AN: I haven't proofed this as much as I'd like; in fact, I only finished writing it yesterday. But it's Christmastime and I've been busy, so we'll just have to make do with this, right? I hope you enjoy the wrapping up of the final loose ends; thank you for walking this different path with me this far.
Chu Qiao walked along the ramparts of Hongchuan, her feet taking her on an identical route to the one she'd taken that day when she'd crafted her basic plan for leaving Yan Xun and saving Yanbei. The path was the same, but both she and her circumstances were vastly different. The troubled, desperate woman who'd been striding along the ramparts that day never could've imagined the consequences her plan would have not only for herself but for her friends as well.
Tomorrow, I'll watch two unlikely friends get married, she reflected. I've mended my relationship with Yuan Song and have formed a close friendship with his fiance, who once almost killed me. And then...then I'll go back to Qing Shan Yuan and marry Yuwen Yue, becoming the lady of the house in which I was once a slave and the wife of the man who was once my master.
The soldiers standing guard on the ramparts all saluted her respectfully as she passed; she gave them all nods of recognition and smiles. Seeing them reminded her of the fact that Prince Xiang had personally given He Xiao of all people permission to return to Wei with enough men—and Xia Chong, of course-to form a personal honor guard for her.
That's not a friendship I ever expected to see form, either, she mused, mentally chuckling at the unlikelihood of her fiery, blunt commander and the cunning, manipulative prince coming to understand one another. They could be good for each other, though—if Prince Xiang is still willing to give him the time of day after he becomes emperor.
Prince Xiang's news about the emperor's impending death had blown up all of their plans like the flaming payload from a catapult, accelerated everyone's timetables significantly, and resulted in the beginning of the dismantlement of the camp at the base of Xiuli Mountain. The higher-ups had all moved into the city, and she had reluctantly reclaimed her palace room at Yuan Song's invitation.
While Yuan Song had been saddened by the news of his father's decline, he had been elated at the prospect of getting to marry Meng Feng so quickly. Zhong Yu had not been as excited, however, since she and Mister Wu had elected to postpone their own wedding due to the circumstances.
Given who Mister Wu is, the odds of all of Yanbei not wanting to celebrate our marriage are slim, A'Chu, she'd said. Installing Yuan Song and Meng Feng as rulers of Yanbei has always been paramount, and we don't want to take away from their moment. We've elected to wait until after the emperor has been mourned so that we can all get together again and celebrate after such a trying time.
Chu Qiao had hugged her old friend and assured her that she and Yuwen Yue would do their best to come back to Yanbei for her wedding. Zhong Yu told Chu Qiao that, officially, she and Mister Wu would be staying in Yanbei to make sure that no power grabs happened while Yuan Song and Meng Feng were in Wei attending Chu Qiao and Yuwen Yue's wedding. Unofficially, however, both anticipated having to attend to "pressing business" a few days before the wedding that would give them the cover to travel swiftly on their own.
Everything's coming together, Chu Qiao thought as she rounded the last corner before she'd reach the place where she and Zhong Yu had had their conversation what seemed like a lifetime ago.
Just like before, there was a figure standing in almost exactly the same spot of the ramparts, but this person was significantly taller and bulkier than the petite pugilist. Chu Qiao internally winced, but she knew that this conversation had to happen sooner or later, and she'd never been one to put off difficult, unwanted discussions.
Unless they were with Yuwen Yue, she admitted. I always tried to ignore and push my feelings for him to the side no matter how much damage—both inside and out—resulted.
Chu Qiao knew that failing to address Prince Xiang could cause damage to herself and her husband-to-be, so she squared her shoulders and her jaw and charged to the ramparts of Hongchuan once more to do battle. She strode confidently to the edge of the ramparts and stopped beside the prince, looking down at the bustle below much as she'd done that day with Zhong Yu. Instead of grimly-marching soldiers, however, the streets were full of happy citizens and servants who were busily erecting red ribbons, lanterns, bunting, and bows all along the processional route for the royal wedding.
She couldn't help but smile at the enthusiasm with which the town had embraced the young prince and his fiance, many of them obviously remembering the passionate speech he'd given and having heard tales of their bravery during the Battle of Xiuli Mountain. Yuan Song and Meng Feng had also endeared themselves to the common people by walking around the city and stopping to talk with many while eating at local restaurants and shopping at the market.
"Waiting for me to make the first mistake again?" Prince Xiang asked. "Did Yuwen Yue teach you that?"
"Yuwen Yue taught me—or, at least, he tried to teach me—to evaluate the big picture before making any little moves," she replied. "I didn't see any benefits to starting the conversation, so I figured that I'd let you go first out of courtesy."
"I know how important courtesy is to you, Chu Qiao."
"Of course it's important," Chu Qiao said. "I know from experience that ignoring nobles often causes more trouble than acknowledging them, and I didn't want to anger you unnecessarily."
"So you feel that your little scene last week was necessary, I take it?"
"My little scene?" Chu Qiao asked, giving Xiang her best faux-innocent look. "If memory serves me correctly, you were the one who set me up for that little scene. I was content to talk about Yanbei culinary delicacies and that time that Yuwen Yue used his Ice Martial Arts abilities to explode Yue Qi's wine in his face. You were the one who tried to trap me with a big lie at the expense of your brother—but selling out family is what you Wei royals do the best, so I shouldn't be surprised."
"That's not what-"
"And, yes," Chu Qiao said, speaking over the prince, "my actions were necessary—not only for my own happiness, but also for the happiness of the man I love as well as for two close friends. Besides, Yuwen Yue and I both knew that you were going to make a move against us anyway, so trying to avoid the confrontation would've been pointless."
Prince Xiang's hands clenched on the top of the ramparts in front of them, and Chu Qiao held her tongue, knowing that she'd already come close to breaking the promise she'd made to herself days ago to try to make peace with the future emperor of Wei. Her temper had once again gotten the best of her, and she resolved to do better at keeping it in check—for the sake of the man she loved if nothing else.
"Arguing about the past would be equally pointless," Xiang eventually said. "Now we have to move forward and take care of more important affairs."
"That we do," Chu Qiao agreed, not feeling the need to keep verbally besting the man when she'd already done so in such spectacular fashion.
"Speaking of which, I've been trying to come up with the best way to present some of the events of the past month for the people back home—especially the officials."
"I see," Chu Qiao said, her lips twitching.
"Trying to explain the truth of what happened to those men will likely prove to be a bit difficult."
"The truth can be inconvenient at times."
"Mm. I've been doing some thinking, and I believe that I've finally figured out a plausible rendering of events that will present everyone in the best light."
"Don't people already know what happened?"
"To an extent," Xiang admitted. "Most people already know at least part of what occurred a month ago, but they don't know all of the details because those of us in charge here have deliberately kept the specifics vague until we could come up with a suitable explanation for them."
Chu Qiao waited in silence, figuring that, as much as Xiang loved to hear himself talk, he'd lay out his master plan before her soon enough.
"First, Yuwen Yue concocted the entire rebellion and coup. He's our master spymaster, our greatest planner. Nobody else comes close to matching his ability to craft successful long-term plans, and this scheme was the best he's ever made."
Xiang paused, and Chu Qiao realized he expected her to say something.
"Okay," she replied. "I'm with you so far."
"You are?"
"Did you really expect for me to disagree with your positive characterization of my fiance?"
"No, but I did expect you to object to him getting the credit for your hard work."
"I've never cared about who gets the credit for the things I do," Chu Qiao said. "What I did, I did for the good of my people. Besides, considering that none of us felt capable of doing anything against Yan Xun himself, Yuwen Yue's determination to do so would've saved the plan anyway."
