Zhao Lingfei rushed into the military camp, joyfully bringing back news of securing troops and supplies. She wanted to tell everyone they were saved, but the camp’s atmosphere was somber, with white funeral banners hanging everywhere.

Everyone silently moved corpses and treated wounds.

Zhao Lingfei stood bewildered in the camp when she suddenly saw Yan Xiaozhou. Yan Xiaozhou emerged from a tent carrying a bowl of medicine. The delicate lady stood before the tent like a thin ray of moonlight, so hazy she seemed she might dissipate at any moment.

Zhao Lingfei: “Sister Xiaozhou!”

Yan Xiaozhou turned around. Zhao Lingfei saw her eyes were still clear, black, and pure, still calm and gentle. But Zhao Lingfei felt uneasy, sensing something wasn’t right.

Yan Xiaozhou softly interrupted Zhao Lingfei’s questioning: “Second Brother has returned. If you have any questions, ask Second Brother.”

Half an hour later, standing in Yan Shang’s commander tent, Zhao Lingfei listened in shock as the soldier summoned by Yan Shang reported the brutal battle at the Great Canyon.

The soldier was filled with grief and anger: “Fifty thousand troops, all buried in the canyon! Before General Yang died, he took down the South Barbarians’ fierce Wuman King. The South Barbarians went mad with rage and took their anger out on General Yang’s body.

“Among all the dead, only General Yang’s remains were destroyed, mutilated beyond recognition. We couldn’t bear to see the General suffering such humiliation even in death, so we burned everything clean with fire.”

Trembling, he pulled out a golden bell from his chest.

Averting his gaze from the lady brewing medicine for her Second Brother, he turned away: “This is the only thing left of General Yang.”

Zhao Lingfei stared blankly.

Hearing her cousin was dead, tears instantly wet her eyes. When she saw the golden bell in the soldier’s hands, she suddenly remembered how her cousin had said he wanted to marry Sister Xiaozhou after all this was over. Zhao Lingfei dazedly turned to look at Yan Xiaozhou.

Yan Xiaozhou crouched on the ground fanning the flames, still brewing medicine. Her eyes focused intently on watching the fire as if she hadn’t heard the soldier’s words at all.

Zhao Lingfei looked back at Yan Shang.

The Second Young Master Yan who had once made her heart flutter with admiration sat wrapped in robes before the couch, his withered hands resting on his curled knees, his downturned face as white as paper. Yan Shang kept his eyes lowered, not saying a word, leaving the room in complete silence.

Yan Shang, who had always been considerate of everyone’s feelings, gentle in nature, and kind to others, just sat there without speaking.

He was utterly exhausted, utterly alone. He was tired to the extreme, coughing blood from illness, with nothing left to say.

Tears dripped steadily down Zhao Lingfei’s face.

The tears soaked her face as she wanted to break down and say it wasn’t possible, to say how could her mighty cousin be dead, to resent this war, resent the South Barbarians, resent why Yan Shang had left and allowed her cousin to trade his life… She resented herself even more.

Why couldn’t she have brought reinforcements sooner?

Why did her father have to be such an evil man?

Whether her father had indirectly caused her cousin’s death, and she had indirectly caused her cousin’s death too.

The tears were desolate, her heart full of bitterness. Zhao Lingfei stood rigid thinking of many things, then after a while, she crouched down, covered her eyes and face with her hands, and began crying loudly.

She cried until she couldn’t breathe, cried until her whole body shook—

Cousin! Cousin!

She hated the war, hated all those who killed her cousin, hated everything!

Zhao Lingfei raised her face toward Yan Shang: “I will never, never, never… forgive my father!

“Second Brother Yan, let me go to the battlefield! Let me fight the South Barbarians! I want to kill them, I want to avenge my cousin!”

She broke down crying, crouching on the ground, and continuously weeping.

Meanwhile Yan Xiaozhou remained perfectly quiet, much calmer compared to her emotional breakdown. Yan Xiaozhou lifted the finished medicine and handed it to her Second Brother, saying softly: “Second Brother, drink your medicine first. Second Sister-in-law is still waiting for you to return, all of Great Wei is waiting for you to uphold justice… you cannot fall.”

Zhao Lingfei looked up in confusion, not understanding why Yan Xiaozhou wasn’t crying, why she didn’t shed a single tear. Why was Yan Xiaozhou so calm, as if… coldly devoid of emotion?

Yan Shang said nothing, taking the medicine from his sister’s hands and drinking it all at once.

