Chapter 103
Behind Juecheng Mountain, Shen Zhiqing stood still, holding the reins with one hand, and there was only one person standing opposite him.
"You've learned to ride a horse?" Zhou Ziye walked over and naturally stretched out his arm, but Shen Zhiqing skillfully dismounted and didn't even look at him: "In three years, I've learned a lot more."
His arm froze in mid-air. After a brief pause, he lowered his head and chuckled softly. Then, he walked over and sat down, patting the empty space next to him to signal Shen Zhiqing to come over.
Shen Zhiqing didn't stand on ceremony and sat down at a comfortable distance from him. The two remained silent for a long time before Shen Zhiqing finally spoke: "You didn't invite me here to admire the moon, did you?"
"How are you...doing?"
"I'm fine." Shen Zhiqing didn't look at him.
"Ye Qian, he..."
“He’s very good,” Shen Zhiqing interrupted Zhou Ziye, “and he’s very good to me too.”
The people around her didn't speak, but she thought she heard Zhou Ziye laugh.
"That's pretty good."
"Where's Wei Fan?" Shen Zhiqing finally shifted her gaze. "How are things between you and her?"
Zhou Ziye looked up, his eyes still as indifferent as before, his voice devoid of sadness: "She's dead."
Shen Zhiqing froze, her eyes trembling involuntarily for a moment: "Dead...dead?"
“The Zhou family betrayed the country, and she is my wife.”
These eight words left Shen Zhiqing speechless with shock. Even though she and Wei Fan were not familiar with each other, and even though they had argued before.
But at this moment, Shen Zhiqing's heart was still clenched, as if she had been hit hard by a hammer.
Because a girl died because of this sentence.
"You knew all along, didn't you?"
Zhou Ziye remained silent.
"You know the Zhou family betrayed the country, and you also know that Wei Fan will be implicated if she marries into the family, right?" Her voice became more forceful.
The person on the other end remained silent.
"Why?"
"The Zhou family needs trade routes," he finally said. "They need this marriage alliance."
Shen Zhiqing's lips trembled: "But that's a human life, Zhou Ziye, that's a human life!"
These words did not silence the other person. Instead, he looked at Shen Zhiqing and said calmly, "Xiaoqing, human life is very insignificant."
“I can’t save her.” Zhou Ziye continued to look at Shen Zhiqing. This time, she saw the emotion in the other person’s eyes, a bitterness so intense it made her ache: “But Ye Qian can save you.”
Shen Zhiqing froze on the spot again, and after a long while, she belatedly realized and said in a trembling voice, "So if it weren't for Ye Qian, I would have been the one who married into the Zhou family back then, and I would be the one who is dead now, right?"
Zhou Ziye lowered his head again, as if to admit that this was a very difficult thing.
"You really...you really..." Shen Zhiqing suddenly couldn't continue, her voice choked with emotion: "Zhou Ziye, I feel like I don't recognize you anymore."
He wiped his head, his expression returning to calm: "Three years is enough to change everything."
Shen Zhiqing wiped away her tears and said, "So, you've come here today to completely sever ties?"
“No,” Zhou Ziye said.
He looked over and slowly reached his hand toward Shen Zhiqing's neck.
"Qingqing!" Ye Qian's voice suddenly came from behind.
Shen Zhiqing's throat tightened. Zhou Ziye helped her to her feet, his voice heavy in her ear: "We broke up a long time ago."
"Zhou Ziye!" Ye Qian stopped his horse and glared at him. "Let Qingqing go!"
Zhou Ziye also raised his eyes and stared at the horse: "You're faster than I expected."
He breathed on Shen Zhiqing's ear: "I knew you wouldn't really come alone."
Tang Qi also stopped his horse, looking down from his vantage point with his gaze hidden in the darkness, showing no sign of scrutiny, standing guard to the side like a protector.
Shen Zhiqing felt the fingers around her neck slowly tighten. Although it looked frightening, Shen Zhiqing clearly realized that Zhou Ziye had left her room to breathe.
She heard Zhou Ziye's extremely provocative tone close to her ear:
"Ye Qian, do you dare to draw your sword?"
The rider tightened his grip on the reins, listening to Zhou Ziye's continued taunts: "For the past three years, you've held this place, wearing her down and wearing yourself down too. Fate is determined by heaven; you can't change anything. The empire is about to collapse; how can you save it alone? Even His Majesty himself is about to give up. What are you still persisting for? Ye Qian, look at yourself now. You're exhausted and on your last legs. Is it worth it?"
