Prologue
‘Since the imperial harem has never interfered in politics since ancient times, and since you are the Imperial General protecting the country in the Yan Dynasty, the Empress must not hold both positions. Go to the Ministry of Rites and hand over the phoenix seal and the rest.’
Before the end of the eunuch Wang’s edict, he had already spoken indifferently. The ministers looked at her with pity. In fact, since the news of the return of Consort Lan to the palace, everyone knew that he was going to depose the Empress, but… the speed was really fast.
Zuo Canglang was kneeling on the ground, her back still straight. She kept her head half-bent, making it hard to read her expression, but her words were clear: ‘Yes.’ This crown princess was always a sham, and everyone knew it. The one he really wanted to marry was only Jiang Bilan—the stunning Jiang Bilan.
So even though he ascended the throne and she received the phoenix seal, she was never officially crowned.
The young king on the throne had a face as cold as if it had been carved by a knife. He twirled the jade finger ring on his hand and looked at her with piercing eyes. ‘Do you have anything else to say?’
Zuo Canglang took the cold silver bow in her right hand and said in a low voice after a while, ‘Your Majesty, no.’
Once they exited the palace, Zuo Xiang Xue Chengjing, somewhat worried, took a half step behind her and walked side by side with her. After pondering for a while, he said, ‘Your Majesty Zuo…General Zuo, in fact, with your talents, you really shouldn’t be stuck in the harem. You shouldn’t take this personally. The Great Yan Kingdom really needs you more than the Empress’s palace.’
Zuo Canglang turned around, her smile fading away. ‘Thank you, Lord Xue, for your concern. Canglang understands.’ She turned around, her eyes sweeping over the palace with its green tiles and red bricks. Her smile was bitter. Lord Xue, Canglang has never entered the harem. If she is not the queen, there is no such thing as being discarded.
He gave her the general’s mansion, which was just as luxurious and grand, and it was the closest to the palace. So she was no longer the crown princess of Yan, nor could she become the queen of Yan, but she did have the military defence map of the entire imperial city, the order to transfer millions of troops, and she could go in and out of the Yan military office in armour.
She didn’t really care, because the position of crown princess was a joke anyway.
Mu Rong Yan was not originally the crown prince of Yan. This was well known throughout the country. At that time, the eldest son of the late emperor, Mu Rong Ruo, was made crown prince. In order to maintain the foundation of the Great Yan Dynasty, the emperor specially appointed Bai Di as the crown prince’s tutor, and the two princes were taught martial arts and knowledge.
Following the late emperor’s wishes, Bai Di taught the crown prince the way to rule the country and the second prince the skills to protect the world.
In other words, the crown prince was educated in the arts of governance, while the second prince was taught the skills of protection. Little did anyone know that the second prince was naturally gifted and excelled in both the arts of governance and protection. The two brothers were originally very close, and the second prince was even more talented than the crown prince.
Things were already settled, but then the right-hand prime minister, bent on ingratiating himself with the royal family to secure his position, went so far as to betroth his daughter to the crown prince, Mu Rongruo. Mu Rongruo and his brother had grown up together with Jiang Bilan, and Jiang Bilan and Mu Rongyan had long had a relationship. How could Mu Rongyan tolerate this?
Neither of them was willing to let go, but they only had one daughter. Jiang Bilian dared not disobey her father and acquiesced to the marriage with the crown prince, which also caused the talented defender of the country to rebel with his troops.
At first, the ministers split into two groups: one supported the crown prince, while the other, intimidated by his prestige, supported Mu Rongyan. At the time, everyone thought this person would be a tyrant, but no one expected that one of his fierce generals would defeat the crown prince four times in a row, devouring the prince’s few remaining territories at a rate of capturing a city in three months.
Slowly, the army opposing her began to surrender on their own initiative. She spared all the surrenderers and returned to the left camp, where she was reinstated to her previous position. Her popularity soared. Seeing that a small number of old ministers still had doubts, Mu Rong Yan simply made her his concubine, completely changing their opinions.
The three-year period of unrest thus ended, and the Yan dynasty was reunified. However, the new emperor was now Mu Rongyan instead of Mu Rongruo, and the legendary crown princess did not naturally become the empress of the Yan dynasty. As you can see, she returned to her role as a general and silently guarded the Yan dynasty…
Okay, I know this introduction is a bit long. First of all, thank you for reading it patiently, and let’s pick up the story below together…
TBC——
What can you use to beg me?
‘What can you use to beg me?’ Zuo Canglang had no name. It was a coincidence that they met. At that time, the second prince was tethering his horse in Nanshan, Zhen’nan City. It was very windy. The 14-year-old prince stubbornly insisted on doing it himself, but was dragged by the horse into the mountains. When everyone arrived, they saw her. At that time, she looked about four or five years old, but she could not speak. Her gaze in the grass was as sharp as a wolf’s.
So a few people already wanted to catch it to see what kind of monster it was. But when the wind blew the grass low, everyone was shocked. A pack of wolves, a huge wolf, a grey wolf!!!
She let out a shrill howl, and her dark, round eyes curiously surveyed him. So the second prince finally recognised that it was a person, a child.
‘Catch it!’ Perhaps no one at the time would have thought that these three words would cause his world to intersect with hers in such a way that they could never retreat.
A group of guards quickly caught it. Despite the ferocity of the wolves, they were no match for these extraordinary individuals. The second prince took it back, washed it clean, and found that it was a little girl.
So he threw it to his shadowy bodyguard: ‘Stay with those children, and if you survive, stay.’ He said this with unusual coldness, without ever thinking…that he was still a child himself.
Three hundred children living together all day, it is inevitable that some will become familiar. Unfortunately, it is too short-lived, and you never know who will be gone tomorrow.
It was in these circumstances that Zuo Canglang met Yang Lianting. He was two years behind all the other children, and it was said that he was brought here specifically because Mu Rongyan saw his talent.
At that time, a group of people were struggling to survive day and night, and they really had no time to care about anything else. If it weren’t for Zuo Canglang, Yang Lianting might have been swallowed up in those days.
When Yang Lianting first arrived, she was like a young hedgehog: cold-natured, not speaking to anyone, and extremely beautiful, which made her the envy of the training officers.
Zuo Canglang also didn’t say much. At that time, although she already understood human speech, her words still lacked clarity, so she would pronounce each word in short bursts, adding to her cold demeanour.
The two of them often acted together until one time when they were training, they encountered Leng Feiyan. The two of them had an absolute chance of victory against Leng Feiyan, but she was just too fast. Yang Lianting was only practising her martial arts at the time, and the three of them fought for two whole hours in the pine forest. Leng Feiyan retreated in defeat, Zuo Canglang was slightly injured, and Yang Lianting overused her magic and was almost killed by the backlash.
Zuo Canglang stayed by Yang Lianting’s feverish side for two whole days, and finally had no choice but to ask the training officer for help. The men laughed in a lewd manner, ‘We can save him, but there are conditions.’ The man who spoke folded his fingers as if he were teasing, ‘How about he waits until he wakes up and entertains us for a bit?’
Of course Zuo Canglang knew that if she agreed, Yang Lianting would be dead for sure. Who would dare to train an enemy to become the right-hand man of their master? But if she didn’t agree, he would definitely die.
‘Actually, if we really want to keep the masters company, it’s not essential that he be there.’ She was born with a wild nature, and when she added a smile, it was mesmerising: “Cang Lang is confident that she won’t be worse than him.”
The few of them smiled at each other, and carried her to the simple bed in the room. Outside, all they could hear was a babble of voices. When Mu Rongyan arrived, he saw this scene. By then, they had already stripped off her blouse, and the men were gathered together in a lewd and vulgar manner.
Her gaze darted between the men, and her dark, black eyes were as clear as when he first saw them.
He was in a bad mood, and this was the last thing he needed. Under the gaze of those eyes, he used only one sword stroke, and the blood of the men splattered on her light tan skin, dazzling.
She rolled over quickly to avoid the sword, half kneeling on the bed, her upper body exposed as she silently watched him. He locked eyes with her, shocked that she had avoided the sword, and suddenly used his foot to pick up the clothes on the floor and threw them on her.
She dressed quietly, then whispered, ‘My lord, please, save Yang Lianting.’
She spoke each word very slowly. Mu Rongyan raised his foot and hooked her chin, squinting to look at her up close. ‘What makes you think I should save him?’
‘Please.‘
’With what do you beg me?‘
’Everything, everything I have.”
If you become the empress, I will become the emperor
When they set out to fight, the three of them, Zuo Canglang, Leng Feiyan, and Yang Lianting, Mu Rongyan gave them weapons: the weapon of light, the heavenly punishment needle, and the flaming arrows.
So Leng Feiyan drifted around the rivers and lakes, Yang Lianting mixed in with the religion, and only Zuo Canglang remained by his side, bit by bit taking over the empire of the Yan dynasty.
At that time, she was still young, and it was not realistic for her to lead troops in battle, and it would be difficult to command the troops. Moreover, Murong Yan’s army was small and elite, and with civil unrest and many external threats, he really didn’t dare to take the risk.
So it was always Mu Rong Yan who led the troops in person, with her as his deputy general. Whenever they were in the front line, the two figures in black and silver-grey made a mythical sight.
No matter what the reason for starting a war, it was inevitable that there would be talk of traitors. Jiang Bi Lan married Mu Rong Ruo when he was fighting with the crown prince. The day the crown prince married his concubine, he went crazy with rage.
At that time, the army was stationed outside the city of Su Zhou, and the entire army felt his anger. A man was in the tent, drowning his sorrows in wine, until the soldiers in charge of the household no longer dared to go in. Zuo Canglang poured chrysanthemum tea into a pitcher and carried it in.
His head was tilted and his vision was unclear. He took her hand and pulled her onto his lap. Zuo Canglang leaned against his chest involuntarily, feeling his warmth and the smell of alcohol. His voice was so low that she wanted to do anything to make him smile. ‘Do you like me?’
Zuo Canglang blushed for the first time, a little nervous, trying to push his hand away, only to find that her palms were full of sweat. ‘My lord, you’re drunk,’
He continued to breathe hot air in her ear and laughed softly, ‘Why are you afraid to admit it?’
Hearing the voice that made her heart tremble, Zuo Canglang was a little confused about his intentions, but she did not struggle again and quietly nestled in his arms.
Mu Rongyan had no intention of teasing her, but under the lamp, she lowered her face with a blush, and the moment of shyness made his blood boil. For a moment, the person in front of him and the person in his mind overlapped, and he couldn’t tell who was who. He tore off her clothes and turned her around to face him. He carefully engaged in foreplay, trying to control his impatience, but she couldn’t help the moans that escaped her.
He pressed her down on the tiger-skin-covered bed in the tent, and without delay sank into her. She groaned, her fingers gripping the smooth fur beneath her. He pounded into her without reservation, grunting out loud.
She clenched her lips tightly. It hurt, but this was the barracks.
Mu Rongyan’s sweat dripped onto her, his voice hoarse: ‘Lan’er… Lan’er…’ Listening to the painful groans of the person beneath him, he leaned down and kissed her face, his voice murmuring, ‘Why? You said you loved me, so why did you marry him if you love me!
He was so angry that he didn’t hold back, and she finally couldn’t help but climb onto his shoulders to ease his strength, ’My lord… don’t… it hurts… ah…’
That night, they fought for an unknown length of time. When he woke up, she was no longer in the tent, and there were only red plum-like bloodstains on the bed. He asked the soldiers and they said that the left vice-general had gone back in the middle of the night.
Zuo Canglang was embarrassed to go to the military doctor for medicine, so he simply washed himself with water. His face was still difficult to hide the rosy red, and he stayed alone in the tent until dawn, where could he sleep.
The next day, when they marched into Suzhou, she forced herself to be alert. Murong Yan analysed the military situation, never taking his eyes off the task at hand. She had no choice but to keep quiet and do as he asked, quietly gathering information about the enemy.
Because the arrows of the beacon fire were used for long-range attacks, she generally did not charge into battle. However, any general who had faced off against Zuo Canglang knew that either they would be in the front line, or they would not be in her sight.
The thing that Mu Rongyan was most satisfied with was her speed. Perhaps because she grew up in a wolf pack, her agility was truly beyond mortal. At that time, she could not yet hurt people with her arrow energy, but she always carried a dozen silver arrows on her back, holding a long bow in her hands, and she looked very heroic.
Sometimes, just looking at her from his horse, he would feel desire. Perhaps it was because he had been alone for so long, but he suddenly missed Jiang Bilan very much. They had been apart for a long time, and only her beautiful figure lingered in his heart.
Lan’er, are you also missing me?
Very soon, don’t be afraid. If you want to be my queen, then I can only be your emperor. Mu Rongyan will never let you be with any other man, even if it costs him his life.
Snake!!!
Snake!!!
Mu Rongyan was not a saint. Men in those days didn’t have any notions of chastity. It was just that since parting with Jiang Bilan, he really hadn’t touched any other women. It wasn’t that he was guarding his chastity, it was just that he didn’t want to.
With her, it was just a drunken mistake, mistaking her for his Bilan. If you just looked at her looks and aura, Zuo Canglang was no match for Jiang Bilan. She was a fairy, untainted by the mortal world.
But once there was a first time, there was inevitably a second and a third. During the march, they had to eat the wind and sleep in the rain, and even if they were royalty, hardship was inevitable. So he gave himself a reason to indulge in the boredom. But he still knew the difference between a toy and a lover. No matter how much pleasure the person in front of him gave, how could it compare to the beloved in the slightest?
He could only admit that she was a good subordinate, and he didn’t want to bring her to bed. This woman would definitely be more useful in the frontlines than in his bed, but since it had come to this, he had to comfort himself by thinking that it was much easier to conquer a woman than to pacify a subordinate.
The two of them had led an army in battle for three years and had never suffered a single defeat. Perhaps at any time the two of them would have seemed close if they had had a relationship. At that time, Zuo Canglang was still young, full of energy and enthusiasm, and would ask what seemed to him to be stupid questions when he followed behind him. When he was in a good mood, he would answer patiently, but when he was in a bad mood, he would pretend not to hear.
Zuo Canglang was a person who could see through people at a glance, and naturally appeared transparent in front of him. Murong Yan, on the other hand, had been in the imperial family since childhood, and coupled with being called ‘Your Highness’ and ‘Crown Prince’ by a group of people every day, he had long since learned not to let people see through him. Coupled with the age difference, he naturally appeared much more mature.
So Zuo Canglang looked at him with a hint of admiration in her eyes, as if any problem she encountered would be effortlessly solved by this man.
But on the day Mu Rongruo was forced to surrender, he even asked her like a child: ‘Do you like this outfit?’ Only then did Zuo Canglang realise that there was a childlike side to this man’s heart.
That day, Zuo Canglang cleaned up the palace and secretly executed the guilty ministers as Mu Rongyan had wished. However, the emperor, Mu Rongyan, was nowhere to be seen.
Zuo Canglang asked the generals around her, but they all shook their heads and didn’t know.
She didn’t find Mu Rongyan, but she saw Jiang Bilan for the first time. She was standing behind the palace on Lianli Peak, holding the long hem of her skirt.
Without any forewarning, she recognised her. Without the complicated court dress, the long, pale-red watery skirt fluttered like a dream, ethereal and dreamlike!
‘Miss Jiang?’ She hesitated, finding an inappropriate title. Jiang Bilan on the cliff slowly turned her head back. The momentary splendour was like a phoenix returning to earth, so that people did not dare to look directly at her. So she also half-lowered her head: ‘My lord is looking for you everywhere.’
Her dark eyes were as clear as the blue sky, quietly surveying her, and she suddenly laughed: ‘What merit does Jiang Bilan have that she has become the disaster-causing concubine Bao Si Tan Zi!!!’
After the laughter, she lightly shifted her steps, and then suddenly jumped, falling off the cliff. Zuo Canglang was not prepared for this, and by the time he reacted, he had already lifted his arms to catch her in his arms.
The grass is so deep and dark that sunlight cannot penetrate, and no one has set foot here for countless years. The creaking sound of the split floorboards in the dark is creepy.
Jiang Bilian screamed in alarm, quickly attracting the attention of all the snakes. Zuo Canglang felt a chill run down his spine. The slimy creatures were spitting venom as they crawled over the faint light. They had various patterns and the same gaze. There was no foothold in the mezzanine, and the two of them were half-trapped in the middle. She controlled Jiang Bilian so that she wouldn’t move, and also controlled herself from shaking.
Something slimy in the darkness wrapped itself around her feet, and she felt it crawling up her calves. Left Cang Lang inserted the arrow into the mud wall of the mezzanine. Carefully, she lifted Jiang Bi Lan up so that she could cling to the arrow. She dared not scream, she dared not tremble. She had left the beacon rocket on the cliff, hoping that someone would see it.
The hissing sound grew louder and louder, and just when she thought she was going to be buried alive by the snakes, someone came looking for her. A voice came faintly from above, ‘Your Majesty, there are signs of damage to the overgrown vegetation here, so this should be the place.’
‘Zuo?’ Mu Rongyan’s voice was low and deep, but Zuo Canglang almost cried out, ‘My lord,’ she was very careful with her words, as the sudden sound could attract the snakes. ‘Miss Jiang is here too, there are snakes down there, lots of them, be careful.’
‘Lan’er?’ Hearing this name, Muyong Yan could no longer hold back. He leaped up and pulled, and Zuo Canglang felt her body become lighter. Jiang Bilian was no longer in the same place.
Up above, Muyong Yan’s voice, which was completely different from his usual one, was full of longing: “Are you…alright?” Jiang Bilian’s voice was very low, so low that it carried a faint sigh: ’Why did you save me?’
Zuo Canglang clutched the silver arrow tightly, her hands cold with sweat. The snake slithered over her hand, and she bit her lip hard, finally unable to hold back and whispering, ‘My lord?’
But there was no sound. It was eerily quiet.
A quarter of an hour of darkness felt like an eternity to Zuo Canglang.
Subject: Nothing to say
The soldiers who had arrived behind her pulled her up. By then, she had already been bitten by the snake four or five times on her leg, and her face was pale. She took the flaming arrows the soldiers handed her, her hands trembling.
They pulled a snake out of her, black flowers on a white background. Someone saw that her expression was really not right and said carefully, ‘Jiangjun? Are you okay?’
Someone handed her a leather bag of wine, and she took a long gulp, and then fled up the cliff as if avoiding something. When she returned to the old palace, the deputy general Wang Nan was counting the troops. Seeing her covered in mud and with a rancid smell, the others dared not speak.
Wang Nan casually pointed to a nimble maid and said, ‘Help the general bathe and change.’
The maid was overjoyed, knowing that she did not have to die.
That night, she developed a high fever and muttered incoherently. The maid was obedient and did not dare to be careless. She hurried out, but did not know whom to report to. Fortunately, Wang Nan usually slept very late, and when she saw her panic, she stopped her and asked a question. After all, she was the crown princess of the Yan Dynasty, and he was also at a loss.
