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◎The City Walls◎
The jailers who had followed Song Shiyan produced a key and unlocked the iron collar around her neck.
Song Shiyan grabbed the shackles on her wrist and pulled her out without hesitation.
His strength was considerable, causing her to stumble forward.
Qu You hadn’t seen Song Shiyan in a long time. Today, he had come in such haste that he hadn’t even changed out of his dragon robe, its dark golden patterns shimmering conspicuously within the prison.
He dragged her through the dim corridor. Many imprisoned ministers, seeing this, shouted curses through the bars. Song Shiyan ignored them completely, his shadowed face curling into a smile.
Turning his head slightly, he spoke softly: “Do all of you esteemed officials know? The one who cursed me most fiercely last time has now lost his tongue and serves as a eunuch in the palace. When I brought him to see his former colleagues, he couldn’t speak a word. He thinks of nothing but death every day.”
As soon as his words ended, silence fell over the prison.
Song Shiyan continued dragging her along. At the end, he turned back and said, “I won’t let him die. Isn’t it more torment to stay alive? Hahaha…”
His eerie yet delighted laughter echoed throughout the entire Ministry of Justice prison, leaving everyone uneasy.
Qu You hadn’t seen such bright sunlight in a long time. As she was dragged out of the Ministry of Justice gates, she instinctively squinted.
With one hand, Song Shiyan lifted her onto the horse. The sound of clashing armor rang out behind his steed.
Bian Capital was no longer the same as when she had entered. Under the clear blue sky, every household remained tightly shut, and not a single pedestrian could be seen on the streets—only patrols with iron spears.
She knew that Yan Fu’s army had likely already arrived outside the city walls.
Even at this critical juncture, when Song Shiyan noticed her gaze, he still lowered his eyes and gave her a gentle smile: “After so many days apart, did you miss me, Yoyo?”
Based on her memories, by now, Song Shiyan should have been taking her to the city walls.
Qu You’s face paled abruptly, and she didn’t answer. Song Shiyan sighed: “You once boasted about wanting to see my downfall. Now, don’t you even want to talk to me?”
She closed her eyes, calming herself for a moment before replying: “You’re already at your wit’s end, yet you can still laugh.”
No sooner had her words fallen than Song Shiyan laughed even louder.
“You truly know everything… Just released from prison, and with a single glance, you’ve understood my situation. It seems that Zhou Tan’s feigned departure and your deception to steal the imperial seal were brilliant moves. When I locked you up in the Ministry of Justice, I never expected he would actually find Song’s rightful heir.”
The horse stopped. He helped her down, half-dragging, half-pulling her toward the city walls.
“Father trusted Zhou Tan so much. If he knew that Zhou Tan and his beloved teacher had secretly hidden the descendants of Prince Jing, he’d surely rise from the grave in anger.” Song Shiyan spoke as they walked, finding the thought increasingly amusing. “Grandfather wanted Prince Jing’s lineage to seize the throne from Father and me—it was indeed a deep scheme. Our bloodline is nothing but a line of madmen.”
He led her onto the city walls, pressing her neck to force her to look outward.
The area before the city gates was desolate, but traces of the fierce battle fought there were still faintly visible. From afar, the wind carried the neighing of horses and distant human voices. It seemed that a large army was encamped in the nearby dense forest.
With half her body hanging precariously over the edge, Qu You immediately recalled falling from the city walls. Zhou Tan had stretched out his hands, futilely trying to catch her, tears and blood mixing on his face, his expression heartbroken beyond measure.
She dared not think further and struggled twice.
Song Shiyan assumed she feared he would throw her off the wall. With a light laugh, he yanked her back, but with too much force, causing Qu You to fall directly in front of him. She sat there for a while, unable to get up.
Without hesitation, he lifted his robe and sat beside her.
Passing soldiers busily polished arrowheads. Seeing him there, they respectfully bowed, their faces filled with confusion and fear that they couldn’t conceal. Song Shiyan waved them off indifferently, and they quickly scurried away.
The sun gradually shifted westward.
Qu You took two deep breaths before suddenly asking: “Are you afraid?”
Song Shiyan paused, then revealed his usual lazy, mocking smile: “What would I be afraid of?”
