Actually, Han Yunxi had long guessed that the person who wanted her life in Tianning’s capital city was Chu Qingge. The member of the Nether Clan’s Chu family who detested her the most had to be Tianning’s youngest ever empress dowager. Chu Qingge had simply taken hating Han Yunxi as her life’s most important mission. If she knew that Han Yunxi didn’t care at all, would she fall apart?
Actually, she was on the verge of falling apart now, because she had finally discovered the truth!
Nothing she did could be compared to Han Yunxi besides her better birth origins. Her blood was supposed to be nobler than Han Yunxi’s, but who knew the woman would forever surpass her on all fronts? It was impossible to ignore or belittle her when she had the West Qin bloodline! Han Yunxi wasn’t the eldest daughter of the Han Clan’s first wife, but the most respected princess in the land, the West Qin princess!
Leaving aside the matters of national enmity, her bloodline and status alone had to be acknowledged as the most fitting match to Long Feiye, the East Qin crown prince. Chu Qingge felt that she’d been utterly defeated. She used to comfort herself with her own birth origins as a way to lie to herself, but now she didn’t even have that anymore…
The descendants of the Nether Clan were servants of West Qin. That made her Han Yunxi’s lackey! The woman she’d loathed and looked down on was actually her master. What else was more mocking than this?
Han Yunxi sat languidly in her seat as she examined Chu Qingge, who was standing in front of her gaping blankly. Her very souls seemed to ache to the point where she just wanted to wail and cry.
Why?
Someone tell me why it’s like this? This is nothing but a nightmare!
Han Yunxi and Chu Qingge didn’t speak. Compared to Long Feiye’s junior sister, Duanmu Yao, she didn’t have much thoughts on Chu Qingge at all.
“I’ve brought the person. You can tell me about the Shadow Clan’s whereabouts now, right?” Ning Cheng asked coldly.
Chu Qingge hadn’t seen Ning Cheng for a long, long time. She had even started missing his cold voice, because it gave her fantasies and comforted her ever wild and raging heart. She looked towards him now for eternity before suddenly laughing out loud.
“You, kill her. Kill her and I’ll tell you! The Shadow Clan only has one person left, and I know who he is. I’ve even seen him! With my own eyes!”
“You’re seeking death!” Ning Jing’s killing intent flared up as he gripped Chu Qingge by the neck. “Don’t be fool enough to reject a life-saving offer.”
Chu Qingge was still laughing as she looked askance at Han Yunxi. She stared at her for awhile too before chuckling to ask, “Han Yunxi, do you think your identity’s so glorious?”
Han Yunxi signalled Ning Cheng to let go. She had long found out about the Shadow Clan’s whereabouts. She didn’t come to see Chu Qingge to show off her strength or humiliate the woman, but only to ask the facts from her own mouth. After all, she only knew of Gu Beiyue being a member of the Shadow Clan, but not what he’d done before. She wanted to understand that better. Perhaps Chu Qingge might know some things she didn’t. For now, Han Yunxi could only say things against her will in front of Ning Cheng. Otherwise, she could end up as his puppet and never have the right to speak again. If she let Ning Cheng feel that she acknowledged her status, she could at least still have his loyalty and polite respect.
“Of course,” she answered. “My West Qin blood is the noblest of all.”
“Pah!” Chu Qingge actually spat. Fortunately, Han Yunxi dodged quickly enough to avoid the splatter. She was quite startled. In her memories, Chu Qingge had always been the ice beauty type with good self-possession. Now she was no different from some crazy old woman.
“Impertinence!” Ning Cheng dragged Chu Qingge harshly to the side until she was far away from Han Yunxi. Chu Qingge didn’t find her footing and tumbled to the ground. She sat there laughing like a lunatic.
“Han Yunxi, lemme tell you, I hate my birth! I’d rather be the daughter of a pariah, do you know why?”
As Han Yunxi watched the woman on the verge of a breakdown, she suddenly felt sorry for Chu Qingge. Although the woman had fallen for her trap to attract Emperor Tianhui’s attention and became his consort, in the end it was only because she was a Nether Clan descendant. The marriage alliance between Chu Qingge and Emperor Tianhui was forced on her by her father and brother. Otherwise, the Chu Clan’s longstanding support of Western Zhou would have dissolved the agreement without fuss. Han Yunxi’s mind suddenly recalled Ning Jing’s tear-streaked face.
“Han Yunxi, don’t you know my big sister Ning An gave up her childhood sweetheart and married into the palace when she was only 15 years old for that old Emperor Tianhui to ravage her?”
Both factions of East and West Qin had their grievances and injustices. Both sides had the right to resentment and hate. But if they paid injury with injury, when would it all end? How many more innocent men and women would turn into human sacrifices to suffer wrongs they didn’t deserve?
Han Yunxi dearly wished that the enmity between East and West Qin could just fade away, but she was all too clear that hatred like this wouldn’t disappear. It wasn’t just loathing, but something that concerned supremacy over Cloud Realm Continent! Even people without grudges would fight their heads bloody over power, much less East and West Qin. Who would willingly surrender their lands on a silver platter to someone else?
“If you were the daughter of a pariah, then you wouldn’t have to marry Tianhui,” Han Yunxi finally said something to Chu Qingge that came from her heart.
But Chu Qingge only laughed all the more wildly! “Han Yunxi, I knew it! I knew you wouldn’t understand! How could someone like you ever understand?”
