Chapter 158

At this time, Shen Shen arrived with the troops of the Left Flank Camp. After dismounting, he called out:

“Jiuheng!”

Breathing slightly heavily, he glanced at the situation before him and said grimly,

“The Divine Mechanism Battalion’s firearms aren’t in the Western Garden!”

After fighting both the Divine Mechanism Battalion and the Right Flank Camp sent by Grand Tutor Li, nearly half of his Left Flank forces had already been lost.

For him to bring the remaining troops here to reinforce Xie Zheng, he was truly risking everything.

“I know.”

Xie Zheng rose to his feet.

His gaze swept across the corpses and blood covering the ground before settling on Wei Yan.

It was impossible to describe the look in his eyes at that moment.

Cold.

Calm.

Indifferent.

Daylight burst across the horizon. The howling northern wind stirred waves of snow, while rosy sunlight spilling through the eastern clouds covered half the imperial city in gold and crimson.

Standing there with his halberd in hand, half his face splattered with blood and illuminated by the dawn, he looked as beautiful as a deity.

Yet around him lingered the chilling aura of a war god descended from hell.

Wei Yan silently met his gaze for a moment before turning to the Left Flank Camp behind him.

In the tone of someone who already held victory in his grasp, he asked:

“You think adding one more Left Flank Camp can change today’s outcome?”

Xie Zheng lazily raised his head.

“Whether it can or not, we’ll only know after trying.”

He smiled faintly.

“I’m actually curious. A man who doesn’t even care about the life of his own son—whose bastard child are you trying so hard to put on the throne?”

A layer of frost instantly coated Wei Yan’s solemn phoenix eyes.

“Insolence!”

The smile that never reached Xie Zheng’s eyes became even colder.

He raised his halberd and pointed it directly at Wei Yan.

“You have no right to lecture me.”

Perhaps Xie Zheng had truly angered him.

This time, Wei Yan did not immediately dispatch the death guards around him.

Instead, he shouted coldly:

“Bring me my blade!”

A subordinate quickly brought over an eight-foot-long guandao.

The ancient blade bore a darkened Azure Dragon engraving where the blade met the shaft.

At first glance, it almost seemed as though black energy clung to the weapon, making it appear terrifying.

The massive blade required two soldiers just to carry it.

Yet Wei Yan lifted it effortlessly with one hand.

His sleeves billowed in the wind, and his imposing presence was no less than that of veteran generals who had spent their lives on the battlefield.

In the distance, He Xiuyun looked as though he had seen a ghost.

Turning toward Tang Peiyi, he asked:

“Uncle Tang, Wei Yan knows martial arts?”

Tang Peiyi’s expression was complicated.

“He should. Back in the day, he was as famous as General Xie and once defended the Northern Court as well. But by the time I joined the army, Lord He was already handling things independently under him. Wei Yan had taken the path of a civil official by then, so nobody talked much about his martial skills anymore.”

Meanwhile, Wei Yan raised the guandao with one hand and looked coldly at Xie Zheng.

“Since I taught you, I can discipline you as well.”

Watching him charge forward dragging the massive blade behind him, Xie Zheng did not move.

Only the hatred in his eyes deepened.

As his fingers tightened around the halberd shaft, fresh blood seeped from the hand where chunks of flesh had been torn away, staining the weapon red.

In the past, he had trained alongside Wei Xuan and newly selected death guards under Wei Sheng’s instruction.

He had also received personal guidance from Wei Yan.

As far as martial arts were concerned, much of Xie Zheng’s fighting style had ultimately been influenced by Wei Yan.

Wei Yan believed in killing with a single strike.

No wasted movements.

No unnecessary techniques.

When the guandao rushed toward his vital point, Xie Zheng swung his halberd fiercely to meet it.

Sparks exploded where blade met blade.

Wei Yan spun and slashed again.

The blade smashed against the halberd shaft.

At the same moment, Xie Zheng’s sweeping kick slammed into Wei Yan’s blocking elbow.

Snow exploded into the air.

Their movements were so fast that ordinary eyes could barely follow them.

Neither relied on tricks.

It was a direct contest of speed, power, and ruthlessness.

The personal guards of both the Wei and Xie families watched nervously from opposite sides.

When Xie Zheng nearly swept his halberd across Wei Yan’s neck, Tang Peiyi slapped his thigh and shouted:

“Beautiful! Cut that old bastard’s head off!”

Nearby, Fan Changyu let out a fierce roar.

