14y

Liu Qi once again grabbed the hand trying to pull down his underclothes, his tone growing sharper with anger. "Only my leg is injured. My hands still work. I don’t need you serving me."

Yun Shiqing gave a light smile. "Don’t be angry, my lord. Your young master is watching. If we’re putting on a show, we should play our parts thoroughly, or he might get suspicious."

Liu Qi paused to sense the surroundings and indeed found someone watching. Suppressing his anger, he said calmly, "I don’t need to relieve myself. Let go."

Yun Shiqing really did release him but continued to lightly support him. "Earlier, you said you didn’t want the King of Gongbu’s selfish ambition to damage diplomatic ties between our nations. You also asked Ulusuntu for a shortcut to Nazang. Are you planning to go to Zongge City to report to Mu Nie Zampu?"

Liu Qi nodded.

Yun Shiqing frowned and scolded in a low voice, "Are you mad? Zongge City is all the way in Qinghai, thousands of li from here. It’s early spring and still freezing. The mountains are buried in snow, and the paths are treacherous. By the time you reach Zongge, the Dragon Boat Festival will be over. Not to mention, the triennial imperial exams are on the sixth of the third lunar month. You’re an examiner. How can you be absent?"

Emperor Zhaoyuan of Great Ye had long ruled with benevolence. Last year in the second lunar month, the Empress Dowager passed away. In mourning at her tomb, the emperor had made an exception and postponed the exams by a full year. If there was another delay this year, the people would not accept it.

Liu Qi explained, "There’s no need to go as far as Zongge. As long as I reach the Nazang border, someone will pass the message to Mu Nie Zampu. From what I know, crossing the Qionglai Mountains takes more than half a month, but with the shortcut, the journey can be shortened considerably."

Yun Shiqing snorted coldly. "It’s already the tenth of the second month. Your gu poison will flare up again in five days. Xi Feici still hasn’t returned from the tribe. Do you plan to drag me along as your living antidote? And your leg isn’t even healed. How do you plan to climb mountains like that?"

Liu Qi’s face remained calm, his voice detached. "As long as the court’s reinforcements haven’t arrived, we must endure. If the King of Gongbu launches a rebellion, both nations will suffer. As long as I reach Nazang before the poison acts up, nothing will go wrong. What comes after... I leave to fate."

Yun Shiqing let out a laugh. "What a noble ‘leave it to fate.’ You really do take life lightly, my lord. But have you forgotten what it’s like when that lust-gu strikes? You’ll die naked and in disgrace, your name forever stained by rumors of dying unsatisfied. When they write about you in the history books, that part will be bold and vivid."

"Can you stop being so sarcastic?"

"Just stating the facts. You lecture His Majesty with scathing words all the time. Now someone says a few truths to you, and you can’t handle it?"

Liu Qi didn’t bother arguing. Limping, he made his way back into the hut.

The snow had stopped, but the air was colder than ever. From the thatched eaves hung a row of icicles, all different lengths, as clear as glass.

Beautiful but fragile.

Seeing the two return, Ulusuntu shifted upright on the straw pile and said indifferently, "I need to relieve myself too."

Yun Shiqing glanced over. "You want me to help you?"

Ulusuntu gave a soft grunt in response, not denying it.

Yun Shiqing deliberately provoked him. "Liu Qi is my former lover. I’m only helping him out of old affection. You and I aren’t related. Why should I serve you?"

Ulusuntu’s jaw clenched tight, grinding his back teeth.

Liu Qi asked, "Do you really need to go?"

Ulusuntu’s face softened at once. "No..."

Liu Qi ignored the snort behind him and fixed his gaze on Ulusuntu. "Do you still remember what I said to you that night?"

Ulusuntu thought for a moment and nodded.

Liu Qi spoke solemnly. "You have a kind heart. You shouldn’t be swept into your father’s ambitions. History is written by the victors. Even if your father succeeds, what then? Once he controls Nazang, what will he do? He’s already schemed against the ministers of Great Ye and taken our taxes and soldiers. Diplomatic relations will collapse. When that happens, Nazang will face more than just Great Ye. The northern Daxia, the southern Dali, even the seven clans of the grasslands will want their share.

"The land will be ruined, wolves will surround you, and Nazang will be besieged on all sides. That is your future. Your father is blinded by ambition and no longer cares for his people. You’re the heir of Gongbu. Can you bear to watch innocent people die, or see women and children suffer grief?"

