Layers of gauze curtains obscured the view, while the Dragon Brain Incense floating in the air made one drowsy and heavy-headed.
The scent was familiar to Yu Qianqian. Her entire back ached as if split open, yet she lay motionless on the soft bedding, eyes closed, dark lashes lowered, feigning unconsciousness.
A cold, low voice from within the room reached her ears: "The person was taken by Xie Zheng?"
The Shadow Guard kneeling below the low table was drenched in cold sweat as he clasped his fists. "Wu'an Marquis's men seized the Old Members of the Meng Family while we were engaged with Wei Yan's trained underlings. This subordinate deserves punishment, Your Highness."
Crack—
A faint shattering sound echoed—Qi Min had crushed the white jade thumb ring in his hand.
Half his face was cast in shadow, the sharp contours of his features rendered even more sinister in the dim light. He slowly lifted his head and spoke languidly, "You failed? Then why are you still alive to return and face me?"
The air grew thin. A drop of sweat fell from the Shadow Guard's temple onto the floor. In panic, he retrieved an object from his robes and presented it to Qi Min. "When this subordinate rescued the Old Members of the Meng Family from Wei Yan's private prison and revealed our identity, they gave me this."
Another Shadow Guard, hidden in the room's dark corner, stepped forward, took the object held aloft by the kneeling guard, and presented it to Qi Min.
The object was about an inch tall and three inches long, entirely black, shaped like a tiger or leopard, engraved with ancient inscriptions—it was half of a Tiger Tally.
Qi Min recognized its origin from the inscriptions, his long eyes narrowing slightly. "This is the Tiger Tally from Changzhou seventeen years ago."
According to the Great Yin Law, each region had its own tally. Only by obtaining the matching half from the imperial court could one mobilize the local garrison.
He looked down at the kneeling Shadow Guard. "What did the Old Members of the Meng Family say?"
The guard, sensing his life was spared, hurriedly replied, "They begged Your Highness to clear Old General Meng's name!"
Qi Min's brow lifted slightly.
On the bed, Yu Qianqian tensed, straining to hear more, but the conversation outside abruptly ceased.
Qi Min raised a hand, signaling the Shadow Guard to silence himself. Listening to the trembling breaths from behind the layers of curtains, his lips curled faintly. Suddenly, he said, "Dismissed. As for Xuan Jian's arm—you will sever it. Those who dare harm my people must learn their lesson."
Yu Qianqian's heart pounded with dread. Instinct told her that the Xuan Jian Qi Min spoke of was the Shadow Guard who had tried to kill Bao'er.
The kneeling guard asked no questions, merely responding with a "Yes" before withdrawing.
Yu Qianqian heard the door close. She didn’t understand why Qi Min had cut short the discussion about the truth of the Jinzhou battle, leaving her anxious yet helpless.
When the sound of slow, heavy footsteps approached the bed, she hurriedly feigned sleep.
The layers of gauze were drawn aside and hooked onto a golden clasp.
Even with her eyes closed, Yu Qianqian could sense the sudden brightness around the bed.
The mattress dipped slightly—she guessed Qi Min had sat down beside her.
Though she kept her eyes shut, she could almost feel his serpent-like gaze sweeping over her. Her entire body instinctively tensed, fingers beneath the covers clenched so tightly they turned white.
She struggled to maintain her act, unaware that the man seated beside her watched the faint tremors of her lashes with a mocking curl of his lips.Her back was injured, and after applying medicine, Qi Min didn’t even allow the maids to change her clothes. Amid the silver-red Soft Smoke Gauze bedding, half of her bare back revealed snow-white skin, the hideous knife wound adding a touch of ravaged beauty, like a delicate orchid crushed by rough hands.
Qi Min watched the woman desperately pretending to sleep, the curve of his lips deepening slightly as he reached out with a pale, cool hand to trace her spine.
Sure enough, the next moment, goosebumps crawled up Yu Qianqian’s arms.
Knowing she could no longer feign sleep, Yu Qianqian opened her watery eyes and shot Qi Min a cold glare. "Take your hand away!"
Instead of withdrawing, Qi Min seized her chin, asking leisurely, "No more pretending?"
Yu Qianqian recoiled as if bitten by a viper, disgust evident in her voice. "If I hadn’t pretended, how else would I have heard your schemes? Even a vicious tiger wouldn’t harm its own cub. Yet you’d kill your own son—what loyalty do those followers owe you? Aren’t they afraid you’ll turn on them one day too?"
Qi Min released her chin, his lips quirking indifferently. "Are you angry because I want to kill that little bastard?"
Rage flickered in Yu Qianqian’s eyes, but he suddenly leaned closer, his voice icy and mocking. "If you and he had both stayed obediently by my side, I wouldn’t have touched him. But you ran away with him and fell into Xie Zheng’s hands. Surely someone as clever as you knows Xie Zheng could use him to command the warlords?"
Yu Qianqian remained silent, her face paling further, though her furious glare never wavered.
Qi Min’s eyes were cold, reptilian, his thin lips nearly brushing her ear as he taunted, "It’s not me who wants him dead. You’re the one forcing my hand."
He drew back slightly, savoring the sight of her trembling—whether from fear or fury—and spoke pityingly, "Qianqian, the one who nearly got that child killed was you."