He used a handkerchief to cover his mouth as he coughed blood, looking down at the bloodstains on the cloth before quietly ordering: “You all go out, help me call the generals in.”

He had to continue commanding the battlefield—

Yan Shang bore immense pressure.

On one side was his wife whose fate remained unknown, on the other was Yang Si who died with his entire army.

He continuously coughed blood but dared not delay. After regaining consciousness that day, supporting his broken body, he interrogated the envoy again through the night.

The South Barbarian envoy from Guangzhou asked him again whether he would withdraw troops, and Yan Shang replied word by word: “Absolutely not.”

Yang Si had dealt with Meng Zaishi, and they were about to win the battlefield in Jiannan. How could Yan Shang withdraw troops for personal feelings when Yang Si had exchanged his life for victory?

The envoy was arrogant and furious: “If you don’t withdraw troops, our king will kill your wife! You’ll have no wife left!”

Yan Shang’s eyes were lifeless.

He seemed to smile, but that smile was utterly miserable.

He said: “Then so be it.”

As if in a daze, he murmured: “I will give my life to compensate her… but I cannot withdraw the troops.”

Between country and individual, he ultimately had to choose a country.

Between the common people and his loved one, he ultimately had to abandon his loved one.

Like a prophecy, he always made this choice. In the dead of night, even he hated himself and despised himself. Why did he always have to do this?

When his emotions collapsed, he impulsively wanted to withdraw troops, but he controlled himself with powerful willpower. He felt like a walking corpse, every day was torture, and every night thinking of Mu Wanyao made him cough blood constantly, his body getting worse and worse.

Just as his body was about to be worn down, news came from distant Chang’an of Minister Liu’s resolute death.

So Yan Shang could no longer afford to be sick, and could no longer think about Mu Wanyao.

Supporting his body, he returned to Jiannan to command the war. Meng Zaishi was dead, they just needed to seize the moment and the Jiannan battlefield could end in a month. At the same time, he also gave up on Guangzhou, gave up on let the envoy transmit messages. He prepared for the worst outcome, and overnight, everyone found Yan Shang had become a different person.

He spoke very few words, giving orders in just two or three sentences. His orders were extremely detailed, practically stipulating every step the soldiers should take.

He feared Yang Si’s tragedy would repeat.

He was also exceptionally cruel. Violating the principle of not executing envoys, he directly used severe torture to interrogate the envoy, clearly intending to torment him to death.

Yan Xiaozhou continued treating the wounded in the military camp, while Zhao Lingfei went to the battlefield.

In June, as the Jiannan war began concluding and the loyal troops from Chang’an drove the South Barbarians back to Longyu Hexi, Yan Shang finally established communication with Chang’an which had been besieged for three months.

At the same time, the envoy saw Yan Shang’s determination to kill him, and unable to withstand the severe torture, before death he confessed an extremely important piece of information. Upon receiving this information, Yan Shang immediately had someone ride quickly to search for someone.

On a night of endless drizzle, leaning against a table, by lamplight, Yan Shang wearing an outer robe with loose hair on his shoulders, wrote a letter to Wei Shu in Chang’an: “The siege of Chang’an is finally lifted, and brother has reconciled with the Wei family, which greatly comforts my heart.

“The sin against the realm, the disaster of Chang’an, lies in the unworthy ruler’s lack of virtue. The one who will destroy the realm is this ruler alone.

“Moreover, the eunuch Liu Wenqi controls the court colludes with foreign countries, and frames loyal officials – only death can comfort the spirits of the realm’s heroes.

“Brother has learned some news – the former Imperial Head Eunuch Cheng’an who served the late emperor is not dead, this person is in Hexi, and I can have people search according to the map. The map is attached with this letter.

“Though brother is in Jiannan, I am concerned with Chang’an’s political affairs, and humbly offer my shallow views, with the responsibility of Senior Chief Councilor, to discuss with brother the matter of executing the Imperial Eunuch…”

The loyal troops arrived, and Chang’an’s siege was consequently lifted. The loyal army took over the duties of the previous Longyu elite troops, driving the South Barbarian army back to Longyu. The four foreign nations that Wei Shu had entrusted earlier attacked from behind, cooperating with Great Wei. Both sides sandwiched the South Barbarians between them, striving to completely end the Hexi battlefield and defeat the enemy army.

The South Barbarian forces were exhausted.

