Qin Zhiyan stood in the center of ten thousand people, watching Qing Xia’s emaciated figure gradually disappear at the end of the long street. Rolling yellow sand billowed up, gradually obscuring her frail shadow until it vanished from sight.

In just one day’s turn of events, Prince Xuan’s mansion, which had originally been trampled underfoot, had dramatically reversed its fortune and become one of the most influential and powerful forces in Xianyang City.

Now, with the Qin King’s death, the Crown Prince already dead, Prince Yan having lost power, Prince Xiang killed, Princes Six and Seven being insignificant, Prince Nine dead in the great hall, and Prince Eight being Qin Zhiyan’s own younger brother, surveying the entire Great Qin royal family, there was surprisingly no one who could compete with Qin Zhiyan. Moreover, the Qin King had already passed the throne to him in front of all the officials before his death, and due to his previous efforts to build popular support, he had won the deep admiration of Xianyang’s citizens, already becoming the true pillar of the Great Qin royal family in both name and reality.

Having just seen off a group of elder ministers who had come begging Prince Xuan to move into Taihe Palace, Qin Zhiyan walked with slightly heavy steps to the front of Qing Xia’s room.

The door creaked open slowly. Inside, a single lamp flickered like a bean flame. The pale woman still wore that same black robe, sitting in front of food that had already grown cold, remaining silent without uttering a word.

Moonlight streamed softly through the window, casting clear radiance across the floor. Qin Zhiyan slowly walked forward and sat across from Qing Xia, poured himself a cup of clear tea, and drank it down. Several days of exhaustion had left deep traces on his face. His cheeks were pale, his eye sockets sunken, but his eyes still maintained that same gentleness, flickering with a misty, water-like light.

“Yima’er, eat something.”

Qing Xia slowly raised her head, as if only now noticing that he had entered. She suddenly smiled softly and said in a gentle voice, “You’ve returned.”

“Mm,” Qin Zhiyan nodded and said, “I’m back.”

“That’s good,” Qing Xia picked up a bowl of rice and buried her head to begin eating. After taking two bites, she suddenly looked up and said, “Why is this rice so bitter?”

“Bitter?” Qin Zhiyan also picked up some rice, took a bite, and said, “It’s not bitter.”

“Is that so?” Qing Xia murmured, then continued eating. The room was very quiet, without a single sound. After an unknown amount of time had passed, the door suddenly banged open, and a completely snow-white little beast came swaying in. In just a few days, Da Huang had actually grown a whole size fatter. The servant girls said it had recently become obsessed with drinking wine, spending all day drunk, dragging around a wine gourd many times its own size as it wandered aimlessly around the courtyard. It seemed this truly wasn’t false.

The wine gourd dragged on the ground, making banging sounds. Qing Xia turned her head, and when Da Huang saw her, its drunken eyes immediately brightened. It let out a howl and tried to leap onto her body. Poor thing—its already underdeveloped motor skills, combined with the heavy wine gourd, caused it to feel like its four little paws hadn’t even left the ground before it collapsed on the floor again.

Seeing this, Qing Xia’s lips curved into a faint smile. She reached out and picked it up, placing it on her lap and gently stroking its soft fur while saying softly, “It feels like I haven’t seen you for a long time. Where did you run off to?”

Da Huang, having drunk too much wine, wasn’t as lively and gesticulative as usual. It lay lazily on Qing Xia’s lap, smacking its lips as if planning to take a good nap.

Qin Zhiyan looked at Qing Xia’s thin face and suddenly said in a deep voice, “Yima’er, you’re very disappointed, aren’t you?”

Qing Xia lowered her head and said softly, “I don’t know. My mind is very confused. I don’t want to think about anything.”

“Yima’er…”

“Qin Zhiyan,” Qing Xia suddenly looked up with a bitter smile and said, “I’m so foolish!”

Qin Zhiyan looked at her, feeling his heart ache slightly, unable to speak for a long time.

“How could I be so stupid?” Qing Xia shook her head with a bitter smile and said, “You probably won’t believe this, but I used to be the most outstanding agent in our Military Intelligence Division. I carried out many major missions. Those terrorists’ conspiracies and schemes were no less sophisticated than yours. They were well-armed, well-equipped, and very difficult to deal with, but I never failed once. Even at the end, I died at the hands of my own people. I really was very smart before. The targets I set my sights on rarely lived longer than a month.”

“But why have I become so stupid and foolish now?”

Qing Xia frowned as if trying hard to think about this problem. Her voice was very small, but in the silent room, it seemed exceptionally clear. She seemed to be asking herself, yet also asking others, as she said softly, “It was the same last time. I thought Chu Li had been killed by Madam Zhu Lan, so I rushed back with all my might, wanting to avenge him. But when I got back, I discovered that everything had been arranged by him. He sat safely in his great tent, eliminating those stubbornly resisting Eight Great Families one by one, root and branch. His methods were brilliant. This time, this time is the same too. I prepared for a desperate fight, prepared to go to the Yellow Springs with you, worked hard to scheme and calculate, did everything I could do, only to discover in the end that what I did was so laughable, so foolish.”

“Yima’er…”

“Qin Zhiyan, is it that I myself am too stupid, too foolish, too self-righteous and overly clever? Or are you all too wise and formidable?”

