That person was very handsome. Most striking, however, was a pair of eyes that left an unforgettable impression. The corners of his eyes naturally lifted upward, with eyeliner as beautiful as willow leaves, and light brown pupils. His left earlobe wore a silver tube carved with a soaring eagle and inlaid with a small purple phoenix stone.
Gazing at the sand ship where he could no longer see her, he suddenly felt a hope arise—that she could recognize him just from his silhouette and then steer the ship back. She had once been able to find him in a street full of people based solely on his walking posture. At first he had laughed at her for being lucky, but later she proved accurate time and again.
However, that ship turned past the mountain gorge. Only the flowing river water could be seen.
He remembered—she had said her favorite thing was water. Because water was free and unrestrained, cycling endlessly. When still, heaven and earth became peaceful with it; when turbulent, it was as powerful as wind stirring up clouds. He also remembered—she had said she wanted to build a super large ship house, bring all the people and things she loved aboard, cross rivers into the great river, follow the river to the sea, then go see the other end of the ocean. She said he absolutely had to go with her to find good medicine to cure his illness. How old had she been then? Still a naive little girl who didn’t know the heights of heaven or depths of earth, unaware that his illness was feigned. His mother consort was of humble birth. His imperial brothers were jealous that he was favored by the king and had tried to harm him several times. He had no choice but to use illness to hide his strength, transforming from open to shadow. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell her—especially after his original intention to use her turned into genuine affection, he had hesitated countless times. But she was too upright, too genuine. She seemed to despise all the dark conspiracies and schemes that couldn’t see light. After his father king revealed his urgent ambition to seize the world, she opposed it with all her might, not hesitating to set fire to those ship designs and ship models she treasured. It was precisely because he anticipated she would react so intensely that he had arranged people by her side early on.
He had prepared himself to deal with her anger when the truth came to light, planning to let her make a big fuss before returning to water-like calm. She had always been thus—when angry she spoke bluntly, and once she voiced it, her anger would dissipate.
Now that the wolf had entered the Central Plains, how could it not pursue the throne of the world? He held no prejudice against the Han people, but he also detested the self-righteousness of nations like Great Zhou and Nande. He had his subordinates maintain their bloodthirsty nature because Han people far outnumbered their tribespeople. Without making the Han people fear, they couldn’t win with fewer against many. This was a tactic, like massacring cities and slaughtering soldiers, crushing the opponent’s confidence so that ultimately they could subdue the enemy without fighting.
But she didn’t like it. Clearly she possessed miraculous shipbuilding skills. Clearly she could make Great Qiu’s weakest navy dominate the four nations. Yet her ship designs grew increasingly conservative, far less unguarded than when she had first entered the palace. His father king had wanted to kill her. It was he who strenuously persuaded him otherwise, offering copied designs to temporarily stay the king’s murderous intent. From then on, he had no choice but to use those chess pieces placed by her side one after another, exploiting her kindness to learn her abilities. To prevent his father king from going back on his word, he didn’t hesitate to suggest sending the Song father and son to Yuling as spies while protecting her from harm.
He had taken such painstaking efforts yet received not half a word of gratitude from her—only a resolute severance.
She said that the day he attacked Yuling would be when all grace and义 were severed.
The great army was poised and ready. Plans that had begun from the moment his father ascended the throne—how could they stop because of his love for one woman? He could not. Moreover, he too harbored ambitions to dominate the world. Heaven had bestowed upon him the identity of a Great Qiu prince—such unique advantages. If he didn’t pursue them vigorously and magnificently, should he truly become some pastoral old man instead?
And she was destined not to be ordinary either. The more she resisted, the more she couldn’t escape. He would obtain the world, and he would obtain her as well. If she didn’t want to build ships for warfare, she didn’t have to. He wouldn’t force her—as long as she married him, loved him, and bore him children. His and her son would surely be crown prince, growing up to inherit from him and become king of all people in the world. What more could she resent?
Women all disliked men going to war. No matter how intelligent or exceptional they were, their hearts were ultimately not strong enough. But most of them could endure—she alone stubbornly refused to compromise.
