Yuan Xi reclaimed the letters. Murong Yan did not even look at them closely; with a cursory glance, he tossed them directly to Wang Yunzhao. He then took up residence in the Suoye City field headquarters, spending several days inspecting the city’s defenses. The dark clouds that had loomed over the mountains and rivers of Great Yan for so long seemed to dissipate just like that.
The rumored rebellion turned out to be nothing more than a misunderstanding. Naturally, Zhou Xin and Shen Yucheng led their troops back to Yuhou Pass. Murong Yan also prepared for an immediate return to Jinyang. As Wen Xingye and the others accompanied them, a provincial official asked, "It is rare for Your Majesty to visit in person. Will you not observe the common folk of the Northwest?"
Murong Yan turned his head, glanced at Zuo Canglang, and said indifferently, "The weather has turned cold. Your General Zuo is in poor health and cannot withstand the wind and sand of the borderlands. We shall not linger."
As soon as these words were spoken, even Wen Xingye could not help but steal a glance at Zuo Canglang. She froze, but he reached out and took her hand without the slightest hint of reservation, leading her into the carriage.
Once the curtains fell and the carriage began to move, Zuo Canglang finally spoke. "Why must Your Majesty speak thus before others? I fear that in the future, unofficial histories and scandalous rumors will tarnish Your Majesty’s noble reputation."
"Noble reputation?" Murong Yan warmed the wine himself and said, "In your eyes, do I still possess such a thing?" Zuo Canglang fell silent. Murong Yan casually handed her a hand warmer.
Zuo Canglang slowly tucked the warmer into her sleeve. Winter in the borderlands was indeed exceptionally cold. Strangely, she hadn't felt it much in the past. As the carriage rolled forward, Murong Yan said, "The first time I came to Suoye City, it was with my father."
Zuo Canglang asked, "With the late King?"
"Mhm," Murong Yan replied. "I was very young then. I only remember the sun setting over Suoye City, the twilight glow stretching long and far. He lifted me up to sit on his shoulders and said, 'Come, son, Father is taking you to hunt foxes.'"
Surprised, Zuo Canglang said, "There were times like that?"
Murong Yan said, "Of course. Before my mother passed away, I was also a prince who enjoyed ten thousand favors. Otherwise, why do you think Jiang Sanyi would have betrothed his daughter to me?"
Since he mentioned the past so nonchalantly, Zuo Canglang asked, "Does Your Majesty wish to hunt sand foxes?"
Murong Yan was taken aback. "What?"
Zuo Canglang said, "Less than ten miles ahead, there are sand foxes. And wolves."
Murong Yan said, "Going alone is tedious."
Zuo Canglang sighed and said, "Since I made the suggestion, I naturally would not let Your Majesty go alone."
Murong Yan summoned Wang Yunzhao and ordered, "Prepare bows, arrows, and horses."
Wang Yunzhao was bewildered. "Your Majesty, what are you..."
Murong Yan mounted a horse with Zuo Canglang, hanging water skins and other supplies from the saddle. "The convoy shall continue forward. The General and I will return shortly."
Wang Yunzhao said anxiously, "Your Majesty, where are you taking the General? This old servant will arrange for guards to escort you."
Murong Yan replied, "I am within my own domain; what need is there for an escort!"
With that, he said no more and galloped away.
Zuo Canglang leaned against his chest. The weather was cold, and the northern wind pierced through them, chilling one to the bone. Murong Yan simply unfastened his cloak and wrapped her tightly within it. "Which direction?"
Wrapped snugly, Zuo Canglang extended a single finger and pointed. Murong Yan lowered his head and slowly took her finger into his mouth. In this border city where dripping water turned to ice, only his lips were burning hot. With one arm around her and the other controlling the reins, he galloped onward.
Zuo Canglang finally said, "Your Majesty comes out with me just like this—are you not afraid of an ambush?"
Murong Yan finally released her finger and said, "It matters not how many ambushes there are." Before she could speak, he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "If I must die, I want to die on top of you."
He emphasized the words "on top of you." Zuo Canglang was speechless.
Ahead, there truly was an area where sand foxes and wild wolves roamed. Murong Yan raised his bow and loosed an arrow, but surprisingly, he missed. Zuo Canglang couldn't help but laugh. "Your Majesty is getting old; your hand is no longer steady."
Murong Yan lowered his head, his cheek brushing lightly against hers. "Is that not why they say lust is a blade that scrapes the bone?"
Zuo Canglang replied, "Then Your Majesty certainly has quite a few sharp blades by your side."
Murong Yan couldn't help but laugh as well. "Go on, keep being cheeky. I am in a good mood today and won't settle scores with you." Having said that, he fired another arrow, finally hitting a sand fox. He dismounted, picked up the fox, and tucked it into the saddle.
Zuo Canglang said, "In the past, when I was in the army, I often came here to hunt with General Wen and the others."
Murong Yan’s hand paused slightly. "Back then, you were very happy, weren't you?"
Zuo Canglang nodded. "At the time, I found it dull—so mundane it made one want to die. Looking back now, however, it feels almost perfect."
