For another woman, perhaps it could be — but for this one, if you want her, you can forget about ever having the world.
Was it really worth pouring so much thought into one woman?
Yelu Chenyi’s mocking laughter echoed in Jun Beiyue’s ears, all the way until he landed on the ground and heard the heavy thud of Yelu Chenyi’s corpse hitting the earth — only then did his ears finally fall quiet.
In truth, regarding the Isolated Island, regarding the human Gu — there were still many secrets he was aware of, secrets they couldn’t even begin to guess at.
He had also always known that the best course of action would be to lay everything out plainly before Prince Nanzhao, to fight for Ziqing’s sake, and abandon the matter of the Isolated Island entirely.
But he couldn’t bear it — he couldn’t bear to watch Ziqing feel so lost, couldn’t bear the thought of her carrying an unresolvable knot in her heart for the rest of her life.
He was also uneasy — uneasy about whether, even if he did lay everything bare before Prince Nanzhao, he could still guarantee Ziqing’s safety for the rest of her life, whether they could still have children of their own.
These were all very real problems staring him in the face, ones he couldn’t avoid confronting — yet he always kept Ziqing shielded behind him, never letting her see them, wanting her to remain at ease.
Unable to bear it, unable to feel at ease, in the end he chose to gamble everything.
To find the Isolated Island — even if it truly proved impossible to break the curse of poison immunity, impossible to escape the nightmare of that direct bloodline — he was determined to find the very best solution possible.
In the past, what lay before him had been supremacy over the realm, and a woman.
But now, what lay before him was the comfort of the realm, and a woman.
He had more than enough ambition to claim both power and the woman he loved.
But he lacked the cruelty needed to destroy all of Longyuan for the sake of one woman.
War was one thing. A world thrown into chaos and turmoil was another matter entirely.
War was waged for the sake of greater peace, to avoid the strife of division, for the ultimate unification of Longyuan.
But chaos — that meant true suffering for the common people, displacement and ruin. Just how much devastation a single human Gu could cause was evident enough from Prince Nanzhao’s own attitude toward the Isolated Island.
“Jun Beiyue… you!”
The first to come rushing over wasn’t Prince Nanzhao, but the Empress of Dongqin. Seeing Yelu Chenyi’s mangled corpse, she felt the entire world spin around her, her vision flashing black and white, nearly fainting on the spot.
Prince Nanzhao, arriving right after, felt his heart lodge somewhere between his throat and his chest, his expression as grim as could be.
Yelu Chenyi had known so much, and had even been in league with Yanzi — there was so much he’d wanted to question him about.
And now, just like that, the man was dead. Where could he possibly go to ask his questions now?
Prince Nanzhao’s only consolation now was that, back when he’d assigned the guardianship of Mingsha Mountain, he’d kept one card up his sleeve.
He had never let the Yan clan guard the true secret — only half of the secret concerning the human Gu. The real secret remained safely buried beneath Mingsha Mountain.
What more could Prince Nanzhao say?
Jun Beiyue had ample reason to kill him — knowing Jun Beiyue’s temperament, it would have been strange if he hadn’t.
Prince Nanzhao couldn’t help but glance back at Han Ziqing, the last to arrive, a complicated look flashing through his eyes. He said nothing more, simply waving a hand. “Someone, deal with the body.”
“Prince Yao, I trust this counts as an explanation,” Prince Nanzhao said flatly to Jun Beiyue.
According to Nanzhao’s laws, Yelu Chenyi should have been dealt with by Nanzhao itself. Given Nanzhao’s own strength, the Xijing royal house would simply have to swallow this loss on their own — and if they wanted to settle the score, they’d have to take it up with Jun Beiyue, especially since the Emperor of Xijing currently had troubles enough of his own to deal with.
But with Yelu Chenyi dead, this could also serve as Prince Nanzhao’s way of making amends to Jun Beiyue for the earlier suspicion and slander.
