Chapter Fourteen: Childhood Sweethearts of Yesteryear

“You—you actually really…”

Sun Ye’s lifetime achievements were no small feat. When he saw that Lin Qian bore no trace of resentment in his eyes, and had completely relinquished any desire for the title of heir to the Western Conquest Prince’s Mansion, he found it difficult to comprehend.

“The Emperor has issued an edict; I must hasten to Chunping City. My lord, farewell, perhaps forever!”

With that, Lin Qian stood up decisively, following behind him. Passing through the three thousand elite troops handpicked by Ying Zhao, along with thirteen already selected officers, he swiftly mounted his warhorse.

“Father! You can’t just let him leave like this, Father!”

Sun Feng, battered and bruised, crawled over to Sun Ye with tears in his voice.

“If he escapes, who knows when he’ll come back with a blade in hand! He is Lin Qian, after all!”

The name Lin Qian—few in the Great Qian court truly understood just how fierce he was on the battlefield.

Many knew little of his temperament, but Sun Ye was intimately aware.

Lin Qian was a man of his word, unyielding; he exacted revenge for slights and remembered those who showed him kindness.

“Father, if he leaves like this, won’t our Western Conquest Prince’s Mansion be toyed with by His Majesty like a plaything?”

“If my son inherits the title but cannot control the generals, won’t the hundred thousand troops under our command ultimately be handed over…”

“Silence!” Sun Ye erupted in rare fury. “I don’t know what you’ve learned these past ten years among the common folk, but you have none of a general’s capability!”

He clenched his teeth tightly.

“If you had even a shred of military strategy, if you’d earned any merit in the past three years, it wouldn’t have come to this!”

For three years, Sun Feng had been just like the other spoiled sons of the capital—living a life of leisure, indulging in all manner of vices, waiting for his hereditary title to fall into his lap.

Sun Ye found him increasingly repugnant. Had he known this, he would never have allowed him to become heir to the Western Conquest Prince’s Mansion!

“Starting tomorrow, you will go to the military camp to train! Begin as a common soldier!”

Sun Feng was stunned, as if he hadn’t heard right. “Ah, Father, me?”

“No more of this father nonsense! You have three months—if you don’t learn tactics and formations, I’ll see if your place as heir should be passed to someone else!”

Lin Qian!

All of this was because of Lin Qian!

Just thinking of how Lin Qian had strode out of the Imperial Stables with three thousand troops headed for Chunping City, and if he were allowed to gain more achievements—what then?

After storming out of the Fish Drum Camp in anger, Sun Ye noticed a venomous hatred in Sun Feng’s eyes.

He absolutely, absolutely could not let Lin Qian leave the capital with such impunity!

As for the three thousand men under Lin Qian—none of them were good men either.

Thinking this, Sun Feng sneered coldly.

When he rode swiftly back home, the Western Conquest Prince’s Mansion remained just as before.

But every face was etched with anxiety; even Princess Anping, Ye Qingyan, was still waiting for news.

Upon seeing Sun Feng, Ye Qingyan stepped forward, unable to contain herself.

“Where is Lin Qian?”

Suppressing his anger, Sun Feng sneered, “He’s rebelled!”

“What did you say?”

As the daughter of the Northern Pacification Prince, Ye Qingyan’s mind immediately stirred.

Did Lin Qian truly have such audacity?

Wasn’t he supposed to have gone straight to the Fish Drum Camp after leaving the palace?

No one knew what had happened.

“Lin Qian has completely abandoned his position as heir to the Western Conquest Prince’s title. He accepted the Emperor’s appointment and has gone to Chunping City!”

Sun Feng was no fool. Though usually a wastrel, he was well aware of the current state of the Great Qian realm.

“Princess, you were nothing but a substitute all along. No wonder Lin Qian could so generously give you up.”

“Apparently, there’s already a beauty waiting for him in Chunping City!”

“It seems that no matter how stunning you are, Ye Qingyan, to some you are nothing at all!”

Ye Qingyan was the most beautiful woman in Great Qian, a shining pearl of the imperial family.

Her looks and figure left all who saw her spellbound.

“Who?”

As a top-tier beauty, Ye Qingyan not only possessed the refined grace fostered by years of royal tutelage but also a calm demeanor in handling affairs.

Yet this time, even she could not bear it.

“Who else? Of course, it’s your cousin, the Thirteenth Princess, Ye Huang.”

Ye Huang…

Ye Qingyan felt dizzy.

To recount: Ye Qingyan, Ye Huang, and Lin Qian were childhood companions. Ye Qingyan and Lin Qian were playmates, while Ye Huang was still a little girl then.

She was several years younger than Ye Qingyan and had never been favored by Emperor Baoqing.

In the deep palace, an unfavored princess’s fate was far worse than that of an unfavored prince.

A prince, even if neglected, would one day become a regional lord, perhaps even a formidable frontier king commanding armies.

But an unfavored princess’s destiny was typically to marry into a noble family, serving as a political alliance between the imperial family and the aristocracy.

The court was a place of shifting power; those favored enjoyed privileges, while the neglected were oppressed even by palace servants.

Ye Huang had suffered much bullying since childhood.

Lin Qian often accompanied Emperor Baoqing, advising on military matters and frequently entering the palace.

Whenever Ye Huang was mistreated, Lin Qian would defend her.

Over time, rumors spread throughout the palace that the heir of the Western Conquest Prince’s Mansion cared deeply for the nominal princess, even deeply enamored with her.

Thus, Ye Huang’s youth was relatively peaceful. Even as a legitimate princess, she never imagined that her happiest days were spent under Lin Qian’s protection.

In her heart, Ye Huang harbored a deeply restrained affection for Lin Qian.

This was because the marriage alliance between the Western Conquest Prince’s Mansion and the Northern Pacification Prince’s Mansion was already set in stone.

The Emperor himself had spoken of it; no matter how much Ye Huang loved Lin Qian, in the end, she would watch him wed Ye Qingyan, the daughter of the Northern Pacification Prince.

It was also from three years ago, when Lin Qian was stripped of everything and sent into servitude at the Imperial Stables, that Ye Huang chose to leave the capital, taking her maternal family’s thirty thousand white-flag troops to station in Chunping City.

Ye Huang’s maternal family hailed from Ning Prefecture in Youzhou, a lineage of distinguished generals.

She inherited her mother’s warrior spirit—disdaining finery in favor of arms and armor.

“I say, Princess, what are you thinking? Lin Qian will leave the capital tonight and by dawn will lead his troops to the courier station, waiting for the Ministry of Revenue’s supplies. Aren’t you going to see your former lover one last time?”