To stop the war for you
After several days of arduous travel, thanks to Munasha's familiarity with the terrain of the North and Zongzheng Hengyu's formidable fighting prowess despite not being fully recovered, the two miraculously made it out of the edge of the Yan Yun Mountains and were found by a group of elite cavalry from the Northern Abyss who were searching for the princess.
Seeing the princess unharmed, the soldiers of Beiyuan were overjoyed. But when they saw the black-armored man beside the princess, whose clothes were tattered and slightly disheveled, yet whose posture remained upright and whose aura was cold and imposing, they were even more horrified. It was none other than the Great Shang Heng King!
Almost instinctively, all the Beiyuan soldiers gripped their weapons, their eyes filled with hostility and vigilance, and surrounded Zongzheng Hengyu.
"Insolence!" Muna Sha immediately stepped forward, blocking Zongzheng Hengyu. Although she was much smaller than him, she exuded an undeniable authority.
"You must not be disrespectful to His Highness Prince Heng! If it weren't for His Highness... I, the princess, would not have escaped danger this time either." She vaguely mentioned the details after falling off the cliff, but her intention to protect him was obvious.
The soldiers looked at each other, puzzled as to why the princess was protecting the enemy commander, but they still obeyed the order and stepped back slightly, though their eyes remained fixed on Zongzheng Hengyu.
Zongzheng Hengyu remained calm, seemingly oblivious to the hostility around him, as if he had anticipated this situation. He looked at Munasha, his voice still indifferent: "Now that the princess is safe, I shall take my leave."
"Wait!" Munasha hurriedly called out to him, her eyes filled with complicated emotions. "Your injuries haven't fully healed yet. This place is closer to my Northern Abyss Royal Palace, so perhaps..."
“No need.” Zongzheng Hengyu interrupted her, his tone resolute. “I have my own place to go.”
He must return to his army as soon as possible to stabilize morale, while also investigating the details of the defeat at Falling Eagle Gorge and the Night Hawk Pavilion's deeper plans in the northern border.
He looked at Munasha and said finally, "Princess, I may spare you this time if we meet again outside the battlefield. But when two nations clash, each serves its own master. I hope you will take care of yourself."
After saying that, he didn't linger. He checked the direction and walked firmly toward the entropy control zone. His back was proud and resolute, and he soon disappeared into the vast Gobi Desert.
Munasha stared in the direction he had disappeared, remaining motionless for a long time, her heart filled with mixed emotions. He hadn't uttered a single kind word, and wouldn't even accept her help once he had recovered from his injuries.
This indifference, like a thorn, was deeply embedded in her heart, but it also made that figure imprinted even more deeply on her soul.
Inside the golden tent of the Northern Abyss Royal Palace.
"What?! You want to withdraw your troops? And even form an alliance with Great Entropy?!" Upon hearing his daughter's request, Muleryan abruptly stood up, his face filled with disbelief and fury. "Nasha, do you know what you're saying? We've spent countless resources and manpower, and we're about to... Even if we fail to capture Zongzheng Hengyu at Falling Eagle Gorge, the battle situation is still favorable! You're actually going to give up this golden opportunity for a man from an enemy country?!"
“Father!” Muna Sha knelt in the tent, raised her head, her eyes resolute and unwavering. “Your daughter is not acting entirely out of personal feelings! Think about it, if we wage a prolonged war against an opponent like Zongzheng Hengyu, even if Beiyuan wins, it will be a Pyrrhic victory, and our national strength will be greatly weakened! How could the surrounding tribes, who are eyeing us covetously, let this opportunity pass? Rather than a mutually destructive conflict, we should take this opportunity to negotiate peace with Da Shang, open trade routes, and exchange for the food, ironware, and silk that we desperately need. This is the long-term solution for us to recuperate!”
She paused, a blush rising to her cheeks, but her tone became even more resolute: "Besides... I truly admire him. If we could form a marriage alliance with Da Shang, turning hostility into friendship, wouldn't that be the best of both worlds? Father, please grant my wish!"
