As soon as he left, she opened her eyes.

Her eyes remained moist, and it seemed as if her heart had cracked open, with countless joys, sorrows, and griefs related to him rushing out in that instant, filling her entire chest, making it impossible for her to breathe normally.

His footsteps, his presence—everything was so familiar.

Even without opening her eyes to look, she knew it was him.

She had planned everything so meticulously, thinking she would never need to see him again in this life, yet the unpredictability of fate had ultimately placed her back in his hands.

But things were no longer the same.

Now, she could not read his expression or fathom his thoughts, could not understand the imperial mind or fulfill her duty as a subject—there was only a boundless, baseless, cold fear.

She wasn’t afraid of death or hatred—she only feared that the world would become increasingly chaotic, that more and more common people would die, and that all her previous carefully laid plans would come to nothing.

If she didn’t die, there would always be remnant rebels from the previous dynasty using this as a reason to gather troops and rebel. But if she let him know all of this, how could he possibly let her die?

The name of the great traitor suited her perfectly. It would make him hate her, be angry with her for a lifetime, and never love her again. Even if she died, he wouldn’t grieve for her or feel sorrow for her.

Yue Linxi and others had their heads turned by the hope of national restoration, believing everything she said after just a few words. How could they have thought that as long as her identity as an imperial descendant remained unknown to the world, all the benefits gained from rebellion and war would be like empty cities on ruins, without any foundation?

Disrupting the rebel troops in Chao’an, withdrawing the forces from Linhui—all of this had been in her plan. Now, seeing how quickly the Great Peace imperial guards had attacked and entered Mingzhou, her heart was somewhat relieved.

As for Shuzhou, as long as she could end her own life before those people held an enthronement ceremony for her, no one could use her identity to stir up rebellion and restoration again. Without the imperial descendant as a legitimate pretext, how much longer could those rebel troops hold out?

She wanted the three characters “Meng Tinghui” to be nothing more than those of a traitor until death.

She didn’t need to worry about what happened after her death. What kind of resolute and clear-minded ruler was he? How could he not subdue the world? From then on, there would be no more remnant heirs from the previous dynasty to contend for his empire, and the people of the world could be spared from the ravages of years of war.

But who could have expected that he would find her!

Her previous plans were no longer worth mentioning, but what would happen next? If those in Shuzhou learned that she had fallen into the hands of the Great Peace imperial guards, they would surely send troops to rescue her. And once he knew about her identity, what would he do?

In the current situation, perhaps killing her would be the cleanest solution.

She turned over, looking up at the tent ceiling with open eyes.

The air seemed to retain his unique fragrance, scattered around her, making her lose herself in the scent.

She must still be deeply in love with him.

Otherwise, why would she no longer be willing to die after seeing him?

She didn’t sleep the entire night.

As soon as dawn broke, someone came to escort her to the central military office.

Naturally, she was going to see him.

As she left the tent, she saw troops coming and going on the camp roads, clearly amid a major troop deployment.

Remembering how he had said yesterday that he would escort her and Yue Linxi to Shuzhou, her heart became uneasy, truly not knowing what his intentions were.

Outside the central command tent were two junior officers who looked quite familiar—she had seen them before during cavalry drills at the palace. When they saw her approach, their expressions changed, and they quietly said “Lady Meng” before stepping aside.

This address of “Lady Meng” immediately stirred waves in her heart.

She was well aware of her current reputation in the court at the capital, but the fact that these imperial guard officers who had come north from the capital were still willing to address her as “Lady” truly moved her to the point of feeling somewhat bittersweet.

Her steps faltered slightly before she walked straight in.

The tent was quite messy, with the commander’s table piled high with military reports and memorials. Several ebony stools lay toppled on the ground, maps hung crookedly, and armor and spears were scattered to one side.

He stood alone amid this chaos, leaning on the commander’s table, searching for something.

She stood at the entrance, staring at his silhouette.

If it had been the past, she would have quickly gone forward to help him organize these things. Whether memorials or military reports, she would have arranged them all for him.

But now she no longer had the qualification to do these things for him.

She was no longer his subject, and he was no longer her emperor. She was a treasonous rebel he had captured, and he was the son of the enemy who had destroyed her country and family.

