Chasing Jade (Zhu Yu)

Shen Shen also arrived at this moment with the men of the Left Flank Battalion. Dismounting, he called out to Xie Zheng, "Jiuheng!"

He was slightly out of breath. After a glance at the current situation, his expression turned grim. "The Divine Machine Battalion's firearms aren't in the West Garden!"

His Left Flank Battalion had already lost nearly half its men after clashing with the Divine Machine Battalion and the Right Flank Battalion sent by Grand Tutor Li. To rush here and support Xie Zheng, they had truly put their lives on the line.

"I know."

Xie Zheng rose to his feet, his gaze sweeping over the corpses and blood on the ground before meeting Wei Yan's.

His eyes at that moment were indescribable—icy, placid, and indifferent.

The sky brightened, and the howling north wind whipped up waves of snow. The rosy light filtering through the clouds in the east draped half the imperial city in a layer of golden-red. He stood there, halberd in hand, the blood-splattered side of his face bathed in the golden glow of the dawn. As handsome as a deity, he was also wreathed in the cold, grim aura of a ferocious god or demonic general.

Wei Yan met his gaze in silence for a beat before looking at the Left Flank Battalion soldiers behind him. With the air of one in complete control, he asked coolly, "Do you think adding one Left Flank Battalion can turn the tide today?"

Xie Zheng raised his head languidly and sneered, "Whether it can be turned or not, one has to try to find out."

He gave a faint smile. "This Marquis is rather curious. Since the Prime Minister doesn't even care about the life of his own legitimate son, which bastard are you fighting for this position for?"

A layer of frost instantly coated Wei Yan's pair of stern, phoenix-like eyes. He cursed, "Insolent whelp!"

The smile on Xie Zheng's face, which never reached his eyes, turned utterly frigid. He raised his halberd and pointed it straight at Wei Yan. "You are not qualified to lecture this Marquis!"

Wei Yan seemed to have been thoroughly enraged by Xie Zheng. Instead of immediately dispatching the martial assassins by his side, he barked, "Bring me my blade!"

His subordinates quickly brought over a crescent blade, about eight feet long. The blade was archaic in style, and where it met the hilt, a blackened green dragon was engraved. At a glance, it seemed as if a dark aura swirled around the blade, a terrifying sight.

The long blade, which required two soldiers to carry, was lifted by Wei Yan with a single hand. His wide sleeves billowed in the wind, and his imposing manner was in no way inferior to that of the old generals who had fought on battlefields.

In the distance, upon seeing Wei Yan lift the crescent blade with one hand, He Xiujun looked as if he had seen a ghost. He turned to Tang Peiyi. "Uncle Tang, Wei Yan knows martial arts?"

Tang Peiyi's expression was a little complicated. "He should. In his early years, he was as famous as General Xie and had also defended the northern court. But by the time I joined the army, Lord He was already holding his own under him. He took the path of a civil official, so I never heard about him knowing martial arts."

Over on the other side, after lifting the crescent blade with one hand, Wei Yan looked at Xie Zheng with a stern and cold expression. "Since this old man taught you, I can also discipline you!"

Xie Zheng watched the man charge toward him, dragging the long blade, but he stood his ground without moving. A coldness tinged with hatred surfaced in his eyes. As his five fingers tightened around the long halberd, blood gushed from the palm where a large piece of flesh had been scraped off, dyeing a section of the shaft red.

In the past, he had been instructed by Wei Sheng alongside Wei Xuan and the newly selected martial assassins, and he had also received pointers from Wei Yan.

In terms of martial arts alone, his later fighting style was heavily influenced by Wei Yan. Wei Yan's moves were all about a single, fatal strike, with no superfluous flourishes.

Just as the crescent blade was about to strike a vital point, Xie Zheng raised his halberd and slammed it forward.

