Ze Ning woke up and blurted out, "Don't go!" He had never made a sound in his life.

  The vibration of his vocal cords irritated his throat, making him cough, "Cough, cough—" He had never heard his voice before, and blurting out those words was something he couldn't stop himself from saying!

  So this was his voice. Perhaps because he had not spoken for so long, his voice sounded a bit hoarse, not very pleasant. It wasn't like Liu Yin's magnetic and captivating voice, nor like Sheng Xiang's cheerful and charming tone. It sounded like that of a stranger.

  “Qi Yang told me that your voice will get better in the future. As long as you can maintain your body temperature, you'll be able to speak.” A cold voice came from beside his bed.

  Who? Ze Ning lifted his head and saw Rong Yin sitting on a sandalwood chair about five feet away from him, sitting with an aloof, "I'm more dignified than you" kind of posture. He couldn't help but feel a little confused. Why was Rong Yin in his Qin Wang Mansion?

  After hearing Qi Yang's expnation, Rong Yin stepped into the Qin Wang mansion, already knowing about Hai Ling's sudden disappearance. He had already guessed most of the situation.

  “I told you not to provoke Hai Ling, but you didn't listen to me,” Rong Yin said slowly, each word deliberate. “She is someone you can't get involved with. Even if she loves you, she will never be with you. And you're in the same position, correct?”

  Ze Ning opened his eyes wide and shook his head. He reached out his hand and drew characters in the air. "She didn't leave because she couldn't love me. I know she left due to other matters." He couldn't express himself with words yet, but using his hand was clearer than speaking.

  “I don′t know about these other things,” Rong Yin frowned slightly. “I only know that she is the top swordswoman trained by the Liao Kingdom. The Emperor will lead the expedition to Gaoliang River himself, which will happen in the coming days. If she returns to Liao, and the Emperor leads the army, you know the consequences. It will definitely be her, or her fellow disciples, who will come to assassinate the Emperor. Don't say it's impossible. Since Liao Chengtian's Empress Dowager and Yelü Xiuge could send her to assassinate me, they can also send her to assassinate the Emperor. This is human nature; it's instinct.”

  His cold tone seemed to never change. "I’m not here to stop you from being with anyone you choose. Hai Ling's nature is good. But as state officials, we cannot forget that she is a weapon of the enemy just because she's a good girl. We cannot forget our duty as officials. You need to be aware of the danger she might bring to the Song Dynasty. As a state official, you must be loyal not only to the emperor but also to the people. If she harms the future of the Song Dynasty with a single sword, then, no matter how much she loves you, she would be guilty.”

  Rong Yin had never spoken such sincere words before. He wasn't the cold, heartless person he appeared to be. “You are a dedicated official of the Song Dynasty. I don′t want you to make mistakes, and I don′t want you to suffer.”

  Ze Ning didn't respond. He just stared at Rong Yin with a pair of sharp, clear eyes, watching quietly, calm and collected.

  After a long silence, he said, "She won't hurt anyone." He said it with force, although it wasn't perfectly articuted, but it was said with determination, certainly not with the weak words of self-deception. His attitude was unexpectedly firm as he stared at Rong Yin. "She won't hurt anyone; you can't treat her like a terrible beast. You treat her as a danger, forcing her to stay in the fourth year of the Song Dynasty. You don't want her to die, but you've caused her lifelong suffering! She respects you, I know. It's because she respects you that you want her to harm the Song Dynasty? You only think about her possibly hurting someone, but have you thought about how she must feel when she has no choice but to hurt someone?" Ze Ning said passionately, pushing away the brocade quilt and standing up. "She won't hurt anyone. Her character is too pure. She came to kill you, but did she kill you? No! In the end, she was the one who got hurt! She wanted to kill me, but did she? No, she could have easily killed me and left unscathed because I had no defenses against her! She couldn't bring herself to do it; she could only hate me, not kill me. You know well enough her swordsmanship; it′s not that she can′t do it, it′s that she doesn′t have the heart for it. She'd rather bite me than stab me with a sword. You know well enough that she has no talent for killing or hurting anyone."