The Mo Dao capable of splitting metal and jade descended horizontally.

Although Wei Sheng managed to retrieve one of his golden maces and raise it to block, the overwhelming force still drove him backward several steps.

The flesh between his thumb and forefinger split open.

He looked utterly miserable.

Tang Peiyi immediately felt the stagnant blood trapped in his chest ease somewhat.

He almost wanted to join the fight himself.

“Keep chopping him, niece Changyu!”

He became so excited that he nearly coughed up blood, causing the guards around him to panic while He Xiuyun hurriedly patted his back.

Fan Changyu’s Mo Dao was incredibly heavy.

After such a devastating strike, she should not have had enough strength to launch another.

Yet she spun on the spot, borrowing momentum from her body.

With a shout, she swung again.

Ignoring the torn flesh in his hand, Wei Sheng once more raised the golden mace to block.

This time, a sharp metallic crack rang out.

The Mo Dao split the modified golden mace cleanly in half.

Had two Wei family death guards not suddenly rushed forward and knelt to absorb the remaining force with their own blades, Wei Sheng would have been cleaved in two.

After delivering the strike, Fan Changyu was also exhausted.

Leaning on her blade, she stood in place catching her breath.

Xie Eleven stood behind her with his men, glaring at the two Wei family death guards.

If they dared continue, they would gladly fight to the end.

Wei Sheng spat out a mouthful of blood.

As the death guards helped him up, he stared at Fan Changyu.

“Wei Qilin’s daughter?”

Shaking off their support, he wiped the blood from his mouth.

“You’re more capable than your father was. The Prime Minister shouldn’t have spared you and your sister back then.”

The savagery in Fan Changyu’s eyes had yet to fade.

She stared at him coldly.

“Heaven’s net is vast. Though its mesh is wide, nothing escapes it. Wei Yan owes my parents, owes my grandfather, and owes the tens of thousands of soldiers who died in Jinzhou. He’ll repay every debt.”

The rising sun emerged behind her.

Boundless light made it difficult to even open one’s eyes.

When Wei Sheng heard her mention Meng Shuyuan, he suddenly fell silent.

Meanwhile, after numerous exchanges, Wei Yan gradually began showing signs of fatigue.

Age had finally caught up with him.

This kind of battle relied entirely on strength and endurance.

His body could no longer keep up.

Xie Zheng, however, became increasingly ruthless.

His halberd danced like a dragon, striking from every angle.

Each thrust and sweep carried overwhelming force.

Wei Yan was steadily forced backward into passive defense.

The Wei family’s death guards wanted to intervene but could find no opening.

Xie Zheng’s hatred seemed boundless.

His jaw was clenched tight.

Yet he still laughed coldly.

“Discipline me? On whose behalf?”

The halberd struck again.

“For my father, whom you killed in Jinzhou?”

Another strike.

“Or for my mother, whom you forced to death?”

The final question fell together with a violent throw.

Hidden beneath loose strands of hair, his eyes seemed slightly red, whether from the cold wind or something else.

The halberd plunged deeply into the granite of Meridian Gate Square.

Wei Yan rolled across the ground in an undignified manner to narrowly avoid death.

The Wei family’s death guards hurriedly helped him up and retreated several steps while maintaining vigilant watch on Xie Zheng.

Cold wind rushed into his lungs.

Supported by his subordinates, Wei Yan coughed violently before finally looking up.

“Brute strength. I can no longer compete with you in that regard. But if you think today’s outcome can be decided through brute strength alone, then you’re a fool.”

As soon as he finished speaking, crossbowmen atop and below the walls simultaneously aimed at Xie Zheng’s forces.

The Imperial Guards even rolled out several cannons and positioned them on the battlements.

Shen Shen’s expression changed.

He immediately ordered the archers of the Left Flank Camp to draw their bows.

But the disparity in numbers was simply too great.

They were trapped beasts fighting their final battle.

Across the distance, Wei Yan and Xie Zheng looked at one another.

For a fleeting moment, there was iron resolve in Wei Yan’s eyes.

But also traces of age and weariness.

Half-lying on the ground, Tang Peiyi complained to He Xiuyun:

“That old bastard infuriates me! If we hadn’t spent all these years guarding the frontier with no influence in the capital, how could he dare spout such nonsense?”

He Xiuyun coughed twice.

Feeling like a hero at the end of his road, he merely said:

“General Shen is a true hero.”

Knowing Wei Yan possessed the Divine Mechanism Battalion’s weapons, Shen Shen had still come with his battered troops.

