Back then, Su Lianyun fought a fierce battle against countless martial artists in a brothel. His eyes shot with blood from the slaughter, he declared a single sentence. It was precisely this bold and heroic declaration that deeply moved her. Half captivated by his charisma and half keeping her word, she married Su Lianyun.

Those words echoed in her ears at this very moment: “Let all the heroes of the world step forward. I am taking Zhong Yueping. If I live, I will hold this hand until our hair turns white. If I die, I hope you all will gouge out my eyes and hang them before her house. If anyone marries her and treats her poorly, I will surely turn into a vengeful ghost to eat his flesh and tear out his heart.”

When Su Lianyun spoke these words back then, he was filled with passionate enthusiasm, which instantly swept her off her feet. Right afterward, she saw that panicked look surface on his face. It was a look of panic, fear, anxiety, and heartbreak, an expression of his sheer reluctance to die like that. Seeing it surface once again, Zhong Yueping knew all too well that this time, the one leaving might be herself.

At this moment, the vision before her eyes began to blur. That face she was once most familiar with lost its color, and Su Lianyun’s frantic cries echoed faintly in her ears. It felt as though she were about to drift into an eternal sleep. Mobilizing the last of her strength, she cried out, “Save him.”

Relying entirely on her remaining awareness, she pointed toward the spot where the prince lay fallen. After crying out this final phrase, her limbs went completely limp, and she collapsed into Su Lianyun’s arms.

After the battle on Jiutou Mountain, Su Lianyun had briefly tended to his wounds in Yuzhou City. He rested for two days before rushing back home. If he hadn’t been worried that his wife would be heartbroken to see him injured, he would have returned long ago. He never expected that delaying his journey by two days would cause him to run directly into this exact scene.

In truth, Su Lianyun had heard the footsteps of those giant men from far away. Initially thinking they were coming for him, he kept himself hidden in the distance to observe. Consequently, he knew everything that had taken place here. He had simply been assessing the opponent’s strength, trying to find a perfect opportunity that would allow him to rescue his wife and ensure they could both get away safely.

Since he already knew the beginning and end of the matter, he was incredibly perplexed. Why would his wife, while in mortal peril and at death’s door, ask him to save the prince?

Although he did not understand his wife’s intentions, he knew full well that she was exceptionally intelligent. Whatever she did naturally had its reasons, so he had no choice but to do as she wished.

Of course, before doing this, he had an even more important task to attend to, which was to demand the antidote from the White Rakshasa. To Su Lianyun, the White Rakshasa was nothing more than a nobody and had never been worth taking seriously. That was why he had failed to anticipate the sneak attack just now. Any one of Su Lianyun’s two sword strikes could have easily taken the White Rakshasa’s life. The only reason he did not slice his throat was because he knew the palm strike carried poison. If he killed the man, his wife would also die from the poison, so he could only give him a agonizing lesson.

It was just that Su Lianyun never expected his wife’s body to be so weak that she would faint before he could even demand the antidote.

At this moment, Su Lianyun spoke savagely to the groaning White Rakshasa on the ground, “If you want to live, leave the antidote.”

The White Rakshasa hurriedly pulled a white porcelain bottle from his vest and said, “Mix it with water and take it orally, three times a day, half a gram each time. The poison will be cleared in two days.”

Having said this, he tossed the porcelain bottle toward Su Lianyun and shouted to his subordinates, “Quick, come over here and help me and the prince leave.”

The remaining three giant men wanted to move over, but Su Lianyun blocked them with his sword extended. He simply said, “Hold on.”

“What? Is the famous Hero Su going to go back on his word now?” The White Rakshasa forced himself up against the excruciating pain, barely managing to stand.

“You may leave, but he must stay.” Su Lianyun insisted on keeping the prince. He had always listened to his wife. This was not a lack of masculinity, but a man’s profound love and respect for his woman.

The White Rakshasa could no longer care about anything else. Although he failed to rescue the prince, he had at least given his best effort, not to mention his eyes were now completely blind. This would be enough to report back to his superiors. Thus, supported by his subordinates, he stumbled back along the path he came, fleeing in total humiliation.

Su Lianyun opened the porcelain bottle, lightly pressed Zhong Yueping’s lips apart, and estimated about half a gram of the white powder to pour inside. He then picked up the leather canteen near the carriage, took a sip of water, and pressed his flush lips against Zhong Yueping’s purplish-black lips. After their lips met in a fluid embrace for a good moment, Zhong Yueping’s throat twitched, seemingly swallowing the fresh water from her husband’s mouth. Only then did Su Lianyun’s racing heart gradually settle down.

Time can sometimes feel like fine sand gripped in one’s hand. When you are busy and desperately need it, the tighter you try to grasp it, the faster it slips away without you even realizing it.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed. Su Lianyun brought his poisoned wife and the injured prince back to their residence nestled in the wild hills outside Wu’an City.

During this half-month, though his wife’s poison had been neutralized, that palm strike had taken a heavy toll on her health. She spent a long time accompanied by a constant cough and a frail, exhausted state.

As for the prince, Yang Shao, he had woken up a few times, but every time he regained consciousness, he would ramble incoherently in a daze. Most of his delirious talk was related to fighting enemies on the battlefield, such as, “Soldiers, the time has come to shed our blood and lay down our lives! Conquer this city, and we can reclaim our rivers and mountains, reuniting with our parents and brothers who are trapped in enemy territory!”

It was through these proud and grand rants that Su Lianyun finally understood why his wife, Zhong Yueping, insisted on saving Yang Shao even when her own life hung by a thread.

Although Zhong Yueping was a daughter of the martial arts world, she possessed a kind heart that cared deeply about the well-being of the common people. Over a decade ago, when Yang An staged his rebellion, Zhong Yueping happened to be just three years old. A typical three-year-old child would naturally understand nothing, but Zhong Yueping was no ordinary child. She had witnessed with her own eyes the endless war smoke stretching for miles outside the capital, leaving not a single blade of grass alive. The fleeing refugees were hoisted into the air on spears by the rebel army for sheer amusement. If her father hadn’t possessed some martial arts skills, their family of three would likely have perished on the road escaping from the capital to Wu’an.

Ever since she gradually grew old enough to understand things, that experience of fleeing at three years old frequently replayed in her mind like a nightmare. Consequently, she loathed the corrupt and incompetent rulers to her very core. She constantly yearned for a virtuous sovereign to ascend the throne, restoring stability and peace to the common people of the world.

Yang Shao seemed to be exactly the virtuous leader the people of the world yearned for. He stationed himself at the frontier at the age of twenty, well-versed in military strategy and commanding troops like a god. He had decimated the Tang and Song armies so badly that they discarded their armor and fled in terror at the mere mention of his name. It was precisely because he guarded the frontier all these years that the Tang and Song armies dared not invade, which bought several years of peace and tranquility for the citizens of the Sui State.

If Yang Shao were to die, the frontier would inevitably fall into utter chaos, and the vast territories of the Sui State would likely be plunged into misery and suffering once again. It was no wonder that even when Zhong Yueping was on the verge of death, her heart was still entirely set on saving him. Such grand kindness and exquisite beauty of character would likely be impossible to find in any other woman.

In truth, the White Rakshasa had also gone there to rescue Yang Shao. Zhong Yueping snatched the prince from the White Rakshasa’s hands, of course, with one more purpose in mind: she wanted Su Lianyun to persuade him not to get involved in the struggle for imperial power, but rather to defend the frontier properly, ensuring that a tragedy like Yang An’s military coup would never happen again.