Sparks flew as the blade scraped against the side blades of the halberd. Wei Yan spun around, and the blade he swung backhanded hacked into the halberd's shaft. The whip kick Xie Zheng launched was met by Wei Yan's blocking elbow, sending a spray of snow flying from the ground.

The speed of their moves was so swift that it was almost impossible for the naked eye to follow.

Their contest was direct and straightforward, a competition of who was faster and more ruthless.

The personal guards of the Wei and Xie families stood on either side, watching the battle with extreme tension.

When one of Xie Zheng's halberd strikes nearly swept across Wei Yan's neck, Tang Peiyi slapped his thigh and roared, "A good strike! Cut down this old villain!"

Nearby, Fan Changyu, who was locked in combat with Wei Sheng, also let out a fierce cry. Her blade, capable of shattering gold and jade, swung down in a horizontal slash. Even though Wei Sheng managed to retrieve one of his golden maces to block, the immense force still sent him staggering back several steps, his hand between his thumb and forefinger tearing open. He was in a sorry state.

Tang Peiyi felt the stagnant blood that had been stuck in his chest from his earlier injury become less suffocating. Wishing he could grab a blade and join the fight himself, he yelled, "Niece Changyu, keep striking him!"

His overexcitement almost made him choke on a cough of blood, causing the personal guards around him a great deal of anxiety. He Xiujun also patted his back to help him catch his breath.

The Horse-Cutting Sword in Fan Changyu's hands was not light. After that powerful slash, she was almost too exhausted to deliver a second one. But she spun on the spot, using her body's momentum to power the blade, and with a long cry, she brought it down again in a ferocious chop.

Ignoring his torn hand, Wei Sheng raised the golden mace horizontally to block again. This time, however, a sharp crack of breaking metal rang out.

The Horse-Cutting Sword had snapped the modified golden mace in two. If not for two of the Wei Mansion's martial assassins leaping out and kneeling to catch the remaining force of the sword with two of their own blades, Wei Sheng would have been cleaved in half by Fan Changyu's strike.

After delivering that blow, Fan Changyu was also somewhat drained. She stood panting, leaning on the hilt of her sword.

Xie Shiyi and his men stood behind Fan Changyu, glaring at the two Wei Mansion martial assassins opposite them, their stance making it clear that they were ready to fight to the end if the others dared to make a move.

Wei Sheng spat out a mouthful of blood. As he was being helped up by the Wei Mansion's martial assassins, he was still looking at Fan Changyu. "Wei Qilin's spawn?"

He shook off the martial assassins' support, wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, and said, "You're more capable than your old man. The Prime Minister shouldn't have spared you and your sister's lives back then."

The ferocity in Fan Changyu's eyes had not yet faded. She stared at him coldly and said, "Heaven's net is vast; though its mesh is wide, nothing escapes it. What Wei Yan owes my parents, my maternal grandfather, and the tens of thousands of soldiers who died tragically in Jinzhou, he will have to repay!"

The early sun rose behind her, its myriad rays so brilliant they made it hard to open one's eyes.

When Wei Sheng heard her mention Meng Shuyuan, he suddenly fell silent.

On the other side, after several clashes between Xie Zheng and Wei Yan, Wei Yan slowly began to show signs of fatigue.

He was getting on in years, and in this kind of fight that purely tested stamina and endurance, his body was finally giving out.

Xie Zheng's attacks, on the other hand, grew increasingly vicious. His long halberd jabbed and thrust around Wei Yan like a flourish of a spear, moving like a soaring dragon. Every flick and parry carried the force of ten thousand catties, forcing Wei Yan to retreat while defending passively.

The Wei Mansion's martial assassins wanted to come to his aid, but for a moment, they couldn't find an opening to squeeze in.

Xie Zheng seemed to be filled with extreme hatred. His jaw was clenched tight, yet he still smiled coldly, his eyes full of mockery. "Discipline me? On whose behalf? On behalf of my father, whom you had killed in Jinzhou? Or my mother, whom you forced to her death?"