Xiang's eyes widened in startlement.
"So you acknowledge that assassinating Yan Xun was necessary?"
"Of course," Chu Qiao replied instantly. "We all knew it, but none of us could bring ourselves to do what was necessary. Only Yuwen Yue..."
Chu Qiao trailed off, her mind taking her back to that terrible night that had ended so differently from how it had begun. She could see Yuwen Yue finally reaching his breaking point, her realizing that fact, and making one of those snap decisions that had profoundly shaped her life.
"I'm glad that he didn't have to kill Yan Xun," Chu Qiao said softly.
"I'm not," Xiang said, scowling. "I wish he had."
Chu Qiao's face grew cold, but then she realized where this sentiment was likely coming from.
"Killing Yan Xun would've left deep scars on Yuwen Yue," Chu Qiao said flatly. "He once considered Yan Xun to be his brother; we both did, in all honesty. I know how much you value Yuwen Yue's friendship, so imagine how you would feel if, one day, he were to become your enemy and you decided that you had to kill him. How would you handle that situation?"
"I would do what I had to do," Xiang said woodenly.
"Of course you would—but at what cost?"
Prince Xiang's jaw worked fiercely, and Chu Qiao figured she'd made her point.
"You never knew Yan Xun before the royals and nobles of Wei murdered him on Jiuyou Platform," she said. "Yuwen Yue and I did. I know that Yuwen Yue often comes across as being invincible physically and emotionally, but he's not."
"How long did it take you to realize that?" Xiang asked bitterly.
"Far too long," Chu Qiao acknowledged. "And by time I did..."
"You were just in time to fall in love with him and help him to carry out his master plan because of your feelings for him."
"What?!" Chu Qiao blurted. "I did no..such..."
"I see you take my meaning," Xiang said as she trailed off, a sour but accepting look forming on her face.
"I do—but I don't have to like it."
"But you see the sense in it."
"Sadly, yes. I told Meng Feng a week or so ago that most people assumed that I stayed with Yan Xun due to having fallen in love with him because that line of reasoning comforted them. I would assume that the Wei officials would also find the idea that I betrayed Yan Xun because I fell in love with Yuwen Yue equally comforting. And, of course, the less threatening I appear to them, the better off my people will be."
"I have to admit that I find your indignation at this particular lie amusing considering how eagerly you embraced the first one."
"The first lie makes my future husband look good. This lie makes me look like a love-struck idiot."
"But a non-threatening love-struck idiot," he reminded her. "Besides, are you really going to pretend that you didn't concoct this plan in order to get closer to Yuwen Yue?"
"I didn't concoct this plan in order to get closer to Yuwen Yue," Chu Qiao said flatly. "I guess I should be glad that you've at least acknowledged that I'm in love with him, though."
"So you really didn't…?"
"I really didn't," she affirmed. "I won't pretend that I didn't think about Yuwen Yue at all while I was making my plan, because I did. After all, I knew that, if my plan were to succeed, at least we would no longer be on different sides. I figured that, perhaps in time, we could at least mend our relationship and be friends. But, no, I did what I did because I decided that doing so was best for my people and the common people."
"So...you were a love-struck idiot," Xiang said after a few moments.
"Yes," Chu Qiao affirmed, a corner of her mouth turning up. "I was a love-struck idiot."
"A love-struck idiot who brought in her other two friends because they wanted to back a regime that would allow them to love—and rule—in Yanbei."
"That's actually pretty close to the truth—except the ruling part," Chu Qiao admitted. "They were both just going to leave, but they eventually agreed to fight because they didn't want to leave their homeland. They weren't overtly seeking leadership roles, although I'm not going to pretend that they didn't figure on being offered them if our plan succeeded."
"The plan was, of course, for you guys to assassinate the top leadership of Yanbei that was unsympathetic to your position and to replace them with Yuan Song and other such suitable leaders. This scheme unfolded just as you planned-"
"Of course it did," Chu Qiao said drolly.
"-and even allowed for my sister to get her vengeance."
"So how, exactly, do you plan to spin Chun'er's involvement?"
Xiang sighed heavily.
"When I said I wished that Yuwen Yue had killed Yan Xun, I really meant to say that I wish that Chun'er hadn't involved herself in the situation. I'd already told the people of Wei that she'd jumped in the river and drowned, yet her presence here is common knowledge. People don't survive falling in rivers every day, after all, so would people believe me if I told them that's what happened?"
Chu Qiao looked at Xiang and raised both eyebrows meaningfully.
"Ah," he said sheepishly, "I suppose you're right. After all, if you can survive falling into a river..."
"Honestly, Your Highness, I think you should just say that Chun'er survived her fall into the river, came to Yanbei, got vengeance on behalf of Wei, and died at peace. If people start asking too many questions, you can just talk about some of the even more outrageous parts of this plan."
"Like the fact that Yuwen Yue deliberately got caught in the palace, got in a fight with those guards to make sure that the people in the city saw him there, and then jumped off of the ramparts and flew to you just as you'd planned?"
Chu Qiao goggled at Xiang, the corners of her mouth turning up against her will.
"That's a high-quality lie worthy of the royal family of Wei," she said, her smile widening.
"Thank you, Chu Qiao," Xiang said, his own lips twitching. "I thought so, too. You see, you guys knew that the remaining powers of Yanbei would assume that you would ride for Xiuli Mountain to be with your troops. Yuwen Yue made sure that the guards saw him leaving with you in that direction as well; he also knew that Yanbei's leadership would assume that he would fight with you to the end."
She smiled sadly at Xiang, acknowledging that bit of truth.
"Your goal—yours and Yuwen Yue's—was to draw the soldiers to a site far enough away from the innocent that no civilians would be harmed in the battle. Meanwhile, your Xiulis were furiously forming battlements and readying the mountain for war—and were able to hold off the bulk of Yanbei's troops with just a little over a hundred men. Extraordinary."
"That part needs no embellishment," Chu Qiao said, her face showing both pride and sorrow. "My men did everything I asked of them and more."
"They had a bit of help—including, of course, my little brother and his most excellent fiance, who marched an entire legion of Yanbei soldiers to the base of Xiuli Mountain to bushwhack the enemy soldiers from behind as planned," Xiang said.
"And the Underworld was our secret weapon?"
Xiang winced.
"Do you think Phoenix will go along with this ridiculous story?"
"She will if I tell her to," Chu Qiao said. "Besides, we are working on forming an alliance between the Underworld and the Eyes of God, so you could just be honest and say that the Underworld came to Xiuli Mountain to help me."
The Prince was silent for a few moments, apparently lost in thought as he stared down at the decorators far below. The processional route was taking shape, and the city folk seemed proud of their contribution to the festivities.
"Are you really willing to sign on to that load of manure?" he finally asked.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Well, I've already told you some of my specific reasons, and I guess I could list them out again," Chu Qiao said after deliberating. "Instead, I'll simply say that I understand that this story will benefit me and my people while protecting Yuwen Yue from the criticism that could be leveled at him by some of our enemies were the full truth to be known."
Xiang raised an eyebrow at her.
"I may not be good at seeing the big picture, but that doesn't mean that I can only see the details, either. I know that our enemies could claim that Yuwen Yue was the love-struck idiot who risked the interests of Wei for the woman he loves—the woman who could turn on Wei at any moment. These same people could also oppose my marriage to Yuwen Yue, but they would have less to object to if I become the love-struck idiot who turned on one lover for another than if they knew the truth."
