In the darkness, Mu Wanyao’s breath intertwined with Yan Shang’s as she traced the jade pendant with her fingertips, her heart filled with both clarity and bittersweetness.

The first time Yan Shang courted her, he had shown her this jade pendant. He said it was their family’s love token, passed down through generations. At that time, she had tried to avoid it at all costs, afraid he would insist on choosing her, insist on giving her the jade pendant.

But that was the only time Yan Shang ever showed her the jade pendant. Later, no matter how many times Mu Wanyao regretted it, Yan Shang never brought out the pendant again. After marriage, Mu Wanyao had struggled with why he hadn’t given her the jade pendant.

Wasn’t it supposed to be a love token? Wasn’t it a family heirloom? Why didn’t he give it to her?

But later Mu Wanyao thought, perhaps it was because she and Yan Shang couldn’t have children, so giving such a pendant to them would be wasteful. Since the pendant couldn’t be passed down through them, maybe Yan Shang had returned it to his father, and Father Yan had given it to the eldest son or third son.

She hadn’t expected the pendant to still be here.

Mu Wanyao lowered her head and asked softly, “Why didn’t you return the pendant?”

Perhaps they shouldn’t discuss such romantic matters during this tense battle, but since they couldn’t move anyway, and worrying about other things wouldn’t help, they might as well clear up this question.

Yan Shang smiled gently and said softly, “If I returned it, you would be heartbroken. Don’t you want to wear something from our family?”

Mu Wanyao: “Who cares about your family’s things.”

Yan Shang just smiled without speaking. But perhaps he was in too much pain to speak, only the pain had numbed, his head was spinning, his spirit growing weary, and his physical condition might be very bad.

During Yan Shang’s torment, he noticed Mu Wanyao reaching to hold his hand. He was stunned for a moment, hearing her mumble, “Are you trying to stay alert by talking, to keep yourself conscious?”

Yan Shang was quiet for a moment, instinctively wanting to deny it.

Mu Wanyao looked up at his face: “Don’t hide it from me. Have you forgotten what I said? Be more at ease in front of me, don’t be so tired. Don’t bear everything alone — Second Brother Yan, you have a wife, you have a spouse, you have a companion. Let me share the burden with you.”

Yan Shang was deeply moved.

After a long while, he smiled hoarsely: “Alright.”

In the darkness, unable to move, Mu Wanyao struggled to reach out and embrace him. She tried several times but couldn’t slip her hand between his back and the rock. But she felt sticky blood, incredibly thick.

Yan Shang probably didn’t know himself, having lost his sense of pain, he didn’t know how much blood he had lost. But just feeling the blood on the hem of his clothes made Mu Wanyao’s heart race with panic.

Could anyone survive losing so much blood?

But she was good at forcing herself to maintain composure.

No matter how terrified and pained her heart was, Mu Wanyao’s upturned face still carried a hint of a smile: “Speaking of which, your family is from such a remote place, how do you have something like a family jade pendant?”

Yan Shang said bashfully: “I wonder about that too. But it seems it was passed down from my mother’s family. I don’t know… I was curious when I was young, but my father and mother didn’t seem to want to say much about it.”

Mu Wanyao gave a small laugh.

Suddenly she gripped the jade pendant tightly in her hand.

In the darkness that magnified one’s senses, just a bit of light shone through the cracks, and Mu Wanyao’s heart suddenly jumped, suspecting that Fang Tong had already dug into this location, and they would soon be rescued.

But afraid of false hope, Mu Wanyao stared wide-eyed at the light coming through the cracks, without immediately telling Yan Shang.

She clutched tightly at the hem of his clothes, forcefully gripping the cloud pattern on his hem to maintain her composure.

Mu Wanyao: “We’re so tired.”

Yan Shang: “Don’t be afraid.”

Mu Wanyao sighed softly: “Do you have any wishes?”

Yan Shang was quiet for a moment, then said: “I do.”

Mu Wanyao was suddenly surprised, because from her understanding of Yan Shang, he was an extremely practical person. He had no flowery thoughts, no transcendent ideas, and no grandiose expectations for the future.

