Chapter 194
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It was as though time had gone back nine years. Nine years ago, on the vast snow plains outside Zhen Huang City, she had chosen to stand beside Yan Xun without hesitation. And with eyes of hatred, she looked at that arrogant child. On this day, nine years later, fate had again presented them with the same situation, and she chose the same choice again. People changed, and the only thing that remained the same was the frigid weather that covered this entire country. All noise ceased as snow fell on the face that she was all too familiar with.
Chu Qiao’s fingers dug into her skin as she clenched her fist. Despite the fact that her nails were already buried in her skin, Chu Qiao did not feel any pain.
Yue Jiu recognized her, and with bloodshot eyes, he scolded, “You ungrateful woman! Our master came here for you, yet you ambushed him! After today, as long as the Guards of Yue still exist, we swear to make you pay for what you have done today!”
“Such arrogance,” Yan Xun casually stated. He ordered, “Go, trample them.”
“Roger!” His bodyguards acknowledged his order and were about to charge over. But a thunderous wave of horses galloping sounded from beyond the plains. Those on the horses wore all kinds of clothes. There were merchants, farmers, storekeepers, scholars, and even Yan Bei officials! Whipping their horses, they brandished all kinds of swords and blades. They quickly gathered around Zhuge Yue.
“Master!” A middle age man around 40-years-old charged up. He was wearing a Rank 5 Standard Cla.s.s administrative official’s uniform, and carried a huge blade with him. Jumping off his horse, he charged in while shouting, “Yue Da has arrived late! AhJiu, bring Master to safety! Brothers! Charge with me!”
Nine years ago, when Yan Shicheng had died and Yan Xun was trapped in the royal capital, Zhuge Yue had carefully set up his men in Yan Bei. Obviously, he had not expected such a situation to occur. Initially, he had merely arranged for them to infiltrate Yan Bei should a day come when he struggled for control over Yan Bei with the other n.o.ble families of the Xia Empire. Then he could gain the upper hand. Yet, when Yan Xun escaped and rebelled, these men became sources of intel. In the battle of Cao Qiu, it was thanks to them that he was able to escape safely.
A thunderous battle began, and sounds of blades clashing rose once again, with the gleam of swords shimmering across the entire battlefield.
He Xiao cautiously approached and asked, “Master, shall we fight for His Highness?”
Chu Qiao stared absentmindedly at the battlefield, a myriad of emotions and thoughts rushing through her mind. Zhuge Yue’s face, Yan Xun’s face, among many others, flashed before her eyes. She did not know where she had gone wrong. An overwhelming sense of weakness filled her entire body. Anger, heartache, regret, guilt, and many other emotions that were impossible to describe filled her heart, blocking her eyes, nose, and mouth. She felt so tired—so tired that she could just fall into a coma and die.
“Master? Master?” He Xiao’s voice resounded in her ears and jolted her back to reality.
With a tremble, Chu Qiao returned to reality as she drew out He Xiao’s blade and jumped off her horse. She shouted, “Follow me!”
The Xiuli army followed behind her, as their l.u.s.t for battle boiled. Yet, just as they were about to head to the Xia forces, Chu Qiao’s blade slashed a Yan Bei soldier’s chest. With the blood splattering onto her face, her upright figure seemed like a firm and tall tree.
One, two, five, ten…
The entire scene quietened down as Chu Qiao attacked whichever Yan Bei soldier tried to approach her. Zhuge Yue’s guards stared at her although they kept their distance. Yan Bei’s soldiers looked at her in surprise as well, then started to back off. Even the soldiers of the Xiuli Army were utterly stunned, as they stood rooted to the ground, not knowing what to do.
“AhChu, what are you doing?” Yan Xun walked over. With eyes that seemed to be teeming with displeasure, he stared at her and questioned.
Chu Qiao did not speak, and merely held her blade and glared back at him. She looked at the man that she had spent all of her efforts to a.s.sist and follow, and suddenly felt that her entire life seemed like such a fleeting dream, like she was a puppet merely acting on other people’s instructions.
A few Yan Bei soldiers cautiously tried to test the waters by closing in on her slowly. Yet, Chu Qiao’s blade flourished, and a line of blood flew up into the sky. In the stunned eyes of all onlookers, those soldiers dropped to the grounds, convulsing like a mad dog that was about to die. With no flamboyant moves, she calmly pointed her blade at her supposed allies. Standing atop the vast snowy plains, her figure stood alone.
“Chu Qiao! What are you doing?” Yan Xun bellowed through the snowy plains. Having seen the standoff between them, Yue Da quickly started to inform his subordinates to initiate retreat. Seeing that, Yan Xun coldly ordered his subordinates to cut off their retreat. With that, Yan Bei forces started to give chase. Yet, Chu Qiao deftly moved up and blocked them from pursuit. The soldiers of Yan Bei had long been fully concentrated in the battle, and seeing that Chu Qiao stood in their way, they started to attack her as well. Seeing that, He Xiao picked up a sword in rage, and bellowed, “Brothers! Protect Master!”
The battle had fallen into chaos, and it was impossible to differentiate between friend and foe. Chu Qiao was overwhelmed with bloodl.u.s.t as blood soaked into her clothes. Her hands trembled violently, yet she refused to retreat. With the sounds of the horses galloping away, and Zhuge Yue carried away by his guards, the noise started to settle, and one could hear the sounds of the black eagles screeching overhead and the sound of the wind roaring beside their ears. In the vast plains, bloodied corpses littered the entire scene. Fighting continued in small pockets, and the atmosphere was full of despair and death.