Had she guessed wrong?
Han Yunxi was truly lost. “Then why?”
“Because I love him! I love him very, very much! I didn’t want to be born as his enemy!” Chu Qingge simply howled out the words. “Han Yunxi, let me tell you! I love Long Feiye! Even if I’m the Nether Clan’s descendant, I still can’t hate him, because I love him! Han Yunxi, I love him even more than you, hahaha~”
Chu Qingge had truly lost her mind. She couldn’t stop cackling as she finally found the one thing she could beat Han Yunxi in. She loved Long Feiye more than Han Yunxi!
If Han Yunxi was proud to be West Qin princess--proud to be an enemy of Long Feiye’s identity--then she must hate Long Feiye to the core after finding out about her origins, right?
“Hahaha, Han Yunxi, you’ve lost! You’ve lost! You don’t even have the right to love him, hahaha!” Although Chu Qingge was smiling, tears had somehow stained her face. “Han Yunxi, I dare to love him. I dare to say these words! Do you? You don’t, you won’t...hahahaha….”
Han Yunxi stopped pitying Chu Qingge as she looked at her coldly without a word. Ning Cheng grew angrier the more he heard. He simply drew his sword and interrupted Chu Qingge’s rants. “Enough! Just who’s the descendant of the Shadow Clan? If you won’t say, I’ll kill you with one strike!”
Han Yunxi wanted to stop him, but it was already too late. Ning Cheng hadn’t moved his sword, but Chu Qingge impaled herself on the weapon instead. Her actions left him surprised and stunned.
“Hurry and let go!” Han Yunxi rushed over while raging at Ning Cheng. He finally released his sword, allowing Han Yunxi to catch Chu Qingge in her arms. She didn’t dare to withdraw the weapon, but hastily ordered, “Find a doctor and plenty of blood-stopping pills, quick!”
Ning Cheng wouldn’t really kill Chu Qingge even if she didn’t tell him about the Shadow Clan. He never expected the woman to be so fearless in the face of death. He quickly went to get help while Han Yunxi cradled Chu Qingge in her arms with a cold warning.
“Chu Qingge, I’ll tell you this. If you want to like Long Feiye, then you better live on and tell him yourself! Duanmu Yao’s even told him to his face, but what about you? It’s useless if you tell me this much! You go find him yourself!” Han Yunxi suddenly thought of a phrase. “True love has no rivals.”
Chu Qingge’s love for Long Feiye was completely different from Duanmu Yao’s.
“I’m already dirty...I don’t have the right to tell him anymore.” Mouthfuls of blood poured from Chu Qingge’s lips. She held tightly to Han Yunxi’s hands as she struggled to voice her last words. “Han Yunxi, you...do you dare…? Do you dare to keep on loving him? I beg...beg you, Han Yunxi, I beg you to keep loving him, kill Ning Cheng, won’t you? Han Yunxi, you...you can’t lose to me!”
At this point, she couldn’t hold on any longer. Chu Qingge stared fixedly at Han Yunxi’s face as she died in her rival’s arms. Han Yunxi never thought that Chu Qingge would meet her end here. Perhaps the other woman thought the same. A sudden pain filled Han Yunxi’s heart, as if something had viciously torn off a chunk. It ached terribly!
Why was love so hard?
She murmured softly, “Chu Qingge, do you know? I just wanted to ask Long Feiye a single question. If...if I wasn’t the West Qin princess, would he still like me?”
“If--just if he said yes, then I’d definitely be braver than you.”
As Han Yunxi finished, she gently shut Chu Qingge’s eyes with her hands so the girl could rest in peace.
Ning Cheng stood by the door. All he saw was Han Yunxi and Chu Qingge speaking in low tones, but he didn’t catch their conversation. By the time the doctor arrived, Han Yunxi said, “There’s no need. She’s been freed.”
“What did she tell you? Was it about the Shadow Clan’s whereabouts?” Ning Cheng rushed over so quickly he nearly crashed into Han Yunxi.
Han Yunxi gave him a piercing look before he moved out of the way. “This subordinate has offended, may princess mete punishment.”
“I remember every single one of your affronts!” Han Yunxi declared unhappily.
“Princess, what did she say?” Ning Cheng was anxious. Over the past few years, his next main motive after seeking the imperial clan was tracking down the Shadow Clan.
“She said the descendant of the Shadow Clan is Gu Beiyue!” Han Yunxi covered up the revelation with the dark-robed assassin and pretended to feign surprise. “I had no idea--I never would have expected it!”
Ning Cheng was very surprised and all but slapped himself in the face. He had imprisoned Gu Beiyue in the past! How could he know Gu Beiyue had ended up collaborating with Long Feiye, or that Chu Tianyin was acting under those two’s orders after his return to Western Zhou? He always assumed that Gu Beiyue was simply a doctor.
“Aiya, I remembered something!” Han Yunxi continued to fake her surprise. “That year at the Skypit, a white-robed gentleman that knew the shadow arts kidnapped me. Could that have been Gu Beiyue? Jun Yixie was there then, too.”
“Jun Yixie…” Ning Cheng trailed off meaningfully.
“Right, he was there! What’s more…” Han Yunxi angrily describe how Jun Yixie had treated her, and how the white-robed gentleman had rescued her from his clutches.
Ning Cheng’s gaze grew more complicated as he listened. Seeing this, Han Yunxi finally knew how to get through to him!