He always followed his plans step by step, not thinking about unrealistic things. Such a person usually doesn’t have wishes.

Mu Wanyao muttered: “It’s not something like hoping for peace throughout the land, the common people’s wellbeing, and returning to prosperous times, is it?”

Yan Shang laughed once, quite bashfully.

He said: “No, it’s my wish. I want to be robust, like my elder brother, like Yang San. I want to be especially good at martial arts, able to easily break gold and jade, leap across rooftops and walls, travel a thousand li to kill someone without breaking a sweat.”

Mu Wanyao found this strange.

She wasn’t even paying attention to that bit of light coming in anymore, she was more concerned about Yan Shang’s strange thoughts. Mu Wanyao: “Why would you have such a wish?”

Yan Shang said softly: “That way, we wouldn’t be trapped here, unable to move. If Third Brother were here, you wouldn’t be in this situation. Maybe when the rocks first fell, if I knew martial arts, I could have escaped with you.

“But in reality, I’m too weak.”

Mu Wanyao was lost in thought.

Bitterness welled up in her heart, joy, and sorrow mixing. She struggled to raise her hand, caressing his face in the darkness. She laboriously moved closer to him, nestling against him, wanting to hold him tightly.

Mu Wanyao said affectionately: “Don’t think like that. The reason I love you is because you are who you are now. I don’t want you to become someone else, don’t want you to be accomplished in both civil and martial arts, to be so talented. I like you as you are now, like your face, like your smile; like your waist, like your height.

“What I like is Yan Shang, not someone else. So stop thinking nonsense, you’re the best just as you are now, you don’t know how much I like you.”

Yan Shang’s face immediately grew hot, and he couldn’t speak.

Married for half a year, it was indeed different from being lovers. Marriage was a kind of matter-of-fact attitude that didn’t lead to constantly saying sweet nothings.

Yan Shang had thought he didn’t like hearing them, didn’t care to hear them. But when Mu Wanyao spoke to him like this, he still blushed, still secretly rejoiced.

Mu Wanyao smiled, she didn’t need to see him, just feeling the temperature of his face, she knew he must be both happy and secretly holding back, savoring it in his heart.

He was always like this.

Mu Wanyao teased him: “Actually, I have a wish too, do you know what it is?”

Yan Shang’s face was hot, his wife was someone who loved to mess with him and tease him. He guessed her wish had something to do with him, but he was too embarrassed to actively acknowledge it.

Yan Shang just said softly: “I don’t know.”

Mu Wanyao said very seriously: “I think we’re both too tired. After we get out, after all this is over, we should take a good rest. Find a place where no one will disturb us, and don’t let anyone disturb us for seven days and seven nights. What do you say?”

Yan Shang thought there was nothing wrong with that. Didn’t it just mean she wanted to be alone with him?

He said tenderly: “Alright.”

Mu Wanyao burst into laughter.

She said: “You don’t even know what it means, yet you dare to carelessly say ‘alright.'”

Yan Shang was confused.

Mu Wanyao: “It means wanting to sleep with brother undisturbed.”

Yan Shang: “…”

Mu Wanyao heard him not speaking and knew this time he truly understood. She leaned against his neck, biting her lip to suppress her laughter.

Yan Shang felt he was being laughed at, so he said: “Everything’s fine, why bring this up?”

The matter with the Prince of Qin wasn’t over yet.

What was she doing?

Yan Shang said softly: “I can’t.”

Mu Wanyao very seriously: “You can. Sister will teach you then.”

Yan Shang laughed: “You’re not my sister.”

The two of them nestled together like this, saying many intimate things. Words they hadn’t had time to say during months of separation seemed to find their chance for release now.

After who knows how long passed, Mu Wanyao quietly said to Yan Shang: “Brother, I have something to confess to you.”

Yan Shang’s thoughts were already somewhat muddled, but he forced himself to listen to her: “What?”

Mu Wanyao: “Do you remember that day when we first got together, when I brought the water lily to find you? That was our token of love.”