The emperor was at this time in the Yu Lan Gong of Empress Jiang. The eunuch at the door went in to report, but before he could say anything, he was smashed back by a pillow from Mu Rong Yan.
The maid said it was serious, and Wang Nan interrogated everyone in the prison. It took a whole hour before someone was found to take her to the Flower Garden where Zuo Canglang was temporarily staying. The old imperial doctor took her pulse and said several times that it was a close call. He wrote a prescription with trembling hands and instructed the palace maid to help her dissipate the heat. By the time the medicine was ready, it was already late at night.
With limited staff, she struggled to take the medicine. Wang Nan did not care about avoiding suspicion and said to the maid, ‘Hold her, I’ll feed her.’
After a lot of trouble, it was also the fourth watch of the night.
Wang Nan instructed the maid and ordered the doctor to rest in the outer hall. When he left, he heard her muttering, but the content was vague and unintelligible.
At dusk, Rongyan moved the capital back with Jiang Bilang. At that time, rumours were rife, and many people knew about his feelings for Jiang Bilang. Everyone said that he might have to depose the queen.
Every pair of eyes was watching, but no one expected what happened.
Zuo Canglang knelt straight in the palace, in front of him was a petition that had been thrown to the ground. It clearly stated that General Wang Nan had entered the residence of the crown prince’s wife, the Palace of Blossoming Flowers, at night and did not leave until the next morning.
Mu Rongyan’s voice was cold: ‘Zuo Canglang, you are the Empress of my Yan Dynasty. What can you say for doing such a thing?’
The courtiers bowed their heads in silence. Wang Nan had never expected anyone to report this matter, and kneeling on the ground, he exclaimed, ‘Your Majesty, even if I were bold enough, I would never dare to have any improper intentions towards Her Highness. That night…’
‘Your humble servant…has nothing to say.’ Zuo Canglang’s voice was very soft, but everyone heard it clearly. She kept her head bowed, and said word by word, “Please punish Your Majesty.”
Muyong Yan looked at the person kneeling before him, and felt bored too. He waved his hand, and the eunuch next to him announced the decree in a shrill voice: ’Now that the Empress of the Yan Dynasty, Zuo, has committed adultery and disgraced the imperial family, she should be executed for her crime.’ The eunuch secretly looked at the face of the fallen empress: ‘However, in consideration of Zuo’s competent command of the troops and her meritorious service in securing the foundation of the Yan dynasty, the death penalty is waived. She is removed from the position of empress and is to be made the general protecting the country. This is the imperial decree. General Zuo, be grateful.’
‘Your servant thanks Your Majesty for Your graciousness.’
No one spoke. All the courtiers looked at her with pitying eyes. Even Wang Nan could see that if you want to frame someone, you can always find a charge.
Muyong Yan remained aloof, hoping to see some expression on her face, but she just kept her head down, so he gave up. After all, this was really a bit much.
But Zuo Canglang, I have given you the military power of the entire Yan dynasty, you should be satisfied.
‘Do you have anything to say?’
“Your servant…has nothing to say.’
‘If you have nothing to say, go to the Ministry of Rites and hand over the phoenix seal and the rest. By the way, your residence as a general is the former residence of the right prime minister.‘
’Yes.”
After the new emperor ascended the throne
After the new emperor ascended the throne
Zuo Canglang moved to the residence of the general, the one closest to the palace, which was also luxurious and grand. When Wang Nan asked for her forgiveness, she just smiled, a sad and bitter smile.
Before long, the new empress dowager was crowned.
The ceremony was grand, and Jiang Bilian was dressed in a complicated imperial gown, red and noble, red and magnificent, red and dignified and majestic. The ceremonial official carried out the ceremony methodically, while she maintained order and security for the entire ceremony from the sidelines.
She was on the roof of the palace, the best place in the entire palace to see. She could see the assassins, the soldiers from all sides, and the empress dressed in her finery on the stage. Her beauty was enough to make everyone feel inferior.
This included Zuo Canglang, who was standing high above the crowd at the moment.
Beauty really can make people jealous.
If Zuo Canglang had any lingering hope that Mu Rongyan would feel pity for her, it died completely at this moment. A cold wind blew up from below, and she looked down at the ceremony below. The two people were holding hands, and although she had given up any thoughts of impropriety, she still felt a sense of forlornness. A supporting actress, in a place where the crowd could not reach her, watched the main character’s forlornness.
There was something unusual in the crowd.
The left wolf almost arrived in the blink of an eye, and the poisoned crossbow of that person had just appeared. She had already broken his hand, then quickly sealed the wound, and finally half-supported him as they left, handing him over to Wang Nan only after they were outside the arena, without causing any commotion.
No one in the entire Imperial Army dared to speak, for if the news got out, they would be found guilty of dereliction of duty, and I’m afraid execution would be too light a punishment. But she also didn’t say a word, and silently retreated to the roof ridge, watching the entire audience like a wolf.
The soldiers of the Imperial Army stared with wide eyes, wishing they could catch and frisk every ant that passed by.
In the evening, she returned to the general’s mansion. After a day of being on guard, it was not false to say that she was tired. There was only the maid she had brought with her last time, whom she named Zuo Weiwei, and the maid was so moved that she was about to kowtow three times.
Soaking herself in slightly scalding water, she stroked her slightly rough skin and watched as it turned a light tan colour in the water, before suddenly sighing.
She went to bed and wrapped herself tightly in the thin quilt, but she couldn’t sleep no matter what. Staring at the flickering candle flame on the table, she felt that the world was too quiet.
Suddenly there was a slight noise, Zuo Canglang quickly grasped the silver bow by the pillow, and when she rolled over, she was pressed down by a body, and then the candle flame on the table was extinguished.
The person on top of her smelled strongly of alcohol and was tearing her underskirt with unusual violence. Just from that smell, she recognised her, not without surprise, but also with a little confusion, almost unable to believe it, this person…the empress with a new album, what is she doing here?
He didn’t let her wonder for long, entering her body directly without any foreplay, but she was obviously completely used to him by now.
Mu Rongyan let out a satisfied grunt. This body was always like this, and even when he only touched her with his hands, she would welcome him with the most appropriate level of moisture and heat.
The strength in his hands was completely unnoticeable, leaving ambiguous marks on her tan skin. Feeling the cooperation of the person beneath him, he became even more frantic, as if he were letting out something. His broad palms almost crushed her eyebrows, and she groaned. Finally unable to hold back, she tried to push his hands away, but he pressed her down with even more force, his voice muffled as he said, ‘I thought you didn’t know pain!’
Zuo Canglang didn’t know why he was angry, and tried hard to cooperate with him to make the pain go away.
He got up, unscrewed her mouth, and shoved a scarlet pill in. He squeezed her jaw hard to make her swallow, straightened his clothes, and left.
He left without anyone noticing, as if he had never been there.
Only Zuo Canglang was left, hugging a thin quilt and leaning against the bed. The burning in her body slowly turned cold, fading away into boundless emptiness.
She relit the candle, gazed at the light on the table, then closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.
Captured by mistake
Captured by mistake
When the Yan and Zhao dynasties first split, some of the Fan states also took advantage of the chaos to split off. Now that the overall situation has been settled, these of course have to be recovered. Therefore, Zuo Canglang does not often stay in the imperial city; she is usually at the border, and only the strong and vigorous handwriting of hers is sent back from time to time in military dispatches from afar.
The following month, the news came that the Empress Jiang was pregnant, and the court and the people raised their cups in celebration. Zuo Canglang was in the barracks at the border, looking at the bright red notice. Attached to the notice was a secret order to capture the enemy without fail. Zuo Canglang sat upright in the tent, thinking about the man on the throne…he should be beaming with joy.
The two of them…can be considered lovers who finally became man and wife.
Military correspondence was frequent, and his handwriting was always concise when it came to reviewing it. Zuo Canglang often thought back to the first time he asked with full temptation, ‘Do you like me?’
Fortunately, there wasn’t much time to miss him. The border was very windy and sandy, and the climate was unpredictable. Getting sick was a luxury for her. So she learned to protect herself, to take care of herself, to be strong, and to be silent. She always appeared confident in front of her subordinates.
However, Liao City is the largest of all the divided Fan countries. Zuo Canglang’s original plan was to lay siege to it, cut off the merchant army’s entry, and wait for a year or six months before taking action, so as to minimise casualties. Now if Liao City is to be used to celebrate the young prince’s birthday, then time is certainly not on their side.
Liao City is strategically important, and the Fan king, Pan Lihong, is not to be feared alone.
Zuo Canglang silently flipped through the booklet in his hands, which contained information about the general of Liao City, Long Ping. He did not like alcohol or women, and was deeply trusted by the troops. He was a master of military strategy, and when Mu Rongyan and Mu Rongruo were arguing, he was able to hold Liao City with less than 100,000 troops and support Pan Lihong as king.
This person is extremely astute, and since Mu Rongyan’s defeat of Mu Rongruo, he has been planning for the Liaocheng’s escape route. Now the city has an adequate supply of food and grass, and it is waiting for the enemy in the city with ease. On the other hand, Zuo Canglang’s army has travelled a long way, and the amount of food and grass they need is extremely large. Furthermore, in terms of terrain alone, they are not familiar with the area even one ten thousandth as much as the enemy.
Zuo Canglang reported the analysis results to Mu Rongyan and received a reply of six words: ‘At any cost.’
A resolute tone, an order that cannot be disobeyed, at any cost?
Zuo Canglang secretly ordered his deputy commander Cheng Tao to be in charge of all military affairs. The two of them secretly discussed it for half the night, and Cheng Tao looked at her with a worried expression as she left the barracks.
Zuo Canglang had originally gone to assassinate Long Ping, but there was an accident.
How could the guards at the city of Liao find her? She searched Long Ping’s house for several hours, but didn’t see the man. Finally, she learned that he was on the city wall, and he was actually on patrol all night.
He had also heard of Zuo Canglang, and knew that this time the opponent was determined to win. Although he had been preparing for nearly three years, the outcome was really unpredictable. It would be false to say that he wasn’t worried.
Zuo Canglang waited for him on the street two li from the city, from the crack of dawn until it was light. Zuo Canglang observed the terrain. Although she had folded the beacon flares and arrows into a thick metal belt buckle and fastened it around her waist, she was confident that she could shoot him in the moment the official sedan chair passed by and escape without a problem.
But…he rode past on his horse.
Zuo Canglang felt a little embarrassed. Even if she had sped up, she would not have been able to assemble the beacon rocket in time to shoot an arrow at him before his horse disappeared.
So for the first time, her assassination plan failed.
But it didn’t matter, she consoled herself, I’ll just wait for him at his house.
The Long residence did not have many guards, so Zuo Canglang looked around the house. It was night, and the shadows of the trees and flowers were slanting. She hid quietly in the grass outside his window, and as she was about to assemble the beacon fire, something cool climbed up her leg.
Zuo Canglang looked down and saw a green and yellow snake, spitting at her menacingly. At that time, her thoughts did not even go through her brain. There was not much of a Long residence, and there was a scream.
Passionate? Crazy?
Passionate? Crazy?
Zuo Canglang had no choice but to feign unconsciousness. The murderer was obviously startled by her screams, too, and hastily left a hickey on her neck before fleeing. Long Ping also suspected that she was from an unknown background, but…if this was really an attempt at something sinister, it was really hard to believe.
Long Ping carried her from the ground to the bed in a few steps. Zuo Canglang almost opened her eyes to look at him. No one had ever hugged her like this before.
On the bed, Zuo Canglang pretended to be unconscious. She suddenly wondered if she told him that she had travelled through time, would he believe her? {Someone: — —}
Feeling the breathing beside her, she didn’t dare open her eyes, and silently pondered a response in her mind. Meanwhile, a pair of hands smeared something on her neck.
‘General, your wife is fine. The snake is not poisonous. Her fainting is probably due to shock, so she should be fine.‘
’Oh, she… Never mind, Zi Tong, send for the doctor.’
‘Yes, General.”
Zuo Canglang stayed as a guest in the Long family for two months. She was 21 years old that year and had not yet led troops for long, so she could not yet take life and death lightly.
Long Ping asked her about it every now and then, but she pretended to be dumb and made random gestures that he could not understand, so he just gave up.
After two months, Zuo Canglang drew a map of the military defences of the entire Liao city. Her reconnaissance skills were highly valued even by Mu Rongyan.
Long Ping did not chase her away. A weak woman had nowhere to go. In Liao City, she was the people she had to protect. If she was chased out, where could she go?
Well, I know this is a romance-based fantasy novel, but… Although Long Ping had eradicated all the flowers and plants in the Long residence that attracted snakes and insects, and although Zuo Canglang had to give him a good face because she liked him, the two of them really did not vow their eternal love under the moon and the flowers…
Long Ping was always polite and refined with her, always smiling and gentle in conversation. Sometimes he would smile and praise her, but Zuo Canglang would just shrug it off. Growing up in her environment, she didn’t really believe in feelings herself.
After Liao City was Mount Liao, which was full of wild animals and rare birds.
Winter was approaching, and Long Ping often took his subordinates to help the people and the army hunt together to store food.
In the fifth lunar month, Cheng Tao led his troops to attack the city. At that time, Zuo Canglang and Long Ping were already close friends, and she stood on the city wall watching him lead his troops into battle.
Her hands tightly gripped the beacon flaming arrows at her waist. The best angle, the most appropriate distance, the role that no one would pay attention to. Zuo Canglang slowly strung the beacon flaming bow, no arrow, the empty string aimed at Long Ping, and there was a soft sound.
On the horse, Long Ping was fighting Cheng Tao. The strong arrow wind forced him to turn his head back, but it was too late to block it. The arrow’s energy pierced his body, creating a bloody hole in his right chest. He didn’t know if it was a tremor or the arrow’s momentum, but his body leaned back, and then he turned his head back in slow motion.
As if he didn’t feel any pain, his gaze fell upon the person on the city wall. Her black hair and long clothes looked like they were floating in the wind. The two armies were stunned. The bow in her hand gleamed in the autumn sun.
It was heartbreaking.
She clenched her lips and drew the string again. Long Ping suddenly rolled off his horse, facing the oncoming arrow wind, and very quietly abandoned his long spear.
There was blood at the corner of his lips, and the armour beneath him glistened black. There was silence all around, and he silently watched the person on the city wall, whose clothes were flying in the wind, as he faced this legendary killer on the battlefield and calmly abandoned his weapon.
The second arrow pierced his body, sending up a blood mist, and he just looked at her without saying a word. He had never seen that kind of look in Zuo Canglang’s life.
She held the bow tightly, but it felt like it weighed a thousand pounds in her hands. She used all her strength, but she couldn’t let fly.
At this moment, everyone reacted, but by the time they caught up, they were unable to stop her. The army at the city gates was shaken and began to retreat. Zuo Canglang jumped off the city wall, soared like a falcon over the crowd below, jumped onto a warhorse, and Cheng Tao led the men in pursuit of the victory. Zuo Canglang endured it for a while, but then turned back and looked at the general, who was covered in blood and being desperately protected by the soldiers as he fled.
Why didn’t you hide? The arrow’s energy alone could have killed you if you had your spear and were prepared.
The court had returned to celebrate the birth of the young prince. Jiang Bilian had given birth to the young prince eight months after being crowned empress, and the court was in an uproar.
Recalling the secret order from Mu Rongyan to attack the enemy’s camp, and thinking about Mu Rongyan’s strange behaviour during the coronation, Zuo Canglang had a vague idea of what was going on.
Soon after the birth of the crown prince, Lue Liao formally surrendered. For a time, the courtiers, who were good at flattery, said that this was a good omen, that the crown prince was the reincarnation of a lucky star, and that Heaven was blessing the Yan dynasty.
No one talked about the arrow on the city wall, and no one remembered the blood of the soldiers on the frontier. Sometimes Zuo Canglang wonders if there are people in this world who are born to receive glory and honour.
Zuo Canglang returned to the capital with the army. Seeing him on the throne in the main hall felt like a lifetime apart. She knelt on the ground, her long hair tied up high, her right hand holding the bow, her head bowed, still as obedient as ever.
Naturally, the crowd was full of flattery again, and Zuo Canglang, expressionless, said nothing, finally making the people shut up.
The celebration for the young prince’s birthday was delayed, and the next court session was very late. Mu Rongyan said nonchalantly, ‘It’s late. Let’s stay at the Nanqing Palace for now.’
His tone was an order, leaving no room for discussion.
Have you fed a dog?
Have you fed a dog?
In the study, several ministers stammered, ‘Your Majesty, although General Zuo has outstanding military achievements, she is a woman after all. Is it too risky to entrust the Yan Dynasty army to her…’
Muyong Yan’s face was indifferent, ‘Or do you want it?’
The ministers were shocked, ‘I dare not.’
He began to slowly approve the documents, and everyone looked at each other, before finally bowing and leaving. Zuo Xiang Xue Jingcheng looked at the right-hand minister’s gang of henchmen and snorted. The little prince’s first month celebration was still fresh in his mind, and already he was thinking about fighting for power for himself!
Eunuch Wang waited until everyone had dispersed, and then said carefully, ‘Your Majesty, are you still going to the Empress’s today?’
Muyong Yan put down his pen and said, ‘Yes, let’s go see her.’
Jiang Bilian was a little uneasy. At that time, she had not yet formed any impression of Zuo Canglang. At first, she could still put on airs and act haughty with Mu Rongyan, and she was confident that the Mu Rongyan in her hands was still the same man who would sacrifice his family and country for her.
She was even confident that she could keep him that way forever. But… cooing over the baby in her arms, she regretted a little that she had been too harsh on him at first, so much so that he hadn’t even touched the hem of a garment, making it impossible for her to frame him even now.
But she had never mentioned not wanting the baby from the beginning. She knew Mu Rong Yan too well. He liked women who were pure and good. Jiang Bilan, Murong Ruo has already gone beyond recognition and is finally with Murong Yan. Seize the day. If you fall from favour, what will become of your family, your child, and yourself?
Murong Yan sat with her for half the night. She asked the nanny to take the young prince away and quietly watch him. After sitting together for a long time, she suddenly said to Yan, ‘Lan’er, why don’t you dance for me?’
This was his special permission to be rude in private.
He nodded lightly. These days, he also felt that Jiang Bi Lan’s attitude towards him had become much more intimate. If this child can make you change your mind and stay by my side, then how about Mu Rong Yan treats him as if he were his own — although this is really quite mocking.
It was already late at night when they left the Fengqi Palace. Eunuch Wang trembled as he held the palace lantern: ‘Your Majesty, where to?’
‘Go to the Nanquing Palace.’
“But it’s so late, General Zuo must have already gone to bed…’
Muyong Yan laughed wickedly, ‘If I don’t go, how can she rest.’
‘…’ Thinking about Zuo Canglang’s former identity, eunuch Wang also understood slightly. He shut up and led the way.
