At that moment, bonfires ignited throughout the military camp, a trail of sparks spreading directly toward the Commander's tent.
Song Zhiluan abruptly stood up.
Yunu and Zhinu turned their heads upon hearing the commotion.
A reporting soldier shouted loudly: "Quickly inform General Qin! There's news of General Xie!"
"Yunu, Zhinu, let's go!"
Song Zhiluan grabbed a tinder and ran toward the camp. The mountain path was steep, and Yunu, fearing she might fall, went forward and picked her up. "Your Highness, be careful."
Song Zhiluan felt somewhat unsettled: "It must be that the Moon God heard my prayers. Xie Yujin will be alright, won't he?"
Yunu said: "He will be fine."
Upon reaching the camp, the generals were gathered together, listening to the reporting junior officer's reply: "General Xie encountered an ambush by the enemy's main force at Langdang Mountain. As a temporary measure, he headed toward Jusha River to attack the enemy camp. The Rebels' central command was weak, and we easily broke through. General Xie said the enemy will now withdraw to encircle us, and requests that General Qin coordinate with him. He will set an ambush in advance at Mohe Valley to wipe out the enemy forces completely."
Upon hearing this, General Qin was overjoyed. After discussing with the other generals—Mohe Valley was only over three hundred li away—they decided to immediately send reinforcements, with the Vanguard Camp cavalry leading the way.
Hearing this, Song Zhiluan felt slightly relieved.
Zhinu placed a hand on Song Zhiluan's wrist and said: "Your Highness has been worried and exhausted all day. It would be best to rest here tonight before joining them, or you might harm your health."
"It's fine," Song Zhiluan, having received news of Xie Yujin, couldn't wait a moment longer: "Yunu, quickly bring my horse. We're leaving now."
Yunu hesitated slightly, but then heard Song Zhiluan insist: "Let's rush to Mohe Valley first. Even if we just see him from the side, as long as I see that Xie Yujin is safe, I'll be at ease. Otherwise, I'll continue to worry all day."
After she finished speaking, Yunu said: "Alright, I'll go right away."
Traveling at night was difficult. Song Zhiluan and her group moved quickly; light cavalry traveled conveniently, and within two hours, they had left the main army behind.
Her eyelids twitched violently.
As they exited the forest and reached the riverbank, Song Zhiluan asked Yunu: "How many li remain?"
"After passing through this forest, it's one hundred thirty li. Eighty li remain," Yunu thought for a moment: "There is a high ground near Mohe Valley. If Your Highness wishes to observe the battle, you can go to that mountain. Then it would only be seventy li."
"Good," Song Zhiluan gazed at the horizon where water met sky, feeling not the slightest bit tired. It had been a long time since she had galloped so desperately like fleeing for her life. She tightened her grip on the horsewhip, "Let's strive to reach there before sunset."
But what they didn't expect was that, long before sunset, from the mountains twenty li away from Mohe Valley, Song Zhiluan spotted a familiar figure at the mountain's base.
Xie Yujin sat on his horse with his back to her, having removed his armor, his waist wrapped in bandages.
Seeing he was injured, she suddenly tightened her legs against the horse's belly, speeding up. Yunu and Zhinu quickly followed.
The soldiers behind Xie Yujin heard the commotion and, seeing the young master Song following Xie Yujin, made way, their faces showing joy.
"General Qin must be arriving soon!"
"Excellent! Today we'll make them scatter in confusion!"
Amid the cheers, Xie Yujin slowly turned his horse around and looked at Song Zhiluan riding toward him.
In the glorious twilight, amidst the echoing valleys, her plain clothes seemed draped in light, more dazzling than any palace gown.
Xie Yujin saw Song Zhiluan dismount from her horse when someone shouted: "General, be careful!"
She seemed not to have heard, or perhaps she had, for her steps quickened as she rushed toward him. Being accustomed to her willful ways, Song Zhiluan's motion of vaulting onto his horse was practiced and swift.
He heard the whistle of an arrow cutting through the air, followed by Song Zhiluan's muffled groan.
Her blood stained his bandages crimson.
Xie Yujin remained motionless until Song Zhiluan coughed again. Only then did he snap back to reality, his arms instinctively tightening around her cooling form, dark turbulence churning in his eyes.
"After them."
"Yes!Zhinu jumped off the horse in a panic and knelt down to treat Song Zhiluan's wounds.
In the distance, weapons clashed and the assassins were swiftly captured, brought before Xie Yujin and Song Zhiluan.
As he looked at this group, his thoughts drifted to Song Zhiluan.
In that moment when she rushed toward him, countless bloodied bodies, fabric dyed crimson by warm blood, and the mournful cries of his clansmen before his parents bowed their necks for execution all surged toward him.
Xie Yujin hesitated for an instant.
Song Zhiluan was always saying she liked him.
But he had never taken her words seriously.
As if testing the truth behind Song Zhiluan's words, he tried to distance himself as an observer, scrutinizing every expression on her face.
Trembling, fear, despair.
He didn't want her superficial fondness; he wanted her love for him—reckless, ready to perish together like shattered jade, even willing to discard her life.
Since Song Zhiluan claimed to like him, then she should be capable of that.
Even if it meant death.
The Song family always had to die.
But when Song Zhiluan trembled, clinging tightly to him, closing her eyes awaiting death—
He still moved.
The arrow that should have pierced her heart narrowly shot through both their shoulders instead.
Song Zhiluan, who would cry out in pain at the slightest discomfort, with her proud and spoiled nature, now did not complain. Her smile was uglier than tears: "Xie Yujin, do you know you almost died!"
She truly loved him.
Xie Yujin suddenly understood.
He did not love Song Zhiluan.
But he didn't want to see her smile like that, with sweat and tears smearing her face, even snot bubbles.
A smile that made his chest feel tight.
He lowered his head and kissed her trembling lips.
The commoners below the platform cheered and shouted along with the soldiers: "Kill, kill, kill…"
The clan elder, hunched over, covered Xie Yujin's ears: "You must remember the names of these murderers! Look clearly at their faces."
"Open your eyes wide and see! You are your father's only hope!"
"Watch carefully! See whose hands your parents, brothers, sisters, and clansmen died by!"
His eyes were forced open.
His father's head rolled to his feet. Someone took a steamed bun and dipped it in the blood, rejoicing: "This is the Zhenguo General's blood! If my child eats it, he too can become a great general!"
Only then did they remember his father was a general.
A general who had fought half his life for the Northern Dynasty, defying imperial orders to protect a city of commoners.
His father's Yushi was stained dirty with his blood.
Xie Yujin reached out, wanting to wipe the blood away, but the clan elder led him elsewhere, pointing at a man: "That man is Song Dingyuan. Remember his face! If not for his tip-off, your father would not have died unjustly!"
Xie Yujin's eyes, forced open for so long, were half-bloodshot—whether from splattered blood or internal rupture.
Like a small puppet, he echoed the clan elder's voice: "Song Dingyuan."
A little girl stumbled over and hugged Song Dingyuan's leg. He lovingly picked her up, and together they looked toward the execution platform stained with blood.
"See clearly! Have you remembered everything?"
He heard himself speak in a childish voice: "I have remembered it all, Father."