Why do people have to be sad?
Tang Yan was choked by Gui Luo and pinned against a tree.
Gui Luo: "Do you remember what happened to the last person who lied, Your Highness?"
"I...I didn't lie!" Tang Yan managed to squeeze out the words with difficulty. Gui Luo's grip was very strong and he showed no mercy. Her face turned purple, and she almost suffocated.
She struggled with all her might to pry the hands binding her neck: "It's you...you've misunderstood!"
"What do you mean I misunderstood?" he asked, arms crossed.
"You...you asked me if I was a maid. I didn't deny it, but I didn't admit it either. You're mistaken; it's not that I lied!"
Gui Luo laughed in anger, and as soon as he loosened his grip, Tang Yan immediately lay on the ground, breathing as if trying to survive.
He crossed his arms and looked down at Tang Yan, unable to resist chuckling. He took two steps forward, and Tang Yan, thinking Gui Luo was going to grab her again, quickly took a few steps back, saying, "Besides, every word I've said to you is true. Since my father and brothers died in battle a few months ago, I haven't had a choice. I was made a princess and forced to enter the palace. Which of these things was my choice? Every day someone wants me dead. Why should I? I just want to live, to live simply. Is that so hard? Is that so hard?"
Gui Luo: "...The people of Shuo Dynasty treated you badly, why are you yelling at me?"
"It's all because you insisted on killing me! I'm going to die anyway, so why are you yelling at me!" Tang Yan was desperate and reckless. She was already quite young, and Gui Luo's actions had made her act like a complete child.
"May I have your name?"
"Tang Yan." She was still angry.
"...Tang Yan? My father and brother died in battle a few months ago—" Gui Luo suddenly laughed and asked her, "Your brother, wasn't his name Tang Qi?"
Tang Yan suddenly looked at him: "You know my brother?"
Gui Luo burst into laughter: "What a small world! I was the one leading the troops in the Southern Continent during that Kachu incident."
Several stones were thrown at him simultaneously. Tang Yan said hatefully, "You killed my brother!"
Gui Luo brushed the dust off his clothes and said casually, "It's normal for anyone to kill anyone on the battlefield, but I don't want to take on another life for no reason. I didn't kill your brother. I handed over military command a month after the start of the Katyu War."
"Because...because of that one in the main tent?" Tang Yan asked, realizing what was happening.
“Smart—let me remind you again,” Gui Luo’s smile deepened, “look back, the person you’re seeking revenge on may not necessarily be in the Southern Continent.”
"What do you mean?" Tang Yan's face turned cold.
“I have never liked doing business with you Shuo people, now and now as well as with Katyu.”
Tang Qi and his men immediately followed Ye An's men to the place he had indicated. Tang Yan was clever; she scattered ears of grain along the way. Gui Luo had been vigilant before, but now, in their retreat, he had no time to notice her sneaky tricks.
They split into two groups: Deng Ning led his troops to track down those with ears of grain, while Sheng Xingxing led his men to another fork in the road to ensure there were no other traces of the Southern Continent Army.
Tang Qi naturally followed Gu Sui.
When they arrived, Tang Yan was lying on the ground. Tang Qi immediately ran to her side and squatted down. He looked at the wound on her face as usual and asked, "Are you alright? Does it hurt? Are you hurt anywhere else? Don't be afraid, brother..." He suddenly stopped when he saw Tang Yan's surprised and wary expression.
"You...who are you?" Tang Yan asked.
Tang Qi paused for a moment, then abruptly released his hand. He didn't know how to speak, but fortunately Ye An rushed over and said, "Ayan!"
As soon as Tang Yan saw Ye An, she grabbed his hand and shouted, "Brother An! Gui Luo! Gui Luo ran that way, hurry and chase after him!"
She pointed in a direction, and Deng Ning, on horseback, immediately said, "I'll go after them."
