Qingyun chuckled, “You certainly hold grudges!”
Ruowen silently stared at him, about to explode, when suddenly Luoying returned. “Chief… Chief! No one’s in the room!” He seemed to have returned empty-handed.
“What did you say?” Ruowen roared, “Damn it! How could they be so fast? Where are That Zhan’s men?”
“They’ve already retreated!” Luoying lowered his head.
“Pursue them!” Ruowen shouted without a second thought. He glanced at Qingyun below, then turned and left. In an instant, the proud banners on the city walls disappeared. Qingyun stood below, watching impassively, estimating that it was time to prepare for retreat. A faint smirk played on his lips as he said, “Weren’t we in the middle of a contest, Ruowen?”
Little did Ruowen know that Qingyun had arranged for his men to find Huang Beishuang and hide her in a room. Then he had half of the Tiandu army disguise themselves as Yunpei’s red-clad cavalry, creating the illusion that Huang Beishuang had been rescued by That Zhan.
Now, Huang Beishuang was hiding in the room, waiting for Qingyun’s men to come for her. Hearing the chaotic search outside, she remained calm, her expression showing only… surprise. Soon, a man in black quietly entered. “Your Highness?” he called in a low voice. Huang Beishuang crawled out from behind the bed. The man in black nodded, “Let’s go! Ruowen has gone in pursuit. His Majesty is waiting at the city gate. Once we’re out of this mansion, we’ll be safe even if those bandits return!”
They quickly ran out. Thanks to the Mang Liu people setting fires everywhere, their escape was relatively smooth. Just as they reached the main gate of the inner compound, an orange figure blocked their path. The man in black was stunned for a moment, instinctively looking back at Huang Beishuang, wondering if he had made a mistake.
“Ge Xinwei!” Huang Beishuang pulled down her black face covering.
Ge Xinwei sneered, “Your Majesty is too naive, thinking every man is like him, never letting go of the woman he wants. Duke Zhan was just using you as bait to lure him away. How could he possibly come to rescue you?”
Huang Beishuang silently looked at her. The man in black beside her grew nervous, thinking that if she shouted, they’d be doomed. He was about to draw his sword to silence her, but Huang Beishuang stopped him. She walked over to Ge Xinwei and asked, “What about you? You saw through everything, why didn’t you say anything?”
Ge Xinwei laughed, “Letting you go is best for me. If Your Majesty had truly fallen into this trap and attacked Yunpei, that would have suited me perfectly! Why should I reveal anything?”
Huang Beishuang looked at her, suddenly realizing that this woman not only resembled her in appearance but also in temperament. She approached Ge Xinwei with a bitter smile, “You came to see me one last time?”
Ge Xinwei stared back at her. This woman who could make Tiandu stop a war, make King Jingting attack Fengtian and make Ruowen pursue her relentlessly… “You’re nothing special! Why have you captured his heart?” she asked with a sigh.
Huang Beishuang smiled faintly, “Whose heart have I captured? That Zhan’s? Or Ruowen’s? A man who can use me as a pawn without a second thought, or a man who can kill and burn to satisfy his desires without blinking an eye? Or… Qingyun, who’s pretending to attack the city outside? He’s even more ruthless, using me to frame That Zhan, isn’t he? Tell me, whose heart have I captured?”
Ge Xinwei looked at her, “Go! I don’t want to see you again!”
Huang Beishuang pulled up her face covering and left with Qingyun’s man without another glance.
Ge Xinwei watched her stumbling figure disappear and muttered mockingly, “You say he’s more ruthless, yet you still chose him? Running away without hesitation. Should I be grateful to you, or should I pity His Majesty?”
Huang Beishuang kept running, with no time to ponder the feelings of Ruowen’s woman. She only knew that in the distance, that black figure on a sturdy white horse was like a sea without water, and the closer she ran, the deeper she sank.
Finally, she stood before him, just one step away.
“Nothing to say now that you see me?” Qingyun looked down at her from his horse. “It seems you didn’t gain much from following That Zhan!” His mockery was merciless as if all memories had vanished in an instant.