Zuo Canglang had not yet rested. Her personal maid Zuo Weiwei was a little worried when she heard that the emperor had arrived late at night. She looked at the inner room where the candle flame was still burning, and was about to go in and report, but Muyong Yan waved his hand to stop her.
It was early winter, and the weather was slightly chilly. Fortunately, Zuo Canglang was used to being at the border, and the climate in the imperial city was already much better. When he came in, she was dozing under the quilt, and as soon as she turned her head, he stopped her from getting up.
The cold from outside had not dissipated yet, so he put his hand under the quilt. She let out a low groan as the hand with its coolness messed with her recklessly.
Her face flushed, and she dared not move. Her eyes shone like those of a submissive puppy as she looked at him. Mu Rongyan also lost control a little, and he even had the illusion that being apart made their love even stronger.
In this palace, he had also established several concubines due to his connections, but usually because of Jiang Bilian, he rarely favoured them. Only with her was he completely free of burdens.
When Mu Rongyan entered her body, he still held back his impatience: ‘Have you missed me?’ She endured his almost violent movements, nodding with a blush on her face. Mu Rongyan didn’t like it and said, ‘Speak!’ So she buried her face in his chest and said yes in a muffled voice.
He then laughed, and she didn’t dare to look at him.
As he let out his anger inside her, Zuo Canglang suddenly felt very much like he could hug her, but he just quickly got dressed and left. Zuo Canglang then continued to hug the quilt and stare blankly, wondering why it had suddenly gotten so cold in the winter.
Zuo Weiwei had been waiting outside the whole time. As soon as Zuo Rongyan left, she immediately brought in some hot water, as if she was used to serving her master. Zuo Canglang smiled apologetically at her, as she was not used to troubling others.
Zuo Weiwei, however, acted as if it was only natural, helping her undress and soak in the hot water. She just frowned at the bruises all over her body, some of which had broken the skin. The emperor really had no sense of propriety in bed.
After making the bed and helping her wash up, she helped her onto the bed, not knowing what else to say, and silently withdrew.
The next day in the Emperor’s study, eunuch Wang was sorting through the reward book, when he suddenly remembered something and asked, ‘Your Majesty, General Zuo has returned in triumph, should we add something to this list?’ He was a clever man, and when he saw that Mu Rongyan had gone so late to see Zuo Canglang, he thought that he must have some feelings for her.
But he didn’t know that Mu Rong Yan just lazily waved his hand and said, ‘You can handle it.’ So even someone like eunuch Wang didn’t understand: ‘My lord, they say that a woman’s heart is like a needle stuck at the bottom of the ocean. How come even a woman like General Zuo is so obedient to you? You didn’t even treat her well. You said you were deposing the empress, and she silently agreed. You said you wanted her to move out, and she silently did. You told her to come back, and she silently did.’
Her words were a little flattering, but they were also true.
‘Have you fed a dog before?’
“Well…I have.’
‘There are techniques to feeding a dog. You can’t feed it too much, otherwise it will become spoiled and lazy, but you also can’t let it go hungry, otherwise it will easily run away at the first temptation. The key is not how good you are to it all the time, but how good you are to it every time, so that it will never forget.”
Eunuch Wang never understood this theory, and it was only many years later that Murong Yan understood what he had squandered at that time.
You are the monarch, I am the subject
The little prince’s first month celebration was very grand. The ministers all thought that this must be the future crown prince, so they kept praising how much more beautiful and blessed he was, and how much he resembled the current emperor.
Jiang Bilan smiled, but kept looking at Mu Rongyan from time to time, while Mu Rongyan drank calmly, unperturbed. Zuo Canglang did not like to join in the fun, and also sat upright, drinking in silence.
The Prime Minister on the right had been promoted to the position of Grand Tutor, and was naturally feeling pleased with himself. He took the young prince from his nanny, looked at the Prime Minister on the left with a smug expression, and then saw that Zuo Canglang had not stood up, so he couldn’t help but feel a little displeased.
However, he didn’t show it on his face. He took the young prince and came to Zuo Canglang: ‘General Zuo, why are you drinking alone? Come, come, come, let’s look at the young prince.’
Zuo Canglang had been at war for many years and was not used to holding babies, but in front of everyone, she could not refuse. She reached out to take the small child, but suddenly her hands went numb. She was shocked, and the little prince in his swaddling clothes suddenly fell straight to the ground.
Everyone was shocked.
Zuo Canglang’s reaction was so sharp that she reached out to catch him at that moment, just in time to meet the Right Minister’s hands. The little prince was unharmed, but suddenly he burst into tears.
The Empress Kang ran over in a panic and took the child in her arms. The Right Minister’s face had already turned cold. ‘General Zuo, the child is innocent. I was just bored watching you drink alone, but you were so careless, as if you did it on purpose!’
The Empress Kang didn’t know why her father was targeting this female general, but she couldn’t help him, could she? So she hugged the little prince, while tears came down like rain.
Zuo Canglang did not say a word. Having grown up among wolves and in a cruel environment, she was not good at discerning between right and wrong. She just turned her head and quietly looked at Mu Rongyan on the throne.
‘Wang Nan.’
‘Yes, my lord.’
‘Take Zuo Canglang to the Heavenly Prison for later judgement!’
‘This…yes.’
Wang Nan hesitated for a moment. Didn’t she return in triumph? Why was she being sent to the Heavenly Prison so easily?
‘General Zuo, please.’ His voice was very low, as he knew he could not disobey the emperor’s orders. Zuo Canglang caressed her hand, which still felt numb. The two soldiers did not dare to actually escort her, and when she suddenly turned back as they were leaving the palace gate, the emperor almost thought she was going to cry at the look in her eyes.
‘Your Majesty…’ Zuo Zuoxiang’s words were interrupted by the emperor before they could even begin. The courtiers dared not express their opinions, and only Empress Jiang felt strange. In the past, any subject who showed the slightest resistance was punished on the spot, but she was only escorted to the Heavenly Prison…
Zuo Canglang was stuck in the Heavenly Prison. The stale musty smell and the damp, dark cell did not make her feel uncomfortable. She had been in worse conditions than this before.
She was just afraid that the jailer would pour water into the cell every night, and the wet clothes would stick to her body.
It was very uncomfortable in the middle of winter. Zuo Weiwei quietly brought her some clothes. Looking at the people in the cell, all of them drenched, she suddenly remembered her former master, who had been exiled to the cold palace. Although the person in front of her had the power to command thousands of troops, she was just a woman.
Visits were not allowed in the Heavenly Prison, but people are all flesh and blood, and her name, Yan Chaozhao, was known to few. So everyone just turned a blind eye.
She stayed in the Heavenly Prison for a month. A eunuch announced the imperial decree in a shrill voice, saying that Zuo Canglang had been reinstated and was to go to Yubeiguan immediately to suppress the rebellion.
She stood dazed inside the Heavenly Prison, not going out.
The eunuch dared not act, so he had to report back to Mu Rongyan. Mu Rongyan arrived quickly. In the dim prison cell, he looked at her indifferently: ‘What? Have you been wronged?’
She kept her head half-bent, playing with the chilblains on her hands. He finally lost his patience, lifted her chin with one hand, and used almost the strength to crush her jaw. When their gazes met, she was seen to be in tears.
“Remember, I am the monarch and you are the subject,’
She reached out to receive the edict and bowed her head to thank the emperor for his grace. Yes, you are the emperor and I am your subject. You want loyalty? I will give you loyalty.
The author has something to say: Oh, I almost forgot to post it on JJ. I’m sweating.
That glance
‘Remember, I am the emperor and you are my subject.’
She reached out to receive the edict and bowed her head to thank the emperor for his grace. Yes, you are the emperor and I am your subject. You want loyalty? I will give you loyalty.
Mu Rongyan, however, looked at the frostbite on her hands. The Right Minister and his gang were not going to agree to release her, but there was a rebellion in Yinxu Pass. In the imperial court, Mu Rongyan said indifferently, ‘So, does the Right Minister have a candidate?’
The right minister immediately proposed his nephew, Chan Qingyuan. Mu Rongyan said indifferently, ‘If you succeed, you will be promoted to general; if you fail, your entire family will be executed.
The right minister was shocked and immediately said very seriously, very earnestly and very affirmatively, ’Your Majesty, I think it is better for an old general to lead the troops this time. Besides, General Zuo has outstanding military achievements, so it would be inappropriate to keep him in custody for a long time. Why not give her a chance to redeem herself?’
Looking at the person who was hanging his head in silence, he waved away his subordinates and crouched in front of her. He wanted to reach out and hug her, but he didn’t know if it had been a few days since she had bathed, and the slightly sour smell on her body was really unbearable. So he just whispered, ‘Go back to the Nanqing Palace first.’
Zuo Weiwei almost burst into tears when she bathed her. But she gently comforted her, ‘She’s not a delicate person, and there have been many people staying in that place, so what’s there to cry about?’
Yes, what’s there to cry about? Then why are you so sad?
In the evening, Mu Rongyan came over, as usual, but didn’t stay the night. He gave her a moment of joy, then got up and left. She asked Zuo Weiwei, who was washing her body and undressing her, ‘Would you like to light an incense burner?’
Zuo Weiwei carefully applied ointment to the frostbite on her hands, which had just cracked, and kept nodding, saying yes, yes.
Half asleep, she woke up at dawn, and the emperor personally saw her off.
At the palace gate, there was a cup of sake.
She and he drank together, only in front of others, when they set off to see each other off. Both of them adhered to the etiquette of a monarch and his subjects, not crossing the line by even half a step.
It took six months to suppress the rebellion at Yinxibaguan. Zuo Canglang often watched the clouds roll in and out of the border town in his spare time. Zuo Weiwei was not afraid of hardship. Sometimes she even felt that there was nothing bad about being buried in horse leather and being free in the battlefield outside the pass.
She often told Zuo Canglang about her former master, about the intrigues in the palace, about the former glory and favour of the Rongguifei, about the three years in the cold palace, and about the final cup of poisoned wine.
Zuo Canglang hugged her knees with her hands and listened curiously. She had very little experience.
‘Oh dear, General, you need to talk more. Don’t you get bored with just a few words every day?’ Zuo Weiwei always loved to tease her, shaking her while saying this.
At this time, she would laugh softly, but still not say many words.
After the rebellion in Yubeiguan was suppressed, Zuo Canglang returned to the capital and was of course rewarded. Mu Rongyan just said that she didn’t care, so it was up to her. Zuo Canglang didn’t like all this jewellery and precious stones, so she usually gave it to the servants in the house.
There weren’t many servants, anyway, as she wasn’t often in the house, so there was just a housekeeper, a manservant and Zuo Weiwei.
After a short rest in the house, the emperor hosted a banquet in the evening.
After three rounds of wine, the emperor, Mu Rongyan, toasted her in celebration, but when she got up to drink it all, he said, ‘During the battle of Liao City last time, did you forget to give me something?’
Zuo Canglang shuddered, and when she looked at him, he seemed to be completely unaware. Uneasily, she finished the wine in her cup. Was he referring to the military defences and the map of the mountain?
Night, the emperor’s study.
Zuo Canglang has been kneeling with her head bowed for an hour. The eunuch standing nearby is being careful not to make a sound. The atmosphere in the palace is eerily tense.
Mu Rongyan is intently going through the documents, and the eunuch from the Qifeng Palace has come to see him twice, but in the end he was sent away by the people outside the study.
At the second watch of the night, Zuo Canglang’s forehead began to sweat, and her legs ached as if they had been pricked. She tried hard to keep her head down so that no one could see her expression.
‘Why, do I have to remind you?’ Mu Rongyan did not look at her, but his words were directed at her.
‘Your Majesty, I… I don’t know what you mean.’
“Very well, then I’ll tell you. Come here.’
He wouldn’t let her get up, so she walked over on her knees, moving with difficulty. Eunuch Wang was waiting on the side, and he gave a cold glance over, scaring him into leading a group of people down.
Mu Rongyan looked down at her: ‘Zuo, I thought you knew me best, don’t test my patience.’
‘Your servant…really doesn’t know what you’re talking about,’ Zuo Canglang hung her head, and Mu Rongyan sighed softly. Whenever she lied, she wouldn’t dare look him in the eye.
‘Then kneel until you know.’ He let her kneel at his feet. Hmph, she actually preferred to deceive me to protect him!!! Feeling the person next to her tense up, Mu Rongyan of course knew why. A snake, slowly crawling over, hissed and spit along the corner of her clothes.
Of course there would be no such thing in the imperial study, Mu Rongyan knew. Not only did he know, he even laboriously pulled out its fangs.
‘Kneel properly!’ He shouted to stop her from rising, feeling her hand at his feet clutching the hem of his robe. The snake slowly crawled up her back, and her pale face suddenly made him think of her body, which must now be cold. For a moment, he wanted to fuck her, but no, the map was related to the dragon vein of the Yan dynasty, and he really had to get it.
Zuo, it’s only been a short time, but the Dragon Ping is more important to you than me?
It was almost four in the morning. She was sweating cold sweat all over, and she was still clutching his robe tightly in one hand, as if she were petrified. Mu Rong Yan couldn’t delay any longer. He pulled the snake and threw it in the corner, leaned over to hug her, and her body was as cold as he expected. Her light tan skin was slightly rough, but it was shiny and glistening from the sweat.
He pressed her against the cold floor. She frowned, clenching her lips, her joints stiff as she tried to hold herself together. Her awareness was hazy, as was the pain. Her neck was stiff and she couldn’t turn her head. All she could see was the black floor, reflecting her disheveled appearance coldly.
The force in his hands felt like he was trying to crush her bones. So a drop of water hit the ground, spreading the water colour and blurring everything.
Can you kiss me?
: Can you kiss me?
She was unable to attend the court meeting, and did not even know who had escorted her back to the Nanqing Palace. Zuo Weiwei came out and saw her, and even thought that her master had accidentally fallen into the pool, with all that water on her.
There was a faint smell of alcohol on her, but she did not seem drunk. Even after such intense lovemaking, her face was still pale. Zuo Weiwei carried her into the bathtub, but she did not come to.
Her fingertips trembled slightly when they touched her body in the hot water, and she looked at her bruises but didn’t know what to do. Zuo Weiwei had been by her side for many years, and she didn’t know anyone in the palace. What’s more, over the years, the emperor had treated her worse than a lowly servant, and everyone in the palace was very realistic.
Reluctantly, she helped her apply medicine, but she slept uneasily, tossing and turning like this until the evening. She didn’t even finish her drink, but she just couldn’t wake her up. Zuo Weiwei was wandering outside the palace when she met Wang Nan, who was on night duty. The two of them knew each other.
Wang Nan immediately took her to the Imperial Medical Hall. Several imperial physicians in succession refused, and after a lot of arguing, the oldest one finally relented and whispered, ‘The Empress Dowager always makes the decisions in the harem. General Zuo’s relationship with the Emperor…not to mention the fact that she is not favoured, who would dare go…’
Wang Nan laughed in anger. He pointed at the imperial physicians, trembling. She has fought outside to save your lives, but now you want her to die of illness in this palace courtyard full of imperial physicians?
The few men were too ashamed to speak or move. Wang Nan was really at her wits’ end. She asked where the emperor had gone and went to the Qifeng Palace. When eunuch Wang went to report, Emperor Yanyan was watching Empress Jiang dance. He was really not undeservedly famous.
Eunuch Wang whispered in his ear, and his face turned pale. Thinking about the scene when that person was sent back, he also wanted to go and take a look. Empress Jiang was so clever that she stopped dancing and half-leaned into his arms, her soft jade-like fragrance filling the air. ‘Your Majesty, is there something the matter?’
Mu Rong Yan let her tender arms wrap around his neck, and for some reason he couldn’t say anything. So he turned his head and told Eunuch Wang, ‘Go wait outside for now.’
Eunuch Wang then waited outside the palace with Wang Nan and Zuo Weiwei. They waited until nearly midnight, and by then, everyone’s hearts had turned cold.
As he watched the two of them leave, Eunuch Wang even sighed, ‘Since ancient times, the heartless have been emperors.’
Zuo Weiwei was at a loss, and tears fell as she walked. Wang Nan bit her lip and said, ‘Go, carry General Zuo out.’ She didn’t know what he was going to do, but she didn’t know what to do now either, so she had to do what he said.
Zuo Canglang’s face was red, but her body was abnormally cold. Zuo Weiwei struggled to carry her out, and Wang Nan had no choice but to take over. Her face was pressed against his chest, and it was surprisingly slightly cool.
It was late at night and leaving the palace was against the rules, but he was the leader of the imperial guard after all, so he could manage this.
In the nighttime imperial city, the lights were out and everyone was asleep. Wang Nan drove all the way to the most famous medical clinic in the city, but the owner was not going to open. He smashed the door and went in. As a doctor, he could see that Zuo Canglang was seriously ill, so Doctor Fu did not dare to neglect him.
She kept clutching Wang Nan’s clothes, as if she had had a nightmare and wouldn’t let go, so he had to let her be. Doctor Fu knew from Wang Nan’s attire that she was no ordinary person. He had seen a lot of things in the palace, so he didn’t say anything more. However, Zuo Canglang was half asleep the whole time.
Zuo Weiwei cooled the medicine and fed it to her, calling out to the general. Only then did Doctor Fu change his expression. In the Yan Dynasty, there was only one female general: ‘Could it be General Zuo?’
Wang Nan did not reply, and Doctor Fu understood. He was dressed in full military uniform, unified the war, and ended the displacement of the people. Why did he come at such a late hour to seek medical treatment for such a serious illness?
Doctor Fu did not dare to ask too many questions, and just silently prepared the medicine. Before the few people left the house, he suddenly said, ‘Gentlemen, I don’t know what has happened, but if General Zuo needs anything in the future, I will be at your service.’
Wang Nan knew that Zuo Canglang had a high status in the people, otherwise Mu Rongyan would not have made her the crown princess in order to consolidate his regime. The situation was special, and it was inappropriate to say more. He just bowed to Doctor Fu and embraced Zuo Canglang before getting into the carriage.
He was going to hand the person over to Zuo Weiwei to watch, but she just wouldn’t let go. Wang Nan coaxed her, ‘General Zuo, please let go, I’ll drive.’
She suddenly looked up at him with a vacant expression in her eyes, and after a while she suddenly said, ‘Can you kiss me?’
Wang Nan blushed, and Zuo Weiwei was about to reach out and pull her, when she muttered, ‘Look, I’ve been with you for so many years, and you’ve never kissed me.’
The two of them turned their backs.
Get out of here!
Mu Rongyan arrived at the Nanqing Palace after the morning court. At that time, she had not yet woken up. He stood in front of the bed, watching her breathe steadily. She wasn’t very seriously ill, so he sent a servant to her room, perhaps just to compete for favour.