Ulusuntu lowered his eyes and stayed silent, hands bound and fists clenched.

Liu Qi sighed softly, his tone gentle and calm like polished jade. "In peaceful times, the people prosper. In war, corpses fill the land. Though human life is fleeting, as long as we bear responsibility, we must work for the people’s good. You are the heir of Gongbu, a son of Nazang. You must put the nation before yourself."

The boy’s eyelashes trembled violently, his throat moving with anxiety.

After a long pause, he said hoarsely, "But I’m still his son..." Then he looked at Liu Qi. "If you were me, what would you do?"

Liu Qi answered without hesitation. "If peace could be preserved, I wouldn’t fear being called unfilial."

Ulusuntu’s lips pressed into a tight line, his eyes suddenly red.

Yun Shiqing sat nearby quietly adding firewood, his eyes on the two of them, without a hint of warmth.

Seeing the boy’s resolve waver, Liu Qi continued, "Your father hasn’t raised his troops yet. If you can persuade him now, the alliance between Great Ye and Nazang may still survive. But once two hundred thousand Great Ye soldiers cross the Qionglai Mountains and reach Zongge, the world will descend into chaos."

Ulusuntu slowly shook his head. "He won’t listen to me. He always thought I was nothing but a spoiled fool. He never let me in on his plans. I have no say. I can’t change anything."

“You don’t need to persuade him,” Liu Qi said. “Just tell me the shortcut around the Qionglai Mountains.”

The boy’s pupils widened, gradually turning amber. “You… you’re going to inform Ake?”

The Nazang people referred to uncles as “Ake.” For Ulusuntu, his Ake was Mu Nie Zampu.

Liu Qi fixed his gaze on him and gave no reply.

Ulusuntu turned his face away, refusing to meet his eyes. His voice turned hoarse. “I don’t have Prime Minister Liu’s sense of duty to country. I only have my father. I won’t betray him.”

Liu Qi didn’t press him. He gently shifted his injured leg and fell silent.

Yun Shiqing said quietly from the side, “Since the young master already knows Lord Liu’s plan and refuses to help, we can’t leave him alive.” As he finished speaking, he drew his sword and held it against Ulusuntu’s neck. With just a touch, the blade cut into the boy’s honey-colored skin, and a few drops of blood slowly welled up.

Ulusuntu showed no fear. “Kill me if you want, just make it quick.”

Yun Shiqing smiled coldly. “Killing is easy. What’s hard is making someone wish for death but not letting them die. Has the young master heard of the punishments used by our dynasty’s Imperial Investigation Bureau? For example, throat-washing, finger-combing, and bone-setting.”

Throat-washing meant pouring boiling soup down the throat. Finger-combing used an iron comb as sharp as a blade to scrape off the flesh from all ten fingers, leaving only bone. Bone-setting was even simpler: each day, one joint would be dislocated and reattached the next, only to dislocate another, repeating until every joint in the body had been torn and pieced back together.

Perhaps he had heard of such tortures before, because Ulusuntu’s face slowly turned pale.

“There’s no need to scare him,” Liu Qi said, casting a glance at Yun Shiqing. He turned back to Ulusuntu and added, “Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety are hard to balance. If you’re unwilling, we won’t force you.”

Around shenshi, light snow began to fall again. Liu Feng returned to the thatched hut through the wind and snow, carrying a freshly hunted muntjac over his shoulder.

After cleaning the muntjac, he set it over the fire to roast. By dusk, the rich aroma of meat began to fill the air, making mouths water.

Just as he was portioning out the roasted meat, footsteps crunched in the snow outside. Everyone immediately grew alert. Liu Feng grabbed his saber and rushed outside, only to see Chen Xiaoguo approaching with a bulging sack slung over his shoulder. Snow covered his robe hem and shoulders, and he looked quite disheveled.

“Why are you just standing there? Give me a hand!” he panted, his breath turning white in the cold.

Liu Feng let out a breath and quickly took the sack from him, carrying it inside.

Chen Xiaoguo had bought quite a bit—grains, dried food, even pots and bowls. Liu Qi smiled. “Daozhang, you’ve thought of everything. You’ve brought all we need.”

While chewing the roasted meat, Chen Xiaoguo mumbled, “The mountain’s blocked by snow, and that Mu fellow is doing everything he can to hunt you down. Looking around, this place still seems the safest. We’ve got several mouths to feed. We can’t survive on mountain yams forever.”

