“Prince Qi’an, Xichuan’s Yan Hui, even the Chu Emperor—their actions in this regard fall far short of mine. They simply don’t understand how to preserve their reputation. I personally orchestrated the rebellion in Nanjiang. If not for you, Chu Li would likely have died long ago in that drought-stricken land.”
“Fourth Brother is cautious by nature. Despite having people infiltrate his inner circle for two years, I still couldn’t penetrate his core, which led to this miscalculation. But this is actually good—after the incident, our reaction appeared completely genuine. Even those cunning old foxes among the court officials wouldn’t believe I was pulling strings behind the scenes. Though he has some intelligence, he’s too impulsive. Having spent years rotating through military camps, he’s rather unfamiliar with court intrigue and his grasp of subtle details isn’t perfect enough. The emperor in the Imperial Ancestral Temple was a fake—I had him killed this morning. Otherwise, given Father Emperor’s personality, he would never have so impulsively put himself in danger. I had already sent people to find Huayang long ago. Three days ago, she was already hidden within the eastern naval forces, commanding the overall situation. The city defense generals also know what’s happening. All we’re waiting for is for Fourth Brother to clear my name before the world.”
Qing Xia suddenly smiled faintly and said, “I knew it. You’ve already calculated everything.”
“I calculated everything, except I couldn’t accurately predict you, nor could I predict Chu Li.”
Qin Zhiyan shook his head with a bitter smile: “I thought that night Chu Li would surely take you away, but he didn’t. Instead, he sent one hundred thousand Black Guards to support Zhixiang while he himself ran back to the border, bringing one hundred thousand old, weak, sick, and disabled troops back to Xianyang, recklessly claiming to have five hundred thousand soldiers. It’s just that Fourth Brother didn’t understand the Chu Emperor’s character well enough. If it had been me or Prince Yan, Chu Li would have died without doubt. I thought when we met again, he would definitely take you away, but he didn’t again. He actually led his garrison veterans to intercept what he thought were Fourth Brother’s forces—the eastern naval army. If I hadn’t previously instructed Huayang, he might have already departed for the Yellow Springs by now. I thought Qin Zhiye’s forces would surely stop you outside the city gates and wouldn’t let you come cause chaos at the execution ground. I didn’t expect he couldn’t manage that either, instead letting you walk in openly, making all my preliminary arrangements useless. Fortunately, despite the dangers, everything has developed according to my wishes to this point. Now my ascension to the imperial throne in yellow robes is not far off. Yima’er, if you’re willing, you will be my empress.”
Tears finally fell drop by drop. Qing Xia smiled bitterly, slowly pushed away Qin Zhiyan’s hand, stood up and said, “Where is Chu Li? Are you going to kill him?”
Qin Zhiyan’s eyes gradually turned cold as he said in a deep voice, “Emperor Chu has great talent and bold vision, possessing the bearing of an emperor. If not for you, he would never have such moments of complete confusion. To unify the world and accomplish unprecedented achievements, I must first eliminate him. If I don’t remove him at this moment, I’m afraid there will never be another opportunity.”
“Why must you do this?” Qing Xia suddenly shouted loudly, her eyes bloodshot. She had sat in this room all night, constantly searching for reasons to convince herself, but at this moment, hearing these words from his own mouth, she suddenly felt her entire soul being ruthlessly hollowed out. She angrily cried, “You shouldn’t be like this! You saved and protected me so many times, not caring about your own life, even ignoring the Qin King’s orders. How could you be such an ambitious person?”
Qing Xia suddenly ran forward to grasp Qin Zhiyan’s hand, tears rolling down in large drops as she said urgently, “Qin Zhiyan, you’re saying this on purpose, aren’t you? You have your difficulties, don’t you? You can’t be this kind of person. What’s so good about being emperor? You already have everything. Why do you still want to unify the world? Why do you still want to be the sovereign of all nations? Isn’t it good for me to stay with you? Isn’t it good to not want those things?”
Qin Zhiyan smiled faintly, holding Qing Xia’s hand and said, “In a person’s lifetime, they’re bound to do foolish things a few times. Besides, my becoming emperor doesn’t conflict with being with you. I can have only you as my consort and not marry anyone else. How about that?”
Like a basin of cold water poured over her head, Qing Xia’s face instantly turned snow white. Her lips trembled as she backed away in disbelief, murmuring, “Why is it like this? Why are you like this?”
Qin Zhiyan smiled gently, but now this smile seemed to contain so many strange expressions.
“I’ve always been like this—you just didn’t notice. There’s nothing wrong with this. At the very least, I can protect you so you’ll never be bullied again.”
“I don’t believe it!” Qing Xia suddenly screamed angrily, holding her head with both hands, shaking it frantically as tears streamed down. “I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it! You’re lying to me, you’re lying to me!”
“In another two hours, Huayang’s army will launch their attack,” Qin Zhiyan suddenly turned away, saying in an icy tone, “From then on, between heaven and earth, there will be no one left who can oppose me.”
