Chapter 109 Sharp Edges Touching Through a Veil
"Only believe what you see..." Xiao Yan murmured Yang Xiao's words, then chuckled and sighed, "We've been enemies for so many years, aren't you afraid I'll hold a grudge and kill you?"
"Things change, fortunes shift. I came here sincerely to serve you, but Your Highness wants to kill me." She glanced at Xiao Yan with a smile. "Don't you care about your reputation?"
Xiao Yan smiled as he looked into Yang Xiao's sharp eyes, then tilted his head approvingly. "You're right. Reputation is the least important thing about me."
“Although I was sent to Qingzhou at a young age, the blood ties between me and my father and brothers cannot be severed.” Yang Xiao looked at Xiao Yan slowly and deliberately. “If I die, will General Chixiao, who has finally become one with you, change his opinion of you again?”
“I knew I hadn’t misjudged you.” Xiao Yan couldn’t hide her admiration and stood up with a smile. “I have long admired the general, and it is my wish to win him over. However, this is not my true intention.” She sighed softly and picked up the wine cup on the table. “I hope the general will forgive my previous rudeness, accept my apology, and drink this cup.”
Yang Xiao was taken aback when she saw this. She looked into Xiao Yan's smiling eyes and found that the thin mist had dissipated and there was no trace of pretense in his clear eyes.
She nodded and glanced at the wine cup in Xiao Yan's hand, then chuckled and sighed, "I am but a surrendered general, how dare I disrupt the proper order of things?"
Xiao Yan lowered his eyes to look at Yang Xiaosheng's distant gaze, and teased with a smile, "What, are you afraid I'll poison you?"
"How dare I?" Yang Xiao chuckled and shook her head. "If you really wanted to kill me, how could I possibly set foot in Chang'an?" With that, she took the wine cup from Xiao Yan's hand, raised her head, and drank it all in one gulp.
A burning, spicy sensation surged up Yang Xiao's throat once again. She sat there, her brows furrowed slightly, enduring the headache, and drank a cup of hot tea.
The stinging pain in her throat had subsided, but her mind remained dizzy. With a determined look, she raised her hand and pinched her inner thigh hard. The sudden pain sent a shiver down her spine. She opened her eyes, took a deep breath, and felt much more awake. She glanced back at Xiao Yan, and seeing her drinking her wine, she relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.
Xiao Yan swallowed the strong liquor in his throat and glanced at Yang Xiao, who was sitting upright beside him. "I have long heard of your lofty ambitions, General. I wonder what it is that you have devoted your life to seeking in this chaotic world?"
"It's nothing more than seeking a stable and peaceful life for the people." Yang Xiao chuckled and put down his teacup. "The powerful fight for fame and fortune, causing the world to fall apart and people to suffer. But how many ordinary people are caught up in this endless strife? Since the tyrannical emperor ascended the throne, neither the people nor the loyal officials have had a single day of peace. What I want to do is simply to return to them the peaceful and prosperous life that is rightfully theirs."
Xiao Yanping looked at Yang Xiao calmly, remaining silent for a long time.
After a moment, she chuckled and poured Yang Xiao a full cup of wine. “General, you have such lofty ambitions and have fought all the way to this point. It’s a pity that your loyalty has been misplaced. If we had met earlier, why would we have to worry about the stability of the world?”
“Yes,” Yang Xiao couldn’t help but sneer, “Your Highness acquired this empire quite easily. If I had come to serve you earlier, I would be living a life of luxury by now, wouldn’t I?”
"Yang Xiao! You've gone too far!" Xiao Yun, seemingly drunk, smashed his wine glass on the ground and pointed at Yang Xiao, yelling, "Do you believe I'll kill you right now?!"
Xiao Yan nodded and smiled, completely ignoring Xiao Yun's tantrum. She looked at Yang Xiao with a meaningful smile, "Aren't you the same?"
"What?"
"Only believe what you see with your own eyes."
These words struck Yang Xiao like a thunderbolt, leaving her stunned and frozen in place, the drunkenness vanishing with the cool breeze. Her fingertips trembled slightly as she turned to meet Xiao Yan's unfathomable gaze. She closed her eyes, shook her head, and changed the subject, saying, "No wonder, such demeanor is truly unparalleled."
Xiao Yan smiled and twirled the wine cup in his hand. "If I only had this physical appearance, I'm afraid I would have died at the hands of those concubines long ago."
"Beauty, cunning, and colleagues," Yang Xiao tilted her head and looked at Xiao Yan, "Is there anything in this world you can't have?"
"Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"
"Have you even lost the hearts and minds of the people?"
Xiao Yan was speechless for a moment after being retorted by Yang Xiao. She chuckled and sighed, concealing her sharp edge. She picked up her wine glass and leaned against the table. "You..." she looked down at the rim of the glass, "passionate, unrestrained, and free-spirited. You know, such qualities are what I have been longing for but could never obtain in my life."
"What?"
The image of Yang Xiao fighting fiercely on the front lines flashed through Xiao Yan's mind again; she could never forget Yang Xiao's eyes, which burned like fire.
"You're right, I certainly won't kill you, but it's not that I'm afraid to."
Xiao Yan picked up her wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. "I dare to kill even the emperor. No matter how powerful you are, you can't fight me." She put down her glass, turned her gaze to Yang Xiao's face, and said, "All your past experiences are what my heart desires. If I kill you, it will be no different from me personally strangling this life's dream."
