Chapter 217

As he spoke, the man realized that he had uttered the wrong words. How could Chu Qiao still be addressed as General, given that she had betrayed Yan Bei?

“General, I… I…” AhJing did not say another word as he turned to leave. The moonlight shone on his body, appearing as a pale shade of white.

Yan Bei missed her presence; it was not just that man alone. Fate was often so irreversible, just like an arrow which had been shot out from a crossbow.

AhJing shook his head slightly as he draped his heavy cloak over his shoulder for some warmth.

Hongye was woken up by the sounds of rain at dusk. She sat on the mat in the big lonely palace, as her greenish-blue robe was slightly tainted with sweat. As the cold wind blew towards her, chills traveled up her spine through the cold beads of sweat, causing some goosebumps to appear on her skin. She rubbed her skin gently, only to discover that her fingertips were colder.

On the other side of the mat, a clear, white letterhead lay there quietly. It had been slightly damaged, showing that it had been used many times. The look in her eyes was cold as the rain droplets fell to the ground, drop by drop. The chimes by the window started to resonate with a clear, pristine sound as the palace curtains swayed slightly and elegantly like a dancer swaying her waist.

The contents of the letter read:

“The situation is critical. Brother, you have three options. Firstly, you can eliminate the Nalan family and its young emperor, then imprison the eldest princess and kill the King of Pujiang. This way, you can assume full control of the political power in Song. Secondly, you can marry the eldest princess and give yourself the title of ‘King of Shezheng’. This way, you can deal with the King of Pujiang, abandon the provinces along the eastern regions, and preserve the land by the capital. Thirdly, you can ask Xia for a union through marriage, but you cannot afford to rile up the royals of Xia, in case they are ousted and replaced. This person needs to have considerable military power, needs to be of an appropriate age, needs to be one of the noble aristocrats there with considerable backing and power. Most importantly, this person needs to be ambitious enough politically to covet after the Xia Empire. Once the wedding invitations are sent out, the King of Pujiang would not dare to dispatch troops towards the capital. Once spring is over, when Jiang Yong sends his army over to the eastern regions, the crisis will be averted.”

There was no need to study the letter further under the lights; everything had been internalized. Hongye leaned by the side of her bed quietly, a deep look in her eyes. There was actually another way, which was for Yan Bei and Song to form a union through marriage. Not only would the crisis regarding the King of Pujiang’s rebellion be averted, Yan Bei’s forces would be further strengthened. They would be able to sandwich Xia from the east and the west, reinforcing each other. However, he was naturally reluctant to do so. He had never thought about this before.

A man of appropriate age with considerable military power, born in the noble families of Xia and power-hungry. How many people like this existed in this world?

Hongye raised the corners of her lips, revealing a bleak smile.

Brother, you will not be able to let go after all.

Presently, Xia and Yan Bei were engaged in battle. The ethnic minorities causing disturbances in the northeast. Within the country, there was an internal power struggle; evidently, the royal family was on the verge of being destabilized. Song and Xia had not been in conflict for many years; their diplomatic ties were stronger than that as compared to Song and Tang. Furthermore, Song was an important trading hub which was prosperous. Xia would not give up the chance to form a union with Song at this time. However, this man that held military power, who was also the Chief Marshal of the Xia army, was the King of Qinghai. He had the backing of his powerful family too. How would he be so easily manipulated by others?

After the two major conflicts at Yan Bei, who wouldn’t know of Zhuge Yue’s devotion towards the General of Xiuli? Perhaps, in the eyes of an ordinary person, a dilemma between power and love beckoned for him. Which side would Zhuge Yue choose, when faced with this decision? However, she knew that this union by marriage was destined to fail, not because she knew Zhuge Yue well, but because she knew Yan Xun too well instead.

How would you sit back and watch your love rival form an alliance with Song, becoming the King of Shezheng? By making this suggestion, you would have been sure that this person was not easy to deal with.

