Han Ziqing was ruthless, decisive, and sharp—but she, too, had had no other path open to her!
Given the Lord of Nangong City’s martial skill, without gunpowder, who could possibly have matched him? Was she simply supposed to let herself be assassinated without a fight?
As long as the Lord of Nangong City lived, she might win the war, but her own life would never be safe.
Ziqing’s difficulty lay in Situ Haonan; her ruthlessness lay in herself—in her heart, she truly looked down on that old man who couldn’t accept defeat.
Not only could he not accept losing, he also lacked the resolve a head of the family ought to have!
He was both Situ Haonan’s grandfather and Nangong Mei’s father. Faced with a conflict between the two, if he couldn’t bring himself to mediate, he should at the very least have remained neutral, staying out of it entirely.
But he hadn’t.
He had chosen to side with Nangong Mei, chosen to help track down Yelu Qianqian, chosen to conspire with the Xiongnu, and to set his sights on Akbachu through Xiliang!
If, at first, it had been about helping Nangong Mei pressure Situ Haonan into returning, then later, it had become about his own grudge against Jun Beiyue!
He couldn’t accept losing!
Such an enemy deserved no pity in death. Ziqing’s guilt, her difficulty, all stemmed from Situ Haonan—but she wasn’t one for words, nor one who enjoyed explaining herself.
All she had was that single line: “You die or I die, there’s no turning back.” She hoped Situ Haonan would understand, would forgive her—given how well she knew him, she believed he would see reason.
But unfortunately, Ziqing had no idea of Situ Haonan’s past in Mobei, had no idea just how deep the bond between Situ Haonan and the Lord of Nangong City truly ran.
Nor did she know that the Lord of Nangong City had chosen to help Nangong Mei because he wanted Situ Haonan to inherit the position of Lord of Situ City, wanted to groom him to become the leader of the martial world.
She had even assumed that once Situ Haonan learned the Lord of Nangong City had aided Xiliang and the Xiongnu, he would be furious, disappointed in him.
At this very moment, Ziqing was pressing forward toward the front lines with everything she had, her heart full of joy—happy for herself and Jun Beiyue, happy for Situ Haonan and Yelu Qianqian too.
She thought about how Situ Haonan and Yelu Qianqian, this pair of deserters, this pair of lovers who had eloped and betrayed their country, might now win forgiveness and respect through their own efforts in winning this war—what a thing to be proud of, she thought!
She had even wondered whether, after the peace conference, she and Jun Beiyue might be able to attend Situ Haonan and Qianqian’s wedding.
She had absolutely no idea just how much Situ Haonan hated her now, how much resentment he harbored.
General Dugu, on the other hand, understood it all too clearly.
Unfortunately, Situ Haonan, sunk in grief and unable to pull himself free, didn’t understand—and didn’t want to understand.
The brotherly bond between him and Jun Beiyue was strong enough that he could set aside even that girl Yelu Qianqian for its sake—but the Lord of Nangong City was his one untouchable line, the one thing no one was allowed to cross.
He had always been easygoing about most things. But this time… he didn’t want to be easygoing anymore.
He looked coldly at General Dugu, snatched the two sealed letters from his hands, and flung them upward violently. Dozens of pages scattered into the air, tearing apart, drifting down like snowflakes. Standing amid that falling storm of paper, he bowed his head and fell silent!
Seeing this, a glint of malice flickered in General Dugu’s eyes, and he hurried to persuade him further. “Haonan, this… Princess Consort Yao really didn’t need to kill him. Whatever you say… sigh, this is something she should have told you first. For her to act first and report later like this—it doesn’t exactly show you much respect!”
Situ Haonan said nothing. General Dugu pressed on. “Princess Consort Yao has such a formidable weapon at her disposal—she could easily have avoided Nangong City entirely. Nangong City posed no threat to her at all. Sigh… why couldn’t she have…”
“Enough!” Situ Haonan suddenly snapped coldly. Without warning he spun around and seized General Dugu by the throat, saying icily, “Everything proceeds as planned. This war—I will win it.”
“Of course, of course!” General Dugu nodded rapidly.
“After the war…” Situ Haonan trailed off. General Dugu timidly reminded him, “Haonan, that woman… she’s truly not someone easy to deal with.”
Situ Haonan said nothing, a cold smile curving at his lips, and he turned and walked away.
No matter how formidable a person is, everyone has a fatal weak point. Jun Beiyue had one. So did Han Ziqing.
General Dugu didn’t know what Situ Haonan was actually planning, but from the despair in his eyes, it was clear he was in tremendous pain.
For a man to turn against his own sworn brother—that alone was enough to be devastating. But having the person closest to your heart killed by your own friend—that was something even more cruel.
Watching Situ Haonan’s retreating figure, a flicker of reluctance passed through General Dugu’s eyes. But on second thought, he decided—let Situ Haonan hold onto his hatred.
No matter who had killed the person closest to his heart, he would never care about the reasons, the justifications behind it.
Because, in his own heart, whatever the person closest to him did could always be forgiven, could never be a capital offense.
With that thought, General Dugu made up his mind and hurried back to draft a sealed letter, reporting everything to the Emperor of Xijing.
Circumstances had changed—surely, at the peace conference, Xijing could now fight for a great deal more.
Situ Haonan had no idea where he was headed or what he meant to do. In truth, beneath the fury, what filled his heart most was despair.
He had spoken so absolutely, and yet even he had no idea what he might actually do once the war ended.
At last, he walked out beyond the camp. With a heavy thud, he dropped to his knees facing northeast, and the tears he’d been holding back finally slid slowly down his face. “Grandfather…”
Grandfather…
Yes. That was exactly the place that old man held in his heart.
The night deepened, the cold wind howled, swallowing every other sound of the night. Inside Ziqing’s tent, all was silent.
Whether it was the northern frontier or Xijing, everything was under control. She should have been able to rest easy—two more days’ journey after tonight, and she would reach the front lines.
Wanyan Lie had already retreated to Longxi City on the Xijing border, and west of Longxi City lay the Xiliang frontier. What Ziqing had to do now was push outward from within Xiliang territory, while Situ Haonan struck in from outside Longxi City—caught between them, Wanyan Lie would be trapped and starved out if nothing else, forced to surrender.
The moment Wanyan Lie surrendered, every battle large and small on the western front would come to an end, and the entire stalemate would conclude with the generals of Xiliang laying down their arms.
When Ziqing wasn’t resting, there was usually a map spread out in front of her—but tonight, on her desk sat several small pills instead.
On the smooth, black lacquered tabletop lay some ten-odd pills, resting in silence. Ziqing leaned over the desk, her head tilted, resting on one arm, counting them one by one.
At this moment, if someone who didn’t know her had seen this scene, they surely would have assumed she was some innocent little girl, some delicate young woman—never in a thousand years would they have guessed this was Da Zhou’s Princess Consort Yao, the unstoppable Han Ziqing who commanded the battlefield.
Women always had two sides to them!
Even the most formidable woman had two sides—not strength and fragility, but maturity and innocence.
And that particular innocence, that particular sweetness unique to a woman, was meant to be saved for the man who loved her most.
She kept counting silently, over and over again, and slowly a warm smile curved at the corners of her lips.
She thought, once all of this was over, everything would be fine. This past year, ever since that New Year’s Eve when Yanzi had taken her captive, had been so exhausting.
Tomorrow would be New Year’s Eve again—another year gone. She wondered whether, on the northern frontier, Jun Beiyue might already be setting out…
She had no idea that, at this very moment, Jun Beiyue was nearly driven mad with worry.