Under the cold, clear moonlight, a sword blade as silver as snow pointed at Li Yaoying, its edge glinting with a chilling gleam.
Li Xuanzhen stood on the stone steps, while Yaoying remained at their base.
Only a few steps separated them.
A mere extension of the man’s sword would be enough to slice through the delicate skin of the young maiden.
Yaoying slowly lifted her gaze, a faint smile flickering across her face.
"Is Elder Brother Changsheng going to kill A Yue?"
She asked softly, her dark hair and rosy cheeks accentuated by the flutter of her long lashes, her eyes like autumn waters, deep and luminous.
As a child, she loved to tilt her small face upward, blinking her large, slender eyes. With her delicate, jade-like features and rounded, pearl-like charm, she resembled a softly glowing pearl. When she coquettishly pleaded, her curled lashes fluttered gently, each blink tugging at the heartstrings.
Few could resist her requests when she smiled and looked at them this way.
So when she called him "Elder Brother Changsheng" with a smile and asked him to help her mold a clay figurine, he nodded in agreement.
That clay figurine, however, was a gift she intended for Li Zhongqian.
Li Xuanzhen’s wrist trembled slightly. The moonlight cast a faint shadow over his face, obscuring any trace of emotion.
Zheng Biyu looked puzzled.
The address "Elder Brother Changsheng" sounded familiar to her.
Li Xuanzhen’s childhood name was Zhang. Fearing he might not survive, Tang Shi had given him a common, auspicious name: Changsheng Nu.
In the past, only Tang Shi had called Li Xuanzhen by this name. After Tang Shi passed away, Zhu Lvyun became the only person in the world who could address him so intimately.
How did the Seventh Princess know Li Xuanzhen’s childhood name?
Zheng Biyu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Eldest Young Master…"
Before she could finish her attempt to dissuade him, Li Xuanzhen’s expression darkened. "All of you, leave," he commanded coldly.
Frowning deeply, Zheng Biyu glanced back at Yaoying. Seeing her composure unshaken, her confusion only grew, though she showed no sign of it. She led the palace attendants away.
The evening breeze gently rustled the bamboo-framed lanterns hanging along the corridor, their hazy glow swaying slowly.
Yaoying took a step forward.
The tip of the sword was now barely half a finger’s breadth from her porcelain neck. She could almost feel the blade’s thirst for blood, its chilling intent to kill.
Yet, her eyes showed no fear. Holding the hem of her skirt, she continued forward, her gaze unwavering.
Li Xuanzhen tightened his grip on the sword, his eyes fixed on her, unmoving.
Yaoying ascended the steps.
With a sharp clang, just as the blade was about to touch her neck, Li Xuanzhen abruptly withdrew the sword, stepping back. The tip scraped against the ground, emitting a harsh, grating sound.
He said nothing, averted his gaze, and discarded the sword.
"Don’t call me that," he said coldly.
Yaoying stared at the sword lying in the lamplight, as pristine as a handful of fine snow, lost in thought for a moment before correcting herself. "Eldest Brother."
Li Xuanzhen’s expression remained indifferent.
Yaoying tried again. "Your Highness, the Crown Prince."
Still, Li Xuanzhen did not respond. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Why did you want to see me?"
Yaoying replied with certainty, "The news brought back by Xie Chao must have reached the Crown Prince’s Palace by now."
Most military generals came from humble backgrounds, and Li Xuanzhen was the very figure they pledged loyalty to. Nearly half of the court’s top commanders had fought alongside him, maintaining close ties with the Crown Prince’s Palace. No battlefield intelligence could escape its notice.
Yaoying had sought help from various quarters but received no response. It was clear the Crown Prince’s Palace had spoken first, deterring anyone from offering her assistance.
Li Xuanzhen remained silent.
Yaoying knew this was his way of admitting it. She clenched her fingers tightly.The Crown Prince's Palace indeed knew that Li Zhongqian was trapped in a dire situation. Sending reinforcements was urgent—there could be no further delay.
Li Xuanzhen wore a mocking half-smile as he said in a derisive tone, "Seventh Sister wants to beg me to save Li Zhongqian? Save your breath."
Asking him to rescue Li Zhongqian was nothing short of a fool's dream!
In truth, not only would the Crown Prince's Palace refuse to lend aid, but they also intended to seize this opportunity to eliminate the threat permanently.
Even if Li Yaoying produced that clay figurine, he would never lift a finger to save the son of his enemy.
"I know Your Highness would never agree," Yaoying said, her voice strained but her expression calm, enunciating each word clearly. "So let us make a trade. You dispatch the Flying Cavalry to rescue my elder brother, and I will take the place of the Fukang Princess to marry into the Yelu Tribe. What do you say?"
The Flying Cavalry obeyed only his commands.
The night breeze whispered softly, causing the lamplight beneath the bamboo-frame lantern shade to flicker and sway.
Li Xuanzhen's pupils contracted sharply. He lowered his gaze to Yaoying, his expression a mix of shock, fury, and revulsion.
"What right do you have to bargain with me?"