When he leaned closer to her, she opened her eyes. Mu Rongyan said coldly, ‘Give me the map.’ The light in the eyes of the person sitting up in bed with the quilt slowly faded. I thought…you came to see me for a moment, but it turns out that…
‘My lord, I really don’t know what map you are talking about.‘ Her voice was still hoarse, and her throat felt like it had been pricked with a needle as she spoke.
’Your Majesty…’ Zuo Weiwei brought breakfast over and was shocked to see the scene. ’General Zuo hasn’t eaten a thing since yesterday, so perhaps you should both have breakfast first.’
Muyong Yan gave her a cold glare, and she dared not say another word. Zuo Canglang suddenly shouted, ‘How dare you, slave! You’ve been spoiled so much that you’ve lost all sense of propriety! Get out of here!’ Zuo Weiwei knew that she was defending herself in disguise, but she was worried. Finally, Zuo Canglang threw a pillow at her, and she finally left.
Mu Rongyan looked on coldly, ‘Not a bad performance of master and servant.’ Zuo Canglang carefully watched his expression, fearing that he might have other intentions towards Zuo Weiwei. She lifted the quilt and pretended to get up. She had not worn much because she had sweated during the night, and her cheeks were flushed with a sickly red. Mu Rongyan had always liked this body, so how could he resist?
He then slammed her down onto the solid mahogany table. Zuo Canglang let out a muffled grunt, her shoulder aching, but she dared not cry out. The cups, plates, and teacups on the table were swept to the ground. She tried her best to obey him. Over the years, she had long since learned how to cause herself less pain.
He was satisfied with this body, and always liked to use his hands to leave all kinds of brutal marks on her firm skin when he was having his fun. When he heard her moan softly as he squeezed her shoulders, he squeezed harder with excitement, feeling her whole body tense up. Slowly, he leaned over her ear, not forgetting his purpose: ‘Where is the map?’
She had bitten her lips until they bled, and she shook her head as she looked at the table. Mu Rongyan’s patience had also reached its limit: ‘Is Long Ping also very good at this?’
Zuo Canglang tried hard to focus his eyes on him, his eyes full of hurt.
‘If not, it’s only been five months, and you would already have betrayed me for him.’
‘I didn’t.’
‘No?!’
‘My lord, Luoliao City has already surrendered, why must you be so ruthless?’
‘Who are you to question me!’
“Ah…no, don’t, my lord, don’t, please spare me, spare me…’
Zuo Weiwei had never gone far away. Listening to the indistinct moans from the inner room, she wondered what kind of pain the general, who could remain expressionless even after receiving an enemy’s sword, was feeling as he moaned for help.
When Mu Rongyan left, he looked at Zuo Weiwei twice. This woman held a high position in his heart. Perhaps it was because she had inherited the maternal love of the wolf tribe that she always showed extra care for those around her.
Perhaps… that’s why the soldiers in the army loved her so much.
When Zuo Weiwei entered, she fell at the foot of the table, her blood blooming gorgeously on her underskirt. She was still conscious, and she asked Zuo Weiwei softly if she had any painkillers. Zuo Weiwei ran out crying to find Wang Nan, who was talking to a group of ministers about something. When they heard that Zuo Canglang was sick, some of those who secretly admired her followed along. When they arrived at the Imperial Hospital, they were still dawdling.
Left Prime Minister Xue Chengjing angrily scolded the people, and then followed them tremblingly.
The shoulder bone was broken, and the imperial doctor helped her bandage it up in a flurry. She whispered to Zuo Weiwei, who was wiping the sweat from her face, ‘Is the arm still there?’ Zuo Weiwei nodded repeatedly, ‘It’s there.’
Then the towel on her hand wiped her forehead for a while, and then wiped her eyes.
In the evening, she fed her some congee. Zuo Weiwei could not help but say, ‘General, what does the emperor want? Just give it to him. Why suffer like this?’
‘Weiwei, I owe someone something. This…can be considered paying him back.’
The next day, the King of Yinguang sent someone to deliver a surrender document. It was originally signed by Zuo Canglang and him, so of course Zuo Canglang had to go and accept it. Mu Rongyan sent someone to invite her. It was more like a summons than an invitation.
Zhao Weiwei looked at her face and realised that going out like this would really scare people. After thinking for a while, she brought some powder from her room and carefully applied makeup on her face.
Zhao Canglang looked curiously at the box in her hand and asked, ‘What is this?’
‘Rouge,’ Zhao Weiwei replied without stopping. Having served the Empress for many years, her makeup skills were second to none. Zhao Canglang, however, lightly dabbed some powder on her hand and said softly, ‘So…this is rouge.’
Zuo Weiwei felt a pang of sadness in her heart and stopped talking. She went back to her room and took her hairpin and earrings. Although she was only a maid, Zuo Canglang treated her no worse than any lady of the court.
‘General, you can’t wear your battle armour today.’
“What should I wear then?’
‘None of your usual clothes would go with this outfit.‘ Zi Weiwei looked at the made-up Zuo Canglang and suppressed her amazement. This kind of thing was something she should discover for herself. “Oh yes, Weiwei, I remember you have a dress with a lotus neckline, in a turquoise colour.”
’Huh? That must have been left over from when I was a consort. But Weiwei, I’m going to negotiate a surrender, not attend a state banquet.‘
’What’s the difference? There’s nothing wrong with dressing up a bit.‘
’You…’
I don’t like your outfit today
That was the first time Jiang Biblan noticed Zuo Canglang. At that time, Mu Rongyan was hosting a banquet in the imperial garden. The surrendered officials sent by the King of the Wings and a group of ministers were chatting and laughing humbly when they saw her slowly walking up the gravel path.
Mu Rongyan’s hand holding the cup of wine paused in mid-air. Perhaps it was because she was still unwell, but she no longer had the sharpness she had at first, and what was left was a graceful demeanour. The noise and commotion stopped, and Jiang Bilan was also looking at her. In the past, she had been confident in her beauty, and had never felt that Mu Rongyan treated her any differently from any of the other ministers. Even though she knew that she had been his deposed queen, she did not think that there would be any abnormalities.
But today she suddenly felt uneasy. Did he really not have the slightest stirring of interest in a woman like her?
‘Yin Beigan Mo Huanteng greets the general,’ said the minister, performing a deep bow. He had lost that battle with no regrets. If she had not shown mercy with that arrow, he might have long since been buried somewhere.
Zuo Canglang took the surrender document from his hands, examined it, and then respectfully handed it to Mu Rongyan. Mu Rongyan could smell a hint of perfume on her, and this Zuo Canglang felt strange to him.
For some reason, he hated the way everyone looked at her. Strangely, Jiang Bilan was also dazzling, but he had never felt anything but pride. Why did her beauty make him uneasy?
Without a trace, she accepted the surrender document. She stood next to him, and even Jiang Bilian could not hide her beauty.
She did not attend the banquet, but instead excused herself halfway through. Mu Rongyan only glanced at her, his voice low but audible: ‘I don’t like your outfit today.’
She was slightly startled, and she bowed her head: ‘Yes.’
Mu Rongyan’s gaze shifted to another direction, and Zuo Canglang could only see his profile from his angle. He was a god-like man, forever inscrutable.
In the lotus pond of the Nanqing Palace, she changed into plain clothes and sat alone on the railing by the lake, lost in thought. Zuo Weiwei stood for a long time holding a teapot before walking over: ‘General?’
‘Hm?’
“So engrossed in what?’
Zuo Canglang smiled. He never thought that someone would guess his thoughts. ‘No, Yinxibeiguan has surrendered.’
‘Yes, that’s good news. If we take back Luoliao Mountain, the Yan Dynasty will be unified.’
‘Yan Dynasty unified?’ She broke off a willow branch and casually threw it into the lake. Zuo Canglang smiled a little sadly, ‘Yes…the Yan Dynasty will be unified soon.’
Zuo Weiwei smiled and shook her: ‘General, what are you sad about? Isn’t this your wish? Then we won’t have to fight wars everywhere.’
Zuo Canglang looked at her and smiled, saying, ‘Yes, yes.’
But if Yan Dynasty unifies the country, what is the point of Zuo Canglang’s existence?
Cheng Tao failed twice in his attempts to conquer Wangliaoshan. Eunuch Wang picked up the folded letter that Emperor Wang had dropped with trembling hands. Even Jiang Bilian was taken aback by the look on the emperor’s face. He casually put his arms around her and ran his hands through her long, dark hair, soothing her.
‘No… she still has to do it.‘ The voice was very low, as if he was talking to himself, but Jiang Bilan already understood what he meant: “In fact, Yan, if you want to send troops to Wangliaoshan, it’s not necessary to use the Left General.”
’Oh?‘
’Yan, in fact, the head of the imperial forest army in the palace, Wang Nan, also comes from a military family.‘
’Wang Nan…‘
’Yes, if Wang Nan is the general and Cheng Tao is his assistant, then it is possible to take Wangliaoshan.’
‘I want to be absolutely sure.‘
’Yan…‘ Jiang Bilan carefully watched the changes in his expression: “If you really let the Left General take the troops there, aren’t you afraid that she will be deceived by Longping?”
Muyong Yan tightened his hand on her long hair, and Jiang Bilan’s heart followed suit. Sure enough…he really feels more than just a master-servant relationship with her. Father, what should I do…
’You mean, she will betray me for Longping?’
‘My concubine didn’t say anything.’ Jiang Bilan snuggled into his arms like a spoiled child, but Murong Yan didn’t dally with her as usual.
Do you also think that I am not good to you?
Do you also think that I am not good to you?
Whenever she was there, the nights in the Nanqing Palace were always brightly lit. This had become her habit, and also, unbeknownst to her, Murong Yan’s habit.
In the entire harem, only here, there is no noise, no servants coming and going, no gossip.
Signalling the guards to stop outside the palace, Mu Rongyan’s footsteps are very light, and the voices of the two people inside are extremely clear at night.
‘General, I think you’d better give the things to the emperor, otherwise I’m afraid there will be trouble again tomorrow. Look at all your injuries, it hurts me to see you like this.’
“Weiwei, I’m fine.’
‘But the emperor seems to…seem to not treat you very well. I guess if you keep being stubborn, you’ll be thrown in the sky prison again tomorrow.‘
’Vivi, what’s the difference between the sky prison and here? It’s a pity for you to follow such an incompetent master.”
Muyong Yan kicked open the door. He was angry, although he didn’t understand why. ’How good have I been to her that she can chew the fat here? Drag her out and slap her!’
A guard came in and dragged the person out. Zuo Canglang knelt on the ground, too afraid to go after him. He stood in front of her, very tall, and she could only look up at him humbly, tugging at the corner of his robe. Her movements were as quiet as her voice: ‘My lord, let her go. Canglang only has this one person left.’
Muyong Yan leaned over and lifted her chin, his gaze burning. ‘You also think I’ve been treating you badly?’
Zu Cang Lang did not dare to look him in the eye, her voice low and confused: ‘Cang Lang doesn’t know either. Cang Lang only has one master. I don’t know how a master should treat his subordinate, or how not to.’ She let go of the corner of his robe gently. Cang Lang also only has one master, a man. She doesn’t know how a man should treat his woman, or how not to.
Mu Rongyan leaned her against the table. She looked uneasily at the door. The guard’s applause was extraordinarily loud, but there was no miserable groan. Mu Rongyan watched her expression, and his hand explored her clothing. His mood improved slightly. This body was the one he could not tease the most. But just by pressing on it, it already had a reaction.
He watched her look worriedly from time to time at the door, and laughed inwardly. He didn’t say a word. Who would dare to really beat the lackey?
He turned around and, with great effort, said coldly, ‘That’s enough.’ Her hand carefully climbed onto his shoulder, matching his movements. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly, and her lower back was rubbed raw against the mahogany table, but he couldn’t see her pain, so she rubbed her skin raw and bloody.
He left, and she leaned against the table. By the time Zuo Weiwei came in, the clothes on her back had already become stuck to the blood and flesh, and in the end, she had to cut them open with scissors, piece by piece.
Zuo Canglang touched the wound at the corner of her mouth with his fingertips, and suddenly said after a while, ‘Weiwei, I’ll find you someone to marry. Although you are in the palace now, you have many former subordinates. What do you think of Cheng Tao? Or Fei Nan from Yanbeiguan? Chen…’
‘General, what are you talking about!!!’
“Weiwei, he didn’t ask about Wangliaoshan today, so he must have already thought of a way. Since ancient times, when the birds are gone, the bow is put away. It won’t end well for you to follow me.’
‘General, don’t ever say that again. Zuo Canglang is not going anywhere, and I will die by your side. If you force me, I… I will die right now and show you!‘
’Silly girl! There is nothing good about following me.”
Are you questioning me?
Are you questioning me?
Mou Rongyan sent Wang Nan to recover Wangliaoshan and ordered him to sign a life and death statement. Zuo Canglang went to his study, the first time she had taken the initiative to find him.
‘My lord, you did this on purpose.‘
’Are you questioning me?‘ He finally looked up from a stack of documents, but she remained silent and bowed her head.
’Zuo, you always take the people around you too seriously,’ he said, gently lifting her chin. He leaned in too close, and Zuo Canglang could feel his pure breath. ’In your eyes, there should only be everything about me, Mu Rongyan. You should ignore everyone else and everything else. Do you understand?’
Just by looking at each other like this, she finally gave up struggling. Zuo Canglang, if you had made up your mind to give him everything from the start, then why worry about it now?
She was also there to see Wang Nan off when he went to war. She slipped a roll of high-quality rice paper into his hands without saying a word.
When the good news came, she was in the Nanqing Palace, staring at the lotus pond alone. Zuo Weiwei hesitated several times before she couldn’t help but tell her, ‘General, General Wang Nan has won.’
Zuo Canglang tilted her head slightly, and she continued, ‘General Long Ping…died in battle. His subordinate Long Zitong surrendered with a small army to the You Kingdom.’
She threw a willow branch into the lake, watched the fish fight for it for a while, and nodded slightly to show that she understood. As she said this, she suddenly remembered the look on his face as he turned back towards the city walls at sunset, the look of bewilderment on his face as he dropped his weapon. For some reason, her heart ached inexplicably, and she waved to Zuo Weiwei, ‘Give me a hand.’
In the evening, Mu Rongyan took the time to come over. She leaned against the window with her bow, silently looking out the window, and when she turned around, she saw his gaze. She meekly walked over to help him undress.
Mu Rongyan took her hand as she unfastened his belt, and said teasingly, ‘Is this the only solution when I come to see you?’
Zuo Canglang blushed, and knelt on one knee, ‘Please punish me, my lord.’
Mu Rongyan raised her chin and looked at it for a while, ‘Yipin will be succeeded by Cheng Tao as general, and he will continue to guard Tongbeiguan. Wang Nan will take over as commander of the imperial city’s military defenses.’ He watched her expression change. ‘As for you, you will stay in the Nanqing Palace from now on.’
‘My lord, Wang Liao has surrendered.’
‘So?’
‘So my lord no longer needs the Wolf.’ This sentence was so despondent that Mu Rongyan found himself comforting her: ‘I feel that right now, the Yan court needs you more.’
Recalling that he had promised Jiang Bilan to try her sour plum soup that evening, Mu Rong Yan did not linger any longer. He fastened his belt himself and looked at her, kneeling on the ground, so docile that she made him want to devour her. What was the hurry? She would be by his side forever after all. He consoled himself like this as he walked out.
Zuo Weiwei was surprised to find that her master was safe and sound when she came in, sniffing her like a dog to make sure she wasn’t hurt.
Zuo Canglang pushed her away thoughtfully, looking preoccupied.
It took a few questions before she found out that it was Mu Rongyan who wanted her to stay in the palace. He immediately tried to comfort her, saying, ‘Actually, General, there is nothing bad about staying. After so many years of fighting battles in the north and south, don’t you think it’s too hard?’
‘Vivi, I’m just worried that this isn’t what he really wants. If you’re not busy for a while, I’m afraid that no one in the world or among the common people will ever hear of Zuo Canglang again. At that time, no one will care whether you live or die.‘
’You think the emperor wants…‘
’Heh, if he wanted me dead, he wouldn’t have to resort to these tricks. Never mind, let’s not talk about it. It’s late, go to bed.”
First kiss
: 0 – 0
Mu Rongyan took the concubines of the harem to the imperial garden to admire the lotuses, and for the first time ever, he also invited Zuo Canglang along. Due to her status as a meritorious official, she had to follow him on his left hand side. Jiang Bilian was also extremely talented, and there were no shortage of multi-talented beauties in the harem. Zuo Canglang was very bored listening to them admire the lotuses and recite poems. She wondered why Mu Rongyan had brought her along.
‘General Zuo doesn’t seem to like reciting poetry,’ said Empress Jiang, dressed in a pale red palace dress. Because they were just out for a stroll, there were no complicated ornaments. In front of the lotus flowers, she just gave a small smile, and everyone’s attention was drawn to her.
Muyong Yan half-embraced her fondly, his voice unusually gentle: ’Zuo has been commanding troops for many years, and is not good at these elegant things.’ A flash of something passed through Jiang Bilian’s beautiful eyes. She had never seen Muyong Yan defend anyone like this before. Was she afraid that she would make her look foolish?
‘Your Majesty, I dare not make things difficult for General Zuo, I am only afraid that he will be bored.’
‘Thank you for your concern, Your Highness, I will not.’ She was indeed not good at arguing, and could only express her own meaning, she could not speak eloquently.
“You won’t be bored? Muyong Yan looked at the people around him, I feel bored, how could she like it.
In the evening, Zuo Canglang had already gone to bed, and someone was banging on the palace gate outside. When Zuo Weiwei opened the door, she could only see a sea of lanterns. The arrogant-looking head guard said, ‘Her Majesty’s brown dog has gone missing. Hu Yi, head guard of the Qifeng Palace, has been ordered to search all the palaces. Please cooperate.’
Zuo Weiwei was outraged. They were searching the Nanqing Palace in the middle of the night just for a dog.
She was about to go up and argue, but Zuo Canglang had already dressed. ‘Weiwei, let them search,’ he said. Hu Yi had seen the general before, and as a soldier, he always had an inexplicable awe of legendary war heroes. But remembering his master’s orders, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and say, ‘Sorry to disturb you, General.’
The group turned Nanqing Palace upside down, and after half an hour of tossing and turning, they finally left. Zuo Weiwei was furious. ‘General!’
Zuo Canglang just watched the procession of torches head off to the next location: ‘A show of strength. Ignore them and don’t provoke them.’ This harem is no battlefield. Just look at the way the concubines behave during the day and you’ll know whose world it is.
Zuo Canglang knows exactly how much weight that person carries in his heart.
The next day, she received an order from the palace to pack her belongings and immediately accompany the emperor on a hunting trip to the South Mountain. Zuo Canglang was happy, as she had been bored in the palace for far too long.
A few military commanders and a group of guards followed, and the South Mountain was the place where Mu Rongyan met Zuo Canglang. Zuo Canglang liked it here, galloping on horseback through the mountains, as free and carefree as when she was at home.
