Chapter 68 Spring Sunshine and Snow: The Final Chapter (1)
As the spring sun melts the snow, the roads become incredibly slippery after the snow melts.
Looking at the wet, muddy snow-melting road, Zhu Qing knew that the horses couldn't run too fast, and if he went to the old woman's place himself, he didn't know how long it would take.
The old woman had been kind enough, and Zhu Qing felt she didn't have much time to go back.
But Bao Fu didn't know the way, so Zhu Qing had to take him to the marked points before she dared to return to Jinyang.
Passing through a slightly bustling town along the way, Zhu Qing found the original pawnshop, redeemed Zhuo Yunmeng's peace bracelet, put it back on, and then set off again.
On the warm afternoon of the second day, Zhu Qing led Bao Fu to the marker point, pointed to the arrow symbol on the tree trunk, and said, "Follow this, the end is the old woman's house."
Zhu Qing had gotten lost many times and had a vivid memory of the roads. Worried that Bao Fu would get lost and waste time, he took out paper and pen from his bundle and drew the map in his mind.
"If you don't have enough markers, look at this picture."
Bao Fu took the map. It was drawn clearly and he could understand it at a glance. However, he asked with some concern, "But Secretary Zhang said that I must escort you safely."
Zhu Qing said, "I have a sword with the willow branch for protection, so I'll be fine. Besides, your own skills are about the same as mine."
“But…” Bao Fu still hesitated. Although his martial arts skills were only so-so, at least he was by Zhu Qing’s side. If anything happened to her, he could send a message to Feng Huaihe in time.
Zhu Qing said, "I must set off for Jinyang immediately. The old lady saved me, and this grain is to repay her kindness. She has no extra food left, and if we are late, something bad will happen. The matter is urgent, so let's split up."
After finishing his sentence, Zhu Qing mounted his horse, giving Bao Fu no chance to refuse, and rode back home.
Bao Fu wanted to give chase, but seeing the grain on the horse, he couldn't do anything about it. He could only deliver the grain to the old woman as quickly as possible before chasing after Zhu Qing.
The two then parted ways, with Zhu Qing returning the way he came to Jinyang.
The horse was running very fast, and as it bounced along, Zhu Qingyue couldn't understand it anymore. This matter wasn't a secret, so why did Feng Huaihe have no reason not to tell her, and why did he say that she should never come looking for him?
It was as if there was a tangled ball of yarn in Zhu Qing's mind that she couldn't untangle. Zhu Qing was anxious, feeling uneasy about Feng Huaihe's change and worried about her third brother in Jinyang.
In his haste, Zhu Qing didn't pay attention to the path ahead. There was a patch of ground covered by a thick pile of grass. It was early spring, and there shouldn't be so much grass yet. It was clearly a trap set by a hunter using grass that had been stored up for the season. By the time Zhu Qing realized what was happening, it was too late.
The horse's hooves stepped on the haystack, and it suddenly lost its footing. The horse neighed loudly, its front hooves buckled, and Zhu Qing fell off its back.
A huge mud pit, the mud inside was soft and runny because of the melting snow. Zhu Qing fell in, getting covered in dirty mud, losing one shoe, and his bundle rolled away.
The horse also fell into the pit, but luckily Zhu Qing wasn't trampled by it.
Ignoring the pain, Zhu Qing immediately got up and looked up at the top of the pit.
It was half a meter taller than her and she couldn't climb out. She tried to climb onto the horse's back, but the horse's front hooves gave way, and she couldn't stand up, only panting as she lay on the ground.
Zhu Qing was helpless. This place was deserted and few people passed by. He could only wait for the hunters who had set the traps to return.
Zhu Qing was wondering how long he would have to wait when he heard rustling footsteps coming from above.
Zhu Qing was overjoyed and was about to call for help when a figure appeared on the top of the pit.
Zhang Yin lay on the edge of the mud pit, revealing a cold face as he looked at Zhu Qing: "Long time no see."