That courage alone commanded respect.

Tang Peiyi laughed.

“If we really die here today, at least the road to the underworld will be filled with heroes. Not a bad way to go!”

Fan Changyu looked at the dark cannon muzzles and countless arrows glittering atop the walls.

Unexpectedly, her heart was calm.

She turned and looked at Xie Zheng.

The morning sun and flames from the city wall illuminated his face.

Blood and soot stained his features.

Cold.

Resolute.

The most handsome she had ever seen him.

The moment she discovered that the Western Garden was Wei Yan’s trap, she had already known what awaited her here.

She wasn’t afraid of death.

She was only unwilling.

Unwilling to lose like this.

And…

Reluctant.

The elders always said that after death, souls crossed the Bridge of Helplessness and drank Meng Po’s soup.

Only then could they forget everything from their previous life and reincarnate.

When she walked over to stand beside Xie Zheng, she quietly placed something soaked in blood into his hand without looking at him.

Xie Zheng noticed.

He turned slightly toward her.

But Fan Changyu kept staring ahead.

Softly, she asked:

“Xie Zheng, do you believe people have another life?”

“I don’t believe in gods or spirits.”

His voice was deep and slow.

Fan Changyu continued gazing at the soldiers confronting each other ahead.

As casually as if chatting, she said:

“I didn’t believe either. But after my parents died… I started wanting to.”

She paused before speaking very softly.

“If there really is another life… come find me.”

Xie Zheng abruptly turned toward her.

Only he understood the look in his eyes.

The sky after the snowfall was clear.

The newly risen sun offered little warmth.

The morning wind carried the scent of gunpowder and ice.

Once everything fell silent, only the crackling flames of the damaged Yanchi Tower remained.

In that dead silence—

Heartbeats thundered.

Without warning, he suddenly said:

“That old man probably has no more tricks left. No point dragging this out.”

Fan Changyu had not yet understood his meaning when a signal flare shot into the sky from his hand.

Everyone present was stunned.

Xie Zheng looked at Wei Yan.

“The Prime Minister may be unmatched at manipulating power from the court. But when it comes to military strategy, you’re still lacking.”

A dull rumble of armor echoed from afar.

Like an approaching tidal wave.

Everyone turned.

They saw countless soldiers carrying the Xie banner pouring from several long streets outside Meridian Gate and flooding toward the square.

The Imperial Guards standing high atop the walls had the clearest view.

Looking down those endless streets, they saw no end to the army.

Their faces immediately turned pale.

And that was only the force they could see.

No one knew how many more troops remained outside the city gates.

This truly was an army of thousands upon thousands.

Shen Shen’s worry instantly became joy.

“Jiuheng, you prepared this in advance?”

Xie Zheng did not answer.

Instead, a refined man dressed in white robes and a snow-white fox-fur cloak stepped out from among the troops, leisurely waving a feather fan.

The first thing he said upon seeing Xie Zheng was:

“I waited all night for your signal. When it never came, I thought you had been wiped out inside the city.”

Then he smiled and greeted Shen Shen with a respectful bow.

“Brother Shen, it’s been many years.”

Though battered and disheveled, Shen Shen couldn’t help laughing.

“Brother Gongsun!”

Xie Zheng glanced at Gongsun Yin.

“You were just eager to come watch the excitement.”

Gongsun Yin wasn’t offended in the slightest.

Instead, he bowed toward Fan Changyu.

“General Fan.”

Fan Changyu was both shocked and delighted.

“Mr. Gongsun? You’ve been outside the city all this time?”

Tang Peiyi, He Xiuyun, and the others were equally stunned.

Tang Peiyi immediately burst into laughter.

“I knew it! Our Marquis is a master strategist. How could he possibly lose to that old fox Wei?”

Turning toward Wei Yan, he shouted:

“Old bastard! Tell your men to surrender!”

Even He Xiuyun was smiling.

Though his injuries made laughing painful, he couldn’t stop himself.

Gongsun Yin nodded toward Fan Changyu.

Judging from the blood covering her body, he raised an eyebrow.

“Looks like there was a fierce battle inside the city last night.”

The army continued flooding into the square like a rising tide.

While those on Xie Zheng’s side chatted and laughed, the Imperial Guards and Five Army soldiers atop the walls felt increasingly hopeless.

Though they still held bows and crossbows, fear was written across their faces.

This was no longer simply a matter of numbers.

