No matter how difficult the road, they had always pushed through wind and rain without fail.
But now, it seemed, they had finally run out of road?
How could they not feel oppressed, not feel despair?
They had found every last secret, and to what end? Without Xuanyuan Lige, it had all been for nothing!
That night felt especially long.
Jun Beiyue sat leaning against the heated dais, his gaze never leaving Ziqing, while Ziqing remained frozen at the qin stand, not moving at all.
Jun Beiyue wasn’t a jealous man, nor one who liked to keep score, and certainly not someone who’d fail to see the bigger picture!
He could accept Ziqing and Xuanyuan Lige playing in perfect harmony together; he could just as well accept Ziqing’s grief over Xuanyuan Lige’s death!
It was only that… he couldn’t accept his own woman suffering this much.
Could she not be in so much pain?
This wasn’t like Han Ziqing at all!
Could she not just pull herself together—was she really this hopeless without Xuanyuan Lige?
Then what about him? What did he count for?
Finally, just as Jun Beiyue’s temper reached its limit, a message arrived.
“Master, there’s news of the Dream Clan!” Yingzi reported from the doorway.
For a long while, no response came from inside. He didn’t dare report again, nor did he dare leave.
After waiting a long, long time, Yingzi grew increasingly anxious, and timidly spoke again, “Master, the Dream Clan’s people are trapped in the Ancient Music Palace, not far from the Ancient Music Cave.”
At those words, Jun Beiyue finally reacted. A flash of something dark and sharp crossed his eyes, and he abruptly stood up.
At almost the same moment, Ziqing too rose to her feet, her face full of cold fury as she looked at him.
“Find that inside collaborator first!” Ziqing said coldly.
“What about ‘Parting Sorrow’? Aren’t you going to play it anymore?” Jun Beiyue asked, his tone clearly tinged with mockery—this time, he really was displeased.
“To hell with it!” Ziqing snapped coldly, and stormed out.
Yingzi, waiting just outside the door, was caught completely off guard, knocked flying by her sudden exit, nearly falling over.
Yingzi looked utterly bewildered, only to see his master standing in the doorway, a faint, appreciative smile clearly playing at the corner of his handsome, cool lips.
What on earth was going on with these two?
“Master, where is Her Highness heading off to, in the middle of the night?” Yingzi asked timidly.
“Send word down—the entire southern border, full war preparations.”
Having given the order, Jun Beiyue went after Ziqing.
He knew—this woman had finally come to terms with it!
Even if they’d poured in so much thought, so much time, chasing the secret of “Parting Sorrow,” only for it all to come to nothing in the end—so what?
They had never been the type of people who could play but couldn’t lose!
Xuanyuan Lige was dead, and no one could play the blood zheng.
Then let “Parting Sorrow” die alongside Xuanyuan Lige!
Now that they’d resolved to go all in, there had actually always been a very direct way to find the secret of the lonely island—simply confront the Nanzhao royal family directly.
It was only that they’d always been trying to avoid that particular conflict.
With their current strength, though they had no guarantee of victory, they weren’t afraid either!
Just moments ago, Ziqing had been shocked that he wanted to go to war. Now, she had that same resolve, that same willingness to let go of “Parting Sorrow.”
Even if it cost him his life, Jun Beiyue was happy to stand by her side through it!
He looked forward to seeing the expression on the Nanzhao king’s face once he learned the truth—once he learned there was an inside collaborator with Xuanyuan Lige within his own kingdom!
A nation so complacent, so arrogantly blind to the world beyond its borders—Jun Beiyue had long wanted to kick that door wide open!
Soon, Jun Beiyue caught up to Ziqing, and with great possessiveness pulled her from behind into his arms, holding her tightly. “This king just loves this reckless, all-or-nothing side of you.”
“You were angry just now,” Ziqing said—not a question, but a statement of fact.
Having been with this man for so long, all it took was one raised eyebrow for her to know exactly what he was thinking.
“Seeing you so upset just now made me deeply uncomfortable,” Jun Beiyue said bluntly, speaking his mind without hesitation.
“I really was upset,” Ziqing said, even more bluntly, and even as she felt the sudden tightening of his arm around her waist, she still spoke the plain truth. “No—to be precise, I was heartbroken.”
Jun Beiyue was so exasperated his teeth practically itched, yet there was truly nothing he could do about her.
This woman—would it kill her to tell a lie once in a while?
“Truly,” Ziqing said calmly.
And yet, the grip of Jun Beiyue’s arm around her waist didn’t tighten further at her continued honesty—if anything, it loosened.
Even when angry, there was nothing he could do about her. She had never been someone who could settle for less than what she wanted, never someone who could accept imperfection. And yet, of all people, he’d ended up with this woman—and as annoyed as he was, he’d simply come to accept it, just like that.
Jun Beiyue’s hand loosened, and Ziqing, in turn, turned and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his ear, saying softly, “Beiyue, I really am heartbroken, and I really am reluctant to let him go. But I never once loved him. If it had been the scholar who’d met this fate today instead of Xuanyuan Lige, I’d be just as heartbroken.”
Ziqing was so honest—even in her grief, if she truly had to be the one to kill Xuanyuan Lige, she wouldn’t have hesitated, wouldn’t have so much as blinked.
A woman like this was, in truth, cruel—not cruel to others, but cruel to herself.
At those words from Ziqing, everything welling up in Jun Beiyue’s heart—joy, tenderness, satisfaction, and yet a greedy sense that what he had still wasn’t enough—all rushed together at once.
His arms suddenly tightened around Ziqing, and he buried his face in her neck, biting down hard!
He had no idea what to do with her, so he could only, quite literally, sink his teeth into her.
It hurt—Ziqing tilted her head back at the sting of it—but a faint, faint smile still curved at the corner of her lips.
Xuanyuan Lige, even hating you, even resenting you, I will still miss you—forever and always.
All of this traced back to the Nanzhao royal family.
Whether it was the disaster of the lonely island, or all the turmoil stirred up over a single piece of music, everything, in the end, traced back to the Nanzhao royal family’s cruelty all those years ago!
Since “Parting Sorrow” could never be played, then let the Nanzhao royal family give them an answer, pay a price for it!
Ziqing and Jun Beiyue headed toward the Situ estate. With their current capabilities, they easily slipped past the border guards and crossed into Nanzhao’s territory!
They made their way toward the Ancient Music Palace, hand in hand, leaping over ridges and crossing mountains.
“Jun Beiyue, this battle could very well end in mutual destruction for both sides. Would you regret it?” Ziqing asked seriously.
“Are you about to call yourself a scourge upon men again?” Jun Beiyue asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It does seem like every war starts because of me,” Ziqing said with a smile.
“A woman is nothing more than a pretext. This king has wanted to swallow up Nanzhao for a long time now—I’ve never fought a battle without confidence in the outcome, but this time, let’s just see how it goes,” Jun Beiyue said, utterly at ease.
Besides, there was nothing left worth salvaging in Nanzhao for them anyway—so what if things came to a head?
“It’s an honor to be your pretext!” Ziqing said, perfectly serious.
The couple’s figures soon vanished into the mountain forest, while back at the southern border’s detached palace, Xiong Xiaobao and the others were only informed at first light that Jun Beiyue and Ziqing had already left—and every one of them was too angry to eat.
Xiong Xiaobao crossed his arms, pouting. “No fun, no fun at all! Finally free to stop hiding the Qiankun Poison Pouch, and they didn’t even take me along!”
…