His tone was calm, but Zhu Qing sensed a sinister undertone. Seeing him reminded her of the seriously injured Zhu Feichuan and the missing Chen Sangguo.
A chill ran through Zhu Qing's heart. She gritted her teeth and glared at him: "It was you! How did you know I would be passing by here?"
Zhang Yin narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "When I met you in the forest, you lied and said you were trading with Zhu Feichuan. You certainly didn't know that I already knew about your disappearance. I didn't expose you and even told Feng Huaihe that you had been with me all along. I thought that, just like in my previous life, I could make him jealous and cause him to lose control and make the wrong decision, so that I could win the Battle of Luzhou."
Zhang Yin squatted by the pit, looking down at Zhu Qing with a cold arrogance, as if he were looking at an ant.
"But I didn't expect that he wouldn't lose control like he did in my previous life. Instead, he was very organized and composed. He defended Luzhou with Li Sizhao and even went to the front lines himself, killing many Liang soldiers. I really didn't expect that. I had no choice but to resort to this."
Zhang Yin smiled knowingly and said, "I didn't get your third brother's weapon. Zhu Wen gave me my last chance: the Battle of Luzhou. If I fail again, I won't survive."
Zhang Yin was not afraid of death, but he was afraid of dying because of Feng Huaihe's manipulation.
All of his current predicaments were orchestrated step by step by Feng Huaihe.
He was unwilling to acknowledge Feng Huaihe's achievements in the first place and was determined to beat Feng Huaihe. How could he be willing to die under Feng Huaihe's instigation?
Zhang Yin sneered: "I know Feng Huaihe found you. I've been following you ever since you set off with Bao Fuyi."
He gritted his teeth in hatred: "I should have kidnapped you and taken you to Luzhou as a hostage to force Feng Huaihe to withdraw his troops. Then none of this would have happened!"
Fortunately, it's not too late; Zhu Wen is willing to give him one last chance.
Zhu Qing was so enraged by what he said that he retorted, "How can retreating troops be decided by Feng Huaihe?"
“His word doesn’t count, but he must have a way to make the Jin army fail, right?” Zhang Yin smiled. “You’re only of this value to me, enough to make Feng Huaihe take the initiative to find a way for me to win the battle of Luzhou.”
"A despicable person who doesn't fight for victory and glory but instead uses hostages to force others to hand it over—what's the difference between him and a thief?"
Zhu Qing trembled with rage, picked up the arrowhead given to her by Feng Huaihe, angrily drew the bow and aimed it at him. Zhang Yin smiled coldly without fear: "Kill me, and you won't know where Chen Sangguo is."
Zhu Qing paused before he could shoot the arrow.
In the moment she was stunned, Zhang Yin threw a rope into the pit. "Should you come up yourself or should I go down?"
Zhu Qing didn't move. Zhang Yin sneered, "If I were going down, I would knock you out and hang you up like a corpse. I don't want to treat you in such an ugly way. After all, we were husband and wife."
Zhu Qing: "Pah!"
Zhang Yin slowly blinked, then jumped into the pit with a thud. Zhu Qing instinctively stepped back, discarding the slingshot unsuitable for close combat, but still tightly gripping the sharp arrow in her hand.
"Did you really take Chen Sang away?" Zhu Qing asked suspiciously.
Zhang Yin didn't answer, but walked closer to her with a cold face. The pit wasn't very wide, and Zhang Yin closed in on her in two steps. Zhu Qing raised an arrow and pointed it at Zhang Yin's throat: "What do you want?"
The arrows were from the new batch that Feng Huaihe had fired for her; they were extremely sharp. Zhu Qing only touched them briefly before seeing beads of blood welling up from the tips.
But Zhang Yin seemed not to feel any pain. He grinned at her, reached out and grabbed the other end of the arrow, and pulled hard.
Caught off guard, Zhu Qing was pulled forward and fell into his arms, her nose slamming hard against his chest. Before she could recover, the arrow was snatched away and discarded by Zhang Yin, and then a cold hand was placed on her waist.
