WNST - 117

Nan Yi finally awoke, struggling free from the nightmare that had ensnared her like quicksand. 

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Lady Gan Tang’s concerned expression. 

“How much wine did they pour into you? You’ve been out for an entire day.” 

Lady Gan Tang quickly handed over a cup of tea, helping Nan Yi sip some warm tea. 

Nan Yi looked around in confusion. This was unmistakably Lady Gan Tang’s room, and a puzzled look crossed her face. 

“Mr. Song and General Ying Huai brought you back to Wangxue Cottage. They said their place was being watched by the Qi people and it was too dangerous to care for you properly. After much deliberation, they asked me to help hide you here at Wangxue Cottage—what on earth happened?” 

Nan Yi was stunned. “How could it have been them who brought me back?” 

“The two of them were quite mysterious, only saying that your identity was extremely important and that your safety must be ensured at all costs. When they heard you were back, even Xie Xiaoliu came to check on you.” 

Identity… Xie Xiaoliu… Nan Yi seemed to understand something. 

Bingzhu Bureau believed they had rescued “Goose,” and this was how Xie Queshan had sent her away. 

She had thought he had drugged her to hand her over to Zhang Yuehui, but instead, he had paved a broad path to freedom for her. 

Tears immediately streamed down Nan Yi’s face. 

“Sister… if Xie Chaoren were to die, would you cry for him?” 

All she could think about now was him waiting alone on that ship to die, while she had returned to the world of the living. Life and death partings were the cruelest things in this world. She had so much she wanted to say, but what came out of her mouth was this disjointed question. 

Lady Gan Tang froze, sensing something unsettling in those words, though she dared not delve deeper. 

How could her younger brother die? She had never even considered it. 

She was still waiting for the day when Xie Chaoren would mend his ways. 

Forcing a smile she didn’t believe herself, Lady Gan Tang said, “He’s incredibly capable. How could he possibly die?” 

A vast emptiness suddenly yawned within Nan Yi’s heart. 

How could he not die? He was only human, after all. 

She wanted to scream until everyone knew what kind of person Xie Queshan was. She wanted everyone to help him, to save him—but the words, though bubbling up to her lips, wouldn’t come out. 

She understood. His path was already paved with the blood and flesh of countless others. He couldn’t betray those who had died because of him. 

It was like a long-lasting plague—anyone who came into contact with him became unfortunate. And so, he isolated himself from others, rejecting any cure, determined to perish alongside the plague. 

In that sense, he was selfish—he wouldn’t even take the risk of striving for a possible success. 

Nan Yi felt as though she had fallen ill. As he was dying, he was dragging her remaining years into a terminal disease. On the road of drifting further away from him, she was gradually succumbing to this ailment, losing her will to act, losing her desire to survive. 

Wiping her tears, Nan Yi said listlessly, “Sister, I want to be alone for a while.” 

Lady Gan Tang sensed Nan Yi’s abnormality. With a sigh, she patted Nan Yi’s shoulder and left. 

Just as she opened the door, Tang Rong walked in, bowing politely. 

“There’s someone outside who wishes to see Madam.” 

---

An inconspicuous convoy entered Lido Prefecture, and Wanyan Jun greeted them as if facing a formidable enemy. 

This was Wanyan Pu’s messenger, bringing crucial intelligence from Jinling. 

The intelligence concerned the identity of the long-hidden mole within Lido Prefecture. 

Moments after receiving the messenger, no one knew what they discussed. Shortly after, Wanyan Jun assembled a team and personally went to meet Xie Queshan on the river. 

Xie Queshan wasn’t surprised by Wanyan Jun’s arrival. 

He had already mentally rehearsed this process. After being captured, he couldn’t die immediately; otherwise, Wanyan Jun would vent his anger on Xie Queshan’s family and friends. He needed to let Wanyan Jun slowly extract valuable information from him, leading him down irrelevant paths. Only after the larger situation was settled could he embrace death. 

What surprised Xie Queshan, however, was that upon arrival, Wanyan Jun warmly welcomed him with utmost courtesy. 

“Master Xie, you must have suffered greatly.” 

Xie Queshan couldn’t quite grasp what was going on. 

“Today, I received a letter from Her Highness. Only then did I realize you were still in Lido Prefecture. The Princess confining you was purely due to circumstances beyond her control—it was a necessary measure. Fortunately, everything has now been clarified. The rumors of your disloyalty were baseless. Please forgive any previous offenses—I apologize on behalf of the Princess.” 

Though confused, Xie Queshan quickly put on a relieved expression. “I’m glad it’s cleared up. However, the Princess has always suspected there’s a mole within Lido Prefecture…” 

Wanyan Pu couldn’t have found nothing and simply sent a message proving his innocence. If that were the case, Wanyan Jun wouldn’t have believed it so easily. Xie Queshan instinctively felt that Wanyan Jun was only telling half the story. 

“Precisely. The mole is someone else.” 

“Who?” 

At this point, Xie Queshan truly had no idea. Surely they hadn’t pinned the blame on Song Muchuan? If that were the case, even the most powerful deity couldn’t save him. 

Wanyan Jun didn’t answer, leaving it as a cliffhanger. Upon returning to the city, he directly took Xie Queshan to Huachao Pavilion. 

The messenger had told Wanyan Jun: “The codename ‘Goose’ belongs to Zhang Yuehui.” 

Once a den of endless revelry and extravagance, Huachao Pavilion was now a fortress riddled with scars. 