Tang Yan was still a little shaken. Ye An helped her up, and her legs were still trembling.
Tang Qi stood to the side like an ostracized spectator, unable to describe his feelings. He only felt a bitter taste in his mouth, as if he had eaten an unripe fruit.
Let's go.
His hand was suddenly tugged. Cheng Junshi looked at him and asked, "How long are you planning to stand here?"
Too,
He shrugged, composed himself, and said, "Brother Junshi, you should try to understand people's sudden outbursts of temper."
Now that he has decided to move forward, he will inevitably have to sacrifice some things.
A victory without cost is not real.
Ye An was still squatting in front of Tang Yan.
"Does your sprained ankle still hurt?" Ye An asked.
Tang Yan shook his head, but Ye An gently pressed it through the shoe. Tang Yan immediately hissed and laughed, "Oh, so it doesn't hurt."
She punched him; he's still just as annoying as he was when he was a kid.
Ye An turned around, smiled at her, and said, "Come on up."
Tang Yan didn't reply, but just stared at his back for a while.
Ye An suddenly chuckled and deliberately said, "You used to nag me to carry you on your back, but now that you're all grown up, you're all shy?"
Tang Yan blushed and turned her head to the side, saying, "Those were when I was a few years old. I'm not a child anymore."
"So what if he grows up? No matter how old he is, Brother Xiao An can still carry him."
Tang Yan then didn't hesitate and lay steadily on Ye An's body.
"Is there any medicine available for the injuries on your face?"
"No."
"I have some in my pocket, I'll take more later."
"Were you terrified?"
"……Um."
"To die for someone else? How could you even think of that? Next time, don't take your life so lightly. If something happens to you, someone will be sad too."
...
No one responded.
"Ayan?"
Ye An suddenly felt a warmth on his shoulder. He paused for a moment and said, "I'm not blaming you, Ayan, don't cry. You did a great job, really, no one did better than you."
Tang Yan wiped her tears on his shoulder, then buried her head and continued to mutter, "I'm fine, I just..."
I miss my brother a little.
Tang Qi walked in front of them, at a distance that was just right so he could hear their conversation.
Cheng Junshi, who was standing nearby, could hear clearly. Noticing that Tang Qi was stunned for a moment, Cheng Junshi deliberately changed the subject—if he fell into the emotional trap again, he would definitely trap himself to death in it.
Why did you deliberately provoke General Deng?
Tang Qi glanced at him and pretended to be stupid, saying, "What anger? It was admiration and respect!"
"I'm so sorry, I didn't get your fervent admiration." Cheng Junshi rolled his eyes, then thought for a moment and earnestly reminded him, "He's suspicious by nature, he won't believe it."
“Of course I know he won’t believe it,” Tang Qi shrugged. “What I want is for him not to believe it.”
Cheng Junshi looked at him, waiting for him to continue. Tang Qi continued, "This is the best way to get close to him."
Doubt leads to testing, and testing means getting closer.
Tang Qi wanted this moment to come.
"What do you want to do?" Cheng Junshi asked him, frowning.
"Of course—" He paused deliberately, then laughed and continued, "To become an official and make a fortune!"
Of course, kill him. As for the consequences—
Who cares?
"This is not safe."
Tang Qi gave him a strange look: "What's so unsafe about being an official and making a fortune?"
Cheng Junshi choked up. Of course, he knew that this was not what Tang Qi really wanted to do. There must be another purpose in getting close to Deng Ning. He could vaguely guess that it was probably related to the destruction of the Wolf Strategy Army.
"Being an official is inherently a dangerous thing."
Tang Qi laughed out loud, glanced at him, and asked, "Brother Junshi, is it safer not to be an official?"
"Nothing in this world is absolutely safe; danger is always present. I have demands, so I must do them."
His words were simple, but they left no room for admonition.
"I--"
Before Cheng Junshi could even open his mouth, Tang Qi immediately waved his hand to interrupt him: "Brother Junshi, please don't say anything about coming with me again."
