September 25th, fierce winds, with snow falling like cotton.
Both inside and outside the underground palace were covered in heavy snow. The Qian Mausoleum that stood exposed above ground had already hung pure white lanterns. Palace servants and maids walked about dressed in white linen garments, with fluttering curtains and white gauze trailing behind them, gently sweeping away the fine dust on the ground.
No lamps were lit inside the hall, only rows of white candles burning silently, emitting a pale light that formed deep shadows.
In the vast memorial hall, a slender figure sat quietly in the shadows. The light seemed unable to penetrate the darkness around him, leaving only a dim halo. His features were unclear, but beside him on a small table, cups were half-tilted, and wine spilled over.
He had never been fond of drinking, but now, he had already stayed in the Qian Mausoleum for three full days.
Three days, with wine spreading throughout the great hall of the Qian Mausoleum, empty jars piled high as mountains, yet why was there not the slightest sense of intoxication?
Outside, wild winds swept across, and snow fell heavily. Inside the hall, candle shadows deepened in quiet stillness. He sat alone in silence, yet in his ears, he seemed to hear the rumbling war drums from the frontier, the soldiers raising their sabers to charge into the cold wind, slashing and hacking, the cries and wails of commoners calling for their homeland in the bitter wind. Blood meandered upward, submerging the towering walls of Dragon Chant Pass, submerging the whistling pastures of Yan Bei, and even submerging the last trace of tenderness between them.
Yes, he had never been drunk; he had always been so clear-headed, clearly witnessing his degradation and fall.
In a daze, he suddenly remembered a summer night many years ago, in a small room in the Sacred Gold Palace, where mosquitoes circled and the heat was unbearable. One evening, Chu Qiao returned very late. During those days, the matrons in the kitchen often liked to order her around. He stood at the entrance of Oriole Song Courtyard, wearing a robe, waiting for her. The night moon was so round, a bright yellow orb. Mosquitoes circled above his head, yet he felt peace in his heart. When tired of waiting, he sat on the doorstep, holding a copper branch, grinding it on a stone.
Chu Qiao had grown up and was ready to pin up her hair. He was making a hairpin for her.
When she returned, it was already very late. Instead of scolding him as usual for not sleeping early, she mysteriously took out a beautiful crystal ice bowl from behind her back and placed it in his hands. It was a large piece of ice carved into a basin-shaped small bowl, with intricate glass patterns on both sides, filled with crushed ice and various fruits, cool to the touch, like the winter snow of Yan Bei.
At that time, holding the ice bowl, he vaguely recalled when his parents were alive, how his mother would always carve such ice bowls for them on summer days. He always loved them dearly, holding them tightly, and his second sister couldn’t snatch them away. But the tighter he held, the faster the ice bowl melted, soon becoming a puddle of nothingness.
He looked up, seeing the girl standing opposite him through the ice bowl. Back then, Chu Qiao was only ten, very short. She looked up at him with a smile, wearing a blue coarse cloth jacket, with a small red flower pinned at her brow like the palace maids of Great Xia. Her face was thin but flushed with a rosy blush. Having held the ice bowl for a long time, her hands were frozen red, clenched tightly into small fists. Her eyes were so bright, that even the full moon in the sky couldn’t compare. In an instant, they pierced through all his sorrow and reminiscence, directly into his heart, dispelling the dark clouds that covered the sky.
At that time, Yan Xun vowed that he would make something of himself, that he would be good to this girl for his entire life, never letting others bully her. He would let her live like a princess, fulfilling every wish, and every thought for her.
Time passed in a flash, years like a merciless hand, easily submerging those memories and vows between them. Sometimes he felt that his life might just be like that melted ice bowl. Homeland, parents, brothers, sisters, mentors, comrades, lovers—all gradually left him for one reason or another. The harder he tried to grasp them, the faster they departed, ultimately like that puddle of water, spilled on the ground, disappearing without a trace.
He raised his head, facing the cenotaph of his parents and relatives, the high memorial hall, and the majestic mausoleum, occupying thousands of acres. Yet buried inside were just a few personal belongings and clothes. Their heads remained in the Criminal Officials Hall of the Great Xia Imperial Temple, while their bodies had long fed the wild wolves in the fires of war.
