Young Prime Minister, a Hermit

Chapter 212

Jia Ning shook her head in a panic: "But, this is different, our survival is for you..."

I didn't speak, just watched her silently. After a long while, she stared at me blankly, and finally tears fell. She said, "Lin Yu, I always felt that he had someone in his heart, that he loved that person very much... But I never imagined that he would die for her! He was a monarch, yet he was willing to die for a woman! Lin Yu, I'm so unwilling, so incredibly unwilling, why wasn't that person me? I clearly loved him so much!"

I sighed softly, already vaguely guessing in my heart that the person Jun Wuhen loved most was Yi Han's junior sister, Gu Yao'er. And Jun Wuhen was Yi Han's senior brother, whom he always avoided talking about. I had vaguely heard Yi Han and Gu Yao'er talking in my dreams, and it seemed that Jun Wuhen and Gu Yao'er, like Yi Han and I back then, were cruelly separated by Fu Yu.

"Now I only have Nian'er left, only him." Jia Ning bit her lower lip and said softly, "Fine! Lin Yu, I believe you!"

The Fire Feather Kingdom is already in chaos. After making a bet with me, Liu Cenfeng disappeared from the Yixiu Continent with the three assassins Feng Xue Lei. Now that Empress Dowager Jianing is on my side, it is undeniable that Fire Feather has almost completely fallen into my hands.

In July of the 776th year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, Meng Zhao, one of the key ministers of the Fire Feather Regent, was accused of embezzling military funds and colluding with Feng Yin to plot treason. With my help, Jia Ning captured Meng Zhao, who was indulging in debauchery in his mansion, stripped him of all his titles, imprisoned him, and took control of his military power.

In September of the 776th year of the Wanli reign, Shuiwu announced its surrender to Fengyin Kingdom, and Huoling Kingdom lost its only bulwark.

In mid-September of the 776th year of the Wanli reign, 300,000 Chiyu troops invaded the border of Huoling. The already demoralized army, without effective command, crumbled. In just three months, Qin Li's army captured ten important cities in Huoling.

In December of the 776th year of the Wanli reign, Yanling surrendered. The eight-year-old ruler, Jun Qinnian, knelt before me, holding the imperial seal, and announced that Huoling had submitted to the Feng Emperor. The civil and military officials of the court either surrendered or committed suicide to show their loyalty.

In early January of the 777th year of the Wanli reign, Emperor Feng, disguised as Qin Gui, bestowed upon Jun Qinnian the title of "Fire Feather Marquis" and Empress Dowager Jianing the title of "Lady Luhua," ordering them to be imprisoned forever in the Naihe Pavilion within the Luoyang Imperial Palace. I harbored a deep-seated hatred and fear of the Naihe Pavilion, so the day after Qin Gui issued the decree, I ordered Jianing and Jun Qinnian to be secretly sent to the Izumo Island Kingdom.

Jin Yao was defeated, Huo Ling perished, and Shui Wu Qi Mu all submitted. The world was restored to unity from nothingness in my hands, transformed from division to harmony. I finally accomplished what no one had ever done in the thousands of years of history of the Ishu Continent, achieving the greatest legend.

Three years to rule the world, three years to establish hegemony, three years of waiting. Finally, it has come to an end.

I stood on the top floor of the building in Los Angeles, letting the biting wind tousle my clothes and hair. Gazing into the endless distance, I silently said to myself: I've finally waited for this day, the day Yihan will return.

Chapter 52 Weary Birds Return to Their Nests

Over the past three years, I have imagined what it would be like to reunite with Yihan a thousand times, a thousand times.

I came alone to the road from back then, found a clean patch of grass to lie down on, stretched out my limbs, and enjoyed the sunshine.

Then, I heard the sound of horses' hooves in the distance, and my heart, like those hooves, suddenly raced incredibly fast. But I remained still, lying on the ground with my eyes closed.

The sound of horses' hooves stopped directly in front of me, followed by the sound of someone landing and slowly approaching. Even though this person's lightness skill was exceptionally high, how sensitive was my hearing?

The footsteps stopped beside my face, and I felt the person squat down, looking at my face. My heart pounded, and my palms and the backs of my hands were sweaty with excitement. But I just closed my eyes, pretending to be a relaxed sunbather.

My soft breathing gradually quickened until he could no longer hold back. I suddenly felt a weight on my body as he pressed down on me, his iron-like arms reaching behind me and holding me tightly.

I opened my eyes and glared at him: "Hey! Who are you? Who gave you permission to hug me?"

He seemed not to hear my rebuke, reaching out to brush the stray hairs from my forehead. A glint of dark green flashed in his eyes, then filled them with my image. He lowered his head and kissed my eyelashes, and I trembled slightly.

He said softly, "Lin Yu, I'm back."

I turned my head away and said angrily, "Who cares if you come back or not. You'd better never come back!"

He turned my face towards him, his fingertips cool and slightly rough, pressing tightly against my delicate skin. He softly called my name: "Lin Yu..."

My eyes slowly reddened, and I kicked him hard in the knee, yelling, "You're so heavy!"