Qin Zhiyan’s brow furrowed tightly. He wanted to reach across the table to grasp Qing Xia’s hand, but she withdrew it in time. Qin Zhiyan’s voice carried a trace of weakness as he said sadly, “Don’t be like this.”

Qing Xia laughed lowly, her smile so bitter and self-mocking. She shook her head and said with pursed lips, “It really hurts my self-esteem! When did I become like a waste of space? I thought I was saving you, but actually I was just being sentimental. I thought I was being tragic and heroic, but in others’ eyes, I must have looked very ridiculous.”

Qin Zhiyan slowly closed his eyes, his brow tightly furrowed, his expression pained as he remained silent.

“Qin Zhiyan, I don’t blame you,” Qing Xia smiled faintly and said lightly, “I should have known long ago. You’re Great Qin’s God of War—how could you possibly be someone who doesn’t understand the ways of power and scheming? Great Qin’s internal strife is too intense. I witnessed it on the very first day I met you.”

“It’s because I was too self-righteous. I thought I could protect you, help you, not knowing that I’ve been dragging you down all along, bringing you countless troubles and crises. Such a simple truth, yet I only understand it today. I was too stupid.”

“Yima’er,” Qin Zhiyan suddenly said heavily, “Don’t be like this. It’s not like that.”

“But Qin Zhiyan, you could have just used me. Why did you have to use Chu Li too? I already owe him so much. Why did you have to calculate him into your schemes as well? Even without him, you still would have succeeded. What are your intentions? Do you want to take this opportunity to eliminate him?” Qing Xia’s eyes looked so fragile, like a weak little animal. She tightly grasped Qin Zhiyan’s hand and spoke in a low voice.

“Yima’er,” Qin Zhiyan’s brow furrowed tightly as he reached out to gently caress Qing Xia’s cheek. He smiled softly and said in a clear, light voice, “I’m sorry. I never thought of hurting you.”

“Yima’er, I’ve always been this kind of person, but I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t tell you because I kept hoping you would leave, and come back after I had settled everything here. I didn’t want you to see me like this—to see my hypocritical, false, honeyed words and treacherous heart.”

Qin Zhiyan smiled bitterly, his fingertips gently brushing across Qing Xia’s thin cheek as he said softly, “When I was sixteen, it was Father Emperor’s birthday celebration. All the royal brothers presented Father Emperor with grand gifts, but I alone had no power or influence, and no gift to offer. At that time, small bands of Xiongnu raiders happened to be pillaging villages in the surrounding areas. So I falsely reported that thirty thousand Xiongnu had risen in rebellion to invade the northern frontier, obtained official documents from Xianyang, and led the northern frontier army with legitimate authority to attack the Xiongnu tribes. I killed over ten thousand of their men, women, and children, and seized more than one hundred thousand cattle and sheep as a birthday gift for Father Emperor, which I presented in Xianyang. Among the children I killed at that time, the youngest was only two or three years old, barely able to speak. He could only point at my face and shout ‘Bakheluoya! Bakheluoya!’ I asked the accompanying interpreters who understood the Xiongnu language what ‘Bakheluoya’ meant. They told me it meant ‘demon.’ Then I killed that child.”

“When I was seventeen, the Lushui River burst its banks in the west, and over ten thousand disaster victims crossed the western barrier zone and came to the northern frontier. They had all heard that I was a benevolent prince and believed in their hearts that I would surely take them in. But whenever there are great floods, epidemics always follow. Although there were no reports of epidemic diseases among the refugees at that time, I still couldn’t risk it. The northern frontier was a power base I had built up with my own hands—it couldn’t be destroyed in one fell swoop. So I established large no-man’s zones at the northern frontier’s western gateway, employed scorched earth tactics like those used against enemies, and closed the city gates for a full twenty days. Twenty days later, the area outside the northern frontier’s gates was covered with corpses—fully several tens of thousands of people. Just burying and burning these bodies took a full two months.”

“In my nineteenth year, I achieved great victory in the northern frontier, and Father Emperor summoned me back to court. The night before, I secretly led my troops into the city. I didn’t go see Father Emperor, nor did I see anyone else. Instead, I secretly infiltrated a servant’s palace in the western garden of the imperial palace and beat to death with clubs all the servants who had attended to me when I was paralyzed and bedridden. I also dragged two old wet nurses outside the city, stuffed them into sacks, and had my army repeatedly ride over them on horseback. I was at the very front, and we rode back and forth hundreds of times until they had been trampled into nothing but pools of blood before I finally stopped. At that moment, I finally understood what a wonderful thing it was to have power and influence. At the very least, I would never again have to endure being bullied by anyone.”

Qin Zhiyan smiled softly, his expression no longer so gentle and indifferent, but instead shrouded with a trace of cold ruthlessness. He said slowly, “Later, I fought campaigns in the south and north, planted spies and traitors in various countries, cultivated confidants in the court, formed cliques for personal gain. I still remember there was once a young scholar from the Hanlin Academy who caught wind of something and wanted to submit a memorial impeaching me. That very night, I sent people to kill his entire family along with all his close friends. That great fire burned for a full two days, and the dead numbered over three hundred people, most of whom were elderly, children, and women.”