"Lies!" Yu Qianqian spat, her agitation tugging at the wound on her back. Pain flashed across her face, draining more color from her cheeks.
Qi Min frowned slightly, shedding his mockery as he steadied her shoulders. "Don’t move. You’ll reopen the wound."
Beads of sweat formed on Yu Qianqian’s forehead from the pain, but she suddenly let out a scornful laugh. "Qi Min, why don’t you just kill me too?"
His fingers dug into her shoulders, nails nearly piercing flesh as he locked eyes with her, his voice dark. "I won’t kill you. And you don’t want to die either."
Releasing her, he paused, then softened his tone. "If you want children, we’ll have more in the future—as many as you like. That child was never meant to be born when he was."
Yu Bao’er had come into this world as his replacement.
He could never love a child who might usurp his place at any moment. That he hadn’t killed Bao’er already was the greatest mercy he could offer.
He would have heirs—but only after reclaiming everything that was his, only after securing absolute power.
He loathed anything that threatened him.
Tears welled in Yu Qianqian’s eyes as she endured the searing pain in her back. She spat at him viciously, then shut her eyes. "If I’d known it would come to this, I should’ve let you die by the lake back then!"
The moment the words left her lips, the air around Qi Min turned glacial.In the end, he merely stared at Yu Qianqian with a cold laugh: "It's far too late for regrets now. You were the one who dragged this demon back into the human world. Everything that follows is only what you deserve!"
He strode away, leaving only the swaying bead curtain on the bed canopy behind him.
Yu Qianqian clutched the bedding, her face still pale from severe injuries, yet her gaze toward the doorway was clear and icy—calm to the point of indifference.
As soon as Qi Min stepped out of the room, the Shadow Guard waiting outside bowed and addressed him, "Your Highness."
Qi Min replied darkly, "Keep a close watch on her."
The Shadow Guard acknowledged the order respectfully. Only after Qi Min had walked away did he glance at the tightly shut door.
His Highness had always been deeply suspicious. Even Lan Shi, after suggesting he produce an heir, had fallen out of his favor. Only the woman inside the room—who knew what spell she had cast—had remained an exception all these years.
After walking a few steps, Qi Min was approached by the same Shadow Guard who had reported to him earlier, his collar still stained with specks of blood: "Your Highness, as ordered, I have severed one of Xuan Jian's arms."
Qi Min, still toying with the half-piece of the Tiger Tally behind his back, showed no interest in the report. Instead, he asked, "What of the other half of the Tiger Tally?"
Each autumn rain brings deeper chill.
Rootless Water cascaded from the eaves, splashing in puddles along the corridor. The cold wind carried the dampness to the base of the wall, where aged redwood, darkened by the rain, stood. The hem of the young man leaning against the wall bore faint water stains.
The copper wind chimes hanging along the corridor swayed wildly in the wind, their melancholic and fragmented chimes filling the air.
Inside the room, agonized groans occasionally pierced the silence. Xie Zheng seemed not to hear them, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, lost in thought while watching the sudden autumn rain.
The cold wind tousled the strands of hair at his temples, and the faint cut on his jade-like face stung in the breeze. His lowered eyes were as sharp as the wound on his face.
After a while, the physician treating the patient inside emerged with his medicine chest. Xie Zhong, who had also been waiting under the eaves, immediately stepped forward to ask, "How is General Zhu?"
Xie Zheng's gaze shifted over indifferently.
The physician shook his head silently and sighed, "The bones and tendons in his legs were broken over a decade ago. The tissue has long since necrotized. There's no hope of him ever walking again."
Xie Zhong, who had lost an arm and a leg himself, understood the pain. After a moment of silence, he only said, "Do your best to treat him."
The physician nodded and left to prepare the medicine.
A servant attending to the patient inside hurried out to summon someone: "Marquis, General Zhu wishes to see you!"
The truth he had long sought was now within reach, yet Xie Zheng hesitated for a moment before stepping into the room.
The physician had scraped away the rotting flesh and redressed the wounds, leaving the stench of blood thick in the air.
The man lying on the bed was bearded, his hair tangled like dry grass, crawling with lice. Aside from a pair of sharp, alert eyes, his features were nearly unrecognizable.
Both his legs were broken, and after seventeen years in a lightless dungeon, they had wasted away to little more than skin and bone.
Xie Zheng looked at this old general who had once served under Meng Shuyuan and his own father, and said simply, "General Zhu, you're home."Zhu Youchang stared fixedly at Xie Zheng, then suddenly let out a heart-wrenching sob: "Seventeen years... seventeen years have passed! The descendants of General Xie have grown into such towering figures! In my lifetime... I never thought I'd live to see the general's heir again!"
Overcome with grief, this once battle-hardened warrior could only pound the edge of the bed and weep bitterly.
Xie Zhong limped forward to support Zhu Youchang, his eyes red as he asked, "General Zhu, please calm yourself first. Why were you imprisoned by Wei Yan for seventeen years? Was there more to the grain transport delay back then?"
At the mention of the failed grain transport, Zhu Youchang grew even more agitated. Choking back tears, he cried, "That beast Wei Yan is worse than swine! General Meng suffered the most unjust accusation in history! The poor old general died with bitter regret, and the loyal Meng family—not a single descendant remains!"
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