HXC Chapter63

In a gloomy, dark prison cell, a figure in blood-red clothing leaned against a tall haystack. Every now and then, a muffled cough escaped his chest, greatly annoying the Khitan guard watching over him.

 

“What’s all the noise? Shut up!”

 

Shen Yanqing ignored him, spat out a mouthful of blood, and tilted his head slightly to meet the Khitan man’s gaze. His eyes were extremely cold, his dark pupils that were like a long-abandoned dry well holding a fearless disregard for life and death. The Khitan man felt a chill shoot up from his feet and grumbled as he walked away.

 

To torture the prisoners, the Khitan guards would splash cold water into the cells every two hours. Autumn in the north was cold and damp, seeping into every pore like jagged worms gnawing at flesh and bone, causing even the deepest part of the marrow to ache.

 

Shen Yanqing’s brow furrowed as he endured the acidic pain rising from his lungs and clenched his teeth until they felt numb.

 

The moment he set foot on the path to the Northern Desert, he had already anticipated that he would fall to this state, his official career was over, and Ji Zhen’s hatred for him was so deep it could never be filled. Living felt like merely existing as a walking corpse; life and death held no difference for him.

 

Even if he managed to walk out of the vast lands of the Northern Desert, the Third Prince, who was still suspicious of him, would likely kill him on the way back to the capital.

 

It was a path to death he had willingly chosen.

 

The cell door’s chain rattled as it unlocked. A tall figure bent slightly to step inside, and Ji Jue looked down at Shen Yanqing, who was covered in blood.

 

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west. Back then they were both inside the prison just like this, but now their positions had completely shifted.

 

The conversation in the capital’s prison that day echoed clearly in his ears.

 

“Lord Shen, aren’t you afraid that helping me will lead you to the same end as me?”

 

“In the capital, it’s hard to distinguish between friends and foes. Friends today can be enemies tomorrow. Only those with benefits can survive.”

 

“If there’s benefit for one day, it will last day after day, year after year, endlessly. Even if I reach a point where my bow is broken and my blade is spent, it’s my fate.”

 

It was a prophecy fulfilled.

 

Shen Yanqing looked up at Ji Jue, who had come to see him, and even managed a sigh. “Lord Ji, this scene feels strangely familiar.”

 

He used the haystack to slowly get up. He leaned against the wall and calmly asked, “Has the verdict been reached? Is it death by a thousand cuts, being torn apart by carts, or a waist chop?”

 

Assassinating the Khitan king was a monstrous crime. Dying on the grassland would have been a quick end, but being captured meant enduring endless torture. Shen Yanqing’s tone was without the slightest fluctuation, as if the person about to face these brutal tortures had nothing to do with him.

 

Ji Jue’s eyes flashed with a cold light. “If you were truly determined to die, you shouldn’t have chosen to do it in front of Zhen Zhen.”

 

Shen Yanqing replied candidly, “I want him to remember me.”

 

Ji Jue was a humble gentleman who rarely got angry in front of others. But hearing this, he stepped forward quickly and seized Shen Yanqing’s throat, his fingers slowly tightening. “You knew Zhen Zhen can’t stand the sight of blood, yet you acted on your selfish whim in front of him. Zhen Zhen is still unconscious…”

 

“Selfish whim?” Shen Yanqing opened his mouth. He countered by grabbing Ji Jue’s wrist and pushing him away. “I have a selfish whim, so what is yours, Lord Ji?”

 

This rhetorical question was deafening, causing Ji Jue to take two steps back.

 

Shen Yanqing looked at him deeply. “Ji Zhen sees you as a dear and respected brother, but do you, Lord Ji, only see Ji Zhen as a younger brother?”

 

The prison cell was as quiet as the sky before a storm.

 

Ji Jue’s long-hidden, private thoughts had been explicitly exposed. His lips were pressed together tightly, he didn’t utter a word.

 

Shen Yanqing endured the physical pain and stood up straight. He opened his palm and then closed it while saying softly, “That night, Lord Ji must have sensed I was in Ji Zhen’s room as well. Why didn’t you push the door open and come in? Were you afraid of what you might see or afraid of what Ji Zhen might discover?”

