Chapter Twenty-Seven: This Heart Can Be Vouched For!
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“I—I don’t know…” Lin Qian was pretending to be ignorant despite knowing perfectly well.
Had this happened back when they were still in the capital, Ye Huang would naturally have brushed the matter aside as well.
But now, after their long separation—and with Ashina Yanyun stirring things up—Ye Huang increasingly felt that she could no longer drift through life like a rootless duckweed.
“Brother Lin Qian.”
Suddenly, Ye Huang stopped walking.
Lin Qian’s neck tightened. He turned around stiffly, only to see Ye Huang speak with utmost seriousness.
“I like you, Brother Lin Qian. I’ve liked clinging to you ever since I was little. If Ye Qingyan had not already been by your side, I wouldn’t have acted so willfully for so long…”
Ye Huang, a heaven-blessed beauty and true imperial noblewoman, lowered her head shyly at that moment.
It was as though, in front of the person she loved, all her advantages counted for nothing. She even felt, in some inexplicable way, that she was unworthy of him.
“I—I’ve spent my whole life practicing with spears and clubs. I—I don’t know how to be a good wife or raise children. I know… I know I’m not worthy of you, Brother Lin Qian!”
“But—but I…”
A single tear quietly slid from the corner of Ye Huang’s eye.
“But I don’t want to give up. And even less do I want to stand far away, watching you enjoy moonlit evenings and spring blossoms with another woman…”
At her words, Lin Qian could not help giving a bitter laugh.
Chunping City was an important military stronghold, and an exceedingly harsh, frigid land.
Besides, Lin Qian was no longer the heir to the Prince of the Western Expedition’s residence. In the old days, he had been surrounded by singing beauties; women had thrown fruit into his carriage and willingly cast themselves into his arms. But how many of them had truly admired him?
What they coveted was merely his status.
More than Lin Qian himself, those women loved his red-hot position and the power capable of summoning thunder itself.
Looking at Ye Huang, whose feelings were laid bare before him, it would have been a lie to say he was unmoved.
But at that moment, Lin Qian’s future was uncertain, and his life or death was still unknown.
If he entered into a relationship with Ye Huang, could he truly give her happiness?
The moment word of their private betrothal reached the capital, Emperor Baoqing would surely be furious.
There was no other reason than this: one side was the thirty thousand White-Staff Soldiers, an army that had always been fiercely independent and difficult to control.
The other was that the White-Staff Soldiers now had Lin Qian as their military commander. If Lin Qian truly joined his fate with Ye Huang’s, then the power of the two together would surely make the Great Qian court deeply wary.
The charges being forced upon Lin Qian had originally been connected to the unruly and overmighty Prince of the Western Expedition’s residence. Having only just dealt with that great threat, how could Emperor Baoqing possibly allow another one to arise?
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Suppressing the pain in his heart, Lin Qian closed his eyes. Even his voice became several degrees colder.
“Sister Huang, I still can’t accept your feelings. I haven’t—I haven’t moved on yet…”
As he spoke, Lin Qian narrowed his eyes to a slit, quietly observing the subtle changes in Ye Huang’s expression.
He had long since moved on.
Three years in the Imperial Stud had allowed Lin Qian to see through every kind of false affection.
His claim that he had not yet emerged from the past was merely an excuse—an excuse Ye Huang could accept, and one that would ease the guilt weighing on his own heart.
“Then—then may I wait for you?”
Ye Huang was still wearing the Northern Wu uniform she had worn in the military camp.
Every frown and smile she made carried a wild, untamed beauty, inspiring a yearning that was difficult to resist.
Those words were like the gentlest arrow in the world, striking Lin Qian directly in the heart.
He had originally intended to use the opportunity to reject Ye Huang for the time being. Yet, as though bewitched, he found himself answering her.
“All right…”
At first, Ye Huang had assumed that Lin Qian would treat her as he had in the capital—as nothing more than a younger sister.
She had therefore prepared herself to be rejected.
But the single word “all right” that Lin Qian uttered the next moment filled her heart with sudden joy.
He had not rejected her! He had actually agreed!
“Don’t worry, Brother Lin Qian! I absolutely won’t become a burden to you. Whatever you wish to do, I’ll remain by your side until—until…”
What Ye Huang meant to say was, “Until you achieve what you desire. That will be the value of my existence.”
But when the words left her lips, they became, “Until you no longer need me!”
Lin Qian looked at Ye Huang, radiant as a flame. He beckoned to her, then pulled her into his arms.
Boundless hope reappeared in his eyes.
“Come. Let’s return to Chunping City!”
Ye Huang felt a happiness unlike anything she had ever known. As Lin Qian held her and walked forward, she wished with all her heart that this moment could last forever—that time would slow down, slower still…
Yet within Chunping City, every face was marked by vigilance and sorrow.
After arriving in Chunping City, Lin Qian joined up with the White-Staff Soldiers who had been engaged in land reclamation. He selected the bravest and most battle-worthy among them, combined them with the three thousand men he had brought, and charged straight toward the army of the Northern Wu Kingdom’s Sixth Prince.
It was nothing short of throwing himself into a fire to perish.
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Earlier, Ye Huang had wanted to save the men, women, and children of Chunping City, and had been forced to go to the Northern Wu military camp as a hostage.
To rescue Ye Huang from a military camp containing more than a hundred thousand troops was no different from attempting to scale the heavens.
Every heart was filled with grief and fury.
Suddenly, an enraged voice rang out from atop the city wall.
“The Princess willingly went to the Northern Wu camp as a hostage for our sake! We men are actually relying on Her Highness’s sacrifice to protect us. Does any one of you truly feel at ease about that?”
The instant those words were spoken, they stirred the agreement of everyone present.
“That’s right! We are proud sons of the empire. If we must die, then let us die on the battlefield! Having a woman serve as a hostage in exchange for our safety—are we still men?”
“Let’s go rescue the Princess!”
“Even if we fail, it’s better than suffering this humiliation here. If we must die, let us die on the battlefield!”
“Well said! Let’s go save the Princess!”
The top of the city wall in Chunping City descended into chaos.
Many men hefted their weapons, hurried down from the walls, and gathered at the city gate.
Seeing this, Captain Wang Hu, who was responsible for guarding the gate, felt his heart sink.
The Northern Wu Kingdom had only just withdrawn its troops. The Princess’s life or death remained unknown, and she had sacrificed her own life to protect every man, woman, and child in the city.
And now these hotheaded fools actually intended to make Her Highness’s sacrifice meaningless?
“None of you may go! Her Highness is trapped in the enemy camp because she gave everything to protect the women and children of this city. Do you truly intend to let her sacrifice be in vain?”
“We must live on. We must train our soldiers, stockpile grain and provisions, and forge weapons. Only then, one day, will we be able to avenge Her Highness!”
“Wang Hu, shut up!”
A furious shout erupted from within the crowd, instantly drawing Wang Hu’s gaze.
“If you’re willing to live like cowards, we are not! We’re going to rescue Her Highness. Anyone who tries to stop us from leaving the city today is our enemy!”
In an instant, the opposing sides drew taut like bowstrings. A murderous tension filled the entire city.
Just as the two groups stood locked in a tense confrontation, the soldier stationed in the watchtower suddenly cried out in excitement.
“Her Highness is back! Look—the Princess has truly been rescued!”