Die Kampfsportwelt ist ein Sumpf

Kapitel 149

His large, unsettling hand slid up her chin, then down her neck, caressing the graceful curve between her jaw and neck. After a long while, he finally released her, and with a rustling sound, Songtsen Gampo lay down beside Wei Zijun. He pressed himself tightly against her, his large hand encircling her waist. Wei Zijun felt a pang of despair; was he going to sleep here?

Wei Zijun was practically suffocating. His face was pressed against hers, and although there was an arm across their faces, his breath was still blowing on her face, making her feel incredibly suffocated. No one likes to inhale someone else's exhaled air. What's worse, his hand moved to the arm she was using to shield her eyes, and began to caress her slender, white arm.

Unable to bear it any longer, Wei Zijun pretended to turn over in her sleep and turned away, not only widening the distance between the two but also presenting her back to Songtsen Gampo.

Suddenly, Songtsen Gampo let out a low laugh, "Finally couldn't hold back anymore?"

Wei Zijun suddenly opened her eyes, blinked her eyelashes. He knew she wasn't asleep? "How did you know I wasn't asleep?"

“I could hear the heartbeat of anyone sleeping so loudly,” Songtsen Gampo said, pressing his head against her back. “Did I scare you?”

"I wonder what brings the king here so late at night?" Wei Zijun kept her back turned and didn't turn around.

"I'm here to tell you that the 100,000 troops of Dayu have already set off and will arrive in a few days. Our agreement will then be fulfilled. At that time, you will send someone to lead your Western Turkic troops to join me in taking Dayu."

Wei Zijun curled her lips in disdain. "Zanpu is joking again. I have been imprisoned by you all along. If my people help you conquer the Great Yu Kingdom, but you still won't release me, what am I supposed to do?"

"But you have no choice, do you? Either you cooperate with me or you die."

“But I can choose to die alone rather than have my Western Turkic warriors die with me. Therefore, I will only offer advice and help you conquer Dayu, but I will not send troops. If the Zanpu likes the land of the Western Turks, then go and fight for it yourself.”

"Alright, I was pushing my luck." Songtsen Gampo sat up, straightened his clothes, and left.

Wei Zijun listened intently as the footsteps faded into the distance, then quickly got up and continued carving the stone in her hands.

As the stone seal was carved, she gently unfolded a sheet of paper. At this time, most areas of Tibet still used wooden tablets for engraving. Only these nobles could use paper. This paper was very precious, as it was all made in the Hexi Han region and was transported by Dayu.

Wei Zijun was constantly on guard against any commotion outside; no one would come at this time. However, the door had no latch, and guards stood outside morning and night, so Songtsen Gampo could come whenever he wanted. Only when she was bathing were female slaves standing guard beside her.

She quickly wrote a letter to the Emperor of Dayu, imitating Lu Dongzan's handwriting, and then stamped it with the engraved seal. She hurriedly stuffed it into an envelope, sealed it, lit the letter over a candle flame, and blew out the flame after most of the letter had burned.

Wei Zijun climbed onto the open window and, taking advantage of the patrolling guards walking away, threw the burned letter out the window. The letter floated down and landed on the stone steps beside the platform of Deyang Mansion.

Wei Zijun smiled with satisfaction. If this letter were discovered by the patrolling soldiers, it would surely be handed to Songtsen Gampo. Then, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the next morning would bring news of Gar Tongtsen's imprisonment, and his sons, Qinling, Zanpo, Xiduogan, and Bolun, would be dismissed from their posts. Following this, Songtsen Gampo would suspect the motives of the Dayu army's advance into Tibet, and would falsely claim the crisis was over, blocking the Dayu army outside Tibet and preventing them from entering.

She clapped her hands, satisfied, and turned to go back to sleep. However, the moment she turned around, her heart sank to the bottom.

Songtsen Gampo, dressed in a blue satin robe, stood by the door, gazing at her silently, his eyes filled with a wordless question.

Wei Zijun thought to herself: It's over.

So it seems he saw everything that just happened? But he clearly walked away.