“Ah!” Qing Xia suddenly screamed. Da Huang was startled awake as the woman in black robes threw open the door and stumbled out. The snow-white little beast, still drowsy from sleep, followed her out. Along the way, everyone in the prince’s mansion was greatly alarmed, stepping aside in panic. Even after Qing Xia had mounted her horse and galloped out of the mansion, people still hadn’t recovered their senses.
Grand Tutor Zhong sighed softly and slowly walked into the room. Looking at Qin Zhiyan’s thin silhouette, he said helplessly, “Why don’t you tell her the truth? It’s clearly not like this.”
Qin Zhiyan smiled faintly, his voice desolate as he said, “My days are numbered. Why burden her with this?”
Grand Tutor Zhong’s brow furrowed tightly as he said in a deep voice, “Do you think this is good for her?”
“Short-term pain is better than long-term suffering. Temporary disappointment and pain now is better than a lifetime of sorrow later.”
“Sigh!” Grand Tutor Zhong sighed and said, “When Cang’er Mountain collapsed that year, it completely buried the Shangqiu clan. Only this one spiritual pill remains in the world, which could have cured your poison. If not for Qin Zhiye’s arrow…”
“Grand Tutor,” Qin Zhiyan turned around, his expression still so gentle as he smiled lightly and said, “Such is heaven’s will—why force it? That I could live this long is already heaven’s generous treatment. How is Zhixiang? Where has he reached?”
“At most five more days of travel,” Grand Tutor Zhong said in a deep voice. “He’ll definitely make it in time.”
“Let’s hope so,” Qin Zhiyan slowly sat in his chair. In just this short while, his complexion had grown even paler. “Father Emperor’s injuries are too severe—he cannot be saved. The Crown Prince is dead, and Prince Yan has been poisoned into idiocy by Zhiye. Among Great Qin’s bloodline, we can only count on him now. This way, perhaps we can still preserve Mother and my two younger sisters.”
Qin Zhiyan suddenly lowered his head and began coughing. After a long while, he lowered his hand and opened his palm to reveal it full of dark red blood. Showing no emotion, he said softly, “Have you found Huayang?”
“Not yet, but scouts report she should be trapped in the Longya Desert. We’ve already dispatched local herders to search with all their might.”
“Mm,” Qin Zhiyan nodded and said, “With Sixth Brother now in charge of the eastern naval forces, I feel somewhat more at ease.”
“Your Highness!” A deep voice suddenly rang out as Lian Zhou walked in, saying gravely, “The young lady left through the east city gate, riding east.”
“Mm,” Qin Zhiyan coughed lightly and said, “Keep an eye on her. Don’t let anything happen on the road, and don’t let her discover you. It’ll be fine once she reaches the Southern Chu camp.”
“Yes!”
The morning star gradually rose on the horizon—the night was about to pass. Qin Zhiyan, wearing loose, comfortable robes, slowly leaned back in his chair. His eyes, weary and heavy, slowly closed.
Fortunately, everyone was safe. Fortunately, everything was about to pass.
Yima’er, eternal life…
Near dawn, a cold spring rain suddenly began falling, pattering against the window frames with a pleasant sound.
In the cold study, a single lamp flickered like a bean flame. Outside the study, bamboo groves swayed gracefully—a verdant green expanse. From time to time, fresh breezes swept through leisurely, creating rustling sounds. This bamboo had been dug up and brought back from the south on Qin Zhiyan’s orders when Qing Xia first entered the mansion. The northern climate wasn’t suitable for growing bamboo, but she loved it. Though she had only mentioned it briefly, that person had taken it to heart. He sent people thousands of miles away to dig up bamboo and bring it back to plant tree by tree. The northern climate was harsh and cold—when these bamboos first arrived, they were all frozen and damaged, a yellowed mass without any luster. Prince Xuan was clever and had his people build greenhouse-like structures as tall as houses, covering all the bamboo inside. Later, when the weather warmed, they dismantled the structures. Now, each bamboo plant had grown quite tall.
Although it had been less than two months.
Inside the study, all was quiet except for the occasional sound of heavy coughing—very low, clearly someone inside was deliberately suppressing it. Cold wind blew in through the window, slanting the fine rain in misty drifts. Suddenly, with a puff, the candle on the desk was extinguished. Dense raindrops fell on the expensive white paper, dampening the faint ink traces. The palace lamp in the corner burned quietly, emanating soft light. Dawn was approaching—even with only this single light source, the room didn’t seem dim.
The man at the desk slowly raised his head. His complexion was pale, his face handsome, his eye sockets somewhat sunken, slightly showing signs of illness. But even so, it was hard to conceal his ethereal aura, faintly carrying scholarly gentleness and refinement. He lifted his head, gazing at the raindrops outside, faintly curving his lips into a smile as he said, “Spring rain is precious as oil. Good rain, good rain.”
He suddenly coughed softly twice, put down the white silk in his hand without paying attention to the alarming bloodstains on it, simply stood up and slowly walked to the window. Completely ignoring the cold wind outside, he quietly gazed at the dense bamboo grove within reach. He slowly extended his hand, his fingertips gently touching those lush green bamboo leaves. His gaze seemed to be looking at the bamboo, yet also seemed to float beyond them, looking very far away.