Young Prime Minister, a Hermit

Chapter 104

Chapter 1 Things and people are different (Part 2)

Yi Han's gaze never left me for a moment, but his hand instinctively gripped the rope. With a leap, he soared through the sky like an eagle, agile and graceful. Before I could even react, he was already standing silently in front of me.

“Young Master, I’m back.” He looked down at me and said. Qin Wu had already quietly retreated to some unknown place, leaving only the two of us on the city wall where the warm breeze gently blew. One was dressed in green, the other in blue, and we smiled at each other. If you ignored the content of our conversation, we would look like a handsome and elegant couple.

"Young master guessed correctly. Mo Li is nominally the commander-in-chief of Woyang, but Mu Shuangshuang is the one who is actually in command."

I nodded: "I guessed that a long time ago. What I want to know is, what is the relationship between Mo Li and Mu Shuangshuang, and are his generals really willing to take orders from Mu Shuangshuang?"

Yi Han nodded and said, "Mo Li has great respect for Mu Shuangshuang and will never disobey her orders. As for his subordinates, a few of them were initially dissatisfied, but after Mu Shuangshuang won against Ling Chu, they no longer had any objections."

I gazed at the vast land beyond the city walls, my brow furrowing slightly, but admiration shining in my eyes: "Mu Shuangshuang's victory in this battle was truly magnificent. Ling Chu's indecisive nature and lack of adaptability in emergencies were precisely what Mu Shuangshuang exploited. She led the troops out of the city to meet the enemy, and just as the battle was about to begin, she ordered nearly a thousand death row inmates to line up and commit suicide before him. Let alone Ling Chu, who was just a newly appointed junior general, even a seasoned marshal like Lü Shaojun would likely be moved by such a horrific scene. If the commander-in-chief is filled with fear, how could the soldiers not be in disarray?"

I coughed lightly twice, exhaling a breath of stale air. "But I really don't want to use this kind of strategy. Fortunately, it's a one-time thing, otherwise, I really wouldn't know how to deal with it." I paused, then added, "Is everything taken care of?"

Yi Han unconsciously focused his attention, clearly checking if anyone was eavesdropping. After a moment, he said, "The letter has fallen into the hands of Sima Lin, the garrison commander of Woyang. His father, Sima Xiao, the Minister of Revenue, has always been at odds with Mu Chengying. Therefore, in this battle of Woyang, Sima Lin has been almost completely sidelined, and he must be extremely resentful."

I nodded and asked, "Was there any trace left during the interception of the letter? Did Mu Shuangshuang and Mo Li not notice anything?"

Yi Han said, "Young master, rest assured, I personally delivered the letter to the Ghost Division member who was mixed in with the Wind Chant Army, and I also witnessed him being intercepted by Sima Xiao's men and fighting to the death. The letter was dug out of his mouth by Sima Xiao."

My face paled, and I coughed softly twice: "That would indeed... be more credible. A letter without a title or signature, written in such a gentle tone, falling into Sima Xiao's hands would inevitably make him suspect that an important figure in the city has already defected to our side. Of course, he's unlikely to think of that person yet, but given his current irreconcilable conflict with Mu Shuangshuang, he certainly wouldn't be willing to relinquish the credit for uncovering the spy. In that case, once Yang Qian suffers a major defeat, we... cough cough..."

Yi Han quickly helped me up, his expression grave, a hint of worry in his eyes: "Has your old injury flared up again? Did you take your medicine on time while I was gone? You're wearing so little clothing..."

I looked up at him with a deep, melancholic gaze, as if trying to capture him into my light blue pupils. A wave of aching pain surged in my chest, causing my normally cold eyelids to warm slightly.

Yi Han's voice suddenly stopped. He withdrew his hand and gently gripped the hilt of the sword, his thumb unconsciously stroking the silver tassel. A jade fan pendant hung from the tassel; it wasn't worth much, but it was a gift from me. The snow jade, originally engraved with "fragrant as orchids, beautiful as pines," was now quietly pressed against my chest.

I smiled and said, "It's alright. Two years have passed, and Yunyan's medical skills are superb. That little injury has almost completely healed."

His lips moved, and I guessed he wanted to say that it was no small injury, but he didn't say anything in the end.

Two years ago, he and I fell from the cliff outside Maple Forest Lodge. The rushing water whipped us like a lash, and the jagged, protruding rocks pierced our backs like sharp blades. The pain still makes me shudder when I think about it now.

At that time, I had just regained my memory and remembered that I had fallen into a coma after a car accident two years ago and came to this strange world. My soul merged with Chi Fei and became the young prime minister Qin Luo. I remembered the bits and pieces of my twelve years as Lin Yu and the pain and helplessness of falling in love with Feng Yihan but being so close yet so far away.

My mind was filled with too many things at once, and I couldn't catch my breath. I didn't know whether to let go or hold on tighter with my hand clutching his clothes.

Feng Yihan is a direct descendant of the Wind Clan Chief, the closest kin to the gods in the former Mujia Dynasty. Of course, with the Mujia Dynasty long since destroyed, such an identity is not particularly noteworthy. What truly shocked me was his other identity: one of the candidates for the leadership of the most mysterious Heavenly Star Flow Sword Sect on the Ishu Continent—Star Soul.

