Chapter 65 The High Walls: Using the Blood of the Bai Family to Exchange for Your Throne
"I disagree," Galorin refused without hesitation.
Bai Lian was stunned. He walked step by step to the imperial desk, placed his hands on the smooth wooden tabletop, and looked directly at him. "You know I can do it. My skills, my sense of danger, and my understanding of my brother. I may be able to find the path that others cannot find, and I can definitely break the deadlock that others cannot break. I must go."
"No." Galorin's answer was firm and decisive, leaving no room for negotiation.
He stood up, walked up to her, his tall figure exuding an imposing aura. "The situation at the front is unclear, the Northern Barbarians have intervened, and the traitors haven't been eliminated. It's a trap! You've just recovered from serious injuries; going there would be tantamount to walking into a snare!"
"Are you just going to let me watch my brother die there?!" Bai Lian's voice suddenly rose, trembling uncontrollably. "He was risking his life for your empire! Jia Luolin, in your eyes, is everything, including my brother's life and the loyalty of our Bai family, just a bargaining chip that can be weighed on a scale?!"
These words were like a poisoned dagger, piercing deeply into Galorin's heart, and his face instantly turned ashen.
"My mind is made up, there is no need to discuss this matter further!" His voice was as cold and hard as iron, carrying an undeniable pressure. "You will remain in the palace and are not allowed to go anywhere!" He even raised his voice to give orders to the outside world, "Pass down the order that no one is allowed to release General Bai from the palace without my written decree!"
Bai Lian looked at him in disbelief, as if she were truly getting to know this man for the first time.
When exactly did he start caring only about his own interests? The promises he made to himself seem like they were made just yesterday. If that's the case, why bother talking about working together for the world?
Disappointment, resentment, and a stinging pain of betrayal instantly overwhelmed Bai Lian.
She abruptly took a step back, as if trying to avoid something filthy, her eyes filled with a strange and distant look.
"Very well, what a fine 'My mind is made up'!" She gritted her teeth, each word seemingly squeezed out from between them. "Your Majesty, I... obey your decree!"
After saying that, she turned around resolutely, her skirt swirling in a sharp arc, and rushed out of the imperial study without looking back.
Galorin watched her leave, his fists clenched tightly. He longed to pull her back and tell her everything, but he couldn't. Any leak of information could ruin the entire plan.
-
The lights in the Imperial Study remained on all night.
After Bai Lian left, Galorin immediately summoned several trusted veteran generals, as well as the Shadow Guard Commander, the man named "Shadow" who had once served his father.
"Keep a close eye on Zhang Ben's movements," Galo Lin's voice was low and cold.
Next, he deployed two lines of defense, one overt and one covert. Overtly, the Feng Kingdom dispatched a large force to reinforce the capital, making a grand display to attract the enemy's attention and stabilize morale within the court and among the people.
Secretly, "Shadow" will lead an elite squad of Shadow Guards to infiltrate Misty Valley, search for Bai Ziyuan, and seize the opportunity to assassinate the rebel leader Shi Hu, creating chaos.
"At all costs," Galorin concluded.
The generals accepted the order and disappeared silently into the night.
Bai Lian, meanwhile, was trapped in the magnificent palace, like a bird with a broken wing.
This was the first time she had felt a profound sense of powerlessness. She was originally a sharp sword, but now high walls had been built around her, blocking her way.
Every time she reached the palace gate, the guards would respectfully stop her and repeat, "General Bai, please return to the palace."
She tried to get information from the palace staff, but all she got were vague and contradictory statements like "the rebels are putting up a stubborn resistance" or "our army is advancing steadily." She couldn't get a single word about the specifics of Misty Valley and Bai Ziyuan.
This anxious yet helpless feeling burned within her like wildfire, making it impossible for her to eat or sleep.
At night, she often couldn't fall asleep and could only stand by the window, looking at the dark night sky in the southwest, as if she could see the bitter battle and danger that Bai Ziyuan was going through at that moment.
When her worries reached their peak, Galorin's cold and unyielding face would appear before her eyes, making her increasingly distressed by her heartbreak.
-
A few days later, a piece of news exploded in the imperial court like a thunderbolt.
"A great victory! Your Majesty! A great victory in the southwest!" The messenger's voice was filled with excitement. "The rebel leader Shi Hu has been assassinated by righteous soldiers! Our army seized the opportunity to counterattack, and the rebels, leaderless, have been completely routed! The Cangwu Rebellion has been quelled!"
A tremendous cheer erupted in the Golden Palace. The courtiers, their faces beaming with excitement and relief, offered their congratulations to Galokrin.
The biggest threat that had plagued the new dynasty has finally been eliminated!
Galo Lin sat high on the dragon throne, his face showing no emotion despite the joy, but rather with his usual composure and majesty. However, when he looked up, he saw Bai Moyuan among the ministers, who was looking at him with a complicated expression, as if asking, "What about my son?"
Galorin averted her gaze.
-
After the court session, Galo Lin returned to the Imperial Study. At the same time, a shadow guard delivered an urgent report.
Galorin dismissed his attendants and opened the letter alone. The handwriting on the letter was messy and stained with a dark color, like dried blood.
The report detailed the results: The Shadow Guards found Bai Ziyuan, who, despite being severely wounded and out of ammunition and supplies, resolutely led his remaining troops in a final charge against the enemy to cover their escape of the intelligence about the enemy that he had risked his life to protect. Ultimately, he collapsed from exhaustion and fell into the abyss...