The prince looked at her respectfully.
"I see that you understand some of what I was trying to do."
Chu Qiao gazed at him solemnly, mentally weighing her next words.
"I also understand that once your father...joins his ancestors, you're going to need Yuwen Yue's help in the following days—and weeks and years, honestly. Our enemies will come for us all, and you can't allow Yuwen Yue's reputation to be damaged by anything that happened here."
"You're right," Xiang said. "I can't let that happen. I won't."
"Don't think that I don't know that the only reason I was able to best you so easily last week was because you were so focused on protecting him that you yourself missed the big picture," Chu Qiao said.
Xiang shifted awkwardly and looked back down at the townspeople, suddenly finding their actions riveting. Chu Qiao was reminded of her own beloved's fascination with cave walls in times of awkwardness, so she allowed a small smile to form on her lips.
"There are very few people I can rely on to do their best to keep the man I love safe at all costs," she said. "When I find someone like that, I do everything I can to keep that connection open—including signing off on big piles of manure. You and I would do anything to keep him safe, and I won't do anything that could change that—including making trouble in Wei. As long as you rule with justice and wisdom, my men and I will be willing to fight and die for you if necessary."
The prince's face bore a thunderstruck expression, so Chu Qiao turned her own gaze to the action below in order to give him time to regain his composure. She was glad that she'd been able to master her temper and to make peace with this man who was so important to her husband-to-be.
I would do anything to keep him safe—even make peace with this frustrating, manipulative, but ultimately good man.
"I take it that Yuwen Yue has already endorsed this plan?" she said, knowing full well the opposite was true but wanting to do her part to make peace between all of them.
"Um...well...that is…not exactly," Xiang admitted. "I wanted to ask you first."
"Are you sure that's the real reason?"
"Of course it's not," Xiang said, sighing. "I haven't talked to him in a week."
"I probably should let you stew a bit longer, but we really don't have time for such foolishness given everything that's going on—and everything that's at stake. While my recollections of Yuwen Yue's exact words are a bit blurry because I was...distracted at the time, I do remember that he basically said that the two of you would have an awkward conversation and move on with your lives. I recommend that you do so quickly so that we can focus on the important things."
Xiang had averted his gaze after Chu Qiao's admission of being distracted and had not returned it to her since. This suited her perfectly since she knew that she was blushing as she recalled exactly why she'd been so distracted at the time when Yuwen Yue had been talking to her—and doing other things.
Part of me still can't believe that I've become the kind of woman who would do such things—and who would allow a man to do such things to her.
"I suppose I should take my leave of you since you've planned the next part of my day for me," Xiang said, giving her a small smile. "What are you going to do next?"
"Well, Your Highness, I think I'll go down there and help Meng Feng to scout the parade route for security flaws," Chu Qiao said, grinning at the image presented by the woman standing far below her on the streets of the city.
The former assassin was striding along the processional route, the professionalism and alertness easily discernible from their position on the ramparts although her facial features were not. Meng Feng's seriousness brought a grudgingly affectionate expression to Xiang's face which broadened at the sight of his brother joining his future bride on their tour. They could tell from the set of his shoulders and the angle of his head that he had likely pasted an overly-serious expression on his face and was pretending to agree with every suggestion his future bride was making. She eventually caught on, and her affection tinged with frustration was obvious even to the viewers above.
"He found a good one, didn't he?" Xiang asked, pride in his voice.
"That he did, Your Highness," Chu Qiao acknowledged. "I wish I were going to get the chance to know her better, but..."
"But you have your own wedding to look forward to."
Chu Qiao simply nodded, her own obvious happiness breaking through for a moment. She didn't mind, though, because she wanted the prince to see how happy the thought of marrying her beloved made her. They exchanged a few pleasantries; Chu Qiao wished him luck.
"And if all else fails," she said as she took a final look at the streets below, "just start telling him about how his great escape from the walls of Hongchuan was all part of our grand and glorious plan. You might even get a grin out of him if you tell your story right."
Xiang shook his head at her and walked away, and she once again allowed her feet to take her into her future.
"I'm sorry to have to miss your wedding tomorrow, Your Highness, but something immensely important has come up at home and I must depart immediately," Xiao Ce said to Yuan Song and Meng Feng.
They were standing in the throne room, and Xiao Ce could tell that neither the new prince nor the future princess of Yanbei was comfortable there yet. His news would likely make them even more uncomfortable; he was glad that he'd already shared it with all other necessary parties so that he could set off for home as soon as he was done here.
And as soon as I meet with my new friend who passed on such interesting information to me, he mused.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Your Highness," Yuan Song said, sounding like he actually meant what he was saying.
Meng Feng echoed his sentiments, also seeming to genuinely regret the prospect of his absence.
I'm not used to people actually wanting me around, he thought. I'm not sure how I feel about it, honestly.
"Thank you, Miss Feng, Your Highness," Xiao Ce said. "I didn't just stop by here to apologize for my absence and wish you good fortune on your upcoming lives together. I wanted to tell you that I received an anonymous letter advising me that a couple of...distinguished personages had shown up in Liang recently and that one of them is asking for me—a man with a rather fabulous beard, apparently."
Yuan Song stared at him blankly, so Xiao Ce assumed that Xiang hadn't given a physical description of his former adviser to his brother.
"He's the man who advised your brother to attack Yanbei."
Yuan Song's face hardened.
"I see that you can understand why I wouldn't want to let such a...persuasive individual run about my homeland unimpeded. We don't need his kind of mischief—and my half-brother definitely doesn't need to be exposed to such a bad influence. Looking out for my half-brother is my duty, after all; he's family."
"What about the other man?" Meng Feng asked. "You said earlier that there were two men who had shown up in Liang."
"So I did, Miss Feng," Xiao Ce replied. "Now that you mention it, the other man will likely be of interest to you both as well. His name is Zhan Ziyu, but you might know him as the former head of the Afterlife Camp."
Meng Feng's eyes widened, and Xiao Ce mentally congratulated himself on guessing correctly. Yuan Song's features hardened even more than they had when he'd been talking about Dong Fang Ji, and his eyes went cold as ice. Suddenly, Xiao Ce saw of flash of the leader that Yuan Song could be, and his respect for the man rose a few notches.
"Is he the one?" the new ruler of Yanbei flatly asked his bride-to-be. "The one with the pills who made you…?"
The ex-assassin nodded, and the prince's jaws clenched.
"I assume that you're going back to Liang to...take care of the situation," Yuan Song said calmly, obviously seething inside.
"He sent an assassin after Miss Chong and Qiao Qiao," Xiao Ce said, deciding to be straightforward with the prince. "I can't allow that to happen again."
Yuan Song nodded in understanding and approval.
"I know that you have resources, but if you need anything, anything at all..."
"I'll keep your generous offer in mind, Your Highness."
"Please do," Yuan Song said, inclining his head. "Tomorrow, Meng Feng will become my wife, and I won't have that man threatening our future together if he decides one day to get back at the woman who helped lead Yuwen Yue to him."
"Neither will I," Xiao Ce said, flashing a grin at them. "That would be bad for business, after all—for all of us. I think this world would be better off without those two in it making trouble. Meng Feng, Yuan Song, I wish you the best in your life together. I will, of course, send you a wedding gift at a later time."
They protested that a wedding gift wasn't necessary, but he waved them off, inwardly smirking as he imagined the looks on their faces when they opened up the large box full of lip balm tubs.
And maybe even a few extra goodies if I'm in the mood to send them...
"Good luck on your mission, Your Highness," Yuan Song said, clasping his hands and bowing. "Remember..."
