The Road to Glory

Chapter 87: "My Heart Aches for You."

The person Wen Yu had sent had successfully infiltrated Jiang Yichu's side. Upon learning that Yan Que had actually defected to Pei Song and used a staged assassination to save the emperor as a pretext to return to Wen Yu's side, Jiang Yichu was utterly horrified.

Back then, Changlian Wang had entrusted Yan Que as the leader of the escort team to accompany Wen Yu to Southern Chen, clearly placing great trust in him. Yet Yan Que had ultimately become Pei Song's lackey. The more Jiang Yichu thought about it, the more she worried for Wen Yu.

Among the many former Liang officials heading to Pingzhou, no one could say for certain whether there were others who had also defected to Pei Song.

But no matter how anxious she was, she couldn't devise a way to help Wen Yu in such a short time. The person Wen Yu had sent repeatedly comforted her, saying that before dispatching them, Wen Yu had repeatedly emphasized that Jiang Yichu's safety was the top priority and urged her not to take risks to gather information.

Though Jiang Yichu agreed verbally, her worries did not lessen. She didn't need to imagine the twists and hardships Wen Yu must have endured to reach this point. Even now, Wen Yu was still concerned about her and A Yin's safety, sending capable people to her side at the first opportunity.

Jiang Yichu felt sorrowful. As the elder sister-in-law, she had failed to protect Wen Yu in any way. Instead, it was that young girl, barely sixteen, who had rushed to Southern Chen for a political marriage after the fall of Luodu and single-handedly supported the collapsing Great Liang after the fall of Fengyang City.

In the past, she could excuse herself by saying she could hardly ensure her own survival. But now that her situation had stabilized considerably, she was determined to do something for Wen Yu no matter what.

Soon, Jiang Yichu found an opportunity.

Pei Song had suffered consecutive defeats on the battlefield and was wounded. With limited conditions in the military camp, he recuperated not there but in a residence he had secured in a nearby town.

Jiang Yichu was brought along with him. When summoned to Pei Song's room by his subordinates, though she felt resistant, she understood that her monthly visits with her daughter were granted only by complying with Pei Song's wishes. Angering him would bring no benefit to her or her daughter.

Moreover, she now wanted to gather some information to help Wen Yu, and the only place where she could access military and political affairs was Pei Song's quarters.

Following the matron guiding her, Jiang Yichu entered and was immediately struck by the pungent smell of medicine. Pei Song sat by the couch, wearing only an outer robe that revealed his sturdy chest and abdomen, along with the bandage wrapped around his left shoulder. He held a military strategy book in his hand.

The guiding matron bowed her head respectfully and said, "My Lord, she has been brought here."

Only then did Pei Song lift his gaze from the book, dismissing the servant. A smile played on his lips as he said, "Ah, Sister is here."

Jiang Yichu kept her head slightly lowered, neither looking at Pei Song nor speaking, as if in silent resistance.

Pei Song was long accustomed to this. After the servant had closed the door and left, he looked at Jiang Yichu leisurely and said, "Sister doesn't seem the least bit distressed that I'm injured."

With the door shut, the room grew dim, save for the faint light filtering through the gauze window behind Pei Song's couch.

Bathed in that sliver of daylight, he exhibited none of the elegance of an orchid or jade tree. Even with a smile on his face, he only seemed perverse and unruly.

Jiang Yichu clenched her hands hidden in her sleeves and said, "My Lord has always been blessed with good fortune."Pei Song couldn't help but laugh upon hearing these words. His thoughts had always been difficult to decipher, and now that he suddenly laughed so heartily, Jiang Yichu felt a chill creeping up her spine.

Seeming to have laughed enough, Pei Song finally stopped and looked at Jiang Yichu with an ambiguous expression. "So it seems my sister still worries about me?"

Without waiting for her response, he continued, "Then I'll trouble my sister to wipe me down and change my dressing."

Jiang Yichu stiffened slightly, lowering her gaze to the stone tiles beneath her feet. "I'm clumsy and unskilled at such tasks. To avoid injuring you, my lord, it would be better to have the physician change your dressing."

The smile vanished from Pei Song's lips as he feigned distress. "What a predicament. Now that Wei Qishan has begun counterattacking Mozhou, and my sister cares so deeply for that child, to prevent any mishaps during the war, perhaps I should have her sent to Youzhou first. Though it would make future meetings difficult, leaving my sister to worry."

At the mention of her daughter, Jiang Yichu's face instantly paled. "Don't touch A Yin!"

Only then did Pei Song's smile return as he looked at Jiang Yichu. "Then I can only trouble my sister. The medicine is in the left drawer of the desk."

Her daughter was Jiang Yuchu's weakness. However unwilling she might be, she had no choice but to walk toward the desk.

Reaching behind the desk, Jiang Yichu didn't glance at the memorials and letters piled at the corner, directly opening the drawer as instructed and retrieving the wound medicine before heading toward the daybed.

Pei Song had been quietly observing Jiang Yichu all along. Had Gongsun Chou not previously shown him the intercepted letters from her, even he might have believed that Jiang Yichu, forced to stay by his side, held no other intentions beyond reluctance.

But precisely because he knew this, Pei Song's smile grew even more unrestrained.

He was a demon crawled up from hell—despicable and ruthless. If his sister could be equally cunning and cruel, wouldn't they be better matched?

As Jiang Yichu returned with the medicine and saw Pei Song's smile, she felt waves of unease, fearing he might have noticed something amiss.

Yet upon reflection, when retrieving the medicine she had only glanced sidelong at the letters on the desk—surely that wouldn't arouse his suspicion. Steadying herself, she stood before Pei Song with downcast eyes. "I'll change your dressing, my lord."