He turned his face away as if in disdain.
"I understand. Your Highness despises my mother and my elder brother. You believe my mother forced Empress Tang to her death. You once said you wanted my mother to taste the bitterness of humiliation."
Yaoying lowered her head, straightened her sleeves, and knelt stiffly before Li Xuanzhen.
The corridor paved with Capricorn-patterned floor tiles was hard and cold. Even through several layers of gauze silk, her knees ached dully.
Yaoying remained kneeling upright, lifting her head. "If I endure this humiliation before Your Highness on my mother's behalf, would it bring you satisfaction?"
Li Xuanzhen stared at her in astonishment, his face twitching slightly.
Yaoying did not move from her kneeling position. Meeting his scornful gaze, her expression remained utterly unruffled.
"Can we discuss the trade now?"
She asked, her tone steady.
This time, Li Xuanzhen fell silent for even longer. He stepped forward, his cold fingers lifting Yaoying's chin.
The rough pads of his fingers brushed against her skin like the back of a blade scraping past.
Yaoying recalled how these same hands had once choked her throat, leaving her breathless, and she trembled faintly.
Li Xuanzhen looked down at her from his height, his gaze icy. "Seventh Sister, if you knew it would come to this, why did you act as you did back then?"
Yaoying met his gaze frankly, her expression resolute and unwavering.
It was the same determination she had shown years ago when he gave her a choice, and she turned away without hesitation.
Li Xuanzhen's fingers suddenly tightened. "Seventh Sister, I gave you a chance."
Yaoying faced his cold stare and smiled faintly. Though kneeling, her presence was undiminished. "Your Highness, my mother is a daughter of the Xie family, and my elder brother is Li Zhongqian. That will never, ever change."
Born with frail health, she had survived only because Xie Manyuan cared for her tirelessly day and night until she was three.
After she turned three, Li Zhongqian raised her, taught her to read and write, rescued her from battlefields—the siblings relying on each other through thick and thin.
Her mother and elder brother were her family. She would never sever ties with Li Zhongqian to save herself, even if it meant enraging Li Xuanzhen completely.
Li Xuanzhen's lips twisted into a sneer. He released her and turned his back.
"Li Zhongqian has only a few days left to live. I have no need to bargain with you. Without Li Zhongqian's protection, even if Duke Pei persuades His Majesty to revoke the marriage decree, I have ways to force you to agree to the substitution. Seventh Sister, you still lack the standing to trade with me."
Duke Pei's method of protecting Yaoying was an open strategy—it could only persuade the Emperor to annul the betrothal edict, but it could not prevent others from scheming in the shadows.Now that Li Zhongqian was in trouble, Wei Ming had his own methods to force Yaoying into taking the place in the marriage alliance.
She was merely a woman who had lost her sole support, unable to stand against the Crown Prince's Palace.
Nor did she have the qualifications to negotiate with the Crown Prince's Palace.
Yaoying said calmly, "Can Zhu Lvyun wait? Can His Majesty wait? How long can Chieftain Ye Lu wait?"
The wedding date was drawing nearer. She had sent people to inquire—Zhu Lvyun wept all day long. How could Li Xuanzhen bear to let Zhu Lvyun live in constant fear?
"Moreover, even if Wei Ming can devise a way to force my consent, how can he ensure my willing cooperation?"
Yaoying hinted meaningfully, "If something unexpected were to happen to me, if I were to accidentally ruin my face, or if I were to meet an unfortunate end... The slightest mishap would render Wei Ming's schemes useless. You cannot force me, and in the entire Great Wei, only I can replace the Fukang Princess."
Li Xuanzhen's face darkened.
Worried about Li Zhongqian's safety and unwilling to prolong the confrontation with Li Xuanzhen, Yaoying stood up, brushing the sleeves of her dress. "Your Highness the Crown Prince, please dispatch the Flying Cavalry immediately. As long as my elder brother returns safely to the capital, I will keep my promise and take her place in the marriage alliance. I am a person of my word and will not go back on it."
"I will wait only half an incense stick's time. If the Flying Cavalry has not set out by then, no matter how Wei Ming threatens me, I would rather die than take her place."
Li Xuanzhen's thick eyebrows furrowed.
Yaoying did not urge him further but stood aside, waiting for his decision.
A moment later, she suddenly clutched her chest tightly, her expression pained. Staggering a couple of steps, a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her lips.
Li Xuanzhen was taken aback. He grabbed Yaoying's arm, forcing her to look up. "What's wrong with you?"
Yaoying's face was pale, her entire body trembling. Sweat soaked through layer after layer of her clothing, and her hairline was damp with perspiration, glistening softly under the lamplight as if she had just been pulled out of water.
Li Xuanzhen held her halfway, feeling her soft body rapidly grow cold, without a trace of warmth.
"Are you ill?"
Beads of sweat dotted the tip of his nose. He was at a loss, gently patting Yaoying's cheek.
Yaoying's limbs were weak as she leaned against his embrace. She raised a hand to wipe the blood from her lips and slowly lifted her face.
Li Xuanzhen looked down at her.