Upon receiving the intelligence, Wanyan Jun immediately sent men to capture Zhang Yuehui. It was said that Zhang Yuehui had entered Huachao Pavilion last night and hadn’t come out since. 

No one knew how many traps lay hidden within the building. It took the army a full hour to breach it. 

Wanyan Jun cursed loudly, “That cunning merchant! I thought he was just a greedy opportunist, but to think he harbored such malicious intent! Looking back now, from the Lantern Festival night to the rescue of Princess Lingfu later on, he was involved in everything. We’ve been deceived for so long!”

Xie Queshan didn’t respond. Huachao Pavilion had secret passages—Zhang Yuehui was certainly no longer inside. 

But how could Zhang Yuehui have possibly drawn all the attention to himself without reason? He had abandoned the entire Gui Lai Tang and fled in haste. What exactly had happened? 

A sense of foreboding suddenly rose in Xie Queshan’s heart. He hastily excused himself from Wanyan Jun, claiming that he felt unwell after spending days on the boat and needed to return home to rest. 

As he stepped through the gates of Wangxue Cottage, a small part of him still hoped to see Nan Yi. Song Muchuan had no better place to hide her, so it was likely he had sent her back here. 

He knew he had no face to meet her, but now that he was safe, the only thought in his mind was to see her. Yet this longing carried with it a deep unease—he couldn’t believe such an unexpectedly fortunate outcome would fall into his lap for nothing. 

Rushing inside, he collided face-to-face with his second sister’s astonished expression. 

“Chaoren? When did you return?” 

“Where’s Nan Yi?” 

“...She’s gone.” 

“Where did she go?” 

Lady Gan Tang hesitated for a moment. She clearly saw a torrent of emotions swirling in Xie Queshan’s eyes. He couldn’t hide it anymore. In the instant when regret finally overwhelmed him and he reached out to grasp what he had lost, all the hidden, unspeakable feelings were laid bare in his gaze. 

“The master of Gui Lai Tang came to ask for her hand in marriage… She agreed. She left with him early this morning.” 

Xie Queshan stood frozen for a long while, then finally nodded. His legs gave out, and he slowly sank down onto the steps in the courtyard, like a mountain collapsing. 

“Sister, this is good.” 

Time seemed to rewind within him. No matter how many past events had settled, at this moment, he was still like a helpless child. 

He murmured, “This is also a kind of peaceful ending, isn’t it?” 

---

A carriage raced along the mountain road, followed by a dozen or so shadow guards. 

Nan Yi sat inside the carriage, watching the mountain scenery blur past through a small window. Spring was nearing its end; flowers were falling, and the forest’s greenery was so dense it appeared almost black, like a vivid mist. 

The day before, Zhang Yuehui had come to Wangxue Cottage to see her. He was strange—soaked to the bone, with a horse that had collapsed from exhaustion in the backyard. It seemed he had traveled a great distance and hadn’t even taken the time to settle before seeking her out. 

She rarely saw him looking so travel-worn. 

He got straight to the point: “I have a way to save Xie Queshan, but there’s a condition.” 

He had passed false intelligence to Wanyan Jun, drawing all the danger onto himself. It would take three days for the message from Lido Prefecture to reach Jinling, and another three days for Wanyan Pu’s new orders to return. These six extra days would be enough for Xie Queshan to turn the tables. If the Nirvana Plan succeeded, he wouldn’t need to remain undercover among the Qi people. 

The cost of these six days was Zhang Yuehui sacrificing everything—his years of hard work and accumulated wealth, reduced to nothing. From this point forward, he would be on the run, pursued relentlessly by the Qi people. 

His condition was that she leave with him. 

It was madness—a reckless gamble where both sides would be destroyed. 

Yet Nan Yi immediately agreed. 

One life for another—it was a fair trade. 

Even though Zhang Yuehui had anticipated being hunted and meticulously planned their escape route, once they set off, every step was fraught with tension. 

He planned to head toward Shu territory, where the Qi people’s influence hadn’t yet reached. They would live under assumed names, with just enough money to get by, enough to last a lifetime. 

Once they departed, there would be no turning back. This time was different from any other—no room for error, no contingency plans. 

Zhang Yuehui had cut off all possible retreats in a manner that bordered on self-destruction. 

Yet he found this game exhilarating. 

He had killed Wanyan Pu’s messenger, and sooner or later, the truth would come out. His downfall was inevitable. How would the world judge him? What would Xie Queshan think? The master of Gui Lai Tang had made a desperate gamble, emulating Jing Ke’s assassination attempt on Qin Shi Huang—though he failed, he upheld righteousness. 

He fled in disgrace but became a hero who had supposedly laid down his sword and attained enlightenment. 

But he didn’t want that—it was laughable. 

Zhang Yuehui wanted to be a thorough villain, seizing and taking by force, disregarding reason. He would fulfill no one, and no one would fulfill him. 

The hooves of their horses kicked up clouds of dust as they sped away from Lido Prefecture as fast as possible. 

The swaying carriage left Nan Yi feeling disoriented, as if she were trapped in a dream. When she woke, she would still be in the same place. 

She had once set out alone to find Zhang Yuehui, and living out her days with him had been a dream of hers. 

If she could forget everything that had happened in between, forget that person, her life would be complete. 

The mountain breeze rushed into the carriage, swiftly carrying away a trace of tears from her face. 

But Nan Yi was happy. She had finally saved him.