After G.o.d knows how long, everything turned to silence. Clutching her blade like a walking stick, there was nothing but the smell of iron on her. Standing before her, Yan Xun stared at her with a pair of frigid eyes. She suddenly felt that the man before her seemed ever so unfamiliar, as though he had always been a stranger. She did not want to say anything, and did not want to ask anything either. Dragging her fatigued body, she tumbled back, and only wanted to leave.
“Stop there,” a deep voice resounded. Yan Xun slowly walked up, as soldiers parted to make way for him. Only He Xiao stood before Chu Qiao, and glared at the King of Yan Bei.
“Get lost,” Yan Xun coldly instructed. The young general lifted his head, and without fear, glared at him. With silence, He Xiao replied to Yan Xun.
Suddenly, Yan Xun drew his blade. At the same time, Chu Qiao swung her blade. The years they had spent training together meant that she did not even need to look to know how he had swung his blade. A violent clash of blades sent sparks flying, searing into the eyes of any onlookers.
Yan Xun smirked. “So you would swing your blade at me for this servant? I thought that you would only do such a thing for Zhuge Yue.”
Chu Qiao lifted her head, and with her dark eyes, she looked at those familiar eyes. Yet, she had no way of relating those eyes with the gentle and handsome kid that she once knew. At this moment, Yan Xun had finally escaped from her memories and stood before her. Reality was so merciless, as the utopia in her mind finally shattered and collapsed, unable to be pieced back together.
“Yan Xun, you lied to me.”
Yan Xun did not show a single tinge of remorse, as he calmly stated, “If I did not lie to you, how could I lay a trap for him?”
She felt as though a thousand arrows pierced her heart at once. Chu Qiao bitterly smiled, yet no tears came out. With unimaginable fatigue and despair, she looked at him in confusion and shook her head. “Yan Xun, since when did you change so much?” Her voice was like the screech of a bird that had just lost its nest. She was no longer that undefeated general on the battlefield, no longer that talented strategist, and no longer the wise and decisive Master Xiuli. At this moment, she was merely a woman who got her feelings played, and the years of her efforts and emotions seemed to be all for naught.
Yan Xun replied firmly, “AhChu, you said that I changed. But in reality, you also changed. The Xia general secretly entered Yan Bei, yet you did not inform me, and turned against me at this very moment. As the King of Yan Bei, what is wrong with killing a Xia soldier? If I had not predicted your reaction, why would I bother to waste so much effort to deceive you? Could it be that Yan Bei and I do not match up to Zhuge Yue in your heart?”
Trembling, Chu Qiao stared at him. After a long time, a maddened laugh came out from her mouth. “Yan Xun, if there’s a day when Yan Bei starts a war with the Song Empire, would you trick your friend in the Song Empire here and then kill her?”
Yan Xun was taken aback by this question and frowned. “What are you saying?”
“Yan Xun, you said I had not been honest with you, but tell me, do you trust me?”
Yan Xun frowned deeper, and firmly replied, “It was for your sake that I made you return to backlines and not partic.i.p.ate in the war.”
“Ma.s.sacre of my comrades and army, forcing me to leave behind the things that I struggled for all these years, chasing me away from power and authority, and away from the battlefield that I single-handedly held on to. Suspecting me, keeping me under surveillance, and making use of me. All this was for my sake?” Chu Qiao’s eyes were crystal clear despite the raging winds. Her words were like sharp daggers, piercing into the darkness that surrounded her. The sadness that had been building up within her had all been released at that very moment.
“AhChu, you are my woman. Why couldn’t you just stay in the backlines like the other women and wait for my victorious return?”
It was Chu Qiao’s turn to be surprised, and she fell into laughter. Her body trembling from the intense bout of laughter, she laughed until tears started falling out. With her hand grabbing her chest, bitterness filled her words as she shook her head and replied, “I see, so the woman that you wanted is someone like that.”
With her crystal clear eyes looking straight at Yan Xun’s eyes, her hoa.r.s.e voice resounded in the battlefield, “If that’s the case, why did you have to come looking for me? Yan Xun, you can kill Zhuge Yue, but you should not make use of me, and even worse, you should not have made use of my friendship with Zhuge Yue to lay this trap.”
Intense disappointment flashed before Yan Xun’s eyes. With a deep voice, he stated, “Cheng Yuan told me long before that you had connections with Zhuge Yue. Yet, I was always too trusting. Today, you finally admitted it yourself.”
Chu Qiao almost burst out in laughter yet again when she heard that. Cheng Yuan? He would rather believe that despicable man than her? She had gone through life and death with him, and gave her all to return him to power, and had followed behind him all these years. At the end of the day, in his mind, she could not even be compared to a despicable man who merely sang praises to him all day? She thought that he had merely been temporarily deceived, and was overwhelmed by hatred, but now, she started to despair. He had already become a mere politician. Whatever dreams, whatever beliefs he once held on to, whatever promises that he had made to let her be happy forever, all paled in comparison to his ambitions for greater power. To achieve his objective, he could find all kinds of excuses, and would believe in all things that would be beneficial to himself, and remove all the people that stood in his way, even if that person was his teacher, friend, comrade in arms, subordinate, and lover…