"If I need anything, I'll contact you," Xiao Ce promised, inclining his head respectfully. "I shall leave first."
He took his leave and left the palace, his mind already turning to the puzzle of the identity of his anonymous correspondent and what said person wanted with him. Xiao Ce knew that pursuing this lead was risky, but not meeting with a person who clearly knew so much about him could ultimately be the more dangerous proposition.
The ride to Xiuli Mountain was only a couple of hours, and Xiao Ce amused himself for a time envisioning the interactions between Qiao Qiao and Yuwen Yue as they fled for their lives.
And argued, Xiao Ce thought, grinning. And glared. And wanted…
Eventually, his fanciful musings gave way to more serious ones about what he would face once he returned home. He was confident that he could deal with those two troublemakers and his half-witted half-brother, but his father...Xiao Ce knew that he was going to have to do some fancy talking in order to conceal the true motivations behind his actions here.
Actually, Father, I've fallen in love with a woman who's in love with another man and who views me as nothing more than an amusement. In spite of this woman's lack of interest in me, I sent a former Afterlife Camp assassin into Yanbei to watch over her and to spy on my sister. The results were almost disastrous for us, and I would've borne some culpability for the negative results.
Xiao Ce shook his head in amusement, knowing himself to be up to the challenge of spinning a web of charming lies and half-truths for his father. Besides, Xiao Yu's actions had been so egregiously damaging to Liang's prospects that his were bound to look good by comparison.
Actually, Father, I suspected that my dearest sister might try something like this. I sensed an edge to her the last time we met, and I felt that she might start taking greater and greater risks that could lead us into disaster. So I took a relatively small risk of my own and sent an experienced, talented operative into Yanbei. This risk was vindicated when this operative managed to keep my sister from openly leading an army of Wei's enemies to victory over Wei's people and allies. I also managed to form alliances with the most powerful leaders of both Wei and Yanbei as a result of this operative's actions—and my own innate charm, of course.
The crown prince knew that his father was as cunning and canny as he himself was, but he felt reasonably confident in his ability to sway his father to his position—and to maintain his own position as Crown Prince of Liang.
Not wanting to alert the remaining Wei troops at the base of Xiuli Mountain to his presence, Xiao Ce tied his horse up a decent distance from the base of Xiuli Mountain and easily snuck past their guards. Xiao Ce knew that the bulk of the troops had already departed for Wei, but many remained to provide an escort back to Wei for Xiang, Yuwen Yue, Yuan Song, and their entourages—and to stay in Yanbei and prevent trouble from occurring, of course.
Had he not known that he'd once camped in this particular spot, he wouldn't have been able to detect the location of his first Yanbei encampment. Fresh snowfall had completely covered all evidence of his presence, and the footprints he'd just made were the only ones that he could see. His anonymous correspondent had requested a meeting at this place, however, so Xiao Ce was curious as to how he or she had known about it.
The prince sharpened his senses to the best of his abilities and tried to detect the presence of anyone or anything out of place, but to no avail. As far as he could tell, he'd been stood up by his mysterious correspondent—and had, perhaps, been made a fool of as well. Still, he knew from experience that a bit of patience could go a long way, so he boldly stepped out into the clearing and stood there for a few minutes.
Just as he was about to leave, a female voice said from above, "So you came after all, Crown Prince Xiao Ce. I'm somewhat surprised. How did you know you weren't walking into a trap."
"I didn't, Miss," Xiao Ce said in his most charming voice, giving a debonair smile to thin air. "But I figured that the contents of your letter were worth an expression of appreciation; I also wanted to find out what you want, of course."
"What I want?" the voice said. "What I—what we—want is simple: vengeance."
A lithe, feminine form dropped out of a tree not far from where Xiao Ce was standing, landing almost soundlessly in the snow in a manner that matched the descriptions he'd heard from various survivors of the Battle of Xiuli Mountain. Her bearing reminded him of Phoenix, except that this woman was obviously younger—and much prettier. The prince knew better than to let the woman's attractiveness fool him, however; if he'd guessed her affiliation correctly, she was a fearsome warrior worthy of his respect.
"Hopefully you don't want vengeance on me, Miss?" he asked, eyes widening in question.
"No, we want vengeance on Zhan Ziyu," she said, practically hissing his name. "He's the one who murdered our leader and framed her daughter."
A chill went down Xiao Ce's spine as the woman's identity was confirmed.
"I see. So you're from the Underworld, I take it."
"Yes. In fact, I was driving Chu Qiao's carriage when she fled the prison after failing to rescue her mother. Yin Xin sliced me with his fan, and I would've died had Mister Wu not nursed me back to health. Once I was well enough to go back into the field, I devoted myself to discovering the identity of Luo He's killer and bringing him—or her—to justice."
"I suppose Phoenix told you what Qiao Qiao and Miss Chong discovered together?"
"Of course. Once I knew this man's identity, tracking him down wasn't too difficult for someone with my sources and connections. One of my contacts told me that he'd shown up in Liang with another person of interest, so I went to verify the report in person."
"I take it you were successful."
"They were both there, ostensibly awaiting your return," Viper confirmed. "The mustached man seemed to be getting quite friendly with your half-brother from what I understand."
Xiao Ce's face darkened at the confirmation of his concerns.
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention. What exactly do you want from me?"
"I want you to either take care of the situation yourself or allow me to do so," she said.
Xiao Ce blinked at her.
"While the Underworld is typically answerable to no one, Phoenix told us of our leader's friendship with you," Viper explained. "Normally we would've just snuck in, killed them both, and snuck out, hopefully not getting caught in the process, but given your relationship with Chu Qiao, we decided that we didn't want to cause a potential diplomatic incident needlessly."
"I see," Xiao Ce said, pondering this unexpected change to his plans. "I'll have to think about this more on the way back to Liang."
"I thought you might say so, Your Highness," Viper said, inclining her head. "If you wish, I can accompany you back to Liang and tell you what I know."
Xiao Ce looked at Viper again, unable to keep from noting her strength and beauty. He almost instinctively gave her the roguish grin that had become second nature to him, but something about her bearing caused him to settle for a gracious nod instead. The prince masked his confusion about his actions sufficiently, giving a response that was flirtatious enough to keep Viper from becoming suspicious of his recent lapse.
"That's an offer I simply cannot refuse, Miss," he said.
"Please, call me Viper," she said, scowling at the title of "miss."
"Miss Viper, it would be a pleasure."
She gave him a droll look and shook her head at him, turning around and walking away without a backward glance. Xiao Ce followed her with a large grin on his face, feeling that the future was looking bright after all.
Meng Feng awoke to the alien sensation of resting on top of a living, breathing body. Momentary confusion overtook her as her memories took her back to a particular Afterlife Camp Nirvana that had almost ended in disaster for her. That time, she'd also come to in her underrobes atop a man's body, but that man had been a hated enemy who'd tried to break her before killing her and had failed on both counts. She still had the scars from that encounter, but she'd survived and had truly put the past behind her.
The surface beneath her rose and fell regularly, and it smelled like her beloved. Her new husband seemed to be resting soundly, and she was loathe to wake him—especially considering how hard he'd worked last night. Meng Feng smiled as she remembered the previous night's activities. There had, of course, been a few obstacles, but they'd overcome them together just as they'd been doing since they'd met.
She almost giggled as she remembered how brightly her husband had blushed when he'd admitted that some of his men had taken him aside and proceeded to...educate him in an area in which they'd assumed his knowledge might be lacking. Their advice had been most helpful, and she was determined to do something nice for Yuan Song's men in return.