Zhang Yin wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her into his embrace, and took a deep sniff of her body before sighing with satisfaction, "Such a familiar scent, it's been so long."
"nausea!"
Zhu Qing struggled against his chest with both hands, but Zhang Yin was also quite strong, and instead held her even tighter in his arms.
"Me, disgusting? Am I as disgusting as Feng Huaihe? He forced you and threatened you, but I didn't. Besides, in the previous life, weren't you the one who liked me the most? For my sake, you were still going against your mentor on your deathbed, strategizing for me, planning my future, and trying to help me rise to the top and leave my name in history."
"You're despicable enough, but don't disgust me. Let go!"
Zhu Qing struggled desperately; she hated his smell.
But his breath kept spraying over her, making Zhu Qing feel nauseous like never before. She had been close to Feng Huaihe before, but she had only ever disliked him, never to the point of feeling disgusted.
Zhu Qing was so nauseous that she didn't hear what Zhang Yin was saying at all, and she covered her mouth and dry heaved.
Seeing her like this, Zhang Yin was not angry at all. Instead, he hugged Zhu Qing's waist even tighter, almost trapping her completely in his arms. With his other hand, he lifted Zhu Qing's pale face and looked at her, asking in a low voice, "Do you know why Feng Huaihe hates me so much?"
Zhu Qing's eyes, filled with hatred, shone brightly as she glared at him sharply.
Zhang Yin sneered, "Because in my previous life, I never had feelings for you. You were kept in the dark, but Feng Huaihe saw through it. That's why he hates me."
Zhu Qing was stunned. All the strength she had used to struggle seemed to have been put on hold, and she stayed in his arms. "What do you mean by that?"
"Still not clear enough? When I was in Lingnan, I often heard the legend of Feng Zhijian. He had no father or mother to love him, and he came from the poor Qingxi Village, yet he climbed to a high position. I never believed it. How could there be someone in the world who could stand at the top without any support?"
Zhang Yin gently stroked Zhu Qing's lips with his fingers and said coldly, "After the war in Lingnan, I had nowhere to go, so I came to the north specifically to see the legendary Feng Zhijian."
“I went to the Feng residence to find him, wanting to become his disciple, but he said that he would never accept disciples in his life, and he never even came out to see me. He just sent a servant to deliver the message.”
That incident was like a thorn stuck in Zhang Yin's heart. He, a young master from Lingnan, had never been treated like this before.
Everyone fawns over him, tries to please him, and wishes they could get a second glance from him.
But Feng Huaihe broke that precedent, and Zhang Yin felt ignored and trampled upon. All the honor he had held in his life was trampled into dust by Feng Huaihe.
What Zhang Yin didn't expect was that Feng Huaihe later didn't even remember that he existed.
Feng Huaihe was unaware that the woman his student married was someone he had once rejected.
He completely forgot about Zhang Yin.
The more Zhang Yin thought about it, the more humiliated he felt.
He said indignantly, "If he really doesn't accept disciples, then why did he accept you? Just because you're pretty? People who only care about their appearance are no better than that."
Zhang Yin initially thought so, but after several battles, he discovered that Feng Huaihe was truly skilled.
He found it even more unacceptable.
It's unacceptable. Feng Huaihe doesn't need anyone's support to reach the top. Feng Huaihe isn't someone who's only interested in appearances; he simply doesn't want to take him as a disciple. Feng Huaihe has nothing, yet he excels in every way.
When Zhang Yin was in Lingnan, besides his noble family background, he also had some talent. He could write poetry and prose and was somewhat famous. However, he was overshadowed and forgotten by Feng Huaihe, who had nothing.
Zhang Yin was unwilling to accept that he possessed so many resources, yet he couldn't grow up to be like Feng Huaihe.
After numerous encounters, Zhang Yin realized that he was no match for Feng Huaihe.
Feng Huaihe had nothing, but he still looked down on him.
Zhang Yin leaned close to Zhu Qing's ear and whispered, "After the defeat in Chang'an, your family was destroyed and you and I met in Jinyang. I heard about your experiences in the Secretariat and recognized Feng Huaihe's feelings for you. At that moment, I knew my chance had come."