By doing this, the conflict of Song would be temporarily averted. Zhuge Yue would be alienated from the political scene of Xia as well, having offended the officials of both Xia and Song. Furthermore, if he dared to reject the offer of marriage, the Zhuge family’s economic influence in Song would be shot down by the royal family of Song. This way, Zhuge Yue’s position in his family would be affected. Even if he was the absolute figure of power in Xia, he would be heavily implicated.

The resulting conflict between Qinghai and Xia would be the perfect opportunity for Yan Bei to strike, inflicting heavy damage on both armies.

She had thought of the various scenarios way beforehand, but did not verbalize her response for a long time.

Yan Xun was indeed formidable. His words were sufficient enough to brew up a torrential downpour in Xia. However, he did not expect one thing – his brother, Xuan Mo, was actually the eldest princess of Song, Nalan Hongye.

In the darkness, she squinted her eyes as she anticipated the storms ahead. All of her emotions and notions surfaced in her mind. He did not know that Xuan Mo was actually Hongye. She thought to herself repeatedly: If he knew, he definitely would not use me as a pawn for his ploy.

However, there was an underlying sense of bitterness and sorrow that she felt. After all, he was requesting that she marry another person.

Brother, you are a master schemer. We’ve known each other for 12 years, yet you are so careless. Xuan Mo is not actually Xuan Mo. Have you not realized this yet?

She gathered some strength at her fingertips to hold the white letterhead tightly. With a low voice, she muttered to herself, “Brother, since you have this intention, what’s wrong with me lending you a helping hand?”

Zhen Huang City then swiftly descended into chaos. Beneath the pot of boiling water, one could no longer make out what was bubbling within.

After the declaration of marriage was made by Song, a big hooha erupted within the royal capital. It was not the first time in history that a princess married another man beneath her status. However, it was only due to the fact that there was no prince of an appropriate age. Presently, there were many princes who were of eligible age, including Zhao Che and Zhao Yang, especially Zhao Yang, whose position was stable. With power in his hands, he was evidently the leading choice for Xia.

Song’s power was less stable as compared to the past as well. As Nalan Heqing was still young, Nalan Hongye had assumed power of the state for many years. Although she was a princess by name, she was technically the female emperor of Song. Her partner would not just be an ordinary partner—he was likely to be Song’s King of Shezheng. Under these circumstances, it was not advisable for them to merge the power of their royal family with another empire’s. However, they were internally shaky, and needed an external source of power to take control of Shezheng to stabilize the situation. With this perspective, everything would seem more reasonable. However, when the envoy of Song read out Zhuge Yue’s name on the court of Xia, the whole political scene was shaken once again.

Two years ago, news of Zhuge Yue’s death spread back to Xia. As the Xia troops at Yanming Pass had also suffered a heavy defeat, his reputation was utterly ruined. No one expected him to mastermind such a resurgence in Qinghai two years later, leading his troops back to his past country of residence with glory, much less become the most powerful man in the court of Xia. Even Zhao Yang had to respect him. Presently, the princess of Song had offered her hand to him. Once Zhuge Yue had married her, with the land of Xia in their hands, along with the military forces of Qinghai and the backing of Song, his family’s influence would jump up another notch. Zhuge Yue would undisputedly become the most powerful official in Xia. Despite these potentially terrifying consequences, the Zhao family was unable to resist this risky opportunity.

Putting their current economic situation and the conflict at the northwest aside, it was evident that there were some unknown relations between Yan Bei, Song and Tang, based on the previous wars in the north. Presently, with the departure of the General of Xiuli, Chu Qiao, from Yan Bei, their relations with Tang had broken down. What about Song? If Xia declared war on Yan Bei, what attitude would Song adopt towards this situation? Furthermore, if the eldest princess of Song married Zhuge Yue, would the situation be reversed?

Despite so many uncertainties ahead, Xia had no choice but to embroil themselves in this situation. After all, their worries were nothing compared to the conflict at the northwest. In a month’s time, when the ice had melted, the troops of Yan Bei would knock on the doors of their pass again.

That afternoon, three messengers carrying the emperor’s imperial edict, secret letter exchanges between families, as well as private intelligence from Zhuge Yue’s men respectively departed Zhen Huang for Nuanshui Ridge.