My memories are too jumbled. In that bewildered and terrifying fall, I had no time to sort them out or analyze them. I only vaguely remember overhearing some conversations that I should never have heard, remembering that Liu Cenfeng and Mu Shuangshuang were both candidates for Star Soul, and remembering how terrifying the true meaning behind "drawing hellfire to burn away all the evil in the world" was.

I tried to look up at him, but he pressed the back of my head against his chest and pulled me tightly into his embrace. I could clearly feel the warmth of his body enveloping me. Hot blood seeped from his back, soaking his clothes, and I could clearly smell it against his chest. Suddenly, I knew that this man, this man who was silently protecting and cherishing me with his life, would never, ever hurt me, no matter what his status was or what threats he faced.

Whether we are close yet worlds apart, share hardships, or face life and death, he will quietly accompany me to the end of my life.

Although Yihan shielded me with his entire body, the sheer drop was no joke. The moment I plunged into the pool, my chest was violently impacted. I don't know if it was water or something else, but a sweet, metallic smell surged from my body, spraying all over Yihan's face before spreading in the water. Even through the shimmering waves, I could clearly see the panic and horror in his eyes.

I smiled weakly at him, then lost consciousness. In the instant my eyes closed, I felt myself float up and see Chifei, the son of god, dressed in crimson, with azure eyes and two wings sprouting from his back. The incongruous attire, clad on him… well… it should be said, clung to him, yet it was dazzlingly beautiful. But I wouldn't be seduced by this lowly bastard's good looks; instead, I glared at him fiercely.

I said, "Give Zimo back to me!"

The voice was exactly the same as it had been more than a decade ago, neither male nor female, and strangely sarcastic: "Impossible! He deserved it. Who told him to dare to steal my true essence?"

"If he hadn't changed history, wouldn't you and I still have died?"

“That’s different,” Chi Fei laughed. “Although you are the only soul that can communicate directly with me in the tens of thousands of years of reincarnation, and of course I like you the most, even if you die, I can still find another body to be reborn. This is completely different from having my true essence absorbed and needing to recuperate for thousands of years.”

I stared at him silently for a long time, and when I saw his face change, I sneered, "He was also your reincarnation, wasn't he? Just because he borrowed your true essence, you want to make him disappear completely. Chi Fei, you are really cold-blooded."

Chi Fei frowned as he looked at me, his eyes flickering with uncertainty, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated: "Actually, that lonely soul..." He immediately snapped out of his reverie as soon as he finished speaking, "Lin Yu, it's time, let's merge quickly."

I opened my hand and looked at my palm, which was transparent in the vast white fog. I remembered that person's warm smile, the last plan that contained all emotions, and the loneliness and relief of a thousand years in an instant. My chest ached.

I looked up and said, "Okay." Even I could hear the tremor and determination in that single word.

Chifei looked at me with some surprise: "I thought that even if you didn't threaten me, you would at least make a request."

I smiled: "Chifei, I'm not Lin Jialan who knows nothing now, but Qin Luo who has been with you for over a decade. And..." I exhaled, the depression in my chest slowly dissipating, "In this world, I have people I need to protect, and promises I need to fulfill, so I must rely on your wisdom and strength."

If we have to live whether we cry or laugh, then why not face life with a smile? If both bitterness and sweetness are part of life, then why not savor bitterness as if it were sweetness?

Chifei looked at me with bright, sparkling eyes, and his voice softened considerably: "Then, let's begin."

As soon as he finished speaking, he gently raised his hand, and a crimson light emanated from his body, gradually enveloping me. There was no pain; the soul has no sense of pain. I slowly closed my eyes, feeling the strange process of another life being infused into my body, thread by thread.

"Lin Yu, I'm sorry, only when this lonely soul completely dissipates in this world will I have enough true essence to awaken." Chi Fei's voice sounded somewhat distant when it rang in my body. Although it was still that androgynous tone, exactly the same as it was more than ten years ago, I didn't know why I wanted to cry so much.

He said, "Born into the world in the golden dawn, soaring through the stormy waves, and reborn from the flames, our souls will merge anew, and only then can you become the true son of the goddess Ishel—Chifi!"

"Lin Yu, history has changed. Yang Yi is no longer the destined ruler who will unify the world. The gears of fate have finally begun to turn, and the true emperor of all time on the continent of Yixiu will be..."

As a result, I listened to a lot of his nonsense, but I didn't hear the last and most important sentence, who could become the greatest emperor of all time. It makes me furious just thinking about it.

Another thing that really bothered me was the injury I sustained when I fell off the cliff. It's clear that Yi Han's injury was much more serious than mine that day; he lost almost a third of his body weight in blood. But in the end, it was me who suffered from chronic illness, while his only aftereffect was that his martial arts skills improved to a new level. I heard that he reached some kind of innate subtlety realm, a level that others need decades to break through, and even he himself was baffled by it.

However, while those two things bothered me, they were still within tolerable limits. Only this third thing, when I first discovered it, almost drove me to a breakdown. Even now, I still can't believe it…

"Young master, young master..." Linglong's clear voice came from not far away, "Young master has woken up and is throwing a tantrum because he can't see you."

"Here it comes..." I sighed inwardly, glanced up and saw Yihan's somewhat distorted face, shook my head and quickly walked towards the innermost room.

Xiao Yi

2008.1.4 18:42

Chapter 1: Things Have Changed, People Have Changed (End)