"From beginning to end, you were just a tool I used to defeat Feng Huaihe. Do you know that? Every time you won a confrontation with Feng Huaihe, I would write him a letter. Do you want to know what the letter contained?"
Zhu Qing grew increasingly terrified as she listened, staring at Zhang Yin's face in disbelief.
Although she no longer has any feelings for Zhang Yin in this life, and can see through Zhang Yin's true nature, the feelings and details of their time together in the previous life are still preserved in her memory.
But he suddenly said that he had never been a part of those memories and feelings. Zhu Qing felt no sadness, only anger, an anger of having her emotions played with.
She remained silent, her eyes burning with rage. Zhang Yin continued, "I wrote to Feng Huaihe about our loving daily life as husband and wife, and I also wrote that he had nothing, that his personality was extreme, unhealthy, and incomplete, that he was incompetent, and that he couldn't even keep the only female student who genuinely cared for him..."
"His life should be like that of his elder sister, Feng Yangmeng, a fleeting dream that ends abruptly."
"Smack!"
Zhu Qing slapped Zhang Yin across the face, her anger, like being drowned in a river, engulfing her. "Zhang Yin, no wonder you can't compare to Feng Huaihe in anything. It turns out you've used all your scheming and skills on your inferiority complex."
Zhang Yin froze, his eyes turning cold as he stared at her.
"If you weren't insecure, why would you constantly compare yourself to Feng Huaihe? If you weren't insecure, why would you need me to prove your greatness? What you can't accept is not how great Feng Huaihe is as a strategist, nor is it that Feng Huaihe ignores you; you simply can't accept the feeling of inferiority you feel when facing him."
That's why I want to seize every opportunity to showcase myself.
Zhu Qing sneered: "Your status in Lingnan is entirely up to you. To be honest, I don't know what kind of person you are in Lingnan. But what I want to say is, if a young nobleman born into a high-ranking family is also talented and famous, and is admired by everyone, and has a loving father and mother, how could such a person feel inferior?"
Zhang Yin remained motionless, but the pressure on her waist gradually tightened, and his eyes slowly turned red.
Zhu Qing felt a sharp pain in her waist, but she endured it and said, "If you feel inferior even in front of someone like Feng Huaihe who has nothing, then you must be more pitiful than him."
“Zhu-Qing,” Zhang Yin said, enunciating each word clearly, “Do you think you understand me?”
Staring at Zhu Qing's face, hatred surged within him. He pinched Zhu Qing's face hard. "Enough with the nonsense, let's watch the show. I want you to see how I beat Feng Huaihe."
"I don't know if you can beat Feng Huaihe, but I believe you definitely can't win the Battle of Luzhou."
What makes you say that?
Zhu Qing said, "You went to great lengths to capture me just to use me as a hostage and force Feng Huaihe to let Luzhou fall. But let me tell you, the reason why Feng Huaihe is better than you as a strategist is because he can see through what others really care about, and thus devise plans or traps, proceeding step by step."
Zhang Yin scoffed: "So what?"
"What do you think?" Zhu Qing smiled. "If Luzhou falls, given Zhu Wen's past campaigns, I'm afraid the entire city's inhabitants will be doomed."
“You can’t win the battle of Luzhou. Because Feng Huaihe knows that what I really care about is the people of Luzhou, and he will defend it for me at all costs.”
Zhang Yin didn't believe it: "Even if you die?"
Zhu Qing affirmed, "Even if it means my death."
Zhang Yin's heart suddenly raced: "Why are you so sure?" Had he been tricked by a double agent?
“I told you, Feng Huaihe can see through what others truly care about before devising a plan.” Zhu Qing smiled fearlessly. “So, do you think he can’t see through someone as empty-headed as you?”
Zhang Yin stood frozen in place, then vaguely realized something, "You guys?"
"You've fallen for their trap. They guessed you'd want to use me as a bargaining chip, so they turned the tables on you, deliberately going alone to lure you in."