Yang Xiao looked into Xiao Yan's serious yet relieved eyes, wanting to say something, but her mind went blank.
Looking at Yang Xiao's hesitant eyes, Xiao Yan couldn't help but chuckle, "When I saw how you were so fearless on the battlefield, I even thought that if I could die by your hand, I would have no regrets in this life."
"Xiao Yan, you..." Yang Xiao was speechless for a moment, and could only frown and look up at Xiao Yan.
"Don't worry about it," Xiao Yan gently patted Yang Xiao's shoulder. "I'm just stating my position. The political landscape is currently very complex, and it's inevitable that some people will have ulterior motives towards you. Although I'm doing everything I can to protect you, you still need to be careful."
Thank you.
“It’s alright,” Xiao Yan looked at Yang Xiao, smiled and sighed, leaning back in her seat. “It’s truly unprecedented for you to be so open with your thoughts on our first meeting.” She stood up and looked back at Yang Xiao beside her. “Since you are willing to use your own eyes and ears to experience all the chaos in the world, then I hope you will stay true to yourself and keep watching.”
She tucked her sleeve and breathed a sigh of relief. "It's getting late. You've been traveling all day, you must be exhausted. I've sent someone to put the best medicine for your injuries in your room. Go back and rest early."
After speaking, Xiao Yan walked out of the hall without looking back. Yang Xiao was stunned when she saw this, and also stood up, looking up at Xiao Yan's back.
The intense intoxication had long since dissipated, but her head was still somewhat dizzy. She raised her hand to rub her temples, the events that had just transpired seeming both real and unreal. She closed her eyes, let out a long sigh, and then stepped out of the hall.
The gust of cold wind abruptly dispelled the chaos in Yang Xiao's mind, and she couldn't help but shiver. Standing in the cold wind, she looked up at the dim, indistinct full moon in the sky, her mind filled with Xiao Yan's words.
The drifting snowflakes landed on Yang Xiao's face, bringing a touch of coolness and disturbing her peace of mind. The intoxication brought on by the strong liquor surged into her head again. She pinched the arm she was hugging, stood still, as if melting herself into the swirling snow.
"How is it?" A clear voice, tinged with amusement, came from behind Yang Xiao, startling her.
“Qi Lu,” Yang Xiao turned around and glared at Qi Lu angrily, “If you keep putting on airs, I’m really going to beat you up.”
Qi Lu chuckled and shook his head, standing beside Yang Xiao as they gazed at the moon together. "Now, do you understand me?"
“What’s the point of talking about understanding or not understanding?” Yang Xiao also calmed down, frowned and sighed softly, “I just wanted to provoke her, but I didn’t expect her to… Anyway, I don’t like to jump to conclusions about people.”
Qi Lu nodded and said nothing more.
Snowflakes fell gently, reflecting the moonlight, and the two of them stood there gazing up at the moon for a long time.
"I didn't expect you to drink," Qi Lu said suddenly, standing to the side.
"What?" Yang Xiao's mind suddenly cleared up considerably.
He smiled and turned to look at Yang Xiao, "Back when we were at the manor, I tried to persuade you to drink every day, but you just wouldn't drink. I thought you were a teetotaler and would pass out after just one cup."
"Really?" Yang Xiao crossed her arms and gazed at the moon with a carefree air, but the scene of her getting drunk at the celebration banquet and dragging Bai Ming around like a madwoman in her drunken state involuntarily floated before her eyes.
She rubbed her arm, which was already swollen from being pinched, and shook her head with a light laugh.
"why are you laughing?"
"A scholar should be viewed with new eyes after three days' absence." Yang Xiao sighed, turning back to look at Qi Lu with a smile, "How can the dignified Lord Lu Qi look down on people like this?"
"Oh?" Qi Lu tilted his head with interest. "Then it seems you can hold your liquor pretty well."
Yang Xiaoqiang suppressed the nausea in his stomach, steadied himself, and forced a smile as he nodded at Qi Luyi.
"That's natural."
-
The moonlight cascaded down like a waterfall, illuminating Xiao Yan's bedroom.
It was late at night, but she was wide awake. Everything that had just happened was so unreal, yet etched so clearly into her mind.
The image of someone I long for has appeared so perfectly in one person. And that fiery and passionate person has appeared before me as vividly as a phoenix with broken wings.
As for Yang Xiao, the enemy general who has been his adversary for many years has suddenly surrendered. Will he become the key to breaking the deadlock?
Xiao Yan looked up at the candlelight above and couldn't help but laugh at himself. He had treated her like a pawn, so why should he expect her to help him break the deadlock?
"Never mind, let it be." She closed her eyes, sighed, and cleared her mind of the many thoughts swirling within her.
That's Yang Xiao; she should have enough trust in her.
With this thought in mind, Xiao Yan finally relaxed completely and managed to fall asleep.
Scenes from the past seemed to reappear before Xiao Yan's eyes, from his childhood wandering with his mother, to seeking refuge with a loyal old minister who had been betrayed, in exchange for a place to study, to the intrigues and power struggles after entering the palace, to the willingness to infiltrate the ranks of treacherous officials and climb step by step over corpses to reach the top, until the day of the assassination of the emperor, when swords clashed...
Was it a dream?
This doesn't seem right, does it? Xiao Yan frowned, opened his eyes, and lay on the bed listening carefully. It sounded like there really was a crisp sound of weapons clashing in the courtyard.
It couldn't possibly be Zhong Li'an who infiltrated, could it?
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