Winter had arrived in the blink of an eye.
Outside the Imperial City, nine large tents were set up on the rough plains; the yellow tent stood in the center, with four tents on each side, marked by the colors of the various tribes, indicating their respective locations. Before the hunt began, there would be a skill competition lasting three days. Afterward, they would break camp and head out to the coastal areas of Liaodong, hunting along the way back to the Imperial City, completing the process of selecting the leaders of the eight tribes.
During the two months since they arrived in the capital, aside from Yelü Lie going to the Imperial City to meet the Khan, he mostly took her out to enjoy the sights.
He revealed another side of himself: affectionate, gentle, and playful; of course, his domineering nature remained, but he no longer lost his temper! When they had conflicts in conversation, Jun Qiluo had to admit that most of the time, it was she who provoked him.
And he would simply turn away, ignoring her, or go outside, waiting until his anger subsided before returning. Then he would punish her with a kiss, kissing her until she was breathless, at which point she would see his victorious smile of revenge... Heaven! She had already begun to forget Jiangnan, forget her desire to escape, forget everything; perhaps the thought of escape still lingered, but it was no longer firm, merely a superficial idea...
Women could become the most pitiful beings in the world because they couldn't see through the barriers of emotion, couldn't break free from the entanglements of love. Once they fell into true love, they would plunge headlong into it, disregarding everything! But men, on the other hand, could still balance other matters.
Thus, for a long time, the social system of male superiority and female inferiority had become an unchanging norm.
Even someone as cold and proud as Jun Qiluo eventually stirred with emotion under Yelü Lie’s gentleness.
She still held onto her pride, still remained distant, but her mindset had changed. She would secretly look at him, secretly indulge in his gentle treatment, just because he liked her, and he showed her his true heart...
Could she entrust her life to him? She didn’t dare to ask, nor was she willing to give anything in return. No matter how sweet the love, it couldn’t cloud her rationality. She still knew that he couldn’t have a Han wife; he wanted her, but he wouldn’t marry her. No matter how steadfast the love, it still needed a formal status to show respect! She couldn’t be broad-minded, nor did she want a fleeting pleasure. Her upbringing from a young age taught her self-respect, self-discipline, and dignity. Previously, she had deeply despised him, disregarding anything he offered, even seeing a formal status as worthless.
But now, things were different; her heart had stirred, her feelings awakened, she had fallen in love with the man who had taken everything from her!
Therefore, loving her for a lifetime wasn’t enough, taking her as a concubine would be an insult to her. If he treated her so selfishly, she would hate him for a lifetime.
Her rationality wouldn’t allow her to live in humiliation, hoping for a man’s affection, nor would it allow her to willingly remain in a shameful and lowly position.
The deeper the love, the deeper the hatred!
When she faced a man who had taken everything from her with a heart full of humiliation, she wanted nothing, and would live her life with the most dignified and proud heart, because her heart had never once been lost.
But now, the situation was different! She was facing a man’s heart with the heart of a woman. When she offered everything she had and didn’t receive the same true and sincere heart in return, she would die! Die in humiliation and disgrace...
Winter Silver had just finished dressing her.
"Miss, take a look! I believe that on the plains outside the Imperial City, no one will be more beautiful than you!" She held up a mirror for her to see.
Jun Qiluo waved her hand.
"No, I don’t need to look! There’s nothing worth seeing."
"Who says so?" A pair of large hands wrapped around her slender waist: "My Qiluo is the most beautiful woman in all of Liao."
She smiled faintly. He liked to see her smile; most of the time, he was trying to find ways to make her smile. But she was not a woman who liked to smile. Especially since she believed that life didn’t have so many things worthy of great joy or sorrow, particularly since coming to Liao, even though she still had his exclusive favor, she couldn’t truly find happiness.
"Do I really have to attend? Won’t the nobles feel insulted?"
"They’ll be too busy drooling!" He placed a plum blossom in her hair.
Jun Qiluo let him help her up. She softly asked, "Will it take long?"
"If you get tired, I’ll ask Duo Luo Qi to take you back to rest first."
She nodded, not saying anything more.
She wanted a proper status, not only because she wouldn't allow herself to be an unnoticed concubine, but also because she began to notice changes in her body.
Since arriving in the capital, she hadn't had her monthly cycle, which made it very clear—if she couldn't secure a proper status, then the child in her womb would inevitably suffer the same fate as Dongyin's.
If Yelü Lie’s love was strong enough to make him give up all societal restraints and marry her, then at least her child’s future wouldn’t be so bleak. As the son of a clan leader, even if he couldn’t become an heir due to his bloodline, he could still grow up safely in Liao, with the Yelü surname to protect him from bullying and ridicule.
