"Xie Beihan!" Ye Luan roared at him in fury.
Blood dripped from Xie Beihan's temple. He reached for his belt, his eyes fixed coldly on her on the bed, a cruel smile on his lips.
"If I take you, will Xiao Chizhan still marry you?!"
Ye Luan looked at him, her expression icy.
Xie Beihan leaned forward, lifting her chin with a smile.
"It matters not. If he doesn't marry you, I will."
"If you dare touch me, I will end my own life before he has a chance to marry me."
Ye Luan, holding her swollen belly, pushed him away and got off the bed.
Xie Beihan grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the bed.
"Get away from me, you disgust me."
Ye Luan's intense hatred in her eyes provoked Xie Beihan. He adjusted his robes and sneered.
"Is it really that serious?"
Ye Luan remained silent.
Xie Beihan sat on the edge of the bed and glanced at her.
Ye Luan's scalp tingled under his gaze. She gathered her thoughts and asked, "Aren't you going to get that bandaged?"
"When you attacked me, did you ever consider if I felt pain?"
A mocking smile played on his lips.
Ye Luan did not wish to speak with him on the bed and tried to get off.
But he placed a foot opposite her, blocking her path.
"Sit."
His expression turned cold.
Ye Luan knew she could not confront him directly, so her expression softened.
Che Ye was a necessary path back to Da Liang, adjacent to Dingxi City. Last night, they had entered the city to rest. In the middle of the night, Xue Ren suddenly informed her that Northern Qi troops were attacking in their direction, but the city gates were shut, and they could not get out.
With Xue Ren's martial prowess, he would surely be able to escape disguised amongst the chaos when they broke in this morning. She had already sent Xue Ren away to inform Xiao Chizhan.
As for herself, she could not leave.
If she were to leave this inn, Xie Beihan would surely conduct a widespread search within the city, and Wei Qingge, hiding outside, would also be killed.
Moreover, the Western Regions were in chaos because of her.
She glanced at Xie Beihan, who was looking down, lost in thought, and quietly clenched her fist.
"Xie Beihan, I do not wish to be a perpetrator of war."
Suddenly, she spoke to him.
Xie Beihan returned to his senses and glanced at her. "Then kill me, and all this will end."
Ye Luan remained silent.
He laughed, "You cannot bring yourself to be ruthless, can you?"
Blood trickled down his forehead, flowing past his brow bone. As he tilted his head, his face appeared both seductive and eerie.
"Your Majesty."
At this moment, a voice sounded from outside.
Xie Beihan stood up, pushed the door open, and brought in the bowl of medicine.
Ye Luan looked at the abortifacient and said, "This is very harmful to the body. I will prepare my own medicine."
Xie Beihan paused and then laughed. "Stalling for time, waiting for him to come and save you."
"Don't you love me?" Ye Luan got off the bed and looked at him coldly. "Can you not fulfill even this small request?"
Xie Beihan raised an eyebrow, set down the bowl of medicine, and chuckled softly.
"Silver-tongued."
Ye Luan was taken to a luxurious separate courtyard. She was oblivious to the events unfolding outside, nor did she wish to know.
She spent her days in the kitchen, researching medicine. Whenever Xie Beihan had free time, he would come to see her.
"What, haven't you finished brewing the medicine you want to drink yet?"
He leaned against the doorway, watching her with a light smile.
Ye Luan ignored him, her face cold as she busied herself.
She was waiting; Xiao Chizhan would surely come.
And the medicine she was concocting was for Xie Beihan.
He was too obsessive. Only by forgetting everything – forgetting her, forgetting the past, forgetting all events – could he peacefully become emperor.
However, what Ye Luan did not expect was that Xiao Chizhan would arrive so soon.
That day, the city walls of Dingxi City were suddenly attacked, and Da Liang's forces approached the city, causing unrest throughout Ruoqiang.
When Ye Luan heard the roar of battle outside, she had just taken the pill out of the furnace.
She quickly put the medicine into a pouch and ran out.
The small courtyard was surrounded by armor-clad guards, with sentries everywhere.
