Chapter 4 Extra 4 (Yan Wan Part 2) Yan Wan's final cycle...
Chapter 85
When she woke up again, it was three days later. Liang Yue issued eight imperial edicts in succession, summoning Yan Danqing back from Beidu. Chi Zhanlan Ce sat in the embassy having tea and smiled as he let her leave.
Yan Wan turned to look at him, her eyes icy cold.
Chi Zhanlan Ce smiled gently: "I know you are not afraid of death. You and Yan Danqing are the same kind of people. People like you only have the common people in your hearts and eyes, and always want to protect more people."
He paused, then continued:
“I don’t know what you’ve been through, or why you seem to know the future, but it seems like everyone is ignoring you. I can’t even remember clearly. Your emperor was so anxious and out of control. It seems that our fate is unknown, and you are already on the verge of death.”
Chi Zhanlan Ce put down his teacup and said with a final smile, "Your Majesty, stop thinking about how to protect others and save yourself."
Yan Wan's breath hitched.
This person is incredibly intelligent. Even without knowing anything, they can deduce a great deal of information. And three days ago, when Chi Zhanlan Ce stated that their lives were of unequal value, Yan Wan suddenly hesitated—
Is this really the last loop?
If she dies and the world restarts immediately, then what is the point of sacrificing herself to kill Chi Zhan Lan Ce?
Yan Wan rushed back to the palace to stop Liang Yue.
However, while Liang Yue, Jiang You, and Zhang Yuanmou were preparing the peace treaty, Yan Danqing was forcibly recalled and was about to return to Nanjing.
Inside the Imperial Study, Yan Wan and Liang Yue had another big argument.
“Kill him, it’s not too late!” Yan Wan stood below, looking up at him intently, gritting her teeth.
"No!" Liang Yue retorted without hesitation, sitting stiffly at the head of the table. "Chi Zhan Lan Ce guessed the problem with you. He's a madman who won't live long. If we attack him now, who knows if he has any other tricks up his sleeve? If he kills you, the cycle won't end, and everything will start over. What will happen then?"
The previous cycles had already proven how terrifying Chi Zhanlan Ce was. He had his sights set on Yan Wan, and Liang Yue worried that after killing him, Yan Wan would be taken away by his backup plan…
Therefore, he prefers to negotiate.
What if this is the last cycle?
Yan Wan, her face streaked with tears, looked at him stubbornly: "Now I am right in front of you. From now on, you can use many people to protect me and use all sorts of means to keep me safe. I will no longer take risks and will protect my life."
"Do you believe that Chi Zhanlan Ce is truly sincere about peace talks? A man like him is cunning and calculating. Besides, he has already set his sights on me. How could he eliminate the danger simply because of whether or not there are peace talks?"
Liang Yue disagreed and shook his head: "Chi Zhan Lan Ce is about to die, so it doesn't matter whether he is killed or not. We can't drive a dog into a dead end. As long as we give Bei Yan a way out, he won't go all out. He might not use any of his backup plans. That way we can be absolutely sure."
Although the Northern Capital was reclaimed in this cycle, the Great General of Northern Yan was Chi Zhanlan Ce, who was very shrewd. He preferred to retreat step by step rather than cause serious casualties to the Northern Yan army. At present, the Northern Yan army is still strong and well-equipped.
"Ah Yue, if we lose, 300,000 people in Nandu will drown in the river." Yan Wan stepped forward and looked at him. "Why don't you save them?"
The final question was like a cry of blood.
"Splash—"
Liang Yue overturned everything on the table, tears streaming down her face, her voice choked with sobs: "I want to save them, but I also want to save you!"
He stepped forward, pulled Yan Wan into his arms, held her tightly, gritted his teeth, and spoke with difficulty: "I have waited for you in the Prince Yu's mansion for more than ten years. Finally, God has sent you here. You want me to be the emperor, so I will be. I will be a good emperor. Whatever you want to do, I will let you do it. Together we will save all the people of this Great Liang."
"But there's one thing I can't accept: in this world, you're all I have. I want you to live, Awan. We've only been together for a year. Don't leave me all alone..."
He was already sobbing uncontrollably.
Yan Wan trembled all over, unsure of what to do.
In fact, they were all wrong.
Chi Zhanlan Ce had no desire for peace talks, nor did he want to kill Yan Wan. He only wanted to kill Yan Danqing, and he would stop at nothing to kill Yan Danqing.
