The two stood in stalemate beside the steps.

Below the steps, Dan Shuang and Yang Yixiu, who had come running, happened to hear the last two exchanges.

Both were stunned.

After a moment, Yang Yixiu shook his head with a sigh, stepped back, and pulled the dazed Dan Shuang away.

He quietly asked Dan Shuang, “Your master… will agree, won’t she?”

Dan Shuang gazed at Tie Ci.

Against the light, no one could see Tie Ci’s expression clearly.

She thought, it really was an excellent proposal.

Dan Ye, who seemed rough-hearted, had become so perceptive after suffering hardships, striking directly at Her Highness’s heart.

Offering such vast territory with both hands, making the once-proud Western Rong, who needed to be won over with gold and silver, peaceful and obedient from now on—this was already Her Highness’s heart’s desire.

Not to mention that protecting those she cared about was also an unwavering persistence in Her Highness’s heart, one she would never forget until death.

And her circumstances were so difficult, mainly because she lacked sufficient strength.

If she agreed to Dan Ye, from then on she could advance to attack and retreat to defend, ending her days of facing sword winds and frost blades early. She could kill those who deserved killing, protect those she could protect. A smooth path through life lay right before her eyes.

Dan Shuang’s heart began pounding as she stared intently at Tie Ci.

The vast Western Rong royal palace, like her, was silent at this moment.

…

In the northeastern lands of Liaodong where snow fell year-round, the snow finally stopped on this day.

The golden bells under the eaves began tinkling, and the courtyard that had seemed empty just moments before suddenly filled with many people. Some carried medicinal soup, some hot water, others carried clean clothes and bathing beans, filing in procession onto the smooth, deep red corridor.

The door was pulled open, and the pale person inside raised his wrist, seemingly unable to bear the blinding glare of the accumulated snow outside.

That wrist was extremely thin, making even his sleeves appear quite empty. Within the sleeves, faint whip marks that hadn’t yet faded could be glimpsed on his skin.

And in the depths of his half-concealed cross-collar deep robe, white bandages could also be faintly seen.

The person outside bowed and said, “Eighteenth Prince.”

Murong Yi hummed in acknowledgment, and those people entered with bows. The first thing brought in was medicinal soup for bathing, emanating a strong herbal scent.

Murong Yi rose and walked barefoot across the floor coverings.

Every morning he would first bathe in medicinal soup—partly because he sweated heavily each night after his severe injuries and needed cleansing, and partly to accelerate his recovery. However, this medicinal soup was potent in nature. Each bathing session felt like being cut by ten thousand blades, as if enduring torture all over again.

The door to the adjoining room opened, and the medicinal water in the pool had already been prepared. Murong Yi stepped into the pool without hesitation, his snow-white deep robe floating on the pale yellow water surface.

The people serving by the poolside secretly watched him, seeing his expressionless face—only raising his eyebrows slightly the moment he entered the pool.

The peeking person had seen countless others scream and struggle in this medicinal water, being forcibly held down, but had never seen anyone so calm and composed, voluntarily bathing.

Murong Yi seemed to sense this and turned his gaze over. The peeking person felt as if stabbed by needles and immediately lowered his head.

No wonder this person could accomplish such great deeds—his perception was terrifyingly acute.

Murong Yi turned his gaze away and sat down in the pool as if no one else existed.

People stood all around—these were servants, but also guards. If he made one wrong move, these seemingly gentle people would immediately spring into action, drawing out various weapons.

Among them, there wasn’t a single Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Murong Yi had wondered more than once: had he been exposed?

But if he had truly been exposed, he couldn’t possibly still be alive.

In Father King’s mind, killing a few princes might be due to favoritism struggles or old grudges—though treasonous and unfilial, it wasn’t incomprehensible.

But if the Embroidered Uniform Guards were involved in scheming, that would be conspiracy directly opposing him, and Father King would eliminate them without hesitation.

So Father King harbored suspicions and no longer wanted to use the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

This wasn’t a good sign, so he needed to be even more careful now.

Perhaps Father King would even come to test him…

Suddenly there was the sound of water flowing behind him—someone had entered the water.

The medicinal soup was like cutting skin and flesh for the injured, but harmless for those without wounds.

A faint fragrance approached. He remained unmoved.

A pair of soft hands gently rested on his shoulders, and a woman’s gentle, melodious voice accompanied by sweet breath fell beside his ear: “Your Highness, may Ling’er serve you?”

Ling’er was a maid in this secret estate. A few days ago she had only shown gentle kindness, but today she had directly made physical contact.