With this child, returning to the Central Plains was no longer an option, as the people of Song wouldn’t be lenient toward a child of mixed blood either.
Long threatened by Liao, the people of the Central Plains lived in fear, and once they discovered she had given birth to a child of uncertain lineage, they would surely vent all their anger toward Liao on the child, eliminating him to their satisfaction. Even if the child managed to grow up, he wouldn’t be accepted by Song society. Heaven! She had no way out!
He loved her, but she couldn’t gauge the depth of his so-called "love."
It had already been two months! Apart from feeling easily tired, she hadn’t experienced any symptoms of morning sickness, but how much longer could she hide this from him? In another month or two, her body would start to show changes. What would she do then?
Once he knew he had successfully gotten her pregnant, what right would she have left to negotiate with him? She had nothing!
He rode with her to the tents outside the Imperial City and found the black tent marked with the Yelü family emblem.
Many calculating eyes turned their gaze toward her. Yelü Lie held her close as they sat together, while the clansmen were training in front, and Dahe Jiyao was bowing to the side, reporting the results of the last two months of training.
"This stunning beauty must be the woman you captured, Lord Yelü?"
A man in his forties, with graying hair and a ruddy face, asked loudly. Beside him was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl in a red dress, with a round, apple-like face, quite charming, who shyly kept her eyes on Yelü Lie.
"Lord Kuge, it’s been a while!" Yelü Lie stood to greet him.
Kuge Yande's face showed obvious displeasure as he focused his attention on Qiluo.
"Here, this is my daughter, Huwawa. You must take good care of her in the future, she’s very obedient! Huwawa, greet the lord."
"Lord!" Kuge Huwawa said softly, her face blushing.
"Got it!" Yelü Lie nodded, putting in a great effort to keep his brows from furrowing.
But Kuge Yande showed no signs of leaving; his old eyes suddenly glared at the people coming over from the Xi family’s tent.
Seeing Kuge Yande approaching, Xi Changkun immediately pulled his sister over to greet him.
"Lord Yelü, this is my sister, Ji Xiu. She is definitely capable of bearing an heir for the Yelü family, please take care of her!"
Luckily, Qiluo didn’t understand! For some reason, he didn’t want her to know so early that he already had three fiancées. She was a fiery person, and now that he had finally softened her heart, he needed to carefully explain the situation to her. He was marrying them only for political reasons; he would love only her for the rest of his life. She was a reasonable woman, she should understand. Besides the status, he could give her anything.
Jun Qiluo’s face showed no sign of emotion, except for her lowered eyes, filled with a cold hardness that, in an instant, turned into fossilized ice...
How laughable! Jun Qiluo had deceived herself once again! She had foolishly believed that Yelü Lie truly loved her and had bet her life on that love... It turned out she was merely fooling herself! In his eyes, she would always be a Han woman—someone to be possessed, someone to be toyed with, but always a woman who could never be his equal! And what would come next? What more sweet lies could he tell her? She thought she could recite word for word what he would say to her: Although they are the legitimate wives, I don’t want them, I only want you! You are the one I want to grow old with!
"Yes, he might truly want her for a lifetime, but that was all there would ever be.
She finally understood what he meant by 'love.' She was a captive, and to receive his favor was already a heavenly blessing. The love she deserved was merely his physical obsession with her. Fine, she got it!
He had completely destroyed her! And the sweet dreams of her life—so short that she didn’t even have time to become addicted—had cost her everything she once took pride in. Now, not only was she unfit to be part of the Jun family, she had lost even her sense of self; and what’s more, she was carrying a child that should never have been conceived! He would never acknowledge a child of mixed blood without status as his legitimate offspring—at best, he would grant the child a morsel to keep them from starving...
...
'Hmph! No one knows who the first princess consort will be yet! The Khan said that whoever gives birth to an heir first will be the first consort!' another woman interjected into the already chaotic conversation.
'Enough! Please return to your tents and rest! Right now, the competition is the priority,' Yelü Lie said coldly, in a low voice.
He didn’t shout, but it was enough to make everyone obediently return to their places. Yelü Lie, who commanded the strongest forces, was renowned for his fiery temper—no one dared provoke him! At least, they had succeeded in introducing his fiancées to him, and they felt quite satisfied with that.
'Are you tired?' Yelü Lie sat down beside her, holding her close as he asked.
That group of people had made him want to kill someone; he had no idea what those three women who had paraded before him even looked like! As always, no matter how beautiful or charming a woman was, she never captured his attention. Only Qiluo occupied his thoughts, his mind, and with time, she had become more deeply ingrained in his very blood and flesh. He thought, he could never love her enough, even for a lifetime!
0 Comments