The Lament of Autumn

She hadn't fully understood back then, but now she finally comprehended everything—only it was unfortunately too late.

After attending the inauguration ceremony in Golden Mausoleum, Jiang Xueting rushed back to Yuzhou overnight on a special flight, arriving between one and two in the morning. The moment he stepped off the plane, he saw Zhou ZhengHai waiting to greet him. Without preamble, he demanded, "How is she?" Knowing exactly whom Jiang Xueting meant, Zhou ZhengHai promptly replied, "Miss Ye has been very quiet these past few days. With Ruixiang taking close care of her, there's been nothing unusual."

He gave a slight nod and rode through the snow to the Small Mansion. When the car reached the ferry, it drove directly onto the boat. As the vessel rocked gently, Zhou ZhengHai smiled and said, "Dean Jiang, this trip has truly been a triumphant success. All the newspapers, big and small, have published photos of your dignified presence at the inauguration ceremony. They all say you are the party's foremost figure of integrity, with far-reaching prestige."

Jiang Xueting's face darkened. After a long pause, he snorted, "The more the Cheng family fawns over me like this, the more it worries me. I know they have plenty of tricks up their sleeves—they just haven't used them yet."

Zhou ZhengHai laughed. "Dean Jiang, you needn't worry about that. The Northwestern Army is in our hands. At worst, we can meet force with force. No one will get away unscathed."

Jiang Xueting nodded again. The boat soon arrived at the southern shore of Yuzhou. As it docked, the vehicles on board jolted, shaking the accumulated snow off the car. The driver drove ashore and headed straight for the Small Mansion. The snow fell in thick, soft flakes, and the car didn't stop until it reached the front of the mansion.

Jiang Xueting stepped out of the car and, without bothering to remove his overcoat, hurried upstairs. Pushing open the bedroom door, he was greeted by a wave of warmth. She stood with her hair disheveled and feet bare, hiding behind the balcony curtains as if afraid. Using her little finger, she pulled back a corner of the curtain and peeked outside furtively. After a few glances, she withdrew her hand, her face tense with anxiety.

He called out, "Pingjun."

She turned around and, upon seeing him, broke into a gentle smile. Barefoot, she rushed toward him like a flowing cloud, throwing herself into his arms with a childlike, innocent laugh. "Look, there are so many flowers outside... white flowers..."

Jiang Xueting smiled and said, "I came back from Golden Mausoleum just to be with you. What would you like to eat? I'll take you out."

She shook her head vigorously. "I don't want to eat."

He gazed at her. Her eyes sparkled like starlight, full of vitality. Suddenly, she pointed at the unmelted snowflakes on his overcoat and giggled, "Flowers... flowers..."

She reached out to touch the snowflakes on his coat, but he caught her slender hand and said tenderly, "Don't touch them. They're very cold."

She withdrew her hand, biting her finger as she chuckled dreamily. He took off his overcoat and hung it on the coat rack. When he turned around, he saw her suddenly run to the rosewood wardrobe and crouch on the carpet, peering intently underneath. He asked, "What are you looking for?"

She turned to look at him and replied with a smile, "There's something hidden in here. I saw it."He stepped forward and pulled her up from the carpet, speaking gently, "Never mind that." She still wanted to search under the cabinet, but he drew her into his embrace. Jiang Xueyan held her as they sat on the sofa, his hands clasped around her waist. She was only anxious to retrieve something from under the cabinet, reaching out to pry his fingers away one by one. No sooner had she managed to loosen one than he closed his grip again. Growing frantic, she used both hands to forcefully try to break his hold.

Her head was bowed, her jet-black hair cascading like a waterfall, with a few stray strands escaping to cling against her fair neck. Jiang Xueyan slowly leaned closer to her neck, carefully kissing her warm skin. Unaware of his actions, she remained wholly focused on prying his fingers apart, as if this were the most important task in the world.

The moon gradually emerged from behind the clouds, a lone silver disc in the pitch-black night sky that seemed all the brighter for its solitude. Outside the window, a chill, pale light seeped in, while the radiator in the bedroom burned intensely, filling the room with warmth. In an Imperial Kiln Vase placed on the shelf, a single spray of white hibiscus stood, its graceful form reflected in the painted partition—slender and sinuous. His breathing gradually grew more rapid as he lowered his head to kiss her cheek. Unhappy, she reached out to push him away, but with a slight movement of his hand, he easily captured both of her restless hands, holding them tightly.