Huang Beishuang stared at him. He hadn’t changed at all – still handsome, arrogant, his voice commanding and alluring. She stood there, dumbfounded, as if unable to believe this was all real.
Seeing her silence, Qingyun put away his whip and simply pulled her onto the horse. Then he shouted, “Retreat!”
In an instant, Tiandu extinguished all their torches, like a burning phoenix suddenly vanishing.
Qingyun held the person in his arms tightly, a faint smile playing on his lips. He had no intention of retreating to Chen Kingdom. He would take her directly to Tiandu in the north, where from now on, no one else could touch her.
Huang Beishuang let him hold her like this, the scene almost identical to when Ruowen had captured her. In his arms, her wounds still ached. If she raised her head, she could see his eyes, bewitching like ice and fire.
“I’m happy to see you,” she whispered after a long while.
Qingyun heard her, of course, but he only pulled his cloak over to wrap her up.
He didn’t know about the wound on her chest, and now, the blood flowing from that wound had already stained a large part of his embrace. But he didn’t know. How could he? Her breathing was so weak, so light. The moment he embraced her, all her wishes had come true, and she had no regrets. Even if all the decisions in her life were mistakes, loving him was something she would never regret.
Qingyun’s embrace was warm, so warm that Huang Beishuang could no longer hear the howling north wind outside. They sat on the galloping horse, racing through the ice-blue night, as if there was no one else in the world as if the fierce wind could never break this embrace.
Naihe Bridge – if one must cross this place once in a lifetime, she hoped it would be like now, in his arms, crossing with a touch of tenderness. That way, she wouldn’t be too miserable.
“If I die, will you still blame me for not going with you back then?” Huang Beishuang asked, her eyes closed, breathing in the faint scent of wine on him, her voice barely a whisper.
Qingyun’s gaze turned cold, his arms tightening around her. After a long while, he replied, “If you leave me again, I will hate you!”
Love is always forged in longing and rooted in pain. Once encountered, it’s hard to escape. The strongest attachment between people comes from this – together, they fear the brevity of time; apart, they lament wasted youth. Perhaps what people fear most is that inexplicable loneliness… the helpless solitude…
How regrettable that floating clouds are hard to disperse,
How regrettable that cool winds are hard to chase,
How regrettable that seven emotions are hard to bear,
How regrettable that love and desire are hard to retreat from,
How regrettable that icy skin is like water,
How regrettable that proud bones are but a pile,
How regrettable that the River of Forgetfulness is made of tears,
How regrettable are the six paths of reincarnation?
How regrettable, how regrettable.
Chapter Thirteen: Northern Palace Ice Thorns
The desert is a lonely place. No matter how beautiful it appears, it’s always cruel. It’s dead silent, loving no one and no creature. It’s scorching hot, bitterly cold, lonely, and desperate! No one would love it, yet many, many people live in its heart, in its blood, in the scattered oases that can never be separated from it. Until the day even the oases wither, life and death will intertwine, and only then will people truly be content.
Tiandu’s great army had been away from home for a long time, yet they unexpectedly returned at this moment. It wasn’t a triumphant return, nor was it a defeat. It was nothing – as if they had just come back to rest, to drink the water of their homeland, to see the sky of their birthplace. Soldiers are simple; regardless of the reason, not fighting is always fortunate, especially when it abruptly ends a war that could have potentially destroyed half the desert. After laying down their arms, these soldiers couldn’t wait to return home and report their safety. No one paid attention to the woman whom the Northern Jingting King had brought back using every means possible.
“Royal Physician! How is she?” Qingyun sat by the bed, his face haggard. Lying on the bed was the woman who, despite being seriously injured, hadn’t said a word, as if she’d rather die in his arms. His gaze carried an unfathomable anger as he looked at the several royal physicians who had been busy all night. He said coldly, “The army doctors stopped her bleeding several times on the way, saying she wouldn’t die!”
The royal physician furrowed his brow and bowed slightly before replying, “Your Majesty, this young lady’s body is weak. She suffered severe injuries without proper treatment and has been through too much. I’m afraid… it will be difficult for her to fully recover!”
Hearing this, Qingyun clenched his fists tightly. “What do you mean?”