Yan Shang made a sound of agreement: “I remember. Isn’t that water lily being kept in our bedchamber? I see you tend to it daily, and this year while I wasn’t home, I imagine the flowers must have bloomed beautifully?”

Mu Wanyao said: “That was a lie.”

Yan Shang paused for a moment, saying: “What do you mean?”

Mu Wanyao’s eyes lowered slightly, seeing the light from behind Yan Shang’s shoulder grow stronger and stronger. She stared intently at that spot while speaking casually: “Our token of love, that pot of water lilies, died long ago.

“You weren’t in Chang’an for three years, I never went to your courtyard, that pot of water lilies died under our care long ago. In other words, our token of love has been gone for a long time.”

Yan Shang: “…”

Mu Wanyao: “But I was afraid this was inauspicious, making people think you and I couldn’t last long. So before the wedding, I replaced the water lily with a new one.”

She gripped Yan Shang’s hand tightly, she could already hear the urgent voices of the guards outside.

Mu Wanyao: “I didn’t dare let you know. But it doesn’t matter now, you’ve already given me the jade pendant, showing you’ve chosen me… that fake token of love doesn’t matter anymore, I’ll throw away the water lily when we get back.”

Yan Shang said: “I know.”

Mu Wanyao was suddenly stunned.

Her gaze fell on his face. Her eyes contracted slightly, because with the light shining through the cracks in the rocks, she could now see Yan Shang’s face. She saw his forehead covered in cold sweat, his lips pale, drained of color. His face had a greenish tinge, a deathly air, where was the former jade-like gentleness?

But his voice was still very calm, if she hadn’t been able to see his complexion, just hearing his voice, she would never have guessed how bad his condition was.

Yan Shang smiled warmly: “I knew that Water Lily was fake. A flower I tended for a year, a flower I feared daily would die, a flower I had to check three times every day, how could I not recognize that what you showed me later was fake?

“But what does it matter if the flower is fake, I know Yaoyao especially wanted to keep me, that’s why you used a fake flower to comfort me. You hoped the flower wouldn’t die, that people would last long. How could I not understand?

“Keep the water lily. But our feelings don’t need to be entrusted to a pot of flowers.”

His dark eyes gazed at her, his vision already starting to blur, and he said gently: “Yaoyao, I love you.”

He said word by word: “You must believe, no matter what happens, I will always love you.”

Light gathered in Mu Wanyao’s eyes, she held back her emotions, she trembled slightly because as more and more light shone in, she could now see this man kneeling before her, shielding her, half his body as if soaked in blood.

How could someone lose so much blood?

Mu Wanyao’s face suddenly tensed, her expression twisted. She gripped the jade pendant tightly, her nails almost digging in, barely controlling her emotions: “I believe you.”

Yan Shang’s shoulders drooped slightly, he said: “I… I…”

Mu Wanyao, as if understanding: “Are you a bit sleepy? Second Brother Yan, close your eyes and rest for a while, what comes next… leave it to me!”

Yan Shang’s blurring gaze focused slightly: “No…”

Mu Wanyao: “Trust me.”

He paused for a long while before muttering vaguely: “I’ll just rest for a moment, remember to call me when we get out.”

Actually, a large hole had already been broken open behind him, and Fang Tong and other guards’ faces had appeared. Fang Tong excitedly shouted inside, telling the princess not to worry, they would rescue them very soon.

Mu Wanyao held Yan Shang expressionlessly, light spilling in through the large hole behind them. Yan Shang leaned against Mu Wanyao’s shoulder, closing his eyes, his long eyelashes lightly brushing against her dust-covered cheeks.

His eyelashes wiped away a drop of mist clinging to her lashes.

She wasn’t crying!

Yan Shang couldn’t see, and she wouldn’t cry for anyone to see!

Mu Wanyao stared at the guards coming to rescue them, her heart filled with hatred for the Prince of Qin and hatred for the Emperor—this throne belonged neither to Yan Shang nor to her. Yet it was they who labored for them.

This hateful empire!

These detestable mountains and rivers of Great Wei!

Why did Yan Shang have to be injured?

