novelSusiti Chapter 329 Xu Longxiang was happy! He regained his confidence!
Chapter 329 Xu Longxiang was happy! He regained his confidence!
"tell me,"
Xu Longxiang's voice was low, filled with barely suppressed urgency, "What exactly happened?"
Looking at the burning light in his eyes, Liu Hongyan felt a deeper sorrow in her heart.
She lowered her eyes, her voice soft, yet each word clear:
"That day I arrived in the capital of Liyang to discuss the alliance with the Liyang court. But after the discussion, the Empress of Liyang only told me to go back and wait. Before I received any news from her, I was detained by the Liyang Imperial Guard."
Her fingers tightened slightly inside her sleeve.
"They locked me in the Heavenly Prison, where I never saw the light of day, without asking why. I thought Li Yang was going to break the alliance, that they would kill me. But they didn't. They just kept me locked up for one day, two days, three days—"
She looked up and met his gaze.
"Until that day, Zhao Qingxue suddenly appeared in the Heavenly Prison. She didn't say anything, but simply had me taken out and brought to the Heavenly Revelation Hall. And then I saw—"
She paused, then lowered her voice.
"I saw Qin Mu sitting on the throne. Zhao Qingxue stood behind him. Li Yang, the Three Pillars of Stone, stood in the hall, bowing his head and listening attentively."
Xu Longxiang's pupils contracted slightly.
His fingers clenched tightly inside his sleeve, his knuckles turning white.
"The three pillars of Liyang, Zhang Julu, Gu Jiantang, and Li Chunfeng, they all—"
"I have surrendered."
Liu Hongyan picked up where he left off, her voice calm and undisturbed.
"The Li Yang Dynasty is gone. Zhao Qingxue married into the Great Qin, and Li Yang was incorporated into the Great Qin territory. The alliance is now just a piece of paper."
The hall fell silent for a moment.
The silence was brief, as short as the time it takes for a needle to fall, but Liu Hongyan felt it was as long as a lifetime.
"And what about you?"
Xu Longxiang's voice was hoarse, carrying a cautious tone she had never heard before.
"How did you escape?"
Liu Hongyan looked at him.
"I didn't run away."
She lowered her head, her voice very soft, as soft as a falling leaf drifting across the water.
"Qin Mu knew I was from the Northern Border. He wanted to kill me, but Zhao Qingxue pleaded for me. She said—"
She paused, then took a deep breath.
She said she needed someone to do her bidding.
Xu Longxiang fell silent.
He stood there, his Adam's apple bobbing, his hoarse voice carrying an uncontrollable heartache.
"So you just—"
"I'll stay."
Liu Hongyan continued his words, her voice still very soft.
"Stay by Zhao Qingxue's side as her maid. Nominally, it's serving her, but in reality, it's imprisonment."
"The price is to eliminate all the hidden agents within the Liyang Imperial City, leaving none behind."
"I had no choice, Your Highness. I was shocked at the time. I didn't understand why Zhao Qingxue was in contact with Qin Mu. I wanted to find out the truth, and only by living could I have a chance to find out the truth. So I agreed..."
She looked up and met his gaze.
In those phoenix eyes, there was only a deep, resigned weariness.
"Your Highness, I failed to complete the task you entrusted to me. All the spies that the Northern Border had cultivated in Liyang for many years have been eradicated. Those brothers, those brothers who have followed us for so many years—"
Her voice choked with emotion.
She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling violently, but she made no sound.
Xu Longxiang watched as her tears silently streamed down her face, and watched as she desperately tried to suppress her trembling, but could not stop it no matter what she did.
He was silent for a long time.
So long that Liu Hongyan's tears dried up, so long that the moonlight outside the window shifted an inch further.
"Red smoke."
He spoke, his voice hoarse, yet carrying a firmness she had never heard before.
"You've suffered."
Liu Hongyan raised her head and looked at him.
"You have not betrayed the North."
He spoke slowly and deliberately, each word seeming to be squeezed out from his chest.
"You were forced into this. You had your reasons. You did it to survive, to wait for this day, to wait for me to come to you—"
His voice grew lower and lower, deeper and deeper, until it was almost a muttering to himself.
"You did not betray me."
Liu Hongyan looked at him, at the burning light in his eyes.
The sorrow in her heart was so intense that it was almost overflowing.
She wanted to tell him that wasn't the case.
