My heart immediately felt like it was being squeezed tight by an invisible hand, an unprecedented pain rushing through me until I nearly suffocated.

“Young Master!” Xiu Zhu’s hoarse cry pierced through the silent night sky.

However, the person who had been pierced through the chest by the sharp arrow merely paused his steps for an instant. The next moment, Song Langsheng drew his dagger and spun around to block the successive flying arrows that came attacking.

At the top of the slope, dozens of cavalrymen held longbows, drawing their strings to shoot arrows in this direction. In the panic, Xiu Zhu had already leaped forward, wielding his sword to block more attacks for Song Langsheng. However, there were too many attackers – they couldn’t hold out for much longer.

My heart felt completely empty. When I realized what was happening, I had already rushed to his side to support him. His face was deathly pale, so weak he couldn’t even stand steadily. My upper and lower teeth chattered uncontrollably as I said, “I, I’ll go negotiate with them, you, you…”

“Their target is us,” he gasped heavily, the blood on his chest having already soaked half his garment. “Princess… you should leave first.”

How could I possibly leave first?

I turned around to shield him, clutching tightly onto his sleeve. “I won’t leave.”

Song Langsheng deflected another arrow with his other hand. Seeing he couldn’t break free from my grip, he said urgently, “I won’t die. You hide to the side first.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“A’Tang,” he suddenly called my name, his scattered eyes showing a ripple of emotion. “This time, you must believe me.”

After saying this, he used brute force to push me down the grassy slope. I lost my balance, unable to grab onto anything, rolling more than ten times before stopping. As soon as I stopped, without thinking, I immediately got up and began climbing back up.

I didn’t believe him. I never believed him. Even today, he had said that was the last time he would call my name, yet he had broken his word – he called me that way again. He said he wanted to sever all ties with me, yet he had broken his word again. At this life-and-death moment, he had thrown all his previous words to the back of his mind.

If he died like this… what would I do?

Just imagining it made me collapse, unable to breathe. My love and hatred for him had long been intertwined, almost tearing me apart.

When I saw them again, Xiu Zhu’s leg had also been struck by an arrow, and he could deflect fewer and fewer of the chaotic arrows. Song Langsheng’s right arm had also been hit by an arrow, and he had switched to blocking arrows with his left hand. But he wasn’t left-handed, and his body was already at its limit – how could he nimbly deflect this endless rain of arrows?

We would die together.

After all, I was already in too deep.

When I closed my eyes and embraced him, this thought occupied all my emotions and reason.

Wind swept up the flying grass everywhere. After a moment, the wind passed and leaves fell.

All sounds stopped, including the whooshing of arrows.

I opened my eyes in disbelief, turned around, and saw that those soldiers shooting arrows had already fallen from their horses’ backs and died on the ground.

What happened?

In the dim moonlight, I saw sword-wielding warriors dressed in Princess Manor guard uniforms running toward us.

“Young Master, Young Master!”

“Young Master…”

“Young Master!!”

“…Princess,” Song Langsheng’s body softly collapsed against me. “You… how… do you always… refuse to listen…” His voice grew lower and lower until he could say nothing more and fell silent.

“Song Langsheng?” I stared with wide eyes, not daring to check his breathing for fear of finding none. “Song Langsheng!”

“The Young Master isn’t dead yet.” Xiu Zhu stepped forward to feel his pulse. “Princess, if you continue holding onto the Young Master like this, I’m afraid even I can’t save him.”

At this time, several other people also reached our side. Through my tearful, blurred vision, I loosened my grip. “You, you can save him?”

“Xiu Zhu’s family has practiced medicine for three generations – he’s the best doctor.” The man called Mao Lin crouched down, carefully supporting Song Langsheng. Xiu Zhu slowly used a short knife to cut off the wooden arrow shaft stuck in Song Langsheng’s body, took out cloth and silver needles from his sleeve, and after applying them to several acupoints, indeed slowed the flow of blood.

Cold sweat broke out on Xiu Zhu’s forehead as he said, “We must first find a safe place to remove the arrowhead from the Young Master’s body. Any later will be too late.”

“Not far from here is a farmhouse,” Mao Lin said. “That should be temporarily safe.”