Soldiers rushed in and escorted her towards the city walls.
Beneath the majestic city walls, the scene was the same as before, with the battlefield ablaze, blood everywhere, cannons booming, scattered limbs and broken walls, and the suffering of the common people.
War, war!
Xie Beihan stood below the ramparts. Seeing her being brought, he grabbed her and pulled her to look down.
A vast expanse of the enemy army, a dense mass of black, their armor gleaming. The entire battlefield was shrouded in smoke.
Ye Luan's gaze immediately locked onto the man at the very front. He wore black, exuding an aura of ferocity on the desolate battlefield, his blood-red eyes filled with killing intent.
Da Liang's forces attacked fiercely, their battle cries deafening. The battlefield was a sea of blood and corpses.
She closed her eyes, unable to watch any longer.
It was all her fault; it was all because of her. She had to end it all herself.
End these sinful wars!
"Why are you hiding? Didn't I send someone to notify him? He's here, so why are you hiding?"
A sinister voice hissed like a vengeful spirit by her ear.
Ye Luan bit her lip, shoved him away, and stood on the city wall.
Dressed in a pale green robe, the cold wind whipped her sleeves, making them flutter. Although the color was cold, it seemed to adorn her with a vibrant, alluring hue.
Xie Beihan sneered, licking his lips, a layer of frost covering his eyes.
"What do you intend to do?"
"You know everything, how can you not know what I intend to do?"
She smiled faintly, listening to the clang of armor behind her, and spoke nonchalantly.
Xie Beihan flew into a rage, his feigned composure cracking to reveal the venomous malice beneath.
"If you dare seek death, I will make him and I irreconcilable!"
Ye Luan's eyes were cold. "Xie Beihan, you have gone mad. What you should be doing is returning to be your emperor. An emperor should not be so willful and reckless, abandoning the common people of the world.
"He would be utterly disappointed in you in the netherworld."
"Utterly disappointed?!"
Xie Beihan laughed heartily.
"Then let him come find me alive."
His expression held a hint of madness, making him look extremely terrifying.
"They are all dead, all dead. What use is it for me to sit alone on the emperor's throne?"
He reached out to pull her, smiling. "You stay with me."
Ye Luan took a step back, her toes instantly lifting from the ground.
"Come down!"
He roared sternly, his expression sinister.
Ye Luan looked at him indifferently. "Will everything truly end only if I die?"
Upon hearing this, a flicker of imperceptible panic crossed Xie Beihan's eyes. He softened his tone.
"Don't be difficult."
"Xie Beihan, I am not being difficult."
Her tone was unnervingly calm.
Xie Beihan suppressed the sudden surge of ferocity and coaxed her in a low voice.
"I know you hate war. We won't fight him anymore. I'll take you away."
Ye Luan smiled.
So, they all knew she detested war.
Then why did they all carry the sin of bloodshed in her name? They wanted to fight, to contend for territory and power in the Nine Provinces, why did they have to drag her into it?
Why must women always bear the blame for the chaos of war? Why were women the ones vilified in historical records?
The world would only remember that the war started because of a woman, and future generations would only curse her, chiding her as a temptress who brought ruin to the nation.
Why must she bear all the blame!
She wanted to end it all herself.
Her unadorned face smiled with a tragic beauty, like delicate stamens falling from a branch, causing a sharp pain in Xie Beihan's heart.
Preferring death to being with him.
"Why, tell me, why?"
"Where is he stronger than me? I was merely a step behind—"
Ye Luan regained her senses and interrupted his roar, shaking her head gently.
"Xie Beihan, there is no why. I love him!"
With that, she leaped directly off the city wall.
"Ye Luan!"
Two piercing screams instantly echoed through heaven and earth.
Under the barrage of cannon fire and arrows, she plummeted like a broken butterfly's wing, her vibrant beauty illuminated by the dark war, like peach blossoms scattered across the city walls, a desolate crimson on the ground.
Ye Luan looked up and saw the man galloping towards her, having crossed the vast army. Soldiers on both sides shielded him as arrows rained down and swords clashed all around.
She gambled again, betting that he would save her, just as he had before.