Her Last Words[Completed]

Chapter 5: Saving the Archmage

Without any precaution, and without a trace of apprehension you appeared in my world as you did, bringing me a pleasant surprise, that I couldn’t resist.

You appeared in my world as you did, bringing me a pleasant surprise, that I couldn’t resist.

But like this, without me knowing. You quietly disappeared, from my world, without a word leaving behind only my memories.

You exist, deep in my mind, in my dreams, in my heart, and in my song.

- extracted from "You Exist in My Song", Qu Wanting

Before Junuo's scheduled execution at Lingshu Terrace, Qinghua had paid a visit to Chen Ye. Chen Ye had anticipated this meeting. And so, he gave his aunt his word, that he would rescue his cousin at any cost, knowing deep in his heart he owed her father, Xiangli Yin a debt of gratitude.

Junuo had been kind to Aranya when they were young. But as they grew up, Junuo began to distance herself from Aranya and seemed to forget those days of their youth. Unlike Changdi, Junuo was a quiet person, often remaining silent when someone asked her a question or when Changdi badmouthed Aranya, making it difficult to determine whose side she was on. Changdi seemed to stick up for Junuo a lot, being the spoiled princess who had absolutely no friends.

As much as Aranya believed Junuo was wrong to betray Chen Ye and have an affair, Aranya believed she didn't deserve death. She was intelligent enough to realize her father was behind the orders to execute her half-sister. Somehow, she had the hunch that Chen Ye would try to save his betrothed out of kindness. As earth deities, execution did not take place by way of beheading like mortals but a tiger spirit residing in the execution saber instead would consume Junuo's body and soul, preventing her from ever being able to reincarnate in the future.

At the execution ground, Archmage Chen Ye proposed to Lord Xiangli with his challenge that should be be able to prevent Junuo's death by sending the tiger spirit back into the saber, in such a case Junuo should be set free instead. Lord Xiangli determined that Chen Ye was no match for the tiger spirit and accepted his challenge.

Junuo's wrist was slit and the blood from her wrist poured on the saber, awakening the tiger spirit. She was shaking from fear. News had it that Lord Xiangli had unfortunately managed to track down her lover, who had been in hiding, and killed him. She knew that it was her turn for death now.

When she had opened her eyes, expecting to be dead, the sight before her eyes surprised her. A lady in red had appeared and appeared to have fired a couple of magically conjured arrows at the beast. Courageously she stood before the slightly injured Chen Ye, asking if he remembered her.

"Xiangli Aranya," he pronounced her name.

"Why did you save her since she betrayed you?" was her question to Chen Ye.

Chen Ye's answer was simple. She was the sister he had grown up with.

"But I am your sister, too." Aranya said with a smile.

I don't want you to be my sister, Chen Ye thought to himself. You've always been important to me. But you are now the wife of another.

They wasted no time. Aranya knew the secret of returning the beast back to the saber, and it was by letting the beast had its share of blood. As she was related to Junuo by blood, she had to offer enough blood to satiate the beast. Instead she had grabbed Chen Ye's hand and made a quick cut over their hands so that his blood dripped onto hers. After that, she had rubbed the resulting blood on the saber and made a deeper cut on her hand using the saber, so more blood started oozing from the wound. But at the same time, the tiger spirit was satiated and was sealed back into the saber due to Chen Ye's blood also being present on the saber.

For their interference and saving Junuo, both Aranya and Chen Ye were punished. Junuo escaped execution, but exiled from the capital as a commoner. Once she had recovered, she was to have the capital. Nevertheless, she was glad to have her life back, mourning her late lover while being grateful to Chen Ye.

Aranya seized the opportunity to hold Chen Ye in custody, claiming that Xize had wrote to her with his request for his former assistant to help him with the creation of an artifact. As Xize was also staying in the palace, Chen Ye was assigned to stay at Mengchun Manor. Both Su Moye and Qinghua had insisted this was true, so Lord Xiangli accommodated her request.

Never would she had realized that keeping him in the manor was no better than imprisonment in the eyes of Chen Ye, the serious faced archmage who seldom smiled. He would have been better off being demoted as punishment. Not long after, Aranya started writing letters to him with the alias of her new friend, Wen Tian's name.

She had met Wen Tian not too long ago, having heard of the female scholar's good skill in calligraphy, poem writing and playing chess. That day Wen Tian had came over to her manor for a drink of tea and a game of chess. Aranya seized the opportunity to tell Wen Tian about the letters written to Chen Ye in her name during their meetings and requested for her to continue the act. She used Junuo's name as an excuse and said that Junuo had requested for her to take care of her betrothed in her absence.

Readily, Wen Tian agreed. She owed Aranya a number of favours as it was with Xize's recommendation that she had enrolled Wen Tian as a scholar in the royal academy. Wen Tian had long heard of the Archmage Chen Ye, and had wanted to meet him since a long time ago. And so, Wen Tian met Chen Ye at the palace with Aranya's help.

It was after twenty of Aranya's letters, that Chen Ye happened to chance upon Aranya's inscription on a tree in the Lake Pavilion. She had inscribed her name and a few lines of poetry on the tree trunk. it was Aranya who was writing to him, but yet using the name of another. He misunderstood that she had confined him in the palace and wrote to him with the name of another in mockery. As a result, he started to develop mixed feelings of both love and hate towards Aranya. And he began to drink again, much worse than the last time he drank.

The old servant Li, who also delivered Aranya's letters to Chen Ye, came to inform her that Chen Ye was drunk, and breaking many prized antiques.

Drunk...again? Aranya sighed at the thought. Recalling the last time she had caught the drunken Chen Ye at Zuilixian, it was as if he had just got himself drunk yesterday.