From letters sent back by Yan Le, knowing she was safe and sound, he disregarded the ministers’ opposition and decided to mix into the envoy delegation to enter the capital—all to bring her back. They had already been separated for over a year. He had even destroyed Yuling, which was equivalent to avenging her father and brothers’ deaths. For this she should have calmed down.
“Your Majesty, Great Zhou truly has many troublesome commoners.” The fourth-rank official saw him gazing in the direction where that ship had disappeared and assumed he was making calculations. “Should this subordinate order someone to—” What couldn’t be done openly could be done in the dark. He made a motion of raising a blade to strike.
“Your Majesty, shall this subordinate Zhamo handle that boy?” The tattooed man stepped forward to compete for credit. Or compete for the person?
His gaze swept viciously across them, immediately silencing both. “Before you take action, why not ask the other party’s name?”
“Your Majesty, could it be someone you know?” The fourth-rank official’s mind was more flexible, but he was still puzzled. One was a heavenly eagle, one was a mud loach—how could they be connected?
“Her surname is Song.”
When he spoke this surname, both men’s bodies jolted.
Han people who enjoyed favor before the Great Qiu king were extremely few, with Song Yu and his son being foremost. Although this father-son pair were completely spineless weaklings with no integrity, their contribution to Great Qiu’s warships could be said to be higher than mountains. Three years ago, Song Yu and his son were sent to Yuling as undercover agents. Over a year ago, when their identities were discovered by Yuling’s emperor and they were executed, it could be considered dying with integrity. The king posthumously granted Song Yu the title of Grand National Preceptor and his son the title of Marquis Yizhen, making the Song clan Great Qiu’s first Han surname nobility. Although ministers had objections, as the king’s second decree was issued, they threw the titles of these two dead people to the back of their minds.
The king granted the Song sisters the title of commandery princess, intending to establish Song family’s eldest daughter Mo Zi as empress, with her younger sister Dou Lu matched to the young marquis Wu Yanle as principal consort. Once the two daughters returned to their country, they would immediately marry.
Great Qiu’s harem didn’t even tolerate Han concubines—how could a Han woman become national empress? And granting Wu Yanle a Han woman as principal consort? Such decrees simply stunned the nobles of all tribes, who rose up in resistance.
The new king Wu Yanqie was young yet held military power. He stationed thirty thousand troops under his command outside the imperial city for a month, finally forcing the nobles to yield, compromising by having each tribe send two princesses into the palace.
“She… is the Grand National Preceptor’s eldest daughter?” Everyone knew of the new king’s obsession with this woman. The fourth-rank official didn’t dare call her by name.
“Precisely.” Wu Yanqie swept his gaze over the still-dazed tattooed man. “Zhamo, the person you wanted to defile is the person I intend to marry. What do you say should be done?”
Zhamo fell to his knees with a thud, prostrating himself. “Zhamo was blind and actually offended the future national empress. I am willing to accept capital punishment.”
Wu Yanqie watched him kneel coldly for quite a while. “The death penalty can be waived. However, your words were disrespectful. Even if you didn’t know, you cannot be entirely blameless. You are punished to gouge out one of your own eyes. Are you convinced?”
Zhamo raised his head and kowtowed again, his face showing no fear whatsoever. “I thank Your Majesty for the grace of not killing me. Zhamo’s life belongs to Your Majesty—what is one eye?” Immediately his two fingers curved into hooks and dug into his left eye. Blood flowed down half his face.
Holding the eyeball in his palm, his tongue licking away the blood mixed at his lips, the severe pain from his left eye only made his body sway slightly. “Your Majesty, please have this eye placed in a box. When the queen arrives, present it to her on Zhamo’s behalf to beg forgiveness.”
Wu Yanqie nodded. A maidservant brought a brocade box to contain it, then someone was ordered to help Zhamo down to bandage the wound.
The fourth-rank official secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately he himself hadn’t given offense, otherwise he’d be as unlucky as Wu Yanshen. But he still feared the king was dissatisfied with that small bit of confrontation earlier and hastily tried to ingratiate himself.
