I'm waiting for your flowers, and I'm waiting for you.
A moment later, what appeared before Li Ke's eyes was the wronged souls he had harmed chasing after him.
Li Ke fled in terror, while Wen Zhibai, who was not far away, picked up a bow and arrow.
Pei Qinzhou stood behind Wen Zhibai, handed her an arrow, and together they aimed at Li Ke.
The first arrow flew swiftly from the bow, piercing Li Ke's thigh. The second and third arrows followed, piercing Li Ke's limbs one after another. He lay on the ground howling in agony, as countless cold hands reached out from the ground, dragging him into an abyss... He awoke with a scream from the table, drenched in sweat.
"Help me—!" Li Ke first checked himself for injuries, then looked at the crowd of people staring at him, his heart trembling.
At this moment, in the distant restaurant, a wisp of black energy quietly disappeared from Pei Qinzhou's fingertip.
"How could I let him die so easily?" Wen Zhibai's eyes held a hint of anger, but more than that, they showed restraint and forbearance.
Pei Qinzhou's gaze fell on her thin shoulders, and he took the initiative to pull her into his arms: "It won't be too late."
Pei Qinzhou had already planted a curse on Li Ke when he was setting up the dream, so that Li Ke would become their puppet.
Upon returning to the Pei residence, he was met with devastating news from Tao Zhi—
The emperor began searching the Jiang family and mobilized the Soul-Binding Division.
Recalling what Jiang Yu had said in Wuyu Pavilion in his previous life, Wen Zhibai quickly understood the emperor's intention.
Did he want to use the blood of the Jiang family to prolong his imperial throne for another thousand years? Wen Zhibai would never repeat the same mistake.
From the very beginning, the purpose of revitalizing Lingxi Pavilion was not only for wealth, but more importantly, to establish contact with the daughters of the Shangjing officials. Even without Pei Qinzhou and without relying on their power, they could still find out news from the palace more quickly.
"Xia Chengen is trustworthy," Pei Qinzhou said calmly to Wen Zhibai.
Wen Zhibai paused for a moment, then immediately understood what he meant: "But...time is running out, what should we do?"
"With me here, you don't need to worry."
Wen Zhibai's eyelashes trembled slightly. The person in front of her had never changed. It seemed that he had lived his whole life for her: "Pei Qinzhou, I believe you can do everything, but I also don't want you to get hurt. I have already lost you once, and I will never let you take risks for me. I only wish... that you stay by my side."
“I promise you, I will never leave you.” Pei Qinzhou’s eyes curved into a smile as he conjured a small, shimmering paper doll at his fingertips: “It is a manifestation of my spirit. As long as you say my name to it, I can sense you and return to your side.”
Wen Zhibai gently took the little figure into her palm. The little figure flew to her forehead and pressed its head against her brow, making Wen Zhibai smile slightly.
"That's a foul! Who uses a paper doll to represent them?"
"It was just a little trick to make the beauty smile."
A servant came to report: "Miss Wen, the young lady who came last time is here again. She says she is your sister, named Wen Xian."
Wen Zhibai's face immediately turned cold. He first told Pei Qinzhou to go back to his room to avoid causing any more trouble.
Outside the mansion, only Wen Xian and a coachman stood waiting.
"What are you doing here again?" Wen Zhibai asked irritably.
"Sister, right now you're all I have left. If we don't support and rely on each other in the days to come, how can we get through this?"
As she spoke, Wen Xian began to shed tears, quickly stepping forward to hug Wen Zhibai: "Sister, you're all I have left..."
Wen Zhibai quickly pushed her away: "Wen Xian, I have no sisterly affection for you. If you have any conscience left, never see me again."
Wen Zhibai stopped talking to her and turned to the servant, saying, "If you see this young lady again, don't bother me. I have nothing to do with her." With that, the gate of the Pei residence closed steadily.
Wen Xian looked at the lintel of the Pei residence with a cold smile and said to the coachman behind her, "That demon... is it really from here?"
The coachman took off his hat and took out the Demon-Finding Compass: "This is a magical artifact of our Spirit-Binding Division; it won't make a mistake."
"That's good." Wen Xian said, taking out a talisman from her sleeve and handing it to the person beside her. "I just followed your instructions and placed a spell on her neck, but... will that person really not notice?"
"Miss, don't panic. The Demon-Finding Compass indicates that this demon is very weak. Besides, it's a talisman from the Spirit-Binding Division, so it won't be easily detected."
...
Back in his room, Wen Zhibai looked around but couldn't find him.
“Pei—” She was about to call his name when she remembered that Pei Qinzhou couldn’t hear her.
Wen Zhibai ran to the study again, but eventually found Pei Qinzhou in the backyard. He was squatting on the ground with his back to him, doing something.
Wen Zhibai ran towards him, and the moment their eyes met, she caught a glimpse of the bloodstains on his collar out of the corner of her eye.
Pei Qinzhou had mud splattered on his face, but he smiled gently, as if nothing had happened, and handed her the jasmine seeds in his hand.
“Before you were here, I tried to grow jasmine, but unfortunately, I didn’t know how to grow flowers, and they all died… My courtyard has been neglected ever since. Fortunately, you are here with me now, so I don’t have to worry about not seeing the flowers bloom.”
“Look,” he pointed to the side, where two brand-new hoes were neatly placed, “I prepared the tools, but after thinking about it, I decided it would be better to plant them for you myself. Let every seed pass through my hands, so that every flower they bloom in the future will be a gift from me to you.”
