome face was clearly visible even from that distance.

Cold, grim, with absolute determination in his eyes.

Seeing the figures appear on the city wall, the guard Ling Feng beside Xiao Lingchuan spurred his horse forward a step, raised his spear, and bellowed: “Your Majesty, the Emperor of Beiling! Our prince gives you one hour! If the gates aren't opened within that hour, our men will set off the gunpowder we've already hidden inside the palace!”

These words hit the Beiling Emperor like a thunderbolt.

His tall frame swayed, almost unsteady, his face turning from pale to ashen: “Prince Jing... don't... don't be rash!”

Xiao Huaijin, by contrast, stayed relatively calm and spoke to the panicked emperor: “Your Majesty, don't listen to his scare tactics! How could a Daye prince secretly plant gunpowder in the heavily guarded Beiling palace? It's just psychological warfare!”

Xiao Lingchuan on the wall heard his words and let out a cold, mocking laugh.

“I rode from the Daye capital to your Beiling capital in three days—what else do you think I can't do?” Xiao Lingchuan spoke slowly, his voice not loud but every word like a knife. “Your Majesty, I hear that today you've gathered all of Beiling's nobles, officials, and top ministers inside the palace. If that gunpowder goes off, they won't escape a fiery death. Are you really willing to gamble the lives of Beiling's entire cabinet on this?”

The Beiling Emperor was terrified, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

He looked at the dark armored soldiers below, seeing them not as elite troops but as a host of grim reapers.

He shouted, his voice blustering but weak: “Xiao Lingchuan, don't push too far! I'm your brother-in-law, after all! Your imperial sister is still inside the palace—do you really have to be this ruthless?!”

“I'm giving you one hour to consider whether to open the city gate.” Xiao Lingchuan ignored his words entirely, his expression growing darker. “When you and my sister helped Xiao Huaijin kidnap my wife and child, did you think about being my brother-in-law then? Now you try to use that to control me—how laughable! If I really wanted to be ruthless, why would I bother negotiating? I could just blow open the gates!”

Xiao Huaijin clenched his fists.

He stared down at the arrogant man, finally asking the question that had been nagging at him: “Xiao Lingchuan, how did you do it? From Daye to Beiling in three days?”

Hearing this, Xiao Lingchuan finally turned his icy gaze from the Beiling Emperor to Xiao Huaijin.

That look was like watching a clown in a circus.

“Xiao Huaijin, did you really think my delay in coming to Beiling for Shuning and our child was because I was tied up with trivial matters back home?”

“Wasn't it?” Xiao Huaijin countered.

His spies in Daye had indeed reported that.

The Jing Prince's estate was infiltrated by martial artists who rescued the imprisoned Nanyue Chief Grand Secretary; the conflict between Emperor Xiao Zhengxian and Xiao Lingchuan escalated to a ridiculous “blood paternity test” to smear Xiao Lingchuan as not of royal blood.

Each incident alone was enough to give him a headache.

Logically, Xiao Lingchuan should have been too busy to deal with this—so how could he show up at the gates on his wedding day?

Xiao Lingchuan let out a dismissive laugh.

“The moment you kidnapped Shuning and our child to Beiling, I ordered men to tunnel day and night through the mountain pass leading here.”

“A tunnel?” Xiao Huaijin was shocked.

“That's right.” Xiao Lingchuan's tone was matter-of-fact, but to Xiao Huaijin and the Beiling Emperor, it hit like a thunderbolt.

I started excavating this tunnel to Beiling ten years ago. At first, it was only to facilitate trade between Beiling and Daye. Beiling is mostly mountainous, perpetually cold, with heavy snow blocking the mountain passes; without a safe and direct route, Daye merchants wouldn't risk crossing the snow-covered mountains that could avalanche at any time.

My initial plan was to build this tunnel directly to the vicinity of your Beiling capital, because only the capital is prosperous enough to warrant the investment.

He paused, his gaze sweeping again over Xiao Huaijin's striking red robe, and his tone turned sharply cold.

I never expected that this road, built for commerce, would be first officially used by me, personally leading Elite Troops, to take back my princess.

These words made the Beiling Emperor's legs tremble, with beads of sweat as big as beans dripping from his chin.

He had always thought Beiling was remote, with a harsh environment, a barren, godforsaken, bitterly cold place that no one would covet, so he had never paid much attention to border defense.

But who would have thought that this Prince Jing of Daye had started planning ten years ago to excavate a tunnel connecting the two kingdoms?

Ten years ago? How old was Prince Jing then? He was just a teenager, a mere boy!

A mere boy, yet with such far-reaching schemes—simply… simply terrifying!