Even if he still had feelings for her in his heart, she could never love and stay with the son of the enemy who had killed her parents. For the sake of sparing the common people from the ravages of war, she could sacrifice and concede, but if she were asked to lie beneath him as before, to do everything for him, that would be impossible.

Moreover, how could he possibly forgive what she had done?

Surely he must hate her in his heart, perhaps even want to kill her.

After an unknown length of time, he finally straightened up and turned his head, catching sight of her. His eyes narrowed, and after a moment, he spoke: “Sit.”

She lowered her eyes, picked up a stool from the ground, gathered her long skirt, and sat down.

From beginning to end, she didn’t perform the courtesies of a subject, didn’t call him “Your Majesty,” didn’t refer to herself as “this subject,” and didn’t even gaze at him single-mindedly as she had in the past.

He watched her sit down, then sat down himself, his gaze fixed on her face as he called her softly: “Meng Tinghui.”

She raised her eyes to look at him.

There was neither smile nor hatred on her perfectly calm face, as if he was no longer the man she had deeply loved, and she was no longer the woman who had obeyed his every command.

Looking at this face that had kept him awake countless nights, he suddenly wanted to ask her how she could have left him so calmly and resolutely. He was her emperor, her man—how could she disregard his feelings so completely, acting arbitrarily and willfully, leaving herself no way out?

But in the end, he only coldly said: “Do you know that you deserve to die?”

She stared at him without making a sound.

He continued: “Deceiving the emperor, colluding with the enemy, betraying the country, conspiring with rebels—any one of these crimes would warrant your execution without pardon, yet I will not kill you.”

She calmly asked in return: “Why not?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Because I know you are an imperial descendant of the previous dynasty.”

A flash of surprise appeared in her eyes, but she slightly curved her lips and asked: “How did you find out?”

His expression showed a hint of indolence, as if her question was completely superfluous: “Naturally, Yue Linxi revealed it.”

She had planned to deny it, but hearing this, her face immediately stiffened, and then she laughed coldly: “As expected.”

He stared at her intently. “Why did you pretend to be a traitor communicating with North Jin? Why not directly reveal your imperial identity to the world?”

She replied without blinking: “It was to make the Great Peace court believe I was in North Jin, drawing the main forces of the Great Peace imperial guards to the northern border, allowing me to cause chaos here. Moreover, I was indeed in collusion with North Jin, so what difference does it make whether it was treasonous or not?”

There wasn’t a trace of surprise on his face, as if he had anticipated she would say this. He only said slowly: “But now that you have fallen into my hands, why not negotiate terms with me and see if they can compare with North Jin’s?”

Her expression changed. “The Great Peace imperial guards are currently unstoppable. Why don’t you just kill me instead of negotiating with me?”

He said: “My campaign this time is aimed at North Jin. Even if I kill you now, I would still need to divide my forces to eliminate the remaining rebels in the three northern routes, and it’s difficult to determine how long that would take. Furthermore, I don’t wish to continue military operations within the country. If you are willing to ally with me and order the hundred thousand rebel troops to turn around and join forces with the Great Peace imperial guards to attack North Jin, then the day of North Jin’s defeat will not be far off, and the people of the three northern routes can also be saved.”

Her heart raced, but she still maintained a cold demeanor, saying: “What I seek is territory and position. The direction of my ten thousand troops is the business of national restoration. How could I possibly help your Great Peace attack North Jin? Even if I agreed, how could these hundred thousand troops possibly consent?”

His gaze toward her gradually became sharp, his voice slightly deepening: “If successful, I will grant you all the territories of the former Zhongwan state, along with half of North Jin’s territory.”

She was greatly shocked, instantly breaking out in a fine sweat on her back. After a moment, she steadied herself and said softly: “I would never believe these words. How could you allow others to encroach on Great Peace’s empire? How could the ministers of the Great Peace court permit you to cede national territory to others?”

He calmly said: “The territories of Great Peace cannot be ceded. However, I can satisfy the desires and ambitions of you and these hundred thousand rebel troops.”

Her heart grew increasingly confused, not knowing what his intentions were. She frowned and asked: “What exactly do you mean?”

“Become my Empress.” He gazed at her steadily, his eyes as deep as a pool. “Then the territories of the former Zhongwan state and half of North Jin’s territory will be your fief, Meng Tinghui.”