It seemed as though no night had ever stretched on quite as long as this one.
And it seemed as though no wind, on any of the countless Sand Sacrifice nights of years past, had ever blown quite as fiercely as tonight’s.
It wasn’t strong enough to knock a person down, and yet it gave the eerie sense that it could sweep away all the sand, topple Mingsha Mountain, destroy Akbachu entirely — a feeling of world-ending devastation!
Even Jun Beiyue couldn’t help pulling his cloak tighter. Dawn, he guessed, was nearly here — Yingzi’s letter had said Ziqing was expected to arrive by the morning of the Sand Sacrifice.
Yingzi’s estimates had never once been wrong. Jun Beiyue’s heart was full of anticipation — even in the bitter cold, it felt as though a warm stove sat glowing in his chest.
Unfortunately, someone was about to disturb this peaceful warmth of his.
Aside from Jun Beichen, the only ones who knew where he was were the Shadow Guards — and yet the person who came was, of all people, Nanny Qin!
Unable to find Jun Beiyue, Nanny Qin had no choice but to seek out Jun Beichen instead!
Jun Beichen had no idea how important the bargaining chip in Nanny Qin’s hands truly was, but he understood that anything capable of making Jun Beiyue budge had to be something valuable.
After much deliberation, he brought Nanny Qin to see Jun Beiyue.
Clearly, this intrusion was most unwelcome to Jun Beiyue. His face turned cold and sharp, and he ignored Nanny Qin entirely, looking down disdainfully at Jun Beichen below the wall. “This had better be important!”
He had made everything perfectly clear — no interruptions allowed. No matter how significant the peace conference was, none of it mattered more than his Consort Yao.
Besides, Da Zhou was the victorious nation — if he didn’t show up, everyone, even the loftiest of sovereigns, would simply have to wait obediently. Who would dare start the proceedings without him?
“This old nanny wishes to see you — she says it’s an urgent matter.” Jun Beichen said tactfully, shifting all responsibility onto Nanny Qin.
“This prince does not accept private negotiations! Nanny Qin, whatever matter it is, however important, it can wait until tomorrow!” Jun Beiyue said coldly.
“They won’t recognize East Qin, they won’t let my Empress enter Akbachu! Jun Beiyue, if you order the withdrawal from the northern highlands right now and hand Bai Mengmeng over to my mistress, I will give you what you want immediately!”
It wasn’t that Nanny Qin couldn’t wait — it was that the Empress of East Qin couldn’t wait.
Without territory, what was there to speak of victory or defeat — that was simply annihilation. And once a nation had fallen, who would still recognize her as any kind of empress?
Even if the Emperor of West Jing allowed the Empress of East Qin to enter Akbachu, neither West Liang nor the Xiongnu were likely to acknowledge her status, or allow her to stand upon the Sand Sacrifice platform.
Nanny Qin had no choice but to come plead with Jun Beiyue.
As for this item — Jun Beiyue was, indeed, genuinely interested.
“At the very least, this prince must see the item first!” Jun Beiyue said, gesturing for Jun Beichen to leave. Though curious about what the item was, Jun Beichen didn’t dare press further, and simply shrugged and walked off.
Seeing Jun Beichen leave, Nanny Qin found herself inexplicably uneasy. It had to be said — spending too much time alone with this man was, without question, a stressful experience.
“The item is with my mistress, Prince Yao. Only if you order the withdrawal of troops, return East Qin’s northern highlands, and bring Bai Mengmeng along with this old servant, will you be able to see it.” Nanny Qin said, quite formally.
Yet, to her surprise, Jun Beiyue said nothing — he simply looked at her and smiled.
It was a smile neither quite cold nor quite warm — as if he were in a rather good mood, yet also faintly mocking.
Such a handsome smile — on the face of even the ugliest man, it would still bring joy to those who saw it. But on Jun Beiyue’s face, handsome as it was, the longer one looked at it, the more unsettling it became.
For a moment, Nanny Qin was utterly baffled, feeling that something about Jun Beiyue right now was strange — he seemed to be in an excellent mood, and yet, somehow, not quite.
Indeed, Jun Beiyue’s mood was quite good — the longer he waited, the better his spirits became.
But being in a good mood didn’t mean Nanny Qin had the right to be so presumptuous!