Time is a strange thing; it is enough to make all things vivid rot away, yet it also brews the most fragrant wine. Those people once loved, those things once experienced—in the end, one cannot tell if they are aged vintage or open wounds.
Murong Yan led the horse forward and asked, "And now?" Zuo Canglang said nothing. He continued, "At this moment, in this place, how is it?"
Zuo Canglang gazed at the floating clouds on the horizon. Just as she was about to speak, Murong Yan said, "Forget it, you'd better not speak." He took step after step into the sand. "In any case, even if you speak, your heart will not match your words."
Zuo Canglang said, "What Your Majesty desires is nothing more than the splendor before your eyes and the boundless romance of the moment. If I can add flowers to the embroidery, why must Your Majesty be so concerned with everything else?"
Murong Yan turned to look at her. In the pale glow of the morning light, the yellow sand shimmered like gold. She sat upon the horse, wrapped in his fur cloak; the thick, soft down framed her delicate and exquisite features, making her look like a fox spirit from the desert.
He nodded and said, "Reasonable. I want this fawning tenderness, whether your heart is sincere or false."
The atmosphere grew somewhat stiff. He hunted another sand wolf and shot two birds; he was truly angry now, for he didn't even bother to pick up the prey.
As they traveled further west, the sound of camel bells suddenly drifted from behind a sand dune. Both Murong Yan and Zuo Canglang turned to look, seeing a troop of about a dozen horses galloping toward them. Zuo Canglang frowned. "Sand bandits."
Murong Yan asked, "You've seen them before?"
Zuo Canglang said, "When we used to hunt in the desert, it was mainly to suppress bandits. How many foxes are there in the desert? Only by catching sand bandits can one get any silver."
Murong Yan said, "Then our General is in trouble this time." Zuo Canglang turned to look at him, only to see him drop the reins and vanish behind a sand dune in a few swift leaps.
Zuo Canglang: "..."
There were sixteen sand bandits in total, and in a short while, they had surrounded Zuo Canglang’s horse. The leader, a man wearing a wolf-head cap, burst into laughter upon seeing her. "This wench is quite a beauty."
Zuo Canglang gave a bitter smile. "I am wrapped so tightly; how did you tell, Big Brother?"
Seeing that she wasn't particularly afraid, the leader looked at her a few more times and asked, "Little lady, why are you here alone? Did you come specifically to find us brothers?"
Zuo Canglang said, "To tell you the truth, I was passing through with my husband. When my husband heard you were coming, his face turned pale with fright. He has already fled with our gold and silver." Having said that, she pointed a finger at the footprints on the ground.
The men immediately exchanged glances. Being sand bandits, wealth was naturally their priority. The leader shouted, "Pursue him!"
Murong Yan let out a soft sigh from behind the sand dune and slowly walked out. The bandit leader saw him and said, "You look like a man of fine appearance; how could you abandon your own wife? Tell you what, hand over the money, and we'll let you live."
Murong Yan smiled. "Thank you for your mercy, however..." He dropped his bow and arrows and suddenly drew his blade. His body moved like a flash of light; in a few leaps, before the blood could even spray, over a dozen corpses had collapsed onto the sand. Only then did he say slowly, "...however, I never intended to let you live."
After speaking, he used the bandit leader’s cloak to wipe the blood from his blade, sheathed it, and turned to Zuo Canglang. "You've been sitting for so long; come down and walk."
Zuo Canglang dismounted. Murong Yan reached out to steady her and took her hand, walking across the sand as the daylight grew brighter. The sky was a deep azure. Once upon a time, in her soul and in her dreams, she had longed for this moment.
Zuo Canglang said, "Further ahead, we will be deep in the Great Desert..."
The moment the words left her mouth, Murong Yan said, "Shh, don't speak."
He led her slowly forward. Love, hate, sincerity, and falsehood were all scattered by the wind into the sand. For a moment, his ambition suddenly flickered out; the imperial map and the quest for hegemony turned to mist. He truly wanted to just hold her hand like this and remain here as a youth.
For a monarch, this was a far too dangerous thing. He felt he had to find something to say, so he asked, "Do we look like a devoted couple?"
Zuo Canglang laughed. "Even if we look devoted, Your Majesty is not my husband."
Murong Yan reached out and slowly tilted her chin up. "Then, in your eyes, what am I to you?"
Zuo Canglang gazed into his eyes. When he asked this, the clear blue sky was behind him, and a passing bird left a faint shadow. She said, "In the past, people in the northern snowy regions hunted wolves by burying a blade in the snow with the edge facing up, then sprinkling blood upon it. The wolf, smelling the fresh blood, would come to lick it. Its tongue would grow numb from the ice, unable to distinguish the blade's edge or feel any pain. After a long time, it would bleed out and die."
Murong Yan slowly released his hand. Zuo Canglang walked forward into the endless yellow sand, saying softly, "Your Majesty asks what you are to me. I think, if I must answer, you are to me... likely that blade buried deep in the snow."
***
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The Abandoned Empress General | Chapter 119 | A Blade in the Snow | Novela.app | Novela.app