"What did the Khan throw down there?" Songtsen Gampo asked, his face expressionless as he stared intently at Wei Zijun. He turned to the guards behind him and said, "Go and retrieve it."

Songtsen Gampo slowly walked over, stopped in front of Wei Zijun, picked up the seal she hadn't managed to hide, and examined it carefully. "Truly a genius. I suppose I no longer need to read the contents of that letter."

Wei Zijun grabbed the arrow on the table and gripped it tightly. This action drew a sneer from Songtsen Gampo, "Does the Khan intend to kill someone with this thing? I'm afraid you don't have the strength."

He stepped forward, grabbed her wrist, and snatched the arrow away. "I know the slightest movement from here. Have you finally lost your temper today?"

"Your Majesty, the letter has been retrieved." A guard handed the letter to Songtsen Gampo.

Songtsen Gampo unfolded the charred letter and sneered, "Tsk tsk, truly flawless. If this letter hadn't reached me in this way, Gar Tongtsen would have been dismissed and investigated! And you would have become a Grand Master, and would have controlled everything in Tibet, wouldn't you?"

“Since the king already knows, why ask again?” Wei Zijun replied calmly. She knew she couldn’t escape it.

Songtsen Gampo shook his head, his eyes filled with hurt and disappointment. "I have treated you so well, it seems you really should be confined to your bed. What a pity. If I could have someone like you to help me wholeheartedly, there would be nothing I couldn't accomplish. It's a pity that you have become a spy. It's a waste of my sincerity towards you."

"How did the Zanpu treat me? Daily confinement and surveillance?" Wei Zijun chuckled lightly, speaking sarcastically.

“No matter how I imprison or monitor you, my heart treats you differently.” Songtsen Gampo stared intently into Wei Zijun’s eyes. “Don’t you want to explain? Perhaps I will let you go.”

“An explanation? Would the Zanpu believe that? The Zanpu probably just wants to see the pathetic sight of a powerless person struggling in his death throes. Wei Feng has nothing to explain.” Wei Zijun turned to look out the window, her eyes clear and devoid of any fear.

Songtsen Gampo let out a mournful laugh, "You won't even give me an explanation? Perhaps you can beg me, say you were just confused for a moment, or say someone forced you, and I will let you go. Do you really not want to explain?"

“Since the beginning of his life, Wei Feng has never humbled himself before anyone, nor has he ever begged anyone for anything. If you, Zanpu, want to hear Wei Feng beg for anything, forget it. Wei Feng knows he has no way out; he's going to die anyway. Zanpu, you should just let him go quickly. You can't find any pleasure in seeing the fear and struggle of a dying person in Wei Feng. Wei Feng is boring and can't please you, so it's better to get rid of him as soon as possible.” After saying this, she turned and walked to the bedside, picked up her outer robe, and was about to put it on. Because it was night and she had gotten out of bed, she was only wearing an inner garment.

Songtsen Gampo stepped forward, snatched Wei Zijun's outer robe, and threw it out the window. "Want to wear clothes? No, from now on you don't need to wear clothes anymore. You've already given up your right to stand before others. The king wasn't wrong; you truly deserve to be confined to your bed. A person like you doesn't deserve to be trusted. Your wings should indeed be broken, and you should be imprisoned for life." He dragged Wei Zijun to the bedside, and then, in front of her, removed her outer robe and inner garment piece by piece, revealing her tanned chest. He raised his hand, a gust of wind blew out, and the door slammed shut, keeping the guards outside.

As she watched him approach shirtless, Wei Zijun's heart pounded. A man acting like this could only mean one thing.

At that moment, she thought of Gongsong Gongzan. Why wasn't he here? If he could have come, perhaps he could have stopped him. She never expected him to treat her this way. Wei Zijun glanced at the door; she wanted to escape. She quickly turned to the side, trying to go around the table. But Songtsen Gampo's long arm grabbed her, pinning her hands above her head and pressing her down onto the bed. His large hand grabbed the edge of her quilt and pulled it downwards with great force.