Fang Tong and others were outside rescuing the Princess and Prince Consort, seeing them buried here, they were about to happily greet them when their eyes contracted, seeing the large bloodstain on the Prince Consort’s back had soaked through his robes.

The Prince Consort lay barely breathing against the Princess’s shoulder, his profile white to the point of being nearly translucent.

Mu Wanyao reached out her hand, her voice cold: “Why haven’t you gotten us out yet!”

She asked: “Has the Prince of Qin been captured? Capture him alive! I have scores to settle with him!”

The guards helped the Princess, carefully carrying Yan Shang out. While Mu Wanyao listened to them report the situation outside, she had people take Yan Shang away. There were no Imperial Physicians here, they could only hastily bandage him for now.

Mu Wanyao’s voice was taut: “Be careful of his back… rocks have pierced into it, don’t touch carelessly.”

Fang Tong: “Several ministers…”

Mu Wanyao took a deep breath: “Let them come see me.”

The air was stuffy and thick with storm clouds. Mu Wanyao looked up at the sky, again hearing the rumbling thunder. The thunder accompanied Mu Wanyao’s gritted teeth—

“Capture the Prince of Qin alive!”

—

In an alley in Chang’an, lightning illuminated everyone’s terrified faces.

Yan Xiaozhou carefully led people into hiding, quietly fleeing toward the alley where the Princess’s mansion was located. But looking ahead without watching behind, with so many people following in the escape, Yan Xiaozhou couldn’t possibly drive any of them away, and the more people there were, the greater the chance of being discovered.

In a moment of inattention, amid the pushing and shoving of adults and children, a child was pushed out of the alley. At the same time, the sound of iron hooves approached from outside.

Yan Xiaozhou’s heart jumped violently, she had no time to speak to the adult who had pushed the child out, so she rushed out of the alley to save them. Just at that moment, the child who had been pushed out was caught by a pair of arms, and easily lifted into the air.

Before a soldier’s spear could thrust forward, that soldier was dragged from his horse and knocked unconscious with a palm strike.

A young woman held the child’s collar with one hand while withdrawing her other hand from the strike. She turned back, looking at Yan Xiaozhou.

Zhao Lingfei stared at the many civilians hiding in the alley behind Yan Xiaozhou, furrowing her brow in surprise.

Yan Xiaozhou was both cautious: “Thank you, lady, for the rescue. I am taking people home… my elder brother is an official of the court, and my sister-in-law is a favored princess. If anything goes wrong, my brother and sister-in-law will protect me.”

Zhao Lingfei was stunned, her eyes widening, her breath quickening: “You… your elder brother is Second Brother Yan? Your sister-in-law is Princess Danyang?”

She blurted out: “So you’re Second Brother Yan’s sister! You’re my cousin…”

She almost mentioned Yang San’s constant thoughts of Yan’s second sister, which even she had heard about. But thinking of Yang Si now leading the attack on the city, and not knowing Yan Xiaozhou’s attitude… Zhao Lingfei closed her mouth.

Zhao Lingfei just stared at Yan Xiaozhou, thinking no wonder, no wonder. This woman’s gentle temperament, and such kindness, she was truly very similar to Second Brother Yan.

Yan Xiaozhou’s heart stirred: “Lady knows my brother?”

Zhao Lingfei smiled, somewhat happily: “Of course. I am Zhao Lingfei…”

She offered: “You want to take these civilians to escape to the Princess’s mansion? I’ll help you.”

Yan Xiaozhou was naturally delighted.

With Zhao Lingfei’s help, the group’s escape became much smoother. But now there were enemy troops everywhere in the city, finding a completely safe path was impossible.

When they were just two alleys away from the Princess’s mansion, the group was caught up by pursuers. The thunder of iron hooves filled the sky, and those who caught up to them were not Liu Wenji’s Northern Command troops, but the army led by Yang Si.

The troops surrounded Yan Xiaozhou, Zhao Lingfei, and the people behind them, a young officer shouted angrily: “General, it’s them again blocking us from attacking the city! The Northern Command uses these civilians to block us, why not make an example, let that eunuch know this is useless!”