She wanted to tell him that this wasn't a predicament, but a betrayal.
She wanted to tell him that she had personally betrayed those brothers and personally uprooted the intelligence network that the Northern Border had cultivated in Liyang for many years.
She wanted to tell him that she could never go back.
But she can't.
"Your Highness."
She spoke, her voice hoarse.
"You're right. I didn't betray the North. I was just—forced into it."
The light in Xu Longxiang's eyes shone even brighter.
"Hongyan," his voice trembled slightly with excitement, "can you still stay by Zhao Qingxue's side?"
Liu Hongyan was slightly taken aback.
"Continue to lie low."
Xu Longxiang stepped forward, his deep brown eyes filled with a scorching, intense light.
"Qin Mu thinks you've been won over, that you've genuinely pledged your allegiance, and that you've become Zhao Qingxue's woman. He won't be wary of you. You can stay by Zhao Qingxue's side and relay messages for us. When the time is right—"
He didn't finish his sentence, but the light in his eyes said it all.
Liu Hongyan looked at him.
"Yes."
She lowered her head, her voice soft and steady.
"Understood."
Xu Longxiang's heart beat a little faster.
His breathing became rapid, his chest heaved violently, and an unnatural flush rose on his pale face.
He succeeded.
He was right.
Liu Hongyan did not betray the Northern Border; she was simply enduring humiliation and hardship.
She's still here, the roots of the Northern Border in Liyang haven't been severed, Liyang still has a chance, and Zhao Qingxue still has a chance.
There is still hope.
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
The thought came without warning, yet it burned brighter and brighter in his heart like a fire.
"Hongyan," his voice was hoarse, yet filled with an barely suppressed urgency, "Zhao Qingxue—where is she now? I want to see her."
Liu Hongyan's pupils contracted slightly.
Her heart clenched suddenly, and she almost cried out.
"Your Highness,"
She spoke, her voice even softer than before, with a cautious, tentative tone.
"You can't go. It's too dangerous. Although Qin Mu isn't with her, her residence is heavily guarded, with watchtowers both overt and covert, and the Dragon Shadow Guards patrol day and night. If you go, and are discovered—"
"I know."
Xu Longxiang interrupted her, his voice carrying a hint of resentment and helplessness.
"You're right. Now is not the time."
Liu Hongyan looked at him, at his eyes that had regained their light, and the sorrow in her heart was so intense that it was almost overflowing.
But her face remained expressionless; she simply stood there quietly, waiting for him to speak.
Xu Longxiang's gaze lingered on her face for a moment, then suddenly froze.
"There's one more thing."
His voice deepened, and the fire that had just ignited in his dark brown eyes was somewhat suppressed by a layer of shadow.
"The alliance between Liyang and the Northern Border was signed by Zhao Qingxue herself. Why would she tear up the alliance and turn to Qin Mu instead?"
Liu Hongyan's eyelashes trembled slightly.
She knew he would ask that question.
Qin Mu had already told her how to answer.
"I am unaware."
She lowered her head, her voice soft, carrying a perfectly measured, helpless apology.
"When Zhao Qingxue made this decision, I was still imprisoned in the imperial prison. I saw nothing and heard nothing. By the time I was released, everything was already set in stone."
Xu Longxiang's brows furrowed slowly.
His brow bones were already high, and when he frowned, his deep-set eyes looked even deeper, swallowing his eyes into two heavy shadows.
"You know nothing?"
There was a barely perceptible hint of anxiety in his voice.
Liu Hongyan shook her head.
"I only know one thing."
She paused, then looked up to meet his gaze.
"Sword fanatic Liu Bai is under Qin Mu's command."
Xu Longxiang's pupils suddenly contracted.
His brow furrowed even more deeply.
"Liu Bai?"
His voice was hoarse, with an incredulous, almost interrogative tone.
"Sword fanatic Liu Bai? The Liu Bai who was already famous throughout the land thirty years ago?"
"Yes."
Liu Hongyan's voice was soft and steady.
"A half-step terrestrial immortal. Under Qin Mu's command."
A brief, deathly silence fell over the hall.
Xu Longxiang stood still, motionless.
"A half-step terrestrial immortal realm."
He repeated those words in a low voice, so softly it was as if he were talking to himself.
Liu Hongyan looked at him and sighed.
"Maybe it's because of this."
"Perhaps there are other reasons. I truly do not know."
