HXC Chapter62

The string of wind chimes hanging from the tent jingled in the wind.

 

Shen Yanqing turned around and said calmly, “Lord Ji, there is something that has confused me for a long time. I hope you can clear it up for me.”

 

Ji Jue met his gaze but did not respond.

 

“In Jinzhou, I worked with Miss Wang for a full six months. She is frank and forthright, bold yet meticulous. During the epidemic, she was highly praised by the common people, and I greatly admired her,” Shen Yanqing said as he withdrawal the hand that had traced the wooden table. He smiled, “But I am truly curious. Our acquaintance was shallow, so why did she so often keep track of my movements? And whose hands did those letters she sent by pigeon every fortnight reach?”

 

Ji Jue’s expression did not change.

 

“At first, I thought they were family letters. It would be natural for General Wang to be concerned about his daughter and for Miss Wang to repeatedly send updates about her well-being. But then I grew suspicious. If they were merely family letters, she could have sent them with a courier to the capital. Why go to the trouble of using carrier pigeons?” Shen Yanqing spoke unhurriedly. “I pondered endlessly, yet could not guess whom she was corresponding with.”

 

“It wasn’t until after the plague ended that I ran into Miss Wang by chance on a street in the capital.”

 

Ji Jue said darkly, “What are you trying to say?”

 

“Fulu Lou,” Shen Yanqing said, his tone even. “I imagine that is where Lord Ji and Miss Wang communicated.”

 

A cold glint flashed in Ji Jue’s eyes.

 

“A woman without title or rank, no matter her ambition or achievements, is seen by the Great Heng Empire as merely a woman, incapable of making any significant impact. More than that, her father and brother follow the Third Prince. Such an identity conceals all suspicion all the better.”

 

Shen Yanqing smiled faintly. “To trace one thread after another, I must thank Ji Zhen. He is of the Ji family, and his thoughts are naturally shaped by Lord Ji’s influence. Hearing him dispute the age-old fallacy of male superiority at Ziyun Lou opened my eyes. He said Miss Dou of the previous dynasty, who defended against the Hu raids, was no less than a man. And how is Miss Wang any different?”

 

She has courage and resourcefulness. If she could throw herself unhesitatingly into saving the suffering people, then of course she would also have her own foresight and judgment regarding state affairs. With that said, it is no wonder she would risk her life to support the deposed crown prince.”

 

Ji Jue said calmly, “This is all just your speculation.”

 

“Conjectures or truth, it matters little.” Shen Yanqing stepped forward at an unhurried pace. “That I stand here today speaking plainly to Lord Ji instead of reporting to the court, surely Lord Ji can sense my sincerity. I have only one request, it’s to see Ji Zhen once more. I beg Lord Ji to grant it.”

 

Hooves thudded as he rode out of the military camp, the bleak night wind whipping at Shen Yanqing’s robes.

 

In the distance, a few scattered stars twinkled, and scenes from in the capital not long ago flashed before his eyes—

 

Yi Zhi grabbed him by the collar in furious. “You’ll surely die if you go to the Northern Desert, Shen Yanqing. What about your foresight, your great ambition? Are you throwing it all away?”

 

Shen Yanqing gave a faint smile. “The Third Prince’s suspicion has already been roused. Whether I go to the Northern Desert or not makes no difference.”

 

“You could at least keep your life in the capital…”

 

But the Northern Desert was where the person Shen Yanqing wanted to see was. Yi Zhi paused, then suddenly understood. He released his friend and said with a bitter laugh, “To think that even you, Shen Yanqing, would be troubled by love.”

 

What is love that makes one vow to die for another?

 

Shen Yanqing handed Yi Zhi a prepared letter. “Half a month after I depart, please deliver this letter to Miss Wang Lingzhi.”

 

In the letter, he entrusted Wang Lingzhi to secretly arrange for his aged parents’ departure from the capital.

 

He had already cast aside life and death. For white-haired parents to send off their black-haired son was the gravest unfilial crime; he could not drag them down to die with him.

 

“If I cannot return whole, please set up a cenotaph for me. No need to carve the name or surname upon the stone, only one line.” Shen Yanqing gazed into the distance. “‘What is there to say in death? I entrust my body to the hills and streams.’”

 

Since ancient times, loyal ministers do not serve two masters. One who changes allegiance mid-battle, even if professing renewed loyalty, can hardly ever be trusted again. Even with real achievements, in the end he is reviled as a weathercock, earning only the infamy of a petty opportunist.