Mu Rongyan and she walked in front of him. Both were excellent riders, and when they charged, no one could keep up. Mu Rongyan shot many foxes and deer, but Zuo Canglang was too busy looking at the scenery to draw his bow.
He told her to do it, and she drew ten arrows, true flaming arrows in rapid succession. The arrows rained down, and the birds in the old trees fell, fourteen of them.
Mu Rongyan took her and galloped furiously. The guards had already been thrown somewhere and he was already on her horse. He felt like he was completely trapped in his arms. Zuo Canglang was a little nervous. He slowly took her hand that was holding the bow and pulled the string. He reloaded the arrows. Twenty arrows. Zuo Canglang had never tried such a quantity before. He looked back at him and kissed him on the face.
Mu Rongyan tried to adjust the angle. In a flash, a bird fell from a tree, but the tree was full of birds and none of them were startled.
When he was done, he threw the bow on the ground, embraced her, dismounted from the horse, and pressed her against the grass. Zuo Canglang was alarmed and pushed against his chest to stop him from acting recklessly: ‘My lord…they will follow at any moment!’
He smiled lightly, making her blush, and she softly withdrew her hand.
Mu Rongyan leaned over and kissed her. She reacted only when the hot tip of his tongue explored her mouth, and she clumsily tangled her lips with his. So this is what kissing feels like. Looking at the face close in front of her, a spark of hope arose in her heart, which had long since extinguished all extravagant desires. My lord, do you also, even a little, love Cang Lang?
Her face was already red, and she was as shy as a young girl. Mu Rongyan’s heart palpitated, and he looked down contentedly at this body, watching it surrender so easily beneath him.
They were wildly entwined, and the person beneath him was smiling sweetly, intoxicatingly. Mu Rongyan lightly kissed the blush on her face, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. At the moment she was about to reach the peak, he suddenly acted, using his knuckles to forcefully smash her right shoulder’s collarbone.
Her face turned pale in an instant, and Mu Rongyan covered her lips, which had turned purple, while comforting her with his words: ‘Don’t be afraid, it’ll be over soon.’
Her eyes were misty, and she looked at him blankly. From the peak of bliss to the pain, her first kiss, the taste of him still lingered on her lips, but all that was left was pain, so much pain that her whole body was trembling.
When he ejaculated inside her, her body had already cooled to the point where it seemed to have no temperature at all. Her eyes looked at him in near panic, and Mu Rongyan didn’t want to admit that there was even a trace of heartache. He coaxed her with a smile, ‘It’s okay, it’s fine.’
She curled up on the ground like a shrimp, unable to stop the shaking of her body. She pressed her left hand against her right shoulder, as if she wanted to take out her collarbone. Mu Rongyan took her hand and said, ‘Don’t move around, you’ll hurt yourself.’
She seemed to have heard nothing, and with difficulty used her left hand to tidy her lower garment. Although her head was buried very, very low, Mu Rongyan could still see her tears, each one crystal clear, falling on the back of her hand and soaking into her clothes.
That was the first time he had seen her cry. Even when Huangcheng was besieged and she led less than 20,000 troops to fight her way out of the siege, suffering more than 20 major and minor injuries, she had not shed a single tear.
Mu Rongyan of course knew how to coax a woman, and Jiang Bilan liked him for no reason. But he didn’t know how to coax Zuo Canglang at this time. He hugged her close and said, ‘Don’t cry. You won’t need this in the future. Stay obediently at the Southern Qing Palace, and I won’t mistreat you.’
He didn’t know that she wasn’t crying because of this pain, not because of her martial arts skills. She was crying because of her first kiss, because of her foolish thoughts just now, because of the sudden, cruel pain of tenderness she had never felt before.
My lord, next time, could you just have someone drag me away in the main hall? It doesn’t matter what the charge is. At least then my heart will still be hiding in its shell, deceiving itself and others, and I will willingly be deceived.
Pet
The General’s pet, Zuo, was injured while hunting and is afraid that he will no longer be able to use the beacon and chain arrows. The emperor graciously allowed him to stay in the palace and be raised by the army.
This is what the folk say. Only Zuo Weiwei doesn’t believe it. She throws the towel into the hot water with all her might: ‘Zuo Canglang, I really misjudged you. I thought that if you could fight in the army, you would be invincible, and that if you were invincible, you would be a hero. But now it seems that you are no different from a weak girl in a woman’s chamber. You go when he tells you to go, you stay when he tells you to stay, you were his concubine when he married you, and you didn’t say a word when he deposed you! Even now that he has disowned your right hand, you are still silent. You broke your fall, and you treat everyone like they are blind, don’t you? You fell backwards!”
Zuo Canglang endured the pain in her shoulder as she let her vent her anger. Zuo Weiwei pointed her nose and said, ’You deserve it, even in death. Zuo Canglang quietly looked at her. She was originally seething with anger, cursing and cursing, but tears fell down her face. Then she hugged her, unable to hold back her sobs.
Zuo Canglang endured the stabbing pain in her shoulder, feeling her chest tighten with each breath. It was actually better to feel the pain, because it put an end to any false hopes. It was raining outside the window. The summer rain came quickly and with great force. Zuo Weiwei cried for a while, and finally stopped. She felt that she had been very unreasonable just now. Someone else’s wound had been reopened, and she had added salt to the wound.
“General, go to sleep for a while,’
She nodded gently, listening to the sound of the rain and wind outside. She felt like a bird with its wings wet, its body so heavy that when it spreads its wings, it finds that it can no longer fly.
In the evening, Mou Rongyan came once, but she was sleeping so soundly that he did not disturb her. The lights in the Nanqing Palace were still on, as was the coldness in the palace. The sound of footsteps was very clear at night. Eunuch Wang held a palace lantern, faintly illuminating the path of bluestone.
‘Wang Yunzhao.‘
’Yes, my lord.‘
’Send for the Imperial Medical College to come and treat Zuo’s wounds. He must be tended to every day until he recovers.‘
’Yes, my lord.”
Zuo Canglang’s wounds gradually healed. The palace had the most precious medicinal herbs and the most skilled doctors, and with these, physical wounds always healed faster.
After her injuries healed, Zuo Canglang was really docile, so docile that her presence was barely felt in the palace. Sometimes at night, Mu Rongyan would come over and spend the night here, regardless of what other people said.
Zuo Canglang tried very hard to cooperate with him, and everything was just as it had been before, docile and submissive. But Mu Rongyan noticed that something was different, that the body beneath him was no longer as easily satisfied as it used to be. Sometimes he wasn’t even sure if she was happy, too.
Every time he caressed her body, she would tremble uncontrollably. When Mu Rongyan was in a good mood, he would comfort her, ‘Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you again. Don’t be afraid.’
She didn’t say a word, trying every means to please him, so that he would be satisfied and ignore her feelings.
Mu Rongyan gradually stayed at the Nanqing Palace for a longer period of time. Once, when he was accompanying Jiang Bilan to admire the moon, Jiang Bilan wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned against his chest, ‘Yan, do you no longer love me?’
‘Yes.‘
’How much?‘
’Very much.‘
’Then…compared to General Zuo?‘
’Zuo?‘ Mu Rong Yan smiled, his face aglow in the moonlight. Even Jiang Bi Lan was enchanted. “Why do you think of her?”
’Don’t change the subject.‘
’Okay, Bi Lan, let’s say, for example, that you are my wife and she is my pet. Understand?‘
’Really?‘
’Really.’
‘But you haven’t spent the night in the Phoenix Palace for a long time.‘
’So you’re missing me.‘
’You…’ The playful voices of the two echoed in the garden. Jiang Bilan laughed happily. Pets…
It’s useless to love her more
: It’s useless to love her more
The queen was pregnant again, and almost all the attention in the palace was diverted to her. Mu Rongyan gradually came less often, and he spent almost all this month with Jiang Bilan.
He is the monarch, maintaining the Yan dynasty, and is very busy. Zuo Canglang’s appetite has also been a bit poor, and lately he has been very sleepy. Zuo Weiwei is a little worried. When it’s time for the night, she and Zuo Weiwei have to go out of the palace after changing clothes. When Zuo Weiwei calls out to her, she just smiles and says, ‘Didn’t you want me to see a doctor? We can’t afford the imperial doctor, so I’ll go out and take a look.’
Zuo Weiwei was a little worried and shouted, ‘Go early and come back early.’ She thought that no one would pay attention to such a lonely and cold palace, but she had no idea that there was an assassin in the Qifeng Palace at night, and Empress Jiang was injured, and martial law was declared in the palace.
No matter how Wang Nan asked, Zuo Canglang refused to say where she had been. Wang Nan of course knew that she would not be involved in the assassination, so she just kept it a secret. Mu Rongyan was worried about Jiang Bilian and had no time to care about her, so no one else asked about it.
The next day, Mu Rongyan came over unexpectedly, looking very strange. Zuo Canglang had long since learned to read his face, and stood behind him, gently massaging his shoulders.
‘My lord, I…’
‘Pack your things. We leave tomorrow to prepare for a trip to You country.’
‘You country?’ Zuo Canglang’s face changed: ‘Why?’
“Lan’er was injured. Only the blood fat flower from You country can keep her and the baby safe.’
‘My lord, the trip to Youguo will take more than a month even at the fastest pace, and if it’s a matter of saving her life, I’m afraid…‘
’They’ve sent the Xueyi flower,’ Mu Rongyan turned his head away from her and said in a single sentence, “on the condition that you go to Youguo as a guest for a month.”
Zuo Canglang took a long time to understand this sentence, and finally said foolishly, ’But the power in Youguo is said to have fallen into the hands of Longzi Tong. Long Ping is dead, he won’t let me go.’
Mu Rongyan was not at all moved, and obviously had already thought of an answer: ‘Nothing will happen.’
‘But…but…’ Zuo Canglang took his hand, and when it was about to touch her body, he spoke coldly: ‘No buts, you must go.’
So the light in her eyes slowly faded, and she slowly let go of his hand. Mu Rongyan walked out, then paused, as if to offer comfort: ‘Nothing will happen.’
Then she left, without looking back.
Not many people knew that she had left. Zuo Weiwei had always wondered why she had been suddenly sent on a mission to You Kingdom. Mu Rongyan did not come to see her off. When she left, he was sitting by Jiang Bilan’s bed, his mind in a whirl.
Her expression that day was all he could think about. He was not sure if he would see her again, and if he did, he was afraid that he would change his mind. No, he could not change. Nothing must happen to Lan’er. Besides, You Kingdom had promised that she would not be harmed.
Looking out through the latticed windows decorated with dragons and phoenixes, he saw the glazed-tiled pavilions of the inner palace. It won’t kill her, but what kind of torture will she suffer?
Zuo Canglang was also looking at the Phoenix Residence, but his gaze could not penetrate the thick palace walls.
‘General, let’s go,’ the envoy of You Guo urged in a strange tone, and Wang Nan’s gaze was filled with deep concern. Zuo Canglang kept looking at the empty palace gates, and his gaze slowly became vacant.
It’s useless to love her
: no use in loving again
Mu Rongyan never looked up. Jiang Bilan was unconscious. Wang Yunzhao came in and whispered, ‘Gone?’ Wang Yunzhao nodded, ‘He’s been standing outside the palace for a long time.’
“Send another letter to warn Long Zitong that if anything happens to him, the whole of You country will be buried with him.’
Wang Yunzhao had never seen such a sinister Mu Rongyan before. He didn’t dare say anything else, so he nodded and respectfully withdrew. Mu Rongyan kissed Jiang Bilan’s smooth forehead. She was fine, but why did her heart still ache?
She had been sleeping in the Qifeng Palace, but she woke up in the middle of the night, so she no longer felt sleepy. She got up carefully. Wang Yunzhao was waiting outside, but when he saw her get up, he didn’t dare say anything and followed her silently.
Her footsteps led her to the Nanqing Palace. It was just that the palace, which had been lit by candles all night, was now standing quietly and silently like all the other palaces. Yes, if the person you miss is not there, who will light the light of waiting?
For some reason, I suddenly remembered the years when the two of us fought together. It turned out that it had been so long ago. Wang Nan was leading a patrol and also saw the emperor. With only a solitary lamp in the night, he stood still in the cold night, unable to tell what was in his heart.
Jiang Bilian woke up. Everything was still the same as usual, except that the person next to her had never slept peacefully. He sent all his intelligence agents to infiltrate the You Kingdom at all costs, but there was no news. Since entering the imperial city of the You Kingdom, there has been no news.
That person is as silent as her presence. He has been thinking about her a lot recently, but there are no unforgettable memories. At most, there is the initial reluctance in the tent on the first night, the silver-grey valour on the battlefield, the figure of Nanjing Palace leaning against the window with a bow in hand, and the scene of Zhennan Mountain lowering his head and struggling to fix his lower garment with his left hand.
Zuo, what are you thinking about now?
Jiang Bilian arranged a lot of entertaining programmes, but in the end she couldn’t keep him. Looking at his distant back, Jiang Bilian suddenly felt a little scared. She suddenly lost confidence. Was this man still the man who had regarded her as the world?
No, at least now another person had taken residence in his heart, even though he didn’t want to admit it.
Mu Rongyan still couldn’t help but set foot in the Nanqing Palace. Zuo Weiwei was cleaning the large palace compound. When she saw him, she reluctantly knelt down after a long time. Mu Rongyan didn’t care about her either. The courtyard was not as lush with flowers and plants as other palace courtyards. After standing for a while, he felt that his heart was also as empty as the palace courtyard.
‘Your Majesty, can Weiwei ask you a question?’
‘Speak.’
“Do you know what a general finds most helpless?’
Mu Rongyan looked at the slanting sunlight in the courtyard and spoke in a dazed voice: ‘When the last city gate is broken open, the surrender letter is sent up, the beacon fires go out, and the smoke signals are extinguished, the general’s years are buried.’
“That time, when the city gates of Lue Liao City opened, General Long Ping fled with his subordinates, and General Zuo stood on the top of the tall city wall. At that time, she was wearing a plain long skirt, and the cries of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and generals around her shook the sky. The general’s name was used as a slogan of victory, and it was unceasing. But she stood on the battlements and asked me, ‘Vivi, do you know what a general finds most helpless?’
Vivi Zuo stopped wiping the railing: ‘Your Majesty, Vivi is just an ordinary woman, not as talented or broad-minded as General Zuo. Vivi only knows that you broke the wings of a hawk and tried to raise it as a thrush. But the hawk may not be suitable for living in a thrush cage.’
He was again awakened by a nightmare that night. Mu Rongyan got up in his padded robe, and Wang Yunzhao carefully attended to him. He asked for wine, and after gulping down a jug, he coughed for a while before speaking: ‘Wang Yunzhao, she’s calling me.’
‘Your Majesty, who?’
Mu Rongyan lifted his collar, choking him almost to the point of suffocation: ‘She’s calling me.’
Then Eunuch Wang also reacted: ‘Your Majesty, you are worrying for nothing. General Zuo is still in You country, so even if she is calling you, you won’t be able to hear her.’
‘But I heard it, I heard it!’
‘Yes, Your Majesty, don’t worry, I will send someone to find out news about General Zuo again.’
‘A bunch of rubbish!!!’
‘Yes, I deserve to die!’
‘Get out!’
“Yes, yes, yes.’
Mu Rongyan drank alone. Zuo, it’s not that I’m heartless, but if Lan’er isn’t careful, it could really be two lives for the price of one. Don’t be afraid, I swear I’ll make it up to you when I get back, okay?
Mu Rongyan met a doctor claiming to be delivering medicine outside the Nanqing Palace, holding a palace pass to see General Zuo. The guard told him that General Zuo had left on an official mission to You Guo, but he didn’t believe him. After some pushing and pulling, he managed to get Mu Rongyan past.
Wang Yunzhao knew that he had been particularly interested in all matters concerning the Left General recently, and did not dare to stop him. Mu Rongyan took the medicine in his hand, frowned slightly, and asked, ‘Don’t you have any medicine in the palace?’ He instructed Wang Yunzhao to deliver the medicine to the Nanqing Palace, and he turned back and said, ‘The Left General is on a diplomatic mission to another country. You can go back first.’
‘Really on a diplomatic mission to another country?’ Doctor Fu could not believe it, and after hesitating for a long time, he could not help but say, ‘But the Left General is nearly three months pregnant.’
No matter how much you love her, it’s useless
‘Is it true that the General has left the country?’ Fu, the doctor, couldn’t believe it, and after hesitating for a long time, he couldn’t help but say, ‘But the General is almost three months pregnant.’
‘What did you say?’ Mu Rongyan’s hand was around his neck, his eyes red like a beast that was choosing someone to devour. ‘What did you say?!’
The doctor didn’t say it again, knowing that he had heard him clearly.
Long Zi Tong crouched on the ground, and Zuo Cang Lang looked up at her. He met her gaze coldly: ‘You think you are the most miserable person in the world, don’t you?’
She didn’t say anything, so he grabbed her hair and pulled her up. ‘But Zuo Canglang, you deserve it!’ Zuo Canglang didn’t respond to him. She clutched the messy hem of her shirt tightly in one hand, her heart twisting together, gradually suffocating, even her heartbeat seemed weak.
Mu Rongyan, my heart is about to die, it can no longer beat. From now on, it’s useless to love…it’s useless to love…
‘Cry, why don’t you cry?’ Long Zi Tong tried very hard to read her expression, but she had no tears. She was smiling, but that smile was far more moving than crying. “I only cry in front of one person, because I used to think he was my man,” Zuo Cang Lang’s voice was very dark, and the last sentence was even lower and inaudible: ’But then I realised that he was my master…just my master.’
Her body had reached the limit of its endurance, but her consciousness was very clear. This was what Mu Rongyan had always demanded of his subordinates: to bear the pain with the utmost composure.
‘I really want to kill you, Zuo Canglang,’ Long Zi Tong said, gripping the sword in her hand before slowly letting go. ‘But I won’t. I want you to always remember this period of time. This is the price you should pay for your despicable behaviour.’
A month later, the Kingdom of You sent Zuo Canglang back to the Yan Dynasty. Mu Rongyan sent Wang Nan to pick him up. Wang Yunzhao hesitated and asked, ‘Your Majesty, aren’t you going?’
Mu Rongyan’s hand was almost buried in the red carved railing. He wanted to go, of course he wanted to go, but how to face it, how to face it…
Zuo Canglang returned to the general’s mansion in silence, but would not let anyone near him. Zuo Weiwei also realised that something was wrong, and she dismissed all the doctors.
The imperial palace sent an imperial doctor over, but he was not even allowed to enter her room. Zuo Weiwei went over at night, when she was asleep, and was shocked when she lifted the mosquito net. A perfectly healthy person had literally faded away.
Muyong Yan went over at night, and eunuch Wang had long since made preparations.
