The Weight of Bloodlines
“…What does that have to do with anything?”
Zheng was the great-granddaughter of the King of Qin? She belonged to the royal family of Qin? So what? Was it Zheng who ordered the complete annihilation of Zhao’s people at the Battle of Changping? Was it Zheng who commanded the invasion of Zhao in the first place? Of course not. Zheng had simply been born with the blood of Qin’s king flowing through her veins. That was all. Nothing more. To hate her solely for a lineage she had no control over, when she had done nothing wrong herself—what part of that absurdity could possibly be considered just?
“I said, aren’t you ashamed?! A bunch of grown adults ganging up on a seven-year-old girl just to vent your anger!”
The man’s face twisted into a vicious scowl. The Zhao citizens listening to our exchange from behind him wore equally hardened expressions. Was the practice of collective punishment truly so natural to them? Did they honestly believe it was right? If so, I could not back down.
“Shut your mouth! What would a Yan dog like you know about the grudge of Changping?!”
“The grudge of Changping? You call this the grudge of Changping? That child wasn’t even born at the time! What crime could you possibly pin on a girl like her?!”
My threats could not actually harm the man in any real way, yet he stumbled back a step as if shoved. He didn’t even seem to realize he had retreated. I kept shouting at him.
“What you people are doing right now isn’t legitimate revenge for the Battle of Changping! It’s nothing but an ugly obsession—a vile act of tormenting the weak to satisfy your own twisted desires!”
“You… you little brat…”
We were different. The man and I held fundamentally different mindsets. I had absolute conviction that my actions were right. But his motives were nothing more than ambition dressed up in the guise of vengeance. If he had truly lost family at Changping and cried out for revenge, my words might not have shaken him. Revenge, after all, was an intensely emotional and self-centered justification. But the man knew his ambition was unjust. That was why he could no longer argue and simply trembled in silence.
And when people like him could not find logic to defend themselves, their next move was almost always violence.
“Shut up! If you want to die so badly, I’ll grant your wish! This disgusting Qin bitch, and the brat who’s siding with her—I’ll kill you all!!”
The man screamed like a madman.
Good. Go ahead and act like the lunatic you are.
I inwardly sneered as I watched him shift his full attention to me, ignoring the exhausted Zheng slumped on the ground. These people weren’t attacking Zheng without considering the consequences because they were simple-minded. Nor did they have powerful backers to shield them from the fallout. The reason they could treat her like a sacrificial lamb was because of her ambiguous status.
The official hostage sent from Qin to Zhao was Zheng’s father, Ying Yiren. People often assumed Zheng herself had been sent as a formal hostage, but in truth, she had never been officially recognized as a member of Qin’s royal family or granted any such role. Naturally, she received neither support nor protection from Qin. Half the blood in her veins belonged to Zhao, and she was a distant branch of the royal line who had never once set foot in Qin’s territory. Her presence in Qin was practically nonexistent.
Had Qin sent any formal decree regarding her, it might have been different. But there had been none. Zheng existed in a complete gray zone, utterly exposed. That was why these people could freely use her as a tool for their grudges and theatrics.
But I am different.
I was an official royal hostage sent by Yan. Any harassment I suffered from the authorities had been calculated within the bounds of what those in power could afford to take responsibility for. No ordinary citizen, no matter who backed them, could lay a hand on me. No matter how much I defended Zheng, harming me was simply out of the question. While there might be some issues with a hostage making contact with a Qin noblewoman, it was not a matter for civilians to handle—it belonged in the realm of state affairs.
If they touch me, even the guards won’t be able to stand by, no matter who their backers are.
I was prepared to have a bone or two broken. I braced myself for the coming pain, but my resolve proved unnecessary. The man’s fist never reached me.
“Chekbu, you fool! Get a hold of yourself!”
His accomplices had joined in and were holding him back.
“Don’t you know who that boy is? Forget the Qin bitch—we’ll be in serious trouble if we lay a hand on the Yan prince!”
“Ah… Th-thank you. I nearly fell for that cunning little bastard’s tricks.”
I had dragged things out too long. More and more accomplices were gathering, and unlike the man called Chekbu, they kept a cool distance from me. They showed no intention of touching me at all; their goal was clearly to drag only Zheng away.
In that case, should I resort to self-harm?
I was just considering such an extreme measure when a voice like a ray of light cut through the tension. And it came from above.
“Doesn’t look very admirable, does it? A whole group of you harassing two children.”
I looked up toward the voice and saw a woman standing tall atop the wall, wearing her usual bright, refreshing smile.
“Jing Ke!”
“You left a message saying to come to Dongcheng if you didn’t return. It took me forever to find you, you know?”
Before leaving my residence, I had felt a sense of foreboding and left instructions. If I had not returned by the time Jing Ke came back from following Mao Sui, she was to come looking for me in Dongcheng. The insurance policy I had set up on a whim had now become our trump card!
