As Yi Shangyun spoke, he quickly stepped forward and grabbed her, saying, "Come on, I'll take you away from here."
Just as the old soldier was about to speak, a stern, cold voice suddenly rang out: "What are you all doing sneaking around here in the middle of the night?"
"Second Prince!" The old soldier, upon recognizing the cold face emerging from the darkness behind Yi Shangyun, hurriedly clasped his hands in a respectful salute.
However, Yi Shangyun still held onto Zhao Ping'an's arm, and the two stood motionless.
Seeing Tuoba Hong's sullen expression, the old soldier quietly tugged at Zhao Ping'an's sleeve.
Zhao Pingan thought for a while, but finally gave up.
Just as he was about to pull his hand back and bow in return, Yi Shangyun suddenly tightened his grip and held him firmly, saying, "We are citizens of the Western Qin Kingdom, why should we bow to a Northern Lie man?"
Upon hearing this, Tuoba Hong stared in surprise at her face, but Yi Shangyun didn't even glance at him.
At this moment, Tuoba Hong felt somewhat embarrassed and helpless, and could only smile in the end.
He glanced at Zhao Ping'an with disdain, then raised an eyebrow at Yi Shangyun and said, "Although he is just an insignificant prisoner of my Bei Lie, like an ant, do you think it's that easy to take him away?"
Yi Shangyun's face was icy cold as she said in a low voice, "Tuoba Hong, 'those who do many unrighteous deeds will surely perish.' I advise you not to push your luck too far. Release this man and let him return to Western Qin. He has an elderly mother, a wife, and children at home, and they are all eagerly awaiting his return to reunite with their families!"
Although Tuoba Hong kept smiling, he was more heartbroken than if he were crying.
He had been eagerly awaiting her safe awakening, just like waiting for the stars and the moon. But how come she finally woke up, and things had turned out this way, beyond repair?
She now hates herself so much that she has reached the point of calling herself by her given name.
He glanced at her with a smile, then turned his gaze back to her, took a deep breath, and said to himself, "If you want me to release him, it's not impossible! Unless..."
"Unless what?" Yi Shangyun asked urgently.
“Unless you stay and make a deal with him,” Tuoba Hong said.
"Tuoba Hong, you..." Yi Shangyun looked at his profile, but suddenly seemed to not know what to say to him.
With his hands behind his back, Tuoba Hong said calmly, "That's fair, isn't it?"
Yun, her voice low and silent, simply said, "Why are you doing this?" before turning her gaze away.
Tuoba Hong, suppressing his grief, said, "I have said that even if I cannot win your heart, I will still have your body. Even if in the end I still gain nothing, I will not let Prince Qin, Xuanyuan Han, have it. What I cannot have, he will never have. In this life, you will never leave my side!"
After these words were spoken, a moment of silence fell.
After an unknown amount of time, Tuoba Hong asked calmly, "Well? Have you decided who will stay and who will leave?"
Yi Shangyun took a deep breath, as if she had already made up her mind. Just as she was about to speak, Zhao Ping'an suddenly seemed to understand something and interrupted her first: "Leave me here, and please let this young lady go, Second Prince."
"Smack!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a heavy slap landed on Zhao Ping'an's face without him noticing.
"Are you crazy! Why did you hit him?" Yi Shangyun looked at Tuoba Hong's face standing in front of him and exclaimed in shock.
Tuoba Hong looked at Zhao Ping'an's terrified eyes and roared, "What are you doing interrupting? Did I ask you? You're just an insignificant prisoner, what right do you have to decide your own fate?"
"Enough, Tuoba Hong, you've gone completely irrational!" Yi Shangyun shouted.
Tuoba Hong instantly grabbed Yi Shangyun's wrist, placed him between the two of them, leaned down, and roared at him with a ferocious expression: "You forced me to do this! Do you think everything that happened today was what I wanted? Who is it all because of? Who is it all because of? Tell me, tell me!"
Yi Shangyun suddenly felt as if she was being shaken and yelled at, as if her head was about to explode. Suddenly, she burst out with a burst of strength and used all her strength to break free from the restraints. Holding her head, she backed away while tightly closing her eyes and made a heart-wrenching sound, saying, "Enough, enough, I'll stay, I'll stay, I promise you, I promise you."
After saying that, he collapsed to the ground with a thud.
When Zhao Ping'an saw this, he wanted to go up and help her, but the old soldier next to him held him back tightly: "What are you going to do? You can't help her, you'll only make things worse."
After a long while, Tuoba Hong finally calmed down and returned to normal.
He slowly turned around, walked over to the old soldier, and whispered in his ear, "Take her back."
After saying that, he strode off alone towards the military camp tent.
Only after seeing her figure disappear did Zhao Ping'an rush to Yi Shangyun, who was slumped on the ground, and slowly squat down to ask, "May I ask your honorable name, young lady? I will definitely repay your great kindness in the future."