With her body about to be exposed, and no one coming to her rescue, Wei Zijun, in desperation, mustered her strength and struggled to break free from one hand, grabbing his arm. Though weak, she held on tightly, pleading, "Please!" she gasped.

Upon hearing those two words, Songtsen Gampo paused, looking at her tightly clenched hands, so tight that her knuckles turned white and she was trembling slightly. He knew she was afraid. Could someone like that even feel fear?

"Please, don't do this to me. You can cut off my head, pierce me with a sword, or even subject me to slow slicing, or cut off my hands and feet, anything is fine, just don't trample on my dignity in this way." Her hands were trembling, and her eyes looked at him, so clear and pure that they made his heart flutter and he was drawn into them.

The person on top of her didn't move. After a while, he reached his hand inside her blouse and started to move upwards.

Wei Zijun stared intently at him, grasped his arm, and slowly pulled it out. She held his wrist tightly, not daring to loosen her grip even slightly. The two looked at each other from above and below for a long time before he turned over and lay down. Wei Zijun closed her eyes, let out a sigh of relief, and reached out her still slightly trembling hand to pull up her half-pulled-down quilt.

A little later, Songtsen Gampo dressed and walked outside. When he reached the door, he turned his head and said, "You are the first spy to be exposed but not killed."

As I stepped out of the room, I heard his somewhat gruff voice, "Summon Consort Xiangxiong to my palace immediately."

As the footsteps faded into the distance, Wei Zijun's throat tightened. She took a deep breath. "Second brother, Zijun couldn't help you. Please don't come, please don't..."

Songtsen Gampo did not punish Wei Zijun, but from that day onwards, she was never allowed to leave the room again.

As the days passed, Wei Zijun grew increasingly anxious. On the sixth day at noon, she suddenly heard a cacophony of drums and music outside.

Wei Zijun peeked out and saw a group of people being escorted up the zigzag stone steps to the platform of Deyangxia. The people in front were wearing Dayu military uniforms. Wei Zijun felt that one of the figures wearing armor was very familiar. Upon closer inspection, she realized that the person was Chen Chang.

Wei Zijun's mind went blank. Third brother, he's here. It seems that the Dayu army has entered Tibet. It seems that something has happened to Lianbi.

No, she absolutely couldn't let anything happen to her third brother.

Volume 4 Where Does Love Belong? Chapter 138 Reunion

Wei Zijun stared intently as the group drew closer, when suddenly she spotted a familiar face – it was Die Yun!

No, why did Dieyun come back? He shouldn't have come to such a dangerous place! Seeing Dieyun, she began to scan the faces of those people. Finally, she spotted Liu Yunde, then she saw Miaozhou following behind Chen Chang, and finally, she saw that person, the one who had appeared in her dreams so many times and whom she deeply missed.

He was dressed like Miaozhou, a black-clad guard, his head bowed, obscuring his face. She saw the jade pendant on his waist; she recognized it—it was hers. He always wore it, and seeing that he always wore it, she hadn't asked for it back. Second Brother! He's here! Her vision blurred instantly. They had come to rescue her; they knew she was here.

Her eyes welled up with tears, which finally rolled down her cheeks. For dozens of days and nights, she had spent her time longing for them all, worrying about their injuries. She never imagined that the love she had given in her life would end up here, in a world a thousand years in the future. She loved everyone here, she wanted to protect them all, but she had failed to do so, leading them into such a dangerous situation.

In that instant, she was jolted awake from her longing. This place was dangerous. Had her second brother received the note? Did he know about the Tibetan conspiracy?

She couldn't let Wan Jun fall into danger, nor could she let her second brother be in such peril. He was the emperor of a country; if he were captured, the consequences would be unimaginable.

But how could she warn him? She couldn't shout; if she did, Songtsen Gampo would surely act first, putting them in danger. She needed to warn him subtly. She glanced at the zither by the window, the one Songtsen Gampo had sent to her to amuse her. Her mind raced. She touched the zither; if she played "Guangling San," her second brother would be alert, for it was a piece brimming with murderous intent, and he would surely understand the hidden danger within it. Moreover, upon hearing the music, he would know it was her.