But my joy was short-lived. The enemy numbers before us had already swelled to five. My elation cooled rapidly. It seemed Seok and Hyu had split off from Jing Ke in different directions. If all three had come together, we might have been able to break through. While I despaired at our overwhelming numerical disadvantage, Jing Ke remained utterly composed. Even when the group, sensing danger from her sudden appearance, drew daggers and other weapons from their clothes, she didn’t flinch.
“What do you want to do, Prince of Yan? If I draw my sword, I can pull that girl out anytime you like.”
Her claim that she could subdue five grown men with nothing but her longsword was no bluff. Nor was it the reckless outburst of someone who had lost their reason. Rather, her calm tone sounded more like a simple explanation of what she was capable of. Her unusually steady voice helped cool the heat in my own head. Once the feverish anger subsided, what rose in its place was guilt.
A foreigner drawing a blade against citizens of another state. I knew exactly what that meant. And yet—
“Jing Ke.”
“Give me the order.”
I had no choice but to command it.
“Save Zheng.”
“Order received.”
With a sharp ring of steel, Jing Ke leaped forward. The sound of her feet hitting the wall was crisp and lively. Like a hawk riding the storm winds, she soared through the air and plunged into the crowd. Had I not witnessed it myself, I would never have believed it. The group holding Zheng hostage thrust daggers and skewers at her, but she deflected every strike with a single blade. She had calculated the perfect blind spots—angles from which they would inevitably attack—and charged with meticulous precision.
Thud! Swish! Clang!
She tripped one man, threw herself forward to dodge a skewer, then raised her sword to block a dagger. The entire sequence flowed with flawless smoothness. Even though none of them were properly trained warriors, facing five adult men and women alone? Jing Ke’s combat was nothing short of breathtaking.
It took only a few minutes for the scene to be settled. Only Jing Ke remained standing on her own two feet. The five others lay sprawled on the ground, groaning in pain. Blood soaked the earth. Jing Ke’s blade had shown no mercy. After all, she was facing five opponents by herself. If she had fought half-heartedly, the one who would have fallen would have been her. Yet there were no fatalities. She had focused entirely on cutting their limbs to neutralize them. In the process, she herself had been stabbed by a skewer and slashed by a dagger. She had chosen to endure some damage in exchange for swiftly subduing the enemy. Fortunately, the wounds did not seem deep; the amount of blood staining her clothes was relatively small.
“Incredible…”
At my half-dazed admiration, Jing Ke smirked and said,
“Told you, didn’t I? My skills are solid.”
“Ah, your injuries—your wounds?”
“I’m fine. I get cuts like this just from sparring. More importantly, shouldn’t we take care of that kid first?”
I set aside my concern for Jing Ke and approached Zheng, who was slumped against the wall. She had been carried by the man called Chekbu and then thrown aside, losing consciousness. I gently woke her.
“Zheng, wake up. Zheng.”
“Mmm… Dan?”
“How are you? Can you stand?”
“Ah… I just now…”
“It’s okay. It’s all over. Let’s get up. We need to go back.”
I helped Zheng to her feet. The spirited girl from before was gone; she hung limply in my arms as I half-carried her, slowly making our way forward. Perhaps because of the bloody longsword still in Jing Ke’s grip and the sharp killing intent radiating from her, the citizens remained frozen in place as we passed. Just as we were about to leave the crowd behind, a voice filled with grief caught my ankle.
“I… I lost my only son at Changping!”
The old woman’s resentment over losing her son was not so much fierce as it was heartbreakingly sorrowful. Faced with a mother’s desire for revenge over her child, I could not come up with a single excuse. I stopped walking and looked at her. Even through tear-filled eyes, I could feel the intense hostility still directed at Zheng.
“Even so… are you saying my actions were wrong…?”
“…Yes. That is what I believe.”
Just because a murderer killed my child does not give me the right to kill the murderer’s child. That is nothing but revenge. Yet how could I dismiss the gut-wrenching pain of losing one’s flesh and blood? Because I could not truly understand the old woman’s feelings, I could offer no rebuttal. There was no debate. I simply walked past her.
“You Qin dogs all deserve to die! Heaven will one day bring divine punishment upon your wretched kingdom! It will bring punishment upon you all!”
Once unleashed, the curses only grew fiercer, showing no sign of stopping. Instead of cursing back, I covered Zheng’s ears with both hands and quickened my steps.
“Dan…”
“Don’t listen. Those are words you don’t need to hear.”
“…Okay.”
Today, I had finally taken Zheng fully into my protection. I had decided to shelter her.
After this… it will be time to pay the price and bear the responsibility.
After enduring a harsh winter and a brief spring, summer had arrived. This summer would be exceptionally hot. The days ahead would be as grueling as the brutal winter had been. Still, if we could overcome it, a bountiful autumn awaited. With that in mind, I willingly stepped forward into the most intense summer of my life.