He didn't say anything, but held me tightly. My chin rested on his shoulder; it hurt a little, but I felt safe and secure.

He said, "Lin Yu, I will never leave you again! Really, I swear, even if it kills me!"

I bit my lip and said, "Why should I believe you? You can abandon me once, and you can abandon me a second time!"

He reached out and gently stroked my sore lip, and slowly said, "Lin Yu, marry me."

I trembled all over, gritted my teeth and didn't say a word, but tears slowly welled up in my eyes.

He hugged me tightly, buried his face in my neck, and whispered, "For the past three years, I've regretted it thousands of times, and I've wanted to come back to you. But I was afraid you weren't ready."

My neck slowly grew warm and damp, and I trembled until tears streamed down my face, dripping onto the grass. I couldn't hold back any longer; I reached out and hugged him tightly, sobbing, "I missed you so much! Do you know how much I missed you? Feng Yihan!"

Yi Han's return delighted Qin Wu and the others. They probably had a lot of questions they wanted to ask him—what he had experienced outside, how he knew the Fire Feather Kingdom's ruler was going to die—but all their enthusiasm was shut out by Yi Han's icy face. Then, amidst their ambiguous expressions of sudden realization, even with my thick skin, I couldn't help but blush with embarrassment.

The passion we'd suppressed for three years had almost burned us both to ashes. After our lovemaking, I nestled against his chest, tugging at his long silver hair in bewilderment. Why had his hair turned silver and his eyes purple again?

Yi Han grabbed my flailing hands, pulling me into his arms, and said in a hoarse voice still tinged with passion, "Silver hair and purple eyes are a sign of having special abilities. They are latent before the age of twenty-five and only become apparent after twenty-five. After the drug Fu Yu put on me wore off, this is how I usually look. I just found them an eyesore, so I used my mental power to remove them. But when I'm with you... it's not easy for me to concentrate my mental power."

Yi Han looked away somewhat awkwardly, which made me giggle: "What's your special ability?"

Yi Han said, "It's about comprehension in martial arts and physical endurance. Martial arts includes everything related to martial arts, such as techniques, internal energy, and martial formations. Physical endurance refers to my ability to heal myself after being injured and my ability to expand my meridians."

I nodded, seemingly understanding, and asked, "By the way, what exactly happened to Jun Wuhen?"

Yi Han said calmly, "He is not dead."

I sat up with a start, but he pressed me down again and pulled the blanket up to cover me. He then said, "Jun Wuhen, courtesy name Hanyu, is the senior brother who joined the sect when I was only ten years old. Before I turned eighteen, as per the usual teachings of the Tianxingliu Sword Sect, I had never seen him and knew nothing about him. But one day, Yao'er suddenly ran up to me and said that she had fallen in love with the senior brother and hoped that I could plead with you, Master, to let them be together."

"So, I took my junior sister with me to see Master. Master only said he would think about it. Yao'er was very happy and ran to find Senior Brother Yu early the next morning to go see Master with him. But when I heard a loud noise and rushed over, I saw Senior Brother Yu, whom I had just met, lying in the room on the verge of death, his martial arts completely destroyed. As soon as I checked his pulse, I knew that no one but Master could have destroyed Senior Brother Yu's skills."

"Sure enough, Master forced Yao'er to break off her relationship with Senior Brother Yu. She made Yao'er pretend to despise him because he had lost all his martial arts skills and was crippled. Otherwise, she would sever Senior Brother Yu's tendons. With no other choice, Yao'er had to do as she was told. Senior Brother Yu left the mountain in resentment. From then on, for a whole year, Yao'er did not leave her room."

Yi Han sighed and said, "At the time, I couldn't understand why Master would be so cruel to his own daughter. Later I found out that Master was taking revenge on his wife. That year, his wife didn't smile even once."

I sighed and said, "Your master's love is too obsessive. The person he loves is right beside him, but he doesn't know how to cherish her or win back the lost love. He only thinks about revenge. He deserves not to be happy. Please continue."

Yi Han seemed to chuckle softly, kissed my forehead, and said, "I originally wanted to help you take over the Fire Feather Kingdom, and I also wanted to give Yao'er one last push, so I went to see Senior Brother Yu and told him the truth of what happened back then. However, just as Yao'er said, Senior Brother Yu, who is now the emperor, can no longer turn back even though he knows the truth."

“I always felt that Senior Brother Yu wasn’t as heartless as he seemed. So, I decided to take a gamble. I tricked Yao’er into the Fire Feather Palace and tried to assassinate Senior Brother Yu in front of her. Yao’er stood in front of the sword without hesitation. I had applied ‘Returning Breath Powder’ to the Azure Frost Sword beforehand. After being stabbed, Yao’er collapsed and was on the verge of death.”

“At that time, Senior Brother Yu was almost ready to fight me to the death. I threw a bottle of Returning Breath Powder in front of him and said, ‘If you are willing to take this bottle of poison, I will save Yao’er’s life.’ Then, Senior Brother Yu did not hesitate for a moment and poured the whole bottle down his throat.”

I knew very well that Gui Xi San was a modified version of a drug used to induce a state of suspended animation, as Yun Yan had described. I asked, "And then?"