Одинокий город закрыт

Глава 119

"Get up quickly, Uncle De, did you come all this way for something?" I offered a helping hand. There was no point in asking, since he would tell me anyway.

"Your Highness requests that the Princess return to Xiuruo immediately, as the Emperor is seriously ill."

"What!" I exclaimed in surprise. The fox kid is seriously ill? Uh, no, no, Xiu Ruo, is it the old man who's seriously ill? When did this happen? Although the old man is old, and although he did show signs of poor health before, a serious illness is too sudden! And it happened now, when my identity is out in the open, which makes me wary. "Uncle De, is this true?"

"Yes. Please, Princess, depart as soon as possible," he replied, bowing slightly and keeping his head down.

It must be true, right? No matter how bad Old Man Yun is, he wouldn't dare joke about his father's affairs. If he wanted to trick me into returning to Xiu Ruo, it would be easier to just say that Yun Feng had gotten into trouble. Thinking about this, I became anxious. No matter what, the old man treated me well when I was in Xiu Ruo. Perhaps he had other plans, but at least so far, he hadn't harmed me, and the old empress had been particularly kind to me.

"Uncle De, wait a moment. I need to say goodbye to Qinglin." I gestured for Yefeng to stay, then left the camp, grabbed a soldier at random, asked him where Qinglin was going, and ran straight to my destination.

"Second Brother!" I ran out of breath and bumped into Qinglin, who was walking back.

"Shallowly..."

He looked at me, and in just one glance, I knew he understood why I had come to him. How could he not know why Zhang De had come to the military camp to find me? But my destination, my fate, was not something he could simply decide to keep me in. Except for the first time, when I mentioned my mission to Tianqing in the political hall, and he almost instinctively offered to protect me, he never did so again. Perhaps he had long since come to terms with it; to him, Fox was a friend, a brother, and above all, a subject of his ruler. But what good would it do if he couldn't let go? When I meet him again, he will indulge my whims and unhesitatingly agree to assign Mu Mo and the others to me; he will indulge my whims and keep me in the military camp. But that fundamental principle of subject-ruler etiquette has already sealed our fate.

"Qinglin..." At this moment, looking into his dark eyes that betrayed all his emotions, and seeing him avert his gaze as if trying to avoid it, I could no longer call him "Second Brother," nor "Erlinzi." All I could leave him with was this one "Qinglin."

"Is Qianqian leaving?" He lowered his eyes, not daring to look me in the eye. He was still handsome, still composed, and still gave me a sense of security.

"Hmm." I looked up at him, a big smile spreading across my face, though my vision was slightly blurred.

"Your second brother has sent people to escort you back. Qianqian, you must be extra careful on the way." He seemed to have suppressed his emotions, his dark eyes regained their warmth and slightly depth, and he changed his address back to "second brother." His expression was calm, and his smile was warm and upright.

"Okay." I couldn't refuse his kindness, so I forced a smile and said, "Second brother, you must take care. I'll wait for your triumphant return. We still owe you the welcome banquet from last time, so I'll combine the two meals into one and treat you to the best food in the world—cooked by me, a princess of two countries, a member of the Fengshen Kingdom's royal family, and myself!"

"good."

"Second Brother, don't see me off. You have important business to attend to. I'm leaving now. Second Brother, I wish our Dragon Yao army a smooth and unstoppable advance, and that we will pacify Ye Cang! I wish you a great victory soon and a triumphant return to the capital!" Without waiting for his reply, I turned and ran back.

Back at the command camp, I dismissed everyone, leaving Night Wind to guard the outside. Then I removed my silk armor, left a short note tucked under the armor, and departed the camp.

I had imagined, or more accurately, worried countless times, about encountering all sorts of mishaps along the way—attacks, assassinations, and so on. But just like last time, the journey to Xiuruo was completely smooth sailing, without a single peculiar incident. This made me quite frustrated. Was my return to Xiuruo simply a matter of "fate's will"?

As soon as the carriage entered Xiuzhou, the Imperial Guards cleared the way. The carriage itself wasn't changed, and it sped along without stopping until it reached the palace gate. Zhang De lifted the curtain, and I jumped down from the carriage. Standing still, I looked up and saw Old Man Yun standing at the palace gate, seemingly waiting for me.

"Father." I gave a slight bow.

"Go see your royal grandfather!" he said as he turned and walked into the palace.

I was rushing along the way, and the carriage ride left me feeling completely exhausted, but the thought of the old man's serious illness made me endure it. I hurried behind Old Man Yun, without even having time to change into proper clothes.

There were quite a few guards outside the old man's palace. Old Man Yun nodded to one of the guards, then gestured for me to go in, while he stayed outside. I didn't care about anything else and hurried inside, passing the place where I had read and approved memorials for the old man. When I arrived at the inner palace, I saw the figure lying on the bright yellow dragon bed. I rushed over and threw myself on the edge of the bed, shouting, "Grandpa Emperor!"