 

Ji Jue retorted in a low voice, “Enough.”

 

Shen Yanqing let out a low laugh, sounding a bit crazed. “Ji Zhen may have no more feelings for me but we were married for five years. He’s pure-hearted and kind. After my death, he’ll think of my tragic end. Whether it’s love or hate, he’ll definitely think of me from time to time… and then my life won’t have been in vain.”

 

“Lord Ji, for my help to you, please execute me soon.”

 

After saying so much in one breath, Shen Yanqing began to cough violently, losing his strength and slowly leaning back against the haystack, looking ready to die.

 

Ji Jue looked down indifferently for a long time before saying, “The Khitan king has decided to transport you back to the capital.”

 

To be transported as a prisoner of war meant losing all dignity and a life worse than death.

 

Shen Yanqing would rather die than live in such humiliation and was about to speak when Ji Jue added, “The army is splitting into two routes. Zhen Zhen and I will be traveling with the army.”

 

The iron chains of the prison cell locked once more, trapping Shen Yanqing in a cage with no light.

 

He sat quietly for a moment, then suddenly let out a soft laugh. He was sure of Ji Jue’s private desires for Ji Zhen, and in turn, Ji Jue had counted on his willingness to shamelessly cling to life just to see Ji Zhen again.

 

In this game of chess, no one was the winner.

 

—

 

Ji Zhen’s many nightmares had become reality.

 

A soaring wild goose was pierced through its long neck by a cold, sharp arrow, and with a cry of sorrow, it plummeted from the sky. Suddenly, it transformed into a bloody Shen Yanqing, who crashed violently at his feet.

 

He also remembered that terrified gray deer that was hunted down and ran in a panic. Its clear eyes were filled with pleading and helplessness, yet the large blade still cruelly chopped at its flesh, and a torrent of thick blood sprayed out, splashing all over Ji Zhen.

 

He raised his hand and noticed that the deer that had been beheaded was actually himself.

 

Ji Zhen woke up with a scream. The terrifying dream felt so real and he stumbled off the bed as if he had gone mad. After two steps, he bumped into a broad chest. He looked up in fear and saw his elder brother, who gave him a great sense of security. His strength suddenly gave out and his body went limp as he was supported by his elder brother.

 

Ji Zhen returned to reality from the nightmare and quietly let Ji Jue lead him back to the bed.

 

He hugged his knees with his legs bent. The images from before he fainted entered his mind: Shen Yanqing being encircled, being captured…

 

He wanted to ask but didn’t know where to start. He just stared blankly at his elder brother with wide, round eyes.

 

Ji Jue brought him a calming medicine and handed it to him. He was very obedient and drank it all. Only when Ji Jue took a handkerchief to wipe his lips did he murmur, “Gege…”

 

Ji Jue didn’t need to hear the rest of Ji Zhen’s words to know what he wanted to ask. He raised his hand to brush a stray strand of hair from Ji Zhen’s forehead and said, “Shen Yanqing is alive.”

 

Ji Zhen’s moist eyes lit up.

 

“He tried to assassinate the Khitan king. His crime is unforgivable.” Ji Jue looked steadily at the pale face before him. “Zhen Zhen, do you understand?”

 

Ji Zhen’s expression was blank. Faced with his elder brother’s heavy gaze, he had no choice but to force himself to nod slightly.

 

He knew that anyone in this world could be against him, only his elder brother always thought of him in everything. He would listen to his elder brother’s words but there was still so much he didn’t understand.

 

“Then…” Ji Zhen stammered and asked cautiously, “Can he stay alive forever?”

 

This time, his elder brother didn’t give him a clear answer and only looked at him with an unreadable expression.

 

Shen Yanqing’s words in the prison cell echoed in Ji Jue’s ears once more: “What are Lord Ji’s private desires?”

 

His private desires were now within reach.

 

He was no god; he had love and desire. The greed he had so desperately locked away and suppressed in his heart seemed to have found an opening and all of it was climbing out, scrambling to get free.

 

Ji Jue stared at Ji Zhen, who was completely unguarded before him. His fingertips twitched as he slowly laid his palm on Ji Zhen’s back, drawing the soft body into his arms.