Her living mattress stirred beneath her, and the arm wrapped around her back tightened slightly. She looked up at her new husband as he opened his eyes, smiling softly when she saw the same confusion in them that she herself had felt upon waking up in bed with someone else. Hopefully he had no bad memories to confuse him like she did; she vowed to do her best to replace all of her husband's bad memories with wonderful ones.
Yuan Song's gaze cleared, and he grinned wholeheartedly down at her.
"Good morning, Wife," he mumbled sleepily, his grin stretching almost impossibly far across his face.
"Good morning, Husband," she said back to him, smiling widely herself.
His arm tightened around her back in a squeezing hug; she returned the favor with a tight hug of her own.
"I'm really going to have to do something nice for your men," she couldn't help but say.
Her new husband predictably blushed bright red.
"They're just a bunch of troublemakers," he muttered good-naturedly.
"I think they're sweet," she disagreed.
"Would you still call them 'sweet' if I told you that their initial plan was to take me to a brothel so that I could receive my 'education' there?"
Meng Feng instinctively scowled, but her frown was replaced by a small smile as she thought things over.
"While I, of course, wouldn't have approved of that plan, I grew up in a camp full of men and know how they think and act. To them, such a thing would be perfectly logical and natural, and I know they meant no disrespect to you or me by suggesting it. Besides, I know my man well enough to know that he would never have gone along with such a plan anyway."
"Don't worry, Wife," he said, holding her close, "I made sure that they all understood that you were the only woman for me."
Meng Feng beamed at her husband and tilted her head up, kissing the underside of his jaw. He lowered his head slightly and kissed her back on the lips, and she lost track of time for a few moments.
"They got back at me for my unwillingness to cooperate with their first plan, though," he said after he'd broken the kiss. "Once they realized that I wasn't going to go to a brothel for my education, they resorted to...vivid descriptions and...detailed pictures."
Meng Feng dissolved into giggles, her head thumping back down on her husband's chest as she shook with laughter. She didn't even have to look up at her beloved to know that he was blushing again. He was so easy to tease and torment that she often couldn't resist the opportunity to do so.
"Well, Husband, that experience could've been even more awkward, you know."
"How so?" he asked.
"You could've been receiving advice from Prince Xiang instead."
She looked up at the man she loved and dissolved into giggles again as she took in the look of genuine horror on his face. Yuan Song started laughing as well, and their mirth filled her room—their room—with a warm coziness that helped to push back that Yanbei chill to which neither of them had yet adjusted. Meng Feng knew that she'd never been this happy, and she couldn't remember a time when she'd laughed so much.
He and I gave that laughter back to each other, she acknowledged, reveling in the happiness and love surrounding her.
Her stomach rumbled, and his responded as if hers had called to it. Now she was the one who was blushing as her husband laughed down at her.
"What are you looking at, Husband?" she asked sternly, barely able to keep her lips from twitching. "After all, I worked up such a large appetite because of you."
His blush returned and she smiled in contentment, having conquered the field once again.
"Since you made me so hungry, I should probably go to the kitchen and get us some leftovers," she said. "After all, there's no way that everyone ate all of that food from the wedding feast, and I would hate for it to go to waste."
"Every other princess would leave such an activity to the servants," he said, smiling indulgently at her.
"Not this princess."
"You don't have to hide the truth from me, Wife," Yuan Song said, sighing dramatically. "I know the real reason you want to 'go to the kitchens' is to get away from me, right?"
Without warning, Meng Feng crawled up her husband's chest until her face was even with his. She smiled briefly at his widened eyes before she lowered her lips to his and demonstrated thoroughly how wrong his joking statement was. When she felt his hand begin to roam, she quickly rolled out of bed before she could get too distracted.
Yuan Song's murmured protest almost called her back into bed, but her rumbling stomach propelled her over to her dressing area. She realized with some trepidation that she hadn't even given a thought to what clothes she'd be wearing as a princess after she'd been measured by the clothiers. Images of restrictive, delicate robes with no storage space for weapons assailed her, but she squared her jaw and soldiered on, determined to wear whatever was necessary—at least for now.
The reality that presented her, however, was not the frilly clothing she'd feared. Instead, attractive yet functional robes met her eyes. While these robes were finer than any she'd ever worn, she could see elements of her traditional black robes in their design. Meng Feng could tell that she'd be able to move quickly or even fight in these if need be and that there would likely be places to stash a weapon or three built in to them.
"Are they okay?" Yuan Song said from right behind her, startling her. "Did I really just sneak up on you? Really?"
"Of course not," Meng Feng said, putting on a haughty expression. "I just let you think you snuck up on me to make you feel good about yourself."
"A likely story," Yuan Song said, frowning. "In fact, that seems like a serious lapse in security to me. I might have to replace you with someone else for my head of security."
"Like who?"
"Maybe I could convince A'Chu to be my head of security—or perhaps Miss Chong."
"Keep this up and you won't need a head of security anyway," she said, glaring at her husband with mock anger.
"Why not?"
"Because dead men don't need heads of security—or even heads."
"We haven't even been married a full day and you're already threatening me?"
"Well, technically, you threatened me first by talking about replacing me."
"Only as head of security," Yuan Song said, eyeing her suggestively. "You have thus far proven yourself to be an excellent wife."
"Keep talking like that and you'll have nothing but memories to keep you warm at night."
Yuan Song's face went serious as he stepped closer to her and reached out his hand to cup her chin.
"There's no one else I'll ever consider for my head of security—or my wife. That's why I talked to Yuwen Yue about the kinds of robes that A'Chu wears so that I could get you clothes that would be fitting for both a head of security and my wife. I didn't want you to feel like you have to pretend to be something you're not, and I want you to be comfortable while you're ruling Yanbei at my side."
Her husband bent his head and kissed her again, and she realized that she was once again in danger of not reaching the kitchens. Part of her could find nothing objectionable about going back to bed with her new husband, but her stomach chose that moment to rumble more loudly than it had done so far today. Yuan Song sighed in frustration as his own followed suit once again.
"Don't worry," Meng Feng said as she pulled out an elegant but functional dark blue robe and began to wrap it around herself. "I'll hurry back."
"I'll be waiting," Yuan Song said, kissing her once more for good measure after awkwardly helping her into her robes.
Something tells me he's already thinking about helping me out of them, she thought in amusement as she opened the doors to her room and stepped into the cool morning air beyond.
A bevy of servants instantly descended on her, all clamoring for her attention at once and telling her they were at her service. She told them that she wanted to go to the kitchen, and they told her they wouldn't hear of allowing the princess to demean herself in such a way. Meng Feng gave them one of her ex-assassin looks, however, and they were cowed in short order. A couple of them led the way to the cooking area while a large crowd of them went into the room to attend to her husband.
She indulgently allowed the servants to lead her to the kitchen even though she'd already memorized the entire layout of the palace grounds. After all, she'd been doing such things for years as an assassin, so those ill-gotten skills had served her well during her palace tour. Her plan had come together in her head, and she hoped that all of the pieces would fall into place quickly.
After all, I have somewhere more enjoyable to be, she thought, smiling for no apparent reason as the kitchen loomed before her.
Her appearance in front of the kitchen caused another flurry of panic as the maids and cooks were presented with the unexpected presence of their new princess. What looked to be their head cook stepped forward and asked if they had displeased the princess in some way.
"Not at all," Meng Feng said, smiling at her and the room at large. "In fact, you did such a great job yesterday that my husband and I wanted to enjoy the food all over again. I just wanted to get some leftovers for us to eat this morning."
