Ye Pei smiled gently. “Lady Shuang, your relationship with Qing Yun—that’s not love. You two spent too little time together and hardly know each other. To me, it was nothing more than a fleeting passion.”
Huang Bei Shuang looked up at her, surprised. “Not love?”
Ye Pei replied, “Loving someone and leaving them—that’s a sin. It will make you unhappy forever. Look at you—despite all your reasons, you didn’t leave in such a carefree manner, did you? Even though you can’t forget, it hasn’t made your life unbearable, has it? Can that really be called love?”
Huang Bei Shuang was at a loss for words. She stared at the white bedclothes, suddenly recalling that fleeting, sweet night. Wasn’t that love? She touched the lotus flower tattoo blooming on her arm. It still burned like fire. Wasn’t that love?
“We’ll leave you now. Rest well, Lady Shuang.” After finishing her bath, Ye Pei and the others left the room.
“Ye Pei!” Huang Bei Shuang called out, lifting her head. Her gaze was no longer confused. “Whether it’s love or not, it doesn’t matter. You can say whatever you want, but there is one thing that will never change. Qing Yun is the only man in this world who can sleep in my bed!”
If this isn’t love, then I will never know love!
Qing Yun! My contradiction, do you understand?
I’ve long heard that the world is full of countless calamities, all the result of fate’s spinning wheel.
If my time with you will ultimately destroy me,
I hope that day comes soon, so I don’t have to think of you with such unbearable longing.
Both Fen Tian and Yunpei had stirred into action, and naturally, Tian Du could not remain indifferent. At this point, King Jing of Tian had already equipped the most elite army to conquer Hu He. With the wealth gained, the Tian Du treasury had not seen a single deficit.
Qing Yun stood in the training yard, practicing his sword techniques. His movements were sharp, his sword flashing with lightning speed. It was unclear how long he had been training, but his forehead was covered in sweat. Kneeling nearby were several ministers, dressed in formal court attire. Seeing that Qing Yun continued to focus solely on his swordsmanship, ignoring them entirely, an older minister gritted his teeth and finally raised his head.
“Your Majesty! Please hear an old minister’s humble plea: withdraw from the frontlines and return to the Ice Thorn Palace in Tian Du to oversee matters!” His voice was raised in an effort to cut through the sharp sound of Qing Yun’s sword slicing through the fierce winds.
For a while, Qing Yun didn’t respond. The elderly minister, stubborn as ever, pressed on with his advice.
“Your Majesty! You have no empress in your harem, no heirs, and you haven’t appointed a crown prince. How can you risk your life by leading the army personally on the front lines? If something were to happen to you, what would the ministers of Tian Du do? I implore you, for the sake of the kingdom, to return to the palace and take command from there!” With this, the old minister and the others with him kowtowed, their foreheads striking the ground with a loud sound.
“Hmph!” Qing Yun finally stopped, picking up a towel from a basin nearby to wipe his sword. Glancing sideways at the ministers sprawled on the ground, he said coldly, “Cursing me with death before the battle has even begun, are you?” His voice dripped with displeasure.
The ministers were horrified, hastily calling out, “Your Majesty, we are only concerned for your safety! We harbor no ill intentions!”
“Good. Make sure it stays that way. The great battle is approaching, and I don’t need this nonsense!” Qing Yun sat down, and a maid quickly brought him a cup of tea for him to rinse his mouth.
The ministers lowered their heads further, heavy with worry, and spoke in unison: “If Your Majesty insists on not returning to the palace, then please allow us to arrange concubines to serve you, so that an heir might be conceived soon, ensuring the stability of the kingdom.”
In this regard, it was no surprise the ministers were so insistent. Qing Yun was not incapable of having children, yet strangely, he refused to appoint any official concubines. The women who served him had no formal titles, which wasn’t necessarily a problem. After all, the king could elevate anyone he wished when he felt like it. The real issue lay in the fact that King Jing of Tian never allowed any woman he was with to bear his child. He moved through the flowers but left no trace of dew. Now, at twenty-five years old, aside from his deceased queen, Lady Nangong, who had once been pregnant but lost the child in an accident, no other woman had ever carried Qing Yun’s child.
King Zhan of Yunpei, at thirty-three, already had sixteen sons and three daughters. Even the dethroned King of Hu He, Gu Cha, had thirteen children, and the spiritual king of Mizan, You Guang, had already named his crown prince. Yet here in Tian Du, the brilliant King Jing had neither wife nor child. Normally, this could be resolved gradually, but with war on the horizon, no one could predict what might happen. As a king, leaving an heir was of utmost urgency.
“Your Majesty…” The ministers tried once more to appeal, but at that moment, Miao Jing, the second-in-command of Mang Liu, rushed in. His loud call of “Your Majesty!” drowned out the elderly ministers' voices.
Qing Yun glanced up, his gaze icy. “Did you catch him?”
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