When Yan Danqing was urgently summoned to Nandu, Yan Wan was prepared. She did not let Chi Zhanlan Ce know where Yan Danqing was, nor did she allow them to meet, and she even prevented Yan Danqing from stepping into Nandu.
But she never expected that after the court was cleaned up again and again, there was actually a Zhang Yuanmou, whom she trusted very much, hiding behind Lu Qian!
With Yan Danqing outside of Nandu, Chi Zhanlan made a decisive move, and Zhang Yuanmou, the hidden pawn, directly determined the key to victory or defeat.
This time, without the military rations case, Zhang Yuanmou was never exposed from beginning to end. In the end, he and Chi Zhanlan Ce perished together with Yan Danqing!
With just this one act, he changed the entire world situation, tearing down the pillar they had barely managed to hold up, and Chi Zhanlan Ce burned himself to ashes.
"I refuse to let Northern Yan admit defeat!"
Chi Zhanlan Ce, dressed in white with his hair disheveled, laughed loudly in the fire: "If we make peace today, your Great Liang will rise to power in the future, and my Northern Yan will also suffer a bad end. Since that's the case, let's gamble big. If we win, we live; if we lose, we perish. Why should we live a life of cowardice?"
"With Yan Danqing and I both dead, the battle between Great Liang and Northern Yan is now evenly matched. Who will win and who will lose is up to fate! Heaven, if you open your eyes, be fair! Hahaha!"
He laughed as he was engulfed in flames, his eyes filled with madness and anticipation.
This madman, without the knowledge of the people of Northern Yan, put the entire nation on the gambling table, leaving them with only two choices: life or death, with no possibility of survival.
Yan Wan's eyes were bloodshot.
Liang Yue and Jiang You were both filled with grief and indignation.
This madman, caught in the middle, chose the path that would be most beneficial to Northern Yan.
Later, the war between Daliang and Northern Yan continued. Yan Danqing was urgently summoned back to Nandu, but he did not obey the order to withdraw his troops. Chizhan Lance also left behind a series of contingency plans. Without their commander, the two sides continued to fight fiercely.
Ultimately, however, they had no evidence to prove that Chi Zhanlan Ce suffered from a heart ailment and was not blessed by the heavens. Meanwhile, the Northern Yan held a sacrificial ceremony, devoting the entire nation's resources to avenging the Holy Son. The Great Liang was internally corrupt, and traitors in the court secretly leaked information. Food supplies were scarce, and there was no time to resume spring planting. Refugees were everywhere, and the situation gradually turned around.
They did everything they could, but to no avail.
On the day he defended the Southern Capital, Liang Yue, dressed in imperial robes, entered the Imperial Ancestral Temple to fast and pray. He carried only a sword; if the city was held, he would come out; if it could not be held…
There is absolutely no emperor in the Great Liang who has surrendered!
Yan Wan stood at the door, her face streaked with tears. Liang Yue's eyes were filled with guilt. Before entering the Imperial Ancestral Temple, he asked her in a trembling voice, "Do you blame me?"
It was his decision-making error.
“It’s not your fault.” Yan Wan shook her head. “You just didn’t want me to die. It’s because we were less skilled.”
Even she didn't decisively perish together with Chi Zhanlan Ce, did she? Nor did she commit suicide, forcing Liang Yue onto the right path. Back then, she was afraid of being able to start over after death; now, she would rather be able to start over after death.
Liang Yue closed the gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
Yan Wan remained silent for a long time before letting out a bitter smile: "After fifteen rounds, I still lost to Chi Zhan Lan Ce."
Everything then overlapped with the fourteenth cycle.
The Northern Yan people stormed into the southern capital of Daliang, their eyes filled with hatred. They charged wildly, wishing they could kill every last Daliang person. If they displeased anyone, they would draw their swords and kill them.
In the battle between the two armies, the Liang army suffered heavy casualties, and the Northern Yan army also fared poorly, resulting in a stalemate. However, the intrusion of this group of disheveled and hateful Northern Yan soldiers into the Southern Capital foreshadowed a tragedy.
The Great Liang Kingdom was destroyed.
As Ye Pei stood in the city gate and was trampled into a bloody pulp by iron hooves, inside the Imperial Ancestral Temple, Liang Yue slowly lit the spilled lamp oil and pulled out the sharp dagger.
Yan Wan seemed to sense something, and with tears streaming down her face, she turned back to look at them. Then, gritting her teeth, she continued to escort the palace servants and officials out through the back door. After the defeat, this door had already been opened to allow the common people to leave, and she was trying to save these 300,000 people.