"Girl, you've come." The old man opened his eyes at the sound of my voice, turned his head to look at me, and forced a familiar squinty smile onto his face. His voice was old and deep.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, are you alright?" Looking at the person on the bed, he did indeed look older and more haggard than when I left Xiuruo. I left in early autumn and spent the Spring Festival on my way back to Xiuruo from Cangqi Pass. It had only been a few months, but he seemed to have aged several years suddenly.

"I'm fine. But you, girl, you've matured a lot since you came back." He spoke slowly, word by word, his voice soft, and he was slightly out of breath when he finished.

"Grandpa!" Tears suddenly streamed down my face, without warning. How could this journey not have been a transformative one? My time with the fox was a physical metamorphosis, but when Xi Lan saved my life again, it was a metamorphosis of the soul.

"Does the girl harbor any resentment?" he suddenly asked.

"No, Grandfather." I wiped away my tears with my sleeve, still dressed in men's clothing, and looked directly into his eyes as I said, "No matter how bitter or tiring the process is, Yue'er will have no complaints or resentments, as long as the result is satisfactory."

"Chen Shou, you may leave now." The old man shifted his gaze to what was behind me and said softly.

It was only then that I realized that in this vast palace, besides the old man lying on the dragon bed, besides myself, the only other person was the old man's personal eunuch, Chen Shou. Upon hearing this, Chen Shou withdrew, leaving only the old man and me in the palace.

"Grandpa Emperor." I knelt in front of his bed, reached out to tuck the blanket around him, sniffed, and smiled, "Grandpa Emperor will get better soon."

"My dear girl, I am getting old. It is time for me to accept the one and only final destiny you have spoken of." He said, panting, his face slightly pale.

"No, no, Grandpa will live to be a hundred years old." I shook my head vigorously and continued, "Grandpa, you should rest. Yue'er will stay here with you. We'll chat later."

"Now you know about the girl's background, right?"

He didn't give up, still speaking with slight panting. I could only nod helplessly.

"What does the girl herself think?"

“No idea.” I looked up, meeting his eyes directly—those eyes, though weary, still bright and deep—and said frankly, “The struggle for supremacy and annexation are always a game for politicians. Victory makes kings, defeat makes kingdoms fall; the strong prey on the weak—this is the law of nature. If there truly is one person in the world who can change the course of history, that person wouldn’t be Yue’er. So-called rumors, so-called secrets—whether it’s wealth beyond measure, the secret to immortality, or the prestige and power to rule the world—ultimately, they all exploit people’s greed. The saying ‘whoever gains power gains the world’ is the same. If the world truly changes because of Yue’er, it’s not Yue’er’s fault, but the ambitions of politicians.”

"Girl..."

"Grandpa, let Yue'er be presumptuous this once! If Yue'er's identity is truly like this, then the rumors will be disproven. Because if Yue'er is a descendant of the Wind God royal family, then so is my brother. They share the same father and mother and are siblings. My brother's talent far surpasses Yue'er's, so how can you be sure that Yue'er is the protagonist of the rumors?"

He didn't speak, he just looked at me with a focused gaze, but it was hard to tell whether he was scrutinizing me, probing me, or something else.

"Grandpa, the continuous wars have severely weakened all nations. If we can conquer Ye Cang and seize Han Xing this time, it will create a tripartite division of the world. At that time, all three kingdoms will need to rebuild, and it will be a long period of rebuilding. Yue'er loves peaceful times and tranquil life. She envies Grandpa and Grandma living their lives like this, so she does not wish for any more wars. A tripartite division may not be the final outcome, but at least for a very long time, perhaps long enough that not only Yue'er but also her descendants have passed away, before there is another period of unrest."

“Sometimes, the more you think you see things clearly, the less you actually understand the situation,” he said, gesturing for me to help him up.

I got up and went over to him, half-helping him up and placing a large soft cushion behind his back. But I felt uneasy, not understanding what the old man meant by that.

"Girl, how do you think I've treated you?"

"Okay." I lowered my head slightly, feeling his gaze fixed on me the whole time.

"Does the girl think that your grandfather's kindness towards you has ulterior motives and plans?" he asked directly. Although he seemed unwell, he was still in good spirits after talking for so long.

"No." I looked up at him and said firmly, "Yue'er knows that Grandfather truly loves Yue'er and will arrange everything for her."

"That gunpowder pack, was it really invented by that girl?" He looked at me, his expression inscrutable, and suddenly said this.

"Grandpa Emperor already knows?" I didn't deny it, since denying it wouldn't make a difference anyway.