"To die a worthy death, why wouldn't it be worthwhile?"
Zhou Ziye laughed, with a nonchalant cruelty: "A worthy death? Ye Qian, you're still so naive. Your flesh and blood will only build a higher ladder, fulfilling their terrible ambitions." He took half a step back with Shen Zhiqing in his arms, his gaze sweeping over Tang Qi and Hu Xingche beside him.
Sheng Xingxing is not here; he has already rushed back to Juecheng in case anything goes wrong within the city.
Zhou Ziye wasn't familiar with Tang Qi's current face, but he recognized Hu Xingche. Seeing him so close to Tang Qi, Zhou Ziye's gaze flickered briefly.
The man on horseback finally moved. He dismounted and took a few steps forward. The moonlight shone on him, but his eyes remained hidden in the shadows. His voice was flat and emotionless: "You should know that you can't take her away."
“Is that so?” Zhou Ziye raised an eyebrow, pulling Shen Zhiqing a little closer to the edge of the cliff. “But I can kill her.”
His hand was still on Shen Zhiqing's neck, and he could clearly feel her fear.
Zhou Ziye lowered his voice even further, almost a whisper, with a barely perceptible tremor: "Don't be afraid of me."
This statement was completely different from the provocative declaration just now, and Shen Zhiqing even doubted that she had misheard. Her body stiffened, and Zhou Ziye pulled her half a step closer to the edge of the cliff. The loose rocks were kicked off and fell into the bottomless abyss, without making a sound.
Ye Qian's eyes were fixed on Zhou Ziye's hand gripping Shen Zhiqing's neck, his lips turning pale: "Let her go, Zhou Ziye, this is between us."
"Between us?" Zhou Ziye scoffed, his voice dry and broken. "At this point, what 'us' is left? Ye Qian, from the moment you sought the imperial decree, from the moment the Zhou family embarked on that path of no return, it was just you and me." He paused, his gaze sweeping over Ye Qian, then looking at Tang Qi and Hu Xingche behind him, before finally settling back on Ye Qian's face with an almost self-destructive despair. "Or rather, only you and I are left. The edifice is about to collapse; what's the point of holding on here?"
"I've said it before, I died a worthy death, and I have no regrets," Ye Qian said resolutely.
"And what about her 'place'?" Zhou Ziye tightened his grip on her fingers, and Shen Zhiqing couldn't help but groan, her breathing suddenly becoming difficult: "Let her die with you in this ruined city? Die with your laughable loyalty? Ye Qian, ask her if she's willing?"
Shen Zhiqing looked at Ye Qian, and without struggling, she simply smiled and squeezed out a sound from her throat: "I have always been willing."
Zhou Ziye's body trembled almost imperceptibly, then he burst into an even louder laugh: "Good, what a wonderful willingness! You all have a sense of righteousness, you are all loyal ministers, you all want to be the saviors of this damn world! You, you really... haven't changed at all." His laughter stopped abruptly, and his tone suddenly became calm: "Since that's the case, then I'll grant your wish."
He turned his gaze to the person opposite him: "Ye Qian, I'm giving you one last chance. Come over here and let her go back."
Ye Qian didn't hesitate at all: "Okay."
"Ye Qian!" Shen Zhiqing cried out, his heart suddenly clenching.
Zhou Ziye watched Ye Qian walk towards him step by step, his steps steady, his eyes firm, without the slightest hesitation.
One step, two steps, the distance is getting closer.
"Ye Qian, do you remember what I said back then?"
The person opposite gripped the short sword tightly.
"If one day I really stand on the opposite side from you, don't hesitate, use it to kill me."
Zhou Ziye's words still seemed to echo in his ears. Ye Qian clenched his teeth, his hands trembling involuntarily.
Just as she was about to step into Zhou Ziye's reach, the person opposite her suddenly moved. He did not attack, but instead pushed Shen Zhiqing forward with such force that she staggered and fell straight towards Ye Qian.
Just before being pushed away, Shen Zhiqing heard him say in her ear, "Actually, it wasn't me who saved you back then, it was Ye Qian. It's a pity, isn't it? You gave your love to the wrong person."
Ye Qian instinctively opened his arms to catch Shen Zhiqing, holding her tightly in his embrace.