However……
As the Northern Yan army hacked Jiang You, who was guarding the palace gate, to death, the sound of horses' hooves arose, and the people who had left were driven back. Yan Wan's face was filled with despair.
Ye Changming was cut in half at the waist, Zhao Lanjun was smashed to death in the Buddhist hall, Liao Changying's blood flowed like a river, and Ye Xiren, covered in black ash, was squeezed and pushed along the moat as she was being carried to the moat. Yan Wan turned around and rushed toward the moat.
Yan Danqing's body was dug up by Chi Zhanchengye's men and carried to the Hushui River Bridge.
His body was already stiff, yet he still held onto the red-tasseled spear, maintaining the fighting spirit he had at the moment of death. His death was not due to the attack from the enemy in front of him, but only to the knife stabbed in the back by his own men.
The people of Northern Yan shouted and cheered, as if they were performing some kind of ritual. Their excitement mingled with the despair of the people of Daliang, and the sky turned blood red.
"On the road to the underworld, I want 300,000 people from Daliang to pave the way for my brother!"
With bloodshot eyes, Chizhan Chengye gave the order:
"Shenhe!"
Screams and sounds of fighting filled the air. Despair spread along the banks of the Nanduhu River. People who had tried to escape were constantly being chased back to the riverbank.
Both countries suffered heavy casualties. Only by making Daliang suffer even more can this country never rise again. This is the method left by Chizhan Lance for Chizhan Chengye.
Chi Zhancheng pushed Yan Danqing into the river, and the drowning officially began.
Ye Xiren stood stunned in the crowd, staring at the first skeleton pushed into the water—it was Yan Danqing, the young general of the Yan family, once the hope of the Great Liang…
He died, before them.
If he were alive, if someone could have saved him, wouldn't this scene have been avoided?
She was pushed to the riverbank, and before they sank into the river, Yan Wan rushed onto the bridge, picked up her brother's red-tasseled spear, and gritted her teeth as she smashed it against her own neck.
—May Heaven grant us peace, and may this cycle never end!
I pray to Heaven to save them!
Yan Wan plunged into the water, her blood spreading. Ye Xiren was pushed into the protective river, sinking and floating with everyone else. The black ash on her face was washed away by the water. She was pulled ashore, only to be pulled back into the water by Yan Wan, who still had her last breath.
Across the river, Yan Wan patted her head. In the end, she couldn't save Daliang, nor could she save her beloved younger sister who had been cherished since childhood... If only such a lovely Xixi had been born in a peaceful year.
Yan Wan closed her eyes.
In her final moments of consciousness, she desperately prayed that the cycle would continue, even if she were to be erased and the one in the cycle would not be her.
Ye Xiren gradually lost consciousness, and before she closed her eyes, she saw the red-tasseled spear. She subconsciously reached out and hugged it to her chest, and was pulled down to the bottom of the water by the heavy spear.
She thought, if only she could save him, and everyone on this land...
[When the Southern Capital fell, 300,000 people of Daliang were drowned in the river. Two-legged sheep, rotten bones in straw raincoats—the river was awash in crimson, filled with the sight of countless human heads floating on the surface.]
A living hell.
—But that wasn’t the last time.
It's restarted for the sixteenth time!
However, when the world reopened, Yan Wan became an invisible person forgotten by the world, as if she had never existed. The Yan family only had two sons, and no one knew that she had ever existed. They had all forgotten her completely.
She wasn't afraid of being forgotten, but only of repeating the same mistakes, leading the Great Liang Dynasty to another tragic end.
Yan Wan was in a panic. She saw the imperial court move south and Jiang You and Zhang Yuanmou help the young emperor ascend the throne. However, before she could even catch her breath, she saw Chi Zhanlan Ce chasing after her.
She saw Liang Yue, saw Jiang You help him ascend to the throne, yet she also saw that they still trusted Zhang Yuanmou, who was loyal to the young emperor.
Some changes, however, have also led to a slide into the abyss.
She walks through this world, anxiously telling them every day about the future, trying to stop their wrong decisions, trying to remind them to prepare as soon as possible...
However, it was all in vain; no one saw her, no one heard her.
Yan Wan felt increasingly desperate.
Especially after seeing Chi Zhanlan's peace treaty, Jiang You's withholding of six secret letters, and Liang Yue's decision to "negotiate"... her heart sank to the bottom.
"A-Yue, how could you doubt Chunzhou?"