Murong Yi said nothing, his body relaxing in the water.

The woman knelt in the water, gently massaging his shoulders. Her snow-white fingers had crystal-clear nails, and flowing water drops were like crystals.

A layer of pink gauze floated across the water surface, entangling with his white robe, slowly being pushed to the pool’s edge.

The woman’s massaging hands gradually moved forward, crossing over his neck and gently resting on his chest.

He reached out and caught the woman’s hand.

The woman seemed shy, laughing softly in his ear. Yet within her laughter was a sentence, whispered breathlessly: “Master, tonight at the third watch by the south wall.”

At the same time, a small soap ball rolled down, which Murong Yi caught smoothly.

Murong Yi frowned and turned to look at her.

The woman had already withdrawn her hand with a charming laugh, touching his hair while drawing out the hairpin from his head, chattering: “Let me comb your hair…”

Before she could finish speaking.

Murong Yi suddenly raised his hand, gripping the fingers that held the hairpin. With a soft crack, the woman screamed. Without even looking, Murong Yi swung his arm, and with a splash, the woman was thrown from the pool, sliding wetly across the floor.

Everyone standing by the pool stared at him in shock.

Murong Yi sat expressionlessly in the water, hands hanging down, saying flatly: “I hate people touching my head.”

Everyone showed understanding expressions.

Indeed, there had been someone before who accidentally touched his head while serving him medicine, and was also flung out the door by him, smashing into the snow and unable to get up for a long time.

This wasn’t strange—the head was such a vital area, how could anyone be allowed to approach it?

Since he was an assassination expert himself, naturally he wouldn’t give others any opportunity to assassinate him.

Murong Yi looked at the prone female form on the ground and pursed his lips in a whistle, saying with a grin: “Startled? Just follow the rules next time.”

The woman struggled to get up from the floor, kowtowed in thanks, and limped away.

Someone else came to scrub his back, never daring to approach his hair from start to finish. His black hair floated on the water surface like a blooming black lotus, and the servants avoided even his hair strands.

After the servants left, Murong Yi opened his eyes.

His hand had been underwater the entire time.

Tightly gripping that red rosewood flying bird hairpin.

…

Half an hour later, Murong Yi finished his bath and casually used the hairpin to tie his hair in a topknot as he stepped out of the pool.

His fingers caressed the smooth lines of the flying bird—every line had been carved by her.

How could it be touched by any random cat or dog?

His fingertip paused on the bird’s feathers, thinking of the person who carved the hairpin for the ten-thousandth time.

Are you well now? Have you encountered danger, faced wind and snow, climbed Western Rong’s palace that seems perched on clouds, and looking at those myriad lights spread like a fan, thought of me?

…

Evening brought snow to the estate again.

In the cold weather, people all stayed indoors by their fires. The estate showed no trace of humans or birds and beasts. The dim sky covered that expanse of jade trees and crystal branches, snow falling endlessly between heaven and earth, making the vast garden seem desolate and lonely.

After his injuries, Murong Yi extinguished his lights early, and the guards dozed in corners.

Tonight was particularly cold, with snow falling heavier and heavier, cold wind howling like weeping ghosts. Even those huddled by braziers lacked the courage to poke their heads outside.

The sliding door to Murong Yi’s room opened silently.

He closed the door behind him while two guards inside slept soundly with their backs to the door.

Someone was keeping watch in the corridor, currently wrapped in a thick cloak, sleeping like a hibernating bear.

Murong Yi walked silently past him.

The person stirred, seeming about to wake.

Murong Yi moved his sleeve, which was emitting a faint fragrance.

The cloaked person stopped moving.

Murong Yi calmly put on his boots in the corridor and walked into the snow.

The estate, usually heavily guarded, perhaps had relaxed vigilance after so many uneventful days. He made his way to the south wall of the estate.

There the snow was a foot deep, against one courtyard wall and a small garden. The garden was bare, very convenient to traverse with clear sight lines and no one around.

He went directly toward the wall.

In the distance, there seemed to be responding sounds of clapping.

In the darkness, a pair of eyes coldly watched his retreating figure. Seeing him walk toward the wall, killing intent flashed in those eyes.

Murong Yi reached the wall, looked up at it, and jumped onto the wall.

Someone in the darkness looked up, eyes flickering. Others hid behind, faces iron-gray, slowly raising their hands—

Murong Yi suddenly untied his pants.

“…”

All the silent waiting, uneasy probing, smug satisfaction at thinking they’d caught him red-handed… all suddenly froze in this moment.