In that instant, Zhou Ziye looked at the two embracing, a smile almost of relief playing on his lips. The smile was so fleeting it was almost an illusion. He gave Shen Zhiqing a deep look, his gaze complex and unreadable, a mixture of relief and reluctance. Then, without hesitation, he leaned back—
"Zhou Ziye!"
Three voices rang out simultaneously.
Ye Qian reacted extremely quickly. The moment he caught Shen Zhiqing, he suddenly reached out with his other hand and grabbed Zhou Ziye's sleeve. However, the gravity seemed to be pulling them down together. Fortunately, Tang Qi arrived in time, grabbed Ye Qian, and held Zhou Ziye's wrist tightly.
Hu Xingche and Shen Zhiqing, who arrived later, tightly gripped Ye Qian's waist.
"Zhou Ziye! What stupid thing have you done!" Ye Qian's voice was trembling.
"Wait till you come up here, I'm not done with you!" Shen Zhiqing grabbed Ye Qian's clothes and pulled him back hard, then closed her eyes and cursed at Zhou Ziye as well.
"If you dare to die like this, I will definitely not visit you on your death anniversary next year!" Tang Qi said angrily through gritted teeth, his veins bulging.
“Zhong Le, how come you’re still so childish?” Zhou Ziye suddenly laughed, but unlike before, this time it was genuine and even tinged with satisfaction.
"I'm so glad I didn't kill you."
He raised his other hand, which they weren't holding, and reached for the scabbard that Ye Qian was gripping. Then, to their disbelief, he pulled it out forcefully.
"Zhou Ziye, what do you want to do! What are you going to do! You're not allowed! You're not allowed!"
"Zhong Le, I'm late, Qing Qing." He called out to the three of them one last time, then grinned like a child, his eyes finally as bright as before: "I have no regrets, nor do I feel remorse."
In the end, all that was left for them was the sound of a knife cutting through clothing.
Zhou Ziye's body was as light as a piece of paper, gently falling towards the cliff. His gaze remained fixed on the cliff top, watching the figures receding into the distance. He heard his own name, he heard their cries, and even when he could hear nothing more, he was still smiling.
There were no shouts, no struggles, not even a sigh.
Everything happens in the blink of an eye.
The cliff edge was suddenly empty, leaving only the howling mountain wind that made people's clothes flutter.
Shen Zhiqing froze in Ye Qian's arms, her body ice-cold, her mind blank. She watched helplessly as the hem of her garment disappeared into the distance.
“He…” Shen Zhiqing opened her mouth, but her throat was too dry to utter a complete sound: “He…”
Tang Qi collapsed to the ground, as if all her strength had been drained away.
Zhou Ziye is dead.
Before him. Before all of them.
"Why, why did this happen..." Shen Zhiqing couldn't help but cry.
No one could answer her.
Shen Zhiqing pushed Ye Qian away, staggered to the edge of the cliff. It was pitch black below, and he couldn't see anything. In just a few blinks, he disappeared from the world.
"The Zhou family needs trade routes."
"I can't save her."
"But Ye Qian can save you."
"Xiao Qing, human life is very insignificant."
He had known all along that the Zhou family's treason was their own downfall, and that marrying into the Zhou family was tantamount to stepping into their grave. So, with what kind of despair did he watch her almost step into that pit of fire? And under what circumstances did he watch helplessly as Wei Fan became a corpse because of him and because of the Zhou family?
He had just told her all the facts with an almost cruel calmness.
He wasn't showing off, nor was he making excuses; he was saying goodbye.
Zhou Ziye could neither escape the Zhou family nor hate his homeland. This land held his blood and buried his dreams, so he wanted to bury himself here.
“He did it on purpose…” Shen Zhiqing murmured to herself, her voice carried away by the wind: “He never intended to take me away from the beginning, nor did he intend to kill me.”
He came here seeking death.
In front of her, in front of Ye Qian, in front of all of them, in this intense way, everything came to an end.
Zhou Ziye never had a choice; he was forced to obey and did many things numbly. But at least in the end, he chose death for himself.
He ended his hasty life, and with it, the inescapable shackles and sins.
Ye Qian walked to Shen Zhiqing's side, silently took off his cloak, and draped it over her trembling shoulders. He didn't speak, but simply stood with her, as did Tang Qi beside him.
The moon still hung high overhead, its cold, clear light bathing the earth. In the fifteenth year of the Renzhao era, Zhou Ziye was finally free.
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