 

That night at the market, he had drawn words from Ji Zhen.

 

“Have you met Khitan people?”

 

“I have.”

 

“When did you meet them?”

 

“Last month, in the military camp, Yelu Qi came to visit.”

 

If it was but a single death awaiting him, why not make a few more bold, alarming guesses so that Ji Jue and the rest could raise their banners with just cause?

 

Even if he were remembered as a criminal reviled through the ages, Shen Yanqing would never be known as someone who adjusted his sails to suit the wind.

 

He did not fear Ji Zhen demanding his death. He only wished that, once he was gone, Ji Zhen might feel even the faintest grief for him.

 

As long as the marriage contract stood, if he were to die, the records in the book of matrimony would list Ji Zhen as a widower, not divorced, should he choose another partner.

 

“From life to death, I will remain with you. Whether in the mortal realm or the underworld, my heart shall never waver.”

 

—

 

The battlefield had become a slaughterhouse on the plains.

 

Spears and arrows rained down upon Shen Yanqing. His expression was stern and unyielding, and with his strength alone he held off the assault.

 

How fierce and formidable were the Khitan warriors? How could he alone break through them? Surrounded as if by iron walls, he fought desperately in blood and steel. Spears pierced his embroidered robe, blades tore his flesh, and in a moment he was battered and bloodied.

 

From a distance, Ji Zhen gazed at the scene before him, seemingly bewitched and unable to move. Terror and dread closed in on him from all sides, suffocating him until he forgot how to breathe. Only his chest heaved violently.

 

The fallen goose, bleeding profusely, overlapped with Shen Yanqing in his eyes.

 

The wild goose Shen Yanqing had shot down was, in truth, Shen Yanqing himself.

 

Ji Zhen recalled that night when Shen Yanqing had slipped into his room, speaking tirelessly, word after word. He had marveled then at how the usually taciturn Shen Yanqing could not stop speaking, only to realize now that he had truly been left with but that fleeting moment to bare his heart.

 

A hammer studded with spikes struck Shen Yanqing’s back. He staggered two steps before steadying himself with thick blood welled at his lips. He looked toward Ji Zhen with reluctant longing with his raising blood-red eyes.

 

A coarse rope tightened around Shen Yanqing’s neck, hurling him to the ground. Dragged forward beneath trampling hooves, he quickly cut through the rope, rolled to evade a descending blade, and sprang back up, leaving a long trail of blood staining the green grass.

 

“No, no…”

 

Ji Zhen’s teeth chattered. In that instant between life and death, he forgot everything. He forgot deception, forgot love and hate, and forgot the pact he had made with his elder brother. Instinct alone drove him toward the other party.

 

“Zhen Zhen!” Ji Jue’s shout thundered.

 

Ji Zhen knew he should listen to his elder brother, but he couldn’t just stand by and watch Shen Yanqing die on the vast grasslands.

 

Jiang Yunyu gritted his teeth and followed. “Are you out of your mind? You promised Brother Ji Jue. Stop!”

 

Ji Zhen’s horsemanship was poor, but he ignored the galloping hooves and frantically whipped his horse like a madman. If he kept this up, the horse would surely lose control and send him flying, resulting in a head injury.

 

Jiang Yunyu closed his eyes in anguish and called out, “Brother Ji Jue, stop him!”

 

With that, he whipped his horse and galloped past Ji Zhen, shouting, “Spare his life, capture him alive for questioning!”

 

Ji Jue forced Ji Zhen’s horse to a halt. Once the horse came to a stop, he pulled the terrified Ji Zhen from the horse’s back and held him tightly. “Zhen Zhen, don’t look.”

 

Ji Zhen trembled uncontrollably, his body icy cold. His arms hung stiffly at his sides, and he stared blankly into the distance.

 

Jiang Yunyu arrived at the scene of the fight. He stood before the blood-stained Shen Yanqing and said something. The Khitan king raised his hand, then his men tied up Shen Yanqing.

 

Shen Yanqing, who could have resisted, stood still and allowed himself to be captured. He was bound and placed on the bed of a cart to be transported back to the palace. His neatly tied hairpiece was now disheveled, and half of his dark hair hung down. His brocade robes were mixed with dirt and blood. Despite his dire situation, his jade-like face showed no trace of panic or helplessness at all as if he had long since calculated his own fate.