Mobilizing an entire nation’s strength, making countless preparations, carefully planning this year-long invasion, yet this was the result. If they had taken Chang’an, with Chang’an as support, they naturally could have laughed at Great Wei, making Great Wei suffer a miserable defeat. But the battle to take Chang’an failed, Meng Zaishi died on the Jiannan battlefield, and their king Ale Wang was also deeply trapped in this situation.

Now the great edifice was collapsing, the South Barbarian army was in chaos, unable to contact their king, not knowing what step to take next.

The South Barbarians were about to be defeated.

Everyone saw this outcome.

Only the Emperor in Chang’an’s palace didn’t know.

Because everyone concealed it from the Emperor, no one told the Emperor this news. Even Liu Wenqi whom the Emperor trusted helped the ministers hide it from the Emperor.

Letting the Emperor have nightly dreams of Chang’an falling and himself being taken hostage.

Yan Shang exchanged letters back and forth with Wei Shu, Yan Shang exchanged letters back and forth with several ministers at court. In this war, too many people had died, and unconsciously, Yan Shang who controlled the Jiannan battlefield and Wei Shu who persuaded the Imperial Guards to betray the Emperor became the main force in the later stages of this war.

The ministers silently cooperated with the two.

The officials quietly watched as a counterattack woven jointly by Yan Shang and Wei Shu spread a dense net over Chang’an’s sky. When everyone hopes for someone’s death, when everyone participates in this assassination, that person has absolutely no hope of survival.

In the deep palace, the Emperor once again woke from a nightmare covered in cold sweat. His nerves were taut, one moment feeling the Imperial Guards would kill him, another moment dreaming he was taken hostage.

In the deep night he was parched: “Liu Wenqi! Liu Wenqi!”

Liu Wenqi entered the hall lighting lamps, comforting the Emperor. He watched the Emperor sit up in his robes, drinking three cups of water violently before calming down.

The Emperor anxiously gripped Liu Wenqi’s hand: “We dreamed the palace wasn’t safe, those South Barbarians attacked Chang’an… Chief Liu, have those South Barbarians not broken in yet?”

The South Barbarians had long withdrawn.

But everyone enjoyed watching the Emperor’s fearful appearance, and no one exposed the lie.

Liu Wenqi’s expression remained unchanged: “Your Majesty need not worry, this servant has already driven all the Imperial Guards from the palace to fight the South Barbarians. Now in the palace, only the Northern Garrison troops protect Your Majesty.”

The Emperor sighed in relief: “The Northern Garrison people, We are at ease.”

The Emperor worried again: “Who knows when those South Barbarian troops will break in, and that ambitious Wei Qilang controls the court, not letting Us leave! Do they really want to see Us become captives, wouldn’t that be Great Wei’s shame!”

Liu Wenqi thought having an emperor like you was Great Wei’s shame.

Liu Wenqi observed the Emperor’s anxious appearance, suddenly asking: “Does Your Majesty really want to leave Chang’an so much?”

The Emperor excitedly said: “Chang’an is about to fall! We want to leave to preserve our strength! But those ministers… if only Suchin were here, Suchin was the most loyal minister, most on Our side. Suchin would protect Us and help Us leave safely.”

Liu Wenqi sneered.

Now the Emperor remembered Yan Shang.

Liu Wenqi: “The ministers don’t want the Emperor to leave, simply because they fear losing their pillar, fear the city’s people will panic. They just want to use Your Majesty’s status to give the people peace of mind. If Your Majesty wants to leave, there is one way—Your Majesty can pass the throne to the Crown Prince, let the Crown Prince defend the city, Your Majesty becomes Emperor Emeritus, then you can leave.”

The Emperor immediately lit up with joy: “Let’s do that!”

Liu Wenqi: “…”

He lowered his eyes: “Unfortunately Great Wei has no Crown Prince yet.”

The Emperor thought nothing of it: “Shouldn’t the Empress’s son be Crown Prince? We will establish a Crown Prince right now! Chief Liu, what else does We need to do? You represent Us in negotiating with Wei Qilang and the others, as long as they let Us leave… this Emperor position, We don’t want it anyway!”

Liu Wenqi said flatly: “Your Majesty is generous.”

After causing such chaos in the realm, still want to just leave.

Liu Wenqi took out white paper he had prepared long ago, spreading it on the writing desk: “For Your Majesty to abdicate, you must first write a ‘Self-Reproaching Edict’. After Your Majesty writes the ‘Self-Reproaching Edict’, this servant can take it to negotiate with the ministers, then they will let Your Majesty leave.”

