"Don't jump, don't jump, don't jump! Come back to me, come back to me! I won't let you die! Come back, come back..."
Suddenly, Xuanyuan Han dropped the long sword in his hand, and as if he had gone mad, he covered his head, lowered his head, closed his eyes, and shouted furiously.
This shout shocked the mountains and rivers, causing the earth to tremble.
Just then, Yi Junhao and Cheng Liang, who had heard the earth-shattering scream, also rushed over.
Upon seeing the scene before them, the two of them immediately stopped in their tracks, stunned.
Cheng Liang looked at his master, who seemed to have gone mad, lost his mind, and was trembling as he roared loudly. He shouted at him, "Your Highness!"
Yi Junhao also looked in the direction Cheng Liang was gazing, and stared in astonishment at another side of Xuan Yuanhan that he had never seen before.
But in an instant, his gaze shifted to the edge of the cliff ahead, where a sharp, gleaming short sword was pressed tightly against her neck, and drops of bright red blood were already seeping out. Yi Shangyun immediately frowned and cried out in alarm, "Girl!"
Upon hearing Xuan Yuanhan's desperate shout, Yi Shangyun seemed to finally wake up from a nightmare.
Then, while Tuoba Ze was still in shock, she struggled desperately, twisting her body and looking into his eyes as she angrily shouted, "Tuoba Ze, let me go! You ungrateful, treacherous, and hypocritical bastard!"
Upon hearing this, Tuoba Ze hurriedly came to his senses, turned his head and stared at Yi Shangyun's beautiful eyes for a moment, then suddenly revealed an even more arrogant and smug look.
Instead of loosening his grip in the slightest, he increased the strength of his hold on her hands and the two large hands gripping the sword.
Yi Shangyun was caught off guard and couldn't bear the sudden pain. She instinctively cried out, "Ah, madman, madman, you are a complete madman!"
Tuoba Ze chuckled contemptuously, then turned to look at Xuan Yuanhan, who was standing not far in front of him, seemingly possessed. "Madman? I'm afraid I can't bear that title in my lifetime. However, there is indeed a madman right in front of me right now."
Upon hearing the sound, Yi Shangyun slowly looked in the direction that Tuoba Ze was looking.
She immediately spotted a pink sachet that Xuan Yuanhan had accidentally dropped at his feet during his frantic shouting. Yi Shangyun's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at it, exclaiming, "It's Yu Niang's sachet?"
After a long and careful examination, she finally saw clearly that the madman Tuoba Ze had mentioned was none other than Qin King Xuanyuan Han, who had once looked down upon the world like a god, majestic and noble, but now stood there with his head bowed, seemingly insane, lonely, helpless, and terrified.
Beside him stood a masked man holding a long sword, blocking his way with a sharp blade.
Behind these two, Yi Junhao and Cheng Liang stood motionless, their faces full of worry, afraid that even the slightest movement of theirs would disturb the long sword the man was pointing at Xuan Yuanhan, or anger Tuoba Ze, who was holding the sword to their pale necks.
Seeing all this, a strange feeling welled up in Yi Shangyun's heart.
She thought that Xuan Yuanhan must have already foiled the conspiracy hidden in the entire Wanjiao Pavilion and rescued Yu Niang, which was why he learned about the pink rose tea sachet.
So, at the crossroads leading up the mountain, she found the sachet she had accidentally dropped, and followed the path up the mountain to look for her, which is when she encountered this group of heinous Northern bandits.
It turns out that he really came to find her, and not just used finding her as a pretext.
It turned out that he had not abandoned her; it seemed that he had never left her behind, no matter what.
Unbeknownst to her, Xuan Yuanhan had become the only person in this time and space who cared about her, and she herself had quietly placed him in her heart without even realizing it.
Looking at all this, and thinking of this, Yi Shangyun frowned and murmured sadly, "What's wrong with His Highness Prince Qin?"
Tuoba Ze, still holding on tightly, watched as Xuan Yuanhan sneered at him, clicking his tongue repeatedly. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, look, look. It seems these rumors are just rumors, not credible at all. Who would have thought that the legendary, fearsome God of War, Qin King Xuan Yuanhan, is nothing more than this! Today, he was utterly defeated by my younger brother, who is far inferior to me, in just a few moves. Why is he keeping his head down? Is he crying? Or... is he about to wet his pants in fear? Or has he gone mad with fright?"
Without a second thought, Yi Shangyun retorted angrily, "You're talking nonsense! How could His Highness Prince Qin possibly lose to such despicable people as you? You must have tricked him behind his back, which is why His Highness fell for your scheme."
