The setting sun was red as blood, the last rays of daylight fading.
Three days remained until Prince Qin’s sixtieth birthday. Qin Zicheng had spent his life in warfare and killing, his sharp blade stained with countless bloodshed, having slain tens of thousands of internal and external enemy leaders. With his illustrious military achievements, he had always been the foremost martial king among the four nations. The Qin people revered martial prowess, so their awe and reverence for Prince Qin was absolute. Thus, as soon as darkness began to fall, men and women, old and young from every household donned new clothes as if celebrating New Year, all rushing together toward the East City Gate to welcome the distinguished guests from the three nations who had come from afar to celebrate his birthday.
The tribal leaders from the Western Sea, Eastern Sea, Southern Frontier, and Northern Territories, along with vassal state rulers, had already gathered in Northern Qin several days prior. At this moment, outside Xianyang City, crowds filled every space. Northern Qin’s imperial relatives, civil and military ministers, and frontier governors all wore jade belts and python robes with spring-like smiles on their faces, gathering at the city gates and surrounding a group of spirited Qin princes.
From a distance, one could see each of the Northern Qin princes standing tall and handsome with heroic bearing—every one a graceful and outstanding dragon among men. When Qin Zicheng was still an unknown prince about to raise an army, the news leaked out. Overnight, his mansion was bloodbathed, and dozens of concubines and children all died violently. Therefore, these current princes were all born after he ascended to the throne, their ages not differing greatly. Looking from afar, one could see each had sword-like brows and starry eyes, elegant and debonair, standing proudly at the front, better demonstrating Great Qin’s prosperity and flourishing vigor.
Just then, the sound of gongs suddenly rang out. All the Xianyang people turned back in unison to look, seeing Prince Xuan of Great Qin in moon-white splendid robes with a jade crown binding his hair. Despite it being nearly April, he still wore a thick fox fur cloak, sitting high atop a snow-white warhorse, surrounded by hundreds of silver-armored, cold-helmeted Yan Character Battalion guards. With sword-like brows and starry eyes, his divine bearing like jade, though his complexion was slightly pale, the elegant nobility emanating from his entire being immediately overshadowed all the Qin princes standing in the front row.
The people instantly lined the roads shouting in acclaim, making way for a path. Wherever he passed, all competed to kneel and bow, their mouths shouting auspicious wishes for Prince Xuan’s great fortune.
Good news doesn’t travel far, but bad news spreads a thousand miles. Moreover, these past days the struggle between the Crown Prince and Prince Yan had reached white-hot intensity. Through repeated telling, the stories grew ever more elaborate, causing the Crown Prince and Prince Yan’s reputations to plummet. Now seeing that Prince Qin would rather send the gravely ill Prince Xuan to welcome the three nations’ distinguished guests than let the Crown Prince or Prince Yan appear, the implications were crystal clear.
In the court, storms could change in an instant, with winds shifting faster than anyone could imagine. Those ministers who had originally given Prince Xuan the cold shoulder due to his serious illness now saw Qin Zhiyan looking spirited and more graceful than usual, while enjoying Prince Qin’s deep regard—how could they not come forward to curry favor? In an instant, before Prince Xuan’s horse and carriage gathered many Qin court veterans coming forward to pay their respects. Qin Zhiyan dismounted and returned their courtesies one by one with proper respect and measure.
Qing Xia stood among the people, watching him from afar, feeling as if she were looking at an unreal painting.
The man who had originally been so gravely ill that walking two steps would leave him gasping for breath now appeared like a healthy person, conversing and laughing without the slightest abnormality. Qing Xia knew he could vomit blood and lie bedridden on his sickroom couch, but he could not show the slightest weakness before Great Qin’s subjects. He was a great tree that not only supported his own clear sky but was also the black iron pillar of all Great Qin. Therefore, no matter what, he had to hold on.
A man in earth-yellow clothes slowly approached, his appearance so ordinary he wouldn’t attract attention even if thrown into a crowd. Yet this person suddenly came to Qing Xia’s side, leaning close to her ear and whispering, “Southwest direction, several people with shifty expressions and suspicious behavior. Should we act?”
Qing Xia didn’t turn her head, calmly instructing, “Send people to follow them. See what their background is. If they make any moves, capture them immediately. Remember to keep them alive. As for the others, life or death doesn’t matter.”
“Yes!” The man acknowledged and withdrew. Qing Xia slowly exhaled in relief. As expected, they finally couldn’t contain themselves.
Earlier, when Grand Tutor Zhong said His Majesty might abandon the Crown Prince and Prince Yan and have Qin Zhiyan welcome the three nations’ envoys, she had felt something was amiss. The Crown Prince was the heir apparent of a nation, representing the nation’s image. Such blatant marginalization—how could he be willing? He would naturally be full of resentment and quite likely take desperate risks, using the chaotic opportunity of all nations gathering to muddy the waters and eliminate Qin Zhiyan, this thorn in his side.
However, this wasn’t what worried Qing Xia most. If the Crown Prince truly wanted to act, they need only watch the Eastern Palace. But if someone else thought along the same lines as her and used borrowed knives to kill—both eliminating Qin Zhiyan, this great enemy, and splashing dirty water on the Crown Prince—there would be far too much to guard against.