He picked up his wine cup, the spicy liquor sliding down his throat like burning coal. A low wind blew into the spacious hall, making the curtains sway gently, like the flowing sleeves of women dancing on stage, lingering endlessly. Yan Xun’s vision remained clear; his features were refined, with slight traces of sorrow, his cheeks gaunt, and his eyes seemingly filled with layers of mist. Looking carefully, between his temples, there seemed to be hidden strands of silver, which under the dim candlelight, glimmered softly, bearing a touch of vicissitude.
In just two years, he had already become so weary. His life seemed to be walking on a misguided path, with countless forks at every step. Gradually, the people around him took their paths. Though they had set out together at the same time, each had their direction.
“Father.”
In the still heart, these two words suddenly emerged, like a stone gently breaking the calm surface of a lake.
“Father, you deceived me.”
Yan Xun raised his head, looking at the portrait on the spirit tablet, his father’s face before him, so lifelike. Looking at the relative he had admired most in his childhood, he said quietly:
“You said Yan Bei was a paradise on earth, the most free and prosperous place under heaven. You said everything you did was to carve out an extraordinary merit that would last for thousands of years for future generations. But you were wrong, terribly wrong. You destroyed Yan Bei, you destroyed yourself, and you destroyed the entire Yan lineage. During those eight years in Zhenhang, I survived immersed in trust and illusions about you, but when I returned to Yan Bei after nine deaths and one life, you don’t know how disappointed I was.”
Yan Xun’s face was expressionless, the hall deep and quiet. He gazed at his father and continued in a deep voice: “Cliffs on all sides, cold-blooded frost everywhere, yet Father, you insisted on building your imagined utopia in a crevice of security. Do you know how naive this idea was? That’s why the Emperor wouldn’t tolerate you, the world wouldn’t tolerate you, and even your subordinates betrayed you, just because you didn’t have that kind of strength, unable to accomplish what even the Emperor couldn’t achieve.”
“Father, I killed Master Wu and Miss Yu, only because they were still upholding your will, becoming stumbling blocks in my path forward. I gave them chances, but unfortunately, they were unwilling to cherish them. I killed Zhuo Zhuo, only because Datong wanted to support her as leader; as long as she existed, Datong would never give up. I killed those old generals of yours, only because they were short-sighted, yet still occupied high positions of power. I’ve killed many people, but I’ve come closer to my dream.”
Yan Xun raised his head and drank a cup of strong wine, then poured another, held it level before him, and poured it on the ground, saying slowly, word by word: “Father, I will not be like you.”
Yan Xun stood tall, turned, and left. The hem of his robe swept over the fine dust on the great hall floor. Each of his steps was so firm, his stride vigorous, calm, and composed. The candlelight shone on his back, casting a long shadow on the ground. Behind him were the memorial tablets of Yan Bei’s loyal martyrs throughout the ages—his parents and brothers, his ancestors, and loyal officials and generals who had contributed to Yan Bei, including Master Wu, Miss Yu, Xiao He, Zhuo Zhuo, Bian Cang, Xi Rui, A Du, and even the commanders of the Beautiful Army who died to protect North Shuo, Wu Danyu, Feng Ting…
So many pairs of eyes, in the depths of candlelight, quietly watching him, watching him step by step leave the hall, step by step leave this resting place of the dead.
His steps were so steady, without a trace of hesitation or regret.
The wind blew coldly against his face. Yan Xun’s eyes were pitch black. He remembered the night he left Zhenhang, how Chu Qiao unhesitatingly went back to rescue the entire Southwest Garrison Force trapped within the imperial capital. Perhaps from that moment, he had already foreseen today’s outcome. They had different dreams and beliefs, irreconcilable, so they would inevitably drift apart, walking different paths.
The achievement of any dream requires paying a price.
And the price he paid was that he was no longer the person she remembered.
A feeling of powerlessness crept up bit by bit, but he impassively suppressed it all.