Her fingers moved lightly, touching the strings. With a single tap, a clear and melodious sound rang out. Her right hand moved up, and just as she was about to quicken her fingering, the door was kicked open with a bang, and the next moment, her hand was pressed onto the strings.

"Are you trying to tip someone off?" Gongsong Gongzan's voice came from behind her, he leaned close to her ear, "Why can't you behave yourself?"

Wei Zijun didn't turn around. She continued to watch the group approach on the spacious platform, which resembled a training ground. "What is the prince worried about again? Wei Feng is just feeling bored and stretching his fingers. Isn't this zither a gift from your father to help me pass the time?"

“You’d better behave yourself and not make any noise, or your friends from Dayu will die at your hands.” Gongsong Gongzan gripped her wrist tightly. “You should know that all the experts of Tibet are gathered here. None of these people will escape.”

Wei Zijun smiled calmly, "Prince, you're wrong again. If you really deal with them here, who will lead those Dayu troops to the Nepalese border?"

“You don’t need to worry about that. The people from Dayu have already gone to Nepal. These people deliberately came here with the group, under the pretense of visiting the palace, but in reality they came to find your whereabouts.” Gongsong Gongzan grabbed Wei Zijun’s hand that was on the zither strings and played with it. “But they don’t know that once they go in, they will never come out again.”

"Can't get out? Why?" Wei Zijun's heart sank.

"Why?" Gongsong Gongzan chuckled softly, "It's because we want to treat them well."

Wei Zijun's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this; they had set up an ambush inside the palace. No, she couldn't let them in.

She looked out the window and saw that the people were about to walk to the window. Wei Zijun was anxious and her blood was boiling. She could not let them risk their lives for her sake. She would rather die in front of them than let them go.

She gently pulled her hand away from Gongsong Gongzan's grasp, picked up the zither, and placed it in his arms. As he took the zither with a puzzled expression, she turned around and leaped out of the window, towards the group of people, towards the man dressed in black who wore her jade pendant, and jumped down.

Her body continued to fall, her white robes billowing in the wind. A roar came from above as Gongsong Gongzan grabbed a corner of her snow-white robe, but could not stop her from leaping down resolutely.

The wind gently lifted her up, and she was like a beautiful white phoenix, a white phoenix that had lost its strength but was still beautiful, drifting down. At that moment, she remembered when she first came into this world, she had also fallen from the cliff in the same way. Countless scenes of life flashed before her eyes, but those chaotic figures were all people from this world. Each one flashed by, one by one. Finally, there were two faces that appeared alternately, the faces of He Lu and Li Tianqi. When the image in her mind froze on the pavilion in Lucheng, and she hugged Li Tianqi and said her promise, her body fell into an embrace.

The scent in her arms was so familiar, a faint, refreshing fragrance lingering in her nostrils, and she opened her eyes.

A strange face came into view, but the aura was so familiar, the eyes so deep and filled with pain—only he could have such eyes. Even disguised like this, she recognized him at a glance. It was indeed him! He held her tightly, so tightly it felt like her bones were about to break. His heart was pounding wildly, the thud vibrating in her ears. His body trembled, as if angry that she had jumped so rashly, or perhaps fearful that he might not have caught her.

He stared intently at her face, gazing at her from head to toe, as if he couldn't believe she had really returned. Then, his eyes reddened, and large tears streamed down his face...

"Zijun—" the person holding her murmured, their fingers trembling as they touched her face. Tears streamed down her face, a mixture of joy, boundless love, and a long-standing, indelible pain. That pain had seeped into her very bones; even this joyful reunion could not lessen the death-like agony.

"Second Brother—" Wei Zijun reached out and stroked Li Tianqi's face gently. She wiped away his tears, but they rolled back up again. She wiped them away again. "Second Brother, don't cry." Her eyes were already blurred.

His tears fell onto her face, drop after drop, dripping onto her nose, onto her lips, and sliding down the corners of her mouth. She kept wiping them away, wiping and wiping, but she could never dry them completely.