Yun Shiqing asked, “Did anyone notice you?”

Chen Xiaoguo grinned proudly. “Prime Minister Yun can relax. I’ve always been careful. No one saw me. But keeping that kid here is making Mu Qi tighten the perimeter. Forget leaving the city, we might not even get out of the town.”

Liu Feng said angrily, “If we’d known the Transfer Commissioner Shen Jie was actually the Gongbu King in disguise, we should’ve let Xi Feici kill him when she had the chance. It would’ve saved us the trouble!”

Ulusuntu sat in the hay, silent.

Yun Shiqing mocked, “The Prefect of Chengdu, Ran Nian, was in on it too. If your young lord hadn’t been so soft-hearted and agreed to save his wife and children, none of this would’ve happened.”

Liu Qi raised his eyes to the snowy sky outside the window and said nothing for a long time.

After reapplying Liu Qi’s medicine, Liu Feng and Chen Xiaoguo took turns keeping watch.

Snow kept falling. The night grew colder. The broken wooden window let in gusts of wind that made the fire crackle and hiss.

Around midnight, as everyone slept, Liu Qi suddenly woke. His ears twitched slightly. He had heard something.

Across the room, Yun Shiqing also opened his eyes. In the dim firelight, he met Liu Qi’s gaze. “Someone’s coming.”

Liu Feng peered out through the wooden window. The snow-covered mountains glowed faintly in the night. All was silent.

He tiptoed out of the hut and climbed a high spot in the yard. At the foot of the mountain, a mile away, firelight blazed. Clearly, a group was approaching.

He hurried back and said to Liu Qi, “My lord, bad news. A group is heading up the mountain.”

Liu Qi frowned. “Most likely the Gongbu King’s men.”

Liu Feng kicked Chen Xiaoguo awake. “Did you send word and bring them here?”

Half-asleep, Chen Xiaoguo muttered, “Send what word? I owe my life to Prime Minister Liu. Why would I betray him?”

Yun Shiqing said, “There’s a narrow path southwest of here. It leads down the mountain. We must leave immediately.”

Chen Xiaoguo’s eyes snapped open. “What about the food?”

“What’s more important, food or your life?” Liu Feng glared at him, then brought over two horses from behind the house. “My lord, ride with the Prime Minister. I’ll carry Ulusuntu.”

Chen Xiaoguo pointed to himself. “And me?”

Liu Feng tore a strip of cloth to gag Ulusuntu, gritted his teeth, and lifted him onto the horse. “Daozhang, you’ve got fast legs. You’ll catch up.”

Chen Xiaoguo protested, “Wait… you all…”

Yun Shiqing mounted his horse, pulled Liu Qi up with him, and once he was seated, spurred the horse down the barren path.

Wind and snow raged through the night, lashing their faces like knives. Liu Qi couldn’t open his eyes against the snow. His healing wound tore open again from the jostling.

He instinctively reached for his injured leg, but Yun Shiqing pulled him tightly into his arms. Liu Qi froze, his breath catching for a moment, then said, “I won’t fall. It’s just the wound tearing a little.”

The arm wrapped around his waist gradually loosened. Yun Shiqing, unusually, said nothing to tease him. The spirited horse followed the rugged mountain path, and within moments, they reached the foot of the mountain.

The torch-bearing group had already made it halfway up. A rough count put them at forty to fifty people.

Soon after, Liu Feng came down the mountain with Ulusuntu on horseback. Chen Xiaoguo also caught up, hauling a sack full of pots and bowls, moving as fast as the wind. He braced his hands on his knees, panting heavily and complaining, “These… these pots… these utensils, I bargained for so long to get them… and you didn’t bring a single one!”

Liu Qi ignored the noisy Daoist and motioned for Liu Feng to come closer. Then he turned to Ulusuntu and said, “Ahead should be the border between Yazhou and Nazang. The young master is very familiar with this terrain. May I ask you to guide us through?”

Ulusuntu stared fixedly at Yun Shiqing. Yun Shiqing lowered his eyes and slowly moved his hands away from Liu Qi’s waist.

Liu Qi untied the cloth at the corner of Ulusuntu’s mouth and said again, “I beg the young master to show me a shortcut out of the Qionglai Mountains.”

💌 Sorry, I'm not sure if this story will continue
since I got an email saying they want to translate it :)
So it might be put on the drop list, but we'll see~