Standing in front of the door, he hesitated several times, afraid to knock, as if overcome with shyness at returning to his hometown. Zuo Weiwei naturally had no good face, and she even suddenly thought that this hesitation was because she had done something to offend the general.
Mu Rongyan gently pushed open the door. She was asleep, but even in her dreams she was restless. Her eyes were closed, and her pillow was damp with tears. He undressed and climbed into bed, gently taking her in his arms. Zuo Canglang opened his eyes, their gazes meeting, but he didn’t know how to say anything.
‘My lord, it is scared. Every night it tells me it is scared.‘
’Who?”
Zuo Canglang took his hand and placed it on his lower abdomen, and he understood. “But I am useless, I cannot protect it.” Mu Rongyan really didn’t know before that there was a kind of pain that could ooze from the heart: ’Don’t be afraid, it’s already over.’
‘It only lasted three days. They poured hot water over my body. The water was really, really hot. I begged them, but they didn’t understand…’ Her face was as white as paper, but she no longer clung to him. ’I kept calling out your name. I kept hoping that maybe you still loved me, even just a little bit, then maybe you would send someone to save me, then maybe it wouldn’t have died.’
‘Stop it, Zuo,‘ Mu Rongyan hugged her tightly, her body trembling like autumn leaves. “It will never happen again, I promise.”
Zuo Canglang just stared blankly at the white gauze tent and even smiled softly: “But I also know that you won’t come because the Empress is more important than I am, the Yan dynasty is more important than I am, and your promise is more important than my face. Everything…is more important than me.”
’Do you hate me?’
‘No.’ Zuo Canglang turned away from his embrace and looked away from the candlelight outside the canopy, his smile bleak. ‘Because you are the king and I am the subject.’
Yes, you are the king and I am the subject. You want me to sacrifice, and I will sacrifice for you.
Unless the queen
She quietly let him announce the imperial physician’s entrance, coldly watching him take her pulse, pondering, and then hesitating to speak. Mu Rongyan barked, ‘Speak.’
The imperial physician trembled, and then spoke with a shaky voice: ‘Your Majesty, the other parts of General Zuo’s body are all superficial wounds, except…’ He looked up at Mu Rongyan’s gloomy face, and then boldly continued: ‘Except that after the miscarriage, she suffered strong sexual damage, and may not be able to conceive and give birth in the future.’
Mu Rongyan tightened the hand he had placed on Zuo Canglang’s shoulder. The room was silent, suffocating. After a long while, he waved his hand, indicating that they could go. The imperial physician quickly got up and ran out to prescribe the medicine.
Zuo Canglang kept her eyes slightly closed, allowing him to lean her against his chest. His rough fingertips hesitated to stroke her eyelids, but there were no tears left.
‘My lord, you should go back.’ Her voice was hoarse, but calm. Murong Yan pressed her into his arms and did not speak. Zuo Canglang let him hold her, and time passed unknowingly.
When the third watch of the night came, she woke him up: “My lord, you should go to the morning court.” Murong Yan put his arm around her shoulders and gazed deeply into her eyes: ’Do you really want me to leave?’
Zuo Canglang was silent. ‘I hope you’ll leave?’ My lord…there was a time when I really hoped to be able to lean on your chest like this. Every time I rode through the chaos of war, I also longed for someone to help me, to drive away my loneliness, to awaken my heart, to shield me from the world’s cruelty. But I’m helpless, helpless, my body is cold and my heart is cold, how can I beg for your mercy?
They looked at each other for a long time, and she didn’t change her expression: ‘You should go to the morning court.’
Muyong Yan then let her help him change clothes. As he was about to leave, he turned back outside the bead curtain and said, ‘Zuo, don’t think nonsense. I won’t treat you badly.’ Yes, even if I give all my love to Bilan, I won’t treat you badly.
Zuo Canglang didn’t reply, but just half-bent his knee and said, ‘Your servant respectfully sees off the Emperor.’
Zuo Canglang was nursed back to health in her mansion until one day, eunuch Wang came in person to inform her that she must attend the morning court meeting the next day. Zuo Weiwei dressed her up and then said anxiously, ‘General, if he asks you to do anything else, you must not agree.’
It was still eunuch Wang Yunzhao who read out the imperial decree: ‘…now appointed as the head of the four concubines, bestowed the title of Zuo Concubine, imperial decree.’
Zuo Canglang knelt silently, and eunuch Wang couldn’t help but warn her carefully, ‘General Zuo, accept the edict.’
‘Your Majesty, are you compensating me?’ Her gaze was clear as water, her voice indifferent and calm, and she was so composed in the eyes of the courtiers. On the contrary, Mu Rongyan hesitated for a moment, and her voice was very low, but it was clear: ‘Sort of.’
‘But I don’t want to be the head of the four concubines.’ With these words, the courtiers all changed colour. Mu Rongyan was high on the throne, her gaze instantly sharp as a knife. She just slowly continued, ’If Your Majesty really intends to compensate for your humble servant, unless it is the Empress!’
‘Zuo Canglang!!!‘ This is the first time she has been so angry, my supreme and noble emperor.
’Yes, Your Majesty.‘
’You…’ Mu Rongyan stopped short of finishing her sentence. Her face was still pale from her illness. He never thought that he would be unable to harshly reprimand her. His voice was no longer stern and severe. ’Receive the imperial decree.’
Zuo Canglang remained kneeling upright, suddenly with a faint smile, but without making any concessions: ‘Unless the Empress consents.’
So Mu Rongyan’s patience had also come to an end: ‘Guards! Drag her away and throw her into the Heavenly Prison.’
No one in the court said a word. Zuo Canglang remembered the first time Mu Rongyan threw her into the Heavenly Prison. At that time, she had not followed him for long, and Mu Rongyan insisted on slaughtering the city, while she fought hard to recruit the people.
In the end, in a fit of anger, Mu Rongyan had her thrown into the sky prison, and that was where she often went in the future. At that time, the courtiers were still very agitated. The right prime minister was still on Mu Rongruo’s side, and the left prime minister had once angrily pointed at Mu Rongyan’s nose and yelled, ‘Foolish king, foolish king, you are ruining the loyal and the virtuous!’ and so on.
But now everyone is very calm, and even the guards have learned the pattern—they will be released in a few days. So everyone is indifferent. When Zuo Canglang turns his head as he is dragged out the door, he happens to meet the man’s gaze. It is the first time, and that half-smirking expression makes Mu Rongyan feel a pain in his heart.
He almost waved his hand and let it go, but the emperor’s face had to be saved, so he endured and didn’t say a word. Zuo Canglang, you must have expected that I would have to let you out after a while, right? It seems that I really have spoiled you for too long.
However, he misunderstood Zuo Canglang. Her gaze followed him until the Golden Palace disappeared from view, and she never saw that figure again.
My lord, Cang Lang does not want to be the head of the four concubines because you are the king and I am the subject.
Yes, we are just a king and a subject, and we cannot be the one to accompany you to the ends of the earth.
So, I am your woman?
So, I am your woman?
Zuo Weiwei learned about this the next day. She barged her way into the morning court, and Wang Nan could not stop her, so she even rushed into the main hall.
‘Mu Rongyan,‘ she called his name directly in the hall, the imperial guards’ swords already unsheathed, waiting for the emperor’s order, but Mu Rongyan just looked at the folded paper in his hands, waiting for her next words: ‘I want to know what she really is in your eyes. I don’t know what has happened during this time. The imperial physician said that You Guo and his entourage have seriously damaged her health. She wakes up every night in a panic. Do you know? She is already 28 years old, Your Majesty. A woman of 28 has never seen rouge, never applied powder, can’t play the piano, can’t sing, and doesn’t even have a decent set of jewellery. Your Majesty, is this how your women end up?”
A guard had already restrained her, forbidding her to approach the throne. Mu Rongyan’s voice was very soft, as if she were speaking to herself: ’She is not my woman, she is the one who refused.’
‘Then have you ever thought that one day she will grow old and she will die too!”
Muyong Yan waved his hand, and the guards dragged her away. He spoke lowly, ’Since she is so eager to protect her master, let’s give her 30 lashes.’
‘Your Majesty, this woman, a lowly maid, dared to be so unrestrained in your presence. If she is not killed, it will be difficult to convince the people.’ The voice of the Right Minister sounded out, and already some of the courtiers were beginning to agree. Mu Rongyan glanced at them slightly, silencing them.
In the Phoenix Residence, Jiang Bilan leaned on Mu Rongyan. She was already quite pregnant and had difficulty moving around. Mu Rongyan sometimes gently caressed her belly, but he looked thoughtful.
She had naturally heard about Zuo Canglang’s disobedience, but she had never expected Muyong Yan to delay dealing with it. Even her maid had been so insolent, but he had tolerated it. When did he stop being the man who only had eyes for her?
‘Yan, I heard that you want to make General Zuo the head of the Four Concubines?’
‘You already know, so why ask?’ Muyong Yan’s tone was not good. He was not so stupid as to think that the Right Minister really wanted to get rid of Zuo Weiwei for his face.
Jiang Bilan paused, and her tone did carry a hint of sadness: ‘Yan, you said you would love me forever. You said that as long as you lived, you would only have room in your heart for me. You also said that as long as you lived, you would protect me, for life, and never let me suffer.’
Muyong Yan looked back and saw the watery colour in her eyes. He couldn’t help reaching out to wipe away the tears on her face, and sighed softly, ‘I’m sorry, Bilan.’ He reached out to caress her high and bulging belly, but what he was thinking about was someone else. He couldn’t imagine how she felt, being aloof and proud as she was, having to endure such humiliation and still survive.
‘Bi Lan, what I said will not change. I just feel that I owe her. Maybe I can’t give her my love, but I hope to give her a peaceful life in the second half of her life.‘
’So, I’m your woman?‘
’Yes.‘
’The only one?”
When Mu Rong Yan said yes, he suddenly remembered what he had said in the palace that day: she is not my woman, she herself refused. He suddenly realised that at that time, he truly and sincerely wanted her.
Mu Rongyan, are you wavering?
No, how could I waver from the oath I took in the Southern Qing Palace.
Because if I call out, no one will feel sad.
Because if I call out, no one will feel sad.
Zuo Canglang stayed quietly in the prison, dreaming at night that he had come to see her. He didn’t say a word when he arrived, just stood outside the prison door, arms folded, his bright yellow robe so majestic that it made people feel unapproachable.
The figure was so real that she almost took it seriously. She laughed at herself when she woke up, thinking how important Jiang Bilan was to him. How could he come to see her again after she had said such things?
That night, a new prison guard who didn’t know the rules splashed water inside, and the head of the prison found out too late. As a result, Zuo Canglang fell ill.
The prison guard, afraid of alarming the emperor, ran to the imperial physician. Liu Dahai, the chief administrator of the imperial hospital, told him to go back and wait, and he would come right away. While he was gone, he went to the Phoenix Residence immediately.
The prison guard didn’t wait for the imperial physician, but instead, he was greeted by the most honoured person in the harem.
Zuo Canglang initially only had a low-grade fever accompanied by coughing. The prison was dark and damp, and the hygiene was poor, so her lower abdomen ached constantly. At first, the prison guards gave her some special treatment, but later, every night they poured water inside. Zuo Canglang was not stupid, she knew the cruelty of the world, and she didn’t care. However, slowly her fever became more severe, and sometimes her vision became blurry.
She coughed more and more severely, and slowly, she began to bleed. She looked at the bright red in the palm of her hand in disbelief, and her heart sank. She never imagined that Zuo Canglang, who had fought in countless battles, would end up dying in a place like this.
Sometimes the pain was so unbearable that she would clasp her fingers into the wall so tightly that she could no longer feel whether the pain came from her fingertips or elsewhere.
After a few days of this, she lost her appetite and returned the food delivered every day without touching it. All the prison guards ignored her, and gradually she found it difficult to sit up. So she lay in bed every day, and people outside had to judge from her occasionally rising and falling, weakened shoulders whether she was still alive.
One night, the pain was so unbearable that she used her fingers, which had been worn to the bone, to scratch her arm, leaving a horrible scar. There was not much blood, and she groaned softly, her mouth full of sweet, fishy taste.
There seemed to be a phantom in front of her. My lord, if I really die, will you come and take a look? Thinking this, she smiled again, but was afraid that you would still sit on the high throne, wave your hand, and say lightly, ‘Take him out and bury him.’
Thinking about this, she suddenly remembered Long Ping again. The fleeting glance they exchanged on the battlefield, the short walk he took holding her, the only man who had ever given her warmth. Then her mind flashed back to the lingering kiss and the subsequent decisiveness of Zhen Nan Shan Mu Rong Yan. Her thoughts became confused, her body trembled violently, and she was in a daze when she felt hands around her waist. She subconsciously leaned into the warm chest.
Her hands were fumbling all over her body, muttering incoherently, ‘Snakes, so many snakes.’
Mu Rongyan couldn’t believe that the person in his arms was her. He hadn’t seen her for half a month, but how had she changed so much? He had tried to resist the urge to see her, but he suddenly woke up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, unable to rest at ease. His rough hands stroked her long hair. Zuo, I can sense your pain.
He carried the person out of the prison. When he went out, he waved his hand, and the crowd only saw a flash of white light. Then the bodies and heads of several jailers were scattered everywhere, and blood splattered the wall of the prison. It was so tragic that when Wang Nan came to check the next day, he thought someone had broken out of prison.
She held him tightly and refused to let go.
One morning’s love becomes obsession
Rong Yan let her hold on tightly, and ordered Wang Yunzhao to go find the imperial doctor immediately. She was delirious, and all she did was cling to him in his arms, whispering that she was in pain, but she no longer called out to anyone.
Even if she did, no one would feel any pain.
‘Zuo Canglang, my mother was Consort Rong,’ his voice seemed to be whispering in her ear. ‘She was also very much loved at the beginning, but when I was five years old, my father gave her a cup of poisoned wine.’
Zuo Canglang had of course heard of this person. People had described her as having received the favour of the emperor like no other, but then the new emperor had ascended the throne and she had accused him at the coronation ceremony. Her peerless beauty and supreme favour had made her forget the saying that one should be careful when accompanying the emperor, as he is like a tiger.
The person who bestows glory and wealth on you in the morning and riches in the evening may bestow death on you at any time.
‘It’s been too long, I’ve forgotten everything, except how I can’t forget the look on her face as she held the cup of wine and laughed miserably. At that time, I couldn’t do anything, but I swore that the woman of Mu Rongyan would never be like her.’ He embraced her in his arms, his voice ethereal: ‘So… Zuo Canglang, will you marry me?’
All she could do was to hold back her groans. Even in her dreams, she was still holding back her pain, only the sharp fingernails piercing her flesh and drawing out the dripping blood.
Mu Rongyan tried his best to control her, while the imperial physician, taking her pulse with trembling hands, whispered that the emperor need not worry, that General Zuo had just caught a cold and was weak, and would recover after some rest.
Even Mu Rongyan looked at the situation and said, ‘His voice was as cold as a frozen millpond: “She is coughing up blood.
” “This…” the imperial physician hesitated, “Your Majesty, it is only a cold, and she will recover after a period of recuperation.”
Mu Rongyan laughed out loud, but everyone could hear the terrifying danger in his laughter: “Wang Yunzhao.”
’Yes, my lord.’
‘Go outside the palace immediately and summon Doctor Fu. If the diagnosis is different, execute Liu Dahai’s entire family!‘
’Yes.‘
’Your Majesty… Your Majesty, please allow me to diagnose the situation more carefully. Your Majesty…”
Wang Nan escorted Liu Dahai to one side. Zuo Canglang was drenched in cold sweat, and so was Mu Rongyan. Zuo Weiwei’s words still seemed to be ringing in his ears: ’Have you ever considered that she will grow old and die?’
Doctor Fu arrived quickly. He was still panting when he bowed to Mu Rongyan. Mu Rongyan ordered tea to be served while gesturing for him to go to Zuo Canglang.
He concentrated when taking Zuo’s pulse, then his face became grave. He didn’t know that what he said would affect hundreds of lives: ‘Your Majesty, if General Zuo’s coughing up blood is not treated, it could become tuberculosis.’
Upon hearing this, Liu Dahai’s face turned ashen.
Muyong Yan only asked him to prescribe medicine. After he finished writing the prescription, a palace maid already took it. Muyong Yan ordered Wang Yunzhao to personally supervise it. Doctor Fu was helping Zuo Canglang bandage the wound on his arm when he suddenly said, ‘Your Majesty, has General Zuo recently tended to hurt herself often?’
Mu Rongyan frowned, ‘What do you mean?’
‘Your Majesty, the first time General Zuo was brought to the humble doctor’s office, I already noticed that she should have received very harsh training. Even in the most painful situations, she would still maintain a very clear consciousness, but her psychological tolerance is very weak. It is very likely that in extreme pain, she will hurt herself to escape the pain.’
Mu Rongyan looked at the horrible scars on her arm and said, ‘How can this be avoided?’
‘I have some painkillers here that can reduce some of the pain, but the most important thing is for the general to take care of herself. Her current condition is not good.”
She slept on Mu Rongyan’s dragon bed all night, and when she woke up in the morning, she didn’t know where she was and looked around sleepily. A palace maid had already brought her medicine. Mu Rongyan had never seen such a cute Zuo Canglang before. He laughed and helped her up, even feeding her the medicine himself.
She held out her hands to receive it, and Mu Rongyan blocked her way, using the silver spoon to scoop up a spoonful and place it by her mouth. She said very solemnly, ‘Your servant dares not.’
‘Do you have to make me angry?’ Mu Rongyan was persistent. ‘Fine, I order you to drink.’
She drank the medicine in small sips, her whole face wrinkling up from the bitterness, but she didn’t say a word. Mu Rongyan looked so cute and pitiful that she took the almond syrup and fed it to her, but she refused to do it for nothing, insisting on taking it herself and passing it to her.
Holding her shoulders tightly, she would not allow her to refuse. This scene was so fragrant and beautiful that it made the palace maidens blush like tomatoes.
Outside, an eunuch announced loudly: ‘Her Majesty the Empress is here.’
One morning’s love becomes obsession
25: One morning’s love becomes obsession
Mu Rongyan hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he got out of bed and stubbornly insisted on feeding her medicine. Jiang Bilan came in with a big belly. Zuo Canglang’s gaze rested on her abdomen, and she tilted her head to take the medicine bowl from Mu Rongyan and gulped it down.
Then came the dismissal order: ‘Your Majesty, Your Highness, I’m a bit tired.’
Jiang Bilan’s face changed slightly as she looked at Mu Rongyan, who casually tucked in the quilt for her and said, ‘Go get some sleep.’ Then he turned around and helped Jiang Bilan out.
‘Your Majesty, I just wanted to come and see General Zuo.’
‘I know.’
“Your Majesty doesn’t allow me to chat with General Zuo?’
‘She’s really tired, let’s do it some other time.‘
Jiang Bilian was angry. She didn’t know when this Zuo Canglang had become more arrogant than she was.