These capital troops had only trained in military camps outside the city.

The Xie Army had spilled the blood of northern invaders on the northwestern battlefields.

Without even fighting, the killing intent emanating from that vast army was enough to crush morale.

Several of Wei Yan’s advisers looked utterly despairing.

Only Wei Yan remained calm.

Through the crowd, he quietly watched Xie Zheng’s back.

Xie Zheng’s expression was cold and resolute.

His gaze swept across both Yanchi Towers.

In a deep voice, he declared:

“All soldiers who followed Li and Wei in this rebellion, hear me! Those who lay down their weapons and surrender will receive lenient punishment. Those who continue resisting will be treated as traitors!”

His voice rang through Meridian Gate Square like clashing jade and metal.

Everyone could see it.

Wei Yan had lost.

A member of the Imperial Guards dropped his saber.

It struck the stone pavement with a sharp clang.

Soon, more weapons followed.

One after another.

Like beads spilling from a broken string.

Within moments, the only men still standing beside Wei Yan were the death guards he had personally raised.

Gongsun Yin lightly waved his fan.

“Prime Minister, you’ve spent your life at the pinnacle of power. You should understand better than anyone the importance of following the tide. At this point, are you still going to struggle in vain?”

Wei Yan looked at Xie Zheng.

Countless complicated emotions flickered in his eyes.

Yet in the end, he only said:

“I underestimated you.”

Xie Zheng merely stared back coldly.

As the surrounding army tightened the encirclement, the death guards around Wei Yan drew their weapons, intending to carve out an escape route.

Wei Yan simply raised a hand.

They immediately stopped.

“Prime Minister!”

one of them called anxiously.

Wei Yan replied:

“I was outplayed. I lost this game.”

As armored guards escorted Wei Yan and the remaining members of the Li faction toward the imperial prison, uncle and nephew passed one another.

Neither spoke.

When one mountain collapses, another will eventually rise.

Golden sunlight bathed the imperial city.

The soldiers below began treating the wounded and clearing the battlefield.

Tang Peiyi, He Xiuyun, and the other injured generals were carried to the Imperial Medical Academy.

The bloodshed and chaos of the previous night seemed to fade beneath the morning light.

Only the scorched earth and shattered buildings remained.

Like scars carved into the magnificent imperial city.

Xie Zheng stood quietly beneath heaven and earth.

His long lashes lowered.

No one knew what he was thinking.

At the horizon, auspicious clouds drifted through the morning sky.

The wind seemed gentler now.

It stirred the loose strands beside Fan Changyu’s ear.

She turned toward him.

“We won, didn’t we?”

Xie Zheng gave a soft nod.

“Mm.”

He lifted his eyes toward the battered yet majestic palace halls before them.

Morning light rested upon his lashes.

Only his eyes remained dark and unfathomable.

Everything was finally over.

Gongsun Yin walked over.

“What should be done with Wei Yan?”

“Keep him imprisoned for now.”

Xie Zheng had no desire to remain.

After fighting all night, exhaustion finally caught up to him.

Tightly holding one of Fan Changyu’s hands, he told Gongsun Yin:

“I’ll leave this place to you.”

Gongsun Yin looked him over.

Covered in blood and injuries, he rarely showed such generosity.

“Fine. I’ll handle things here. You’re covered in wounds—go find a physician.”

Xie Eleven quickly brought a carriage.

Xie Zheng pulled Fan Changyu inside and climbed aboard.

Most people had already left.

Few noticed them.

Those who did belonged to Xie Zheng’s camp and wisely looked away.

Fan Changyu often reacted a little slower than others.

Even after boarding the carriage, she was still asking questions.

“Mr. Gongsun brought nearly twenty thousand troops. Yesterday you said he could start moving. There’s no way an army that size could reach the capital in a single day, so they must have already been nearby. Was that the thing you said you couldn’t tell me before?”

The carriage jolted as Xie Eleven drove quickly.

Sunlight filtered through the swaying curtains.

Though Fan Changyu looked exhausted and filthy, her eyes beneath her golden lashes remained clear and pure.

Supporting himself beside her with one arm, Xie Zheng watched her silently.

His gaze was dark and deep.

Instead of answering, he raised the blood-soaked object in his hand.

“What is this?”

Only then did Fan Changyu notice the item, soaked with blood in his palm.

She suddenly felt embarrassed.

Fortunately, her face was already covered in blood and grime.

Any blush could easily be hidden.

After a light cough, she turned her face away.