As his final question fell, he threw his weapon with immense force.

Beneath his disheveled hair, his eyes were faintly red, perhaps from the cold wind.

The long halberd plunged deep into the hard granite of the Meridian Gate square. Wei Yan barely avoided the fatal blow with a clumsy roll on the ground.

The martial assassins raised by the Wei Mansion quickly helped Wei Yan up and took several steps back, staring at Xie Zheng with extreme vigilance.

The cold wind seared his lungs. Supported by his confidant, Wei Yan coughed violently before raising his eyes to look at Xie Zheng. "Brute force. This old man can no longer match you in it now. But if you think you can win this contest tonight with brute force alone, then that's a joke!"

As his words fell, the crossbowmen on and below the city wall all aimed their crossbows at Xie Zheng and his group. The Golden Guard even rolled out several large cannons and set them up on the city gate's platform.

Shen Shen's expression changed. He immediately commanded the archers of the Left Flank Battalion to draw their bows as well, but they were severely outnumbered. It was almost a cornered beast's struggle.

Wei Yan met Xie Zheng's gaze from afar. For a fleeting moment, there was a martial glint in his eyes, but it was also tinged with a hint of world-weariness.

Tang Peiyi, half-lying on the ground, said to He Xiujun, "That old villain, he infuriates me! If we hadn't been guarding the frontier all this time, with no influence in the capital, when would it be his turn to spout such nonsense!"

He Xiujun coughed a few times, sharing the sentiment of a hero at the end of his road. He only said, "General Shen is a true hero!"

Knowing that Wei Yan had the Divine Machine Battalion's firearms, yet still leading his battered troops to help—that courage alone was enough to command admiration.

Tang Peiyi said, "If we are truly to die here today, the road to the underworld will be filled with heroes as companions. That would be quite a joy!"

Fan Changyu looked at the dark muzzles of the cannons on the city wall and the countless gleaming arrowheads. At this moment, her heart was surprisingly calm. She turned her head to look at Xie Zheng.

The early sun and the firelight from the city wall intertwined on his face, which was covered in traces of blood and soot. He looked cold, stern, and resolute—the most handsome she had ever seen him.

After discovering that the West Garden was a trap set by Wei Yan, she already knew what she would face by rushing here.

She wasn't afraid of death. She was just unwilling to accept it, unwilling to accept that they would lose just like this!

And there was also some... reluctance to let go.

The old folks all said that after death, one had to cross the Bridge of Helplessness and drink Granny Meng's soup to forget everything in this life before being reincarnated.

As she walked over to stand shoulder to shoulder with Xie Zheng, she kept her eyes fixed forward and placed an object, soaked through with blood, into his hand.

Xie Zheng noticed and turned his head slightly to look at her, but Fan Changyu did not look back. She only said softly, "Xie Zheng, do you believe people have a next life?"

"I don't believe in ghosts or gods," his voice was deep and slow.

Fan Changyu continued to look at the opposing soldiers, chatting with him as if it were nothing. "I didn't believe in them either, originally. After my parents passed away, I wanted to believe again."

She paused before saying in an extremely soft voice, "If there really is a next life, come find me."

Xie Zheng's head snapped to the side, and he stared at Fan Changyu with a look that only he himself could understand.

The sky was clearing after the snow. The newly risen sun was not yet warm, and the morning wind carried the scent of gunpowder and ice. After everything fell silent, only the sound of the Wild Goose Wing Tower, which had been bombarded by cannon fire, burning on one side remained.

In this dead silence, a heart was beating tumultuously.

He said out of the blue, "This old thing probably has no more tricks up his sleeve. Then let's not waste any more time with him."

Before Fan Changyu could react to the meaning of his words, a signal flare had already shot into the sky from Xie Zheng's hand.

Everyone present was momentarily stunned by his sudden action.