Pei Song set his book aside casually and sat openly at the edge of the daybed.

Even without looking up, Jiang Yichu could feel his gaze fixed on her face, making her intensely uncomfortable.

Glancing at the faintly bloodstained bandage on Pei Song's body, she steeled herself to unwrap it. Perhaps from fear, her fingertips were icy cold, while the skin they accidentally brushed against felt scorching hot.

Jiang Yichu could even sense his breathing growing heavier above her head. She dared not look up, her hands trembling slightly as she unwound the bandage. Finally removing it, she needed to take it from his body, but with his outer robe still on, she couldn't easily pull it from behind him.

Her long lashes fluttered slightly as she spoke in the calmest voice she could muster. "I need to remove your outer robe, my lord."

Pei Song didn't make things difficult for her, spreading his arms to let Jiang Yichu remove his outer garment.Without the outer robe to cover him, Jiang Yichu quickly removed the multiple layers of gauze. When she caught sight of the wound that nearly spanned Pei Song's entire shoulder and extended down to his chest, crusted with dark black blood scabs, her long eyelashes fluttered twice. Her face turned deathly pale, but she managed to steady her trembling hands to sprinkle medicinal powder over Pei Song's wounds again.

Just as she reached his shoulder, Pei Song grabbed her wrist with his uninjured hand.

Jiang Yichu trembled violently, bowing her head to avoid meeting his gaze. "The medicine isn't fully applied yet. Please don't make this difficult, My Lord."

Pei Song lifted her chin. Seeing the teardrops clinging to her eyelashes, the mockery in his eyes faded, replaced by an expression Jiang Yichu couldn't decipher. He asked softly, "Why is Elder Sister crying?"

Jiang Yichu didn't answer, only letting two more clear tears roll from her eyes.

Pei Song wiped the tears away with his index finger and brought it to his lips to taste them. He looked at Jiang Yichu with a strange expression, as if he himself couldn't believe she would cry for him. With the same frivolous tone as before, he asked, "Is Elder Sister feeling sorry for me? Or were you frightened by the wound?"

He glanced down at the gash spanning his chest and shoulder and chuckled indifferently. "Wei Qishan truly hasn't lost his touch with the blade, but this wound won't kill me. Don't cry, Elder Sister - it pains me to see it."

His words of pity were as insincere as the smirk on his lips, utterly lacking in credibility.

Jiang Yichu seemed unable to bear it any longer. She closed her eyes, but the tears kept flowing. "Qin Huan, please stop this."

No one had called him by that name in over a decade. Pei Song was momentarily stunned, then resumed his smiling demeanor. "I don't understand what Elder Sister means."

Jiang Yichu opened her eyes, her sorrow unmistakable as she looked at him. "What the Qin family suffered back then, you've repaid tenfold, a hundredfold. Dozens of clans wiped out, the Wen imperial family slaughtered, the Great Liang kingdom shattered - isn't that enough?"

Pei Song looked at her with derision. "So Elder Sister thinks I should surrender now and let Wei Qishan and Han Yang slaughter me, is that it?"

Jiang Yichu fell silent. Seeing Pei Song's wounds, she simply felt he would eventually die in the very fires of war he had ignited.

She hated the man before her who had destroyed her family, yet she couldn't bring herself to hate the boy from next door whom she had once treated as her own younger brother.

The night the Qin family was purged, the flames reached the heavens. The desperate cries still wrenched her heart when she remembered them. The blood flowing from the Qin estate's entrance hadn't dried until the next day.

She understood Qin Huan's hatred, which was why she believed that since he had already taken his revenge, he should let go of this hatred and stop now.

Yet Pei Song's current words made her realize how laughable her plea had been.

He was now the target of everyone's arrows. Whether it was Wei Qishan fighting for power or Wen Yu seeking revenge for his annihilated family, neither would let him go.

Jiang Yichu's face grew even paler, her eyes filled with agony.

The mockery on Pei Song's face gradually faded. He stared at Jiang Yichu for a moment before saying, "Elder Sister truly feels sorry for me?"

This realization seemed to lift his spirits. He reached up and gently wiped the tear stains from her face. "This makes me very happy."Jiang Yichu turned her head away to avoid his touch, but Pei Song grasped her other hand and pressed it against another circular scar on his shoulder. Gazing at Jiang Yichu, he said, "Last time I took an arrow protecting my sister, she looked at this arrow wound and cried just like today. I thought it was because I was dying that she grieved for me. So it turns out seeing me injured would also make my sister sad?"

His body burned with fever. Hearing him speak of that arrow scar again, Jiang Yichu’s hand felt as if scalded by the mark and she struggled to break free. But Pei Song held her hand firmly in place, rendering her struggles futile.

When Pei Song applied more force, Jiang Yichu was pulled directly into his embrace.

With one hand braced against his chest, she continued to struggle but was quickly subdued as Pei Song seized both her wrists. Tears streamed continuously from the corners of her eyes down to her temples as she demanded, "Let go."

Just then, a Hawk Hound’s voice came from outside: "My lord, our informant in Pingzhou has sent an urgent report."

Hearing this, Pei Song’s expression seemed to shift slightly. He finally released his grip on Jiang Yichu’s wrists and told her, "My sister will gradually come to understand her own feelings. I can wait."

Freed from all restraints, Jiang Yichu hastily stood up.

At that moment, Pei Song called for the Hawk Hound to enter. Jiang Yichu smoothed her slightly disheveled hair and hurried out the door. As she passed the Hawk Hound, she glanced sidelong at the envelope in his hand.