The moon was cool as snow, the moon slept alone, the first snow drifted, snow pressed upon the humble dwelling.

The thatched hut wasn’t large and couldn’t accommodate too many people. Song Langsheng’s other subordinates all paced back and forth restlessly outside the hut like ants on a hot pan, while only I sat dazedly watching the snow.

Mao Lin spoke truly – Xiu Zhu was indeed a good doctor. For a full two hours, he pulled Song Langsheng back from death’s door.

I crouched outside the thatched hut, watching snowflakes beginning to fall from the sky, spreading over the dim green grass.

These two hours were the most agonizing I had ever spent in my life.

I remembered a certain winter years ago when the capital was hit by sudden heavy snow. I was trapped in the palace by the heavy snow and couldn’t return home, not returning to the Princess Manor for two days. Who would have known that on that very night, Song Langsheng appeared before me covered in fallen snow.

I asked him in amazement, “With such heavy snow, you, why did you come?”

The snow was so thick it covered the carriage wheels – how had he come?

He sneezed several times, grumbling unhappily, “You didn’t come home.”

I hugged him, cold as an ice block, with both heartache and joy, saying, “Prince Consort, you really are…”

Really such a fool.

Mao Lin pushed open the door and came out, saying quietly, “The Young Master is fine now. Fortunately, the arrow didn’t hit any vital spots. After a few more days of recovery, there should be no major problems.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They didn’t dare enter the room to disturb him, continuing to guard outside in case pursuing soldiers found them. Mao Lin saw me standing up, his expression hesitating slightly, “Princess, please come in.”

I walked past him into the room. At this time, Song Langsheng was lying peacefully with his eyes closed, his breathing weak.

I slowly sat beside him, quietly gazing at his face. His long eyelashes cast shadows over his serene expression. This appearance was neither like the thunderously decisive Chief of the Court of Judicial Review from his usual days, nor like a treacherous minister with ulterior motives. Everything about him was unpredictable and untouchable, yet somehow always drew people in, making them intoxicated without knowing it.

I suddenly felt somewhat ridiculous – the current Regent Princess was actually hiding in this dilapidated thatched cottage with the rebellious Prince Consort, while the rebels stood guard outside, protecting their safety.

At this time, Xiu Zhu came out from the inner room. Seeing me sitting by the bed, he wasn’t surprised and went about washing the blood from his hands in a basin of clean water. I let out a long breath, “Xiu Zhu, thank you.”

Xiu Zhu was startled, “No need, saving the Young Master is my duty…”

“Thank you for letting me come along and hear the news that he’s safe.” I lowered my head. “From your perspective, not killing me is already quite good.”

Earlier, when Song Langsheng fainted, someone had even wished they could chop me down with one strike. Xiu Zhu not only stopped them but also told them that the Young Master’s intention was to let me go.

But I insisted on following them here.

“I was merely following the Young Master’s wishes. On the contrary, from the Princess’s perspective, not taking the opportunity to kill Miss Cai Mi was also quite good.” Xiu Zhu smiled faintly. He himself had also been injured in the leg and walking wasn’t convenient for him. I asked him, “How is Cai Mi?”

“Unconscious, but…” Xiu Zhu looked back toward the inner room, meaningfully, with implications in his words, “she should wake up sooner or later.”

I nodded vaguely, “Yes, sooner or later she should wake up.”

“Is the Princess referring to Cai Mi or the Young Master?”

I seemed to wake up from sleepwalking, “I was talking about myself.”

This great dream should end.

At the moment of life and death, everything follows the heart, only to have no regrets.

After life and death pass, everything returns to normal – what must be faced still must be faced.

Regardless of the reasons, regardless of true feelings or pretense, now no one can change anything or salvage anything.

Just as I was born to be Princess Xiangyi, his identity as the previous dynasty’s imperial heir can never be changed.

We can’t return to the past, nor can we possibly have a future.

This chasm cannot be crossed by anyone.

Even if I’m beginning to believe him now.

Believe that he loves me, believe that he never wanted to harm me.

