La vie parfaite sous la dynastie Song

Chapitre 207

My shoulders tightened suddenly as Liu Cenfeng pulled me close, pressing me against his body. He leaned down and breathed his hot breath all over my face: "If you win, I will obey your orders for the rest of my life; if I win, you must grant me one request."

Liu Cenfeng's voice was deep and alluring, with a soft and clean magnetism. A smile as beautiful yet poisonous as a poppy bloomed on his face, as if it were a paradise disguised as hell, capable of tempting anyone to fall.

I shoved him away abruptly and said coldly, "Why should I agree to your request?!"

Liu Cenfeng slowly withdrew her hand, gently brushing away the grass clippings from her white clothes. Her phoenix eyes, with a touch of alluring charm, fell on my face: "Do you know how I awoke? That fool you called Feifei waited for you foolishly in the Water Mist Kingdom for two months, then another two months, until he finally broke down. So he voluntarily returned his body to me and hid in the water chain to sleep forever."

Liu Cenfeng reached out and slowly fiddled with the transparent chain on his wrist, saying leisurely, "Don't you have any lingering feelings for that fool at all?"

I abruptly closed my eyes, letting the excruciating pain coursing through my body. Then I opened them and said in a deep voice, "Okay, I promise you!"

The day after I made the bet with Liu Cenfeng, an unexpected person came to see me: His Highness the Crown Prince of Izumo Kingdom, Soku.

I felt a secret thrill, yet couldn't help but marvel at the strangeness of fate—how could he appear so soon after I thought of asking Soku for help? But when I saw Soku, all that little bit of joy vanished.

He still had the same amber eyes and fair skin, but he seemed shrouded in darkness for centuries, his entire being utterly dejected. A lifeless,颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it conveys a sense of listlessness, decadence, and haggardness) and 憔悴 (憔悴 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it conveys a sense of listlessness, haggardness, and a sense of being tired and forlorn) pervaded his face.

I invited Soku into the house, dismissed everyone else, and was about to speak when Soku suddenly rushed up to me, grabbed my shoulders, and growled in a hoarse voice, "Lin Yu, I can't take it anymore... I really can't forget her... Lin Yu, please help me!"

I was startled and grabbed his arms to comfort him, "Sokku, what happened? What do you need my help with?"

Soku's eyes were glaringly red, making him appear even more disheveled and out of control. His hand, which was holding my shoulder, trembled slightly, and his voice also trembled: "Lin Yu, please let me see her... just secretly arrange for me to see her, okay? I just want to ask her one last time, ask her why she did this to me! Otherwise, I will never be at peace with this for the rest of my life. Lin Yu, I just want to see her, I will never do anything outrageous, Lin Yu, please help me!"

I could almost hear my own heart pounding, then quickening. My hand, gripping his arm, felt like it was being branded with a hot iron; it was burning hot, yet I couldn't pull it away. I heard myself asking him in a calm voice, "Who... do you want to see?"

Soku slowly released me, his teeth biting his lower lip tightly, leaving a row of bluish-white marks. He said in a hoarse voice, "I want to see Lin Lan. I want to see the Empress of the Wind Emperor—Lin Lan."

I staggered back a step, my face feeling cold and stinging. I could see my own pale face reflected in Soku's eyes, a face full of shock and remorse.

Looking at my expression, Soku's hopeful face slowly turned to despair. He staggered back a few steps and sat down in a chair, muttering, "It won't work, will it? I should have known it wouldn't work. She's the queen of a country, how could she possibly want to see me? How could she possibly remember me..."

Soku kept muttering to himself, "She just fainted that day. Was she injured afterward? She's been lying to me from the very beginning, Lin Yu. I thought I'd finally found the woman who moved my heart, but I never imagined she'd been lying to me all along... Lin Yu, who can I trust in this world? My father only cares about his throne, my mother only wants to shower everyone with love, my brothers wish I were dead, and even you... my only true friend, have been using me all along. Lin Yu, I'm not a fool. There are some things I know, but I just don't want to say them... because I cherish her, I cherish you..."

I just stood there dumbfounded, watching as a dark cloud settled over Soku's eyes, like a wrecked object sinking to the bottom of the sea, never to see the brilliant sunlight again.

How could I allow such a young man, so pure as water and so warm as light, to undergo such a cruel transformation? How could I bear to let his heart be stained with an indelible darkness?

I know that Lin Jialan was innocent yet cowardly, kind yet foolish, causing irreparable harm to others back then. But Qin Luo now can no longer find that simple joy and contentment. Whether it's a blessing or a curse, good or bad, who can truly say?

Soku continued speaking, his gaze, though fixed on me, seemed to deepen and then drift into some distant, unseen place: "Was I too foolish? If I had learned scheming and manipulation earlier, if I had developed a deep and calculating mind, I wouldn't have been deceived, and I wouldn't have lost even what I wanted. Should I start now...?"

"Sokku!!" I yelled, interrupting him, forcing myself to tell him, word by word, "Lin Lan, she's dead!"

Soku suddenly stopped, staring blankly at me, then his eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at me intently.

I closed my eyes briefly, then opened them again, my breathing gradually becoming steady: "Sokku, Lin Lan did lie to you. Because she wasn't... not Yi Han's wife at all. She came down the mountain to save me after I had been in a coma for five years."

Soku slowly stood up, walked to me, and asked in a trembling voice, "You said she... is dead? Who did you say is dead?!"

I looked away, not daring to look him in the eye, and nodded hard: "Lin Lan has had a heart condition since childhood and won't live past twenty. When she came down the mountain that time, she already knew she only had three months to live. That's why she couldn't accept your kindness, and that's why she lied to you and said she was Yi Han's wife."