The two of them stroked each other's faces, looked into each other's eyes, tears streaming down their faces, completely forgetting everything—the people around them, the time, and the danger.

He noticed she had lost weight.

She noticed he had become thinner. She stroked his face, as if trying to touch his real face through this mask. She stroked his hair, a pang of pain rising in her heart... Then she suddenly remembered the purpose of her jump. She gently opened her lips, about to speak, when Li Tianqi shook his head at her, then nodded.

Wei Zijun immediately understood. He had received her letter and knew she was still alive, so he had come to find her in person. The large army that had set off for the Nepalese border must have been sent there by him as part of a scheme. If nothing unexpected happened, they would surely inflict a heavy blow on Tibet this time. Thinking of this, she gave him a relieved smile.

Dieyun, who had been patiently enduring the situation, could no longer stand it. He rushed forward and snatched her away. Wei Zijun looked at Dieyun, whose eyes were red and filled with grievance and pain. She sighed softly and hugged him tightly.

Then, she put her arm around Liu Yunde, her long fingers tracing the scars on his face, her eyes welling up with tears again, "When we get back, I'll take you to find your master."

Then she hugged Chen Chang, who was in tears, and then Miao Zhou. She saw that Miao Zhou's face, which had never changed over the years, also had a trace of moisture. She made an exception and stepped forward to hug Miao Zhou. Miao Zhou's body stiffened, and he slowly reached out and wrapped his arms around her.

The crowd was so caught up in the joy of getting what they had lost that they forgot about their situation and the danger that was approaching.

"Finally finished catching up on old times? Then let's get down to business." Songtsen Gampo slowly walked over. "This tearful performance was really unbearable to watch, but if I don't give you time, it would seem that I, the Tsanpu, am heartless. However, although I am sentimental, I still have to keep you all here for the time being so that the Dayu army can continue its journey. Otherwise, if any one of you leaves, the Dayu army can be recalled, and that wouldn't be fun."

"Songtsen Gampo, do you know what you've done?" Li Tianqi, holding Wei Zijun's hand, faced Gongtsen Gampo. "Do you know what mistake you've made? How serious is it?"

Gonzan Gampo narrowed his long, narrow eyes, staring at the two men's clasped hands. "Are you referring to my harboring of the Western Turkic Khan, or are you suggesting that you intend to leave them here?"

"Naturally, it is because you secretly harbored the Khan of the Western Turks. Do you know how many people have almost lost their lives because of your actions?"

Songtsen Gampo laughed loudly, "Are you referring to those who are so infatuated that they die? I have witnessed the charm of the Western Turkic Khan. It is indeed easy for him to seduce some fools and madmen, such as that infatuated emperor whose hair turned white overnight, hahaha... How ridiculous." He leaned forward slightly, his words laced with sarcasm, "Now it seems that Your Excellency must have also suffered as a result."

Overnight, his hair turned white? Wei Zijun glanced at Li Tianqi's black hair, which showed no signs of whiteness, so the rumors were not true.

"Songtsen Gampo, I will not hold your secret behavior against you, but you must not make any more mistakes. We will part ways here and will speak well of you before the Emperor of Dayu to forgive your mistake this time. So, do not continue your error," Li Tianqi warned coldly.

“Mistake? No, releasing you was the mistake.” Songtsen Gampo said coldly, then suddenly turned around and strode away.

The next moment, several dark figures flew past in a crisscrossing pattern. The group of more than ten people were caught off guard, and most of them were instantly struck in acupoints. Li Tianqi, who was protecting Wei Zijun, was also not spared. Only Miaozhou and Liu Yunde fought with the group, but were ultimately subdued because the opponents not only outnumbered them but also had superior skills.

Songtsen Gampo laughed loudly, "Take him away!" He glanced meaningfully at Wei Zijun, "Except for the Khan of the Western Turks."

The endless, vast grassland stretches out, and the sky above the Potala Palace is filled with damp clouds. The autumn wind blows through the small window of the ninth-floor mezzanine, brushes against the cheek, and makes the loose strands of hair at the temples dance lightly, as if it were a harbinger of an approaching storm.