Xiu Zhu seemed to understand my words, yet seemed to understand nothing at all. He said, “When dawn comes, we’ll take the Young Master and leave. However, this time, I’m afraid we can’t bring the Princess along.”

I nodded, “I know.”

Seeing me so matter-of-fact, Xiu Zhu seemed somewhat surprised, “Does the Princess have anything she wants me to convey to the Young Master?”

Convey? What should I tell him? Should I tell him that I now believe he didn’t poison me back then, but I was still poisoned after all, and I probably won’t live more than a few days? Or should I tell him that years ago on that mountain peak, the person I confessed to was him?

If tonight hadn’t happened, perhaps I would have.

But having seen his heart, how could I bear to shatter it again?

Thinking of this, I smiled with some relief, “Tell him that I was coerced into coming by you all. Although it was to save his life, it was also for the sake of past affection. Now that he’s safe and sound, all past events are like yesterday’s death. In the future, when we meet as enemies on the battlefield, neither of us need show mercy anymore.”

Xiu Zhu looked at me with a strange expression, “Does the Princess really want me to convey this?”

I said, “This is the truth.”

Xiu Zhu was silent for a moment, then sighed, “Actually, sometimes you think you’re doing good for others, but when you wrong yourself, how can those who cherish you truly be well?”

My heart trembled, but he couldn’t say much more after all. He looked up at the snowflakes dancing all over the sky outside the window, falling from the boundless void, “Plum blossoms and snow, pear blossoms and moon.”

I looked at him in confusion.

“Once the Young Master suddenly recited this poem in a refined manner.” He curved his lips in a smile, though I didn’t know what he was smiling about. “I didn’t understand before, but today, I seem to have some comprehension.”

“Plum blossoms and snow, pear blossoms and moon, always yearning…”

“Since spring comes without noticing, only upon leaving do we know.”

I somewhat unconsciously recited this verse, like a gentle breeze lightly brushing across my heart pool that had long been like stagnant water, creating circles of ripples.

Plum blossoms in snow, pear blossoms under moonlight – the feeling of yearning never ceased.

The days spent together in spring passed without notice, and only when separated did they feel the difficulty of parting—

By the second half of the night, after Song Langsheng took medicine, his fever gradually subsided. With my mind at ease, all the day’s fatigue came at once, and I didn’t know when I fell asleep leaning against his bedside.

That night I slept peacefully without dreams – I hadn’t slept so comfortably in too long.

Cool snowflakes were blown into the room by the wind, falling on my cheeks. When I opened my eyes again, golden sunlight poured from the horizon into the room, while snow white as silk continued to fall gently, drifting with the wind.

It was sun snow.

This scene was too beautiful, and I couldn’t help wanting to turn to look at Song Langsheng.

However, the bed was empty. I stared blankly, then suddenly got up and looked around the wall – even Cai Mi from the inner room was nowhere to be seen. Pushing open the door, the world was a sheet of silver white, the entire grass hut empty of people.

They had left.

I looked back at the charcoal fire still burning in the room, and for a moment felt as if I were in another world.

Although I had prepared myself, when the moment truly came, the lingering bitter pain clutched at my heart again. That familiar ache returned, and when a mouthful of fresh blood came up, I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

My time was near.

Having come this far in life, even if unwilling to let go, I ultimately had no choice but to let go.

I pulled my clothes tighter and stepped through the snow that reached my ankles, walking step by step toward the direction back to the capital.

The north wind was bitter and cold. Even with bright daylight, it still couldn’t resist the chill penetrating my body.

It was still early, and on the wilderness road the shadows of branches overlapped and crisscrossed. I thought of the poem Song Langsheng had recited, imagining how he looked while reciting poetry, and actually found it somewhat amusing. After laughing, I couldn’t help but feel inspired myself, “The gentle wind sways the courtyard trees, fine snow falls through curtain gaps. Swirling in the air like turning mist, accumulating on steps like piled flowers…”

“The spring of willow green is unseen, only the white of cassia branches. Scattered tears with none to tell, what benefit is yearning in vain.” Someone behind me slowly continued the verse.

I turned around and saw Xiu Zhu dismount from a horse and walk to my side. I asked in surprise, “Why are you here? Did something happen to Song Langsheng?”

