Sitting in the pavilion, I feel like there's a scorching gaze behind me that's about to burn myself up. Turning my head, I see Xi Yang, whom I haven't seen for a long time. Tonight, Xi Yang has been hiding in the crowd, and only Xi Rong understands the relationship between us. I can only suppress my desire to look at him and pretend to be completely indifferent.

  Xu Yang wore a purple robe, the purple clothes made him look even more extraordinary and handsome. Under the moonlight, he looked so ethereal, as if he would disappear in the blink of an eye.

  Chu Lian stared at him blankly.

  Xu Yang slowly walked closer to the pavilion, it was already the second watch of the night. How could he be here? Chu Lian Ruo's heart struggled with whether she should leave now, but her body didn't listen and stood up, walking towards Xu Yang. The two got closer and closer, until Xu Yang couldn't bear it anymore and hugged Chu Lian Ruo in his arms.

  "Lotus, do you know that you've taken away my heart and soul? Sometimes I even think of abandoning all these troubles and going to a place where no one knows us to live together. But I know you can't let go of the obsession in your heart. What should I do with you?"

  Chu Lian's body trembled, her heart filled with mixed emotions, but she didn't know how to respond, so she steeled herself and pushed Xi Yang away, turning her head to avoid looking at him.

  "Your Highness, take care of yourself." After saying that, she took Qing'er and left. Xuyang looked at the distant figure of Chulian, his face filled with a bitter expression.

  Returning to Qingqing's residence, Chulian lay on the bed with tears streaming down her face. Qingqing saw this and went out of the room, gently closing the door behind her, leaning against the wall lost in thought.

  Chu Lian seemed to have seen her parents' smiling faces when she got married, but in an instant, their smiling faces disappeared. In the General's mansion, hundreds of people were lying on the ground with fresh blood and pain on their faces. Shi Yu Yin was standing in front of her, arrogant and sinister. Chu Lian thought of Xi Rong's ruthlessness again, and then remembered what Xi Yang had just said - even if they succeeded in their plan, she and Xi Yang could never be together. Even if Xi Yang didn't mind, how could they silence the gossiping mouths of the people?

  Unbeknownst to them, the sky gradually brightened. Chu Lianruo and Liu Shuang had exchanged identities. Seeing that Chu Lianruo's complexion was not good, Qing wanted to help her put on some makeup to cover it up. Chu Lianruo ordered Si Wei to call for Doctor Zhu, who prescribed some calming medicine. She then sent someone to inform the Emperor that Evening Noble Consort had caught a chill the previous night and would be unable to attend to him for the next few days. The Emperor asked Doctor Zhu about her condition and subsequently issued an edict ordering Chu Lianruo to rest well.

  After lying in bed for a few days, Chu Lianruo no longer had nightmares at night after taking the calming medicine. With renewed spirit, she decided to continue her revenge and quickly regained her energy. Life inside the imperial palace was much more relaxing than in the royal palace. The emperor went hunting in the forest every day, sometimes letting Yuan Mengdie and Chu Lianruo accompany him, and sometimes just going with a few princes to race horses in the forest. Except for the black bear they hunted on the first day, there were always some small animals caught every day. Xiurong's life in the imperial palace was extremely comfortable.

  On this day, Xurong was just about to go hunting with the princes when a sudden urgent war report arrived in the capital. After reading the report, Xurong's face turned iron-gray, and he immediately announced his return to the palace. The entire temporary palace became busy, and Xurong rode horses with several princes and some guards, letting the concubines follow slowly behind.

  According to the intelligence from the border, the Northern Barbarians have been harassing the border recently. At first, there was no big deal, but later on, for some reason, they started burning, killing and looting all the way. Every time they passed through a village, apart from robbing away the edible grain, they also took away all the women in the village, and killed all the men and old people in the village.

  The current border general Song's tactical mistake led to the defeat of 100,000 troops against 20,000 northern barbarian tribes. General Song also concealed the war report until a few days ago when he was killed by the prince of the northern barbarians in another battle. The war report only reached Xiurong's hands afterwards. No wonder his expression was so gloomy when he left. It is unknown whether Xiurong will bring up past events and send Xiuyang to the border again after General Song's death.

  Just being in the palace, there's no way to help with the war, what can be done about it. On the way back, Chulian was thinking about getting through the war, and Yu Mengdie also knew about the war in the north, nothing unexpected happened along the way.

  At this time, Xurong had already sent out Xuyang to fight, and for some reason Xuyang agreed. The day before everyone returned to the capital, the army left. Chulian did not see Xuyang, but hoped that he would be safe and victorious in his return.

  The days of returning to the capital were dull and uneventful, every day was spent in the harem with Xū Róng's false intentions. Yuàn Mèng Dié had been very well-behaved lately, always staying inside Bié Lián Palace and rarely going out, but Chǔ Lián Ruò knew that soon the palace would change.

  The frontline reports have always been good, and after Xuyang arrived at the frontline, he also learned from the northern barbarian nomads, plundering among various tribes, but killing very few people. He took away the cattle and sheep herds and food that the nomadic people relied on for survival, causing many small tribes to have no choice but to rely on some larger tribes. In the case of food shortages, they did not dare to deeply enter the border to burn, kill and plunder. Several large tribes had differences in the distribution of food, leading to internal strife, while Xuyang took the looted food and cattle back to the border city.

