Eternal Night - Chapter 167
"Your Majesty, can you tell me if you know Li Er? Or, does Your Highness know this person?" Yongye's face was ashen. She didn't answer Feng Yangxi, and didn't even glance at him.
How did you guess?
"The Inner Classic of Heavenly Veins".
Uncle Shadow possessed the Heavenly Meridian Inner Scripture. His father had obtained it from the Western Liang tribe during their battle, so presumably, Li Er was the one who kidnapped her. He knew his father possessed this martial arts treasure, and being a martial artist himself, he naturally tried to blackmail her for it, but failing to see through the trick, he gave it to her. Yongye understood the situation and couldn't help but sigh softly.
Emperor Qi sighed: "A few years after the Anqi War, An and Chen went to war at Sanyu Pass. I was young then, still dreaming of dominating the world, so I sent a first-rank imperial guard to the capital to kidnap you, hoping to cause your father's crushing defeat. If Chen could breach Sanyu Pass, An would be severely weakened. He never returned. Later, I learned that your father had saved his life. He didn't want to use you as a hostage, so he secretly raised you. But he wronged me, so he infiltrated Youli Valley, learned of Li Yannian's plan to impersonate the crown prince, and brought you in as well, returning you to the palace. This method didn't benefit you, but it allowed him to stay close to Li Yannian and observe the movements in Youli Valley. He only returned after you grew up. That's why I owe your father."
A person slowly walked into the Tianji Pavilion, his back hunched, his face thin, and he prostrated himself on the ground: "Li Ya is sorry, Your Majesty!"
"Get up! I think you must also want to see Eternal Night."
Li Ya raised his head, his eyes filled with emotion, and lowered his head in guilt: "Yong Ye, it is my fault that you left home for ten years."
The eternal night is filled with endless sorrow.
She didn't awaken in her body until she was five years old. If it weren't for Li Ya, perhaps she would never have known who she was. Perhaps she would never have been the Assassin Star Soul, never met Moon Soul, and never had these eighteen years of experience. Like a constricted blood vessel suddenly loosening, Moon Soul and Wandering Valley flowed back into her mind like blood.
There are no trustworthy people; there will never be anyone in this world to whom you can entrust your true feelings.
She knelt down and kowtowed to Li Ya.
Li Ya quickly returned the gift.
Yongye asked earnestly, "Uncle Shadow has helped and saved me many times. Please tell me, when you said you were leaving to repay your kindness and fulfill your duty, was it when I went to see Old Man Wang, that you recognized Feng Yangxi?"
Li Ya couldn't help but look towards Feng Yangxi.
Yongye said softly, "I just want to hear the truth."
Li Ya lowered his head and said, "Yes. But His Highness..."
Yongye interrupted him, kowtowing three times: "Yongye understands, Yongye is still grateful to Uncle Shadow. Over the years, I..." Her gaze met Liya's, a deep longing in her eyes. For Yongye, this tacit understanding and attachment with Uncle Shadow sometimes surpassed that with Prince Duan.
She stood up and said, "Yongye is unwilling to marry Feng Yangxi, nor is she willing to marry Murong Yan. I will pack my things and return to Anguo. Yongye takes her leave!"
Emperor Qi sighed, glancing at Feng Yangxi and Mu Li's appearance, and couldn't help but hum. He said gently to Yongye, "Remember to greet your father when you get back. There's no need to mention what happened back then. Well... your father is very vengeful, and I can't bear to hide it from you. Yongye, please share my burdens."
“Yongye is unharmed and knows her limits. Yongye takes her leave!” She stood up, and as the autumn wind blew, only one thought filled Yongye’s mind: to go home.
Her figure disappeared from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion. Feng Yangxi's face was ashen, and she didn't even glance at him.
"If you had come back to be the Crown Prince earlier and hadn't been wandering the martial world, wouldn't you have settled things sooner?" Emperor Qi said sarcastically.
Feng Yangxi turned around angrily and said, "So what if Yan Di becomes the Crown Prince? I can still assist him. I don't want to be the Emperor! Now Father has gotten his wish? I agreed to inherit the throne, but what about what you promised me? You said long ago that as long as I dealt with Youli Valley and the An family, you wouldn't force me to become the Crown Prince. Then you brought up the marriage between the two countries, saying that Yongye must marry the Crown Prince of Qi, and if I didn't become the Crown Prince, I couldn't marry her. And now? You lied to me and let Yongye choose for herself. With her temper, she already knows I'm playing her for a fool."
"Your Highness, please calm down! Yongye is having a hard time accepting this right now. This servant thinks..." Liya glanced in the direction Yongye had left.