’Yan, I don’t like the way you feed her medicine.‘ When they reached an empty area, she spoke with a hint of defiance and a hint of coquetry. Mu Rong Yan turned to look at her: “So you told the jailers to ignore her? So you ordered the Imperial Medical Academy to delay her recovery?”
’I… Yan, I…’
‘Jiang Bilian, Mu Rongyan will definitely keep his promise to you, but don’t try to be clever with me. And in the future, don’t set foot in the Nanqing Palace without my order!”
Mu Rongyan had never spoken to her in this tone before. Looking at her misty eyes, he felt a little distressed, but remembering the look Zuo Canglang had just given her abdomen, it made him feel even worse.
He walked away, leaving her alone for the first time, tears falling to the ground.
Mu Rongyan began to give her some rouge and powder, but most of the time she only used them when Zuo Weiwei forced her to. He ordered her to wear very complicated and gorgeous palace attire, so that when she slowly passed by, she could attract the attention of all the guards and palace maids.
That was a beauty that was completely different from Jiang Bilan’s, like snow and ice to the bright sun, like the autumn moon to the summer flowers.
Zuo Canglang suddenly changed a lot, and even Zuo Weiwei felt it. Mu Rongyan still ordered her to stay in the Nanqing Palace, and she obediently did so. But she was just not the same as before.
Zhao Weiwei couldn’t put her finger on what exactly was different. In short, there were no more candles burning all night in the Nanqing Palace. She no longer felt sad or happy because of Mu Rongyan’s comings and goings. In her spare time, she tried to hold a bow. Because of her collarbone, her right hand had limited strength, but she didn’t mind and just amused herself.
So sometimes Zuo Weiwei suddenly felt that the Zuo Canglang who had fought on the battlefield and defeated the enemy with a smile had returned, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, more composed and open-minded.
Mu Rongyan often came to visit her and could clearly sense her change. He could no longer control himself and would make intimate gestures, but she neither resisted nor responded. She just no longer saw the once-overwhelmed joy in her eyes, nor the initial sadness. She just smiles, smiling away any warmth.
Mu Rongyan ordered the Nanqing Palace to be equipped with the ritual paraphernalia and number of attendants befitting the head of the four concubines. Zuo Canglang didn’t mind. She wore the clothes he had bestowed upon her. Zuo Weiwei slowly let her guard down from the beginning, and put her superb makeup skills to the extreme on her.
When the weather is nice, she will go for a walk in the garden. The palace maids and guards certainly don’t dare stop her. There is nothing to do in the harem, so she plays chess in the pavilion, warms the pot of wine and chats with Zuo Weiwei. Sometimes she does nothing at all, sitting by the lake or on the rockery, enjoying the breeze, watching the flowers bloom and fall, the sun rise and set. She doesn’t even notice the change in the stares around her.
But my beloved has gone far away
Chapter 26: How could she have known that her lover’s heart had already wandered far away?
Sometimes, at night, Mu Rongyan would come early, but he rarely spent the night at the Southern Qing Palace. In the past, when he was with her, he never engaged in foreplay. This body was always easily subdued by him, and generally submitted to him out of a sense of obligation. But now, even if he engaged in foreplay until midnight, this body would still be dry and unresponsive.
He didn’t want to provoke her wounds, and no longer forced her as he used to. In the past, she would long for his embrace, and every time he lightly embraced her, she would sleep soundly. But now, when he woke up, he often found that she had already disengaged from his embrace and was sleeping alone in the bed for two.
Sometimes he kisses her all over, and she still smiles unchangingly, smiling almost cruelly and saying, ‘My lord, don’t you think it’s dirty?’
So finally, Mu Rongyan understands that she is torturing herself, even when her body doesn’t hurt, she is torturing her heart. Sighing, he embraces this body in his arms, but unfortunately the heart in this body is nowhere to be found, and he doesn’t know if it is still beating.
Before the second watch of the night, an eunuch urgently reported that the empress had given birth, and both mother and child were safe.
Mu Rongyan’s first reaction was to go see Zuo Canglang. Her eyes were hidden in the swaying candlelight of the canopy, and it was hard to tell whether she was happy or sad. He got up to change his clothes and heard the person in the canopy whispering, ‘The mother and child are safe…the mother and child are safe…’
The first words echoed in his ears, over and over, and he could never erase them.
Qifeng Palace.
Mu Rongyan stroked the baby’s face. This was his flesh and blood, a little ugly face sleeping soundly. Jiang Bilan leaned weakly against the bed, and weakly called out Yan.
So he walked over, helped her sort out her messy long hair, and gently reassured her, ‘Rest first.’
“Yan, you do love me, don’t you?’
Mu Rong Yan looked at the uncertainty in her eyes, as if time had turned back to the first time they met when she was seven years old. She was still the same spoiled young lady who had fallen from her horse. And he was still the same second prince who had rushed over to catch her and let her fall into his arms.
He handed the child to the palace maid next to him, leaned down and gently embraced her, whispering in her ear, ‘Of course.’
Jiang Bilian sweetly closed her eyes and fell asleep quietly. The magnificent dragon and phoenix canopy was lowered, and Murong Yan stood in front of it for a long, long time.
Chapter
27: How can I help it if my beloved’s heart is far away
How can I help it if my beloved’s heart is far away
Later that night, Zuo Weiwei brought tea to Zuo Canglang, but she was sleeping so soundly that she didn’t wake her up.
In the courtyard, she actually found a golden brown dog, knowing that it was the Queen’s pet. Although she didn’t have a good impression of the Queen, the dog was really cute.
She took some pastries and peeled them into small pieces to feed it. The dog was not shy and actually ate it with relish. It was not until Hu Yi, the chief guard of the Qifeng Palace, came looking for it that it was taken back.
Zuo Weiwei didn’t take it to heart. Who knew that the next day the dog actually died, its seven orifices bleeding. So Zuo Weiwei was summoned by the people of the Qifeng Palace. It was just a dog, so she didn’t think there would be any problems and didn’t wake Zuo Canglang, going alone.
When Zuo Canglang found her, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He stroked Zuo Weiwei’s broken leg. Zuo Weiwei had never imagined she could have such a horrified expression: ‘Who did this?’
‘No… General, Ziwei fell on her own.‘
Zocanglang looked at the injury at the broken end of the leg and understood 80%. Her right hand was not strong enough, so Zocanglang could not carry her and had to half-support her into the Nanqing Palace. Ziwei lay on the bed and looked at Zocanglang’s back: “General, where are you going?”
’To find a doctor.’
But Zuo Canglang did not go to find a doctor. That day, she used her left hand to throw arrows like javelins, and chaos broke out in the Qifeng Palace. As the head of the guards, Hu Yi naturally put up a desperate resistance. He finally saw the legendary war goddess. There were wounds all over her body, but she seemed to feel nothing.
When her arrows pierced Hu Yi’s legs, one after the other, and the blood splattered on the snow-white wall, staining it a bloody red, Jiang Bilan felt fear. She fled the Qifeng Palace with the prematurely born little prince in her arms. Zuo Canglang did not pursue her. She just pressed Hu Yi down with her knees, piercing his legs with countless bloody holes that were shocking to the eye.
She did not hear his screams of agony. At that moment, her expression was like that of a furious beast.
Mu Rong Yan half-carried, half-hugged Jiang Bi Lan back to the Phoenix Residence. She was truly terrified, her jade-like face pale and her features lost.
‘Zuo, what are you doing?!’ His voice was full of authority. Zuo Cang Lang looked up and locked eyes with him for a long time before finally letting go of Hu Yi, who was already unconscious by then.
She remained kneeling, not saying a word. Mu Rongyan looked at the mess in the Qifeng Palace. It was impossible to say that he wasn’t angry, but for the first time, he didn’t know what to do with her.
‘Yan, I want to deal with her myself,’ Jiang Bilan said, full of hatred. Assassinating the queen was a capital crime no matter what you said. She was sure that no one could save her this time.
“No, after all, she is a meritorious person in the Yan Dynasty…’
‘What did you say?‘ Jiang Bilian pulled Mu Rong Yan’s sleeve, unable to believe her ears: “Yan, what did you say?”
’She is a meritorious official of the Yan Dynasty and cannot be punished at will.‘
’You’re lying!’ Jiang Bilian was crying, really crying. This man had never contradicted her before, but now he was letting another woman assassinate her openly. The promise they had made since childhood was ultimately false: ’Mu Rong Yan, you’re lying!’
Mu Rongyan couldn’t bear to see her cry. He kept thinking about the expression on his mother’s face when she clutched the cup of poisoned wine that year, so desperate and miserable. After standing like that for a while, he finally whispered, but it sounded so weak: ‘I didn’t.’
‘You did. You lied.’ Jiang Bilan’s tears fell on the face of the baby in her arms, one after the other like broken pearls, so pitiful that the heavens could not help but feel compassion.
‘Fine, I’ll let you have the person, but Jiang Bilan, I forbid her to die. You remember!”
What a familiar deal. Zuo Canglang knelt on the ground, kept his head low, and finally raised it to look into his eyes. Mu Rongyan slowly turned away.
The author has something to say: Oh, when copying, I pulled up the content of the next chapter…sweat
Under the moon, a lone figure hates a thousand ways
: Under the moonlight, I hate it a thousand ways
Zuo Canglang’s face had always been calm, but when she looked at the dozen snakes of different colours in the cage, it finally changed. Her body couldn’t help but flinch back, and two guards forced her shoulders down and forced her to kneel on the ground.
‘General Zuo, haven’t you always been brave? I’ll play a game with you today,’ Jiang Bilian laughed happily. He finally gave her to himself after all. He still loves her, doesn’t he?
Someone came up with a snake in their hands. The snake, which was at least three fingers thick, hissed and spit menacingly in their hands. Zuo Canglang was pale, and the force on her shoulders made it impossible for her to take another step back. The person came up to her and tried desperately to open her jaws. She finally knew what he was going to do.
She clenched her teeth and refused to open her mouth. The cold body of the snake touched her face, and she desperately shook her head, but she could not avoid the fishy-smelling snake body that felt like it was attached to her bones.
‘My lord…my lord, I know I’ve done wrong, please save me, save me…’ She finally couldn’t hold back any longer and begged for mercy. It turned out that even the proudest of bones could not withstand the terror deep within her heart. But no one answered, and the man took the opportunity to open her mouth with brute force, and then the cold snake’s head poked into her mouth, slowly crawling down her throat.
She could not make a complete sound, and her left hand finally broke free, desperately and emptily trying to grab something…but it was all in vain. Feeling the cold snake body wriggling inside her, she wanted to vomit and scream, but she could do nothing.
It was as if she were a child again, abandoned in a bottomless pit to be sacrificed to the gods. Back then, snakes had also covered her body. Watching her companions turn into corpses one after the other, she had no one to call out to, no one to come to her rescue. Her heart was as helpless and lonely as the world.
Mu Rongyan was outside, separated only by a bead curtain. She kept watching his bright yellow figure, never imagining that she would also shed so many tears.
The executioner held the snake’s tail and slowly dragged it out. Zuo Canglang clearly felt the rough ground scraping against her abdomen, as if her heart and lungs were being pulled out.
‘My lord…my lord…’ She refused to give up hope, her voice tragic: ‘You said you would treat me well, you said so!!!’
Mu Rongyan slowly walked away step by step, her voice tearing at his heart and ears, refusing to go away.
Zuo Canglang watched the figure slowly walk out of her sight…
‘Mu Rongyan…’ Those were the last three words she shouted to herself.
Don’t call out to Zuo Canglang…he never loved you, Muyong Yan…he never loved Zuo Canglang…
The executioner pinched her jaw to prevent her from biting her tongue. The snakes were stuffed in one after the other, and her body temperature was like that of the snakes. Her heart was frozen.
The snake was stuffed in one by one until the end. The Queen clapped her hands and said, ‘Well, this is a lesson for you. It will make you see what is a master and what is a master’s dog.’
Zuo Canglang pretended not to hear, and the person next to her let go of her. She knelt on the ground alone, and after a long time, she walked out in a daze. When she was about to leave the palace gate of the Phoenix Palace, she met Wang Nan. Wang Nan knew very well what was going on here, but he couldn’t guess what had happened.
Seeing that she was unsteady on her feet, he reached out to help her. Zuo Canglang turned around and put her arms around his neck, murmuring, ‘Wang Nan, I want to go home, I want to go home.’ Then she lowered her head and buried it in his arms, sobbing bitterly.
Under the moonlight, she hated him a thousand ways
: Under the moonlight, she hated him a thousand ways
Mu Rongyan sent a doctor to take her pulse, and when he returned, he reported that everything was fine. After seeing a few times to make sure there was no problem, she also let her mind rest.
She didn’t speak, and Mu Rongyan didn’t press her. He stopped going to the Qifeng Palace and stayed in the Nanquing Palace every night. Zuo Canglang hadn’t changed much from before, except that she still couldn’t accept his touch. Mu Rongyan sometimes couldn’t bear the pain, but he couldn’t bring himself to force her.
He just found it feels good to hold her. These few days, for some reason, he feels that the shoulders of the person in his arms are weakening more and more. He kisses her forehead and says, ‘Have you not been eating lately? You’ve become so thin that my arms are aching from holding you.’
Zuo Canglang mumbled something in reply, which Mu Rongyan did not hear clearly.
The next day, he deliberately made time to accompany her for breakfast, but found that she hadn’t touched a bite of her breakfast and was instead holding a jug of wine. He reached out and took the jug away from her, his tone stern: ‘No drinking in the morning!’ Then he picked up some food for her, and the eunuch serving her, Wang Gonggong, hurriedly picked up some food and put it in Zuo Canglang’s bowl.
But she just looked at it and refused to use her chopsticks.
Mu Rongyan was determined to get her to eat: ‘Eat.’
She finally took a bite, and under his watchful gaze, she ate it. She looked pale as she gagged and retched, and finally ran quickly to the door, where she leaned against the frame and vomited until the sky turned dark and she fainted.
There wasn’t much in her stomach, so she vomited yellow gastric juice.
At that moment, Mu Rongyan realized something was wrong: ‘How long has it been?’
She didn’t say anything, so Mu Rongyan took her shoulders in his hands and asked, ‘How long has it been since you last ate?’
Zuo Canglang curled up by the door, frowning in pain as he stroked his chest. Muyongyan immediately sent someone to fetch Doctor Fu, who took a long time to take the pulse before he dared to speak: ‘Your Majesty, General Zuo is in good health.’
Muyongyan summoned all the famous doctors and got the same answer.
However, Zuo Canglang grew weaker and weaker, and she vomited whatever medicine or food she took. She only drank wine. Sometimes when Doctor Fu prescribed a new medicine, she would lead his hand to her chest and say, ‘Doctor Fu, I always feel something moving here…’
Doctor Fu would just reassure her, ‘No, General, you’re just being paranoid. You’re in perfect health.’
Despite his words, Zuo Canglang grew weaker and weaker. Zuo Weiwei’s leg had not yet healed, and there was no attentive maid around. Mu Rongyan guarded her every step of the way and had not attended court early for several days.
Jiang Bilan asked to see her, but was stopped outside the Nanqing Palace.
Zuo Canglang was still lucid. She always let him embrace her in his arms and lean against his broad chest, but her heart was completely shielded from his boundless affection.
After a few days like this, there was nothing left in her stomach to vomit, so she vomited blood. A stream of bright red liquid spurted from her throat, and Mu Rongyan felt a hand squeezing her heart.
Doctor Fu said that was a heart disease, an unbreakable knot.
Originally, the ruler and his subjects were not lovers
She ate desperately, but then vomited everything back up. Mu Rongyan didn’t even know her preferences. After years of military service, she had no habits of being picky about food. So…she didn’t know what she liked to eat or what she didn’t like to eat.
Sometimes Zuo Canglang felt like she would vomit her heart, liver, spleen, and lungs all at once. The process was hard for everyone to watch. Her spirit grew weaker and weaker, and she became so thin that she looked like a rag doll, as if the wind could blow her away.
Muyongyan held her and didn’t dare let go, for fear that if he did, she would just drift away with the wind. For many years, he had been used to having her by his side, never deceiving, never resisting, never taking advantage of, never betraying. He could no longer tell what he felt for her.
The world had taught him astronomy and geography, and taught him to plot and scheme, but no one had ever taught him what it meant to have feelings. He went to see the White Emperor, the mythical figure who was said to have been immortalized in the Records of the Immortals.
The White Emperor looked at him with great affection. He was the most talented of all his disciples. But he was still surprised that he had managed to find his way here.
‘Do you really want to save her?’
‘Yes.’
‘And what happens when she is cured?’
Mu Rongyan had not expected him to ask this question. After a long silence, he made up his mind: ‘I will devote my life to protecting her for the rest of her life.’
‘You can love her more than anyone else?’
“Yes.’
‘Go back to the palace first, I’ll be there shortly.”
Mu Rongyan hurried back to the palace. The child of the White Emperor watched the blood dripping on the ground. This Wuji Mountain was heavily guarded, and he really wondered how he had managed to get up here.
‘Master, what is love?‘
’Love…’ The White Emperor was tidying up the newly refined pills, his voice clear and full of vicissitudes: “It is gnashing your teeth but not hating thoroughly; it is heart-rending but not killing the heart; it is as light as white water, but one day you wake up and you have already not parted ways, no regrets; it is something that you cannot let go, cannot throw away, and cannot bear to part with.”
So the young boy understood… It turns out that love is inevitable.
Bai Di had taken Zuo Canglang’s pulse, and almost everyone in the hall was waiting for his verdict. He tugged at his white beard and spoke word by word: ‘Actually, it’s not difficult to cure this disease.’ Seeing the look of joy in Mu Rongyan’s eyes, he continued, ‘All you need is a Heart of Seven Orifices.’
Everyone racked their brains, but couldn’t figure out what this Heart of Seven Orifices was. Mu Rongyan took Zuo Canglang’s hand. Her vision was no longer very clear.
‘Can the master please point out where the Heart of the Seven Clever Orifices comes from? Even if it means walking through a sea of knives and fire, Mu Rong Yan will definitely find it.‘
’Since it is a heart, naturally there is no need to search for it. There is someone in this palace who has it.”
The courtiers retreated, and Mu Rong Yan swept his fierce gaze around the room: “Who?”
The White Emperor stroked his beard in a deep and dignified manner, worthy of the title of “worldly sage”: ’Empress Jiang Bilian.’
Why, your love…
The courtiers retreated, and Mu Rong Yan swept a fierce glance across the room: ‘Who?’
The White Emperor stroked his beard, his deep expression worthy of the term ‘hermit of the world’: ‘Empress Jiang Bilan.’
Zuo Canglang felt Mu Rong Yan’s hand on her shoulder tighten suddenly. She looked up and saw the hesitation in his eyes. Her smile concealed the emaciated appearance of her face, and she reached out with difficulty to smooth Mu Rong Yan’s furrowed brows: ‘Prime Minister, don’t joke around.’