Another cacophony of responses met her ears, some of which were readily assenting to her request and others that were saying that they would be delighted to cook the prince and princess some fresh breakfast food. Spotting Yuan Song's favorite pork dish as well as a couple of other mutual favorites, she decided to save those for themselves. As for the rest of her plan, Meng Feng was happy to note that there appeared to be enough leftover food to feed an army, which was exactly what she had in mind.
"Thank you for offering to cook fresh food, but with all of these leftovers, there's really no need. Yuan Song and I will take those dishes over there," she said, gesturing to them, "and the kitchen staff can finish off those dishes over there."
Meng Feng had noticed several of the younger girls eyeing those particular dishes longingly, so she'd decided to reward them for their hard work. Her pronouncement created another flurry of responses, but they all ended up thanking her for her generosity and accepting her gift even if it was unorthodox.
"What should we do with the rest of this food, Princess?" the head cook asked.
"What would you normally do with it?" Meng Feng asked out of curiosity.
"We've always thrown away whatever the royal family doesn't eat, Princess."
"Well, that's a tradition that's going to end," Meng Feng said. "We've just been through a costly war, after all, and food is going to be scarce for awhile. We'll come up with a better system for making the most out of what we have later."
The servants assured her that it would be done, that they hadn't meant to offend her, and other similar statements.
"We'll figure this out later," she said. "After all, we all have more important things to worry about for now. As for the rest of this mountain of food, send it all to the barracks of my husband's men courtesy of the princess. Make sure to tell them that this is my thanks for a job well-done—and to congratulate them on the completion of a successful mission."
After staring at her wide-eyed for a few moments, the somewhat confused servants assured her that her orders would be carried out. They sprang into action, some of them gathering the food she'd requested for her and Yuan Song and others beginning the process of transporting the other leftovers to the barracks. Meng Feng smiled as she imagined the looks on the men's faces when they received her gift—and heard her message.
I'm not just thanking them for the wedding night advice, she mused as she made her way back towards their room with a host of servants in front of and behind her. These men have accepted my husband and taken him into their lives, and his confidence has grown significantly because of their loyalty and friendship. Giving them this food is the least I can do—even if they did try to take my husband to a brothel.
Meng Feng's steps sped up as she approached the doorway that led to their room, and she outstripped all but the harried-looking servants who hurried ahead of her to open the doors. She walked through them first, barely noticing the horde of servants that poured in behind her. Her husband turned around to face her as she walked in, and her eyes lit up just as his did when their gazes connected. He flashed her one of his silly grins, and she responded with a smile of her own.
She noticed that he was wearing dark blue robes that matched her own, and her heart swelled. They both made their way over to the small table for two that had already been readied for their breakfast by the servants and took their seats. Meng Feng's eyes filled with mischief as she told her new husband what she'd done for his men—and the message she'd sent with her gift.
"Really?" he asked, blushing. "Do you know how much they're going to tease me now?"
"Of course," Meng Feng said tranquilly. "That's just their way of showing affection."
"They have some strange ways of showing affection," he mumbled around a bite of pork before stammering in embarrassment that he hadn't meant that to come out the way it had sounded.
"I know some pretty good ways of showing affection, too," Meng Feng said, grinning. "I'll show you some of them once we're finished with the meal if you're interested."
She couldn't hold back her soft laughter as her husband's eyes widened comically and he began stuffing the food into his mouth at an exaggeratedly fast pace. He swallowed his food with a gulp and grinned at her, love visible in his eyes as she knew it was in hers.
In a few days, we'll leave for Wei so that we can face my husband's father and the upcoming chaos of Chu Qiao and Yuwen Yue's wedding. But for now…
Her musings were cut off suddenly by the realization that she'd finished her meal and that her husband had, too. This fact had not escaped Yuan Song, who was gazing at her with a smoldering look that made his plans for the rest of the morning perfectly clear to her. As she slowly stood to her feet, she pushed all thoughts of the future from her mind. The upcoming trials would work themselves out in due time, but for now, she found herself unable to think of anything beyond her husband's morning itinerary, which seemed to perfectly match her own.
He Xiao walked around his boyhood home, wanting to reminisce about the past one last time before leaving for Wei. While he hadn't grown up in the lap of luxury, his father's skills at metal-working had assured that their family had always had enough food on the table and clothes to wear while he was growing up. Nobody would've mistaken them for Yanbei nobles, but they had not been destitute, either.
He'd been born here. He'd grown up here. He'd assumed he'd die here—until he'd joined the army, and then he'd assumed that he'd likely die on some battlefield somewhere. Instead, his father had been the one to die on an urban battlefield right outside the door and he himself was now faced with the prospect of going back to a place he hated in order to be with people he loved.
Part of He Xiao wondered what his future would've been like had he learned more about making swords instead of wielding them. Would he have settled down, married a woman who didn't get murdered because of his identity, and had a batch of children of his own? Would he have died in some random raid or at the hands of Wei? Would he have ever met Chu Da Ren—or Xia Chong?
The slightest rasp of shoe on wood alerted him to the presence of another person in this small, deserted place, and a smile lit up his face that seemed out-of-place in the dim desolation of his boyhood home. He Xiao recognized the tread—and the fact that the person coming into his home hadn't needed to make any noise at all but had only done so for his benefit.
His heart warmed at the consideration shown by the woman he hoped would one day agree to spend the rest of her life at his side. Xia Chong crept into the small room he was currently standing in and stopped beside him, looking down at the remnants of what had once been his bed. She said nothing and made no move to touch him, granting him comfort with her presence but also giving him the space to grieve if he wanted it.
He didn't want that space, so he reached out a hand and grasped her own within his. She sidled closer to him, bringing warmth to his side just as she'd done for his life as a whole. He Xiao thought about sharing some of his memories with his beloved, but he found himself desiring to close the door on the past and to think about the future instead.
"Now that we're actually preparing to leave, reality's finally hitting me," he found himself saying. "I'm actually going back to Wei, a place I've hated for so long and that I swore I'd never return to by choice."
"Are you really returning to Wei?" Xia Chong's low voice spoke to him out of the dimness. "Or are you going wherever Chu Qiao goes, which just happens to be Wei?"
"Mm," He Xiao grunted. "You might have a point there."
"For that matter," his beloved continued, "is Chu Qiao really going back to Wei, or is she going wherever Yuwen Yue goes, which just happens to be Wei?"
"That's possible as well," He Xiao said, pursing his lips. "Chu Da Ren has told me a few stories about her life as Young Master Yue's servant, but she doesn't like to talk about that part of her life much. Part of that reluctance likely comes from the...complicated relationship that she and Young Master Yue had during that time, but part of it could also stem from her dislike of Wei and, perhaps, Qing Shan Yuan, too."
"Yet she's still willing to go back to a place she hates just to be with the man she loves."
"I can understand that," He Xiao mused as his beloved echoed his thoughts from earlier.
"I can't," Xia Chong said. "I've never had a home, so I don't mind going somewhere new to be with good people I care about. To me, Qing Shan Yuan and Wei are just places that are probably both better and worse than other places in which I've lived."
"For many years, this was my home," He Xiao said. "I never thought I'd choose to leave Yanbei by choice once I returned, yet here I am."
"You said yourself that you figured that you'd never be forgiven for your past mistakes and that there was nothing for you here," Xia Chong pointed out.
"Nothing but memories," He Xiao said. "That's how I felt at the time, yet I could stay here if I wanted to. Yuan Song offered me my choice of military positions and told me that I would always be welcome back here if I changed my mind."
