Qi An slowly stepped forward, his expression ice-cold, his gaze sharp, carrying tremendous despair and pain, saying word by word in a deep voice: “Except for one face, you and Qing Xia are completely different people. Others all say that with my authorization, Qing Xia went undercover in Southern Chu and must have hidden exceptional abilities. But I know that for ten years we two read poetry and painted together – when would there have been time to study martial arts and killing techniques? You can deceive others, but how can you deceive me? Tell me, who exactly are you? Where is the real Qing Xia now?”
Like a thunderclap on flat ground, it suddenly exploded among everyone. Chu Li’s expression abruptly turned iron-blue as he turned his head, looking at Qing Xia with complex eyes, remaining silent.
Qing Xia was suddenly stunned. For some unknown reason, a wave of panic suddenly surged in her heart. Unprecedented fear flooded her like a tide. Her gaze shifted to see Chu Li’s dark eyes like dense midnight, and her heart instantly trembled lightly.
“What exactly is your background? Where did Qing Xia go? Did you kill her?” Qi An’s expression was cold as he pressed forward sternly.
“I didn’t!” Qing Xia’s eyebrows flashed as she hastily said.
“You didn’t?” Chu Li’s voice suddenly rang out low and deep, like a ghost emerging from hell. “So you truly are not Zhuang Qing Xia?”
“I…” Qing Xia was immediately speechless. How should she explain? Say that she had been killed by someone and borrowed a corpse to return her soul?
“You falsely assumed Zhuang Qing Xia’s identity, first currying favor with Prince An, then going undercover in Southern Chu, finally approaching Great Qin. Even this general almost married you back to the mansion as the seventeenth concubine – thinking about it is truly frightening! What, are you a spy sent by the frontier Xiongnu people to seize our Han territory? Or do you have some unspeakable secret? Ah, truly a pity – you were originally a beautiful woman, but alas you became a thief.”
Yan Hui sighed deeply, shaking his head as he spoke.
“Speak!” Qi An suddenly roared fiercely, saying sternly: “What exactly did you do to her? You already killed her, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t!” Qing Xia suddenly raised her head, angrily saying: “I don’t know where she is! When I came, she was already dead. How do you want me to answer you?”
“This young lady,” Zhuang Dianru slowly paced forward from behind, his expression steady, his demeanor peaceful, only his eyes appearing much more aged. Walking before Qing Xia, he said in a deep voice: “If the young lady knows where my little daughter is, please tell me. Xia’er has had a rough life, suffering many hardships since childhood. Even if she’s dead, please let this old man see her remains.”
“You…” Looking at the old man standing before her with bowed head, Qing Xia suddenly didn’t know what to say. Intense sourness churned in her heart like surging great waves, overwhelming her entire spirit. She bit her lower lip tightly, her face pale without a trace of blood. Looking at the crowd gathered around her, she suddenly felt the desolation in her heart sweeping over her like an overwhelming tide.
“You, staying by my side, really had ulterior motives?”
The low voice slowly rang out, carrying traces of broken desolation. Qing Xia slowly raised her head to look at Chu Li’s cold, stern face, the corners of her mouth smiling bitterly, finally saying faintly: “Whether I have ulterior motives, you should know most clearly.”
“Then why did you kill Zhuang Qing Xia and secretly replace her to lurk in the Southern Chu palace?” Chu Li suddenly said sternly, his voice cold and sharp, carrying thick murderous aura.
Qing Xia slowly turned her head away. Now saying anything was useless. All evidence pointed to her not being Zhuang Qing Xia. Everything pointed to her having malicious intentions. Then there was no need to argue further.
Anyway, these were all unimportant people.
Qing Xia said faintly in her heart, whether it was Father Zhuang or Qi An. As for Chu Li, she was going to sever all ties with him anyway. If thinking this way would make him feel better, then so be it.
But why did her heart feel as if it had been scalded by boiling oil?
Those bits and pieces of daily companionship, those bloody years of shared hardship, before these so-called evidence, were still so fragile and vulnerable.
Chu Li, you never had half a bit of trust in me to begin with. Even if Zhuang Qing Xia herself stood before you today, she would be unable to argue her case.
“You’re not speaking – does that mean you admit it?” Qi An suddenly roared, flinging his sharp soft sword, its tip pointing diagonally at Qing Xia as he said sternly: “Where is Qing Xia? If you report truthfully, I’ll still leave you with an intact corpse.”
With a whoosh of flag sounds, the Great Qin Yan Battalion suddenly raised their battle flags. All soldiers immediately shouted explosively, drawing the battle knives from their waists. Qin Zhiyan in silver-white armor strode before Qing Xia, shielding her behind him. His gaze coldly met Yan Hui, Qi An, Chu Li and others, fearlessly facing the vast armies of the three nations. His voice was cold as solid ice, no trace of smile remaining on his face as he said coldly: “Does Prince An think he’s now within Eastern Qi territory?”
Qi An was stunned, frowning as he said: “Third Highness, she is not Qing Xia. I have investigated clearly – she has close dealings with the Xiongnu people on the Handa Plains. She’s definitely not a Han woman, certainly a spy sent by the Xiongnu people.”
Qin Zhiyan laughed coldly and asked back: “So what? I never knew any Zhuang Qing Xia. I only know she’s called Yima’er and is now the woman I admire. Even if she’s a Xiongnu woman, what’s wrong with that?”
