lovenovelstory Chapter 316 You two are old acquaintances, aren't you going to have a good chat?
Chapter 316 You two are old acquaintances, aren't you going to have a good chat?
The thought of Jiang Qingxue falling in love with Qin Mu sent chills down Liu Hongyan's spine.
She suddenly remembered many things.
He recalled the intelligence Jiang Qingxue had sent back to the Northern Territory from the Imperial City over the past few months.
Those intelligence reports concerning Qin Mu, the imperial court, and the movements of the Qin Dynasty, which were regarded as the gold standard in the Northern Border, were all carefully analyzed and repeatedly examined.
If Jiang Qingxue has already fallen in love with Qin Mu, then those intelligence reports—
Liu Hongyan's face instantly turned ashen.
She dared not think any further.
But that thought, like a venomous snake, burrowed into her mind and she couldn't shake it off.
How much of that intelligence was true? How much was false?
How much of what was sent back to the Northern Territory by Jiang Qingxue to mislead the Crown Prince? How much was a carefully crafted lie sent back at Qin Mu's behest?
How many of the decisions made in the North over the past few months have been based on this intelligence?
Where did those decisions lead the North?
Liu Hongyan's back was covered in cold sweat.
She finally understood just how utterly defeated the North had been.
Liu Hongyan knelt on the ground, head bowed, her shoulders trembling violently.
Only one thought remained in her mind—it's all over.
The North is finished.
His Highness is finished.
It was over from the very beginning.
……
Jiang Qingxue leaned against Qin Mu's chest, her face burning hot.
She knew she shouldn't have done this, shouldn't have thrown herself into his arms in front of so many people.
But she couldn't help it.
She waited for him for too long, thought about him for too long, and worried about him for too long.
He finally returned, unharmed and safe, with that familiar, languid smile.
All she wanted to do was hold him, to confirm that he was real, to confirm that this wasn't a dream.
"alright."
Qin Mu's voice came from above, filled with laughter and doting affection.
"There are people watching."
Jiang Qingxue's face turned even redder.
She quickly stepped out of his embrace, stood with her hands at her sides, her eyes lowered, not daring to look at him or anyone else in the hall.
But her hand was still gripping his sleeve tightly, refusing to let go.
Qin Mu looked down at the hand, said nothing, and gently patted the back of her hand.
Then he raised his head, his gaze passing over Jiang Qingxue and landing on Liu Hongyan, who was kneeling on the ground.
"I've brought you an acquaintance."
His voice was soft, with a hint of amusement.
Jiang Qingxue was slightly taken aback. Following his gaze, she noticed that there was another person kneeling in the center of the hall.
A moon-white dress, a pale face, swollen red handprints, and a scabbed wound at the corner of her mouth.
The man knelt there, head bowed, shoulders trembling slightly, his face obscured.
But that figure, that posture, that straight back even when kneeling—
Jiang Qingxue's pupils contracted slightly.
"Liu Hongyan?"
There was a hint of surprise in her voice.
Liu Hongyan's body trembled violently.
She slowly raised her head and looked at Jiang Qingxue.
Eyes facing each other.
Jiang Qingxue looked at that pale, swollen, and disheveled face, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes, but that was all.
There was no shock, no fear, no violent reaction as she had anticipated.
There was only a faint, almost calm surprise.
It was as if she had simply encountered someone who shouldn't be there, in an unusual place.
Liu Hongyan looked at Jiang Qingxue, at the way she leaned against Qin Mu's chest, at the hand that gripped his sleeve, and at her flushed face filled with joy.
The last glimmer of hope in my heart was completely extinguished.
She finally confirmed it.
Jiang Qingxue has betrayed us.
No, it wasn't a betrayal.
They chose Qin Mu.
She willingly, without reservation, gave herself entirely to him.
A thought suddenly flashed through Liu Hongyan's mind.
If Jiang Qingxue has already completely sided with Qin Mu, then what about her?
Can she go back?
Is it possible to return to the Northern Territory and to His Highness the Crown Prince's side?
That's right.
She can't go back.
She can never go back.
A self-deprecating smile slowly curved the corners of Liu Hongyan's lips.
The curve was very shallow and faint, almost invisible in the candlelight.
Then she lowered her head, her forehead touching the ground.
"This humble woman, Liu Hongyan, greets Consort Xue."
Her voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, yet every word was clear, as if squeezed from the deepest part of her heart.
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Jiang Qingxue looked at her, at this person she had known since childhood, at this woman who always stood behind Xu Longxiang in the Northern Border, with a touch of heroism in her eyes.
She knelt here, dressed in Zhao Qingxue's clothes, her face bruised, her eyes filled with resignation and a deathly calm.
A complex mix of emotions welled up in Jiang Qingxue's heart.
She remembered that not long ago, she had knelt before Qin Mu in the same way.
And so it was, little by little, that they lost all their dignity, all their pride, and all their perseverance.
And so it was, from someone who thought himself loyal, to someone with nowhere to go.
She did not speak.
She simply stood beside Qin Mu, looking at Liu Hongyan, at this chess piece who, like her, was trapped on the chessboard.
Qin Mu leaned back on the soft couch, watching this scene.
His gaze swept back and forth between Jiang Qingxue and Liu Hongyan, and the smile on his lips deepened.
"Red smoke,"
He spoke softly, with a hint of nonchalance, "Aren't you planning to catch up?"
The moment the words left her lips, Liu Hongyan's body, kneeling on the ground, trembled violently.
She didn't know what Qin Mu meant.
Is it a test of her because she doesn't trust him? Or is there another purpose, a situation that Bush doesn't understand?
She didn't dare to gamble.
She couldn't afford to gamble with this man.
After all, she was just a pawn, a pawn that could be discarded at any time.