Chu Qiao, when you turned away, I knew you were destined not to follow me in this life. You are destined to walk in the light, while I can never escape this mountain of corpses and sea of blood. I cannot accompany you in soaring high, so I wanted to break your wings to keep you by my side. Now, I am finally going to fail.
“Chu Qiao…”
A deep voice slowly rang out in the vast hall, like a wisp of white vapor passing through the cold northern wind. The man stood at the entrance of the great hall, the cold moonlight shining on his face, with an eerie paleness. He slowly closed his eyes, his expression so calm, yet his brow slightly furrowed, rising like a pool of misty stillness.
“Chu Qiao… will you come back?”
The cold moon was like frost, clouds lightly covering half of it. The highlands were high and steep, difficult for birds to cross. He stood at the peak, his gaze misty as it swept across the entire land of Yan Bei. He thought quietly: Perhaps, she would not return.
“Your Majesty!”
A Jing pushed aside the guard’s obstruction with one move, hurried forward, and knelt on the ground, excitedly saying: “Your Majesty, please save the lady! Dragon Chant Pass is sealed by heavy snow, Great Xia has been besieging for many days, and the lady can’t hold on much longer.”
Yan Xun said nothing, gazing at the majestic mountains before him, seemingly lost in prolonged contemplation.
“Your Majesty, the lady has followed you for many years, through life and death, with unwavering perseverance. Her achievements are in all our eyes. Your Majesty, do you have the heart to kill her? Have you forgotten what you once said?”
A Jing’s eyes were red, continuously knocking his head on the ground, saying in a deep voice: “Your Majesty, please, have mercy, please…”
“A Jing,” Yan Xun suddenly spoke, as if only now noticing his presence, frowning in confusion: “How should I save her?”
Hearing this, A Jing was immediately overjoyed and hurriedly said: “Open the gates of Dragon Chant City, send troops out to help…”
Before A Jing could finish, Yan Xun slightly frowned and said: “Do you think, even if Dragon Chant Pass were opened, she would come back?”
A Jing was startled, pondered for a while, then mumbled: “Then, lift the Southern Border water route defense line to Tang, open the Tang Water Pass, and let the lady go south.”
“Go south?” Yan Xun’s voice was very calm, so calm that not a ripple could be heard. He gently asked: “Then she would never come back, would she?”
A Jing was dumbfounded and could no longer speak. The corners of Yan Xun’s mouth curled up, and he smiled slightly, saying softly: “Does that mean I will lose her forever?”
The night was so cold. A Jing felt chills all over his body. After a long time, he suddenly jumped up from where he was, turned, and ran, shouting: “I’ll go persuade the lady to come back!”
Yan Xun did not stop him, did not even look at him. He still stood there quietly. Dark clouds covered the moon; it was going to snow again. Chu Qiao, could she hold on? Silly girl, why not come back? He frowned, thinking like a simple young man, self-deceptively casting aside all political factors, as if they were still children quarreling, angrily thinking, why not come back? It’s so cold outside.
If life were only about first meetings, Chu Qiao, would you still choose to be entangled with me? Could you have anticipated your current situation? How deep is your hatred for me?
“Your Majesty,” a deep voice sounded behind him. Cheng Yuan knelt there, still with his usual respectful demeanor: “Open the waterway pass, let Master Chu go south.”
Yan Xun was slightly taken aback, turned his head, looked at Cheng Yuan, and said: “What? Are you also pleading for her?”
“This servant is not pleading for Master Chu,” Cheng Yuan said calmly. “This servant is pleading for Your Majesty.”
He knocked his head deeply on the ground once and said in a low tone: “Your Majesty, give yourself a way out.”
Yan Xun’s heart suddenly seemed to be pierced, painfully.
“If Master Chu dies by Your Majesty’s hand, Your Majesty will never be happy in this life. You once said, that no matter what dream one has, one must first live. Only by living can there be hope for everything. If one dies, then it’s too late for anything.”
Yan Xun was silent for a long time. The wind blew at his clothes, so cold. He wasn’t wearing a heavy fur robe, standing on the high mountain peak, like an eagle spreading its wings, ready to fly.