Zhu Qing reached out and gently touched the cannon held across his throat. The bell on it jingled. Zhu Qing sneered, "Or do you really think you have the ability to scheme against me and Feng Huaihe? And by such coincidence, I actually fell into your trap?"
"The reason you failed is that you didn't know your own limitations."
Zhang Yin was so angry that his face turned pale. His blood was churning so much that he felt like he was going to vomit blood. He couldn't stand it. Why did he always lose to them?
He also tried very hard to come up with a plan, but why could he always be no match for them?
Zhang Yin was afraid that he would kill Zhu Qing in his anger, so he threw away the piercing cannon that was pressing against her throat, grabbed her neck, and pushed her back against the back wall of the mud pit.
Several clumps of wet, soft mud rolled down and landed on Zhu Qing's clothes, making her already dirty clothes even more disheveled.
"What's your plan with Feng Huaihe?" Zhang Yin's face twisted in a grimace, a murderous glint in his eyes. "Speak!"
"Cough cough..."
Her breath was caught in her throat, and Zhu Qing coughed violently, reaching out to grab the clutches that were choking her neck. "Bring Chen Sangguo in exchange..."
"Chen Sangguo?" Zhang Yin sneered, his grip tightening as he watched Zhu Qing's face turn bluish-purple from suffocation. He couldn't help but laugh heartily, "How would I know where she is? But in this world, she's either dead or on the table."
"Cough cough...didn't you say..."
"You said I'm incompetent, but why don't you think about it? If I had the ability to detain Chen Sangguo, would I still be unable to obtain Zhu Feichuan's weapon and have come this far?"
"..."
The moment Zhu Qing heard "dead or on the table," her last glimmer of hope vanished completely. It turned out that everything before had been a lie. So what was the point of keeping Zhang Yin alive?
She suddenly raised the arrow hidden in her sleeve and stabbed it fiercely at Zhang Yin's wrist, which was gripping her neck!
"Hiss—Zhu Qing, you!"
The excruciating pain caused Zhang Yin to let go, and Zhu Qing seized the opportunity to break free and climb up the pit wall with all her might.
The mud wall was slippery, and she struggled to climb a few steps before her ankle was suddenly grabbed.
Zhu Qing turned around and saw Zhang Yin standing below, grabbing her forcefully with his bleeding wrist and pulling her down with a whoosh.
Zhu Qing suddenly fell, her ankle bone cracking with a sound. She cried out in pain and lay on the ground, unable to get up.
Zhang Yin, clutching his bleeding wrist, approached her step by step with a ferocious expression, "You're courting death!"
Zhu Qing struggled to lift her head; her face was covered in mud, making it difficult to discern her features, but her eyes were unusually bright as she glared at him: "Zhang Yin, you'll never win..."
"Shut up!"
Zhang Yin bent down, roughly pulled over the hemp rope that had been thrown into the pit, tied Zhu Qing's hands behind her back, and gagged her with a strip of cloth—he dared not give her any more chance to resist.
After doing all this, Zhang Yin grabbed one end of the rope, climbed over the top of the pit, and forcefully dragged Zhu Qing out of the mud pit.
Zhu Qing was covered in mud, and the excruciating pain in her ankle almost made her faint. Through her blurred vision, she could only see Zhang Yin leading a horse.
Zhang Yin roughly laid her across the horse's back, secured her with ropes, then mounted his own horse, pulled on the reins, and sneered, "Feng Huaihe wants to defend Luzhou, doesn't he? I'd like to see whether he wants the entire city's inhabitants or your life!"
Zhu Qing was gagged and couldn't speak, but she stubbornly thought that Feng Huaihe could see through what everyone cared about. She cared about the people of the city, so he would definitely protect them.
Because Luzhou is the gateway to Hedong, if it falls, the entire Jin state will be in grave danger.
The horse's hooves kicked up mud as it galloped toward Luzhou.
At the bottom of the pit, only the injured horse and Zhu Qing's fallen arrow remained.
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