Yan Wan's voice trembled: "You used to love him so much! How could you order the entire Ye family to be executed? You used to go to the Ye family's house with me to freeload, and you even said you'd freeload for the rest of your life..."
She burst into tears.
Unable to see or hear her, Liang Yue's headache flared up again.
Yan Wan stood to the side, tears streaming down her face. What was the purpose of this cycle?
Does she have to witness the failure of the Great Liang Dynasty again? Does she have to watch everything happen helplessly?
In her moment of despair and collapse, on the first day of the third lunar month, the entire Ye family was executed.
Standing on the execution ground, she felt a pang of heartache and wanted to touch Xixi's hair, but she felt herself fading away, even her invisible form was about to disappear...
Yan Wan smiled bitterly. Her repeated painful struggles had left her powerless. She wasn't sad, but she regretted not being able to save so many people and protect this land.
She was puzzled as to why she had disappeared at this moment.
Suddenly, she realized that time was distorted, the world seemed to be reversing, and time was spinning around Ye Xiren!
Yan Wan was taken aback, then suddenly burst into laughter.
Very good!
That's wonderful!
Her cycle ended, but Xixi's cycle officially began, and yet another person continued on the path she hadn't finished.
Yan Wan laughed and cried at the same time. She laughed because there was hope for the Great Liang Dynasty again. Although Xixi was a girl from a prominent family, she understood her.
Xixi may seem timid and weak, but she has a firm and strong mind. Given time, she will grow and become even stronger than Xixi, combining caution and courage.
But she cried too.
Only those in the thick of it know how painful and lonely it is to experience repeated cycles of helplessness and death. She still has Liang Yue who unconditionally believes in her, but does Xixi have anyone by her side?
Yan Wan suddenly went to the Imperial Prison, hoping that Chun Zhou could accompany Xi Xi in the cycle!
Yan Wan didn't know what to do. She had just reached out her hand when it passed through Chun Zhou's body. The next moment, she completely disappeared into the wind. At the moment she disappeared, she saw Chun Zhou... time reversed.
Her smile grew even brighter as she obediently closed her eyes.
In the next cycle, there will be tenderness and spring daylight.
She hoped that together they could defy fate!
Yan Wan turned into a gust of wind and completely disappeared from this world. There was no trace of her, and no one remembered her anymore. But when she saw Xixi's cycle, she had no regrets.
Let her be a coward, leaving the responsibility to Xixi and Chunzhou, and entrusting everything to them.
As time rewinds, this wisp of wind seems to have its own thoughts, blowing towards the palace, towards another person she cherishes, but ultimately they could not stay together.
Fortunately, he forgot about her.
They only hope that in their next life, they will be born in a peaceful era, grow up together as childhood sweethearts, know each other well, stay together, and never be separated.
The wind rustled the gauze curtains of the emperor's bedchamber, caressing the face of the person on the bed like a gentle breeze caressing her beloved, while the person on the dragon bed was covered in tears.
"Ah Wan—"
Liang Yue suddenly opened his eyes and sat up in bed. The wind blew by, and he tried to grasp something helplessly, but he couldn't grasp anything. It was all a dream, all an empty dream. Only Yan Wan's handwritten note was still pressed against his chest.
Liang Yue burst into tears.
He couldn't recall Ah Wan, only some fragmented memories, but the bonds and love he had shared from his youth to his numerous life-and-death experiences still lingered in his heart.
"His Majesty……"
The eunuch entered with concern.
Liang Yue raised her head and wiped away the tears on her face.
Heaven may take away his wife and his memories, but it cannot take away his love. His heart still beats, and he will never forget Yan Wan in this lifetime. He has only one wife and one lover.
"We cannot forget her, nor can we erase what she did!" Liang Yue murmured, then stumbled to his feet and pulled out the imperial edict and the jade seal.
He wanted to issue an imperial edict to establish Yan Wan as empress, and he also wanted to arrange a marriage between Yan Danqing and Ye Xiren. When they had a child, he would adopt him as their son and entrust the Great Liang to the child who carried Yan Wan's bloodline...
Liang Yue sat alone on the dragon throne, writing down the two edicts word by word. He had to live well, until the world was at peace and the two edicts were issued.
Awan.
My Awan.
The Wende Hall stretched out, and it was already pitch black outside. The lonely moon shone into the hall, which was empty, with only the solitary monarch sitting alone on the vast land.
The wind blew, lifting the gauze curtains.
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Author's Note: Both chapters will be updated together!
This is the original story. How many people want to see the happy ending version?
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