Xiu Zhu shook his head, “The Young Master hasn’t awakened yet. I came to find the Princess on my own.”

I quietly waited for Xiu Zhu’s continuation.

Xiu Zhu took out a dagger from his sleeve – it was the very one Song Langsheng had held last night. He handed it to me, slowly saying, “I think the Young Master’s original intention should have been to give this dagger to the Princess.”

I took the dagger. The golden scabbard reflected the sunlight with dazzling brilliance, but the blade had been worn down and was quite difficult to draw out. “You returned just to give me this?”

“Last night’s events happened suddenly, and I was focused only on how to save the Young Master, throwing this matter to the back of my mind,” Xiu Zhu said slowly. “This morning I was again focused on traveling, and only after walking some distance did I remember that last night the Young Master nearly lost his life searching for this scabbard. It must be something extremely important, so I took it out to examine carefully. Unexpectedly, I discovered something inside the scabbard…”

As he spoke, I also noticed there was a very regular circular seam at the top of the scabbard. Following the seam to unscrew it, sure enough, there was a hidden mechanism inside. In the secret compartment was something wrapped in silk. I poured it all out and unwrapped the silk to find a pill lying in the cloth.

“This is…”

Xiu Zhu said, “This is the antidote to Soul-Forgetting Powder.”

Like a thunderclap in winter exploding without warning in the empty wilderness of my heart.

My whole body stiffened as I recalled various past events, and a truth I dared not face was about to emerge. “Soul-Forgetting Powder… has an antidote?”

“Yes.” Xiu Zhu said, “Soul-Forgetting Powder was originally a poison used to control people. When this drug was created, it was mostly lethal. To achieve their goals, the poisoner first makes people lose their memory, and when the time comes, if the poisoned person still has value, the poisoner can use the antidote in exchange for what they ultimately want.”

So last night, he risked his own life for this antidote… was it to save me?

Why? Didn’t he hate me completely?

Confusion wandered back and forth in my chest until Xiu Zhu slowly said, “There are some things I originally didn’t want to say, since the Princess and we are in opposing positions, and I have my own selfish motives…” He smiled faintly, “Actually, I saw the Princess two years ago. Two years ago on Ling Mountain, the Princess witnessed the Young Master meeting with our brotherhood brothers, then was attacked and fainted. The blow that knocked you unconscious was delivered by me.”

My heart trembled.

Xiu Zhu said, “I was originally Marquis Xia Yang’s advisor, later assigned to work for Young Master Feng Li. That night, it wasn’t someone else who captured the Princess – it was Young Master Feng Li. And before the Young Master arrived, it wasn’t someone else who fed the Princess Soul-Forgetting Powder – it was still Young Master Feng.”

“Having the Princess take Soul-Forgetting Powder was indeed the Marquis’s idea. He prepared a poison pill each for Young Master Feng and the Young Master, with the purpose of testing whether they were truly willing to be enemies with the Princess.”

“The Princess was given Soul-Forgetting Powder by Young Master Feng – the Young Master knew nothing of this.”

“Later, when the Young Master came upon hearing the news and forced the Princess to swallow a pill in front of Young Master Feng, Young Master Feng and I truly thought it was Soul-Forgetting Powder, that the Young Master intended to put the Princess to death.”

“It wasn’t until early last month, when the Young Master learned that what the Princess had been given was a deadly poison administered by Young Master Feng, that he went almost mad, rushing day and night to Suiyang to exchange for the antidote from the Marquis. Only then did I realize that the pill the Young Master gave the Princess that night was not poison, but merely to deceive Young Master Feng and the Marquis.”

With every sentence Xiu Zhu spoke, I felt my heart being sliced by a sharp blade. The small pill in my palm was so hot it almost burned, yet I felt not even a trace of joy in my heart. “Exchange? What did he use to exchange for the antidote?”

Marquis Xia Yang had been scheming for so long – how could it be that Song Langsheng could simply ask for the antidote and receive it?

Xiu Zhu shook his head, “How would I know what deal the Young Master made with the Marquis? Only…”

“Only?”

“Only, the Young Master was worried that the Marquis might not be willing to detoxify the Princess, so he asked for two antidotes.”

