“Qin Zhiyan, my name is Yima’er, it means longevity.” “Yima’er, what kind of chicken is this gnawed chicken? I’ll definitely catch one for you in the future.”
“Qin Zhiyan, I’ve been abandoned by my country, my friends and comrades all don’t want me anymore.” “Yima’er, if they don’t want you, I want you.”
“Qin Zhiyan, I’ve long wanted to rest. I want to go to university, I want to fall in love, I never really wanted to do this work anyway.” “Good, come back to Great Qin with me, I’ll take you to the study hall to read.”
“Qin Zhiyan, I thought you were dead, I thought you were eaten by them, I thought I was the only one left, I thought…” “Silly, I’m still alive, listen, it’s still beating, I’m still alive.”
“Qin Zhiyan, we’re still friends, right?”
“…Yes…”
Qin Zhiyan, we won’t be friends anymore, will we? Never again.
From the moment we walked out of the Azure Wood Hall, we weren’t, were we?
You, after all, are not the gentle man from the Azure Wood Hall. Once you left that place, you became the Great Qin prince who strategizes and commands the realm.
No matter how dark that night was, she would never mistake it.
In the brightly lit hall, so many people knelt. There were scouts sent by General Feng to explore the route, boatmen from Jialing River, soldiers in black clothes and armor that she had mistakenly thought were enemy reinforcements that night, and even that black-clothed man she had tied up for an entire night.
She suddenly realized she was truly a fool. Enormous mockery shrieked madly in the sky, tearing her heart into countless fragments, bloodily throwing them onto the peak of the great snowy mountain for all the vultures to devour together.
When heartache reaches its extreme, pain becomes numb. But she wasn’t numb—she just felt a faint sadness and the crushing of hope once again.
This had been a trap all along, both sides had already laid out their pieces, waiting for the other to strike. And she was just a chess piece that had accidentally wandered into the game, thinking herself a savior, not knowing she was just a fool manipulated by others.
In vain, she had shed tears she wouldn’t normally shed in years.
In vain, she had nearly exhausted her reborn life.
In vain, she had almost lost her own heart.
In vain, she thought she controlled her own life and others’, struggling desperately, fighting against fate, not knowing she was merely performing in someone else’s chosen drama, an actor within the game who didn’t understand the game.
Everything was just a ridiculous one-person show, futile effort, and now it was time for the curtain to fall.
Qing Xia walked alone through the corridor of the main hall’s passage, her steps firm as she headed outside. One step, then another, until finally she caught a whiff of fresh air. She slightly raised her head, forcing back the tears at the corners of her eyes, letting the cool wind blow on her cheeks—sharp as a knife, yet with an inexplicable sense of relief.
From now on, they would go their separate ways.
They were originally two unrelated people, and finally they would return to their respective paths, walking their own roads.
In this world, no one truly cannot live without someone else.
Behind her, a pair of calm eyes kept gazing at that brightly lit corridor, watching until that petite white figure completely disappeared, only then did he withdraw his frozen gaze.
Once upon a time, that wasn’t a solitary figure. Beside her, there had been a man in blue-green robes, the girl looking up at him with a light smile, pointing to the white silk ribbon on both their wrists, laughingly saying: “Tied like this, even if we get separated, we can follow the thread to find each other.”
Now he didn’t know whether that thread had broken in the ten-thousand-zhang snake pit, or whether he had severed it with his own hands.
The scene in the Four Directions Divine Hall was like a great dream, and now that it was time to wake up, he suddenly discovered he was still nostalgic for everything in that dream.
The girl’s clear voice suddenly echoed in his ears again: Yima’er means longevity…
He knew his longevity was forever lost.
Although, in the not-so-distant past, he had come so close to it, even nearly grasping it forever in his hands.
The icy wind blew across the empty hall, stirring up dust everywhere. The man in blue-green robes stood in the great hall, his features desolate, his gaze indifferent.
He had calculated everything under heaven, but hadn’t calculated that he too would have a day of being moved.
In this battle, he had ultimately lost.
Only he hadn’t lost to Southern Chu, not to Eastern Qi, and certainly not to that waste of an eldest brother—he had lost to himself, and also to her.
Bamboo has no heart by nature, yet how could branches grow unexpectedly?
Yima’er, was it I who was wrong, or was it time that was wrong?
On the pitch-black grassland, the desolate wild grass spread in bleakness. A frail woman rode alone across the declining wilderness, disappearing from sight in an instant. Scavenging hawks circled overhead, their cries sharp and full of bone-chilling coldness.
Qin Zhiyan wore a blue-green cloak, his face pale but his eyes peaceful. He kept watching in that direction, sadly discovering that the departing woman truly hadn’t looked back even once. Cold emotions slowly rose from the bottom of his heart, a huge void opening there as cold wind howled in, chilling him to his core.
“Your Highness,” Zhongbo approached from behind. Seeing the look in Qin Zhiyan’s eyes, he suddenly lowered his head and said quietly: “All of Yan Pingxi’s subordinates have been captured. Following Your Highness’s instructions, the northern territories and military leaders have jointly petitioned to depose the Crown Prince. The First Prince is making overtures in all directions, but it seems His Majesty has begun to waver.”
