Jin qing watched Tian Xiang freeze in his steps, his eyes growing wider than plates as he stared at the knife at her throat. She can feel her own beating heart in her shaking fingers, but she showed no fear in her eyes. 

"So?" she asked fearlessly. "What's it going to be?"

Tian Xiang hesitated, finally stopping and stepping back-- and so did his men. "What are you doing?"

"Threatening to run this knife through my neck if you don't leave."

He laughed nervously. "and what do you hope to achieve by doing that-?"

"Several things. One of which I have said many times before."

"What if I let you?"

"Then you've lost whatever reason you had to keep me alive." Jin qing answered confidently. "I don't have the energy to think of any other reason, but I'm sure keeping Shen feng and his wretched mother in check is one of them. They must really want to murder me themselves, don't they?"

Something told Jin qing that she hit one of the many bullseyes. 

"I'm not letting you go back to the Wei. That would be disastrous for my country."

Jin qing pressed the blade against her neck, finally letting the hungry blade touch skin. A smile spread across her face when she saw the panic in Tian Xiang's expression. "And not giving Sheng feng or his mother the honor of killing me will be even worse for your country. Make a choice. Would you rather fall to your enemies or your so-called allies?"

The silence that came after she finished her sentence was thick enough to cut with the knife she was holding, but she never gave up the glare she had directed at Tian Xiang. 
After what felt like an eternity, Tian Xiang stepped back and waved his hands to dismiss the men. 

"I'll let you go." He said finally. "Are you not afraid of your reputation if we let who you really are slide to the Wei? After all, it was supposedly the child assassin that murdered the Wei's empress of the late emperor."

Jin qing rolled her eyes. "The emperor will understand. How can a child of eight years kill that many people? As stupid as he is, I'd like to think that he still has some sense left in that brain of his."

Tian Xiang pulled himself back up onto his horse, turning around. "If you say so. Put down the knife-- we're not going to attack you."

"Guess I'm more valuable to you than I thought"

The smirk on Tian Xiang's face made Jin Qing uneasy. "You can't even comprehend the importance you have to me." He said, spurring his horse to a slight walk. "Safe travels, Wu Xin. I hope on my own behalf that your plans don't go the way you plan for it to be."

Jin qing didn't lower her knife until the last of the sounds of the horses' hooves on the forest floor disappeared into the night. 

"Wu Xin!" Yu qi ran to her. "Are you alright?! how did they-- how did they even find us--"

Jin qing accepted her hand and stood up. "I'm not even injured. Why are you panicking so much?" she asked, still staring off into the direction in which they left. 

"I know you well enough to know you don't need to be hurt physically to not be alright." Yu qi answered. "I'm surprised they found us so quickly. It's like they knew exactly where we were--" she gasped. "Do you think-- do you think Qiang an--"

Jin qing quickly shook her head. "I don't think so. It's probably because of the fires we lit-- we accidentally set up bread crumbs toward where we are and he just followed them." she chuckled "I'm an idiot for suggesting such a thing even though it sounded like such a good idea earlier... oh well. are the two kids alright?"

"I found a cave ahead and told them to wait there-- knowing how obedient they are, they shouldn't have moved."

It could be from the series of unfortunate events that have been happening recently, but Jin qing immediately began thinking of the possibilities of which the two children had left the cave. By all means, they shouldn't have-- after all, they're just as exhausted as she was, and running in the dark like this while Tian Xiang hunted for them would have been a death wish. 

"Let's go back--" Jin qing said with a sigh. "We'll rest however much we can and leave when the horses are rested. I want to get back to the Wei as soon as possible."

"You're not afraid?"

"Of?"

"Them rejecting you."

Jin qing laughed. "If they know what's good for them, they won't."

<><><><>

How long has it been since Jin qing saw the capital of the Wei empire?

A few weeks? A month? A month and a half?

Traveling took longer than she thought as avoiding wherever Sheng Feng had captured caused quite the detour, but seeing the grand walls of the capital put her at the most ease since she had left. 

Much to her surprise, the gates to the capital were still open, allowing all sorts of people to walk in and out to attend to their daily affairs. Wagons full of grain and goods were trailing into the capital along with smaller grocery carts of farmers selling the year's harvest. It seems like Shen Feng's charge hasn't drastically affected life in the capital, though Jin qing was sure that was going to change soon. 

Jin qing stopped their horses. "Yu Qi, I want you to wait outside."

"Hm?"

"I don't know how Xi Jian is going to react to the children and especially towards you. Stay outside until I send someone to fetch you."

"If you're worried about his opinion on me, what would he think about you?"

Jin qing sighed. Since Tian Xiang had left them, he made swift work of spreading the word about her true identity. Now, there isn't anyone in the world who knows about Xue Xian's true identity. 

The goddess of blood. 

"He wouldn't dare." Jin qing answered confidently. 