“Cheng Yuan, why are you saying these things? Don’t you and Chu Qiao have some grievances?”
“This servant has no grievances with Master Chu. This servant’s previous offense against Master Chu was just an unintentional mistake. Later wanting to put her to death was just for self-preservation. Now Master Chu no longer threatens this servant, and this servant doesn’t want to see her die.”
“Most importantly,” Cheng Yuan raised his head, looking at Yan Xun with bright eyes, and said in a deep voice: “I don’t want Your Majesty’s heart to be restrained. In this world, only Your Majesty can help me achieve my wish, and only Your Majesty can make me truly follow and submit. My loyalty to Your Majesty will never change. Even if Your Majesty commits all evils and is abandoned by heaven and earth, I am willing to follow Your Majesty until my blood turns to ash. If Your Majesty wants to kill everyone in the world, I will be the first to raise my war blade. If Your Majesty wants to fill the Eastern Sea with corpses, I will be the first to cut off my head. Half my life, I’ve drifted, despised by people, only because I couldn’t find something truly worth my faith. Now, I have found it. Your Majesty’s hope is my faith, so I don’t want Your Majesty to live a life of regret.”
“Your Majesty, let her go.”
Yan Xun’s thoughts suddenly became so vast. In a brief moment, he recalled all the events of the past ten years, but they all converged into one scene: a small child crawling up from a pool of blood, looking at his younger self with eyes full of hatred. His heart ached slightly at that moment, then his finger gently shifted, along the child’s neck, brushing past. The strong wind blew at the child’s messy hair on the forehead, and from then on, he forever remembered those unyielding eyes.
Eventually…
Eventually…
He slowly closed his eyes, extracting himself from that memory word by word. All love was severed by him, painfully bleeding.
“Send a message to General Qiu, open the Southern Border water route, let them…”
“Your Majesty!”
A scream suddenly came from afar. A messenger stumbled up the stone steps, running and shouting: “Urgent report from the border! Urgent report from the border!”
Yan Xun and Cheng Yuan both turned their heads and saw the messenger in utter panic, falling to his knees with a thud, opening the letter and reporting loudly: “Deputy General Qi Shaoqian of the Tang Water Pass in the southern border reports: On September 16th, the Tang Water Pass in the southern border was attacked by unknown enemies. The enemy’s origin is unknown, suddenly appearing within Yan Bei’s borders, cutting off message communications, and consecutively capturing thirteen counties and prefectures. The Tang Water Pass commander, General Qiu, died in battle. All military officials above the rank of lieutenant general at Tang Water Pass, except for your humble servant, have died in battle. Troop casualties reached over thirty thousand. Yesterday afternoon, the Tang Water Pass was breached. We engaged the enemy in street fighting. This is your servant’s last messenger and last warhorse, hoping to break through and report the news to Your Majesty. Your humble servant will hold his post, even if he dies in battle, not to demean our Yan Bei military prestige. The fifty thousand soldiers of Tang Water Pass have failed Your Majesty’s trust, hereby kowtowing and weeping in apology.”
“What’s going on? Tang Water Pass was attacked on September 16th, why don’t we know anything about it?” Cheng Yuan stood up and angrily asked.
The messenger fearfully replied: “All officers and soldiers were trapped inside the pass. The enemy came fiercely, breaking through several surrounding counties and prefectures at once. We simply had no time to report.”
“Then the officials and people of other counties near the southwest would not be completely unaware. How could the battle report be delayed to this extent?”
The messenger carefully raised his eyes, secretly glanced at Yan Xun, and after a long time, said in a low voice: “The southwest area is the Shangshen Plateau! Not to mention that now nine out of ten houses are empty, all following Master Chu. Even among those who stayed, hearing that the enemies outside were coming to rescue Master Chu, they wouldn’t help hide it at the very least, no one came to report. The local officials were also captured and tied up by the common people.”
“What?” Cheng Yuan angrily said: “What are they trying to do? Rebel? What about the army? The soldiers? Are they all dead? Seeing their commanders bound by foolish commoners and doing nothing?”