 

Ji Zhen was a little confused but obediently leaned into his elder brother’s arms. Before Ji Jue could make his next move, Ji Zhen called out “Gege” in a daze.

 

These two innocent words instantly forced back all of Ji Jue’s fantastical thoughts.

 

As if awakening from a drunken stupor, he let go of Ji Zhen. Seeing the pure trust in Ji Zhen’s clear eyes, he found it almost difficult to face his own absurd actions just moments ago and stood up in a flustered state.

 

Ji Zhen noticed his elder brother’s strange behavior and asked blankly, “Did I do something wrong?”

 

“You didn’t do anything wrong, it’s me…” Ji Jue avoided Ji Zhen’s bright eyes, took two steps back, and said, “The army will depart in three days. Shen Yanqing will be traveling with them. I have an important matter to discuss with Yunyu. You should rest early.”

 

Ji Zhen watched his elder brother leave in a hurry, feeling bewildered inside.

 

He quietly got off the bed and opened the window. On the windowsill, there was a handkerchief. He unfolded it and saw a lifelike peony embroidered on it.

 

—

 

A fast horse galloped through the gates of the capital city and its speed causing people to scatter.

 

The atmosphere in the imperial court was tense with all the civil and military officials hanging their heads, not daring to speak.

 

A scout reported that the envoy Shen Yanqing had been captured alive after attempting to assassinate the Khitan king. The Khitan king was enraged and would soon wave his banner to attack the Great Heng Empire. What was even more shocking was the news of General Huaiyuan, Jiang Yunyu, had conspired with the Khitans to rebel.

 

When this news reached the capital, the emperor immediately sent men to raid the Jiang family mansion. However, when the officials searched the mansion, they discovered that only servants remained. The Jiang family members had secretly left the capital at an unknown time.

 

Coincidentally, Shen Yanqing’s parents had also left the capital much earlier.

 

It was clear that Jiang Yunyu and the others had been planning this for a long time already.

 

During the current emperor’s reign, the Great Heng Empire favored civil officials over military ones. When the border was in chaos and the court had no one to send, they reluctantly appointed the demoted Jiang Yunyu to the battlefield. They never expected to raise a tiger that would bring trouble, Jiang Yunyu now harbored rebellious intentions.

 

Suddenly, the entire court was filled with panic and alarm.

 

The only military official available in the court was from the Wang family. The old General Wang Meng had passed away two years prior with his thirty thousand elite soldiers had been taken into the court while the military tallies for the remaining twenty thousand soldiers were passed down to his descendants. Although his descendants were not as brave and skilled in combat, they were still a sharp and courageous bunch and immediately petitioned to lead the army to fight off the enemy.

 

The Third Prince, who had vouched for Shen Yanqing’s mission to the Northern Desert, volunteered to take command to atone for his actions, and the emperor granted his request.

 

The capital erupted like boiling water with all sorts of rumors spreading.

 

In the streets, those who secretly supported the deposed Crown Prince praised Jiang Yunyu’s actions while others grumbled and blamed Jiang Yunyu for inciting the war.

 

The only thing everyone agreed on was their curse of Shen Yanqing.

 

The common people didn’t care who was in power. Whoever sat on the throne and allowed them to live and work in peace was a wise ruler.

 

For the current emperor, a traitor’s crime was unforgivable, but no matter the motive, those who started a war between two nations would be reviled by millions for generations.

 

The once-proud son of heaven, who had achieved the highest imperial exam honors and was revered in the capital, became a thief despised by everyone in every street and alley. The books in the academies that quoted his poems were all burned down while the people walking past the sealed-off Shen Mansion couldn’t help but step on the front gate.

 

His merits were all destroyed, and his sins were profound.

 

For a mortal to stand at the top of the clouds, it takes immense effort and wisdom, but to fall into the mud takes only an instant. History serves as a lesson.

 

The author has something to say:

The reason Lord Shen can be the protagonist because his love is fierce enough and his ruthlessness knows no bounds.

Attached maniacal love interest 1v1 explanation: Many people love the Shou, but the Shou only loves the Gong.

Regardless, Lord Shen and Zhen Zhen are deeply in love and are a perfect match.