 

The wheels of the cart rolled past Ji Zhen. He stared blankly at Shen Yanqing on the cart with his eyes wide and warm liquid streaming down his face.

 

Shen Yanqing’s thin lips moved and silently mouthing two words.

 

Ji Zhen tilted his head in a daze, trying to make them out.

 

Shen Yanqing had said, “Don’t cry.”

 

A conversation from the night before drifted into Ji Zhen’s ears.

 

“I will ask again now, do you still hate and resend me in your heart? If I were to die, would you not feel a single emotion?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Ji Zhen screamed silently in his heart, “No, it’s not true…”

 

He gasped for breath, his vision blurring, and he completely lost consciousness in his elder brother’s arms.

 

Ji Jue gently laid the unconscious Ji Zhen on the bed. Ji Zhen’s eyes were tightly closed, but the hot tears kept pouring out and soaking the pillow.

 

Jiang Yunyu rushed into the room and was about to ask about Ji Zhen’s condition, but Ji Jue raised his hand to motion for silence. He slowed his steps and walked to the side of the bed, his expression grave.

 

Ji Jue dampened a soft cloth and gently wiped Ji Zhen’s tear-stained cheeks. Jiang Yunyu watched him in silence. Something suddenly dawned on him.

 

He remembered the unusual posture and atmosphere when Ji Jue wrapped the fox fur cloak around Ji Zhen in the tent that day, it was not like that of ordinary brothers. His heart skipped a beat.

 

Ji Jue and Ji Zhen were not related by blood…

 

“Let’s talk outside.”

 

Jiang Yunyu’s expression was complex. He nodded, took one last deep look at the unconscious Ji Zhen, then followed Ji Jue out.

 

Ji Jue instructed the guards to keep a close watch on Ji Zhen before slowly walking with Jiang Yunyu.

 

Jiang Yunyu was secretly shocked by his own baseless guess. After trying to speak several times, he finally said, “Shen Yanqing has been locked in the heavenly prison. The other two envoys are also under control. We will release the news that Shen Yanqing tried to assassinate the Khitan king in a few days.”

 

A war between two nations requires a cause, and Shen Yanqing voluntarily became that fuse.

 

Without Shen Yanqing, the cause for war would have been a trivial matter like “incorrect tribute list,” which is hardly a valid reason to start a war. But Shen Yanqing’s actions were absolute, leaving no room for negotiation.

 

The world saw Shen Yanqing as a man of extraordinary wisdom, and Ji Jue didn’t know how much he had guessed nor how much of it was right.

 

In Ji Jue’s interactions with him, whether during their conversation in the tent or through Shen Yanqing’s probing questions toward Ji Zhen, he had always sensed a subtle intention from Shen Yanqing to secure his allegiance. But even he didn’t expect the man to act so decisively, using self-destruction to show his determination.

 

One cannot have it all. Shen Yanqing sacrificed his reputation, choosing to endure hardship alongside the Third Prince he once served while simultaneously using his own body to forge a path for the Crown Prince. Perhaps it was his only option in a desperate situation.

 

Killing Shen Yanqing on the grassland where he would be dead and unable to testify would have been the best solution. But if they did so, Ji Zhen, who witnessed his death, would suffer for the rest of his life…

 

Jiang Yunyu hadn’t heard Ji Jue’s response for a long time and said, “Brother Ji Jue, the Khitan king is waiting for us to discuss matters. The news is currently sealed off and won’t reach the capital anytime soon. This period is the perfect time for us to lay out our plans.”

 

Ji Jue nodded. “What about the Jiang family?”

 

“There’s a secret tunnel from the mansion to the suburbs, where people will be waiting to meet them.” Jiang Yunyu paused, then said with a heavy heart, “My father wrote in his letter that if they can’t escape, the Jiang family will never become a weakness that hinders the Crown Prince’s enthronement.”

 

The road to the imperial throne is built upon countless steps made of the stark white bones and rotting flesh of officials and common people.

 

This is true for the Ji family, the Jiang family, and even the Shen family.

 

No one is spared.

 

The author has something to say:

Gege truly raised Zhen Zhen very well, and many of Zhen Zhen’s ideas were instilled in him by Gege.

The character arc of Miss Wang has been in the works for a long time, and I can finally bring it to light…

Lord Shen also isn’t playing games; he’s truly embracing death.