The Emperor hesitated for a moment.

But thinking the South Barbarians were about to break into Chang’an, he gritted his teeth and took up the brush: “We will write!”

He began writing the Self-Reproaching Edict, and fearing he didn’t write sincerely enough, that those ministers would reject it and not accept it, he used all his literary skill to write this deeply emotional letter—

“I bear the guilt in my person, unable to face the myriad regions; if the myriad regions bear the guilt, the guilt lies with my person…”—

“If the myriad regions bear the guilt, the guilt lies with my person.”

When the Emperor’s abdication letter, edict establishing the new emperor, and self-reproaching edict were all sent to the Department of State Affairs, the ministers gathered there patiently read through all three letters. Wei Shu held the imperial edict and read out the self-reproaching edict. The hall was brightly lit, and the ministers murmured the words “The guilt lies with my person.”

At first, their voices were extremely low, but then they began to tremble.

Then someone let out a hoarse, grief-stricken laugh: “He admitted it… he admitted it… he admitted he brought disaster to the realm! Admitted he was an unworthy ruler, admitted he harmed Minister Liu, caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, and caused the deaths of countless innocent common people…

“He admitted it! Admitted it!”

The whole hall laughed, and after laughing, they cried.

The ministers one by one clutched the Emperor’s handwritten letter and sat crying on the ground, wailing in desolation.

The minor palace eunuch who delivered the letters stepped back, afraid of these ministers. He trembled: “His Majesty’s letters have been delivered… Chief Liu asks, can His Majesty leave the city.”

Wei Shu raised his head.

Wei Shu said: “Open the city gates, let him leave!”

The minor eunuch sighed in relief and hurriedly ran away. Minister Zhang wiped the tears from his face, got up from the ground, and asked in surprise: “Juyuan, how can we let such an unworthy ruler leave…”

Wei Shu said in a low voice: “Outside the city are scattered South Barbarian stragglers watching Chang’an like tigers, harboring ambitions to fight back. Outside is not safe – leaving the city is seeking death.”

Minister Zhang: “If he tells the South Barbarians he is the Emperor, to get protection…”

Wei Shu: “We have a new Emperor, what other Emperor could there be? Must be an impostor – kill him to answer to the realm.”

Minister Zhang lowered his eyes and nodded.

He suddenly asked: “Cheng’an whom Suchin asked us to find, has he been found?”

Wei Shu said flatly: “Cheng’an is just for convicting Liu Wenqi. Liu Wenqi… should be killed.” —

When Liu Wenqi received word from the ministers that Wei Shu was willing to let the Emperor leave, he couldn’t believe it at first. But Liu Wenqi immediately realized this was an opportunity for him, as Wei Shu and the others would surely kill him, he needed to find a way out.

He immediately arranged for people to escort the Emperor out together.

Liu Wenqi led Northern Garrison troops to escort the Emperor out together. When leaving, the Emperor still wanted to gather his favorite consorts to take with him. But just as they reached the palace gates, they faced Imperial Guards spread throughout the imperial city.

Torches flickered, silently facing each other in the night.

Wei Shu stood before the Imperial Guards.

Liu Wenqi’s heart suddenly sank.

The Emperor shouted angrily: “Wei Juyuan what is the meaning of this? I am no longer the Son of Heaven! I have already followed your words and abdicated, are you blocking Us from leaving?!”

Wei Shu stared at Liu Wenqi.

Wei Shu said: “You can leave, but everyone else must stay, not a single Northern Garrison soldier may leave. Chang’an needs troops right now, elite forces cannot be used to protect a waste.”

The Emperor was anxious.

He didn’t dare take offense at Wei Shu calling him a waste. His crafty mind made him feel he couldn’t stay in Chang’an. The Imperial Guards were willing to let him leave – suddenly he didn’t care about the consorts he wanted to take and didn’t dare meet Liu Wenqi’s eyes. He ran messily without dignity toward the imperial city gate.

Tens of thousands of Imperial Guards silently watched the fleeing Emperor like a jumping clown.

Wei Shu and Liu Wenqi locked eyes.

Wei Shu raised his hand, and the Imperial Guards raised their bows at the Northern Garrison troops. Wei Shu said word by word: “Palace eunuchs who throw the realm into chaos absolutely cannot remain!”

Liu Wenqi sneered.