Xie Zheng glanced coolly at Wei Yan. "The Prime Minister has sat high in the court, unparalleled in his manipulation of power. But in the art of war, I'm afraid you are still lacking."

The muffled clang of armor sounded in the distance, vast and mighty like a tidal wave.

Everyone turned to look and saw an army bearing the "Xie" banner pouring like a tide from several long streets outside the Meridian Gate into the square below. The Golden Guards on the city wall stood higher and had a wider field of vision. Seeing the endless armies on those long streets, their faces turned pale almost instantly.

And this was only the army they could see. Who knew how many more were blocked at the outer city gates, yet to enter. This was truly a force of thousands upon thousands!

Shen Shen's worry turned to joy. He looked at Xie Zheng. "Jiuheng, you were prepared all along?"

Xie Zheng didn't answer, but an elegant man in brocade white robes and a snow-white fox fur cloak emerged from the army, fanning himself with a feather fan. The first thing he said upon seeing Xie Zheng was, "I waited for you half the night and didn't see your signal. I thought you'd been wiped out in the city!"

Then, he gestured with his fan in a shallow bow toward Shen Shen. "Brother Shen, it's truly been many years."

Shen Shen was in a sorry state, but he couldn't help but break into a smile. "Brother Gongsun!"

Xie Zheng, however, gave Gongsun Yin a cool glance. "You were just eager to get into the city to watch the show, weren't you?"

Gongsun Yin wasn't angered by Xie Zheng's retort. He bowed to Fan Changyu. "General Fan."

Fan Changyu was both surprised and delighted. "Gongsun? You've been outside the city all this time?"

Tang Peiyi, He Xiujun, and the others were also stunned beyond words.

Tang Peiyi immediately burst out laughing. "I knew it! Our Marquis is a master of military strategy. How could he possibly be defeated by that old villain Wei Yan!"

He shouted at Wei Yan, "Old villain, have your men surrender at once!"

He Xiujun was also smiling, but his injuries were more severe, and the movement pulled at his internal organs, causing him pain. He could only smile reservedly.

Gongsun Yin gave Fan Changyu a slight nod. Seeing the blood on her face and clothes, he raised an eyebrow. "It seems there was a fierce battle in the city last night."

The army was still pouring into the square like a tide. While they chatted and laughed, the Golden Guards and the soldiers of the Five Armies Garrison on the city wall were having a very hard time. Even though they still held their crossbows, their faces were filled with panic.

This was no longer a matter of being outnumbered. A group of capital soldiers who had only ever trained in the Beijing suburbs, facing the Xie Family Army that had tasted the blood of northern barbarians on the northwestern battlefield—there was no need for a clash. Just this one distant encounter was enough for them to be intimidated by the murderous aura erupting from the thousands of troops below.

The few advisors following Wei Yan were also filled with despair. Only Wei Yan remained as calm as ever, his gaze fixed on Xie Zheng's back through the crowd.

Xie Zheng's face was cold and resolute. He scanned the east and west Wild Goose Wing Towers and announced in a deep voice, "All soldiers who followed Li and Wei in this rebellion, listen up! Those who lay down their weapons and surrender will be treated with leniency. Those who resist stubbornly will all be charged with treason!"

His voice, like the shattering of sonorous metal and jade, echoed throughout the entire Meridian Gate square.

Anyone could see that Wei Yan's cause was lost.

A Golden Guard dropped his saber, which clattered on the stone tiles. Immediately, the sound of weapons hitting the ground followed one after another, like a string of pearls that had broken. Once the first one fell, the rest could no longer be held back.

In a flash, the only ones still supporting Wei Yan in the Meridian Gate square were the martial assassins raised by the Wei Mansion.

Gongsun Yin gently waved his feather fan. "Prime Minister, you have long held a high position and should know best what it means to go with the flow. Things have come to this. Do you still wish to make a dying struggle?"