Zhao Yang sat in the big hall as he sipped his tea. The sunlight shone into the hall from outside and onto his handsome face. The 16th prince, Zhao Xiang, sat beside him, as he entertained a talking parrot. The parrot bobbed up and down, pecking at the paddy grains on Zhao Xiang’s palm while it uttered many words of gibberish. This angered Zhao Xiang, as he swore at the parrot periodically.

“16th Brother, what are your views towards this matter?” Zhao Yang opened his mouth and asked. The interior of the big hall was warm; a thick carpet was laid out on the ground. Fragrant spices were placed in the incense pot. Without turning his head back, Zhao Xiang replied lazily, “Which matter?”

“The one regarding the marriage of Song’s princess.”

Zhao Xiang’s attention was captivated as he turned his head around, replying in anger, “That Zhuge fellow is so lucky. Having died once, he brought back a loyal army of hundreds of thousands. Now, he seems to have struck the jackpot again. It’s so infuriating.”

Zhao Yang probed emotionlessly, “Is it really because he’s lucky?”

Zhao Xiang did not understand the intention behind his elder brother’s words. With a low voice, he replied, “By deduction, the princess of Song should have chosen you, 14th Brother, to be her husband. If it’s not you, 7th Brother should have been chosen. Why would Zhuge Yue be in the picture? I heard that the people of Qinghai addressed him as their ruler. In my opinion, he will be Song’s King of Shezheng in no time. The future emperors of Song will change their surnames to Zhuge as well. 14th Brother, do you think that Xia has unified Song?”

Zhao Yang chuckled as he remarked, “What a way to do so. I think that the Zhuge family will be a bigger problem in future as compared to the Nalan family.”

Zhao Xiang thought for a while before saying, “However, although Zhuge Yue is eccentric, his character is not evil. He is loyal and loves his country.”

“Loyal and loves his country?” Zhao Yang looked at Zhao Xiang from the side of his eyes as he mused in a heavy tone, “You really think of him this way?”

“I was in the same class as him for a while back in Shang Wu Hall. He is determined in his thoughts, unlike the other noble aristocrats. He is also rational. I think that he is fit to assist in the coronation of the next emperor.”

“Fit to assist?” Zhao Yang shook his head in disbelief as he continued, “How is he one to submit to another? Even if he loves his country, he won’t be loyal to you or me.”

Zhao Xiang looked at Zhao Yang, perplexed.

Zhao Yang did not offer further explanations, choosing to ramble on, “Things are not as simple as it seems. There is definitely some powerful figure pulling the strings behind the scenes. However…” He suddenly laughed coldly as he continued, “Everyone thinks that this opportunity was presented to him on a silver plate, but Zhuge Yue does not think so. Finally, someone is exposing his true colors. I want to see how this King of Qinghai reacts to this situation.”

This was the calm before the impending storm—a heavy one to say the least.

That night, Zhuge Yue slept late. As the sky turned bright, he leaned on the side of his bed, fatigued, as his thoughts wandered far away. He was seemingly back in his nightmare, reliving memories that had been forgotten. He saw countless shadows circling around him, as he felt his entire body turning frozen solid. A greenish hand grabbed him and pushed him forward along with the currents. Crimson red blood oozed out, dispersing across the icy water.

Yue Jiu’s eyes were bloodshot as he exerted all his strength to pull him forward. The sun shone through the cracks on the icy surface of the lake, as faint glimmers of light appeared under the water. He heard the sounds of human dialogue on the water surface. It was loud and clear, as it traveled across the water and into his eardrums.

“Long live the Emperor!”

He knew what was going on. The people of Yan Bei thought that he had died. Those chants were made by the warriors of Yan Bei, who were paying respects to their ruler.

Those chants slowly increased in volume. Other than that sound, he was no longer able to hear anything else. He had been utterly defeated by his opponent. Since young, he had never lost in this manner. However, now that he had lost, he would be paying the price of defeat with his life.