Jun Beiyue nodded, gently pulling Ziqing close, saying nothing, carefully brushing his hand over the mask on her cheek, wiping it clean with tender, doting care.
The Empress of Dongqin, utterly defeated, feared Jun Beiyue might come looking for trouble with her next, and hastily sought to take her leave. “Prince Nanzhao, I never expected such an unpleasant incident to occur. I shall… take my leave now.”
Naturally, she had no intention of pursuing why Xuanyuan Zhaoxi had conspired with Yelu Chenyi in the first place — she was terrified enough that Prince Nanzhao might realize she, too, knew many of the Isolated Island’s secrets.
“Someone, see Her Majesty off!” Prince Nanzhao said, clearly distracted, no longer suspicious of Han Ziqing at all — instead, his suspicions had shifted entirely to the Empress of Dongqin. All he wanted now was to track down Yanzi and get to the bottom of things.
But just as the Empress of Dongqin was about to leave, Jun Beiyue, still wiping Ziqing’s silver-white mask, spoke coldly. “Empress of Dongqin, please stay a moment.”
The moment these words were spoken, Prince Nanzhao’s brow furrowed sharply, and the Empress of Dongqin’s heart skipped an entire beat.
Jun Beiyue! What more did he want now?
Though guilty at heart, the Empress of Dongqin managed to steady herself. Taking a deep breath, she turned and looked at Jun Beiyue with feigned calm, demanding coldly, “Prince Yao, you and I still have our own grievances to settle — are you truly so eager? You invaded my waters and killed my princess. What do you intend to repay me for that?”
Repay her?
Jun Beiyue’s contempt ran bone-deep. He said, coldly, word by word, “Empress of Dongqin, from this day forward, Da Zhou formally declares war… on Dongqin.”
The moment these words left his mouth, whatever confidence the Empress of Dongqin had managed to muster instantly deflated like a punctured balloon. She staggered, stumbling backward several steps, and would surely have collapsed on the spot had her handmaiden not caught her.
She had been gambling all along — gambling that Jun Beiyue wouldn’t move so quickly, that he wasn’t yet ready.
But with Xichu’s decline, and Xijing now at war with Xiliang, she knew Dongqin was in grave danger.
She had placed all her hopes in Nanzhao, never imagining that Jun Beiyue would declare war right in front of her, right here in Nanzhao itself.
“Jun Beiyue! You cannot do this! This is unjust! This violates all the rules!”
The Empress of Dongqin, having recovered herself, cried out.
These words struck even Prince Nanzhao as almost laughable. Justice, rules — war had never had anything to do with either of those concepts. Besides, when had the Empress of Dongqin herself ever spoken of justice or rules toward anyone else?
Prince Nanzhao found himself curious about what had truly caused that naval battle in the first place, but he had no intention of asking Jun Beiyue directly — the man was clearly still in the grip of his fury.
Ignoring the Empress of Dongqin’s accusations entirely, Jun Beiyue bowed politely to Prince Nanzhao in farewell, then turned and walked away with Han Ziqing in his arms.
Looking down at Yelu Chenyi’s still-fresh blood on the ground, then at Jun Beiyue’s retreating figure, the Empress of Dongqin suddenly understood — shaking the relationship between Da Zhou and Nanzhao was far too difficult, and exposing Han Ziqing’s secret came at far too great a cost.
This move of hers had been a mistake.
She couldn’t afford to delay any longer. At that moment, she finally remembered someone — someone she could truly rely on, yet someone she had chosen to abandon because she could only depend on him for thirty years.
Her own flesh-and-blood son, Xuanyuan Lige!
The moment she returned to the embassy compound, the Empress of Dongqin nearly lost her mind. “Where’s A’Li! Where is my son!”
“Your Majesty, the Crown Prince went out to sea aboard the princess’s ship…”
Before the handmaiden could finish speaking, the Empress of Dongqin’s face turned ashen. “Impossible! He couldn’t have died at sea! You’re talking nonsense — find him! Search to the ends of the earth if you have to!”
A’Li… where is A’Li…