“Why two…” Halfway through my question, the answer had already quietly surfaced in my heart, and for a moment, I suddenly couldn’t continue asking.

Xiu Zhu lowered his head, saying in a low voice, “The Young Master… he took the Soul-Forgetting Powder he had and swallowed it himself… After the poison took effect, he was unconscious for three full days and nights. During those three days I stayed by the Young Master’s side, following his instructions to wait for him. When he awakened and I saw he had lost his memory, confirming he was poisoned by Soul-Forgetting Powder, only then did I give him the antidote.”

The bitter cold quickly filled my entire chest. I felt my fingers trembling slightly, “If he did this and the antidote wasn’t real…”

Xiu Zhu said softly, “I asked him this question too. The Young Master said that dying together with the Princess wouldn’t be such a big deal.”

“Lies.” When I shouted this, I was startled to realize my voice was hoarse. “Isn’t he the previous dynasty’s imperial heir? Doesn’t he want to avenge his blood feud? Doesn’t he want to scheme for the entire realm…”

“He is not,” Xiu Zhu said decisively, “He doesn’t want to.”

“If he wanted to, he wouldn’t have rushed to the capital day and night without a moment’s delay as soon as he regained consciousness.”

“If he wanted to, he wouldn’t have disregarded whether his body could withstand sleepless, restless travel, all just to see the Princess sooner.”

Xiu Zhu looked toward the distant, undulating horizon, “He never imagined that when he returned to the Princess Manor with the antidote he had risked his life to obtain, what awaited him would be the Princess’s premeditated ambush and slaughter.”

My vision became completely blurred.

I thought of that letter, the letter Song Langsheng had written to me when he left.

He said: I hope that no matter what you remember, you will trust me as before.

But yesterday when he rushed to the Princess Manor, the way he looked when he saw me trapped in ruins was still vivid in my memory. What was I doing then? I stood on high ground, unmoved, thinking why he was acting, what his ulterior motives were.

He said: From the day Song Langsheng fell in love with Xiao Qitang, his heart has never wavered by half a fraction.

But I told him that treacherous ministers and rebels deserve to be killed by everyone.

“However, after last night, I can see that the Princess is not so heartless and ungrateful toward the Young Master. Although I haven’t been able to figure out the intricacies involved, there are many things in this world that cannot be judged solely by surface appearances.” Xiu Zhu finished what he wanted to say and mounted his horse, “Things being as they are, this is all Xiu Zhu can do.”

“Who exactly are you?” Seeing he was about to leave, I hurriedly called out to him, “Why are you helping me?”

“I am the Marquis’s advisor, was in the past, and still am now.”

Xiu Zhu tightened the reins, rode out several steps, then turned back to say to me, “There’s one more thing I forgot to tell Your Highness the Princess. The Princess has been deeply poisoned. After taking this Soul-Forgetting Powder antidote, you will suffer heart-piercing pain for a full day. After one day, everything experienced during the poisoning period will be completely forgotten and can never be remembered again in this lifetime, including what I’ve told the Princess today.”

I felt chilled to the bone throughout my body. Under Xiu Zhu’s peaceful countenance seemed to hide another kind of soul. “You…”

“Today marks exactly two years since the Princess was poisoned. If the Princess doesn’t take the antidote before tonight passes, then it will truly be beyond salvation.” Xiu Zhu’s voice faded into the east wind, “Your Highness the Princess… farewell forever.”

As his words ended, he raised his whip and spurred his horse. I wanted to pursue him, but my legs were numb from the cold. I had barely taken one step before kneeling in the snow, watching helplessly as he disappeared into the vast wilderness of snow.

I sat dazedly in the snow, looking at the boundless snow peaks on all sides, as if I had fallen into an ice cellar, never again to find warmth.

Xiu Zhu’s meaning couldn’t be more obvious.

He was Marquis Xia Yang’s man. Everything he did was for benefit, not out of pity.

In this desolate wilderness, for hundreds of li around, even walking for a day and night, I couldn’t find a single person who could help me.