Yan Xiaozhou suddenly looked up at the young general mounted on a black horse, towering like a mountain with a sword in hand—Yang Third Young Master, Yang Si.

Zhao Lingfei stood one step in front of Yan Xiaozhou, instinctively wanting to shield those behind her from the attack.

Yan Xiaozhou was too stunned to speak, while Zhao Lingfei looked at the general on horseback, blurting out: “Cousin!”

At that cry of “cousin,” everyone looked over at Yang Si.

Yang Si didn’t look at them, saying: “Move aside.”

Yan Xiaozhou said gently: “No.”

Zhao Lingfei said firmly: “No.”

Yan Xiaozhou: “Innocent civilians, how can they become your sacrificial pawns?”

Zhao Lingfei: “I spent years in the Western Regions, I’ve seen countless broken homes and ruined lives. Cousin, whether you want to achieve eternal merit or become a rebel, I won’t stop your ambitions, and I’ll still call you ‘cousin.’ I have nothing to say about what you’re doing today, but these civilians and Sister Xiaozhou must save them.”

Yang Si said coldly: “You are no match for me.”

Yan Xiaozhou pleaded: “We’re going to the Princess’s mansion, we won’t come out again, can’t you pretend you didn’t see us?”

Zhao Lingfei: “Cousin, let Sister Xiaozhou leave, I’ll be your prisoner, how about that?”

Yang Si’s gaze fell on Yan Xiaozhou, then looked at Zhao Lingfei. He was urged by the young officer beside him to take action, urged that one who would achieve great things needn’t mind such small matters.

They said the Crown Prince was waiting for him.

If they didn’t capture the palace, Chang’an wouldn’t be theirs.

And Yang Si’s hands could break gold and jade, his strength could uproot mountains and strike rocks, what were these unarmed civilians?

Yang Si raised his sword, its point aimed at the two women. With just a light wave, old friendships would all be severed.

Someone beside him urged urgently: “General Yang—”

Yan Xiaozhou’s gaze was bright and clear, not saying a word, just holding the child in her arms tightly, clearly unwilling to submit.

Zhao Lingfei took up a fighting stance, in the past she had practiced martial arts with him, but now she had shed his influence over her, becoming a woman with her own thoughts.

After calling him cousin once she didn’t call him again, slightly raising her chin, her gaze firm—if you want to fight, then let’s fight!

BOOM—

The thunder that had been rumbling all day finally had its result, raindrops as big as beans came splattering down, splashing on the blade of Yang Si’s sword.

The sharp blade was stained with blood, reflecting the bright gazes of the two women, and Yang Si’s eyes.

Through the rain mist, Yang Si stared at the two women.

One haunted his dreams, one had grown up with him.

Both stood opposing him.

Yang Si turned his gaze away, gripping his reins tightly, suddenly wheeling his horse around, shouting: “Go—”

He led the way in turning his horse, acting as if he hadn’t seen this group of people. Yan Xiaozhou and Zhao Lingfei breathed sighs of relief, but the soldiers behind Yang Si were stunned. The young officer unwillingly followed, saying painfully: “General Yang, if you let them go when we attack the Imperial City, that eunuch will use the same tactics against us…”

Yang Si rode at lightning speed, his voice still clear through the heavy rain: “The Imperial City has six gates in total, Liu Wenji can’t fill every gate with civilians. We’ll attack the least defended gate!”

The young officer: “Why go to such lengths…”

Yang Si cut him off sternly: “Military orders are like mountains, naturally you’ll follow mine!”

Thus no one questioned further.

However… a commander soft of heart and hand, unable to strike at civilians, while the enemy was despicable. No matter how capable the commander, this battle might have been lost from the very beginning.

—

At the Summer Palace, when Yan Shang arrived, the Prince of Qin was at a disadvantage; after that, when troops provided by Yang Si joined the Prince of Qin’s side, the Prince regained the upper hand. But it was all in vain.

By evening, private troops from the Li family came as reinforcements from the south, and with the sudden downpour affecting the battle situation, the Prince of Qin’s side quickly suffered a complete defeat.

The Prince of Qin was captured alive and brought to see Mu Wanyao.