"I...I don't believe it!" Soku suddenly shoved me away forcefully, roaring, "You said she's dead?! You said she lied to me because she was dying! How could that be! Lin Yu, you lied to me, why did you lie to me?!"

I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails dug into my palms, and I had to stare intently at one spot to keep from crying: "Why would I lie to you? I cremated Lin Lan's body myself, and I scattered her ashes into the sea with my own hands. Why would I lie to you?"

I heard Soku stumble and fall to his knees. Looking down, I saw despair on his face. I felt only guilt and heartache, but I knew that this despair was the best medicine to heal his wounded heart.

It's better to keep someone in your memory and cherish them than to etch them into your heart and be torn between love and hate. This is a lesson I learned from personal experience when I was in excruciating pain.

I crouched down, facing Soku directly, and said softly, "Lin Lan asked me to tell you something before she died, Soku. Would you like to hear it?"

Soku slowly raised his head, looked at me blankly, and finally nodded slowly.

I put my hand on his shoulder and pressed it firmly before saying, "She said, 'Sokku, your eyes are so beautiful. In my darkest days, they warmed me like sunshine. So Sokku, please don't lose that brilliance and beauty. Please become stronger and happier to forever preserve...this beauty.'"

Seven days after the bet began, there was still no movement in Luocheng. I finally couldn't hold back any longer and sent Qin Wu and Shen Hong to lead an army of 200,000 to provoke the city. They insulted King Yang Yi, saying he had no ambition as a ruler and was just like a coward hiding behind his gates.

The soldiers on the city wall all looked ashamed and indignant, yet they remained motionless. Our army returned empty-handed.

On the tenth day, I still ordered my men to hurl insults at the city walls. Finally, the three assassins, Liu Cenfeng and Feng Xuelei, appeared, only to find that Liu Cenfeng and Fei Lian had set up a chess game on the city wall. The four of them drank and laughed, completely ignoring the 200,000 elite troops below. The soldiers on the city wall, who had been weary and panicked, relaxed because of their ease and comfort.

I reluctantly ordered a retreat. Before leaving, Liu Cenfeng stood on the city wall, raising his cup and smiling at me from afar. Even though we were so far apart, I could almost see the provocation and languor in his eyes, and a surge of impatience rose in my heart.

On the twelfth day, I still couldn't devise a plan that Liu Cenfeng could see through, so I had no choice but to order Qin Li to lead his troops in a full-scale attack. This was the first time in over six months of fighting that the Chiyu Army had used a head-on confrontation tactic, and they were all unusually excited. Indeed, soldiers are born with a thirst for battle. Under Yi Han's command, they walked on the edge of fate every day, and the thrill and excitement were addictive to them. The six months of rest and recuperation had only made them itchy to rush back to the battlefield and fight.

Looking at the massive, dark army that had erected ladders and was charging fiercely into battle, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. I guess I'm still a woman at heart; deep down, I always hope to achieve victory through strategies that subdue the enemy without fighting, forgetting that the fighting spirit cultivated through combat is also indispensable for an army. In this respect, Yihan is clearly much stronger than me.

Therefore, for the next three days, I handed over command to Qin Li.

The battle was fierce. The Crimson Universe Army was elite, and Liu Cenfeng's archers were no pushovers either. This kind of battle was almost a lose-lose situation. Liu Cenfeng would occasionally deploy some formations, and I would guide Qin Li to break them.

On the eighteenth day, Liu Cenfeng and his men actually retreated, and the city's garrison commander was replaced by someone I would never have expected: Lü Shaojun!

The bet was more than halfway over, and for the first time, I felt the despair of possibly losing. Lu Shaojun, though not a peerless general, nor possessing any extraordinary tactics, was the true nemesis of someone like me who excelled in strategy, and Yi Han, a general skilled in swift attacks.

I don't know how Liu Cenfeng persuaded Lü Shaojun to return to defend the city, nor do I know if Lü Shaojun harbors any resentment towards Yang Yi. But I am certain that Lü Shaojun would never betray his country.

I recalled Qin Li, intending to devise another plan. However, Qin Li refused to obey. Perhaps he couldn't understand why I, who wasn't afraid of people like Mu Shuangshuang and Liu Cenfeng, was afraid of a mere Lu Shaojun who only knew how to defend and wasn't good at attacking.

I patiently explained to Qin Li Lü Shaojun's prudence, perseverance, meticulousness, and prestige in the army, but seeing the stubbornness in Qin Li's eyes, I knew he was still unconvinced. Left with no other choice, I had to agree to let him continue the siege.

A young commander like Qin Li, who possesses extraordinary talent and has had a smooth and successful career, will never grow if he doesn't experience some setbacks.

The siege intensified, and Qin Li, as if in a fit of pique, launched a frenzied attack, causing heavy casualties to the Chiyu Army. Of course, Lü Shaojun and Jin Yaobing on the city walls were also suffering.

Twenty-five days after the bet, the 250,000 Golden Radiance defenders and 100,000 Fire Feather reinforcements in Luo City finally could not withstand Qin Li's frenzied human wave attack. The soldiers collapsed one by one from exhaustion, and the city was about to fall.

Finally, Liu Cenfeng could no longer restrain himself. At dawn on the twenty-sixth day, a scout reported that Liu Cenfeng had ordered several huge stones to be moved overnight and placed in front of the city gate of Luocheng, and ordered more than thirty soldiers to guard various positions among the stones.