Yi Shangyun shook his head in disbelief and muttered to himself, "Impossible, this is absolutely impossible, you're lying to me, you're lying to me, aren't you?"
He didn't understand what he meant for a moment, and when he finally realized it, he was so angry that he collapsed to the ground, exhausted from riding so fast.
Tuoba Hong nervously bent down and reached out a hand to help her, but then hesitated and withdrew his hand.
He glanced at her with genuine reluctance, trying his best to suppress his emotions so that she wouldn't notice. Even now, he still feels such longing and reluctance to part with her.
After a moment of silence, he slowly took out a pill from his sleeve pocket, spread it in his palm, and held it out in front of Yi Shangyun, saying, "Take a look at this."
Yi Shangyun stared blankly at the blood-red pill, about the size of a red bean, unfolded in his palm, her face filled with sorrow. She took it, held it in her hand, and examined it for a long time before asking in confusion, "What is this?"
Tuoba Hong said, "This really is a case of 'the onlooker sees more of the game'!"
"What do you mean by that?" Yi Shangyun asked, puzzled.
Tuoba Hong smiled, walked to the altar, burned a few sticks of incense and bowed. As he placed the incense into the incense burner, he said, "I always thought that Wu Le's medical skills were superb, far superior to mine. I never expected that he would make such a mistake. The so-called 'pregnancy pulse' is the slippery pulse in pulse diagnosis. When you press it, you can feel the pulse flowing smoothly and smoothly, like pearls rolling on a jade plate. If an ordinary, healthy married woman has this pulse, it undoubtedly means that she is indeed pregnant."
Yi Shangyun completely agreed with what he said, but she didn't know what the connection was with this pill.
After a pause, Tuoba Hong said, "But you've forgotten that a slippery pulse also indicates phlegm, food stagnation, and excessive heat. When you took her pulse, did you inquire whether the Princess Qin had any other ailments during those days?"
"I..." Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun was speechless.
Tuoba Hong continued, "The pill in your hand is called 'False Child Medicine.' It's a kind of medicine that can make a woman's pulse appear slippery within an hour after taking it. In reality, it simply stimulates all the original diseases in the patient's body instantly to their limit."
The room was silent.
Yi Shangyun stared in astonishment at the blood-red pill in her hand.
After a long silence, Tuoba Hong gently closed his eyes, which had been staring blankly at the coffin of the old king, and said in a deep voice with his back to her, "Now that you know the whole truth, go back to him!"
Yi Shangyun took a deep breath to come back to her senses and asked, "And what about you?"
Tuoba Hong seemed to have let go of everything and slowly said, "I am the son of the herdsmen of this grassland, and I shall live and die with the grassland."
Humans are strange. They want to break free from these constraints and leave, but when it's time to actually leave, they feel a deep sadness and reluctance.
"Second Prince, thank you, take care!" Yi Shangyun pondered for a moment, wiped away her tears, and slowly stood up to say to Tuoba Hong's lonely back.
After saying that, he turned and hurried out of the tent, silently wishing Hong well: "Hong, you must live on..."
After Yi Shangyun left, Tuoba Hong felt as if his whole being had been hollowed out, and his heart immediately collapsed.
He turned around abruptly, watching her retreating figure, devoid of any lingering attachment, until it completely disappeared into the pitch-black night, knowing he would probably never see her again in this lifetime.
Tuoba Hong thought to himself, "Wule, letting you go is also fulfilling my own wish. In this life, I hope you can have everything that I cannot have."
Disoriented and bewildered, he had no idea how he had entered the tent where the old king had lived.
Tuoba Hong stopped and looked around. He felt a sense of familiarity and warmth looking at everything inside. He picked up an expensive horsewhip with a silver handle from the table beside him and slowly walked to the old king's bedside. He sat down and carefully examined the whip, lost in deep memories.
When he was five years old, his father carried him on his back for the first time, and the two of them rode together across the vast grassland. In his childish voice, he asked, "Father, how big is the grassland?"
The king's hearty laughter was as deep as a copper bell: "As vast as Hong'er's heart is, so too is this grassland."
He then asked, "Father, will we always live happily and freely on this vast grassland?"
The king answered confidently, "Yes, definitely!"
He said happily, "Father, when I grow up, I will marry the most beautiful and gentle woman in the world and be by your side forever."
The father shook his head: "No, my son Hong'er will be the future king of this grassland. He must expand the territory and make the herdsmen of the grassland live a happier and better life."
His smile faded, his brow furrowed: "Father, but Hong'er only wants a simple happiness of his own, is that alright?"