Yu qi looked doubtful, but she backed her horse away from the gates and looked down at the children. "Nian Zhen, Xiao Wen, do you two want to go and see what foods the Wei has to sell?"

Forget the travel being difficult on two grown women-- it was incredibly exhausting for the two children traveling with them. The two shook their heads as Yu qi helped Nian Zhen off of Jin qing's horse and lifted her onto her own. 

"Will you be alright?" Nian Zhen asked again, holding onto her brother and the reins at the same time. 

Jin qing smiled. "I'll be fine. I'll see you soon!"

A soldier at the gate recognized her immediately. "X-Xue Xian!"

It must be a strange sight for the poor soldier and the people around him who heard him. The Xue Xian is seldomly seen outside the palace, and whenever she is seen, she is always dressed in the finest of clothes and in an elaborate white gown. But now, Jin qing was dressed roughly and in torn clothes from hard travel. 

Whispers immediately erupted as the solider nervously saluted her. "Welcome back," he said in a shaking voice. "The emperor told us to bring you to the palace as soon as you arrived back in the city."

"As soon as?"

"As soon as possible. I'll send someone to alert them of your return." He gestured down the main road with a low bow. "Grant me the honor to personally escort you into the palace!"

"Would it be a good idea for you to leave your post? I can get back on my own."

The soldier looked up at her with a sense of fear in his eyes. "No! It won't matter. Please allow me to personally escort you into the palace!" he repeated. 
with his words, the other seven guards at the gate pounded the end of their spear against the ground, loudly stating their shared opinion. 

All the noise was catching even more attention now, and the whispers quickly turned into low mutters as passers looked and pointed at her. With their volume, Jin qing was able to catch a few words of what they were saying. 

Wu xin. 

The name shot through her ears as a bolt fired from a crossbow. 

Jin qing nodded, turning her horse so the guard and guide her into the palace. "If you insist."

The soldier nodded, grabbing onto her reins and lead her through the streets of the Wei capital, choosing the side roads rather than the main ones which would have been quicker to the palace. She had a few guesses why he did so but none of them made sense. 

The Xue Xian coming back into the Wei should be a thing the country should be relieved about-- unless Tian Xiang really did a number with spreading the word about her true identity. Jin qing had been sure that her reputation should be enough to save her, but she was beginning to doubt that more and more. 

They were still heading toward the palace when they suddenly made a few turns that took them slightly away from the main road toward the main palace entrance. Before Jin qing can say anything about it, the soldier stopped and gave her a salute before dropping down to his knees, bowing his head down to the floor in a symbol of ultimate respect. 

Jin qing frowned. "What's wrong? What are you doing on the floor--"

"May the Xue Xian live hundreds of thousands of years! If anything happens to the gracious gift the heavens have given us, may my insignificant soul burn in hell a million times over!"

"Huh-? What are you--"

The soldier scrambled to kneel, taking a dagger from his belt and presenting it to Jin qing with two hands held up high above his head. "Take this to protect yourself. The emperor has already switched out many of the guards in the inner palace so they are all loyal to him and him only," he said firmly, still not looking up. "I was one of the men in the city you saved when you gave yourself up to the Song. We have a debt to you that we can't pay even in the next life-- please take this and protect yourself if the emperor does anything rash against you!"

Jin qing's mood darkened as she accepted the dagger. 
Guess things were worse than she had anticipated. 

"men loyal to the emperor must have already told him about your arrival and eyes are everywhere, so I had to lead you away from the palace to stall for time while the men loyal to you prepare to assist you in any way we can."

"How did you all know of this information?"

"General Li Kai Feng was the only adamant advocate for you and was the one who informed us, knowing that we would gladly back you up." he finally looked up at her "What do you plan to do? Men loyal only to you are ready with an escape plan if you wish to flee now."

Jin qing looked at the grand palace that didn't seem so homely anymore-- not like she ever considered it to be her home. 
Xi Jian was waiting for her. His intentions on what he wanted to do with her are unclear, though it was obvious that he and many of the court officials already despise her if Kai Feng out of all people was her only advocate. 

Leaving the Wei would be the obvious choice if she wanted to keep her head, but she knew what Xi Jian was like. It's rare for him to be determined on anything, but he had never been able to stop her before-- why would this time be any different?
if he wanted even a sliver of a chance to win the war against the Song and Shen Feng's charge... He needed to accept her back. It'll take some convincing, but Jin qing was starting to doubt her abilities. 

How much sense would Xi jian be able to listen to while his mind is still clouded with the rumor of her supposedly killing his mother? 

She turned her horse toward the palace, gesturing for the soldier to rise back to his feet. "Let's see how many threats I have to make for Xi Jian to listen to me the one time it matters," she smirked. "Once I'm inside, tell the men loyal to me to be ready for anything. To the palace!"

Thank you all so much for 90k reads!
I wish I could have gotten this out earlier for the lunar new year, but I got a little carried away planning for a future project. See you all next time!