Mercenary Princess - Chapter 114
"General..."
Passing Zhang He, whose face was contorted with a sour expression, Rong Yue quickened her pace and caught up with Liu Zhiyi...
"Yao'er!" Upon seeing Dongfang Yao in the distance, Liu Zhiyi shouted joyfully, hurried a few steps to get closer to Dongfang Yao, and excitedly put his arm around his shoulder: "Yao'er, you're really here! That's wonderful, wonderful!"
Staring blankly at his suddenly appearing uncle, he stammered in surprise, "Uncle...uncle?"
Upon seeing Dongfang Yao dressed as a gatekeeper, Liu Zhiyi frowned in displeasure, looked at Rongyue, and scolded, "How could you let Yao'er do such a lowly job! The older you get, the less sensible you become!"
Hearing him reprimand Rongyue, Dongfang Yao quickly waved his hand and explained, "No, Uncle, it was me..."
"Alright, stop defending her. Others may not know what kind of person she is, but I know her very well!" He turned his gaze away from Rongyue, looked around, and led Dongfang Yao toward the hall: "This is not the place to talk. Let's go inside and talk."
"But..." He hesitated, then turned his searching gaze to Rongyue.
"No buts! Come in now!" Forcibly pulling him towards the hall...
Oh no...
Biting her lower lip, Rongyue's eyes were filled with a dark and gloomy expression. What a carelessness! She had completely forgotten that Dongfang Yao was still here! How could she... how could she let them meet...
Her delicate hand clenched beneath her wide sleeves, and with swift, decisive steps, she appeared before them like a gust of cold wind, forcefully pulling Dongfang Yao away from Liu Zhiyi and shoving her aside: "Get out!"
Rongyue's dismissive expression, as if shooing away flies, dimmed Dongfang Yao's beautiful eyes, filling them with sorrow. He turned around, about to leave the main hall, when Liu Zhiyi grabbed him in the next instant.
"What kind of attitude is this!" He yelled at Rong Yue, then turned to Ye Ming behind him: "Go and shut the door up!"
Nodding in agreement, Ye Ming flashed and instantly moved from behind Liu Zhiyi to the palace gate.
What superb light-footed skills! For a moment, Rongyue was stunned and sighed inwardly.
“Moon, I know you’re angry about Yao’er for forcing you to jump off the cliff back then. But you should understand, after all, Yao’er didn’t know the truth and was kept in the dark…”
"Your Excellency!" He was abruptly interrupted: "Please get this straight. My surname is now Jian, and my given name is Xiao San. I am not the Yue'er you speak of! The past is gone. The Yue'er of that time is dead. Please, Your Excellency, do not speak of it again!"
"You unfilial daughter, you..."
"Uncle, you just said I was kept in the dark? Didn't know the truth? What makes you say that?" Seeing through Rongyue's trick of deliberately changing the subject, Dongfang Yao interrupted him and asked, but his gaze was probing and fixed on Rongyue's face.
The old man glared angrily at Rongyue, then exhaled a heavy breath, his expression softening slightly. He patted Dongfang Yao's hand, saying, "Yao'er, don't worry, your uncle will tell you everything about our family. Yao'er, do you know that we are not surnamed Liu..."
"Us?" Dongfang Yao asked in surprise.
"Yes, it's us. We don't have the surname Liu, our surname is..."
"Liu Zhiyi!"
The old man's face froze for a moment, then he flew into a rage: "You unfilial daughter!"
"You're no good father either!"
"You...you want to drive me crazy?!"
"The sooner you die, the sooner you'll be reborn!"
"Cough cough—cough cough...You, you wretched child! You cursed your father to die, you are a disgrace!!"
"Like father, like daughter; no one else is to blame!"
"Enough!" With a cold shout, Dongfang Yao suddenly grabbed Rongyue's chin, leaned forward, and stared intently into her eyes: "What exactly are you hiding? How long are you going to keep it a secret? How long are you going to keep me in the dark? Do you think a secret can be kept forever?"