“You’re clearly afraid,” Qu You’s lips curved slightly. “If you weren’t, why keep me by your side? Keeping me here is just your last lifeline, isn’t it?”
Song Shiyan’s voice turned cold: “It seems the punishments in the Ministry of Justice weren’t severe enough. Look at how spirited you are, completely unlike the pitiful bloody mess you were before.”
“But what life could I possibly save for you?” Qu You continued unperturbed. “Do you really think holding me will force them to retreat? They don’t only have Zhou Tan…”
“Shut up, shut up!” He suddenly became agitated, as if she had struck a nerve. His earlier nonchalance vanished entirely. “Who gave you permission to guess my thoughts like this? Who allowed you to speak to me this way? Who do you think you are?”
Song Shiyan tightened his grip on her neck. She lacked the strength to resist, and her cheeks flushed instantly.
“Let… let go of me…”
Her untrimmed nails left deep red marks on his pale jade-like hand. Song Shiyan snapped out of it, suddenly releasing her. He watched her cough violently, her face flushed, looking almost helpless like a child who had made a mistake: “I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean to.”
Qu You breathed heavily, raising her eyes to look at him. She caught a faint whiff of medicinal herbs on him.
Song Shiyan called her name, his eyes tinged with red: “Yoyo…”
She turned her face away, avoiding his outstretched hand: “You threw me into the depths of the Ministry of Justice, tortured me at will, and now you feign tenderness… How fickle you are. I truly don’t understand you. What do you want?”
“What do I want?” Song Shiyan repeated absently, his face suddenly suffused with a crazed, intoxicated hue. “When I was seventeen, during a grand banquet in the palace, I personally witnessed my second elder brother brutally torture and kill his servant right in front of me, discarding the body in the lake. Blood even splattered onto my boots… But later, when the truth came to light, Second Brother bribed everyone in the garden to pin the blame on me. Father refused to hear my defense and punished me with fifty strokes of the cane.”
He relaxed against the city wall, letting the setting sun bathe his eyelashes in a soft golden glow, making him appear unexpectedly fragile. “Do you think I was born a villain? No one ever believed me. Father was cold, Mother passed away early. At five years old, I was named Crown Prince, with my brothers watching me like vultures, eager to find fault with me every day. In this vast imperial palace, not a single person protected me. If I didn’t resort to some tactics, do you think I’d have survived until now?”
Qu You suddenly recalled Song Shixuan mentioning the Crown Prince’s actions that day.
He had said he personally witnessed the Crown Prince cruelly killing servants. There was no reason for him to lie. But now, alone with Song Shiyan, would he lie to her? What purpose would it serve?
Song Shiyan took a deep breath, continuing with his eyes closed: “After that incident, I stopped hoping anyone would protect me… For a while, I even thought of giving up, wishing Father would strip me of my title as Crown Prince. Perhaps then, he’d show me more affection. So, I indulged in reckless behavior, but he stubbornly clung to the legitimacy of his eldest son. Every time I erred, he would suppress the matter publicly while punishing me privately.”
“So, what do I have to fear now?” Song Shiyan chuckled lightly. “Even when I killed Su Huai in Fan Building, he merely tried to silence witnesses, appease the Su family, and preserve the dignity and honor of the royal family…”
Qu You squeezed out between gritted teeth: “He wasn’t just protecting the Crown Prince. You’re also his son…”
“I am his son, but I am also the heir to the Eastern Palace!” Song Shiyan interjected. “To prevent me from gaining too much power, he forbade me from marrying my teacher’s daughter. He promoted Fu Qingnian to counter me for years. Fu Qingnian styled himself as a paragon of virtue but harbored dark intentions—his methods were even more despicable than mine! Over these years, I haven’t slept a single night peacefully, always fearing he’d catch me in a mistake and publicly humiliate me with corporal punishment… beaten until I was writhing in pain, stripped of all dignity, carried back to the Eastern Palace like a dog, forced to thank His Majesty for his mercy! To live with dignity and respect, loved and unconditionally trusted by all—I am the Crown Prince! Am I being greedy?”
“Freedom isn’t reckless indulgence,” Qu You replied coldly. “Power isn’t slaughter. It’s ruling from the clouds while remaining grounded, walking with humility and compassion for the ants beneath your feet. Regardless of your circumstances, it’s about willing to bend down and listen to the distant cries amid the clamor—to live amidst opulence while still smelling the stench of rotting flesh and seeing the bones by the roadside!”