Just then, she suddenly saw Xuan Yuanhan seemingly muttering something to himself.
However, by this time, the distance between them had become quite far, as Tuoba Ze had been dragging them back.
The mountain winds at the edge of the cliff howled and roared incessantly in her ears, tousling her long, glossy black hair.
So, as if by instinct, she tilted her head slightly, slowly closed her eyes, and focused her attention to listen carefully.
After a long while, she finally heard Xuan Yuanhan's murmurs clearly, and thought to herself, "So, His Highness was trembling and repeatedly saying, 'Don't jump, please don't jump. Come back to me, I won't let you die, I will never let you and your child die again. This time I know what to choose, I know...'"
After a moment, Yi Shangyun finally understood.
It turns out that Xuanyuan Han's current state of trepidation was not because he was as vulnerable as Tuoba Ze had described, nor because he had turned into some kind of madman.
It turns out that His Highness saw me, and at this moment, he was being held hostage by Tuoba Ze on the edge of a cliff. He was reminded of the woman he had met in his childhood who was about to give birth and sacrificed herself to save his life, falling off the cliff with her unborn child.
This is a shadow and scar that His Highness can never erase from his heart. Once touched, or if a similar scene from that year reappears, His Highness will be deeply trapped in his memories of that time, filled with self-blame, losing his mind, and suffering unbearable pain.
"No, no matter what, I must find a way to completely remove this scar and shadow from His Highness's heart today, and I must completely awaken His Highness. Otherwise, it will surely accompany His Highness for the rest of his life, troubling him and preventing him from letting go," Yi Shangyun thought to himself.
Just as Yi Shangyun was about to speak, Yi Junhao, who was standing to the side, could no longer hold back. He had to do something; he couldn't just let the two sides remain deadlocked and wait for their fate while he did nothing.
Finally, he couldn't help but speak first, raising his voice, "Tuoba Ze, calm down, don't act rashly. 'Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor.' That girl has no grudge against you, you have no reason to hold her hostage and harm her, her neck is already bleeding. Besides, she's just a lowly, unloved, ugly, and useless girl from a small, insignificant family of court apothecaries, penniless and without beauty. As for me, I am the largest herb merchant in the Western Qin Kingdom, and also the renowned Valley Master of Hundred Herbs Valley throughout the entire Lingkong Continent, with considerable wealth. How about I make an exchange with that girl? Wouldn't that be better? What do you think?"
As Yi Junhao spoke, he tentatively took two steps forward.
Upon seeing this, Tuoba Ze immediately gripped his short sword tightly and roared at him, warning, "Don't move, and stop talking nonsense. Today, even if you are the King of Heaven, even if you bring me a whole mountain of gold and silver, you can't exchange her for me. I don't want anyone but her. If any of you dare to challenge me, feel free to try."
Seeing that his master was now incoherent for some unknown reason, Cheng Liangyi could only try to buy some time for his master. Perhaps his master would regain his senses and wake up in the next second?
Then, Cheng Liangyi followed closely behind Yi Junhao, shouting, "Tuoba Ze, I advise you not to refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. All the spies and troops you painstakingly planted within my Western Qin have been captured. Just now in that grove of trees, the last few remnants of your army who wanted to return with you to rebuild your nation have also surrendered to my Western Qin. So, I advise you to obediently surrender and stop making these futile struggles."
Unexpectedly, even though his entire army had been wiped out, Tuoba Ze remained completely unconcerned, saying, "Hmph, as the saying goes, 'to catch the thief, first catch the king.' Why don't you open your dog eyes and take a good look? At this moment, who has fallen into whose hands? It's probably still uncertain who will win this battle!"
"Tuoba Ze, you..." Cheng Liang was so angry at his words that he almost choked to death.
However, Tuoba Ze immediately revealed a smug look on his face.
Just then, a figure suddenly flashed, and a familiar figure darted out from the woods beside the road. The person bypassed several obstacles and quietly slipped to Tuoba Ze's side, one hand on the sword at his waist, the other hand close to Tuoba Ze's ear and whispering mysteriously to him.
A moment later, Tuoba Ze, looking extremely angry, glared at him and shouted, "Really?"
The man nodded very seriously. Then, when he turned around, Cheng Liang realized that it was one of the fish that had slipped through the net earlier. He couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "It's him? Damn it, he actually got away!"
"Who is he?" Yi Junhao asked quietly.
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