He stepped back, letting the Northern Garrison troops behind him come forward to face the Imperial Guards.

The eunuchs behind him bound the consorts and dragged them back into the palace together. Across the palace gates, the two armies faced off.

Liu Wenqi knew the situation was lost, but he held the new Emperor in his hands… he roared: “Charge for me, kill these rebellious traitors for me! They want to control our new Son of Heaven, want to kill all the imperial descendants!” —

The Emperor who no longer held imperial status ran out of Chang’an city. He stood anxiously in the empty moonlight, looking at the fires of war in all directions.

He didn’t know where to go but felt he was finally safe. He had just shown a relieved smile.

However at this moment, South Barbarians with ill intent in the darkness aimed their arrows at him—

“This person dared to run out from Chang’an city, dressed so luxuriously, must be that surnamed Wei youngster! They say that youngsters are quite persuasive, coordinating with various small countries to attack us from behind.

“Him coming out of the city now must be to negotiate with us again, to scheme against us! Can’t let him get away!”

The Emperor was both relaxed and relieved of pressure. He didn’t dare think too much or look back. Even having left Chang’an’s gates, it still felt like a dream. He suddenly remembered those nightmares he had, remembered how the South Barbarians killed him in various ways in his dreams.

He didn’t dare stop, continuing to run outward.

“Whoosh—

“Whoosh whoosh—”

In the air, extremely light sounds of arrows being shot. Multiple arrows from the grass and under the bushes shot toward that madly running man.

The man was shot and fell. He looked up in confusion, thinking again of his dreams. The dark wilderness concealed killing intent.

He suddenly regretted, suddenly felt fleeing the palace was wrong. He shouted loudly: “I am the Emperor, I am the Emperor, you cannot kill me— everyone must listen to me, I am the Emperor, I am the Son of Heaven!”

The arrows shot mercilessly, turning him into a porcupine. He lay unwillingly on the ground with several arrows in his body, his withered hand extending from his long sleeve, clutching at the air wildly.

On the corner tower of Chang’an’s city gate behind, soldiers stood there, calmly watching the killing outside the city. The general rested his hand on the tower railing, quietly watching that man breathe his last.

He turned back and said to the soldiers: “Probably just a madman driven crazy by the war, shouting that he was the Emperor. These things happen all the time, no need to care.”

Everyone remained silent, keeping the same secret together, watching the same killing together, being murderers together. This killing would remain in their hearts for life, and they would never tell anyone for life.

Outside the city, the South Barbarians whispered in the forest: “What was he saying? He wasn’t trying to negotiate peace with us?

“Who cares, couldn’t understand him anyway.” —

In July, Guangzhou ran out of arrows and food, unable to hold out any longer.

The South Barbarian King who had been commanding people to dig tunnels into the city a month ago, in recent days the South Barbarian army stationed below the city had also lost motivation.

Inside and outside the city, supplies were completely cut off.

Ale Wang desperately listened to bad news from all directions each day, knowing he was powerless to change the situation. But he refused to admit defeat, his voice hoarse as he commanded his remaining troops to shoot fire arrows into the city:

“Hold on a bit longer! The city has run out of food! The city can’t resist anymore, as long as we take Guangzhou, we won’t count as defeated…”

One of his generals sat on the ground, wiping his face with a miserable laugh: “We won’t count as defeated? What use is taking Guangzhou? There’s no hope for Jiannan anymore, Hexi probably won’t work either… If we take Guangzhou, can we hold it?

“Your Majesty, we’ve lost.

“We’ll die in poverty, we’ll starve to death, we’ll pay the price, Great Wei won’t let us off easily… We never should have fought this war!”

His desolation spread through the camp, everyone began crying miserably.

Ale Wang was silent, but still shouted: “We are blessed by the Mountain Goddess, we are an undefeated people! We will not lose! Everyone get up… take Guangzhou for me!”

This South Barbarian army had few troops left. Shouted at by Ale Wang, they reluctantly roused their spirits to shoot arrows at the city towers. In their hearts, Ale Wang’s encouragement sparked a bit of hope: was it true that if they took Guangzhou, they wouldn’t lose too badly?

The scout came to report with a pale face: “Not good, a large army is coming from the west, it’s Great Wei’s banner…”

Following these words, a signal arrow flew into the sky, and one after another signal arrow exploded in the air like daytime fireworks. The Great Wei army used their special language to transmit information and military intelligence, the sound of signal arrows thunderous.