The father laughed and said, "Hong'er is still young. When he grows up and becomes a real man, he won't think like that anymore!"
"drive……"
As he thought about it, his eyes instantly filled with tears. He gripped the riding whip tightly, his body trembling as he sobbed and cried to himself, "Father, I'm sorry, Hong'er is incompetent. I have disappointed you in this life..."
A clang rang out.
Upon hearing the sound, Tuoba Hong picked up a crystal-clear rhombus-shaped ruby from the ground, examined it carefully, and exclaimed in surprise, "This... isn't this the largest ruby inlaid on the short swords that Father King gave to my brother and me, one each?"
Upon realizing this, he quickly took out his short sword and carefully compared it with his own. The shape, size, and material were exactly the same.
That was made by their father himself for his two brothers; there is no third like it in the world.
Looking at the short sword he cherished and carefully preserved, he was stunned: "Could this gem have fallen from my brother's sword? How did it end up here? My brother hasn't stepped into Father's tent for more than half a year because he was angry with Father."
Just as he was pondering this, a maid quietly entered and presented him with a wooden box, saying, "Your Highness, this is something that Miss Wu Le left in the tent."
Tuoba Hong took it, opened it, and said, "This is the remaining half of the Resurrection Pill."
As he remained silent, seeing the maidservant looking preoccupied and about to leave, he finally gritted his teeth, steeled his resolve, and hurriedly asked, "Tell me, did my brother return a few days ago?"
The maid bit her lip, nodded, and recalled timidly, "On the night before the old king's accident was discovered, I bumped into His Highness changing into a set of night clothes in his tent. His Highness scolded me severely for it, telling me never to tell anyone about his return that night, or he would take my life. In the end, I saw him chasing after Miss Wule again."
Tuoba Hong seemed to understand everything in an instant, and finally waved his hand helplessly before the maid withdrew.
Tuoba Hong could hardly believe it, muttering to himself, "Brother, could it really be you? What is the purpose of this?"
...
Inside the Beilie Army camp.
Before dawn, Tuoba Ze summoned his generals to the main tent to discuss this hard-won opportunity to break through the encirclement, which had come at a particularly heavy price. It seemed that this was their only and last chance.
Since the start of the Northwest War, for countless days now, in every city captured by the Western Qin army, the people of Beilie have been extremely supportive and welcoming, singing and dancing, because Xuanyuan Han specially ordered people to properly settle the lives of the people after the war.
The King of Western Qin loved his people like his own children, treating both Western Qin and Northern Lie equally, and thus won the hearts of the people.
Many people in cities that had not yet been conquered were like parched land receiving rain; they had not even seen the King of Qin yet, but they were already hoping that the King of Qin would come to their rescue from their peril.
They treated them like long-awaited relatives who had finally arrived, showing no fear in their hearts or eyes, only warmth and joy.
On the contrary, the Northern Fierce royal family, who were their heaven, their earth, and their only refuge, left these people in dire straits, turning a blind eye and losing popular support.
As the saying goes, "The people can carry a boat, but they can also capsize it," and the Northern Lie Kingdom is now in a precarious state.
Having made all the final arrangements, perhaps out of anger but not daring to speak out against Tuoba Ze's autocratic and inhumane actions, as well as deep fear, the generals couldn't help but wipe the large beads of sweat from their foreheads.
Upon seeing this, Tuoba Ze glared fiercely at everyone around him, then turned to the two soldiers, one old and one young, at the door and angrily asked, "What's the situation at the Western Qin army camp?"
Two soldiers, one old and one young, immediately stepped forward, bowed their heads, and saluted him.
The elderly soldier appeared somewhat shaky, while the young soldier said with a smug look on his face, "Your Highness, in the direction of Prince Qin Xuanyuan Han's camp and along the entire route of the poisoned water source, wherever there are inhabited places, flames are rising everywhere, turning the entire sky red. Presumably, they have all been poisoned by the 'Water Spirit,' and I fear no one has survived."
Tuoba Ze slammed his hand on the table in front of him, praising with satisfaction, "Good, very well done. Prince Qin, Xuanyuan Han, how dare you presume to fight against me? You've overestimated yourself! Now, you probably never dreamed you'd end up dying far from home. So what if you have 160,000 troops? Leaderless, and on my Beilie territory, I'll see who can do anything to me on this Lingkong Continent! Hahahaha, hahahahaha..."
In an instant, his unrestrained and arrogant laughter echoed throughout the entire camp.
The laughter abruptly stopped, and then a command was given: "Prepare to march out!" The soldiers immediately rose in unison and began to break camp and march.
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