When Jiang Xueyan woke in the middle of the night, his hand reached out to the side, only to find the bed empty.

A cold sweat broke out instantly, and he hurriedly rose from the bed. The snowlight from outside shone into the bedroom, casting a brilliant glow, but she was nowhere to be seen. The door was slightly ajar, with light from the hallway filtering through the gap. Without a second thought, he rushed out in his pajamas. The Guards on duty in the attendant’s room downstairs were startled by his sudden appearance. Zhou Zhenghai, learning of the situation, hastily dispatched all the Guards to search and personally brought a coat to drape over Jiang Xueyan, following behind him and repeatedly urging, "Dean Jiang, please don’t worry. Miss Ye must still be in the courtyard. The main gate has sentries—if Miss Ye had left, she would have been noticed."

The snow in the courtyard had piled up thickly, blanketing even the garden trees in white. All the courtyard lights were switched on, illuminating the pristine, smooth snow now trampled and chaotic from the hurried search of the attendants. The late-night air was bitterly cold, each exhaled breath instantly turning into a cloud of white mist. Jiang Xueyan frowned and said, "It’s so cold out."

Zhou Zhenghai quickly responded, "Dean Jiang, please go back inside. We will surely find Miss Ye."

Jiang Xueyan snapped angrily, "Enough talk! Find her now! If she suffers even the slightest chill, I’ll hold you responsible!"

Only then did Zhou Zhenghai understand what Jiang Xueyan feared. He immediately led several attendants into the garden when, suddenly, a distant shout came from one of the Guards: "Found her! Miss Ye is here!"Jiang Xueting hurried over and saw Ye Pingjun curled up under a tree. In such freezing weather, she wore only a thin nightgown, barefoot, her hair covered in snowflakes, her face drained of color from the cold, her entire body frozen stiff. Jiang Xueting took off his overcoat and wrapped Pingjun tightly in it. She slowly peered at him through the gap in the coat, her eyelashes adorned with glistening ice crystals, mumbling incoherently, "Hot, hot, so hot... There's fire burning me..."

She trembled uncontrollably, lost in overwhelming hallucinations, feeling flames engulfing her entire body. As Jiang Xueting wrapped her in the coat, she struggled to break free, but her fingers were too numb to move. He carried her into the house, and she nestled in his arms, gazing up at the snowflakes drifting down from the night sky. Slowly, she extended her pale, frozen hand toward the deep darkness, a gentle and captivating smile gracing her lips as she whispered faintly, "Flowers..."

He froze for a moment.

Memories from childhood, like Hosta flowers blooming in a corner, flashed before his eyes one by one. On a scorching afternoon, when he was still a child under ten, he gathered a full bouquet of Hosta flowers and went to find her. She was napping on a bamboo mat, and he leaned against the windowsill, calling her name insistently, "Pingjun, Pingjun..."

Startled awake, she scrambled up from the mat, rubbing her eyes vigorously. The first thing she saw was the bouquet of Hosta flowers in his hands. Her smile blossomed like a flower, radiant as sunlight, as she pointed to the flowers in his hand and said, "Flowers..."

That dreamlike reality had shattered but was forcibly pieced back together by him. He was lost in that dream, where her brilliant smile was the attachment he had reclaimed. In his arms, she convulsed with labored breaths, yet he wore a dazed expression. The warmth of her body in his embrace felt like a burning ember, searing against his chest. He wished only for this dream, never to wake from it.

In the blink of an eye, it was early spring, the second month. Yu Changxuan was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army of the Jinling Government in the Jiangnan region and led his troops northward.

At that time, the main force of the Xiao Army was locked in fierce combat with the Fusang Army along the Xinping Island front. Seizing the opportunity, the Yu Army of Jiangnan captured Tiger Sun Pass, a strategic northern gateway. This move sparked widespread uproar across the nation.

Chu Wenfu, then Chairman of the National Government of Jinling, and Jiang Xueting, head of the Executive Yuan, instantly became the targets of public criticism. Jiang Xueting, unable to fulfill his duties despite his position, found himself in a dilemma. On one hand, he had no control over the Yu Army and could only suffer in silence; on the other, he became the scapegoat, forced to bear the blame for Yu Changxuan's actions, accused of "exploiting others' misfortune, acting without benevolence or righteousness."