“This, this, this servant heard that the local troops even secretly assisted the enemy in attacking Tang Water Pass, and provided detailed inside information and battle reports. Otherwise, a stronghold like Tang Water would not be easily breached.”
“This is outrageous!”
“How is it now?” A deep voice suddenly sounded. Cheng Yuan quickly turned his head, and saw Yan Xun expressionlessly saying slowly: “Tang Water Pass has been broken through, how is it now?”
The messenger was sweating profusely, kneeling on the ground, trembling as he said: “When this servant received the news, I heard that the Bian Tang navy somehow got the news and was already waiting outside Tang Water Pass. As soon as the gates opened, they abandoned their ships and came ashore, and are now heading towards Dragon Chant Pass.”
“Who is commanding the troops?”
“It’s, it’s the Great Emperor of Bian Tang.”
“How many people have come?”
“No less than two hundred thousand.”
Being so close, Yan Xun could even hear Cheng Yuan’s shocked gasp. His eyes narrowed slowly, regaining the majesty of an emperor as if the person gazing at the night sky on the mountaintop earlier was not him.
“Li Ce? Has he come personally?”
“Prepare the troops immediately. The First and Second Armies must assemble in full and follow me to Dragon Chant Pass!”
Three hours later, the army was rapidly organized at the foot of Huihui Mountain. Huihui is at the edge of Shangsheng, half a day’s journey from Tang Water Pass and not far from Dragon Chant Pass either. Yan Xun sat on his horse, wearing a black fur robe that billowed in the wind. Cheng Yuan followed beside him, asking softly: “Your Majesty, were the ones who attacked the pass on September 16th Bian Tang’s troops?”
“No.”
Yan Xun shook his head, his gaze profound, saying in a deep voice: “Bian Tang is far from Yan Bei. Even if Li Ce received the news on the day Chu Qiao and I had the conflict at Fire Thunder Plain, he couldn’t have reached Tang Water by the 16th. There must be another force that received the news promptly, secretly notified Bian Tang, and led the attack on Tang Water Pass first, to open the way for Bian Tang behind.”
Cheng Yuan frowned and said: “Who could it be? Great Xia? That’s impossible.”
“Who?” Yan Xun’s eyes were cold, slowly uttered: “Who could appear so easily within my Yan Bei borders?”
Cheng Yuan was shocked, exclaiming: “The King of Qinghai?”
“The King of Qinghai.” Yan Xun mouthed these three short words between his lips, saying lightly: “Finally going to meet.”
The morning star appeared, daylight dimly showing.
“Your Majesty!” A long reporting sound came from far away, a soldier galloping on horseback, shouting loudly: “Unknown enemy troops discovered ten miles ahead.”
“How many?”
“The enemy has blocked our forward path from south to north, stretching over ten miles. Thirteen infantry divisions, eight cavalry divisions, seventeen heavy armor troop formations, plus an unknown number of archers, axemen, and shield bearers, estimated at over one hundred fifty thousand.”
At once, everyone couldn’t help but exclaim in shock. Such a formidable force had appeared silently within Yan Bei’s borders. If they hadn’t encountered them today, what terrible consequences might have ensued?
Yan Xun, however, didn’t share their concerns. He knew the other party appeared here to block his army, to secure a retreat route for Li Ce. Vaguely, he seemed to have guessed the identity of the opponent. Despite reluctance and surprise, he still felt a hint of pleasure. Very well, an oversight for once, he had long calculated there would be this step today. If they were enemies, they should fight openly. His people, he could release, but he would not tolerate others coming to rescue!
The morning mist was hazy, slowly covering this pitch-black soil. Within a cloud of mist, the towering army quietly revealed itself, ferocious and spread out like a black ocean.
Yan Xun, in his black robe and fur coat, with a solemn expression, slowly rode forward from the army formation. From the opposing formation, a tall and handsome figure also broke through the ranks.
Despite being so far apart, he recognized the other’s identity immediately. In an instant, their gazes clashed in midair. Yan Xun smiled faintly, slightly raising his eyebrows, saying in a deep voice: “Long time no see.”