“My hair.”

For some reason, Xie Zheng’s breathing deepened.

He stared at her without blinking.

Feeling as though his gaze could burn a hole through her forehead, she pressed her lips together.

Thinking back to the moment she cut that lock of hair, a trace of bitterness surfaced in her heart.

Giving up on hiding it, she said:

“I heard that only after tying their hair together can husband and wife truly become one. When I realized we’d fallen into a trap in the Western Garden, I thought finding my way back to you would likely end in death. So I cut off a lock of my hair.”

She lowered her gaze.

“We’ve bowed before heaven and earth. Even if it wasn’t real, we still did it. But we’ve never tied our hair together. If my life was really going to end there, then at least tying our hair together would mean we’d truly been husband and wife once.”

Xie Zheng’s heavy breathing brushed against her face.

In a low voice, he asked:

“You knew it was almost certain death, yet you still came back for me. Weren’t you afraid?”

“Of course I was.”

Fan Changyu smiled faintly.

“But my enemy was there. And you were there. How could I not go?”

She reached up and touched his face.

Thinking of the arrow Wei Yan had secretly ordered fired, she still felt lingering fear.

“It’s a good thing I did.”

Xie Zheng wanted to tell her that even if she hadn’t come, he would have been fine.

The reason he’d sent her away from the battlefield was precisely because he didn’t want her risking her life.

The reason he’d remained locked in that standoff with Wei Yan was because he feared hidden contingencies.

But at this moment, he couldn’t say any of it.

His chest ached with swelling warmth.

As though submerged in a hot spring.

Numb.

Painful.

Comforting.

He lowered his head.

Holding her hand tightly, his breathing grew heavier and heavier.

When he finally looked up again, something fierce had appeared in his eyes.

Fan Changyu shivered beneath that gaze.

Just as she wondered what she had done wrong, the carriage came to a stop.

Thrown off balance, she fell directly into his arms.

Outside, Xie Eleven called:

“Master! General! We’ve arrived at the Marquis Manor!”

Xie Zheng immediately pulled her from the carriage and strode toward the main courtyard.

Watching the scene unfold, Xie Eleven originally intended to fetch a physician.

But his steps gradually slowed.

Scratching the back of his head awkwardly, he wondered:

Should I still go get the doctor…?

The moment they entered the room, Xie Zheng kicked the door shut.

He pushed Fan Changyu down onto a couch and braced himself above her.

Their breaths intertwined.

The scent of blood on him overwhelmed her senses.

He seemed as though he wanted to kiss her.

Then suddenly stood and walked away.

From somewhere, he produced a dagger.

Cutting off a section of his own hair, he tied it together with the lock of hers that had been soaked in blood, fastening them into a firm knot.

His voice was low and hoarse.

“When husband and wife bind their hair together, they trust and love one another without doubt. Alive, we shall return to each other. Dead, we shall long for one another forever.”

He looked at her.

“I wanted to tie our hair together on our wedding day. Since you’ve given it to me early, I won’t be returning it.”

Fan Changyu looked at his handsome, resolute face.

She should have felt happy.

Yet her throat suddenly tightened.

Her eyes stung faintly.

She glared at him.

“Who asked you to return it?”

Xie Zheng stared at her for a moment.

Then he lowered his head and kissed her.

Fierce.

Tender.

After surviving a night of slaughter, with blood still burning hot through his veins, after seeing her risk her life to save him, after hearing her promise of another lifetime—

The overwhelming emotions in his heart desperately sought release.

In the ensuing chaos, their bloodstained armor was discarded piece by piece from the outer room all the way to the hot spring pool in the inner chamber.

Later, amid the rising steam, Fan Changyu sat beside the pool holding medicine and bandages as she carefully wrapped his mangled hand.

One of his arms remained firmly around her waist.

Water rippled softly around them.

His hair was damp with sweat.

Yet his dark eyes never left her face.

As though he couldn’t bear to blink.

Fan Changyu stubbornly pressed her lips together.

A faint mist clouded her eyes.

Sweat covered her neck.

Several times, her trembling fingers nearly dropped the bandages into the water.

When she finally finished dressing his wound, he pressed a hand against the back of her neck and drew her completely into his embrace.

Exhaustion eventually overtook her.

Leaning weakly against his shoulder, she vaguely heard his hoarse whisper beside her ear:

“Changyu… my wife.”

The blood racing through his veins gradually settled.

And within that warmth, he finally found the deepest peace and tenderness of all.