The time spent at Chibi was like a dream.
In the dream, he was Yang Changsheng and met a young girl named Ah Yue. He listened to her talk about how she had the best Elder Brother in the world, and the corners of his mouth turned up.
If Ah Yue was his sister, he would have loved her dearly and pampered her to the heavens. He couldn't bear it if she frowned, let alone leaving her alone at Chibi without a single concern.
For the first time, he had a feeling of defiance. Like an ordinary arrogant, spirited noble son, he secretly wanted to compete with Ah Yue's brother to see who would be a more perfect and powerful Elder Brother.
On the boat back to Wei County, he was surprised that they might be fellow villagers. He did not think deeply about it until Ah Yue stood at the prow of the boat and pointed in surprise at the youth on a stallion at the shore.
"Changsheng gege, the one on the black horse is my Elder Brother!"
Before the words left her mouth, she froze when she saw, not far from Li Zhongqian, some attendants with the Tang family flag.
Li Xuanzhen did not know what was going through Li Yaoying's mind at that moment.
He only knew that when he recognized Li Zhongqian, his mind droned as if countless thunderbolts were blasting in his ears.
It was as if everyone was mocking him.
Pain, anger, despair.
Hatred.
She deceived him!
She was Xie Manyuan's daughter, Li Zhongqian's sister!
What a joke the heavens had played on him... The young girl who made him feel warmth for the first time since his mother's death, who made him want to be close and take good care of her, was the daughter of his enemy.
In this life, he was destined to live for revenge.
His mother's burnt face appeared in front of him, "Kill them all! Kill them all!"
In that instant, all the good feelings of the past turned into a surging torrent of hatred that burned like a raging fire in his heart. He felt resentment, shame, and humiliation.
His anger could not be relieved, hating that he couldn't kill her!
Then, she would forever be the Ah Yue he knew, and they could stay in that time forever.
A blood-red cold glint emerged in Li Xuanzhen's eyes. The veins on either side of his forehead bulged, and he strangled Yaoying's throat, gripping it tightly.
Yaoying looked at him in a daze and tried to pry off his cold fingers.
His hands were hard and unforgiving.
She looked at his blood-red phoenix eyes, "Changsheng gege..."
...
Wind and snow filled the air. The silent night seemed to resound with the sigh-that-wasn't-a-sigh murmur from a few years ago: Changsheng gege...
Li Xuanzhen laid on his back on the snow, trembling. His phoenix eyes were scarlet red, and he roared like a trapped beast: "Don't call me that! Don't call me that!"
Qin Fei stood to the side and said helplessly, "Your Highness..."
No wonder the Crown Prince has been so volatile these years. It turned out that he and the Seventh Princess had a past like that.
Li Xuanzhen turned his head to look at Qin Fei. His gaze fixed, and he suddenly lunged forward and pulled on his sleeve: "When my Aniang died, Li Yaoying was not yet born... She was not born, so she does not count, right?"
Qin Fei's throat choked up, unable to say a single word.
Li Xuanzhen laughed loudly. A bit of fierceness appeared on his handsome eyebrows, and continued on by himself: "Aniang did not mention Ah Yue's name. She doesn't count, she doesn't count. She doesn't count as my enemy!"
He staggered to his feet.
"I was wrong. I'll go get her, she doesn't count!"
Qin Fei stopped Li Xuanzhen who was laughing oddly: "Your Highness... Yelu Khan will not let her go."
Li Xuanzhen's phoenix eyes were opened wide, and two flaming lights burned in his ink-black eyes: "Then I'll snatch her back."
Qin Fei sighed: "Can you snatch her back?"
Li Xuanzhen's footsteps stopped.
Yes, he could not snatch her back. He was invited to the Yelu tribe on impulse. With only a few personal soldiers around, he simply did not have the ability to bring her back.
Even if he had brought her back, Li De would have sent her back again.
The present situation was all his fault.
If he had not tricked Yelu Khan to meet her at the Buddha's birthday puja, the Khan would not have offered Liangzhou as a bride price, and Li De would not have gotten an idea about her.
If Li De had not decreed the marriage in the first place, she would not have had to take herself in exchange when Li Zhongqian was in trouble.
The fire in Li Xuanzhen's eyes went out little by little, and he fell into a boundless silence.
He looked lifeless. Taking two steps forward, the wound on his back was faintly painful, but his heart hurt even more. He fell on the snow with a thud.
Qin Fei let out a long sigh, picked him up, and brought him back to his horse, taking him back to his room.
Just back at the gatehouse, the soldier on guard rushed up with a letter: "Your Highness, a letter!"
Qin Fei glanced at Li Xuanzhen, who looked numb, and said, "Send it to the Chief Historian first."
The soldier said urgently, "This letter came from the West! The Hu man said that Princess Wenzhao sent him to deliver the letter! It is very urgent, we cannot delay!"
Qin Fei was stunned, and before he could say anything, Li Xuanzhen on horseback suddenly moved, reaching out to yank the letter out of the soldier's hand.
His hands kept shaking and it took him several attempts to unfold the letter.
The dull torch flame shone down. He read the letter by the faint light, then his face abruptly sank.
"Alert all places! Send out scouts!" Li Xuanzhen straightened his back, ignoring the wounds on his back, and quickly gave orders, "Alert all the lookout posts, and lock the mountain pass immediately! Close the city gates securely! No matter who comes to the door, decline them all!
"Pass on the order to all the troops to stand firm!
"Anyone afraid to fight will be killed!"
After giving these orders, Li Xuanzhen called his personal soldiers: "Go to the Yelu tribe and fetch Princess Wenzhao back!"
The soldiers in the gatehouse froze for a moment, then answered in unison, and split up to carry out the order.
A low horn was blown, piercing through the blanket of wind and snow, releasing signals from the mountain pass to the north and south. The passes immediately responded, the sound of horns resounding through the sky.
The atmosphere was somber.
Qin Fei followed behind Li Xuanzhen and rushed up to the watchtower.
Li Xuanzhen's face was grave, looking like a different person from the mad appearance a moment ago after he hastily put on clothes and randomly bundled his long hair. Standing in the tower at the corner of the city wall, he looked westward and northward at the endlessly snowy plains.
Bemutai was actually Haidu Aling.