And while this antidote could save my life, taking it would also sever my feelings for Song Langsheng. When I awakened, I would only remember that Song Langsheng had forced me to take poison, while all his kindnesses to me over these two years would dissipate like clouds and smoke, never to be remembered again.

Everything would return to the beginning. I would be full of resentment and hatred, and together with my younger brother the Crown Prince, we would pursue Song Langsheng to complete destruction.

And Song Langsheng would thoroughly sever the last thread of feeling with me and walk the path he had never wanted to take.

I staggered to my feet, step by step, following the horse tracks in the snow where Xiu Zhu had departed.

I must find Song Langsheng.

I still had so many, many words I wanted to say to him.

I wanted to tell him I was that little sister from years past. I wanted to tell him that no one had ever been branded so deeply on my heart as he had.

I didn’t want to see him hurt anymore, and I could never hurt him again.

I couldn’t forget these two years, and I was even less willing to forget… that he loves me.

I gripped the antidote tightly in my hand. Wind and snow lashed me like whips. Strangely, my confused state of mind gradually became clear. I walked toward that direction continuously, wishing I could make time stand still until I found him.

Time kept flowing, from bright sun moving to setting sun. The snow fell heavier and denser, as if a huge white net had been woven between heaven and earth. Forget about horse tracks – when I turned back, even my own footprints had vanished without a trace.

The cold wind was bone-piercing, wind like sharp needles penetrating my heart. I could feel my life constantly ebbing away. Even though reason kept telling me I must find a place to shelter from the snow and take the antidote, otherwise I might freeze to death in this icy world before the poison even took effect.

I raised my hand to wipe away the ice and snow covering my eyes. In the end, my entire being seemed to no longer belong to myself. Looking far into the distance, the whole world emanated white light, and my soul seemed ready to float away the next moment, then be swallowed by this gray-white vastness.

I managed to curve my frozen lips into a smile.

I thought, if in a few days Song Langsheng discovered me frozen to death here, and he saw that in my final moments I was smiling, would he perhaps not be so sad?

Just as I was about to collapse into the snow, a pair of broad, strong hands steadily caught me.

A fox fur coat was wrapped around my entire body, carrying warm residual heat that penetrated into my limbs and bones.

Before I could see who it was, I felt my body lighten as I was lifted horizontally and held tightly against his chest.

I stared blankly, dazedly, at the blue shirt that still faintly seeped with blood, and my heart melted from winter into a pool of spring water, slowly sliding down from my eye sockets.

I didn’t need to look up to know – this gentle breath was unique in the world, belonging to only one person.

From when she was thirteen years old and he leaped down from the cave entrance, accompanied by scattered maple leaves falling beside the confused and helpless young girl, from that moment on, he had fallen into her heart.

He could find her rainbow lantern among thousands upon thousands of sky lanterns, then rescue her from layers of raging fire, saying with magnificent presence: “I am the Prince Consort of Da Liang, Song Langsheng! Who dares to stop me!”

No matter where I was lost, he could always find me.

I slowly raised my head. Although his face was extremely pale and his hair was disheveled by the fierce wind, his features were still elegantly peerless.

He walked slowly forward, I didn’t know where to, but in the cold wind, I leaned against him, my whole body weak and unable to move. Of all the words I had thought to say beforehand, at this moment I could only ask, “You… how are you here?”

“Because you’re here.”

His voice was very soft.

Something in my heart seemed about to overflow, yet also seemed to be emptied. “Didn’t you already leave?”

“You’re here – where could I go?”

He held me close, leaving no gap between us.

I didn’t dare blink, letting my tears fall messily and constantly. “You… don’t you hate me completely? Why don’t you stay with your Cai Mi, but instead came looking for me?”

He stopped walking, quietly lowered his eyes to gaze at me, then gently and carefully brushed away the tears from the corners of my eyes.

“My little sister is here – where would you have me go?”

————(End of Chapter)

Author’s Note:

Don’t ask me anymore if this is a Bad Ending – how could I write a BE!

How could I possibly let the Prince Consort continue entangled with the Princess in hatred?

If the Prince Consort isn’t composed and wise, who will cure the Princess’s terminal case of pretentiousness?

Writing at this hour, those who like the Prince Consort give me kisses, okay?