Qi An was stunned, saying coldly: “Then so be it. I’m determined to have this woman today. Thus, forgive my offense.”
“My pleasure to accompany you.”
Murderous wind swept up from the ground, bringing up sky-filling cold white snow. The Qin and Qi nations’ blade edges were coldly sharp, facing each other with drawn swords.
“Report!”
Just then, a long report suddenly reached their ears. A scout from the Xichuan army galloped from the west, nimbly dismounting and kneeling on the ground, loudly saying: “Report to the General! White Deer Fortress people have deployed troops at Big Slope Ridge ten li ahead, openly challenging us!”
“What?” Yan Hui’s eyebrows flashed as he widened his eyes incredulously: “The White Deer Fortress people are tired of living?”
This was the first time he appeared so shocked. His eyes rolled as he turned back, smiling as he said: “Since the White Deer Fortress people can’t wait to deliver themselves to our door, we might as well go meet them. This is a four-nation hunt – we’ve already established command documents that we absolutely won’t fight each other. Even if you have grievances, please settle them after the hunt.”
Qi An looked coldly at Qing Xia once, suddenly turned to mount his horse, called out, and led the Eastern Qi soldiers away with shouts.
“I wonder if Ruler Chu Li has any other teachings?”
Chu Li looked at Qin Zhiyan, his gaze so cold it could freeze a person solid. Finally, he slowly turned around, step by step walking toward his warhorse, climbing onto the horse’s back, and riding west.
White Deer Plains gradually quieted down. Qing Xia stood behind Qin Zhiyan, watching the departing crowd, only feeling the seawater in her heart gradually rising, spreading through her limbs and bones in bone-piercing cold.
“Qin Zhiyan, my background is unclear, my identity strange. Aren’t you afraid I’m a Xiongnu spy?”
Again that superior Sichuan fritillary fragrance. Qin Zhiyan’s eyes were gentle at the corners, carrying tide-like tenderness: “How are you of unclear background? Have you forgotten? You’re called Yima’er, from a country across the distant sea. That place produces a type of chicken – not very delicious, but very convenient. When we have the chance in the future, we’ll go taste it.”
“Qin Zhiyan…” Uncontrollable sourness suddenly surged in her heart, her voice slightly trembling, but still stubbornly refusing to let tears fall. “You believe me?”
The tall, jade-like man smiled slightly, reaching out to caress her white face, saying word by word: “Whatever you say, I believe it all.”
Clouds rolled and unfurled at the sky’s edge. On the vast White Deer Plains, the north wind howled.
The four-nation hunt ended in a rather laughable manner. Facing the once-in-a-century joint expedition of four nations, the White Deer Fortress people very rationally chose to surrender and submit. Thus, the four nations’ elite troops who had originally come roaring ready for slaughter quickly placed the hunting assembly on the negotiation table for redistributing the White Deer Plains region controlled by White Deer Fortress.
After returning from White Deer Plains, Qing Xia had been hiding in her tent. Those inexplicable emotions churned and surged in her chest like a pot of boiling water. She shouldn’t be this kind of person – when had she ever cared what others thought? Even if the entire world pointed at her nose and cursed her as a demon woman, a traitor who brought disaster to the country and people, so what? When she was framed by the National Security Department as an enemy spy, when there was no way to heaven and no door to earth, hadn’t she tenaciously pulled through? Then what was wrong with her now?
All afternoon, she kept thinking about every person’s reaction on White Deer Plains. She even couldn’t help thinking – if Qin Zhiyan also chose to suspect her, would Chu Li join with Qi An to kill her to avenge Zhuang Qing Xia?
Qing Xia sat on the bed, slowly using tongs to poke at the charcoal in the fire basin. She shouldn’t be like this. She could forget Chu Li, could forget the affection between them, could cast aside the memories and past between them, but she absolutely wouldn’t allow it to happen this way!
Originally, under the terrorists’ frame-up, she was wanted by the state as a Red A-level fugitive. In the end, she still relied on tenacious will to make a ten-thousand-li raid from the terrorist-controlled area, escaped from the country’s underground prison, and finally destroyed the enemy’s bomber in Chicago, successfully rescuing the country’s high-level leaders and clearing her name.
Under such difficult circumstances then, she could rely on tenacious will and methods to restore her innocence. Would she now have to live ignominiously under the evil reputation of killing Zhuang Qing Xia?
Could Zhuang Qing Xia rest in peace under the Nine Springs?
Who killed Zhuang Qing Xia? It was the cowardly Eastern Qi crown prince. Because he had too many concerns and didn’t dare keep her by his side, he caused her later tragedy. It was the crafty old Father Zhuang. Because of his selfishness and self-interest, disregarding his daughter’s happiness for his own career, he repeatedly treated his daughter like merchandise to be welcomed and sent away. It was the overly scheming Chu Li. It was his initial self-preservation that pushed Zhuang Qing Xia to Qi An. Afterwards, it was his possessiveness that forcefully snatched back the girl who had been beside Qi An for ten years. Finally, it was his suspicion and testing that threw that woman with no self-protection ability into that palace full of traps, letting her be bullied and beaten and framed by others, ultimately dying silently in tragic desperation.