Yaoying's lips were purplish, her face devoid of any color, yet a faint smile gradually surfaced at the corners of her mouth. Trembling with pain, she said, "You've agreed."
Li Xuanzhen froze.
Yaoying shivered all over, her face covered in cold sweat, her teeth chattering. On her haggard face shone the most radiant glow she had shown in days.
"Li Xuanzhen, you have already agreed to the deal."
She could feel it—she had once again averted Li Zhongqian's fated death in battle, and so she was being punished again.
Elder brother would be saved.
...
When Zheng Biyu saw Li Yaoying again, she was lying in Li Xuanzhen's arms, breathing faintly, her face slightly bluish.
"How did she end up like this in the blink of an eye?"
Zheng Biyu's gaze at her husband was sharp as a blade. "Did you harm Seventh Lady?"
Li Xuanzhen shook his head and set Yaoying down. "I didn't harm her. She suddenly vomited blood for no reason."
Zheng Biyu shooed Li Xuanzhen out and repeatedly called for a physician to examine Yaoying.
Just as Li Xuanzhen turned to leave, his sleeve tightened.
He looked back.
Yaoying was clutching his sleeve tightly, her fingers white with strain. Leaning over the edge of the bed, she said weakly, "The Fly... Flying Cavalry..."Li Xuanzhen looked at her, his expression blank as he withdrew his sleeve.
"I have already dispatched the Flying Cavalry."
Yaoying slowly closed her eyes.
The physician soon arrived with his medical kit but found nothing visibly wrong. He could only prescribe some calming medicine for Yaoying first.
Zheng Biyu was frantic with worry, fearing something might happen to Yaoying, and personally kept watch over her.
The next morning, Yaoying woke from her unconsciousness and, ignoring the physician's advice, struggled to get out of bed.
She couldn't stay long in the Crown Prince's Palace.
Zheng Biyu had already learned of the deal between Yaoying and Li Xuanzhen. She sighed deeply and helped her up: "Seventh Lady, are you truly certain about this?"
Last night, Wei Ming and Li Xuanzhen had argued.
Wei Ming was unwilling to save Li Zhongqian, while Li Xuanzhen insisted on rescuing him. The two had quarreled late into the night.
The servants from the princess' residence, however, were overjoyed. They rushed back overnight to deliver the news, and this morning, palace attendants came to report that Zhu Lvyun had started eating again.
Yaoying's face remained pale as snow. She smiled bitterly and said, "Sister-in-law, when the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken. If my elder brother truly dies in the river valley, my mother and I will have no one to rely on. We'll be like fish on the chopping block, at the mercy of others. By then, I won't even have anything left to bargain with."
With the Xie family wiped out in battle and Xie Guifei losing her support, the mother and her two children could only submit to their fate.
To protect her and their mother, Li Zhongqian abandoned scholarly pursuits for martial ones, following Li De in campaigns north and south, using his fearsome reputation on the battlefield to intimidate demons and monsters.
In these turbulent times, Li Zhongqian was Xie Guifei and Yaoying's pillar of strength.
Without her elder brother, she would either obediently marry in someone else's place or resist unto death.
Since the outcome would be the same either way, it was better for her to take charge of this deal herself and secure Li Zhongqian's safety.
To save her elder brother, Yaoying was willing to sacrifice anything.
Zheng Biyu sighed softly and escorted her out of the inner courtyard.
Li Xuanzhen had just returned from the princess' residence, still wearing yesterday's clothes. His expression was neither good nor bad.
He looked at Yaoying, his brow slightly furrowed: "You're ill. Why are you out of bed?"
Yaoying's face was pale. She smiled weakly and said, "Eldest Brother need not worry. As long as my elder brother is safe, I will keep my promise and fulfill the marriage alliance between Great Wei and the Yelu Tribe. Even if I were on my deathbed, I would hold on until after the wedding banquet."
Li Xuanzhen's expression darkened slightly.
Yaoying paused to catch her breath, then lifted her gaze to meet Li Xuanzhen's phoenix eyes, so similar to Li Zhongqian's.
"Li Xuanzhen, I lower my head to you, make deals with you, and kneel before you not because I believe my mother is guilty or that we owe you anything, but because the weak are prey to the strong, and I have no other choice."
"I have never believed that my mother forced Empress Tang to her death. The tragedy between them was a tangled web of misfortunes in these chaotic times. Second Brother is even more innocent; he has never harmed you or your mother. Yet, simply for being my mother's son and a threat to your position, you see him as a thorn in your side, and the Emperor vents his anger on him."
Li Xuanzhen remained silent, watching as Yaoying, frail and weak, step by step walked away, her delicate figure disappearing into the depths of the shaded woods.
...
Yaoying forced herself to walk out of the courtyard.
Xie Qing hurried forward and helped her into the carriage.
"My lady, back to the prince's residence?"
Yaoying shook her head, her voice as faint as a thread: "No, we're going to the palace."
She was about to marry far away to the grasslands.
Once she left, it would likely be forever.
Before she went, she needed to settle all those old scores, one by one.
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