Muleyan stared intently at his daughter, seeing the unwavering stubbornness and fervor in her eyes, feeling both angry and helpless. He knew his daughter's temperament well; once she made up her mind, nothing could sway her.
"You...you've really been bewitched!" Muleyan slumped back onto the throne, letting out a heavy sigh. "Who is Zongzheng Hengyu? The cold-faced war god of the Great Shang, proud and arrogant, how could he easily accept you? Besides, he's already engaged! You, the dignified princess of Beiyuan, are you going to become someone's subservient servant?"
"The engagement can be dissolved!" Munasha blurted out, a sharp glint in her eyes. "As long as he sees my good qualities and the benefits I can bring him, he will naturally make the right choice! As for that fiancée..."
She snorted coldly, her voice filled with the pride and disdain of a princess. "How can a delicate, sheltered woman from the Central Plains compare to me? I will go to Da Shang myself and see for myself what kind of woman he is, and see the country he grew up in! I will let him know who is truly worthy of him!"
"You're going to the Great Entropy?!" Mulleryan was shocked again. "Nonsense! That's a den of dragons and tigers!"
“Your daughter will proceed with caution, traveling as a delegation.” Munasha had clearly planned ahead. “Father, please order a temporary halt to the offensive and contact Great Shang to negotiate peace. At the same time, allow your daughter to travel to Great Shang’s capital! If… if this can be accomplished, it will be entirely beneficial to our Northern Abyss, Father!”
Looking at his daughter's determined eyes, Muleyan knew that further persuasion was useless. He waved his hand wearily: "Enough! You've always been opinionated since you were little, and your father can't control you! As for the peace talks, your father can send people to try to make contact, but whether it will succeed or not is still unknown."
…………
The news sent shockwaves through the North. The atmosphere on the previously smoke-filled front lines suddenly became eerie and delicate.
Just as the fighting on the front lines of Beiyuan was mysteriously brought to a standstill due to Munasha's proposal, and the rumors of peace talks began to circulate, Zongzheng Hengyu took advantage of the truce to begin searching for clues about Zongzheng Mingchen.
The defeat at Eagle Falling Gorge and the shadow of Night Hawk Pavilion lingered in Zongzheng Hengyu's mind. He knew that the chaos in the Northern Territory was not merely caused by tribal rebellions; the deeper masterminds had to be brought to justice.
Based on the scattered clues previously obtained and some irrelevant information provided by Munasha, Zongzheng Hengyu deployed his most elite secret guards and finally found the long-lost Zongzheng Mingchen in an abandoned fortress near the frigid far north.
When Zongzheng Hengyu stepped into the dilapidated stone house that leaked wind and snow, he could hardly recognize the man in front of him, who was dressed in rags, looked haggard, and was huddled in a pile of grass in the corner for warmth. He was no longer the emperor's elder brother who, though deep in thought, still possessed the bearing of royalty.
Upon hearing footsteps, Zongzheng Mingchen raised his head warily. When he recognized Zongzheng Hengyu as the newcomer, a flicker of extreme surprise crossed his cloudy eyes, which was quickly replaced by intense resentment and a barely perceptible fear.
“It’s you…” Zongzheng Mingchen’s voice was hoarse and dry, with a lingering unease from not speaking for a long time, “You’ve come to see me in this wretched state? Your Highness, you have quite the interest.”
Zongzheng Hengyu dismissed his attendants and stood alone in the room, the chill clinging to his black cloak blending seamlessly with the room's coldness. His gaze, sharp as a knife, fell upon Zongzheng Mingchen. Without any pleasantries, he went straight to the point: "The ambush at Falling Eagle Gorge is related to Night Hawk Pavilion. What role did you play in it?"
Zongzheng Mingchen's body stiffened almost imperceptibly, then he let out a low and strange laugh that echoed in the empty stone house, carrying a hint of shrillness: "Heh...hehe...I am now a prisoner, exiled here, barely able to protect myself, what role can I play? Your Highness Prince Heng overestimates me."