Xu Longxiang did not answer.
He stood there, head down, looking at his toes.
The hall was very quiet.
He suddenly remembered Zhao Qingxue.
I remember the way she stood outside the east gate of the imperial city saying goodbye to him.
The morning light shone on her, bathing her in a pale golden glow.
She looked at him with a complex gaze, a mixture of scrutiny, assessment, and something else she couldn't quite put her finger on.
He thought it was the Empress's consideration for her allies.
He thought that as long as he was powerful enough, as long as he overthrew Qin Mu, as long as he sat in that position, she would look at him with a different eye.
But he now realizes that he didn't understand her gaze at all.
He had no idea what she was thinking.
Xu Longxiang slowly loosened his fingers inside his sleeve.
He looked up at Liu Hongyan.
"I see."
He said his voice was hoarse, but every word was clear.
He didn't ask any more questions.
No one asked why Liu Bai was under Qin Mu's command, no one asked why a half-step terrestrial immortal would submit to a tyrant, no one asked whether Zhao Qingxue was forced or willing, and no one asked what she was thinking.
He just stood there, looking at Liu Hongyan, at her pale, slightly swollen face.
"Red Smoke," he said softly, "you've suffered."
Liu Hongyan's eyes suddenly felt a little sore.
She gritted her teeth and forced back the tears.
"Your Highness," she said, her voice hoarse, "it's getting late. You should go."
Xu Longxiang looked at her, nodded, turned around, and walked towards the window.
After taking two steps, he suddenly stopped without looking back.
"Red smoke."
His voice was very soft, as soft as a falling leaf drifting across the water.
"Marry me after we've accomplished this great thing."
Liu Hongyan was stunned.
She stood there, her eyes wide open, her pupils filled with unbelievable shock.
Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but something seemed to be blocking her throat, and she couldn't squeeze out a single word.
he's gone.
He didn't wait for her reply, nor did he even turn around to look at her.
He finished speaking, turned and left, disappearing into the night.
Outside the window, the locust tree branches rustled in the night wind, and moonlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled, shimmering shadows on the ground.
His shadow was no longer visible in those lights and shadows.
Liu Hongyan stood still, motionless.
The moonlight shone on her, making her pale, slightly swollen face exceptionally clear.
Her eyes were still fixed on the direction he had disappeared in.
His words kept echoing in her mind.
Marry me after this big event is accomplished.
Liu Hongyan's tears finally welled up and spilled out.
The tears slid silently down her pale cheeks, dripping onto her moon-white dress and spreading out dark stains.
She didn't cry out loud, she just stood there, her shoulders trembling violently, letting the tears flow freely.
She didn't know why she was crying.
Are we crying for him, for ourselves, for the North, or for that promise that will never be fulfilled?
she does not know.
All she knew was that she could never go back.
She could never return to the North, never return to the past, never return to that little girl who stood in front of Zhenyue Hall, looking up at the plaque.
She can't go back.
The moonlight outside the window gradually shifted westward, and the shadow of the locust tree slowly rotated on the ground.
She stood by the window for a long time, until her tears dried, until her legs went numb, until the oil lamp burned out its last flame, leaving only a wisp of thin, curling smoke on the table.
She finally moved.
She turned around, walked back to the table, and sat down in the chair.
The book on the table was still open, stuck on the page she had turned to a long, long time ago.
She didn't flip it again, but just sat there, watching the wisp of smoke dissipate little by little.
Outside the window, the night wind had stopped.
The locust tree fell silent.
Even the moonlight remained still.
Everything fell silent, as still as a clear morning after a heavy snowfall in the North, a pristine white expanse, devoid of anything.
Liu Hongyan sat at the table, watching the wisp of smoke dissipate little by little.
She sat there, motionless, her back slightly hunched, like a flower broken by a storm.
Her breathing was light and slow, with each inhale accompanied by a barely perceptible tremor.
Then she heard footsteps.
Lightly and steadily, stepping on the gold bricks, one step after another.
Liu Hongyan's body tensed up suddenly, the tension starting from her back, like a rope being suddenly taut.
Almost instinctively, she stood up from her chair, her knee hitting the table leg with a dull thud, causing the books on the table to slip off.
Ignoring the pain, she turned around and faced the palace gate.
The palace doors were pushed open, and moonlight flooded in, outlining the figure with exceptional clarity.