Facing Situ Haonan’s shock, Ziqing remained perfectly serious. “Do you dare or not? You’ll lead the army yourself—march under the Situ banner!”
Situ Haonan was too stunned to speak, while Jun Beiyue, beside them, still said nothing, simply rising to study the map on his own. Seen from the side, the faint curve of a smile could be glimpsed at the corner of his mouth—though what exactly he found amusing, no one could say.
Situ Haonan glanced at Jun Beiyue, then back at Ziqing, and finally spoke. “You… you want me to betray Jun Beiyue?”
Right now, Xiliang was condemning both Xijing and Da Zhou. The fierce crown prince had already made his position perfectly clear back then: if Yelu Qianqian weren’t handed over, he would personally lead his troops to Da Zhou to demand her.
And now, with Xijing and Xiliang locked in brutal conflict, how was he supposed to lead an army into the field?
To lead troops himself, he’d inevitably have to join forces with Xijing! That wasn’t betraying Jun Beiyue—that was outright wrecking every plan Jun Beiyue had laid out for the western frontier!
Situ Haonan truly hadn’t considered this, hadn’t even dared to think it!
“Don’t have the guts?” Ziqing scoffed. She swore, at that moment, it was only for Yelu Qianqian’s sake that she was holding back—otherwise she’d have already chewed Situ Haonan out thoroughly and kicked him out the door!
“Convince Yelu Qianqian, bring us back with you, and get Xijing and Da Zhou to join forces against Xiliang!” Ziqing said, word by word, deadly serious.
Xijing and Da Zhou, joining forces?
The moment he heard it, Situ Haonan’s first instinct was to look at Jun Beiyue again—but Jun Beiyue acted as though he’d heard nothing at all, studying the map intently, seemingly lost in thought over something.
“This… I don’t want my situation to be the reason Jun Beiyue’s plans fall apart,” Situ Haonan said earnestly.
But Ziqing just laughed. “No one’s asking you to destroy Jun Beiyue to please Xijing. Why don’t you actually think this through properly? Xijing isn’t just facing outside threats—after the crown prince’s death, internal chaos is only getting worse. The Xijing emperor really only has two paths left: either the nation falls, or… it submits to Da Zhou and becomes its vassal state!”
At Ziqing’s words, Jun Beiyue’s brush-holding hand stiffened faintly, and the curve of his smile grew even wider.
Situ Haonan, meanwhile, stood there utterly dumbfounded—he… he… how had he never thought of that?
Seeing this, Ziqing’s grip on his collar tightened without meaning to. “Situ Haonan, you never even thought about it, never seriously considered it, never dared to think big. What gives you the right to say there’s no solution? What gives you the right to despair? What right do you have?!”
That, more than anything, was what infuriated Ziqing.
Faced with Ziqing’s accusations, her fury, Situ Haonan felt overwhelming shame—he understood now.
The moment Ziqing let go of him, he stepped forward at once and declared loudly, “Jun Beiyue, this time… brother, I’m going to save my wife, sorry about this. You won’t get to destroy Xijing yourself—but I promise you, I’ll take it down for you instead!”
Jun Beiyue looked up, his devastatingly handsome face noble and mysterious in the dim lamplight. He said flatly, “This king can’t spare you very many troops.”
Though Jun Beiyue’s tone was completely expressionless, Situ Haonan was overjoyed—he knew this meant Jun Beiyue had agreed!
“Just lend me the western frontier army—that’s all I need!” Situ Haonan answered quickly.
“Da Zhou’s western frontier army, combined with whatever troops the Xijing emperor still commands—you might not even win,” Jun Beiyue added.
“I have control over Situ City’s forces along the western frontier,” Situ Haonan answered without a moment’s hesitation. At those words, Ziqing’s heart lit up with delight.
She couldn’t help but glance at Jun Beiyue—what a scheming man. He was clearly forcing Situ Haonan to bring Situ City’s own strength into play!
Well, fair enough—at a time like this, as Situ City’s sole heir, it was about time Situ Haonan fought for something of his own.
