As Tuoba Hong slowly moved towards her, he said angrily, "Even if I can't win your heart, I will still win your body and keep you by my side forever."
"No...no...Second Prince, you can't...please...I beg you, let me go...please...please..."
Just as Yi Shangyun was pleading, Tuoba Hong had already approached her, and was about to reach out and grab her arm, wanting to pull her into his arms again.
With a "thump".
As Yi Shangyun was slowly backing down the hillside, she suddenly lost her footing and fell, rolling rapidly down the slope.
“Ule…”
Seeing this, Tuoba Hong cried out in alarm and pounced on him without hesitation. They immediately became entangled and rolled around on the grass like a snowball...
"Ah!" As soon as she landed at the bottom of the slope, Yi Shangyun cried out in pain and shock.
"Wule, are you alright? I'm so sorry, it's all my fault, I didn't mean to. Are you hurt? Let me see quickly!" Tuoba Hong hurriedly got up and helped him sit down, anxiously checking him over as he asked.
"Don't touch me!"
Yi Shangyun was furious. She only glanced at his face before quickly dodging his hand. Ignoring the pain all over her body, she forced herself to stand up.
A pang of sadness gripped her heart. Suppressing her tears, she turned and limped quickly to continue her descent.
Tuoba Hong was truly taken aback by her unprecedentedly cold and resolute demeanor. He stood there stunned for a while before hurriedly coming to his senses and chasing after her, saying, "Wu Le, wait for me."
As they walked together, she nervously apologized, "Wu Le, I know I was wrong, please forgive me! I only acted impulsively because I love you so much and am so afraid of losing you. I'm so sorry. What happened to your hand? Let me take a look."
At this moment, Yi Shangyun didn't want to say anything more to him. She easily dodged the two helpless hands that the man reached out to her, and just held tightly to her injured elbow joint, burying her head in her work.
Completely bewildered, Tuoba Hong was filled with anxiety, wondering how to explain things to her in a way that would make her understand, and how to gain her forgiveness.
Suddenly, he stopped and called out to her thin but stubborn back, "Wu Le, I truly love you. For you, I can even give up everything, and I can fight for everything for you."
Seeing that Yi Shangyun remained completely unmoved, he paused, his brows furrowing tightly as if he were suppressing immense grief, and said, "Wu Le, do you know? Now, I've even managed to kill someone. Do you know why?"
Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun's heart skipped a beat, and she finally stopped, but did not turn around.
Seeing her stop, Tuoba Hong took a deep breath and said, "That's because I want to give you a world that truly belongs to you, a world where only you have the final say, a world where you will never be driven away. Even if that Prince Qin, Xuanyuan Han, is good, there will never be a future for you two in this lifetime. Why are you so fixated on him, so unable to forget him?"
After hearing Tuoba Hong's words, Yi Shangyun remained silent for a long time. Suddenly, she felt an overwhelming sadness and disappointment, as if she could hardly breathe, and she clenched her fist tightly against her chest.
It's so easy for a person to change, so why insist on attributing it to love?!
“Hong, do you know? You have completely lost yourself. You are no longer the Hong I used to know.”
Thinking it over in her heart, she finally uttered only one sentence with unwavering determination: "I do."
After saying that, he continued to stride forward with unwavering determination.
After she had walked a short distance, she felt that only her own footsteps could be heard, and it seemed that Tuoba Hong had truly stopped chasing her.
As I was pondering this, I suddenly heard a series of sparse footsteps coming from ahead.
She looked up and saw two men dressed as Northern Lie soldiers approaching.
The two men seemed to be talking as they walked, and Yi Shangyun quickly looked around and found a tree, where she hid.
The old soldier earnestly advised, "Zhao Ping'an, I think you should just settle down and be a soldier of my Northern Lie Kingdom. So much time has passed, your wife probably already thinks you're dead and has run off with someone else, right?"
Zhao Ping'an firmly believed: "Stop talking nonsense, Yu Niang is not that kind of person! It looks like His Highness Prince Qin's army is about to occupy the entire grassland. At that time, I believe we will definitely be able to return to Western Qin and reunite with my mother, Yu Niang, and my Ling'er."
"Come on, haven't you heard?" the old soldier said mysteriously.
Zhao Ping'an asked in confusion, "What did you hear?"
The old soldier said, "Water Sprite."
Zhao Ping'an: "What?"
The old soldier glanced at him and said, "It's obvious you don't know anything. Come here!"
The two stopped, and the old soldier leaned close to Zhao Ping'an's ear and whispered something.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Ping'an's eyes widened instantly, and he finally couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "What?"