Volume Two: The Resolute Heroines, Chapter Forty-Three: The Distant Journey
With each question, Dongfang Yao would take a step forward, while Rong Yue would take a step back in response. After taking several steps back, her right heel trembled and touched the hard cylinder, causing her to suddenly stop, her back pressed tightly against the cold cylinder.
His gaze was fixed intently on Rongyue, scrutinizing and examining her. The cold light shone like the moonlight, its intensity carrying a hint of suppressed resentment. Their eyes met silently, their sharp depths locked. He remained silent, and Rongyue was equally silent. In that instant, time seemed to stand still, the air seemed to freeze, and it was as if only the two of them remained in the world…
“Three hundred years ago, there was a great general in the Huye Kingdom named Dongfang Shi. Dongfang Shi was brave and skilled in battle. He was ordered by the emperor to fight in the south and north. In ten years, he destroyed no less than five neighboring small countries and established immortal achievements. For a time, he was known as the Huye myth…” He buried all his emotions in the depths of his eyes and looked at Dongfang Yao in silence. After a long time, his red lips uttered softly before he began to speak.
He frowned and said, "Why are you bringing this up? I am well aware of the founding history of our Dongfang family."
Rongyue gave a cryptic chuckle and shook her head slightly: "Dongfang Shi is indeed a cunning man. On the surface, he submits to the emperor and is loyal to Huye, but in reality, he is quite ambitious and plots to overthrow the two emperors on the throne and take their place..."
"After the fall of the kingdom, the descendants of Huye who were fortunate enough to escape endured humiliation and lived in seclusion in the deep forests, devoting their lives to gathering loyal and righteous people from all over the world to plan the restoration of the kingdom..."
"Many years passed, and a woman named Liu Lan'er emerged from the deep forest. She painstakingly entered the palace, starting as a lowly maid, scheming and plotting her way up step by step to the position of Empress..."
"Later, because of her, her brother entered the imperial court and became the prime minister, second only to the emperor..."
There was no need to elaborate. Anyone who wasn't mentally challenged could grasp the intricate relationships involved. Turning back in shock to look at Liu Zhiyi behind him, Dongfang Yao's eyes were filled with disbelief.
Meeting Dongfang Yao's questioning gaze, Liu Zhiyi walked over and patted him on the shoulder: "Just as you guessed, we are all descendants of the Huye Kingdom! Yao'er, your true nature is not Dongfang, but Huye—"
"No, no! My surname is not Huye, I am the son of my father, my surname is Dongfang, Dongfang!"
“Before Liu Lan’er entered the palace, she had a lover named Yu Lang, and you are the fruit of their love…” Turning her face away, Rong Yue took a breath, but felt that the air at this moment was so oppressive and suffocating, making her feel suffocated and almost unable to breathe.
Her eyes widened in shock! As if struck by lightning, Dongfang Yao froze on the spot, her mouth agape, trembling violently, yet she remained silent, seemingly unable to utter a sound due to overwhelming horror…
Silently pushing him away, Rongyue walked past him and headed towards the palace gate. She only stopped when her wrist was suddenly grabbed.
“Wife… tell me the truth… did Mother… force you to do that…” Dongfang Yao spoke with difficulty, her breathing rapid. Looking at Rongyue, her eyes held unease, expectation, and perhaps also nervousness and fear…
Does it matter?
"Very important."
Prying Dongfang Yao's hand open, Rongyue gently stroked her palm, her serene and indifferent tone like a wisp of cool, crystalline snowflake after it melts: "She forced me, but Dongfang Yao, do you really think I'm someone who can be forced into submission? You don't understand me, Dongfang Yao… You don't need to argue, I haven't wronged you at all, you truly have never understood me. If you understood me, knew me, you would know the fierceness and pride hidden in my bones, you would understand that I would rather be a broken jade than a whole tile. How could mere coercion trample my pride underfoot? Dongfang Yao, you should know very well whether I've ever truly cared for you, you shouldn't have doubted it, you shouldn't… I really once wanted to spend my whole life with you, I really thought about it…"