Feng Yangxi regained his senses and hurriedly bowed to the Emperor, saying, "Your subject takes his leave!"
Emperor Qi waved his hand dismissively.
Seeing Feng Yangxi stride away, he smiled and said, "Li Ya, go. Perhaps you can be of help with this." He whispered a few words in Li Ya's ear, and Li Ya couldn't help but laugh, bowing deeply, "This servant takes his leave!"
Emperor Qi looked out the window and murmured, "Li Gu, if I didn't owe you, I wouldn't bother with this."
As Yongye descended from the Tianji Pavilion, two maids offered to lead her back to the palace. She said calmly, "No need. The Emperor has granted my request to leave the palace. Lead the way!"
As they grew further away from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, the palace gates came into view. Yongye couldn't help but turn back. To his horror, he saw Feng Yangxi chasing after him like a dark cloud, and he turned and ran. As he ran, he shouted, "Your father promised to let me go back!"
She lifted her skirt and ran almost to her limit, leaving the palace guards dumbfounded. They instinctively swung their halberds to block the palace gate.
"Get out of the way! It was the Emperor who ordered me to leave the palace!" Yongye grabbed the halberd and swung it forcefully, rushing towards the door.
Suddenly, her waist tightened, and she screamed and struggled: "You are defying the imperial decree! The Emperor has granted me permission to leave the palace and return to Anguo."
Feng Yangxi ignored her, knowing he couldn't explain himself no matter how hard he tried. He carried her straight to Jichang Palace: "Let's talk this over. If you don't want to, I've said I won't force you!"
"I don't want to talk to you!"
"I absolutely have to tell you!"
Yongye bit her lip and remained silent. The grievance in her heart grew heavier and heavier. If Yuepo hadn't crippled her inner strength, would she be so afraid of him? She recalled how she used to be able to leap across rooftops and throw knives at will, but now she couldn't do anything. He wouldn't let her leave, and she couldn't even get out of the palace walls.
Feng Yangxi dismissed the people around him, picked her up and sat her down. Seeing that Yongye had a dark face and refused to say a word, he couldn't help but feel impatient: "You don't want to marry me because you like that boy surnamed Yue, right?"
Yongye struggled to get off his lap, but Feng Yangxi wouldn't let go. Yongye roared, "I can't talk to you like this!"
Feng Yangxi released her hand, and Yongye dashed to the other side of the table and sat down, saying, "Say what you want to say! I need to go home after I finish." Seeing Feng Yangxi's glare, she quickly sped up her speech, "You said it, you won't force me!"
Seeing the anger on her face and her disheveled hair, Feng Yangxi felt a pang of guilt. Noticing her wariness, she reached out her hand and then withdrew it. For a moment, he didn't know what to say. After a pause, he said, "I originally... had no intention of marrying you."
Once the words were out of his mouth, they flowed much more smoothly.
“I was born prematurely and was very weak. My father was afraid I wouldn't survive, so he entrusted me to a master to raise. I didn't grow up in the palace, and my father simply kept this a secret, thinking it was a good thing for me to travel the world. Emperor Youqing was still a prince at the time, and he betrothed my younger sister, Luoyu. I left home at a young age, but I felt very sorry for this little sister. In addition, I originally wanted to investigate the matter of Youli Valley, so I went to Anguo to assist Emperor Youqing as a wandering knight. I really enjoyed life outside; it was very carefree. Five years ago, the former Prince Duan and my father got engaged. My father told me that this marriage was arranged for me because the Princess Duan was exceptionally beautiful, and her daughter should be no less so.”
Yongye sneered: "The Crown Prince is Murong Yan. You stole his position as Crown Prince. Won't this lead to another brotherly feud?"
Feng Yangxi smiled calmly: "You can tell from your conversation with Yan that he has no interest in the throne. Besides, if your father hadn't arranged this marriage, why would I have become the crown prince?"
Yongye was somewhat puzzled.
Feng Yangxi sighed: "My father thinks I am more suitable to inherit the throne than Yan, and he has tried every means to make me the crown prince. Therefore, your betrothal is not to Murong Yan or Murong Yangxi, but to the crown prince of Qi. Whoever becomes the crown prince will marry you, it's that simple. As for what other private deals the two old guys have, I have no idea."
"And then?" Did he mean that the crown prince did it all for her sake? Yongye sneered.
“Then…” Feng Yangxi looked at Yongye and recalled the expression on her face when he met her by the river. He understood everything, but he said a lot of things to comfort her. He knew she was being clever and pretending to be innocent, but she had clearly touched his heart.