She lowered her head for a moment, swallowing back the heartache, then smiled and looked up, gently wiping the mud off his face with her fingertips.
"Okay." Her voice was slightly hoarse. "I'll wait for your flowers, and I'll wait for you."
Everyone says that jasmine means "never to part," so I hope that we will never be separated again... Wen Zhibai did not say these words aloud, but buried them in this land along with the jasmine seeds.
Perhaps if we don't say anything, it will happen when it blossoms?
-----
When the three-day deadline arrived, Li Ke, in accordance with the imperial decree, had Qi Yuheng's former subordinates imprisoned in the deep mountains and executed.
After all, the emperor was indeed in the wrong in this matter, and could only resolve it quietly.
The cleaver awaited the spray of wine; noon was just a moment away.
At the same time, Qi Yuning picked up her red-tasseled spear, took one last look at the dilapidated gate of the General's Mansion, mounted her horse, and headed towards the deep mountains where the execution would take place.
Wen Zhibai had long anticipated that she wouldn't easily abandon Qi Yuheng's subordinates, and was already waiting on the inevitable path.
"Yu Ning." Wen Zhibai stood alone in front of the horse.
"Zhibai," Qi Yuning interrupted her, "You can't stop me today."
"If I wanted to stop you, I wouldn't be standing here alone. Your martial arts are superb, how could I possibly stop you?"
Qi Yuning looked around but didn't see Pei Qinzhou: "Where is Lord Pei?"
"He's waiting for us up ahead." Wen Zhibai stepped forward. "You said we were friends. I also promised you that we would take revenge together. We will never let any more innocent people in the world lose their lives!"
“...Get on the horse!” Qi Yuning reached out her hand, looking more composed than before.
Wen Zhibai grasped her slightly warm palm in return: "Don't be impulsive in a moment."
"Hmm, hold on to me, don't fall off... Giddy up!"
With the execution ground in sight, Wen Zhibai held Qi Yuning and hid in the bushes. The broadsword was about to fall, and Qi Yuning tightly gripped the leaves beside her. Wen Zhibai held her hand, signaling her to relax.
The next second, Li Ke and the others froze as if they had suddenly been possessed, and the bound subordinates were also stunned.
Qi Yuning looked at Wen Zhibai in disbelief, but Wen Zhibai didn't let her ask: "Go first, protect them for your brother."
Qi Yuning rushed out of the bushes, picked up the knife from the ground, and untied them.
"Miss!!"
"You still came!"
Qi Yuning stubbornly wiped away her tears: "As long as I'm alive, I will never abandon any of you!!"
"But now... the Great Xia no longer wants us..." Tears welled up in the eyes of several tough men: "For fourteen years in Liangchuan, we've endured hardship and shed blood, but we're not afraid of any of that... all we wanted was to be loyal and righteous to the Great Xia..."
“Those who do not love their people are never the Great Xia.” Wen Zhibai stepped forward and stood beside Qi Yining: “The people of Liangchuan and even the people of Great Xia are all mourning General Qi. One person cannot make Great Xia, but it is the millions of ordinary people who have made Great Xia what it is… So you have not been abandoned by Great Xia, but by someone else.”
The soldiers looked at each other, and finally their gazes settled on Qi Yuning, who remained silent.
Qi Yuning clenched her fists, met Wen Zhibai's gaze, and said firmly, "Zhibai, I believe you."
“In the past, it was the General who led the brothers. Now that he is gone, we all look up to you, Miss! This life belongs to you!”
Qi Yuning picked up her red-tasseled spear, her thoughts drifting far away, recalling the moments when Qi Yuheng taught her martial arts: "Brother, you always said I wasn't strong enough, but I understand that you were afraid I would get hurt... Now that you're gone, I want to prove to you that the student can surpass the teacher."
—I am your continuation in this world.
—I will still protect the people of Great Xia, just as you did when you were still here.
—I will win our bet and become General Qi.
...
In the Empress's palace, Xia Chengen slowly opened his eyes, only to find that it was not his own bedroom.
"You're awake." The Empress sat to the side, dampened a handkerchief in her hand, and wiped the sweat from Xia Chengen's forehead.
"Mother..." Xia Chengen endured the pain in his head and forced himself to sit up. The injuries he had sustained in Liangchuan had not fully healed. He had been caught in the heavy rain that day and had fallen into a coma and developed a fever.
He struggled to recall his memories before he fainted, then, as if remembering something, he grabbed the Empress's arm in alarm: "Mother, General Qi, his—"
"How dare you mention it again!" The Empress threw the handkerchief into the basin, and the palace servants present all knelt down: "Do you know that your father almost deposed you! Throughout history, how many loyal ministers have died? For Qi Yuheng, he almost cost my son and me our lives! Xia Chengen, you are the Crown Prince, not a living Buddha! Before saving others, can you at least consider your own situation?"
"It is precisely because my son is the Crown Prince that I must fight for justice in this world! If I were to stand by and do nothing while my loyal subjects of the Great Xia die unjustly, what would be the point of this position as Crown Prince!"
After listening to his impassioned speech, the Empress's furious expression gradually calmed down: "Fairness?" She chuckled lightly, "When your father ascended the throne, the bones beneath the dragon throne could have piled up into mountains. Without those 'injustices,' you wouldn't have the right to talk about 'fairness' today!"
She stood up: "Cheng'en, your mother doesn't want you to be a saint, she just wants you to live. In this cannibalistic place, conscience... is the most luxurious thing."
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