I became the God Brother of the Regent King after Transmigration!-Chapter 176 - 120: Not of Our Kind

"Be careful, little brother!"

Duoji shouted, leaping to push Jiang Qu down. With a sound of "thud," an arrow pierced his arm.

Blood splattered, but Duoji didn’t care about his wound and quickly asked, "Jiang Qu, are you alright?"

"No, no problem," Jiang Qu answered, still in shock as he raised his head.

Jiang Qu supported his body with the only arm he had left and caught sight of the flashes of silver light, his eyes widened as he asked gloomily, "Duoji, is this what you meant when you said Gu Lan would spare us?"

"I, too, have no idea why this is happening!"

Duoji’s eyes narrowed as he pressed on his wound and lifted the curtain again, only to find that the carriage transporting them to the Heavenly Prison had somehow reached a desolate suburb.

At this moment, the carriage stopped.

In an instant, the Yan Country officials raised their bows and aimed them at them.

"Release the arrows!" A familiar voice commanded.

Duoji didn’t have time to discern who was outside. He grabbed Jiang Qu’s shoulders and yelled, "Hide quickly! I’m wearing the Soft Hedgehog Armor!"

As he spoke, he had already taken off his outer robe, covering himself and Jiang Qu’s vital areas with the Soft Hedgehog Armor, and quickly lay down.

Moments later, countless arrows flew their way.

Jiang Qu could only hear the wind whistling past his ears and see Duoji’s calm and resolute face, his expression was particularly complicated.

As the Eldest Prince of the Royal Court, Duoji was the Chanyu’s most favored son and the heir that the entire Royal Court respected.

And he was just a son of a woman from the Wei Country’s imperial family, given to the Chanyu when the Wei Country wished to establish friendly ties with the Royal Court many years ago.

But Duoji treated him well.

Duoji possessed a Soft Hedgehog Armor bestowed by the Chanyu, impervious to blades and flames, which he envied tremendously.

The first time he went to battle, Duoji allowed him to wear his Soft Hedgehog Armor.

That time, everyone else had died, only he survived in the hands of Gu Chengzhao.

Now, he had to rely on Duoji again to survive.

The Soft Hedgehog Armor deflected most of the arrows aimed at them, but given the limited space in the carriage and the fact that they were two men, a few arrows still hit Duoji’s legs.

He groaned softly, coughing up blood.

Duoji wiped away the blood and forced a smile at Jiang Qu, "It’s nothing serious."

After a while, the outside stopped shooting, and a few officials came forward, using a knife to lift open the carriage’s curtain.

"Sir, these two are unharmed."

"What? They’re both unharmed! Then bring them out."

Moments later, he and Jiang Qu were dragged off the carriage and thrown at Lu Bingxin’s feet.

"It’s, it’s you..." Duoji raised his head, seeing Lu Bingxin, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, "Did Gu Lan order you to eliminate us?"

Unexpectedly, he trusted the wrong person!

Jiang Qu got up from the ground, only to be pressed down to kneel before Lu Bingxin.

He roared, "You Yan people, why must you annihilate us completely!"

Lu Bingxin crouched down, looking at the two of them, his face stern with power over life and death, and said:

"It’s not I who wants to kill you, nor does Young Master Gu want to kill you... But if you don’t die, how will your Chanyu ever be compelled to act like a cornered animal?"

Jiang Qu immediately realized and exclaimed, "You, you want to kill Duoji and me to force the Chanyu into war!"

The peace between Qiangrong and Yan Country had lasted twelve years, the last great battle was when the old Marquis died, and Gu Chengzhao inherited the title to lead the troops, pushing Qiangrong back eight hundred miles, nearly forcing them back to Wolf Mountain.

Since then, the Royal Court hadn’t waged war with Yan Country, though minor skirmishes occurred now and then.

But hearing Lu Bingxin’s words, Jiang Qu understood that Yan Country intended to shatter their relationship!

Duoji, too, grasped Lu Bingxin’s intention, saying, "Yan Country and the Royal Court have been peaceful for over ten years. My sister even married your Emperor the year before last, yet you remain unsatisfied."

"It’s because there’s been too much peace," Lu Bingxin replied.

He stood as the cold wind blew his long official robe, his eyes reflecting a cold tranquility.

"Those not of our kin are bound to have different intentions. For thousands of years, Qiangrong has aspired to seize the Central Plains. It was only years ago, after being defeated by Dingyuan Marquis, that they settled down for a while, but that was during the former Emperor’s time. In recent years, your Royal Court has annexed small surrounding tribes and provoked smaller states like Liang and Chen, all to eventually return stronger, isn’t it?"

Duoji opened his mouth but looked at the Yan Country people around, whose eyes brimmed with hatred, powerless to retort.