Then.

A splashing sound.

Murong Yi perched high on the wall, facing the flying snow and cold wind, producing a long, high arc.

The stream flowed straight down three thousand feet.

Directly into the wide-open mouth of the unlucky fellow below the wall.

The weather was so cold that the urine froze into ice water as it fell, freezing those people’s expressions into blurs.

Murong Yi calmly retied his pants and jumped back inside the wall.

“…”

Deathly silence beneath the wall.

So this old master had gone out in the middle of the night, evaded guards, snuck into the garden, jumped onto the high wall… just to take a piss in the freezing cold??

Murong Yi got down from the wall, looked around, then suddenly swayed unsteadily toward the warm pavilion beside the garden.

The warm pavilion had no lights, but the door was ajar, with faint smoke from silver charcoal drifting out.

He entered openly, as if returning to his own room.

After entering and taking a few steps, he reached out to embrace someone while laughing: “Beauty, my little darling…” and groped all over, then stopped: “Eh, why so hard…”

He pursed his lips and leaned in to kiss: “…Eh, what’s this poking thing?”

An angry snort, and with a bang, he was knocked flying, landing on the ground coughing continuously.

With a scraping sound, light flared, revealing his father’s furious face behind the lamp.

Guards of various heights stood around the room, desperately lowering their heads, wanting to laugh but not daring to.

Murong Yi shielded his eyes from the light, looking across in surprise: “Eh, Father King, how are you here? Where’s the beauty? Didn’t the beauty arrange to meet me at the third watch by the south wall? How did it become you instead? No wonder it felt so hard…”

Prince Da’an sat cross-legged on the couch, his earlier anger gradually subsiding. His long, cold eyes under thick brows gazed at him: “Enough. Stop toying with this king.”

Murong Yi stopped laughing, crossed his legs, and sat on the ground lazily: “First you have to stop toying with me.”

Prince Da’an fell silent.

“Is testing people fun?” Murong Yi smiled faintly. “Next time, tell your pack of stupid advisors to arrange things more carefully. This really wastes my sleeping time.”

Prince Da’an remained silent, then after a long while stood and walked toward the exit.

“Since your injuries are mostly healed and you have the energy to toy with this king, prepare yourself and set out.”

…

“I’m waiting for you to come.”

“All of Western Rong’s glory will belong to you.”

“You will gain countless cavalry and vast lands, abundant mines and resources, and people loyal to you for life.”

Dan Ye’s voice whispered like an enchantment in her ear.

The light in his eyes was sincere and moving.

Tie Ci looked steadily at him, and over his shoulder, she saw the main hall high in the clouds and the throne carved with a golden eagle.

Eagle wings spread in the air, soaring toward heaven.

Her life seemed as if it could be like this eagle—with just a light lift, she would be free in the high heavens forever.

She suddenly began to laugh softly.

She placed one hand on Dan Ye’s shoulder.

Dan Shuang’s expression brightened with joy, Yang Yixiu raised his eyebrows in slight surprise.

Delight exploded in Dan Ye’s eyes.

Suddenly great force surged, irresistible. He flew backward violently, turning in mid-air, and when he landed, there was a bang beneath him—cold and hard, with patterns clear under his hands. He knew it was the flying eagle wing armrest of the throne.

He was already sitting on the royal seat.

Just like before, personally “sent” there by her hand.

Both sides of the steps immediately knelt and hailed the Great King.

He looked up, across the great hall, toward the silhouette by the railing ahead.

She had already turned around, her back to him, beckoning with her hand.

We reached an agreement long ago—what I should get, you must give me; what I don’t want, I won’t take even if you force it on me.

That one person’s position cannot be exchanged for all things in the world.

Not for land and imperial throne either.

She looked into the distance. The royal palace within had settled, but farther outside the palace, there was still faint continuous commotion.

Was Rong Pu still unable to subdue Zuo Siyan’s troops?

At this moment, the entire Antelope Street was packed with Zuo Siyan’s soldiers.

Namutu’s soldiers had charged to the palace to rescue Namutu, so Zuo Siyan’s soldiers had no opponents. They gathered bewildered on Antelope Street, waiting for their general’s next instructions.

Zuo Siyan was waiting for Rong Pu to give him the antidote when Rong Pu suddenly stepped forward and pushed over the screen in front of the bed.

The moment the screen toppled, Zuo Siyan screamed: “Don’t!”

But Rong Pu didn’t even blink.