  Rong Yin suddenly swept up his sleeves and stood up. "She doesn't have the talent for hurting others, but Ze Ning, you need to understand that whether or not she has the ability to hurt anyone, attempting to assassinate the emperor is a capital crime. Do you understand? I'm not just worried that she might harm the emperor; I also worry that the emperor might harm her. And you, you're responsible for protecting the emperor's safety as an important official. This is what I'm worried about! That's why I'm here. I don't know why she left you, nor why she hates you, but I hope you don't forget your responsibilities because of her. You are the commander in front of the hall, not just the lover of a young dy. You need to be clear on that."

  He spoke each word carefully: "I don't just hope that you can uphold your duties; I also hope that you can prevent it from happening. Whether she hurts the emperor or the emperor hurts her, I don't want to see that, so I need you to stop her. Don't let the two of you end up in court; Yu Xiu won't show mercy. I've come to tell you: protect the emperor, and more importantly, protect Hai Ling." He raised his hand, and between his fingers dangled a small object that swayed back and forth. "This is the secret command of the Privy Council. I'm giving it to you now. You'll accompany the emperor on his expedition until the battlefield at Gaoliang River."

  Ze Ning looked at him, and for a long time, there was no flicker of such brilliant light in his eyes. He had never known that Rong Yin was such a meticulous and thorough person! He had never underestimated the weight of his feelings. Since he had come to understand his emotions, what he had done wasn't about breaking apart this impossible couple, but rather constantly reminding him not to let emotions cloud his judgment, always coldly helping him, coldly protecting Hai Ling. To have someone like Rong Yin as a colleague in government was truly his fortune!

  Hai Ling had always smiled and said, "Young Master Rong is a good person." He finally understood clearly: as long as Rong Yin believed something was right and worth it, he would give his all to make it happen. This was true for the Song Dynasty, true for ensuring Hai Ling's survival, and true for fulfilling his feelings as well.

  His responsibility was not to Zhao Jiong but to the Song Dynasty and its people. Ze Ning understood that what he was upholding was merely his own personal duty, while Rong Yin was upholding the peace and prosperity of this empire.

  "I am grateful to you," Ze Ning was not good with words, and when he spoke, his words were often unclear and hard to understand. So he raised a faint, graceful smile, gesturing with his hand as if writing, "If Shang Xuan goes against you, it's his loss."

  Rong Yin stood with his hands behind his back, coldly saying, "Not necessarily. Shang Xuan is no simple figure."

  "Is Qi Yang-Sheng Xiang any less of a figure?" Ze Ning's mood suddenly lightened. He could now immediately go to Hai Ling's homend, to the distant battlefield, to see her, to find her, and to ask her what had really happened. He wouldn't care if she had become mute because of gossip; he only cared about why she had been made to suffer that way. All he wanted was to care for her so she would no longer hold hatred—hatred was such an ill-fitting word for Hai Ling; when she smiled, she was so comfortable and beautiful.

  Rong Yin gnced at him and gave a faint smile. He rarely smiled so gently. "They are indeed no simple figures, but they are not mine."

  "They are not yours," Ze Ning also smiled faintly. "But Shang Xuan always thinks I belong to him. That's why I bet that you would win. I am different from you. You value this empire because it has already entered your heart. But I valued it in the past because I had nothing else to value—nothing more than that. When I have something truly worth valuing, I will give it up. If you hadn't reminded me of my duties, I might have ignored them." He was grateful to Rong Yin because he had given him an excuse to go find Hai Ling. Originally, even if Rong Yin hadn't come, he would have gone. He would have given up everything in the court to go to the north to find her. He had nothing else to hold onto. Qin Wangye had never cared about him, and he had no emotional ties to his home or the court. He didn't care for wealth or power; he had the conditions to give up everything.

  But in truth, he couldn't give it up. There were others who relied on him to live.

  Outside the Great Wall

  “The young wife of the Lu family grieves in the golden hall, while the sea swallow resides in the tortoiseshell beams. The cold anvil of September urges the falling leaves, and after ten years of border duty, I long for Liaoyang. The sound of the white wolf is cut off to the north of the river, and the autumn nights are long south of Danfeng city. Who says one cannot see sorrow alone? Let the bright moon shine on the flowing yellow.” This poem, "Alone, Not Seen," has undoubtedly mourned countless tears of longing wives and the countless white bones by the uncertain river.