He indeed shut up.
Tang Qi was amused.
In the past, he had tried every means to drag Cheng Junshi into his schemes, but Cheng Junshi always seemed to be a mountain away from him, as if no matter what they did, the distance between them would always be neither too close nor too far. But now—
Cheng Junshi personally moved the mountain that was blocking the way.
“Brother Junshi,” Tang Qi sighed, lowered his eyes and chuckled softly, “It’s a pity we didn’t meet sooner, it’s truly a pity we didn’t meet sooner.”
"It's not too late to get to know each other now," Cheng Junshi said.
Tang Qi glanced at him; it was indeed not too late. His plan needed someone to join in.
He feels no burden with strangers, and no qualms with close friends.
Only Cheng Junshi.
It was Cheng Junshi.
He cannot be without burden, nor can he be at peace with himself.
Tang Qi even hoped that, if possible, he could get as far away from the game as possible.
A person like him is meant to be clean and honest.
“I can come with you,” Cheng Junshi said.
—You can use me.
Just like you take advantage of them.
"No," Tang Qi said.
—Only you are different.
"Why?" Cheng Junshi grabbed his hand, forcing Tang Qi to look into his eyes. "Why can't I be the only one who can't?"
"Why can't I!" His eyes, though filled with suppressed grievances, continued to press, "They can all do it, everyone can do it, why can't I!"
Cheng Junshi's eyes gradually turned red at the corners.
Why is it that, no matter in the past or now, I can never be your choice?
"Cheng...Cheng Shaoqing?" Ye An, who had followed, asked cautiously.
Why did the atmosphere between these two suddenly become like they were destined to fight to the death?
As if waking from a dream, Cheng Junshi released Tang Qi's hand. He stared at Tang Qi's wrist, which he had pinched red, and opened his mouth to say, "Sorry."
"Brother Junshi?" Noticing that something was wrong with him, Tang Qi immediately reached out to grab his arm and called out softly. Cheng Junshi avoided his approaching gaze and easily shook off Tang Qi.
He walked forward dejectedly, head down, while Tang Qi called after him, "Brother Junshi? Cheng Wang? What are you doing, Cheng Junshi!"
Cheng Wang neither looked back nor stopped, just like countless times before without hesitation.
"Cheng..." Ye Qian called out to Cheng Junshi as he walked toward him, but Cheng Junshi brushed past him as if he hadn't heard anything and left so fast that Ye Qian didn't even have time to finish his sentence.
What's wrong with him?
After Ye Qian and Sheng Xingxing finished investigating the side road, they came to meet up with the others. Ye Qian walked up to Tang Qi and asked her a question in surprise.
Tang Qi's eyes were still fixed on Cheng Junshi's back. For some reason, looking at him, Tang Qi always felt as if something was stirring in his heart, causing inexplicable pain.
Like, like—like what was it again?
“He’s sad,” Tang Yan suddenly said.
— Just like that day.
Yes, I am sad.
Tang Qi frowned and touched his heart. It was strange; why was he feeling sad?
Why should he be sad?
Why be sad because of someone else's sadness?
"Why?" Tang Qi murmured, looking down.
He didn't know who he was asking, or who he was asking on behalf of.
"What did you do?" Ye Qian asked.
Tang Qi shook his head in confusion: "I don't know. I didn't want him to come with me. I...I...I just didn't want him to be in danger with me." He still clutched his chest, staring at Ye Qian in bewilderment and asking, "Was I wrong?"
He did nothing wrong, but if he did nothing wrong, why did Cheng Junshi leave?
Yes, that's why my heart hurts so much.
“I don’t know,” Ye Qian paused for a moment, then looked back before continuing, “Maybe it’s because you didn’t give him a choice, you just… rejected him.”
Whether it's out of worry, protection, love, or any other reason, you've simply refused him entry into your world.
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