The overall situation has been determined
He turned around, his black armor clanging, and the bright yellow dragon robe he wore shone dazzlingly in the dim firelight. He led a large number of elite soldiers and retreated towards the cave entrance like a black tide.
Shen Qianyue immediately bowed, her etiquette impeccable, her voice clear and calm: "I wish His Majesty great victory."
Just as Xie Zhiyun's figure was about to disappear around the corner of the passage, his command came, with a hint of joy, echoing between the stone walls: "Xiao Mao, Xiao Mi, each take a hundred people to escort the military advisor back. The rest of you, follow my plan."
"Yes!" The subordinates' voices of receiving orders were loud and uniform, like a rolling thunder.
The heavy footsteps quickly faded away, and the passage suddenly seemed much emptier, leaving only Xiao Mao, Xiao Mi and their two hundred subordinates standing in silence on standby, and the three people in a strange confrontation at the core.
Shen Qianyue slowly stood up, her dark blue robe brushing the ground without getting any dust on it. She didn't look at the soldiers who stayed behind, all her attention was focused on Xie Shangjia.
He walked over step by step, the sound of his boots hitting the stone surface was light but clear, and his eyes fell on Ling Yi, who was still holding a knife hostage.
"Put it down." The voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable command.
Ling Yi tightened his grip on the knife handle, his knuckles turning white, and he was clearly worried: "But..."
Before he finished speaking, Shen Qianyue turned her wrist, and with such speed that only a shadow remained, a short blade with a cold gleam and a blade as sharp as autumn water slipped out from her sleeve and accurately and quickly touched Xie Shangjia's neck.
She used her own knife to take over Ling Yi's hold.
The blade felt cold against his skin, but Xie Shangjia's eyelashes didn't even tremble.
Seeing this, Ling Yi no longer hesitated and neatly sheathed the knife with a crisp sound. He silently took a step back, lowered his head and stood respectfully beside Shen Qianyue, his posture showing the object of his loyalty at the moment.
Xie Shangjia lowered his eyes, his gaze fixed on the exquisitely designed yet deadly cold sleeve blade at the side of his neck, then slowly raised them and looked at Shen Qianyue who was so close.
"Madam, what are you doing?" He spoke, and there was no trace of tension in his voice from being stabbed by a sharp knife. His tone was as if he was asking about the weather today.
Shen Qianyue's sharp eyes locked onto him, not missing any slight changes on his face, and asked about the confusion that had been lingering in her heart since the moment she met him.
"Why are you here?"
She needed to know his position, his purpose, and what role he played in this game.
Upon hearing this, Xie Shangjia actually chuckled softly, lowered his head slightly, and made a move that frightened all the onlookers. He used the tip of his nose to touch the dagger against his neck frivolously and intimately.
This action was dangerous and ambiguous, causing Shen Qianyue's hand holding the knife to tremble almost imperceptibly, and the blade deviated slightly by half a millimeter.
"Of course..." He raised his eyes, looked deeply into hers, and said in a low but clear voice, "I came to find my wife."
Xie Shangjia's eyes swept over her slightly tired face and the slightly bulging belly that was hidden by the loose robe and could only be seen upon closer inspection.
"I originally thought... you would be traveling with my uncle. When I heard that person report the underground palace collapse, I knew something was wrong and rushed over... I didn't expect you to be staying behind."
The memory will be restored at noon today.
Those chaotic memories came back like a tide, accompanied by a severe headache and clear cognition.
Shen Qianyue had no defense against the eighteen-year-old self who simply relied on her after losing his memory. Many of his plans were not even deliberately concealed, so he easily knew the great changes that were about to take place in the world.
He immediately went to the palace to meet the saint, and relying on past friendship and clever words, he ambiguously asked for the tiger talisman, saying that he needed the saint to personally protect him on the way to worship his ancestors to ensure everything was safe.
The saint had always been kind to him, and although he felt it was sudden, he still readily agreed and successfully obtained the certificate that could mobilize part of the troops in the capital. However, he did not expect the change to come so quickly and so violently.
Xie Shangjia led his men to try to block all possible roads leading to the underground palace, but the incident happened too suddenly. Part of the imperial guards had already been deployed along the ancestral worship road, and the royal guards were not enough to be assigned and were stretched to the limit.
Until the hidden chess piece he arranged next to Xie Zhiyun, the traitorous deputy general, sent him a message in a tone of seeking credit, saying that the emperor had already arranged to cause the underground palace to collapse and all the troops were buried.
Xie Shangjia's heart stopped suddenly, and he immediately asked about Shen Qianyue's whereabouts. However, the other party was not an important person and knew nothing about the details. He didn't dare to take the risk, so he immediately gathered his men and prepared gunpowder, intending to blow up the ruins of the underground palace to find her.
As a result, Shen Qianyue came from behind, and Xie Zhiyun also avoided the imperial guards sent by the emperor and came to rescue her.
Seeing them miss each other, how could I not feel jealous... Angry that she always disregarded her life like this, Angry that her first reaction at this moment was to turn to war, Angry that she... didn't even want to say a soft word to him
That's why he deliberately put on that cold and confrontational look in the underground palace just now.
