The night is quietly fading away.
As the deepest, darkest hue on the horizon began to be subtly tinged with the first light of dawn, the battle and clamor that had lasted all night finally came to a slow, gentle end.
Inside the Kunning Palace, the lights were on.
But the atmosphere here was completely different from the battlefield outside that had just been quelled.
There were no cheers of victory, only a suppressed, almost frozen silence.
Everyone is still alive.
Thanks to Lin Wanwan's impenetrable defenses and endless dirty tricks, the defense of Kunning Palace achieved a miraculous victory. Apart from a few palace maids who were unfortunately injured by stray arrows at the beginning, no one died in the subsequent battle.
However, no one could laugh.
Every face was etched with undisguised exhaustion and deep worry. Their gazes involuntarily drifted towards the palace gates, towards the front hall where the sounds of battle had long since ceased, yet flames still blazed and thick smoke billowed.
Is the battle over?
Who's winning?
Is His Majesty... alright?
These three questions, like three heavy mountains, weighed heavily on everyone's hearts, making it almost impossible for them to breathe.
Especially Lin Wanwan.
She stood quietly behind the crenellations of the palace wall, her magnificent phoenix robe now stained with soot and blood, with several sections of the hem even bearing the marks of arrows. Her exquisite face was somewhat ashen from the smoke of battle, but her eyes shone with an astonishing brilliance.
From the moment Shen Ce's army breached the city, she stood here, maintaining this posture, motionless, like a stone statue gazing into the distance.
She neither asked nor sent anyone to inquire.
Because she knew that any news before the final result was out could be false.
All she could do was wait.
She waits for the man she's willing to do anything to win for her to return.
or……
They can never come back.
Time seemed to stretch to its limit at this moment, every minute and every second filled with endless torment.
finally……
"Squeak—"
A heavy, long sound broke the suffocating silence.
The main gate of Kunning Palace slowly opened.
"Your Majesty!"
Qin Zheng let out a soft gasp, her eyes filled with tension.
Lin Wanwan's heart leaped into her throat in that instant! Her nails dug deeply into her palms, using the pain to maintain her last shred of composure.
She didn't speak, but led her group of equally tense female officials step by step up the palace wall.
She wanted to stand at this highest point and witness firsthand the final outcome of this war.
The moment they climbed the palace walls, everyone was deeply... awestruck by the sight before them.
Looking around, the once ornate buildings along the road from Kunning Palace to the main hall have long since turned into a scene of desolate ruins.
Countless corpses lay scattered in pools of blood, broken weapons and tattered flags littered the ground. Several still-burning palaces billowed thick smoke, turning the entire sky a somber gray-black.
The entire palace looked as if it had been utterly ravaged by an apocalyptic storm, leaving it in ruins.
However, at the very end of this hellish scene, above the deepest darkness and ruins, the first rays of dawn are quietly descending.
It was a faint, yet hopeful, golden light.
It pierced through the thick smoke and darkness, precisely illuminating the path leading from the main hall to the Kunning Palace...
And within that beam of light, a figure appeared.
Lin Wan-wan's pupils suddenly contracted!
It's Xiao Che!
He... is still alive!
At this moment, Xiao Che had already taken off his tattered dragon robe, which had been burned to shreds, and was now only wearing a close-fitting soft armor made of black iron. The soft armor, which should have been jet black and shiny, was now covered with a thick layer of dark red blood plasma, as if it had been fished out of a pool of blood.
In his hand, he held a longsword whose original appearance was no longer recognizable, and a drop of bright red blood was slowly dripping from the tip of the sword.
Behind him were Shen Ce and hundreds of elite soldiers, all covered in blood and exuding a murderous aura.
They surrounded their king.
They tread upon the path paved with countless corpses and blood.
Step by step, with unwavering determination, they walked toward Kunning Palace.
That was not a triumph.
It was more like... a pilgrimage returning from hell.
There were no cheers of victory, no joy of surviving a catastrophe; all that remained was boundless desolation and a chilling majesty.
On the palace walls, all the female officials who witnessed this scene involuntarily held their breath. They even felt a shiver run down their spines.
The man before them made them feel a sense of... unfamiliarity.
He was no longer the monarch who, though dignified, would occasionally reveal tenderness.
He is no longer the cunning and scheming chess player who plans ahead and is adept at maneuvering in front of the enemy.
He was not the sickly emperor who was forced to marry Lin Wanwan in order to bring her good fortune.
All his pretense, all his forbearance, all his scheming were burned away and completely cleansed in the blood and fire of that night!
At this moment, emerging from that mountain of corpses and sea of blood is a true... emperor!
A ruthless king who has returned from the depths of hell, wielding life and death and holding the reins of power!
Every move he made carried an overwhelming aura that made people afraid to look directly at him! His deep eyes were as calm as a stagnant pool, but everyone knew that beneath that calm lay a terrifying power capable of overturning the world and changing the color of heaven and earth!
This is his true self!
This is the true...master of the Great Liang Dynasty!
Lin Wanwan quietly watched him, watching the man who was walking towards her step by step.
In her heart, there was no fear, only an indescribable, intense pain mixed with heartache, pride, and endless love...
This is her man.
This is the man she chose to spend her life with.
To protect this country and to protect her, he personally transformed himself into a walking god of death.
Every step he took was on the bones of his enemies.
But Lin Wanwan knew that every step she took was also treading on her own flesh and soul.
Just then, as if sensing her gaze, Xiao Che, who was walking on blood, slowly raised his head.
His gaze pierced through hundreds of steps, through the still-lingering smoke of battle, and landed with unparalleled precision on the palace wall, on the figure for whom he was willing to die.
Their eyes met.
Time seemed to stand still at this moment.
All the noise, bloodshed, and devastation in the world vanished quietly at this moment.
In their world, only each other remained.
Looking at the unharmed figure on the city wall, Xiao Che's face, which had been tense and as cold as ice, finally melted slowly.
He smiled.
It was an extremely slight smile, even carrying a hint of weariness from the intense battle.
But that smile contained boundless peace of mind, and a gentleness that could drown everything in the world.
It's as if it's saying: Wanwan, don't be afraid, I'm back.
That smile completely shattered the strong defenses that Lin Wanwan had painstakingly built up over the course of a single night.
Her tears, which she could no longer hold back, streamed down her face in a flash!
She looked up at the golden figure above his head, engulfed in flames and wielding a long sword—[God of War.gif]—which was slowly losing its luster and becoming dim.
Then, a new cartoon character, one she had never seen before, took her place.
It was a cartoonish little figure, travel-worn and with a few streaks of ash on his face. He had his arms outstretched, and on his face was the same tired yet gentle smile as Xiao Che at this moment.
Below the cartoon figure, a line of familiar, warm text slowly emerged.
[Wife, I'm home.jpg]
Lin Wanwan could no longer hold back. She covered her mouth and let the scalding tears stream down her face, which was covered in soot.
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