“Old woman, you’d best understand clearly — is it your mistress begging this prince right now, or this prince begging your mistress? If she wants to set foot in Akbachu, have her bring the item first!”
Hearing this, and seeing Jun Beiyue still smiling, Nanny Qin couldn’t help but shiver. Old as she was, and having seen countless people in her time, she still couldn’t fathom what this man in his early twenties was actually thinking.
She only felt that she had no standing whatsoever to negotiate terms with him!
Nanny Qin let out a long breath and said flatly, “Very well, Prince Yao, please wait a moment. This old servant will bring Her Majesty over right away! Only, might I ask that Prince Yao first have Bai Mengmeng…”
Nanny Qin paused, then decided to speak plainly. “Prince Yao, my mistress absolutely must see Bai Mengmeng…”
Before she could finish, Jun Beiyue cut her off. “Someone, bring Bai Mengmeng here!”
The Empress of East Qin wanting to see Bai Mengmeng — Jun Beiyue understood perfectly well. The war had been fought by his own hand; he knew full well that without that incident involving Bai Mengmeng, the Empress of East Qin would never have fallen so swiftly, so completely!
Hearing this, Nanny Qin left fully satisfied. By now, the eastern sky had begun to lighten, dawn creeping in.
Jun Beiyue gazed at the sky, the curve of his smile slowly widening. He wondered — the secret of the totem, and Bai Mengmeng, soon to be handed over — would these bring that woman a pleasant surprise?
Soon!
It wouldn’t be long now…
When full daylight broke, Jun Beichen personally brought Bai Mengmeng forward, her face completely covered by a black cloth. Beneath that cloth, her expression was dark and grim.
She had always known the Empress of East Qin would come to settle scores with her!
She just hadn’t expected it to come so late. She had thought, at the very least, Jun Beiyue would offer her some protection — she never imagined he would leave the choice entirely up to her.
Make her own choice, was it? What choice did she even have?
She could only choose the Empress of East Qin!
At least with the Empress, so long as she could survive, there was still hope — unlike being trapped in a military prison with absolutely no hope at all.
The Empress of East Qin was far easier to appease than Jun Beiyue!
Besides, she knew perfectly well that once the war ended, there was one more person who would come to settle scores with her — none other than Han Ziqing!
She wasn’t foolish enough to think choosing the Empress of East Qin was a good option — she simply had no other choice.
She would rather die at the Empress of East Qin’s hands than let Han Ziqing lay a single finger on her.
Bai Mengmeng knew Jun Beiyue was right there beside her, but she said nothing at all. She wanted so badly, so very badly, to hear his voice — but instead, the first voice she heard was that of the Empress of East Qin!
“Prince Yao, it’s been a long time!”
After Nanny Qin had lost Yelu Qianqian, the Empress of East Qin had in turn been abandoned by Minhan Mude’er. She had endured all this time, all for the sake of this very deal with Jun Beiyue.
If she could, she would have loved nothing more than to demand Jun Beiyue hand over the entirety of East Qin — but she knew full well exactly where this man’s limits lay.
“Where’s the item?” Jun Beiyue asked bluntly, not wanting Ziqing to arrive and find this rabble still hanging around.
“Where’s the girl?”
Though a fallen sovereign, the Empress of East Qin’s commanding presence hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
Bai Mengmeng was within the city wall, while the Empress of East Qin stood outside it, unable to see her. Jun Beiyue, seated high above, showed no intention of coming down — let alone standing up.
With a single glance from him, Jun Beichen brought the girl forward. The moment the black cloth was pulled away and Bai Mengmeng’s face revealed, the Empress of East Qin could barely contain her fury, immediately breaking into a torrent of curses. “Vile woman!”
“Vile, heartless creature — so you’ve finally fallen into my hands. Let me tell you now, I will absolutely make you pay for everything you’ve done!”
“Bai Mengmeng, all those years I raised you, all those years I cared for the Bai clan — and this is how you repay me? You are a criminal of East Qin, a traitor to your own nation!”
Bai Mengmeng let the Empress of East Qin curse on, keeping her head bowed, utterly silent.
But Jun Beiyue had no such patience — whatever she wanted to shout at the Empress of East Qin, she could go do it back home. He cut in coldly, “Where’s the item?”