Shen Qianyue stared at him blankly, seeing the undisguised emotions in his eyes. The dagger against his neck could no longer exert any force.
In the distance, the faint sounds of fighting and roars coming from the direction of the imperial city are foreshadowing that this great change that will determine the fate of the world has officially begun.
Xie Shangjia asked, "What would you do if Xie Zhiyun really died?"
He asked calmly, as if he was simply exploring a tactical possibility.
Shen Qianyue was silent for a moment, countless complex calculations and trade-offs flashing across her eyes. That was the instinct of a strategist. She leaned forward slightly, close to his ear, and gave an ambiguous answer in a whisper that only the two of them could hear.
"Everything is in place. If anything were to happen to the prince... it would just be a change of tactics. The world needs a new ruler. Isn't there a legitimate royal bloodline?"
Her eyes swept over Xie Shangjia, and the meaning was obvious: the princess's child is naturally of royal blood. Xie Zhiyun is dead, and there is still you, Xie Shangjia.
Xie Shangjia laughed softly when he heard this.
Fortunately, she had no intention of being buried with him, otherwise, what would be the difference between that and committing suicide for love? Even if they had to live and die together, that man should be herself.
Did Xie Zhiyun understand why he died?
"Madam is intelligent, meticulously planned, and cautious at every step. But what if... Xie Shangjia, who lost his memory and is completely clueless, only knows how to rely on Madam and is ignorant of the intrigues of the court, is unwilling to take the throne?"
He deliberately emphasized his own name, as if he was cutting off a past self.
Shen Qianyue fell into a longer silence, the light and shadow of the torch flickering on her face.
He must be willing. Otherwise, if Xie Zhiyun dies, any general who takes advantage of the situation to ascend the throne will not truly follow the plan of a woman like her. All her painstaking efforts and hard work will be wasted, and the world may fall into greater chaos.
In the passage, the only sounds were the subtle crackling of burning torches and the complex and tense undercurrents flowing silently between the two people.
After a long time, Shen Qianyue turned her wrist and deftly retracted the sleeve blade into her sleeve, as if it had never appeared. All the sharpness and confrontation were quietly restrained at this moment and turned invisible.
She did not answer his question, but stretched out her arms, softly but with a hint of dependence, and hugged his waist, burying her pale and cold cheek in his arms and clothes that were stained with the dust of the outside world.
"Come back with me."
Her voice was as light as a sigh, filled with deep fatigue, as if the fighting, the temptations and confrontations on the verge of life and death just now were just illusions, and at this moment they were just an ordinary couple returning home hand in hand after going through the storm.
Xie Shangjia took her hand and lowered his gaze to her slightly bulging belly. His eyes were so complicated that it was frightening. There was no joy of becoming a father, only a deep, almost tangible worry and coldness.
"This child... you shouldn't have had it. Your last childbirth damaged your foundation, and now you're working so hard and worrying so much, your body simply can't handle it..."
Shen Qianyue paused slightly, but did not look at him. She just looked at the deep passage ahead. Her profile looked a little pale in the firelight, yet extremely stubborn.
"Let's keep him. He's been here for almost three months, and already... I can feel him moving." Her words were filled with maternal tenderness, completely different from her ruthless and decisive nature in her work.
Xie Shangjia's words of advice were stuck in his throat. He lowered his head to look at her fragile yet determined profile. The faint shadow cast by her long eyelashes seemed to sweep across his heart.
In the end, all the complicated emotions turned into a sigh of compromise and dissipated in the damp and cold air.
The sounds of fighting in the distance could still be faintly heard, like background music for their journey home.
Arriving at the courtyard where they were temporarily resting in the secret room, Shen Qianyue summoned the accompanying doctor.
The doctor did not dare to delay and carefully took Shen Qianyue's pulse. The room was silent.
Xie Shangjia stood aside, his face as calm as water, his eyes fixed on Shen Qianyue's face. No emotion could be seen on his face, only his tightly pursed lips revealed his inner unrest.
The old doctor held his breath and took the patient's pulse for a long time before he stood up and bowed to Shen Qianyue and Xie Shangjia beside him.
"Congratulations, my Lords! Madam is blessed with a long life. She only has a slight spotting. Although the fetus is slightly fluctuating, it's nothing serious. From now on, you just need to rest and recuperate, and don't worry or get angry anymore..."
However, there was no joy on Xie Shangjia's face. Instead, his eyes became deeper, like a deep sea filled with storms, with undercurrents surging beneath the calm that no one could understand.
Shen Qianyue waved the doctor away, and only the two of them were left in the tent.
She raised her eyes to look at him, and clearly caught the lingering heavy haze in his eyes.
"Are you unhappy?"
Xie Shangjia chuckled when he heard that, took a step forward, stretched out his hands to hold her in his arms, gently rested his chin on the top of her head, took a deep breath, and stroked her lower abdomen with his warm palm.
"How could it be?" His voice came from above her head, low and suppressed, as if he was trying hard to restrain something. "This is our flesh and blood, the continuation of our bloodline. How could I not be happy?"
…
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