"My name is Yi..." Before she could finish speaking, Yi Shangyun quickly stopped herself, smiling faintly, and said, "I believe we will meet again. You should leave now, or he might come back and change his mind!"
An old soldier nearby had already joined in, saying, "Yes, yes, yes, although the Second Prince isn't as ruthless as the First Prince, he's no longer the otherworldly being he used to be. The best course of action now is for you to hurry and escape in the dark, find the Western Qin army, they will definitely take you home. If you can't escape, wouldn't this girl have sacrificed herself in vain!"
Upon hearing this, suppressing his immense grief and remorse, Zhao Ping'an slowly rose with tears in his eyes and bowed deeply to Yi Shangyun, saying, "In that case, Zhao Ping'an thanks you for saving my life, young lady. Take care, young lady, and we will meet again!"
"Let's go, let's go..." the old soldier urged.
"Please take good care of him," Zhao Ping'an said, wiping away his tears as he made his final request to the old soldier.
"Don't worry, look at the way the Second Prince acted just now. He just really likes this girl. He probably won't make things difficult for her." Although the old soldier was old, he was not senile and seemed to have seen through everything that had just happened.
And so, under the soft moonlight, Zhao Ping'an finally embarked on his journey home.
Watching his figure gradually disappear into the distance, Yi Shangyun slowly rose with the help of the old soldier, silently thinking, "It's so good to be home!"
Outside the main tent of the Northern Fierce Army camp.
As soon as Tuoba Hong appeared in the camp, his personal guards hurriedly jumped off their horses and rushed towards him, reporting, "Second Prince, something terrible has happened!"
Tuoba Hong was still somewhat angry, and as he walked, he coldly asked, "What happened? Why are you in such a panic?"
The guard hesitated for a moment, then blurted out, "The old king... has passed away."
"What? When did this happen?" Tuoba Hong stopped abruptly and exclaimed in surprise.
Suddenly, everything went black, my legs went weak, and I felt dizzy and about to fall. I quickly reached out to touch my forehead.
Upon seeing this, the guards rushed forward and firmly supported him: "We just received the message."
Composing himself, Tuoba Hong hurriedly asked, "What exactly happened? When I arrived, I personally took Father's pulse. Although Father's health is weak, it's impossible for him to fall ill so quickly..."
At this critical juncture, with such a major event occurring, the guard clearly didn't know how to respond, and could only urge, "Your Highness, please return to your tent first. The First Prince is waiting for you specifically regarding this matter!"
As Tuoba Hong hurriedly entered the main tent, he saw Tuoba Ze clutching a letter in one hand, weeping bitterly.
Although it was a time of national mourning, there was a fear that the Western Qin army might take advantage of the situation and invade. Therefore, Tuoba Ze ordered the entire military camp to remain as it was and not to hold any mourning ceremonies. So far, no one has been seen in the entire military camp preparing even a single piece of white.
Tuoba Hong entered the room and paused for a moment, then slowly approached him with difficulty and asked incredulously, "Brother, what exactly happened?"
Tuoba Ze handed the letter he had just received regarding the death of the ruler of Beilie to Tuoba Hong, whose hand trembled as he accepted it.
When he saw Wu Le's name on the letter, his eyes widened, and he shook his head, saying, "No, this is impossible. I don't believe it, it's absolutely impossible, it couldn't have been her, impossible, absolutely impossible!"
However, Tuoba Ze feigned concern, tearfully lamenting, "Brother, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have been deceived by her kind appearance, which led to the wolf into the house and caused Father's death. I deserve to die, I deserve to die!"
As he spoke, he subtly winked at the guard who had delivered the letter, who then vividly described the scene: "When I went in, the old king had already died, and was almost drained of blood. He died with his eyes open; the old king died with his eyes open!"
With a "thump".
Upon hearing that his beloved father had died so tragically, Tuoba Hong could no longer hold back and collapsed heavily onto the table, his face filled with sorrow and blankness.
Just then, Yi Shangyun was suddenly brought in by the old soldier, and Tuoba Ze was startled when he saw him.
The old soldier was about to ask for instructions on how to deal with Yi Shangyun when the messenger pointed at her angrily as soon as he saw her appear, saying, "It's her! She's the one who killed the old king!"
Yi Shangyun was stunned: "What did you say? The old king... is dead..."
"Witch, just as the rumors of the Western Qin Kingdom say, you are indeed a ruthless witch who kills without blinking an eye. The old king was so good to you, yet you repaid kindness with enmity and killed him!" the guard insisted.
Yi Shangyun retorted angrily, "You're talking nonsense! The old king's health is practically fully recovered. If I wanted to kill him, why would I go to such lengths to save him?"
"Seize this vixen for me immediately!" Tuoba Ze ordered without further ado.
Yi Shangyun glared angrily at Tuoba Ze, then turned to look at the heartbroken Tuoba Hong...
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