The entire camp fell into deathly silence—

Mu Wanyao stood on the city tower, watching the arrows being shot from below the opposing city. As the enemy said, both armies had reached their limits, the city’s food stores were empty. The soldiers were exhausted, when arrows came from below the city they didn’t even have the strength to dodge.

They had been without food for two days, they had lost hope.

No matter how much Mu Wanyao encouraged them, the soldiers had no strength left… Mu Wanyao felt despair in her heart. Seeing everyone’s exhausted faces and bloodshot eyes, she couldn’t even speak words of rebuke or encouragement.

Already exhausted to the extreme, what more could be asked of people?

It wasn’t that they valued their lives too much, but truly couldn’t see any hope.

Everyone asked her: “Your Highness, what should we do?”

What to do, what to do…

Mu Wanyao stood woodenly on the city tower. She wished sweet rain would fall from heaven to save the city’s people; wished meteorites would fall from heaven to crush the enemy army below…

And at this moment, the soldier who had been observing in the distance from the corner tower climbed up and excitedly shouted: “Your Highness, we’re saved!

“The Jiannan army has come to support us!

“The Prince Consort has come!”

All the soldiers slumped against the walls and struggled to get up, confirming this news. Mu Wanyao watched their eyes light up with hope. She leaned back, showed a smile, and closed her eyes.

Even though fire arrows were still being shot into the city from below, even though the city gates could no longer resist the enemy, even though the homes of the city’s common people were being burned… none of it mattered anymore.

Mu Wanyao raised her voice: “Don’t worry about the battle below, let them set fires! Let’s go save the common people, save the city from the fires!”

The soldiers answered in unison: “Yes!” —

Yan Shang led troops to provide support.

Before coming, he had prepared for the worst. He said he was coming to provide support, but before coming he had arranged everything, left all his letters.

He wasn’t coming to support Guangzhou, he was coming to seek death.

He was coming to die for the city, to give his life for her. After months of torment, he had been stretched to his limit. His heart was dead ashes, with no will to live, only seeking death.

However, Guangzhou’s situation was different from what he imagined…

Yan Shang entered the city. The armies outside fought the enemy, easily surrounding them. He led another portion of troops into the city to rescue the common people, distribute food to the city… He moved through the crowds as if in a dream, dazed like a ghost.

Everyone who ran into him was happy: “Prince Consort!

“Governor, you’ve finally returned!

“Her Highness and all of us have been waiting for you! Her Highness went to fight fires in the east city, haven’t you met Her Highness?”

Yan Shang walked on the street, heading toward the east city they mentioned. Chaotic crowds, fires everywhere. Houses collapsed, broken walls and ruins. Women hurried to collect grain, men stripped to the waist in blazing heat to pour water on fires.

Yan Shang suddenly saw Mu Wanyao in front of a fire-scorched broken wall.

She sat on the ground, her clothes covered in ash and dirt, hugging her knees with her head buried between them. Even just this shadow, even with her disheveled clothes, Yan Shang recognized her at a glance.

He stared at her.

Qiusi who knelt beside Mu Wanyao bent down to say something to the Princess, and Mu Wanyao raised her head to look in this direction. Her eyes were still wooden, her beautiful face covered in layers of ash and dirt, but her eyes were exceptionally bright, and upon seeing him, they burst forth with unprecedented light.

Yan Shang walked toward her.

He knelt before her, staring at her.

They gazed at each other.

As if there was so much to say, yet also as if there was nothing to say.

They just looked at each other this way.

Yan Shang said softly: “Where is the jade pendant I gave you?”

Mu Wanyao was stunned, not expecting this to be his first words. She hadn’t reacted, her mind wooden for a moment, not even thinking of how to lie.

And she just looked at Yan Shang and saw his eyes suddenly turn red.

He saw through her confusion, knowing she wanted to lie to deceive him again. The corners of his mouth curved slightly as he laughed.

But immediately after, tears rolled from his eyes.

Mu Wanyao had never seen him cry before. She froze, then anxiously held back her exhaustion, leaning forward to ask what was wrong. She just watched him like this, him smiling at her while tears continuously fell from his eyes.

His face was extremely thin, his expression haggard, tears in his eyes, his eyelashes dripping with glistening drops.

He trembled as he bent his shoulders, shakily reaching out to embrace her neck.

He held her, clasping her preciously in his arms. In extreme pain, his body curled up, and unable to control himself, he sobbed against her neck.

Full of heartache, to whom could he pour out his feelings?