"To think too highly of you?" Zongzheng Hengyu's tone was icy. "You were able to disappear from the place of exile and evade the imperial court's search. If you hadn't had someone to help you, it would have been impossible for you to do it all by yourself. The person who helped you was the Night Hawk Pavilion."
He took a step forward, and the powerful pressure made Zongzheng Mingchen instinctively shrink back. "Tell me, what other plans does the Night Hawk Pavilion have in the Northern Territory? Who is their leader? Tell me what you know, and you may be able to redeem yourself, and Father Emperor may show leniency."
"Atone for your crimes with good deeds? Show leniency?" Zongzheng Mingchen seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world, his eyes filled with sarcasm and distrust. "Zongzheng Hengyu, stop pretending! The victor is king, the loser is villain, I have nothing to say! As for the Night Hawk Pavilion..."
When he uttered those three words, a strange, almost fanatical light flashed in his cloudy eyes—the obsessive devotion of someone in dire straits grasping at the last piece of driftwood. "They are the ones who can achieve great things! They promised me they would help me reclaim everything that is rightfully mine! You won't get any information about them from me!"
Zongzheng Hengyu frowned, looking at Zongzheng Mingchen's completely bewitched and stubbornly unrepentant appearance, knowing that conventional interrogation was pointless. Night Hawk Pavilion had clearly made him great promises or grasped his fatal weakness, making him still fiercely defend himself even in this situation, and even place all his hopes on that mysterious organization.
“They are using you.” Zongzheng Hengyu’s voice was cold and deep as he tried to wake him up. “Once you lose your value or become a burden, they will not hesitate to abandon you or even silence you. You are the best proof of that now.”
"You're talking nonsense!" Zongzheng Mingchen became agitated, struggling to stand up, but staggered due to weakness and cold. "You don't understand at all! Only they understand my ambitions! Only they can give me strength! Zongzheng Hengyu, don't think you've won! With the Night Hawk Pavilion here, who will rule this land is still unknown!"
His words were filled with unrealistic fantasies and unwavering loyalty, clearly indicating that he was deeply trapped in the illusion woven by the Night Hawk Pavilion and unable to extricate himself.
Zongzheng Hengyu knew that asking any further questions would be futile. He gave Zongzheng Mingchen a deep look, his gaze as cold as the northern wind: "Stubborn to the end. Since you've chosen to negotiate with a tiger, then you'd better watch yourself. I hope that when the Eagle Pavilion turns against you, you won't regret your choice today."
After saying that, he didn't linger. He turned around and strode away, leaving Zongzheng Mingchen behind him letting out a low growl of resentment and bitterness.
Stepping out of the fortress, a biting wind swept over him. Zongzheng Hengyu's expression was grave. The leads on Zongzheng Mingchen's side had temporarily dried up, but his vigilance towards the Night Hawk Pavilion was at its highest. The fact that this organization could manipulate a prince so effectively suggested that its infiltration capabilities and ambitions far exceeded his previous estimates. The matter in the Northern Border had temporarily come to an end, but back in the capital, the true battle with the Night Hawk Pavilion might just be beginning.
He ordered two guards to remain behind to secretly monitor Zongzheng Mingchen's movements and see if any members of the Night Hawk Pavilion would contact him again. Afterward, he focused his attention on the handover with the Northern Abyss delegation and the arrangements for their triumphant return.
Inside the stone house, Zongzheng Mingchen gradually calmed his powerless rage after Zongzheng Hengyu left. He curled up back into the haystack, staring blankly at the frost-covered walls, silently muttering, "Night Hawk Pavilion...you will come...you will come to save me...I'm still useful..."
His trust in the Night Hawk Pavilion had become a morbid faith, sustaining him through his despair. He seemed never to have considered, or perhaps didn't want to consider, how fragile and dangerous such a desperate reliance on the Night Hawk Pavilion was.
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