“I had only heard that the commandery princess’s left hand carved wood with such skill it could deceive the real—today facing her across the water, I learned her eloquence is also formidable. She truly possesses the bearing of a national empress and is heaven-made to match Your Majesty. However, I noticed the commandery princess seems quite protective of Great Zhou—” The fourth-rank official let something slip and immediately remedied it. “Could it be she discussed it with Your Majesty beforehand? When the time comes, with coordination from within and without, Great Zhou will be like something easily plucked from a bag.” Under Wu Yanqie’s tight stare, he laughed awkwardly twice.
Wu Yanqie smiled coldly. “Destroying Great Zhou is not a matter of one moment. Could I leave the empress position vacant for several years? Moreover, my Great Qiu has countless brave warriors—would I need my own queen to serve as an inside agent? Such thinking, Madun, you’re quite good at using your brain. If you’d been this clever earlier, why would you have been left by her with no power to retort!”
Madun gave a cold shudder and lowered his head to kneel.
“Forget it. Quickly order the ship to sail. If we make Great Zhou’s welcoming envoys wait long, it won’t demonstrate the sincerity of world peace.” Wu Yanqie also used Madun’s “four-character mantra.”
Madun, as if receiving a great pardon, hastily distanced himself from Wu Yanqie. At this moment he couldn’t accurately gauge the king’s thoughts at all. Originally there was joy, punishing Zhamo was cool anger, but now it seemed a bit like the vexation of having his concerns confirmed. Thinking of how the king had temporarily decided to serve as envoy to Great Zhou this time—could it be he came for the Song daughter? His tribe would also send two daughters into the palace. Originally he had quite disdained his tribal chief’s idea to harm the Song daughter, thinking she was just a woman—what ability could she have to overturn the harem? Now having contended with this woman, he feared she must be killed. Otherwise, with this woman’s capabilities, even sending a hundred princesses in would be useless.
Wu Yanqie repeatedly recalled what had just happened. Indeed, as Madun had surmised, his emotions fluctuated greatly. From the joy of seeing her to feeling increasingly troubled by her words and actions.
Among the thirty-some people on the deck, she couldn’t recognize him at all—this was point one.
Second, her manner of speaking—within calmness hid raging waves. It could be said to be a string of clever remarks with heavy implications, yet left people unable to find a reason to take offense. Though she had been able to speak before, her temper had been very straightforward. She wasn’t like this—as if turning several corners in her mind before opening her mouth, cautious in every way, watertight.
In her laughter, he couldn’t hear happiness; in her courtesy, he couldn’t hear sincerity. Was it because she hated many people, including himself, for deceiving her that she had become like this? Yet her behavior didn’t seem like someone who had suffered a blow—she was so spirited. Compared to when she was in the palace, it was truly like two completely different people. She was no longer that innocent woman who cared about nothing except ships and him.
This Ah Zi was more suited for battle. That confidence and boldness as if she could trample the heavens beneath her feet made his heart yield to her even more than before. She had also matured. Her attitude toward this world was very pragmatic—finally no longer overly idealistic.
He should be very happy, but somehow, that ship sailing against the current seemed to be carrying her to an unreachable place. His heart suddenly felt… empty.
So he couldn’t turn around. He feared that if he missed her this time, he would miss her forever. Better to wait first, until everything was arranged, until he had complete confidence.
The ship moved. He stood at the stern for a long time.
By the time the moon rose that day, a joke had spread through all the streets and alleys. The Great Qiu envoy ship had spun in circles on the river surface turning into the dock, unable to approach the shore no matter what, and in the end had to be towed by Great Zhou’s ships.
After two days passed, another version began circulating, saying the Great Qiu ship had encountered water ghosts entangling it. The common people quietly discussed—Great Qiu had attacked Yuling and owed so many debts of wrongful deaths. Being haunted by ghosts was deserved.
It was said that this was what Dugu the Divine Calculator of Yuhe Workshop had seen with his Heaven’s Eye!