But just as Ziqing was smugly smiling to herself, a sly curve appeared at the corner of Situ Haonan’s mouth too, as he said, “There’s also… there’s also someone I want to borrow from beside you, just once.”
The great generals beside Jun Beiyue, up at the northern frontier, numbered only the Three Tiger Generals.
But those three tiger generals would never leave the northern frontier—so the person Situ Haonan meant clearly wasn’t one of them. Could it be…
“Impossible!”
“Han Ziqing!”
The two of them spoke almost at the exact same moment. Ziqing glanced at Jun Beiyue, whose expression had finally shifted from blank composure, then at Situ Haonan’s mischievous grin, utterly exasperated.
“Impossible!” Jun Beiyue repeated firmly.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll wreck your western frontier army?” Situ Haonan asked very seriously.
“There are plenty of generals in the western frontier army—use whichever ones you like,” Jun Beiyue said coldly.
“Just for half a year! If she doesn’t come, I’m afraid I won’t be able to convince Qianqian!” Situ Haonan said earnestly. Even if he could persuade Qianqian, there was no guarantee he could persuade the Xijing emperor.
Heaven only knew how much the Xijing emperor hated Da Zhou!
Persuasion, as it turned out, was far harder than fighting a war.
Both Ziqing and Jun Beiyue understood this perfectly well. Jun Beiyue said nothing, studying the map with a faint air of irritation about his brow, while Ziqing lowered her head, deep in thought. After a long moment, she let out a slow breath and said quietly, “I’ll go.”
Jun Beiyue’s brow shot up instantly, his gaze practically ready to devour someone whole—but in the end, he said nothing at all.
Situ Haonan glanced between the two of them and, contrary to expectations, began to hesitate.
“The northern frontier… probably won’t see much movement anytime soon,” Ziqing said, laying out, in just a few words, the stalemate at the northern front.
Given the Empress of Dongqin’s temperament, there was no way she’d throw her entire military strength into this so easily, abandoning her defenses against the Huns—Jun Beiyue had suspected this all along, and so had Ziqing.
The Empress of Dongqin had colluded with the Huns—dealing with the Huns was, without question, inviting a tiger into the house—but the Empress of Dongqin dared to do it anyway.
And all of this, all of it, was because Xuanyuan Lige hadn’t come back.
Jun Beiyue hadn’t misjudged the Empress of Dongqin—he’d misjudged Xuanyuan Lige.
Right now, the situation at the northern frontier had slipped somewhat out of Jun Beiyue’s control; the two armies were likely headed toward a stalemate.
Ziqing’s meaning was clear—for the time being, her staying here wouldn’t be of much help anyway.
There was no need for further explanation; Jun Beiyue understood immediately. But Situ Haonan, not fully grasping the situation, hesitated a moment before laughing. “I was just joking with you two. Borrowing the western frontier army alone will be more than enough!”
With that, he turned to take his leave—he needed to find Yelu Qianqian as quickly as possible, or once Xijing surrendered, there would truly be no undoing it.
But at that moment, Jun Beiyue finally spoke. “What’s the rush? You think that face of yours alone is enough to command my western frontier army?”
Given the relationship between Situ Haonan and Jun Beiyue, that face of his could often mobilize a great deal of Jun Beiyue’s influence—but a national army was an entirely different matter.
Jun Beiyue drew the tiger tally from his sleeve and tossed it over. Situ Haonan caught it, bowed solemnly, and turned to leave.
In the room, only Ziqing and Jun Beiyue remained. The couple looked at each other; Ziqing smiled faintly, while Jun Beiyue’s brow stayed knit tight, saying nothing more, only gently pulling her into his arms and murmuring, “Half a year. Be safe, the whole time.”
He knew she wanted to go, knew she had good reason to—Situ Haonan needed her help, and peace on the western frontier needed her too.
There was no way they could simply keep Yelu Qianqian locked up forever. This truly was the best solution.
A thousand words of parting couldn’t compare to this single line: “Take care of yourself. Stay safe.”
A note to readers:
Can we get two updates? Please? Please?