Fengyu found Xie Xun sitting on the rooftop in Salt City, drinking. After she ntioned she was going to the Twelve States, Xie Xun left the study and stopped participating in the discussions. Fengyu and Xie Jue discussed the details in the study for nearly two hours. As ti went on, Fengyu seed increasingly distracted, while Xie Jue beca more energized, wanting to sit down for a long talk about a three-to-five-year plan. Noticing her absent-mindedness, the efficiency-oriented Second Young Master sent Fengyu to find Xie Xun.
Nuanyang whispered a complaint, "Master drank an entire jar of wine."
Fengyu furrowed her brows. Xie Xun was gravely injured and hadn’t yet healed, and the doctor had strictly prohibited alcohol. Salt City, being in the northern territory, favored strong liquor. Fengyu had tried a few sips of sorghum wine—it was overwhelmingly strong.
She tilted her head to look at Xie Xun. He was wearing black robes, blending into the night, sitting quietly on the rooftop bathed in moonlight. Cold and distant, he seed even more ethereal than the moonlight, appearing distinctly lonely. Fengyu felt a pang in her chest.
As she climbed the ladder, Qiuxiang grew anxious and cried out from below, "Young Marquis, please co down. My young lady has never climbed a rooftop before; if she falls, you won’t feel any pain, but surely you’ll feel guilt!"
Xie Xun remained unmoved. Qiuxiang wanted to say more, but Chunlu held her back. Fengyu carefully climbed the rooftop, genuinely afraid of slipping and falling. Xie Xun stayed cold and indifferent, looking at her only when she couldn’t see him. Fengyu, with a sense of relief, made it to the top and sat beside him.
"Are you angry?"
Xie Xun’s sharp and profound features carried a sense of natural authority—when he smiled, he was roguishly charming; when expressionless, he exuded the deadly pressure of a sword unsheathed, making others dare not et his gaze. Since the day he cried bitterly in her arms, Fengyu had never seen Xie Xun smile again. Those monts of joy, carefree spirit, and laughter had been buried in the rain-soaked night of his family’s demise.
Fengyu felt a dull ache in her heart. She understood that at this critical mont, she shouldn’t leave Xie Xun. After losing so many loved ones, he was at his lowest point, needing her most. Yet, she had no choice but to go. Beyond laying the groundwork for future military supply depots, she also had to manage the industries of the Twelve States.
Her sister’s fate hung in the balance; her parents and grandmother were trapped in the Capital City. The mineral resources of the Twelve States could not fall into the hands of the court. She also had to find a way to free her parents and grandmother from the Capital City.
She couldn’t be in two places at once and had no choice but to leave Xie Xun.
Xie Xun tilted his head back, drinking wine as its fragrance drifted on the night breeze. Fengyu snatched the wine jar from him. Xie Xun’s expression darkened, only to see Fengyu tilt her head back and take a swig of the strong liquor. Xie Xun, angered, snatched the jar back again. Fengyu choked and was reduced to tears, her reddened nose glistening as she looked at him tearfully, her gaze brimming with unspeakable grievance. Xie Xun felt as though his heart had been fiercely struck, yet he coldly looked away.
The late-night Salt City was incredibly silent. The wind was quiet, yet stifling, and the stars lit up the expanse of the sky.
The joys and sorrows, loves and hatreds of mortals could not overshadow the starlight, which glittered so painfully bright that it stabbed his eyes. Xie Xun remained trapped in that rain-drenched night in the Capital City, dood to never escape.
Now, Fengyu was leaving as well.
"Before my sister married, she handed the industries of the Twelve States." Fengyu pulled out the Token of the Twelve States from her chest. "This industry, most vital to the Marquis Mansion, she entrusted to . Was it foresight, do you think? Ever since I took this token, I have been determined to restore the Twelve States’ industries. Their industrial structure is incredibly complex and inherently flawed, largely due to years of warfare. Now, chaos reigns in Yanyang, and the Twelve States have beco inevitable battlegrounds between you and Yuwen Jing. I want, when you seize the Twelve States, for them to be prosperous lands with loyal citizens. I want, like my sister, to provide you with stable supplies of grain and military necessities, so that you can fight free of burdens. Xie Xun, food is the heaven of the people, and soldiers are people too. If you wish to take revenge and march on the Capital City, you must first sustain this cavalry. If I stay with you, I am but a parasitic dodder flower, trapped in the rear residence, praying for your safety and waiting day after day at the door for you to return safely. As a child, I waited for my parents to co back from the Ningzhou frontlines, only to grow from excitent to indifference, from hope to despair. I don’t want adulthood to be a repetition of childhood—waiting at the door for my husband to return from dawn to dusk, from fervent passion to an icy numbness."
Fengyu looked at him tenderly. "I ache for you, pity you, want to remain by your side. Seeing you isolated and sitting on the rooftop drinking, I admit it—I softened. I can give up the Twelve States; I can stay with you. But Xie Xun, if I stay and love you, will you be able to walk out of the rain-soaked night in the Capital City?"
She was sharply aware that the hatred he carried could not be exorcised simply by companionship. It could only be repaid with blood—though, even then, it might never soothe his regrets and pain.
Xie Xun lowered his gaze and remained silent.
"Ningzhou also has military fields. They’re cultivating new lands too—they need soone managing the rear like you do. Can’t you stay in Ningzhou instead?" Xie Xun’s tone was icy. "Your health isn’t good. Traveling all the way to the Twelve States, where bandits outnumber soldiers, and news spreading of the rebellion by and Second Brother from the Capital—the chaos would be uncontrollable. The Marquis Zhenbei Mansion banner would lose its remaining authority. I would be in Ningzhou, where the sky is high and the waters long, yet one day I might receive word of your death."
"I won’t die!"
"Who can guarantee that?" Xie Xun suddenly erupted in fury, smashing the wine jar onto the ground, shards flying everywhere. The commotion frightened Feiying and Nuanyang into silence. "My father swore confidently that the royal family could be trusted—that after the reforms, our family could move to Ningzhou. What was the result? He died under a frenzy of blades. My mother, concubine, elder sister, eldest brother—all dead. Not even a Marquis could protect his own life. How will you?"
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