She hastily made arrangements an hour early, deploying over ten thousand Yan Character Battalion troops along the route to maintain order, while stationing people at all commanding heights for strict defense. The dense forests outside Xianyang City were all cut down with lightning speed by her order, revealing an open expanse of land visible at a glance, leaving nowhere to hide. At the same time, she had people bring hunting dogs to conduct thorough searches on both sides of the official road outside the city, preventing anyone from lurking in the dense grass to launch cold arrows and sneak attacks. If time had permitted, she very likely would have set fire to burn this entire grassland. Now she could only settle for second best and monitor it closely.
Simultaneously, she brought elite personal guards from the Yan Character Battalion, disguised as ordinary people, to mingle among the crowd and monitor suspicious characters, like modern plainclothes detectives, preventing anyone from mixing in the crowd to launch sneak attacks.
Finally, she deployed over three hundred strong men from the Capital Garrison with great physical strength, holding shields to guard before and behind Qin Zhiyan’s carriage, with archers positioned inside. She also sent out over five hundred Yan Character Battalion guards dressed in civilian clothes to stand between Qin Zhiyan and the people, disguised as enthusiastic civilian supporters but actually blocking all dangers from the outside.
Such defenses were extremely rare not only in this era but even in modern times—A-level security that only heads of state could enjoy when traveling. When she had just finished preparations, even Qin Zhiyan was amazed to see it, let alone Lian Zhou, Li Xian, and others.
However, she had her private motives for doing all this. She was now nominally Princess Min personally enfeoffed by Prince Qin, soon to marry Qin Zhiyan. The Southern Chu Princess was coming for a marriage alliance, and by all expectations, would also be one of the future mistresses of the prince’s mansion. Therefore, no matter what, she had the status, qualifications, and duty to meet her.
But she didn’t want to—not today, not on Great Qin’s soil, not standing beside Qin Zhiyan with such an identity to face that man.
Zhuang Dianru’s crazed eyes on Bailu Plains still clamored nightly in her dreams. They had gone through life and death together, scheming against and deceiving each other, yet also supporting and depending on each other through life and death. They were entangled and bound together, mutually resenting and suspecting each other, but never truly harming one another. At moments of separation between life and death, the one throwing caution to the wind was always so resolute. Now with everything settled and sudden understanding achieved, she realized all of it was merely fate’s cruel jest. But what was missed was ultimately missed—nothing could be undone. The debts of affection couldn’t be repaid, the lost heart couldn’t be recovered. She could only accept the status quo, only grasp what was before her eyes, casting aside all past events. Yet after the passage of time, she still couldn’t convince herself to face those eyes with such a posture.
So let her hide. No matter how long she could hide, she didn’t want to see the pain and ferocity in his eyes before the entire world.
In Penglai Valley, beneath Tianyi Gorge, among the hundred grasses, the man’s indifferent and sorrowful eyes still continuously tormented her heart. If there were no feelings, how could there be hatred? Yet ultimately, after all the twists and turns, unable to be together, they should part from afar—never to meet again, never to see each other again, lest they repeatedly tear open wounds and add to the pain.
Qin Zhiyan was such an intelligent person—how could he not know? Thus he smiled gently and indulged her, letting her hide among the masses, alone raising her head to gaze up, bidding farewell to that struggle in her heart.
She knew she was cowardly, but how ridiculous—she, a woman who killed without blinking, could not bring herself to be so cruel in this one regard.
Just then, earth-shaking sounds suddenly rang out in the distance, like countless warhorses galloping. A Great Qin scout rode back from afar, waving a yellow flag and shouting loudly, “Crown Prince An of Eastern Qi has arrived!”
At the distant horizon, a figure in bright yellow robes with a cold face and starry eyes, wearing a jade belt and python robe, followed by tens of thousands of Eastern Qi warriors, came thundering from afar.
Choking dust hit them head-on, and people could even smell a hint of sea salt’s moist scent from this soil. Qi’an steadily stopped a hundred paces from everyone, cupping his hands toward Qin Zhiyan at the head of the group and laughing loudly, “Prince Xuan, we meet again.” With that, he jumped down from his warhorse and strode forward with head held high.
Qin Zhiyan stood among the crowd, his white robes making him appear especially transcendent and elegantly noble. He stepped forward slowly, smiling and saying, “Crown Prince’s arrival to celebrate my father’s birthday makes you an honored guest of our Great Qin.”
The two stood between their respective armies, smiling and clasping shoulders, chatting like old friends. Looking from afar, both were handsome and elegant, young yet wielding great power. The various Great Qin court ministers watching couldn’t help but make calculations in their hearts.
Just then, suddenly the melodious sound of strings and bamboo instruments rose up, the music high-pitched yet carrying a hint of soft, decadent allure. Qing Xia in the crowd was startled and suddenly raised her head, seeing from among the hundred grasses an enormous, luxurious carriage like a great ship suddenly come into view. Over twenty warhorses pulled the carriage in front, their nose bridges adorned with colorful flower balls of various hues, their bodies draped in silks and satins in clusters of flowers. At first glance, it looked like a pile of silk fabrics walking forward. The magnificent carriage was over twenty meters long and seven or eight meters wide—calling it a carriage was too modest; calling it a traveling palace would not be excessive. Red-topped with green walls, surrounded by flower lanterns, pearl curtains jingling, colorful pillars towering, carved railings of jade—the utmost in luxury and extravagance.