“Do you know…” Qu You extended her finger, pointing at the soldiers pacing atop the city walls. Her voice grew stern: “They, the palace maids and eunuchs in the imperial court, the common people of Bian Capital below these walls, and the countless citizens across the land—they are not mere chess pieces for you to manipulate. They are people. No matter how meticulously you plan, the unpredictable nature of human hearts can accumulate into mountains and seas, overturning all your calculations. If you don’t hold them in your heart, they will trample you underfoot…”
“Well said!” Song Shiyan interrupted, tightening his grip on the chain around her wrist and pulling her closer. “But alas, no one ever taught me these lessons. You speak with such righteousness, but are you so sure that the person outside those gates, that group of people, your husband—he understands this?”
“Today… if it were your husband standing on these city walls, could you still be so righteous?”
“Of course!” Qu You answered swiftly and firmly. “Do you know the biggest difference between you and Zhou Tan? Even if he were pushed into a more painful situation than yours, I know he wouldn’t spill innocent blood to consecrate his sword.”
“Life and death are preordained, but I trust him.”
Song Shiyan fell silent for a moment, sneering: “Good, good, good couple, good loyalty. But what if…”
He didn’t continue, lifting his gaze instead to look beyond the city walls. The red sun had sunk to the horizon.
“Do you hear the sound of hooves in the wind?” He asked with a smile. “They’ll attack the city at dusk.”
Qu You followed his gaze.
“I have the Western Shaoshan army at my disposal, as you must already know. If I rely on them to win this battle, afterward, either they’ll all perish, or I’ll have to hand over Bian Capital to them. I truly don’t want to reach that point. I originally planned to hang you and those civil officials inside the city on the gates, telling Zhou Tan that for every step they take, I’ll kill one person; for every ten steps, I’ll massacre an entire household.”
“They’ll eventually run out of people to kill,” Qu You wasn’t frightened. She simply watched him quietly, her gaze tinged with pity. “You’ve already foreseen your own end. Telling me all this is just because you’re unwilling to accept it. Though you share the blood of Western Shaoshan, how could they ever consider you one of their own? And how could you bear to be infamous in history for eternity?”
Song Shiyan reached out, caressing her blood-streaked face. The cool touch of the jade ring on his finger made her shiver. In his deep, nearly black pupils, she saw her reflection. Before she realized it, his hands slowly moved downward, tightening once again around her neck.
“So what if there’s no turning back?”
This time, Song Shiyan’s face bore no trace of his previous intoxicated confusion. Instead, he was eerily calm—he truly intended to kill her.
“I know today is my death, whether we win or lose… Father told me before he died that Zhou Tan is Xiao Shu’s son.”
His grip wasn’t tight yet, and Qu You tugged twice, coughing: “He…”
“Xiao Shu saved me once. Father even instructed me to treat Xiao Shu’s son as my own brother. My own brother? Ha…” Song Shiyan’s voice dripped with bitterness. “All my brothers have died by my hand. If I can’t kill him, at least I can make him suffer. After all, how dare he have such good fortune—to marry you despite having nothing. I envy him so much…”
“Killing me won’t change anything. You’re just deceiving yourself…”
The sensation of oxygen deprivation was stronger than before. Qu You heard a strange buzzing in her ears. She swung the shackles in her hand and slammed them hard against Song Shiyan’s wrist. Pain shot through him, but he didn’t let go. Tilting his head slightly, his dark pupils radiated brutality and gloom, devoid of any light.
Just as he began to apply pressure, a sharp whistle cut through the air.
A white-feathered arrow flew from the shadows of the city wall, piercing precisely through his palm without harming Qu You in the slightest.
Song Shiyan’s expression changed drastically. Clutching his hand, he stumbled back a few steps. Before he could call for help, a woman slowly emerged from the shadows of the wall. In one hand, she held a bow; with the other, she removed her hood.
Qu You was as shocked as he was, momentarily unable to speak.
Song Shiyan ground his teeth: “You…”
Li Yuanjun tilted her head and gave him a slight smile: “Your Highness, don’t be angry.”
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