"It's over, it's all over! Ye Zhao is going to lose, and we're all dead meat!" Jiang Ziqi cried out, his heart filled with desolation as he watched the brutally one-sided battle.
Beside him, Ye Zhao’s parents were already sick with anxiety seeing their son overwhelmed. Hearing Jiang Ziqi’s outburst, Ye Zhao’s father couldn't help but snap, "If we die, we die! What is there to be afraid of?"
"And here I thought you were my son's friend for all these years. To think you're such a coward!" Ye Zhao’s father made no effort to hide his disdain, shooting Jiang Ziqi a sidelong glare. He felt his son must have had a lapse in judgment to befriend such a fellow.
Jiang Ziqi looked ready to burst into tears. "It’s not that... I haven't even taken a wife yet!"
Hearing such a ridiculous reason, Ye Zhao’s father shot back instantly, "The Underworld is crawling with female ghosts. You can just marry one when you get there!"
"I don't want to marry a ghost! I want to marry a human!" Jiang Ziqi wailed, his eyes brimming with tears of tragic grief.
"Humans just turn into ghosts once they die anyway! Why be so picky?"
"But I’m the one dying now, and Rongrong is still alive and well! Who knows how many years I’ll have to wait for her to become a ghost?" Jiang Ziqi was consumed by melancholy.
Ye Zhao’s father, his eyes fixed on his son below the platform, replied distractedly, "If you don't want to wait, then don't. Just reincarnate early and marry her in your next life. It’s the same thing."
"Sigh... how can that be the same? What if I don't run into Rongrong in my next life? What then?"
"Then don't marry at all!"
"I can't do that. I still want to marry her. Marrying her is the greatest dream of my life."
*Dammit! What exactly do you want?!*
A vein throbbed on the father's forehead. He turned his head and hissed through gritted teeth, "Then just haunt her as a ghost! Is that what you want?!"
He said it out of pure frustration, never imagining that the person listening would actually begin to seriously contemplate the possibility.
Ye Zhao’s father: *What kind of bizarre specimen is this?*
Ye Zhao’s mother, who had been eavesdropping: *What kind of peerless idiot is this?*
Both thought simultaneously: *Who knew our son’s friend was actually like this?*
While Ye Zhao was struggling to fend off Sun Puhe’s attacks, he overheard Jiang Ziqi’s moronic chatter and felt a row of black lines cross his forehead.
*I say, could you lot please take this seriously?*
The gravity of the atmosphere had been completely demolished by Jiang Ziqi’s buffoonery.
After two seconds of thought, Jiang Ziqi let out a sorrowful sigh. "That won't work either. If I die and become a ghost, what if Rongrong finds someone else to marry?"
*It’s not like Miss Li ever agreed to marry you in the first place,* Ye Zhao marveled that he still had the mental capacity to think such a thing.
From a carriage arriving in the distance, several people who had just stepped down were caught off guard by these words.
Li Yunrong: "..."
Minister Li, who had been unable to win the argument and had agreed to bring her along, wore an expression so foul it looked as if he had just stepped in a fresh pile of dog dung.
Despite the dim light, Minister Song noticed Minister Li’s expression from a short distance away. He let out a dry laugh and tried to put in a good word for Jiang Ziqi. "Look at that. Even in the face of mortal peril, he’s still thinking of your daughter. It shows his heart is truly sincere."
Minister Li’s face remained expressionless; he couldn't even manage a cold sneer. "He wants to haunt my daughter even as a ghost? That’s called being a nuisance! Sincere?"
"I’d rather he keep that 'sincerity' to himself."
Seeing Li Yunrong slowly walking forward, Minister Li followed suit, giving his sleeve a sharp, annoyed flick as he moved.
Minister Song didn't mind the attitude and followed them as they approached the front of the Yulin Guards.
On the platform, Jiang Ziqi spotted a certain figure in the crowd. His eyes lit up instantly. "Rongrong!"
"Rongrong, why are you here? Go back, quickly! Swords have no eyes—what if you get hurt?" Jiang Ziqi’s initial joy was immediately replaced by worry.
Hearing this, Ye Zhao, who was fighting for his life, cursed inwardly. *Dammit!*
*This bastard Jiang Ziqi... his double standards are too much! Does he have to choose romance over his friend so blatantly?!*
Having held out for nearly fifteen minutes, Ye Zhao truly had no strength left. Seeing another blade swinging toward him, he accidentally tripped and fell to the ground, his head slamming hard against the stone steps.
