Taohua fell silent, lying stiffly in his arms like a rigid doll.
A hint of amusement flashed in Shen Zaiye’s eyes as he set her down and brought her before Mu Wuxia.
“Your Majesty,” the Great Wei envoy bowed and presented the treaty. “Zhao has agreed to our terms.”
“Very good,” Mu Wuxia, sitting astride his horse, turned to address those behind him seriously. “Do any of you ministers have any opinions?”
With the treaty signed, what opinions could they have? The assembled generals chose to remain silent. They had initially thought conquering Zhao would be easy, but after half a month of fierce battles, they realized that taking this place would cost Great Wei significant manpower and resources – a pyrrhic victory at best.
Now that Wu had been fully incorporated into Great Wei, they had already achieved their goal. As for this small Zhao kingdom… what harm was there in letting it recuperate for a few years?
What they didn’t know was that Zhao had been so difficult to conquer because Shen Zaiye had confidants in the vanguard, keeping Zhao informed of their strategies and deployments.
Of course, this was a secret between Shen Zaiye and Jiang Chang Jie, unknown to others. Great Wei’s generals had a sense of superiority, believing that taking a small country like Zhao would be effortless. So they insisted on fighting, and forcibly stopping them would only cause controversy. Shen Zaiye simply let them attack the city.
Afterward, they would understand the situation for themselves.
The emperor and prime minister of Great Wei exchanged a glance, both nodding slightly. Shen Zaiye helped Jiang Taohua onto the horse, leisurely preparing to return and break camp.
They weren’t being partial; they genuinely believed that leaving Zhao alone for a few more years wasn’t a bad thing. After all, in unstable times, without external threats, internal problems were bound to arise… Well, these were all excuses. The real reason was that time was running short, and continuing the fight was pointless. Shen Zaiye truly didn’t want the person in his arms to hate him.
His heart was heaviest for his country and the world, but when the only person by his side was about to be gone, what meaning did a vast empire have?
“Are we going back to Great Wei?” Taohua asked him.
Shen Zaiye hugged her, his voice suddenly softening. “We can go wherever you want.”
Huh? Taohua looked at him oddly and said, “I want to go to the Moon Palace.”
Shen Zaiye: “…”
Here he was, speaking tender words of love, and she couldn’t play along? How were they supposed to go to the Moon Palace? Throw her up there?
He snorted softly and embraced her from behind, his large hand resting on her slightly protruding belly. A flash of pain crossed his eyes but disappeared in an instant.
“Breaking camp will take some time,” he said. “You can use this opportunity to say proper goodbyes to your master and Chang Jie, then come with me.”
“Didn’t you say we could go anywhere?” Taohua blinked. “Then why can’t we stay in Zhao?”
Frowning slightly, Shen Zaiye asked, “Do you want to continue staying here to help your royal brother govern the country, preventing him from learning anything?”
Laughing dryly, Taohua said, “This concubine doesn’t have such great abilities…”
“Give yourself a break,” Shen Zaiye looked at her deeply. “Live your own life well, whether it’s traveling and sightseeing or eating, drinking, and having fun. Make yourself happy.”
“…” Hearing these words, she realized her life might truly not be long. Taohua lowered her eyes and smiled lightly, “Alright.”
On the day of departure, Jiang Chang Jie personally came out of the city to see them off. Taohua, sitting on the carriage shaft, looked around and asked, “Where’s Master?”
“Master said he doesn’t need to say goodbye to you,” Chang Jie replied. “He said if he wants to see you, he’ll go anytime, so you don’t need to worry about him.”
These words sounded familiar to her. Taohua smiled, “He’s always like this. He didn’t come when I got married either. Never mind, we’ll meet again someday.”
Jiang Chang Jie nodded, watching her enter the carriage, then looked at Shen Zaiye beside him.
“Have a safe journey.”
Shen Zaiye nodded, about to get into the carriage when he heard a soft call: “Brother-in-law.”
Pausing briefly, Shen Zaiye smiled, turned back to bow to him, then entered the carriage.
Taohua lifted the carriage curtain to look outside. The Great Wei procession was long, stretching from Zhao’s suburbs to the city gate. In the distance, among many large trees, stood a figure in red robes with silver hair.
He said he wouldn’t see her off but wasn’t he there after all? Taohua smiled and waved at that silhouette, then retreated into the carriage, waiting patiently for the journey to begin.
Qian Baimei quietly watched the long procession set off, his silver hair flying, obscuring his face. Whatever expression lay beneath that silver hair, no one could see clearly.
Everyone has their place to go. She chose to return to Shen Zaiye’s side, and he should continue to Changbai Mountain to search for medicine. If fate allows, they might meet again in this life.
He was quite a selfish person. If possible, he would have liked to keep her by his side for this last journey, accompanying her to the end. However… that little one had fallen for Shen Zaiye. Forcing her to stay would be meaningless.
When he used to teach her the art of charm, he often said that the first level makes people remember you, the second level makes them fall for you, and the highest level can make someone serve you for a lifetime. The little one was amazed at the time, always asking how to reach the highest level.
He couldn’t teach her because the highest level couldn’t be achieved through soul-capturing techniques. It required making that person fall in love with you; then they would serve you for a lifetime. She had achieved it, surpassing her master, while he probably wouldn’t reach that level in this lifetime.
The little one never had a place for him in her heart.
Shaking his sleeves, Qian Baimei gracefully rose into the air, disappearing into Zhao’s capital.
In the carriage, Taohua was silent for a while before becoming lively again. She looked at Shen Zaiye and asked, “Is Great Wei not going to attack Zhao anymore?”
“Mm,” Shen Zaiye nodded. “Not for at least five years.”
That’s good! Taohua smiled brightly, “Then can we go back and live like we used to?”
“You want to return to the Prime Minister’s mansion?” Shen Zaiye asked.
“Where else could we go?” Taohua said. “Isn’t that your home?”
“That’s just my residence,” Shen Zaiye glanced at her. “Besides, there are too many idle people there. I want Xu Yangui to go back and handle it.”
Raising an eyebrow slightly, Taohua finally asked, “Has Xu Yangui been cuckolding you all this time?”
Shen Zaiye gave her a cold sidelong glance. “Couldn’t you phrase that more tactfully?”
Jiang Taohua thought very seriously for a moment, then said, “Has Xu Yangui been sleeping with your concubines all this time?”
Shen Zaiye: “…”
“He and I each took what we needed,” he turned his head away. “Now that Wu has been taken, the people in the Prime Minister’s mansion are no longer useful. When we return, I’ll hand them all over to Xu Yangui to deal with.”
(End of Chapter)