The two totems, representing the yin and yang musical symbols, combined with the twelve notes beneath the Qinse Sea Valley to form a complete set of coded notes.
Though all the pieces had now been gathered, the order in which they were arranged, the meaning represented by each coded note, and the meaning of the complete sentence formed by combining them — all of it was extraordinarily complex.
Ever since learning of the code’s secret, Jun Beiyue had continuously sought out the most capable codebreakers in the realm, all of whom were now standing by at the Liuli Pavilion in Da Zhou.
Although the very last missing note still hadn’t been found, this didn’t affect the deciphering of the current set of coded notes.
Jun Beiyue entrusted the fourteen notes to his shadow guards to send back to Da Zhou, and set aside everything concerning the isolated island for now.
Like Ziqing, he had only one goal — to give Situ Haonan and Yelu Qianqian, this married couple, a reason to keep living on, strong and unbroken!
Wanyan Lie, Xuanyuan Lige — since you dared to do such a thing, you will pay for it in full!
That very day, Ziqing and the others left the fire mountain, traveling the entire way from the fire mountain through Yanhuo Mountain, and from there continued eastward without encountering a single soul.
The fire mountain’s eruption had likely been mistaken by unwitting commoners as the fury of the fire dragon once again, and everyone had fled.
They pressed eastward, heading straight for the northern desert!
Along the way, Jun Beiyue continuously received military dispatches. He and Ziqing both understood that, during their time in Xiliang, a great many things must have happened across the Three Realms.
They traveled east until they reached Xijing, where they finally stopped.
The civil unrest in Xijing was drawing to a close, and the Eighth Prince had already claimed the throne. Yet the sudden appearance of Jun Beiyue and his group nearly sent him tumbling off his seat.
“You… Qianqian, you…”
The Eighth Prince took a moment to collect himself. Throughout Xijing’s unrest, he had been on constant guard against Yelu Qianqian and Situ Haonan intervening, and had been searching everywhere for their whereabouts.
He’d assumed by now they wouldn’t come at all, never expecting that at this final critical juncture, they would actually show up — and together with Jun Beiyue and Han Ziqing, no less!
“Where is my father?”
Yelu Qianqian had shed no small amount of tears along the way, yet even through all that crying, she had remained strong, never fully collapsing — she still stood tall and unyielding.
She demanded coldly, her royal bearing every bit as commanding as the Eighth Prince’s own.
“Father… Father, he…” the Eighth Prince stammered, unable to get the words out.
To everyone’s surprise, Yelu Qianqian suddenly hurled the commander’s seal that Wanyan Lie had once surrendered to her onto the table, and shouted furiously, “This princess is taking control of Xijing. Hand it over now, or don’t blame this princess for being less than polite!”
In terms of power within the court, the Eighth Prince couldn’t hope to match Princess Qianqian — after all, this princess had grown up in the palace alongside the crown prince himself since childhood, while the Eighth Prince, had it not been for Yelu Chenyi’s departure, would never have had a chance to rise at all!
In terms of military strength, the commander’s seal in Yelu Qianqian’s hand alone was enough to command the full submission of all of Xijing’s forces! Years ago, it was her very own husband, Situ Haonan, who had led the nation’s combined forces to repel Wanyan Lie, creating the first flawless victory in the entire history of the Xijing-Xiliang war!
What could the Eighth Prince, a latecomer to power, possibly use to contend with Yelu Qianqian? Even in terms of bloodline, being born male counted for nothing against her far greater nobility!
“Slap!”
Yelu Qianqian brought her palm down hard on the desk, leaning forward and glaring furiously at the Eighth Prince, her gaze making his legs go weak. Never mind that this girl held enormous power within Xijing — even the man beside her, Jun Beiyue, and Han Ziqing, left the Eighth Prince with absolutely no room to refuse!
“Father… Father is in the Liuli Pavilion, in the imperial garden,” the Eighth Prince finally confessed. The aging Emperor of Xijing had, of course, been placed under house arrest.
Overjoyed, Yelu Qianqian’s eyes reddened at the rims, and she turned and left at once.
At this point, Situ Haonan, who had remained silent all along, stepped forward and personally seized the Eighth Prince by force.
Ever since leaving the fire mountain, Qianqian seemed to be deliberately avoiding him, staying close to Ziqing at all times. Several times he’d tried to approach her, and every time she’d pulled away.
He had no idea what to do. At this critical juncture, seeing Qianqian not fall apart, not sink into despair, but instead brim with fighting spirit — he felt relief, yet his heart ached all the same.
He couldn’t comfort her right now, couldn’t make promises — doing so at this moment would only reopen old wounds, would only cause another kind of harm.
All he could do was quietly stand by her side, waiting for her to heal, a little more each day, waiting for the day she’d be willing to face him.
The moment Situ Haonan and Yelu Qianqian returned and secured the Emperor of Xijing, the situation across the kingdom stabilized at once.
Jun Beiyue and Ziqing didn’t linger, rushing through the night toward the northern desert region.
Xuanyuan Lige hadn’t been wrong — Jun Beiyue had stationed no small number of troops in the northern desert region.
“Ten days at most, and this king will personally lead the reinforcements. Together we’ll strike Xiliang — this time, we accept no surrender!” Jun Beiyue said coldly.
Situ Haonan said nothing, his eyes still bloodshot, but far from defeated — resolute, unwavering. He reached out and bumped fists hard with Jun Beiyue.
Troops split into two paths, moving into action — beneath the seemingly calm surface of Longyuan, the most terrifying storm in its history was about to break loose!
It wasn’t just Xijing and Xiliang — the Three Realms, Xichu, and Dongqin were all facing crises of their own brewing dangers.
Xuanyuan Lige and Minhan Mudeer had already prepared everything, simply waiting for word from Wanyan Lie.
At that moment, the two of them sat in their tent, drinking together.
“Xuanyuan Lige, before we mobilize troops, will you be handing my aunt over to me?” This was still Minhan Mudeer’s foremost concern.
“Don’t worry, I’ve confirmed her location. I’ll go there myself in three days,” Xuanyuan Lige said flatly, his composure so calm and cold it barely seemed human.
“Heh, since you say so, I’ll take your word for it,” Minhan Mudeer said with a laugh.
Just then, Mi’er hurried in, kneeling beside Xuanyuan Lige, presenting a sealed letter with both hands.
Seeing the envelope, Minhan Mudeer wasn’t alarmed. “Xijing? Did something happen?”
Xuanyuan Lige opened it in silence, his brow arching slightly, though everything about it seemed to have already been anticipated.
“What is it?” Minhan Mudeer asked anxiously, leaning over to look, and immediately started. “Situ Haonan!”
It was a formal challenge from Situ Haonan!
“Jun Beiyue found them?” Minhan Mudeer said furiously, “Useless! Wanyan Lie is truly useless!”
Yet Xuanyuan Lige remained calm as ever, saying flatly, “Xiliang… will fall.”
Minhan Mudeer froze. “What do you mean?”
“If Xiliang doesn’t fall, how else are we to buy time for ourselves?” Xuanyuan Lige asked in return.
At these words, Minhan Mudeer suddenly understood — so this was it. Xuanyuan Lige hadn’t been colluding with Wanyan Lie at all — he’d been using him from the start, letting Wanyan Lie keep Jun Beiyue occupied, buying them time to enter Xichu!
Realizing this, Minhan Mudeer couldn’t help shivering. Everyone had said before that Dongqin colluding with the Xiongnu was like making a deal with a tiger — now, it seemed, he needed to be wary of this man as well!