Ye Zhao’s father and the others gasped. "Son! Son, are you alright?"
"Ye Zhao? Ye Zhao, are you okay?" This was Jiang Ziqi, finally remembering to care about his brother.
Ye Zhao’s mother also couldn't hide her panic, calling out his name.
"Ye Zhao!" Pei Shian made a split-second decision and barked at Wei Feng, "Save him!"
Issuing that order meant he intended to seize Sun Puhe and the others, even if it meant he could no longer guarantee the safety of the hostages.
Almost before Pei Shian’s words left his mouth, Wei Feng had already drawn the blade at his waist and hurled it. The flying steel interrupted Sun Puhe’s downward swing.
However, Sun Puhe was faster. He dodged the strike and, with a flick of his wrist, pressed his blade against Ye Zhao’s throat.
Meeting Sun Puhe’s gaze, Wei Feng froze, forced to halt his advance mid-step. Behind him, the Yulin Guards who were about to swarm forward also stopped dead in their tracks.
"Back off."
Ye Zhao lay face down, gasping for breath in exhaustion. His body felt weak, and perhaps because the blow to his head had been quite severe, his vision was swimming.
*This time, it really is game over.*
Ye Zhao couldn't help but think this as he felt the cold bite of the steel against his neck.
Wei Feng’s expression was grim, his muscles coiled like springs, ready to launch an attack at any moment. But alas...
The group had no choice but to retreat.
Sun Puhe laughed uproariously. "Tianshu, oh Tianshu! Who would have thought there would come a day when I would have you under my boot?"
"Exhilarating! Truly exhilarating!"
"Hahahaha..."
Ye Zhao, currently being stepped on, indeed did not feel very good. He lay on the ground, motionless. Slowly, he closed his eyes, looking as if he had accepted his fate, or perhaps he was just resting, or maybe he had simply passed out.
Ye Zhao’s parents and the rest were consumed by frantic anxiety, paralyzed by fear.
Suddenly, Jiang Ziqi let out a howl. "Rongrong! I’m definitely a dead man today! I’ll see you in the next life!"
Ye Zhao’s father whipped his head around and roared, "My son is the one in trouble right now! Can you stop wailing for your own funeral for one second?"
"Once Ye Zhao is gone, won't it be our turn next?" Jiang Ziqi looked at the rebels surrounding them. He felt like the three of them were sheep waiting for the slaughter; the moment the Yulin Guards charged, these men would surely send them on their way with a single stroke.
Ye Zhao’s father couldn't be bothered to deal with the fellow anymore. He called out to his son in a panic. In his world, his son was everything.
The scene was jarringly split into two different genres. On one side, Jiang Ziqi was the protagonist of a tragicomedy, wailing like a banshee. On the other side, the unconscious Ye Zhao was the protagonist of a grim thriller, his life hanging by a thread as everyone watched in silent dread.
One side was loud and blubbering; the other was suppressed and heavy.
One side was a tearful, pathetic spectacle; the other was a tense, silent standoff.
Either scene on its own might have been tragic, but appearing together in the same frame... well...
It looked undeniably... farcical and absurd.
"Rongrong... Rongrong..."
"Aaaah..." Jiang Ziqi repeated those two syllables over and over, weeping uncontrollably.
He truly felt that his end was nigh, that he would never again see the person he had pined for all these years. Grief surged from within him as he experienced the genuine helplessness and despair of a dying man.
Seeing him cry so piteously, Li Yunrong was initially at a loss, but eventually, a touch of bitterness rose in her heart. She comforted him softly, "Don't cry..."
Minister Li found the noise grating, his ears ringing from the din.
They hadn't come here for anything else but Ye Zhao. And just as they had feared, things had reached the worst possible state.
"Rongrong..." Jiang Ziqi wouldn't stop calling her name.
Perhaps sensing that his time was short, he finally regained some clarity and entered the stage of delivering his final words.
"Rongrong, I... I really didn't mean to lie to you. I just... I just like you. I want to marry you."
"I want to marry you. The greatest wish of my life... is to marry you..."