The old soldier hurriedly covered Zhao Ping'an's mouth tightly: "Shh, keep your voice down! If someone hears us and it gets to the Crown Prince's ears, we'll both lose our heads!"
After saying that, he looked around and then slowly let go of her hand.
Zhao Ping'an lowered his voice and said indignantly, "How could the Crown Prince do such a horrific thing? That is also a matter of life and death for tens of thousands of herdsmen in the Northern Lie Kingdom!"
"What does it matter if some lowly people die, as long as we can defeat the Western Qin army? The Crown Prince has never cared about us lowly people. Sigh..." The old soldier sighed deeply.
As he walked and pondered in silence, Zhao Ping'an suddenly spoke up: "Thank you for taking care of me all this time. I've made up my mind. This time, no matter what, even if it costs me my life, I will deliver this message to the Western Qin army."
"No, no, have you forgotten the time you ran away before? After you were caught, you were almost torn apart by five horses!" The old soldier stopped and grabbed him nervously, reminding him.
Zhao Ping'an's face was solemn. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Everyone must die eventually. No matter what, I absolutely cannot stand by and watch so many soldiers of my Western Qin be poisoned, especially His Highness the King of Qin, who loves his people like his own children. If the people of Western Qin were not with him, their lives would probably be even more miserable..."
The old soldier anxiously continued to persuade him: "Then don't you want your mother, wife, and children? It's better to live a miserable life than to die. As long as you're alive, there will always be a chance."
Zhao Ping'an glanced at him and said, "But if I live like this, they will definitely look down on me, and I will never be able to forgive myself."
"Alas, His Highness the King of Qin is indeed a rare and excellent general. I've heard that those prisoners of war live like human beings in the Western Qin army camp. Unlike us, we are treated like cattle and horses day and night, and we are constantly subjected to military law. How good things were under the old king! But now... alas!" The old soldier shook his head and sighed.
Zhao Ping'an had a sudden inspiration, and he stopped abruptly, grabbing the old soldier's bony arm and saying, "Why don't you escape with me? Trust me, His Highness the Prince of Qin will treat you well, I promise!"
The old soldier hesitated for a moment, then smiled faintly at him and said, "Look at these old bones of mine, how many more days do I have left? I can't possibly die far from home, can I?"
"Don't worry, once the Western Qin conquers this grassland, everyone's lives will definitely improve." Zhao Ping'an thought about the old soldier's words, slowly released his hand, and comforted him.
"I hope so..." the old soldier said hopefully.
With that, the two of them continued walking side by side once again...
Meanwhile, Yi Shangyun, who was hiding in the shadows and had overheard some of the conversation, suddenly felt puzzled.
He murmured to himself, "Zhao Ping'an, Yu Niang, Granny, Ling'er... These names sound so familiar, like I've heard them somewhere before..."
Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind, and I was instantly stunned.
In an instant, her face lit up with joy, and she excitedly murmured to herself, "He is...he is Grandma's son, Yu Niang's husband, Ling'er's father...Zhao Ping'an!"
With this thought in mind, she quickly rushed out of the darkness, caught up with the two people ahead, and asked, "Who is Zhao Ping'an?"
The two soldiers were clearly startled by the sudden appearance of the strange woman in the quiet night, and quickly drew their swords and turned around to shield themselves.
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the newcomer was a slender woman. The two exchanged a brief glance before sheathing her sword.
At this moment, Zhao Ping'an stepped forward and asked, "Who are you? What do you want with me?"
"You are Zhao Ping'an? Yu Niang is your wife, Ling'er is your only daughter, and you also have an elderly mother who waits day and night for you to come home for a family reunion, isn't that right? Isn't that right?"
At this moment, Yi Shangyun was extremely excited, and before she knew it, tears were glistening in her eyes.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Ping'an was still alive. All of Yu Niang's efforts had not been in vain.
"How did you find out all this? You are..." Zhao Ping'an was instantly stunned.
As he spoke, he scrutinized the slender woman standing alone before him once more, and asked with a puzzled look, "Judging from your attire and demeanor, you don't seem to be a woman from the Northern Lie Kingdom. How did you get here?"
Yi Shangyun hurriedly explained, "I am from Western Qin, and I know all your family members."
Zhao Ping'an asked excitedly, "Really? Are they...are they all alright?"
Yi Shangyun nodded frantically, "Good, good, good, they are all very good. They are all waiting for you to come home at the Prince of Qin's residence!"
As he spoke, he quickly stepped forward and grabbed him, 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?"
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