King Qin’s army had long since cut off King Wei’s forces. At the front, Yan Zheng personally killed the Crown Prince of Wei, Li Xuanyu. The enemies collapsed wherever he passed by, leaving none who could stand against him.
Now they stood within sight of the capital, and Li Xuanjing had successfully left the capital to join them. This made King Qin even more certain that the capital had been left with no one capable of defending it.
In truth, given King Qin’s temperament, he would never have camped here. He would have marched straight to the capital. However, Li Xuanjing had sent word that he could obtain the city’s defense deployment map. Coupled with King Yan urging him not to act rashly, the army had remained here for several days.
At this moment, the defense map lay spread across the table. After studying it for a while, King Qin pointed to several conspicuous ink stains in the lower right corner and frowned, “How could something this important have stains on it? This map isn’t fake, is it?”
King Yan’s brows twitched upon hearing this, but he remained expressionless, following King Qin’s gaze to Li Xuanjing.
Li Xuanjing calmly pointed to the ink stains and said, “Someone tried to secretly alter this map. I caught them before they could finish, hence these marks.”
King Qin rubbed the stains with his finger. Although the ink had dried, it was clearly newer than the surrounding handwriting.
“Or perhaps someone did this on purpose to make you believe the map is genuine.”
Li Xuanjing smiled with complete confidence and shook his head,
“I know what I’m doing. This map is real.”
Had anyone else tried to destroy the map, Li Xuanjing might have suspected the same. But Yan Yihuan would not. If he had been willing to take such a risk, then the map had to be genuine.
After silently examining the map in detail, King Yan suddenly looked up at Li Xuanjing.
“Nephew, who stole this map from the palace?”
Li Xuanjing, who had been standing tall and speaking with confidence, suddenly paused. He lowered his eyes to the map, then looked up again with a smile.
“It was Gao Yu, the spy I placed in the Imperial Study.”
“The Imperial Study,” King Yan fell into thought. After a brief silence, he asked, “Has there been any other news from the palace?”
“Uncle Yan, you’re worried about Yihuan, aren’t you?” Li Xuanjing said knowingly, an unreadable glint flashing in his eyes. “Gao Yu is only a low-ranking palace eunuch. He rarely gets the chance to see Yihuan. Especially after Li Xuanming shut himself away, Gao Yu hasn’t seen him at all.”
Seeing King Yan’s brows knit tightly together, Li Xuanjing quickly added, “Don’t worry, Uncle Yan. On the day we breach the palace, I’ll personally lead the men straight to the sleeping quarters and make sure Yihuan is protected first.”
“You really do understand me, nephew.” King Yan smiled and looked at Yan Zheng beside him. “You’re not as good as Xuanjing. You don’t even know how to worry for your younger brother.”
Yan Zheng smiled faintly and exchanged a glance with Li Xuanjing, his eyes full of helplessness, “How could I not worry?”
The exchange eased the tense atmosphere somewhat. King Qin looked at King Yan and smiled with hidden meaning, “Naturally, we all have to protect this precious treasure.”
For some reason, those words made King Yan’s heart skip a beat. His expression remained unchanged as he turned back to the defense map, saying nothing more about Yan Yihuan and instead beginning a serious analysis of the situation.
Hiding a single person in a military camp of tens of thousands was naturally an easy task. The horse camp in particular was ideal. There were few people and many horses. Deep into the night, the only sounds were the occasional stamping of hooves and snorts, accompanied by the stench that seeped into every corner.
From an ordinary stable came intermittent coughing. Listening closely, it was unmistakably Yan Yihuan’s voice.
At the moment, he was dressed in an ordinary soldier’s uniform, with a rattan helmet pulled low to hide half his face. His body was tightly bound, and he lay slumped on a wooden plank bed propped up by several bricks.
Yan Yihuan remained curled up on the plank without moving, so quiet that he seemed to be asleep. Then, at the sound of a sigh, he slowly opened his eyes and looked miserably and despairingly at his surroundings.
How had he inexplicably ended up in this predicament!
Yan Yihuan had initially thought that once they reached the military camp, with his father there and half of King Yan’s troops present, Li Xuanjing would at least show some restraint. He had never expected him to be so brazen as to tie him up here.
So now, the person who knew he had gone missing was not his father or brother, who were the nearest, but the Emperor, far away in the palace.
But Yan Yihuan understood perfectly well that the rebels believed the Emperor was gravely ill and was ready to attack the capital at any moment. At a time like this, not the slightest flaw could be exposed. The Emperor simply could not reveal himself to rescue him.
Fortunately, Li Xuanjing believed in all that nonsense about fate. As long as he did not lose his mind, Yan Yihuan might suffer, but at least his life was not in danger.
Li Xuanjing claimed he had loved him since childhood, that he had never spared another person a second glance, and that he had waited only for him.
If Li Xuanjing truly felt that way, how could he treat him like this? If it were the Emperor, no matter what situation he faced, he would never let Yan Yihuan endure such suffering.
And even if it really was because of fate, so what? The emperor possessed the destiny of an emperor, while he himself possessed the destiny of an empress. On top of that, the two of them shared a bond from a previous life. Wasn’t that the perfect alignment of heaven, earth, and human fate? What was there to hesitate about?
Being Empress was far better than serving as the Grand Historian, where he had to rise before dawn and work until late into the night. As Third Young Master Yan, he could go back to the carefree life of having everything handed to him. Better yet, he would not even have to work.
So what if the world refused to let a man become Empress? Heaven itself had decreed his fate. What could anyone possibly do about it?
Besides, if anything happened, there’s always the emperor, who’s taller than him, to shoulder the burden.
Lost in his wandering thoughts, Yan Yihuan alternated between worry and laughter. But after laughing for a while, sadness overtook him again. What good was understanding it all now? He had already fallen into this predicament. King Qin had obtained the defense map and now held the advantage. In this lifetime, he would probably never have another chance to be with the Emperor.
The Emperor must be worried sick by now, Yan Yihuan thought hazily.
The past few days had been unbearable. He could only let his mind wander endlessly to distract himself, but the more he thought, the heavier his heart became. The longing inside him surged like a river bursting through a broken dam. The intensity of his emotions startled him, and the familiar ache spread through his chest once more.
Why did thinking of the Emperor hurt so much? And the pain grew even clearer, as though something inside him was forcing its way out, tearing through him from within.
The sound of approaching footsteps abruptly dragged him back to the dark, foul-smelling stable. It also pulled Yan Yihuan’s attention away from his thoughts, allowing his breathing to gradually steady.
The only time he would be untied each day was when a soldier came to deliver his meals. Hope flickered in Yan Yihuan’s eyes, but the moment he saw who had arrived, his expression fell, and the light in his eyes faded.
The visitor was none other than Li Xuanjing.
Setting the meal on the small table nearby, Li Xuanjing walked over and began untying the ropes around him. But the stench that filled the stable invaded his nose, making him frown and hold his breath. His hands paused for a long moment before he continued,
“You’re such a clean freak. How did you end up getting yourself into this state?”
Yan Yihuan remained silent. He could barely stand the filth himself, but after seeing Li Xuanjing lose control that day, he had truly been frightened. So he had deliberately smeared himself with grime, hoping it would keep him safe.
Li Xuanjing had thrown him into a place like this yet still wore an expression of pity. The sight disgusted Yan Yihuan so much that he did not even want to look at the food either. He merely glanced at it before saying,
“I want to see my father.”