Wei Yan looked at Xie Zheng, a myriad of complex emotions in his eyes. In the end, all he said was, "I underestimated you."

Xie Zheng met his gaze coldly without a word.

As the army tightened its encirclement around Wei Yan and his men, the martial assassins beside him drew their weapons, intending to fight a bloody path out. But Wei Yan calmly raised a hand, halting their actions.

A man beside him called out, "Prime Minister!"

Wei Yan only said, "It was I who was one move short and lost the entire game."

When the armored guards escorted Wei Yan and the remnants of the Li faction to the imperial prison, the uncle and nephew almost brushed past each other, but neither said another word.

When one mountain collapses, another will always rise.

The golden glow of the rising sun bathed the imperial city. The soldiers below began to treat the wounded and clear the battlefield. Injured generals like Tang Peiyi and He Xiujun were also carried to the nearby Imperial Academy of Medicine for treatment.

The bloodshed and chaos of the night seemed to fade in the hazy dawn. Only the scorched ground and towers, bombarded by cannon fire, still bore blackened marks, like scars carved into the magnificent imperial city.

Xie Zheng stood quietly between heaven and earth, his long lashes slightly lowered, his thoughts unknown.

On the horizon were auspicious morning clouds. The wind on their faces seemed to have softened, stirring the loose strands of hair by Fan Changyu's ear. She turned her head to look at Xie Zheng. "We've won, haven't we?"

Xie Zheng gave a soft "mm," raising his eyes to look at the ravaged yet majestic towers and palaces before them. A layer of dawn light fell upon his long, thick eyelashes, but the color of his eyes remained deep and profound.

Everything had settled.

Gongsun Yin strolled over and asked, "How should Wei Yan be dealt with?"

Xie Zheng replied, "Lock him up for now."

He no longer had the heart to stay there. The fatigue from a whole night of fighting washed over him. He held Fan Changyu's hand tightly and said to Gongsun, "I'll leave this place to you."

Gongsun Yin glanced at the blood covering his body and, for once, magnanimously agreed. "Fine. I'll handle things here. With all those injuries, you should hurry back and find a physician."

Xie Shiyi cleverly found a carriage. Xie Zheng pulled Fan Changyu by the hand and boarded it. Most of the people present had already left, so not many noticed them. Even those who did were Xie Zheng's subordinates and didn't dare to say or look too much.

Fan Changyu's reactions always seemed to be half a beat slow. Even after getting into the carriage, she was still asking, "Gongsun must have brought at least twenty thousand troops. Yesterday, you said he could set out. It's impossible for Gongsun to have brought his army into the capital so quickly in just one day. They must have been near the capital all along. Was this the matter you said you couldn't tell me about before?"

Xie Shiyi urged the horse on quickly. As the carriage jolted, the curtain swayed, and sunlight shone into the carriage. Fan Changyu was in a disheveled state, but under her long lashes, which were haloed in a soft golden light, her eyes appeared even more pure and clear.

Xie Zheng propped one hand beside her, watching her quietly. His eyes were deep and dark. He didn't answer, but instead raised the object in his hand and asked her, "What is this?"

Fan Changyu looked at the object in his palm, which was soaked into a clump by blood. Only now did she feel embarrassed. Fortunately, her face was covered in blood and sweat, too dirty to be seen properly, so her blush could be hidden.

She cleared her throat and turned her face away. "Hair."

Xie Zheng's breathing, for some reason, grew heavier. He stared at her without blinking.

Fan Changyu felt as if his gaze could burn a hole in her temple. She pressed her lips together, and thinking of the state of mind she was in when she cut that lock of hair, she felt a bit of bitterness. Throwing caution to the wind, she said, "I heard that only by tying their hair together can a couple be considered husband and wife. After discovering the trap in the West Garden, I thought that going back to find you would most likely be a near-death situation, so I cut a lock of my hair. We've bowed in a wedding ceremony, even if it was fake, we still bowed to heaven and earth, but we haven't tied our hair. If this life is really this short, then tying a lock of hair would mean we've been husband and wife."