Lu Bingxin lifted his head, gazing into the distant horizon, where the gloomy sky rolled with fierce winds, as if recalling the scene when the Emperor summoned him alone not long ago.

The young emperor, wearing the Dragon Robe, pointed at the vast, sprawling map behind him, and said:

"The Chanyu of the Qiangrong wants to endure hardships and lie low, but I refuse to give him that chance... The Wei Country that the former Emperor did not defeat, I want them to bow and submit. The Qiangrong Royal Court that the former Emperor did not conquer, I will have Gu Chengzhao destroy them!

With the removal of the Eldest Prince this time, I do not believe that old fool of a Chanyu can endure any longer."

Lu Bingxin recalled his childhood scenes of his forebears battling the Qiangrong. Resisting the Qiangrong is the innate valor of the old people of Yan.

Filled with heroic spirit, he knelt and bowed in response to the Emperor’s words.

At this moment, Lu Bingxin looked toward Duoji, beckoned, and regretfully said: "Eldest Prince, you are considered a talent, I admire you, but only with your deaths—"

Jiang Qu suddenly raised his head and roared:

"No! If both of us die, then who will tell the Chanyu! No one can prove that we died in Yan Country, and no one can prove that we died at your or Gu Lan’s hands. From what I know of the Chanyu, he would not act against Yan Country just because we disappear!"

Lu Bingxin froze for a moment, put down his hand, and looked at the young man missing an arm in front of him:

"Endure even with sons dead?"

Jiang Qu quickly said: "I, although the Second Prince, my mother was from Wei Country, she died long ago, in the eyes of the Chanyu I am nothing... I am now missing an arm, even more of a waste.

As for Duoji, although known as the Royal Court’s Eldest Prince, the Chanyu has more than one prince, and several favored women, whose children are equally favored.

If the two of us die here for no reason, no one will know, the Chanyu excels at patience, he will do nothing!"

Lu Bingxin raised an eyebrow, his gaze wandering between Duoji and Jiang Qu.

After a while, he laughed and said indifferently:

"Second Prince, true to your Wei blood, cunning and cowardly like the Wei people, your words are just for survival... But one point you make is true, if you die and the Chanyu doesn’t know, then how?"

Duoji silently fell to the ground, looking at his injured leg.

He wondered whether he could ever ride a horse again, or drink his mother’s butter tea.

Did he even have a future?

He also heard Jiang Qu’s words, but Jiang Qu knew the Chanyu, not the whole Royal Court.

The Chanyu’s entire life was dedicated to enduring with a focus on reviving the Royal Court, his endurance surpassing ordinary people.

If he and Jiang Qu died, the Chanyu could endure without sending troops, but he was the Royal Court’s Eldest Prince. Those under the Chanyu who believed in him, his former friends, teachers, and the High Priest, the Left and Right Valley King, could not endure such humiliation. They would surely force his father to send the troops.

And Yan Country’s objectives would be fulfilled.

This was Yan people’s overt strategy.

However, Lu Bingxin did not dare to gamble, because he did not truly understand the Chanyu’s character.

Lu Bingxin thought for a moment and said: "I have changed my mind, only one of you two can survive, the other will return and tell the Chanyu that it was Gu Lan, the son of Dingyuan Marquis, who has gone too far. Even if old Chanyu does not mobilize the army, your death will surely anger all of Qiangrong... How about that?"

Jiang Qu wobbled, the shadow of death enveloping him, trembling and whispering, "Lord Lu, please, let us go, your plan won’t work... The Chanyu truly doesn’t care if we live or die."

"If he cares or not, with one dead, we’ll know," Lu Bingxin’s voice was indifferent.

"However, I’ve thought of a good way, and that is not killing you myself. You can decide who dies and who lives."

Duoji painfully lifted his head, looking at Lu Bingxin, his brown eyes settling down, resolute and fearless.

"Lord Lu, you are right, those not of our kind will always have a different heart... so we Qiangrong people never turn the knife toward our own brothers, we won’t turn against each other—"

"Hiss—"

A heart-wrenching pain struck.

Duoji paused in breath, unbelieving, lowered his head.

It was a blade piercing through his chest... and Jiang Qu holding the blade at his side.

"Brother... you... you..."

He fiercely grasped Jiang Qu’s hand, veins bulging, brown pupils contracted to mere pinpoints.

Large amounts of blood flowed from Duoji’s lips.

"You... for..."

He could only utter a fragmented word, feeling all his blood freeze instantly.

Something was slowly draining from his body.

Jiang Qu stared at Duoji, his snake-like vertical pupils cold and lifeless, then fiercely withdrew the knife, his sole remaining right hand trembling unabatedly.

Duoji’s body fell to the ground with a thud, raising dust.

Blood stained Jiang Qu’s entire arm red, next to them lay the Soft Hedgehog Armor Duoji had just removed in his attempt to protect Jiang Qu.