Inside the Yu Army command post at Tiger Sun Pass.

The office was deathly silent. A dossier report lay on the desk, stating: "Deputy Commander Gu Yigang of the Ninth Army embezzled military funds for personal gain. Defied orders on the battlefield, delaying military operations... Ordered to be executed on the spot at Xiangping Pass..." Beside the desk stood a leather sofa, the floor beneath it littered with cigarette butts. Yu Changxuan sat on the sofa with his eyes closed, resting, his feet crossed on the coffee table. Suddenly, the voice of his adjutant, Wu Zuoxiao, came from outside: "Commander, someone sent by Dean Jiang from Jinling requests to see you."

Without even opening his eyes, Yu Changxuan snapped, "Throw them out!"The sound outside the door faded away. He slowly opened his eyes, finally stood up, walked to the table, picked up the document, and swiftly signed his name on it. He knew that with this signature, Uncle Gu's life would be extinguished—but what choice did he have? At this moment, the high-ranking officials of the Jinling Government were watching him closely. If he showed favoritism now, wouldn’t he be handing them a pretext?

Moreover, Uncle Gu had grown presumptuous, even daring to defy his orders by privately mobilizing troops at Xiangping Pass. Though Uncle Gu had watched him grow up, he was still one of his father’s old subordinates. If he dared to show such disrespect now, leaving him alive would only invite future trouble.

Sooner or later, he had to be eliminated!

As this thought crossed his mind, the light in his pupils gradually turned cold. He casually pressed the electric bell beside the table, and Wang Ji, the secretary-general of the confidential office, entered. Yu Changxuan tossed the document to him and said indifferently, "Handle it immediately."

Wang Ji took the document and left. Another secretary arrived with strategic reports. Yu Changxuan flipped through the pages one by one as confidential office secretaries came and went, and frontline military dispatches arrived in quick succession. By a little past two in the afternoon, after meeting with senior advisors, Yu Changxuan led his military commanders straight to the frontline of Tiger Sun Pass to inspect the defense fortifications.

Tiger Sun Pass, long hailed as the "First Pass Under Heaven," had always been a crucial military stronghold. Yu Changxuan had come personally to inspect the newly constructed fortifications along the Jianghua line. To his dismay, upon arrival, he found the structures shoddily built—mere superficial mounds of earth, lacking even the most basic concealment for machine gun emplacements. His aide-de-camp, Wu Zuoxiao, immediately ordered several men to seize Sun Yicheng, the commander of the 28th Regiment responsible for the construction, and drag him out of the fortifications, bound and restrained.

Sun Yicheng fell to his knees with a thud, pleading in terror, "Commander, spare me! Give me another chance, I swear I’ll—"

Without a flicker of emotion, Yu Changxuan drew his sidearm, raised it, and fired a single shot into Sun Yicheng’s forehead. Sun Yicheng collapsed instantly, brains splattered across the ground, silent forever. Yu Changxuan turned to the ashen-faced deputy commander of the 28th Regiment and said calmly, "If these fortifications aren’t completely transformed by tomorrow morning, you’d better put a bullet in your own head."

He turned and strode out of the fortifications, followed by several aides-de-camp and attendants. The guards marched alongside, weapons in hand, expressions stern. After completing the inspection of the secondary defense lines, the entire afternoon was spent on this battlefield, scarred countless times by war and gunpowder. Late into the night, Wu Zuoxiao, panting and stumbling, made his way through the trenches with the fortification layout map, only to be stopped by He Junsen, who barred his way with an outstretched arm.

Wu Zuoxiao paused in surprise. He Junsen whispered, "Going over there now is asking for trouble!"

Wu Zuoxiao asked, "Why?"

He Junsen gestured ahead with a tilt of his head. Wu Zuoxiao followed his gaze, and his face immediately lit up with understanding.

A thin layer of snow blanketed the ground. On the slope, shrouded in the chill of the night, stood a makeshift command post assembled from military tents. One side of the tent flap was drawn open, revealing a pear tree outside. A branch of pear blossoms stretched diagonally across the profound darkness, its cold fragrance permeating the icy air.