Xie Zheng's heavy breaths fanned across Fan Changyu's cheek. He asked in a deep voice, "You knew it was a near-death situation, yet you still came back for me. Weren't you afraid?"

Fan Changyu said, "I was afraid. But my enemy was there, and you were there too. How could I not go?"

She raised a hand to touch his face, still feeling a lingering fear as she thought of the arrows Wei Yan had ordered to be fired. "And it's a good thing I went."

Xie Zheng wanted to say that he would have been fine even if she hadn't come, that he had sent her away from the palace battlefield precisely because he didn't want her in danger, and that he had let the stalemate with Wei Yan drag on because he was afraid Wei Yan or Qi Min had other tricks up their sleeves that would ruin everything. But at this moment, he couldn't say a word.

His chest ached with a sour, swelling feeling, yet it also felt as if he were soaking in a warm spring, a tingling numbness spreading through him. He lowered his head, clutching her hand tightly, his breaths growing heavier one after another. When he looked up again, his gaze had become inexplicably fierce.

That look made Fan Changyu's heart jump. Just as she was wondering how she had provoked him again, the carriage stopped. She lost her balance and stumbled into his arms. From outside, Xie Shiyi's voice came, "Master, General, we've arrived at the Marquis's Mansion."

Xie Zheng pulled Fan Changyu out of the carriage and strode toward the main courtyard.

Seeing this, Xie Shiyi, who had been about to fetch the mansion's physician, couldn't help but slow his steps, scratching the back of his head in an awkward and difficult position.

Should he still go get the physician or not?

As soon as they entered the room, Xie Zheng kicked the door shut. He pushed Fan Changyu down onto the soft couch and leaned over her, no more than half a foot away. Their breaths intertwined. The scent of blood on him stimulated her senses. He seemed to want to kiss her, but then he suddenly stood up and left, finding a dagger from somewhere. He cut a lock from his own long hair and tied it in a dead knot with Fan Changyu's blood-soaked strand.

His voice was deep and hoarse. "To tie our hair as husband and wife, our love will never be in doubt. In life, I will return to you; in death, I will long for you. I wanted to tie our hair on our wedding day. Since you've given it to me early, I won't be giving it back."

Fan Changyu gazed at his stern and handsome features. Though her heart was filled with joy, at this moment, she felt a lump in her throat, and her eyes began to sting. She glared at him. "Who asked you to give it back?"

Xie Zheng only stared at her for a beat before lowering his head to kiss her again, fierce and tender.

They had just been through a bloody battle, and the blood in their veins was still boiling. Seeing her risk her life to save him, hearing her promise of a next life, the surging love in his chest coursed and crashed through his limbs and bones along with his sizzling blood, urgently seeking an outlet.

Amidst the chaos, a trail of blood-stained Armor led from the outer room to the edge of the hot spring in the adjoining chamber. In the hazy mist, as Fan Changyu leaned against the pool's edge with trauma medicine and gauze to bandage his mangled hand, his other hand gripped her waist tightly. The water rippled, and the roots of his hair were soaked with sweat, yet he still locked his deep, dark, intense gaze on her, unwilling to even blink.

Fan Changyu stubbornly pressed her lips together, her eyes veiled with a hazy, watery sheen and her neck covered in sweat. Several times, her hands trembled so much she almost dropped the gauze into the water.

When she finally finished wrapping the gauze, he pressed the back of her neck, making her nestle completely into his embrace. The movements below were not the least bit tender, his eyes dark and bottomless.

Fan Changyu held on until the very end, so exhausted she could only lean on his shoulder. In a daze, she heard him whisper hoarsely next to her ear, "Changyu, my wife."

The blood flowing through the thin layer of his veins was still restless, yet within this warmth, it found the ultimate tranquility and tenderness.