“It’s not that simple.” Qin Zhiyan’s voice was low, carrying a thick, blade-like coldness. He was no longer that blue-robed man gentle as flowing water from the Azure Wood Hall. He said gravely: “It’s precisely because eldest brother is making overtures everywhere but finding no support that father will continue to let him remain in the position of Crown Prince.”
“Hm?” Zhongbo was stunned and asked: “Why would that be? He privately mobilized troops, plotted against his own brother, exposed weaknesses in the northern territories, giving the Xiongnu an opportunity to exploit, nearly causing great disaster. With such crimes, how can he continue to remain in the heir’s position?”
Qin Zhiyan smiled coldly and said: “It’s precisely because of this that he can continue to remain in the heir’s position. Grand Tutor Zhong, have you forgotten how my father ascended to the throne?”
Although it was palace secrets, there were no walls that didn’t leak. The current Great Emperor’s actions were no longer secret within the Qin imperial family. The current Great Emperor Qin Zong had poisoned the previous emperor and his own brothers to ascend the throne, afterward using various pretexts to eliminate all branches of the Qin clan. His ruthless methods were unparalleled in the current era.
The Great Emperor had always been deeply suspicious. Having killed his father to gain the throne, he feared his own sons. So for many years, he had never been close to his several sons. Qin Zhiyan continued: “This time wasn’t to bring down eldest brother, but for self-preservation. My recent great victory at Yanmen Pass was too conspicuous—after returning to the capital I would definitely have my power stripped by father. Minzhi wrote saying the Bureau of Changes has already begun drafting new military systems, aimed at seizing the Northern Border Camp and Yan Regiment from my hands. This time the Crown Prince’s unauthorized troop movement invited Xiongnu invasion, attempted assassination of me, caused the ancestral temple to shake and triggered an avalanche. It’s truly a heaven-sent opportunity. After returning to the capital, father and I will each step back—I’ll sell him this enormous favor, and he won’t target the Yan Regiment anymore.”
Zhongbo was slightly stunned, and after a long while nodded saying: “Your Highness is wise.”
“Grand Tutor Zhong, I know you have deep enmity with the Crown Prince’s faction, but the Crown Prince is incompetent and incapable. Having him occupy the main position serves to balance power. If he steps down and is replaced by second brother or fourth brother, our days definitely won’t be as comfortable as now.”
“This minister understands.” Grand Tutor Zhong’s expression became stern.
“How are things in the Southern Border being handled?” Qin Zhiyan asked gravely.
“Everything is as Your Highness wished. The Southern Border and Chu have already clashed militarily. The Ludan people have already brought some of their tribe to submit to our Great Qin. General Yun follows Your Highness’s orders, still guarding the border. Thirteen armies guard the southern frontier—even if they had heaven-reaching abilities, they couldn’t advance an inch.”
“Good. Though Chu Li has just ascended the throne and is still young, this person has a decisive character. To endure humiliation in Eastern Qi for so many years, then return to Southern Chu and immediately ascend to high position—he’s truly someone worth careful vigilance. Let them cause more chaos for a while, then we’ll capture the Ludan people and use their leader’s head as my congratulatory gift for the Chu emperor’s accession.”
“Yes,” Grand Tutor Zhong nodded and said: “Southern Chu’s vitality is greatly damaged by this internal strife, and Qi-Chu diplomacy has further deteriorated—truly killing two birds with one stone. It’s just a pity Xichuan didn’t get involved, wasting our arrangements.”
“Do you think Yan Hui is so easy to deal with? However, since I directed this play, if he wants to sit on the mountain watching tigers fight and stir up trouble to laugh at Southern Chu, I won’t let him get his wish. Isn’t he supplying grain to Southern Chu? Tonight we’ll tell the Ludan people the route—wanting to stay out of it isn’t so easy.”
“Yes,” Grand Tutor Zhong hurriedly said. After thinking, he added gravely: “Your Highness, we’ve discovered Miss Tang’s identity.”
“Oh? Is that so?” Qin Zhiyan’s voice was light, showing no expression.
“Miss Tang’s surname is actually Zhuang, given name Qing Xia. She’s the daughter of Southern Chu’s Zhuang Dianru and consort to Southern Chu’s Great Emperor Chu Li. She married into the Chu palace a year ago, but about two months ago was confined to the cold palace by the Chu Emperor and given the degrading name ‘Dang.’ Rumors say she had an affair with Eastern Qi’s Crown Prince Qi’an, but it’s unknown how she came to be here. Our scouts tried to infiltrate the Chu palace several times but were all killed, costing us over ten men.”
“The Zhuang Qing Xia from Chu who caused the Qi-Chu standoff two months ago?” Qin Zhiyan was shocked, his usually calm face rarely showing such surprise.
“Yes,” Grand Tutor Zhong said: “Moreover, during our investigation, we discovered several groups of people searching for her whereabouts—there are the Chu Emperor’s Black Guard, Southern Chu’s Zhu family’s White Guard, and even poisoners from the Southern Border Sacred Sect. Very strange.”