"Ah... Rongrong..." Jiang Ziqi sobbed and gasped for air between his cries.
Li Yunrong paused. She looked around uncomfortably, two clouds of red slowly rising on her face—whether from embarrassment or shyness, it was hard to tell. "Stop talking..."
By now, Jiang Ziqi had completely lost all sense of shame, cowardice, or embarrassment. He was fearless. He had to say it. "I’ve waited for you for twelve years! I’ve liked you since we were children! I’m not willing to let go! Aaaah..."
Only now did he realize how desperate a dying person feels, knowing they will never again see the things they love, miss, and cherish. He even felt a twinge of regret for his idleness over the past few years, wasting so much precious time.
As Jiang Ziqi wept, Li Yunrong froze, looking puzzled. "When we were children?"
And twelve years?
"What..." *What are you talking about?*
Li Yunrong was stunned, completely unable to follow Jiang Ziqi’s meaning. Then she heard him let out another wail. "You really have forgotten me completely..."
"When we were little, a group of kids made fun of you for being fat. I fought them off for you and gave you your favorite red bean jujube cake. You gave me a peach blossom branch in return and said it was our token of betrothal, that you’d marry me in the future. You forgot it all!"
Having managed to steady his breath enough to get it all out in one go, Jiang Ziqi felt his sorrow flowing like a river.
*Whoa!*
Minister Li and the others were shocked, their eyes darting toward Li Yunrong.
Li Yunrong herself was dazed, her mind racing back through buried memories.
Finally, she recalled an incident from long ago.
It seemed to be when she was seven years old; her mother had taken her to a Buddhist temple to offer incense.
During those few years of her childhood, she had indeed been a bit 'plump,' and as a result, few children wanted to play with her. On that occasion, she had encountered a group of children bullying her, and then...
She looked at Jiang Ziqi, trying to recognize something in this man wearing prisoner's robes with disheveled hair. She murmured in confusion, "Are you... Little Brother Jiang?"
She finally remembered why the name 'Rongrong' sounded so familiar. She never imagined they shared such a history.
"Yes, yes! It’s me, it’s me! You finally remembered!" Jiang Ziqi was overcome with excitement.
Li Yunrong turned her head away in embarrassment. Seeing this, Minister Li glared at her. "Yunrong, what is the meaning of this?"
"Father, this..." Li Yunrong looked at the hopeful light in Jiang Ziqi’s eyes, then at her father’s stern face. After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded. "What he said... is indeed true."
Back then, the young Jiang Ziqi had appeared and chased away the children who mocked and bullied her. He was the first person who didn't look at her with judgment. At the time, he had seemed like a god descending from heaven, a ray of warm light that she had cherished for several years.
However, she had never seen him again after that day, and over time, the memory had faded.
"You...!" Minister Li was momentarily choked with anger, seemingly wanting to scold her. He turned back to Jiang Ziqi. "It was merely a joke between children who didn't know any better. Young Master Jiang, you mustn't take it seriously."
"No, no, no, I remember it. I planted the branch she gave me, and it grew into a great tree. It’s covered in peach blossoms every year."
Sensing Minister Li’s disapproval, Jiang Ziqi’s mind went blank, and he started pouring out whatever came to him. "I know you don't like me, but I truly love Rongrong. It’s not just because of a childhood promise. I don't care how fat she is, I love her! I loved her then, and I’ll love her in the future. I don't care about any of that."
"Unfortunately, I don't have a future anymore..."
Jiang Ziqi’s mood plummeted. Seeing Minister Li about to speak, he immediately started babbling again. "I swore long ago that I would treat Rongrong well. I can cry, but I can't let her cry. I can die, but she can't. I can suffer pain, scolding, and beatings, but I won't let anyone else insult or bully her. I’m useless, but I can work myself to death to become useful. I can also..."
"Stop, stop, stop, stop—" Minister Li felt his head throbbing. It was his first time encountering someone as relentlessly persistent as Jiang Ziqi. His refined, scholarly composure was beginning to fray.
Li Yunrong looked at Jiang Ziqi, an unconscious smile touching her lips even as her eyes grew moist.
"Hahahaha! Old Man Li, if you ask me, this lad isn't bad at all. His devotion to your daughter is beyond reproach," Minister Song interjected, though his eyes frequently flickered toward Ye Zhao.