"Surely he didn't expect you to say yes."
"No, he didn't," He Xiao said, smiling at the memory of the conversation. "He said as much. He knows where my heart lies—well, one of the places, anyway."
The air in the small bedroom suddenly grew charged as He Xiao realized that his vague notions of "someday" had suddenly crystallized into "today." He mentally shrugged as he prepared to jump into the fray, that battle pressure building within him as if he were getting ready for a big fight.
"Xia Chong," he said, a husky note entering his voice, "I know that our lives are changing fast and that we've only known each other for a month or so, but I already know that I want to spend the rest of my life at your side."
The slightly-panicked look on Xia Chong's face was not the expression that he'd hoped to see after making such a confession. He Xiao switched tactics, mentally pulling out a different weapon than the one he'd been using.
"I'm not saying that we have to decide anything right away," he hastened to explain. "I'm just telling you how I feel and you can decide how you feel later."
Xia Chong was silent for awhile as she stared out at nothing for what felt like an eternity.
"You're right, He Xiao, about things changing so fast," she said. "Soon, I'll leave here and go to Qing Shan Yuan with Chu Qiao to join her honor guard and to learn more about my Ice Martial Arts abilities. You'll be there, too-except you'll be settling into your role as captain of her honor guard and dealing with some bad memories. That's a lot of change to get used to."
"It is," He Xiao acknowledged. "But those changes won't change the way I feel about you; nothing will."
"I wouldn't expect them to," Xia Chong said, smiling wistfully at him. "And I'm not saying I don't feel the same way about you, because I do. It's just...I need more time."
He Xiao grinned fiercely at his beloved's acknowledgment of her own feelings for him.
"I don't mind waiting for you to be ready, Xia Chong," he said. "As you said, we're already going to be facing many chaotic changes, so waiting awhile to make another large change would likely help us to adjust to our new home more easily."
"Home," Xia Chong said, frowning slightly. "There's that word again. Will it really be home?"
"Chu Da Ren will be there. You'll be there. Some of my men will be there. Yes; for me, it will be home."
"I see where I rank," Xia Chong said, looking at him with an exaggerated pout.
"Well, Xia Chong, if you want to move up my priority list, then you'll have to change your status with me," He Xiao said with a straight face that would've made Young Master Yue proud.
"Oh?" Xia Chong asked, raising an eyebrow. "And how would I do that?"
"Well, you see, Chu Da Ren is my general, and she's someone I trust absolutely. You? Well, as you said, I need more time to decide."
"Decide what?" Xia Chong asked, the faux innocent look on her face making her look eerily like his general. "I don't recall you asking me any questions or stating any overt intentions."
Now He Xiao was the one who felt panicked as he realized that his woman had backed him into a corner.
"Ah," he said nervously, "I see. Well, you just said that you didn't want to make any decisions any time soon, so I know that if I ask you a certain question, I'll receive an answer I won't like, so…."
"Are these really the words of the same brave warrior who fought with two blades at once during the Battle of Xiuli Mountain? Where's your typical sense of boldness, He Xiao?"
"Where's yours, Xia Chong?" he fired back at her, unwilling to let her get away with such a slight. "You're a former Afterlife Camp assassin who's used to making life-and-death decisions at a moment's notice. You're the ones who tracked down Yuan Song's people and persuaded them to save our lives on Xiuli Mountain. You're the one who fought Xiao Yu to a standstill for hours, saving numerous lives. How much time did you need to make those decisions? I'll ask you again: Where's your own sense of boldness?"
They stared at each other, the tension building within the small home once again. As if he were mentally grasping his weapons, He Xiao entered the fray again, reaching out to Xia Chong and gently cupping her cheek in his hand.
"Will you marry me, Xia Chong?" he asked, giving her his best intense gaze.
Xia Chong stared at him for what felt like years but was likely only a couple of seconds.
"Yes, I will," she managed to say through an obviously tight throat.
They moved closer together, and He Xiao took advantage of this development by leaning down and kissing his fiance deeply. She responded with equal enthusiasm, both of them seeming to find their boldness at the best possible time.
"Now I can consider you more important than Chu Da Ren," he murmured into her ear.
"You'd better!" she said, glaring at him before allowing a large grin to take over her face. Her eyes filled with mischief as she shaped her features into a reasonable reproduction of her master's flirtatious bearing.
"We'd better get married soon before I change my mind or find someone else, Xiao Xiao," she said, giving him her foxiest grin.
He Xiao threw back his head and laughed heartily at his woman's antics; she joined in after maintaining her Xiao Ce impression as long as she could. As his mirth wound down, however, he found himself growing serious again.
"Xia Chong, we don't have to go to Qing Shan Yuan if you don't want to do so."
"Of course we have to go," she said, eyes widening. "My master gave me this mission. I want to get to know Chu Qiao better. I need to learn more about my abilities. And you...Could you honestly leave Chu Qiao's service?"
"Yes," He Xiao said without hesitation. "A few moments ago, you were just the woman I cared for deeply with whom I hoped to share my life. Now you're my future wife, the future mother of our children, and the woman who's promised to spend her life with me. That outranks a general any day."
His beloved's eyes misted with tears, which she swiped at with short, irritated gestures.
"I think Qing Shan Yuan is the best place for both of us—for now, anyway," she said. "We can find our places there, settle in...get married...and then..."
"Then we can always do something else if we want to, you and I," He Xiao finished for her.
"Right."
"The whole world will be open to us, Xia Chong, and nothing and no one will be able to stand in or way," he said, grinning fiercely at his fiance.
He pulled his beloved to himself and kissed her passionately, realizing that he'd never felt more thankful that he'd followed Chu Da Ren down her dark and dangerous path than he did now.
Chu Qiao strode confidently through the palace, her eyes taking in the familiar surroundings for the final time. Although she hadn't lived here for long, the time she'd spent within these walls had changed her significantly. Not far from here was the room in which she'd committed herself to walk a different path, and within the room to which she was walking waited the man who would walk beside her for the rest of his days.
Ostensibly, she was going to Yuwen Yue's room to tell him that the servants had finished packing their belongings and that their large party would be departing after lunch for Wei, but in reality, she simply wanted to be with her fiance. After all, she knew that someone else had likely imparted this news to her beloved already, but she found herself anxious to leave this place behind and to get one step closer to becoming Yuwen Yue's wife.
I'm also going to tell him about Mo'er's latest adventure even though I know he's going to tease me about our son being just like me, she thought, smiling as she visualized how the conversation would likely go.
"So you gave him strict orders not to leave his room and he still got caught exploring the armory with some new friends? I'm shocked that your son would do such a thing, Xing'er."
"I'm just as shocked that your son would sneak off somewhere he wasn't supposed to go. You would never do such a thing, Yuwen Yue."
"I would at least tell someone where I was going before I went there—unlike you."
"I told you when I was going to practice my Ice Martial Arts technique on Xiuli Mountain."
"Only because you wanted to be alone with me, Xing'er."
"Who wanted to be alone with you, Yuwen Yue?"
She couldn't prevent herself from smiling as she envisioned not only this scenario but other similar ones playing out over the years. While she was uncertain about much of the future, her relationship with Yuwen Yue was something in which she felt completely confident.
An extra bounce entered her step as she remembered the excitement and joy on He Xiao's face when he'd told her that Xia Chong had accepted his proposal. Sometimes she still couldn't believe that they had all not only survived the Battle of Xiuli Mountain but might actually get to experience some happiness—for a time, at least.
