Xue Niang sat with her face against Xiao Shan's chest. The horse ran swiftly, and she held tightly onto Xiao Shan's strong waist as the wind whistled past her ears.
He hadn't said a word the entire way, only holding her with one arm and the reins with the other, riding into the deepening night on a deserted bluestone path.
She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but she felt Xiao Shan's body trembling slightly.
When she had seen him earlier, there had been bloodstains on him. Was he injured?
Her hands couldn't help but start to caress him, from his lower back to his shoulders, then moving her right hand from his back to his chest.
Xiao Shan's body tensed, and the arm around her waist tightened involuntarily.
As Xue Niang's fingers brushed past a prominent bulge, he let out a muffled groan. He yanked hard on the reins, and the horse's whinny in the darkness was sharp and piercing.
"What exactly do you want!"
Xiao Shan grabbed her hand and flung it away. His voice was hoarse with anger, like a beast on the verge of a rampage.
"I, I wanted to see if you were injured."
She couldn't see clearly and tried to widen her eyes.
Xiao Shan closed his eyes. At this point, how could she still look at him like that, pitying him?
He didn't need it!
Even if he couldn't have her heart, he would keep her person here!
"Xiao Shan, are you angry with me?" Xue Niang lowered her head, her voice filled with unconcealable sadness. "You should be angry. I said I wouldn't leave, but I didn't keep my word."
"I'm not angry."
Xue Niang felt a tightness in her chest. She bit her lower lip hard, trying to stop herself from crying. "You are angry, I know you are angry. You can do whatever you want to vent your anger, hit me or scold me."
"I said I'm not angry!" Xiao Shan shouted irritably.
He had been very angry, more than just angry. He had even thought of ways to torment her.
To possess her fiercely.
To break her legs.
To imprison her in a room, forever deprived of freedom.
Or...
Many, many things. He had thought of them all the way he ran, planning to slap her the moment he saw her, then to say to her fiercely, "You're just a slave I bought, who gave you the courage to run away!"
"Do you think you're still that noble young lady?"
"Do you think you can still return to the man you love?"
He had thought of so much, but then—
"When I left the city, I saw a group of refugees, they were dividing a corpse. I thought it was you..."
Xiao Shan's voice was so low it was almost inaudible, his clenched fist trembling uncontrollably.
At that moment, his blood had almost frozen, his mind a blank.
By the time he reacted, there were already bodies on the ground. The woman being devoured was a young woman, missing a thigh.
It wasn't Xue Niang.
Xiao Shan didn't want to expose his weakness to Xue Niang, but his body was trembling, and his chest felt tight again, unable to breathe. The reins in his hand were almost digging into his flesh.
"I don't dare to be angry anymore. As long as you are alive, I won't be angry."
"Xiao Shan..."
Xue Niang's tears flowed like a dam. She hugged his neck and cried heartbrokenly.
"What should I do, what should I do? I didn't want to leave, my heart is breaking... Xiao Shan..."
"I understand. You've remembered everything. You feel you've wronged your past lover and are also ashamed before me." His voice was suppressed and low, as if forced out of his chest.
"No, no..." Xue Niang shook her head in pain. "It's not like that. I will bring you harm. We cannot be together."
Xiao Shan wanted to ask, why can't they be together? He was unmarried, she was unwed, why couldn't they be together?
However, there was movement from behind, likely Yuan Bufei returning with his men.
Xiao Shan had no choice but to suppress his doubts and pull Xue Niang closer, heading towards Bozi Village.
Upon reaching home, Xiao Shan patted Qian Xing. Qian Xing shook its head and reluctantly returned to the forest.
It was already past midnight. Xue Niang was exhausted and had cried the entire way. Xiao Shan laid her on the bed. She buried her face in the quilt, and a deep sense of peace washed over her.
She was home.
Their home.
It was strange, but the imperial palace where she had lived for twenty years couldn't compare to this thatched hut in a poor mountain village.
Xiao Shan brought water and, as usual, began to wash her feet.
"Xiao Shan." Xue Niang sat up, gazing blankly at his features.
This man never had flowery words. His love was like a deep ocean, all contained within the daily trivialities.
If only, if only, she truly didn't want to leave...
"Xiao Shan, do you know about the divine maiden of Da Jing? The divine maiden that Granny Hua spoke of?"
"If you're tired, you should rest first!" Xiao Shan didn't understand why she was bringing up these stories now. She had cried all the way, her clothes soaked with tears, and her spirit seemed truly unwell.
And he also wanted to take a moment to breathe, not wanting to say more.
"I'm not sleeping, I want to speak. Xiao Shan, I am the divine maiden born eighteen years ago in Da Jing, the eldest daughter of Emperor Zhao He, Princess Ling Yao."
"What?" Xiao Shan looked somewhat confused. "Princess Ling Yao?"
If not for the marriage alliance, Xiao Shan would have had no impression of Princess Ling Yao at all. She was practically an invisible person, known only by name, never seen.
Everyone knew of Princess Ling Xi, but the name Ling Yao was hardly ever mentioned.
For a military officer like him, who spent most of his time on the frontier, he wouldn't pay attention to how many princesses the royal family had.
Xue Niang watched Xiao Shan's reaction, but saw that he was only focused on Princess Ling Yao, not even asking about the divine maiden she mentioned.
"Princess Ling Yao went to marry into the Tujue!" Xiao Shan's eyes became serious. The scenes from her sleepwalking flashed through his mind.
"How did she end up here?"
With so many escorting guards for the marriage alliance, how could there have been a lapse that allowed human traffickers to capture her?
"I didn't go to the Tujue. It was Qing He, my maid, who replaced me. She said I was too delicate, and even if I didn't die on the way to the marriage alliance, I wouldn't survive once I reached the Tujue. You probably don't know, but among the escorts for the marriage alliance, some were people from Grand Tutor Lu. I killed his son, and he had already intended to kill me on the way."
"Then how did she fall into the hands of human traffickers?"
"Qing He changed clothes with me, poisoned the guards, and then set fire to the tent. Taking advantage of the chaos, she helped me escape. It was dark, and while escaping, I fell into a mountain crevice. When I woke up, I was in the hands of human traffickers."
"So, you really are Princess Ling Yao?"
Xiao Shan finally understood. The things that hadn't made sense before were now explained. She was the second prince's biological sister, not Princess Ling Yin.
That was why she had killed Grand Tutor Lu's son, and why the Emperor and Prince Ru Nan had desperately protected her.
But if the Emperor protected her then, it showed he cared for his daughter. Why then did he send her to the Tujue without hesitation?
He still couldn't figure it out.
"Xiao Shan, you are Xiao Qi Shan, aren't you? You didn't die, you hid yourself here." Xue Niang felt it was him because two years ago, when he entered the palace for an award, she had secretly gone to see him. At that time, she had only seen his straight back, and half of his profile when he turned his head slightly.
"Xue Niang, you've really seen me?"
Xiao Shan found it increasingly unbelievable. He thought he had casually rescued a young female slave, but she turned out to be Princess Ling Yao, who was supposed to marry into the Tujue. He knew nothing of her, yet she had seen him at some point?
"You really are." Xue Niang cried tearfully. "You said you would die, and you died. Da Jing lost its pillar. Father changed completely, saying he didn't want me and discarding me like garbage..."
She covered her face and began to cry.