"I have done my best. Please tell my parents and Lian'er that I, Bai Ziyuan, have done nothing wrong to the Bai family."
At the end of the letter were Bai Ziyuan's last words, recorded by the Shadow Guard. They were an explanation to Jialuolin and a consolation to the Bai family.
Galorin's hand holding the letter trembled slightly. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to suppress the lump in his throat and the stinging in his eyes.
Just then, the door to the Imperial Study was suddenly pushed open.
Bai Lian stood at the door, her face pale, her chest heaving slightly. She had heard the news of the great victory and rushed here impatiently, clinging to a sliver of hope.
However, when she saw the sorrowful expression on Galorin's face that she hadn't yet been able to fully conceal, her heart sank.
"Where is my brother?" Her voice trembled as she approached Galorin step by step. "The army has won, my brother... is he coming back soon?"
Galo Lin opened her eyes and stared at her intently, her gaze complex and unreadable, containing sorrow, weariness, and even more guilt...
He remained silent, but this brief silence felt like a slow, agonizing torture to Bai Lian.
After a long pause, he finally managed to speak with difficulty, "Ziyuan... died for his country."
Those few simple words were like a thunderclap, exploding in Bai Lian's mind.
She staggered, her vision blurred, and tears welled up uncontrollably.
But the next second, anger completely replaced the sadness. She suddenly raised her head, her eyes blurred with tears, and stared intently at Galorin. "You knew all along, didn't you?"
Her voice became shrill with agitation, and a string of words, filled with grief and indignation, poured out: "You knew this would happen all along, which is why you were so determined not to let me go! Because you knew from the beginning that it was a dead end, and you never intended for him to come back alive! You used his life, and the blood of our Bai family, to exchange for this 'great victory' you wanted, to solidify your throne! Isn't that right?!"
Galorin's lips moved. He wanted to say "no," he wanted to tell her that he had sent shadow guards, his deployment... but the words caught in his throat and he swallowed them back.
Looking at Bai Lian, who was on the verge of collapse, all his explanations turned into a heavy sense of powerlessness.
He chose to remain silent, only looking at her with those sorrowful eyes, silently bearing all her accusations and resentment.
In Bai Lian's view, this silence was tantamount to the cruelest form of acquiescence.
Bai Lian didn't know how she got back to her palace. She dismissed all the palace servants and locked herself in the dimly lit inner chamber. She didn't wail or cry, but simply curled up in the corner of the bed, hugging her knees, tears streaming silently down her face.
Her mind kept replaying her final farewell to Bai Ziyuan: his cheerful smile, the way he patted her shoulder and said, "Wait for me to come back"... as well as Galorin's cold, hard face and his final silence.
Hatred, like a poisonous vine, coiled around her heart. She hated Galorin's calmness and scheming, but she hated herself even more. Why hadn't she been more resolute? Why hadn't she fought her way out? If she had gone, could she have changed the outcome?
Helplessness and self-blame almost tore her apart in the silent darkness.
-
A few days later, Shuli arrived.
She was dressed in plain white, without any makeup, her face frighteningly pale, her once bright eyes now empty and lifeless. Holding the hand of an innocent and ignorant child, she walked step by step into Bai Lian's palace.
She didn't look at anyone; her gaze was fixed directly on Bai Lian.
Bai Lian also stared at her in silence, and for a moment, the hall was deathly still.
After a long silence, Shu Li finally spoke, her voice hoarse: "General Bai... they all praise you, saying you are capable, able to do what others cannot... when the Northern Di besieged the city, you risked your life to protect Phoenix Dance City, to save so many lives..."
Her voice gradually choked with sobs, but she desperately suppressed them: "Why...why can't you...save your brother this time? He's the only one in the Bai family..." The words she most wanted to say, Shu Li held back, and just raised her empty eyes to look at Bai Lian. There was no anger in her eyes, only a heartbreaking sense of bewilderment and despair.
Bai Lian understood what she was trying to say; these words were like a dull knife, slowly cutting into her heart.
She opened her mouth, wanting to explain that she was grounded... but such a reason seemed ridiculous to herself, and even more pale and powerless in the face of Shu Li's grief over losing her husband. She couldn't bring herself to say it.
A tremendous sense of guilt, along with resentment towards Galorin, intertwined and fermented wildly within her.
She couldn't face Shu Li, and she couldn't imagine how she would face Bai Moyuan and Changsun Rao'er, who were suffering from the pain of losing their son.
They loved her so much, treating her like their own daughter, but she... couldn't save their only biological son.
Shuli didn't say anything more, but just gave her a deep look, then took the child's hand and silently turned and left.
But that thin, frail figure, as if it would collapse with a gust of wind, became the last straw that broke Bai Lian's back.
-
After finishing her duties in court, Galo Lin, exhausted, wanted to comfort Bai Lian.
He arrived at the bedchamber and found Bai Lian standing by the window, lost in thought.
So he reached out, instinctively wanting to pull her into his arms as usual, but Bai Lian suddenly took a step back, avoiding his touch.
She looked up at Galorin, her face streaked with dried tears, her expression cold and distant.
“Your Majesty,” she said slowly, her tone flat, “please allow me some peace and quiet.”
Upon hearing this, Galorin's hand froze in mid-air; Bai Lian's attitude made him feel as if he had been struck hard in the chest.
He looked into her eyes, which kept everyone at arm's length, and instantly understood.
At this moment, what stands between the two is not only Bai Ziyuan's death, but also an insurmountable wall built of misunderstanding, resentment, and guilt.
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