The White Emperor looked at her with a meaningful expression: ‘Don’t you want to know the result?’
Zuo Canglang turned her face and rested her forehead on Mu Rongyan’s shoulder. Her voice was emotionless: ‘I already know the result.’
‘Your Majesty, if this is really the only way, would you rip out Jiang Bilan’s heart to save Zuo Canglang?’ The White Emperor pressed on, and Mu Rongyan hesitated: ‘I…’
‘Prime Minister, please do not compare Zou Canglang to Empress Jiang.’ Zou Canglang still did not look up at anyone, cleverly resolving Mu Rongyan’s dilemma: “Your servant cannot bear such a charge of treason.”
Mu Rongyan held her tightly in his arms, his hands clammy with cold sweat: ’I…’
‘Teacher, is there still hope for Canglang?’ Zuo Canglang used Mu Rongyan’s strength to support herself, leaning against him as she sat on the bed. She wore a faint smile, giving the illusion of imminent disillusionment.
Bai Di looked at her deeply. What a wise woman, combining strength and gentleness. But my child, in your heart, can you really let go? And are you sure that your loyalty to him is just that of a subject to his sovereign?
Mu Rongyan rested his chin in her hair. She was always like this, unwilling to make things difficult for anyone, no matter how wronged she felt.
‘There is nothing wrong with your body, just a heart ailment,’ many doctors had said, and Bai Di didn’t want to repeat it: ‘The best way is to use gold needles to seal your brain and erase some of your memories. If you forget, you may not react in this way again.’ His expression gradually grew serious: ‘But this method has never been tried before, and your body can’t take any more damage right now. You need to think carefully.’
‘After all, it’s just a death,’ Zuo Canglang’s expression did not change, and her bearing was calm: “It’s better than the situation we’re in now.” She looked up, her eyes bright, seeking Mu Rongyan’s opinion, and Mu Rongyan bowed his head and kissed the tip of her nose: “Please let the tutor do what he wants.”
With each word, the monarch, who wielded power with a firm hand and lay drunk in the lap of a beautiful woman, was covered in cold sweat.
There was no time to wait. Her strength was fading with each passing moment, and her breathing grew weaker. The White Emperor drew a box of golden needles, and his child carefully sterilised them over the candlelight.
‘Everyone, go,’ he said, dismissing them with a faint order. Mu Rongyan got up and watched as her pale hands slowly released the corners of her robe. Fear came over her like a blanket.
Could it be that, with this turn of the head, it was a farewell?
He held her slightly cool hand tightly and forced himself to remain calm: ‘You must survive.’ He kissed her lips and, lifting her long hair, said, ‘Please, you must survive.’
Zu Canglang just looked at him and smiled lightly. Her jade fingertips stroked his angular face, and for the first time, she saw the depth of feeling in his eyes.
My emperor, I don’t know how long I will sleep for, and I’m not sure if I will wake up again. Your empire has stopped at war, and your world no longer needs me.
If you and I are just a king and a minister, and if you have never loved me, then why should I wake up? For whom should I wake up?
Who, on my shoulder, drove me into a lifetime of silence; who, awakened my heart, and suppressed my life. My eyelids feel heavy, closing with a heavy thud, and consciousness ends here.
When Mu Rongyan turned around, Bai Di suddenly spoke: ‘You do love her, don’t you?’
Mu Rongyan looked at the sleeping face on the bed, under the effect of the medicine, and said nothing.
“If you don’t love her, why don’t you let her practice the last style of the Beacon Arrow Chain?’
‘I… anyway… I’ll leave everything to you, Master.’ Mu Rongyan strode out, always thinking of the last arrow he had shot on the southern town hill, holding her hand, the last move of the Beacon Arrow Combo, called “Dazzling and Devastating”.
It was a killing arrow, which could stop birds in flight and blind the sun and moon. Once the archer had mastered it, every time he used it, it would be like a million arrows piercing the heart, and there would be no stopping it, until there was no more emotion, no more love, no more heart.
Will it really be heartless, loveless, and mindless? Mu Rongyan always thought that this was the reason why his love for Jiang Bilan had slowly faded away, leaving only a sense of responsibility. But now, standing here, he realised that it was not the case.
‘I don’t know what exactly I feel for her,’ he leaned in and kissed her hairline, ‘Master, I no longer know what love is and what it isn’t. Ever since I met her, it seems like everything is taken for granted. Now, I just hope that she will survive, survive well.’
The old scenery is still there, and flowers bloom every year
The ministers are all waiting outside the Nanqing Palace. Mu Rongyan doesn’t say a word, and no one dares to make a sound. The night is slightly cool, and he leans against the vermilion railing. He never knew that waiting could make time seem so long.
The Prime Minister speaks cautiously, ‘Your Majesty, there is no point in worrying. General Zuo is a lucky man, and he will be fine.’
Muyong Yan’s gaze was cold: ‘Why should I worry? My beloved woman is staying safely in the Phoenix Residence, so why should I worry?’
He almost shouted the last sentence, and in response he received the sympathetic gazes of the courtiers. Really, did he not worry? Then who made you go white-haired overnight? And who weathered the face of your just-turned-ten years?
Finally, the candle flame went out temporarily, and the White Emperor opened the door and came out. Mu Rongyan went up to him, only to realise that all the composure he had learned over the years was completely worthless.
‘Your Majesty, please take care,’ the White Emperor said, and Mu Rongyan’s expression was appalling.
The White Emperor looked at the frost on his hairline and said, ‘Your Majesty, there is no room in your heart for two people.’ He left, and his voice carried on, ‘Her body has suffered too much and she needs to sleep for a while. As for when she wakes up, that depends on her.’
Mu Rongyan’s expression did not frown. She pushed open the door and saw her sleeping peacefully. Her heart inexplicably settled. Holding her hand quietly, Zuo, don’t leave me.
Zuo Canglang had been in a deep sleep for a long time. Mu Rongyan stayed in the Nanqing Palace every night, embracing her weakened body in his arms. Sometimes he held her while reading documents, and sometimes he held her while going out to get some sun.
He kept talking to her, always worried that she was lonely.
Everything seemed just like when she was still with him. She didn’t resist, didn’t say much, and there was no hint of sadness in her tightly shut eyes.
Sometimes, Mu Rongyan didn’t even feel that she was in a coma. It was as if he could turn around and touch her, as if she were right next to him.
In the middle of summer in June, the lotuses were in bloom.
He also took his ministers and concubines to admire the lotuses, passing by Taoranting. The ministers pointed out that the pink double lotuses in the pond were blooming luxuriantly and enchantingly.
Mu Rongyan rested his hands on the white jade railing, listening to the moonlight and the wind around him, and suddenly smiled, ‘Well, if this continues, Zuo will be bored to death.’ He turned around and was about to say something when he noticed that the person who had been by his side the whole time was no longer there.
The old scenery is still there, with flowers blooming every year, but the old friend has changed.
Suddenly, there is a sense of sadness.
Nanqing Palace.
Mu Rongyan’s pale hair tips fall on her face. He points at the homing swallow that crosses the lake diagonally, ‘Zuo, look at that swallow. Could it be the one that made a racket in front of your palace gate last year?’
The person in his arms did not respond, and Mu Rongyan’s rough fingertips slid across her face: ‘How long are you going to sleep for? Zuo, don’t be willful, will you wake up obediently? I have given Zuo Weiwei in marriage to Wang Nan. These days, Wang Nan has been taking care of her, so I think he should be treating her well. Fei Nan has also returned from the border, and he married the princess of the Greater Kingdom. He chose the same day as Wang Nan’s, hoping to help you bring good luck.’
Do you still remember that day when my master asked me if I would use the heart of Jiang Bilan to save you? Do you know that I was very scared at the time because my answer was that I would, at all costs.
Zuo, when will you wake up and save me from this monologue with no response?
Playing with her slightly cool fingertips, I realised that there is a kind of love that does not reveal itself at first sight, but only deepens and reveals its bone-chilling beauty after a long time.
But my lord, we are not the Butterfly Lovers, so how can we become butterflies? I don’t want our vows to end up as a joke.
The swallow returns south, the cold goes and dawn approaches. I had hoped so much that I could wake up on a sunny morning, open my eyes in the light of the sun, and from then on, we could be inseparable. I also wanted to flutter my eyelashes at midnight, meet your gentle gaze, and then, as we had first intended, walk hand in hand forever.
But the road I came on is covered in dust. Even if there is still love, how can I ask for a second chance?
My lord, are you waiting for me to wake up, or for an end?
Fine, Zuo will give you an end. It’s just that you are the king and I am the subject, and in this life…we are just the king and the subject, and all possibilities are cut off.
Only waiting for the return of an old friend
: Only when the old friends come
Bai Di deceived Mu Rongyan. In fact, there is nothing that can disperse part of a person’s memory. We do not have the power to make someone forget the hurt. He just made Zuo Canglang fall into a state of dormancy, preventing her from losing physical strength.
Maybe time will dilute everything, maybe it is inevitable, and there will be another disaster in life.
Zuo woke up in Mu Rongyan’s arms. At that time, the candlelight flickered in the imperial study. His grey hair brushed her cheek, tickling her. Zuo couldn’t help reaching out to touch his cheek, and when Mu Rongyan looked down, he met her bright eyes.
‘You’re awake?’ the weeping candle reminded him of the time. Mu Rongyan put down his pen, bowed his head and kissed her forehead. The two words were tender and intimate, as if she had only taken a little nap.
Zuo Canglang twirled the tips of his grey-white hair, and his embrace was just as warm as it had been in the beginning. She was smiling, and her light laughter made his heart stop feeling empty: ‘Yes, I’m awake.’
Mu Rongyan helped her sit on his lap and looked at her closely: ‘Are you hungry? What do you want to eat?’
Zuo Canglang was unlike the cautious person she had once been in front of him. She acted coquettishly, drawing circles on his neck with her fingertips, her voice low and intimate: ‘My lord, will you cook it yourself?’
Mu Rongyan hesitated for a moment, lowering his voice even more: ‘I’ve never tried…’ He gently rubbed her face, causing her to hide in his arms: ‘But I can try.’
The two of them sneaked off to the imperial kitchen to cook something. Mu Rongyan really had a talent for learning, and he even managed to learn how to make lotus seed soup just like the chef. Zuo Canglang found it quite interesting to watch. He had just woken up, so it was inevitable that his limbs and joints would be stiff. Zuo Canglang couldn’t walk around too vigorously, but he sat on a stool in the room and watched him wash his hands and make the soup.
Of course, some of the guards saw it, but they didn’t dare to stop him. Mu Rongyan peeled the lotus seeds, knowing that her sitting next to him suddenly made up for the years that had been missing.
‘My lord.’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you still remember the first time we went into battle?’
‘The first time we went into battle? I only remember teaching you how to use an arrow for the first time.’
“Right, I remember that I didn’t do very well at the time. Why did you teach me how to use an arrow?’
‘Because you were the first archer in my army to ever hit the drum.‘
’My lord!‘ Zuo Canglang’s face turned from green to white. After all these years, that’s what you remember. Mu Rongyan couldn’t stop laughing.
’Is that why you want me to stay?’
‘Yes.‘ Mu Rongyan lowered his head and peeled the lotus seeds, suddenly remembering that time at the training ground, when the drum master had jumped up with his hands covering his thighs. At that time, he had to remain serious, and beneath his extremely serious expression, he felt that it was only natural for this person to stay by his side.
’Then why did you accompany me on my campaigns for eleven years?‘
’You were unfamiliar with leading troops, and I was afraid you would lose soldiers and horses.”
Mu Rongyan had already started boiling water, and Zuo Canglang seemed to believe him: ’Really?’
Muyong Yan wanted to say it was a lie, because at that time you were always in the front line, like a headstrong bull that could not be stopped, and the arrows were not suitable for close combat. How could I trust you to lead the troops alone?
But he was nodding his head. Why else, he said?
“My lord, you have always loved Empress Jiang, haven’t you?’
Mu Rongyan put the lotus seeds in the pot and turned his back to her, saying, ‘Well, from the moment my mother was granted death by my father, I vowed that I would protect her and never let her suffer or be hurt in the slightest. When she fell from her horse into my arms, I even thought it was fate.’ But Zuo, there is no such thing as fate in this world. Even the deepest love at the beginning of life cannot ultimately withstand the passage of time.
Zuo Canglang put his arms around his strong waist from behind. Mu Rongyan froze for a moment, and her sweet voice came from behind: ‘Then why don’t you let me practice the Beacon Arrow Chain again?’
‘Because this country no longer needs you.’ Mu Rongyan kept working without stopping, and his hands on her waist did not let go. He really wanted to hold these soft hands and tell her that it was not true, that the last move of the Beacon Arrow Array was a move of absolute love, and he did not want to. Anyway, you have already made your mark in battle, and it is beyond reproach whether you stay in or out of the palace in the future. Then…it is also beyond reproach to follow me for the rest of your life.
Zuo Canglang pressed her face against his broad back. The warmth of his body transmitted through the thin clothing, intoxicating Mu Rongyan’s heart. But his words were different: ‘Don’t get too close, it’s too hot here.’
He pulled her over and sat her on a stool. He added firewood to the stove and various ingredients. The fragrance was already filling the air. Zuo Canglang took a greedy sniff and exclaimed, ‘My lord, I’m so hungry.’
Mu Rongyan was smiling. He laughed and said, ‘My lord is not hungry.’
Zuo: ‘…’
Everyone has a sad story
: Everyone has a sad story
The two of them secretly carried the lotus seed soup out. Zuo Canglang reached out to take it from Mu Rongyan when she wasn’t expecting it, and Mu Rongyan laughed and pushed her away, saying it was hot.
On the stone table outside the Nanqing Palace, he cooled the soup for her to eat. Zuo Canglang didn’t refuse, and after eating a few spoonfuls, she asked him where the Empress Jiang was. Mu Rongyan stroked her hair and said, ‘I don’t know what to do with her. Maybe I’ll lock her up in the Qifeng Palace and never let her out again. Zuo, since Xuan is almost an adult, when the time comes, I’ll give up the Yan Dynasty and we’ll travel the world together. How’s that?’
‘My lord,’
“Hm?’
‘Can you really let go of Empress Jiang?‘
’Don’t worry about that.‘ Mu Rong Yan stroked her long hair: “Just focus on getting better first, okay?”
’Okay.”
He really kept Empress Jiang under control in the Qifeng Palace. The Right Minister made just one move, and was immediately driven out of the Central Plains, never to set foot in the imperial city again.
The Prime Minister had always thought of himself as a master of political manoeuvring, but it wasn’t until Mu Rongyan really turned against him that he realised he had been nothing more than a puppet in his hands, performing a ridiculous show of self-importance. His people were completely useless, or perhaps Mu Rongyan had even planted more of his own people than his own trusted followers.
If he hadn’t spent all these years worrying about Zuo Canglang’s illness, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
‘More rice?’
“My lord, I think you should go wash the dishes.’
‘= = That’s too much.‘
’Then I’ll go?‘
’Okay, I’ll go. You go to sleep first. I’ll be right back.‘
’Okay.’
When Mu Rongyan returned, Zuo Canglang was already in bed. He gently took her in his arms and sniffed the faint fragrance in her hair. He never told her that for all these years, he had never slept peacefully.
The next day, the entire imperial court knew that General Zuo had woken up. Wang Nan and Fei Nan came to see her one after the other. She was not in very good spirits and simply dismissed them.
Zuo Weiwei clamoured to come into the palace to serve her, but she just smiled and reassured her, ‘That will have to wait until after you get married.’
The Yan dynasty slowly returned to normal with Mu Rongyan in charge. Zuo Canglang rarely set foot outside the Nanqing Palace. It was almost mid-autumn, and it had been almost ten days since she woke up. Zuo Canglang helped Mu Rongyan dress, carefully smoothing out the folds in her robe. ‘My lord, I will cook tonight, let’s have a drink?’
Mu Rongyan patted her on the face and said yes.
But he didn’t come that night. The moonlight was pale. Zuo Canglang set the table on the stone table in the Nanqing Palace. Eunuch Wang reported carefully, ‘General Zuo, the Empress took poison and killed herself. Fortunately, she was discovered in time. The Emperor…is afraid he won’t be able to come to the Nanqing Palace tonight. I’ve been specially sent to tell you this, and to ask Zuo Canglang to rest well.’
He watched carefully. Zuo Canglang’s expression did not change as she carefully set the table, telling him she knew and to go back.
He then retreated, and as he was about to leave, he looked back.
In the moonlight, his solitary figure grew faint. Zuo Canglang drank half a jug of wine in silence, and the wine felt like a knife cutting into her stomach. She frowned and leaned over the table, knowing that she had reached the limit of her body. After all, this body could never forget. It was a failed body double, unable to wait for the protagonist to change his mind.
The moonlight from the sky gradually fades. My lord, this is for the best. I don’t want you by my side. I have given you this ending, so let go.
Don’t be sad, even if… we have love in our hearts.
When Mu Rongyan came, just after the morning court, Wang Yunzhao followed him into the Nanqing Palace and saw the person leaning on a stone bench, as if asleep.
But he knew that she was not asleep. Her blood had spread from her lips to her sleeves, and had fallen to the ground in a shocking purple colour, along the white stone table.
The food on the table had not been touched, and half a jug of wine remained. Mu Rongyan’s fingertips stopped half an inch from her dark hair, and then he sat down opposite her, taking the half jug of wine on the table. The wine had been cold for far too long.
He slowly drank it all, and Wang Yunzhao dared not look at his expression. ‘Your Majesty…’
It was too quiet around them. Half a jug of wine, lonely together, not hearing the endless praises of the emperor, only the tears of an old friend watching the emperor fall.
Zuo, your master is finally too weak…
‘A grand funeral with state honours, and…buried in the imperial tomb.’ Mu Rongyan strode out of the Nanqing Palace. He walked too fast, and Wang Yunzhao couldn’t make out his expression. He could only see his back, alone in the morning light, as lonely as the snow.
If they were not Liang and Zhu, how could they become butterflies? And at the end of the story…the vow became a joke…
Zuo, do you also wish you had never met…
Mu Rongyan was a good emperor. Zuo Canglang’s death left no obvious traces on him. Jiang Bilan remained in the Qifeng Palace, but no one ever saw her again. Everyone said that the emperor was only fond of her, but she knew that she had lost him long ago.
No one in the palace ever mentioned Zuo Canglang again. No one ever moved into the Southern Qing Palace again, and the emperor never smiled again.
One year, during a sacrifice at the imperial tomb, after the ceremony was over, Emperor Murong Yan waved his ministers away. As he was leaving, Wang Yunzhao dared to look back. The emperor, who was known for his iron will, rested his forehead lightly against a stone tablet and burst into tears as the ministers turned to leave.