The screen crashed down with a thunderous sound, exposing Zuo Siyan and his concubine to the respectfully waiting subordinates filling the courtyard.

All officers and soldiers: “…!!!”

Rong Pu’s calm voice broke the suffocating silence: “The general has contracted horse wind. I need to treat him, but require one more medicinal catalyst hidden in the royal palace that must be requested from the Great King. The general’s condition is critical and cannot wait for the delay of a round trip. Please help carry the general to the palace.”

Listening to this, Zuo Siyan suddenly howled: “Kill me!”

Did they want him carried out like this, paraded before all his subordinates and the royal city’s people for public humiliation?

He’d rather die!

He raised his hand to take a dagger to his throat, but Rong Pu wouldn’t let him die so easily. Dying by suicide in front of his subordinates wouldn’t achieve the effect of breaking military morale, but would instead incite the soldiers’ anger and hatred. Then none of them would be able to escape.

He raised his hand and efficiently dislocated Zuo Siyan’s and the concubine’s left and right shoulder joints, stuffed rags in both their mouths, and continued to explain politely to Zuo Siyan’s subordinates: “I’m afraid the general might do something rash. In any case, preserving life is most important, isn’t it?”

His subordinates could only nod reluctantly, then suggested: “This, that, we should still cover the general with bedding… it’s cold outside.”

Rong Pu smiled: “Naturally.”

Tian Wu brought bedding to cover them both, leaving only their heads exposed, and carried them out like this.

Zuo Siyan’s subordinates wanted to find a carriage, but somehow there wasn’t a single ox or horse cart nearby. They only found a simple ox cart without a canopy. Rong Pu urged again that too much time would endanger the general’s life.

But this was a case of trying to hide something that only made it more obvious. Carrying them out in this condition, passersby would understand what was happening at a glance. So the soldiers’ worldviews exploded, citizens whispered among themselves, children clapped and laughed raucously, idlers made jokes and followed along. Wherever they passed, windows opened in every household, pointing and discussing. Some innocent children loudly asked: “Mama, why are this uncle and this auntie stacked together?”

Adults would cover their mouths and pull them away: “Don’t ask nonsense, so embarrassing!”

The soldiers kept dispersing the onlooking citizens, but unfortunately the people’s peeking and snickering from behind doors was even more unbearable.

Zuo Siyan’s face changed from blue to red, finally turning to a deadly pale. With things having reached this point, after suffering such humiliation, he was destined to become a laughingstock. Whether he could still command troops in the future was unknown.

For a moment, he remembered someone once warning him that those addicted to women would sooner or later die because of a woman.

Now wasn’t he ruined by a woman?

He hated whoever had laid this trap for him, but even more, he hated this self-clever woman beneath him.

At this moment she was still whimpering and crying, hiding her face under his so people couldn’t see her.

After harming him so, she still wanted to preserve her own dignity?

He suddenly exerted force with his throat and tongue, spitting out the rag in his mouth forcefully.

Tian Wu was about to stuff it back in when Rong Pu suddenly stopped him.

The next instant, everyone saw General Zuo suddenly lower his head and bite down hard, then twist his head and tear.

An inhuman howl echoed through the long street.

Zuo Siyan’s mouth held a bloody piece of flesh, which he spat onto the street with a “ptui,” then watched soldiers’ boots trample it.

The concubine’s mouth corner had been torn raw, truly becoming a bloody maw.

Her screams sent children throughout the street fleeing in terror.

And Zuo Siyan with his mouth full of blood had eyes redder than the concubine’s blood. He grinned, and a child who saw this stared and fainted from fright.

All along the way, whenever Zuo Siyan became angry, he would lower his head and after a while spit out a piece of flesh.

With his teeth, he tore apart the person he had once treasured beneath him.

The watching people were both frightened and found it thrilling, with more and more crowding over.

That group of people, bustling and clamoring, gradually approached the base of the royal palace.

Atop the royal palace, the new Great King held a telescope, watching the commotion below.

He saw the person on the ox cart.

Saw him exposed in his disgrace before countless eyes.

Saw the woman beneath him being slowly tortured by teeth, no longer looking human.

Before his eyes flashed his mother queen hanging from the city wall to bleed.

Kusuli kneeling by the city wall with blood filling her mouth.

He slowly lowered the telescope and gazed toward the heavy night sky.

Mother Queen, Kusuli, do you see?

Those who once humiliated and killed you are now also being humiliated and killed.

They will die in even greater pain and humiliation, as the price for their past evil deeds.