Liu Hongyan lowered her head even further, her forehead almost touching the cold gold bricks, her voice hoarse.
"Your Majesty, I dare not."
Qin Mu looked at her like this and smiled gently.
"Dare not?" he repeated the two words, his tone tinged with amusement.
Then he slowly sat up straight.
"Has my presence disturbed your reunion, you two old acquaintances?"
After saying that, Qin Mu stood up.
"Perfect timing, I have some business to attend to."
"You two can catch up here."
After he finished speaking, he strode towards the palace gate.
The moon-white soft boots stepped on the gold bricks without making a sound.
He walked on, his steps leisurely and his demeanor languid, leaving the two women from the North in an empty palace.
Jiang Qingxue and Liu Hongyan knelt down at the same time.
"Best farewell to Your Majesty."
The two voices rang out one after the other, one clear and cold, the other hoarse.
Qin Mu did not turn around.
He stepped across the threshold and disappeared into the night.
The palace doors slowly closed behind him.
"Bang."
A soft sound shut out the moonlight and all other sounds.
Inside the hall, only Jiang Qingxue and Liu Hongyan remained.
And there was the room full of candlelight, and the cool moonlight filtering in from the window.
Liu Hongyan knelt on the ground, motionless.
From the moment Qin Mu stood up, she never raised her head again.
She just knelt there, her forehead almost touching the gold bricks, her shoulders trembling slightly, like a trapped beast abandoned in the wind and snow with nowhere to go.
Every word, every expression, and every subtle movement of Qin Mu's voice echoed repeatedly in her mind.
Was he testing her?
Or is it really just a short trip?
Will he be watching from the shadows?
Is someone monitoring us?
Countless thoughts tangled in her mind like a jumble of threads, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.
Just then, she heard a voice.
Get up.
The voice was very soft and faint, carrying a familiar yet long-forgotten coolness.
Liu Hongyan's body stiffened slightly. She slowly raised her head and saw that Jiang Qingxue had already stood up from the ground.
Moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating Jiang Qingxue and giving her plain white dress a silvery sheen.
She stood there, hands at her sides, composed and at ease, as if she were not standing in an emperor's palace, but under the plum trees of Tingxuexuan in the Northern Border.
But those eyes are different now.
Those eyes, which were always aloof, distant, and tinged with a hint of melancholy in the North, remained aloof even now.
But beneath that aloofness lay something Liu Hongyan couldn't understand.
The thing was heavy and thick, like an ancient well whose edges had been smoothed by time, with no bottom and no ripples in sight.
Liu Hongyan stared at her for a long time.
Then she slowly stood up, a sharp, throbbing pain in her knees almost causing her to fall again. She gritted her teeth, grabbed the back of the chair beside her, and barely managed to steady herself.
She stood there, hands at her sides, eyes lowered, staring at her toes.
The moon-white dress she wore was almost indistinguishable from Jiang Qingxue's plain white clothes in the candlelight.
Silence spread between the two.
The silence was heavy, as heavy as the snow pressing down on the rooftops in the North during winter.
Liu Hongyan didn't know what to say.
She had so much to say. She wanted to ask Jiang Qingxue why she betrayed the Northern Border, why she fell in love with Qin Mu, and how much of the intelligence she sent back to the Northern Border was true.
But she couldn't get any information out of her.
Because she knew she no longer had the right to ask.
She was a traitor too.
No, she's not even as good as a traitor.
The thought filled her with a deep sense of shame, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.
She opened her mouth, instinctively wanting to break the suffocating silence.
She thought of the northern border, of Tingxuexuan, and of the days they spent watching the snow together under the plum trees.
Those days seem like a distant memory, like something from a past life.
"Qingxue—" she said, her voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible.
Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Qingxue's voice rang out.
"Just call me Zhaoyue."
Upon hearing this, Liu Hongyan's body trembled violently, her phoenix eyes widened suddenly, and her pupils were filled with disbelief and shock.
She raised her head and stared intently at Jiang Qingxue—no, Jiang Zhaoyue.
Zhaoyue.
Jiang Zhaoyue.
She had seen this name in the secret files of the North.
She never imagined that one day she would hear that name spoken by this person.
These words came from Jiang Qingxue—no, from Jiang Zhaoyue's mouth.
Liu Hongyan's lips trembled violently, and her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, unable to swallow or spit it out.
Jiang Zhaoyue looked at her, at her pale, swollen face, which was filled with shock.
She didn't speak, she just stood there quietly.
long time.
Liu Hongyan's Adam's apple bobbed, she opened her mouth, and finally managed to squeeze out a single word.
"Yes."
Jiang Zhaoyue looked at her and nodded.
She didn't press Liu Hongyan about why she was shocked, nor did she explain why she knew the name, nor did she say anything unnecessary.
She simply stood there, watching Liu Hongyan, waiting for her to recover from the shock.
The candlelight crackled on the lampstand, a sound that was particularly jarring in the silent hall.
Outside the window, the night wind blew, stirring the winter plum blossoms in the courtyard, causing the petals to fall softly, like a silent snowfall under the moonlight.
Jiang Zhaoyue finally spoke again.
"You've come here," she paused, her voice still soft and indifferent, "does Xu Longxiang know?"
Liu Hongyan's body trembled again.
Xu Longxiang. These three words, spoken by Jiang Zhaoyue, were as flat as if she were talking about a stranger.
There was no respectful title like "Your Highness the Crown Prince," no intimacy like "Brother Dragon Elephant," and not even any deliberately suppressed hatred or resentment.
It was just Xu Longxiang.
Three words, plain and simple, like describing today's weather, like describing the flowers outside the window.
Many images suddenly flashed through Liu Hongyan's mind.