Bound hand and foot, covered in blood and mud, the Prince of Qin saw his sister, equally drenched by the rain, yet laughed loudly.

Prince of Qin: “What’s this, Yaoyao, you still want to save Father Emperor?”

He couldn’t understand: “What are you saving him for? Can he make you Emperor? What benefits has he promised you? If I become Emperor, I can give them too. Don’t you just want the common people to prosper? I’m not trying to kill the common people. I just—”

He gritted his teeth, angry and grief-stricken: “I just want to survive!”

Mu Wanyao said indifferently: “You want to be a treasonous rebel, I don’t.”

The Prince of Qin laughed tremblingly.

After muttering “treasonous rebel” several times, he said: “Don’t you hate Father Emperor? When he sent you for political marriage back then, didn’t you hate him at all? Yaoyao, this is a good chance for revenge. Father Emperor gave you troops, let you enter Chang’an to save him, right? You just need to delay a bit, just a little while… and he’ll be finished. With His Highness the Crown Prince… His Highness will help us kill him!

“Once he’s dead, wouldn’t it be better for us to decide who becomes Emperor? The Crown Prince and I can both promise you, isn’t that good enough?

“You trust Father Emperor but won’t trust us? Yaoyao, search your heart, between me and the Crown Prince… who is more ruthless than him?! Who wouldn’t be a better partner than him!”

Mu Wanyao instructed: “Gag him, don’t let him speak.”

She turned and left, afraid that if she listened anymore she would be swayed. And her heart was already in turmoil, she had indeed been moved by the Prince of Qin’s words… the troops were in her hands, if she just delayed a little…

—

Heavy rain poured down as the troops regrouped.

Mu Wanyao stared at the dark mass of troops in the rain, then gazed absently at the raindrops falling from the eaves.

“Your Highness, shall we deploy troops to support Chang’an?” a minister came to ask.

As Mu Wanyao hesitated, she heard a weak but firm voice from behind: “Support Chang’an immediately.”

Everyone turned around, and Mu Wanyao also turned back in surprise, going forward to support the pale-faced young man being helped in by guards.

Mu Wanyao: “Why don’t you rest a while…”

Yan Shang gave her a comforting smile, thinking about how could he rest.

Yan Shang repeated the order once more, and seeing the Princess didn’t speak, everyone left.

After everyone had gone out, Yan Shang said softly to Mu Wanyao: “I know what you’re thinking, but we can’t delay, the civilians in the city are innocent.”

Mu Wanyao said softly: “You only care about the civilians.”

Yan Shang paused, looking at her: “I care about you too. You can’t commit patricide, even indirectly.”

He said: “Yaoyao, the crime of patricide shouldn’t fall on you. The torment of conscience shouldn’t destroy you later. No matter what others do, we must be able to face ourselves. We won’t be the villains, because…”

He went with her to look at the heavy rain outside, saying softly: “There are others who want to be more than we do.”

—

But though some wanted to be villains, they were ultimately defeated at the hands of Yan Shang and Mu Wanyao.

When troops entered the city, Yang Si’s ten thousand troops faced several times their number as the opposition joined forces with the Northern Command, and used civilians as shields. After an unknown number of deaths in the city, by dawn the next day when the rain cleared, Yang Si was captured in the Imperial City.

When this news reached the Eastern Palace, it was filled with sounds of grief, and His Highness the Crown Prince was surrounded by guards, treated as a prisoner of treason.

Liu Wenji said the Prince of Qin had already confessed his crimes and was begging for His Majesty’s mercy, and His Majesty asked the Crown Prince if he had anything to say. Such as begging for mercy, or explanations. His Majesty wanted to hear it all.

The Crown Prince remained silent.

Liu Wenji stared at him with immense satisfaction, thinking of how this person had caused his tragedy that day. Now that he was interrogating this person, Liu Wenji trembled with satisfaction, wishing he could cut this person to pieces.

The Eastern Palace was in a state of desolation, but the Crown Prince raised his face, saying faintly: “In this world, it’s just a matter of victor and vanquished. I have nothing to say.”