Finally, she arrived at Yuwen Yue's door and was surprised to hear a feminine voice coming from inside the room. She felt ridiculous because of the pulse of jealousy that shot through her, but her shame over her momentary doubt of Yuwen Yue's love for her didn't prevent her from barging into the room without knocking or announcing herself in any other way.
"...some other way to get the blood from one person to another?" she heard Yuwen Yue ask the woman who was in his room.
The knowing gleam in Yuwen Yue's gaze did nothing to ease her sense of embarrassment as the identity of her fiance's mystery woman became obvious to her. Phoenix looked back at her placidly, amusement dancing in her eyes at the obvious thoughts that Chu Qiao knew were playing on her face. She managed to put her own feelings of sheepishness aside to appreciate the fact that the heads of the Underworld and the Eyes of God were meeting behind closed doors without killing one another.
"Good morning, Xing'er," her fiance said, walking up to her and smirking at her now that Phoenix couldn't see his face. "We were just finalizing the details of the alliance between the Underworld and the Eyes of God, but we somehow ended up talking about Luo He's blood transfer techniques instead. Would you like to hear our theories?"
"Maybe we could talk about them on the way back to Wei since we're almost ready to go," Chu Qiao said. "One of the servants just told me that everything has been packed up and that we'll be ready to leave with Xiang and Yuan Song's party after the midday meal—to which we've been invited, apparently."
"I figured as much," Yuwen Yue said. "I'm surprised you beat Yue Qi here, though. Maybe he's still handling the aftermath of Mo'er's latest adventure."
Chu Qiao wasn't surprised that her fiance had heard about their adopted son's antics, and she knew that Yuwen Yue was about to blame her for Mo'er's actions. Phoenix, however, beat him to the punch.
"Ah, yes, I heard about that," she said smugly. "Sneaking into somewhere he didn't belong and getting others in trouble in the process? He sounds like a Yuwen to me."
"Combined with Xing'er's ability to effortlessly get into trouble..."
"He'll fit right in with you two," Phoenix finished for him.
"And the many other children we're going to have together," Yuwen Yue said, gazing into Chu Qiao's eyes with a look that left none of his feelings on the matter to her imagination.
"That's not a subject I care to contemplate on too much," Phoenix said, her half-smile taking the sting out of the words. "In fact, I should probably go home myself. After all, I have a lot of work to do before our organizations can finalize our alliance."
"Good," Yuwen Yue said, nodding once. "You will, of course, come to Qing Shan Yuan for our wedding in several weeks, right?"
Chu Qiao's eyes widened in shock.
"I wouldn't miss it," Phoenix said without missing a beat. "If nothing else, I'll be able to make all of those pompous Wei officials uncomfortable with just my presence."
"You are quite good at that," Yuwen Yue acknowledged.
"Thank you, Young Master Yue," she said, sarcastically clasping her hands and bowing.
Phoenix walked up to Chu Qiao and, to her surprise, gave her a quick hug.
"I'm not sure that Luo He would've approved of everything we're doing here, but I feel that she'd still be proud of you for finding such an...unorthodox method of neutralizing the Eyes of God as a threat to us."
"Something tells me that Luo He wouldn't have had as much success as Xing'er did with this particular method," Yuwen Yue observed dryly.
"That's another subject I don't care to contemplate," Phoenix said, walking towards the door.
She stopped and turned around, giving Chu Qiao one last look and acting like she was going to say something else. Instead of doing so, she simply opened the door and strode through it, leaving them in somewhat awkward silence. An impish grin began to form on Chu Qiao's face as a thought came to her.
"What thought put that expression on your face, Xing'er?"
"I'm just imagining the look on your grandfather's face when you inform him that Phoenix is coming to the wedding," Chu Qiao said, grinning widely. "Can I be there to see his reaction when you tell him?"
"Xing'er," Yuwen Yue admonished, "you need to at least try to make peace with my grandfather."
"Why bother?" she asked, scowling. "He hates me so much he wanted to send me on a suicide mission. He's probably hated me from the moment he heard about me. He's probably going to loathe me for the rest of my life, but he doesn't need to worry, because the feeling's mutual."
"Once he gets to know you, Xing'er-"
"He'll hate me even more."
"No, Xing'er," Yuwen Yue said softly. "Someday he'll come to see you as I do."
"I hope he doesn't come to see me exactly as you do," Chu Qiao said, shuddering in an exaggerated fashion.
"Well, of course there will be parts of you that only I will ever see and no other man," Yuwen Yue said, giving her that intense smirk that she loved and hated so much.
"Rascal," she said predictably, her cheeks heating as she took a few steps away from him.
"The first time you called me that, Xing'er, I threatened to prove to you that I was a man," Yuwen Yue said, walking closer to her.
"I doubt that any of your men would call you a monk these days."
He continued to walk towards her, his posture and gaze adopting an identical bearing to that time in the bath house that seemed so long ago. As before, he stopped in front of her, but this time, he did what she knew now he'd wanted to do then and pulled her to himself, kissing her passionately. She responded much differently than she would've then, too, returning his kiss in equal measure.
Through her passionate haze, Chu Qiao heard the door to Yuwen Yue's room open and a familiar tread walk through the entrance. She mentally groaned but decided to let her beloved take the initiative to break the kiss since she didn't want to.
"Master, we're almost ready to depart for W-"
Yue Qi didn't even bother to offer an apology this time as he spun around and quickly left the room.
"Have you given any more thought to giving Yue Qi a raise, Yuwen Yue?" Chu Qiao asked into the frustrated silence. "The poor man has put up with so much."
"He's interrupted so much," her beloved practically growled.
"And it's a good thing, too," Chu Qiao said, looking at him pointedly. "Imagine what would've happened otherwise."
"Nothing that you wouldn't have wanted to happen, Xing'er," he said, gazing at her intensely.
"Let's go, Yuwen Yue," she said in a slightly-breathless rush. "The sooner we leave, the sooner we can all go home."
Her throat caught on the last word, and Yuwen Yue heard her hesitation. As at the practice field when Mo'er had come to see them, he seemed quite affected by her referring to his home as hers.
"At the icy lake, I promised I'd take you home, X'er," he murmured, clasping her cheek in his hand.
"And I promised I'd stay with you for the rest of my life," Chu Qiao said.
Yuwen Yue drew her close again and kissed her softly, conveying all of his feelings for her in his tender embrace. He broke the kiss and stepped back slightly, seeming to get lost in her eyes.
"Take me home, Yuwen Yue," she whispered, not objecting in the slightest when he gave her a quick kiss before leading her out of his room.
AN: This is the last full chapter of this story; all that's left is the wedding night epilogue, which will go up in a week. Then I'll be taking a break to recover from writing this monstrosity and to plot out "Awakening." I might actually write Chapter 2 of that before I chart the rest of the story since I've pretty much got that one mapped in my head, but I'll make no promises.
Translation/fanfic updates: Spring Breeze has translated the second part of Chapter 155, "Final Farewell with the Ruler," on darkstarlights dot wordpress dot com. Angel Chua continues to add chapters to "Secret Princess" at princessagents dot wordpress dot com.
Musical selections: There are so many possibilities, most of them centering around the concept of coming home since that's the general theme of the chapter. I started this segment by recommending a "Glenn and Ronan" cover that captured Yuwen Yue's feelings accurately, so I'll do the same to close the main portion of the story with "Come Home," originally performed by "One Republic." For Chu Qiao, there's the Skylar Green's "Coming Home, Part II," which is the follow-up to "Coming Home," which she originally sang with Diddy/Dirty Money (which also fits a couple of characters quite well). For everyone else, there's "Home" by Phillip Phillips.