  According to the scout's intelligence, wherever there were tribal internal conflicts and both sides suffered heavy losses, Xū Yáng would lead his troops to take advantage of the situation. As a result, Xū Yáng's reputation among the people and in the army reached an unprecedented height. When Xū Róng learned about these developments, his expression became increasingly gloomy by the day.

  Chu Lian was worried that Xie Yang might be in danger while he was in the palace, but after learning about these things, she began to worry that Xie Rong would not treat him well.

  When autumn arrived, Xū Yáng was surrounded by a nomadic tribe while pursuing them. They had gathered all the tribes and planned to kill Xū Yáng. At first, Xū Yáng received intelligence that it was only a dispute between two small tribes, so he brought only over 10,000 people. After a fierce battle, Xū Yáng went missing in a forest. When Xū Róng heard the news, he pretended to be very solemn on his face, but only Chǔ Lián Ruò saw the relief and excitement at the bottom of his eyes.

  Xu Rong conveyed the imperial edict, ordering all soldiers to do their best to search for Xu Yang. He also dispatched General Li Wenxi from the capital to the border city to direct the overall situation.

  General Qin was originally the deputy general of General Li Wenxi, but later General Li saw through the darkness of the officialdom and resigned to go home and retire. It wasn't until General Qin's whole family was about to be destroyed that he appeared to plead for him, but General Li had been in seclusion from the officialdom for so many years, and his former colleagues would not take this risk for him, so General Qin's whole family still suffered a disaster.

  Chu Lian was extremely grateful that General Li could speak up for her, General Li is now over 70 years old, he is a straightforward and unyielding person, a rare heroic figure. This time, the dispatch of General Li to Xuyuan was also thanks to the Prime Minister's strong support. Since Xuyang's disappearance, the Prime Minister's actions have become more frequent, it is unknown whether Xurong is aware of this.

  However, Chu Lianruo didn't have the energy to think about these things anymore. She had Xiangxiang contact Wei Qu, who on the surface was a "male concubine" and therefore hadn't gone with Xuyang to the border. Chu Lianruo knew that at this time, if she wanted to find Xuyang back, she could only rely on Wei Qu and others of Xuyang's own strength. Xi Rong would be delighted if Xuyang were to disappear forever, and the prime minister who was plotting to usurp the throne would be overjoyed if the imperial bloodline were to become extinct.

  After General Li arrived at the border, he found that all training in the army was proceeding normally and felt very strange. As the highest commander, Xū Yáng had disappeared, and some officers would have been sneaky. He pulled over a small soldier and asked him about his doubts. The soldier proudly said that since Xū Yáng came, many systems had been changed, including one that no matter what unexpected event occurred to the commander-in-chief, the deputy general would immediately take on the duties of the commander-in-chief, all military actions would proceed according to plan, and could not be disrupted by the enemy.

  General Li was deeply moved after hearing this, and said that Xū Yáng was a rare military genius, but unfortunately he had gone missing. Otherwise, they could have exchanged their experiences in leading troops. General Li made up his mind to ignore the emperor's hint and find Xū Yáng, because if Xū Yáng were dead, it would be a huge loss for the Great Huai Kingdom.

  Xu Yang knew that the enemy was after his life before he was surrounded in the forest, so he left the crowd and planned to lead the northern barbarians elsewhere alone. Many of his subordinates disagreed, but Xu Yang led 20 men to lead the enemy to a place called the "Forest of Death" by local people.

  This forest is vast in scope, and locals say that the woods are full of ferocious large animals with extremely strong aggression. In the past, some people did not believe in the death forest and insisted on entering it. Many people entered, but no one came out. Over time, this forest became a forbidden zone.

  At first, Xū Yáng didn't want to enter the forest even with twenty people, but after seeing that someone was sacrificing themselves to save him, he made up his mind and entered the forest. The northern barbarians were also unwilling to enter the forest at first, but later several tribal leaders issued a death order.

  Under the encouragement of the tribal elder, about 10,000 herdsmen went in, while others kept watch outside the forest.

  All the way, Xuyang encountered many ferocious beasts. Due to the large number of enemies, most of the ferocious beasts were attracted to that side. The journey was full of surprises but no danger. Xuyang finally found a cave to hide in and watched as the enemy searched for him everywhere. At first, he could still muster up his spirit, relying solely on his willpower to persist until now. Later, his consciousness gradually became blurred.

  The enemy was searching for Xuyang everywhere in the forest, and on the way, they encountered fierce beasts and had many battles. Of the 10,000 people, less than 5,000 were left. Just as they were about to find Xuyang, a thick white fog suddenly rose from the sky. The fog stuck to people's skin, causing it to rot piece by piece, with large pieces of skin falling off and landing on the ground. Those who were affected let out mournful cries, scaring those around them into turning back and running away. The white fog spread extremely quickly, and in just a few breaths, more than 5,000 people were desperately screaming, their voices especially mournful. Large pieces of flesh and blood stained the forest floor red, making the entire scene look like a hellish realm, terrifyingly abnormal.

  Xu Yang also heard the mournful cries while he was unconscious, but he was too severely injured to wake up. After the white fog dissipated, only skeletal remains and bloodstains were left on the ground. Fortunately, Xu Yang's cave was relatively high, so the white fog did not spread there.

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