A strong sense of suffocation hit.
Qingqing's vision went black in waves, but she didn't struggle.
Weakly, she let the man lift her slightly, looking completely listless.
A hot tear slowly slid from the corner of her eye and dropped onto the angry man's tiger's mouth.
Sheng Jiangli was stunned for a moment. As if burned, he retracted his hand lightning - fast.
Air rushed into her chest desperately. Qingqing gasped for air, even laughing with tears in her eyes.
"I know you hate me... But I love you, Brother Sheng!"
"It's okay if you're going to marry Sister Caiyu, or if you're going to protect her for a lifetime, or if you don't want me to show up... I can do all that. But the only thing I can't do is watch you die!"
She shouted hysterically. Laughing turned into crying again, "As long as you're alive, I can do things that are wrong to anyone in the world! I just want you to live, to live well..."
She had always been a paranoid person.
From the first time she saw Sheng Jiangli.
This man carried an air of unruly that Central Plains men didn't have, yet he also had a kind of handsome charm that grassland men didn't possess.
His appearance alone was unforgettable.
As they got to know each other, she learned that behind his glib tongue was a heart kinder than anyone else's, and a soul lonelier than anyone in the world.
She had grown up around Lü Baiwei. That woman's crying was like continuous rainy days, making the sky of her entire childhood dull and gloomy.
Sheng Jiangli was like a blinding ray of sunlight that pierced through the atmosphere woven by Lü Baiwei and shone directly into her heart, dispelling the haze there.
She couldn't bear to see this sunny place covered again.
Call her bad or selfish.
She admitted it all.
Anyway, she wasn't a good girl.
"If Sister Caiyu really dies because of this, just strangle me. That'll be enough!" Qingqing cried loudly. Strings of tears fell onto the snow with a pattering sound and turned into ice crystals. "Anyway, you've already been detoxified!"
Sheng Jiangli clenched his fists tightly. His knuckles cracked. His handsome face was extremely terrifying.
He took a deep breath and finally let go of his fists. He said in a trembling voice:
"Do you know that Lü Baiwei may not have a second antidote..."
Caiyu might really die!
The girl he wanted to protect for a lifetime had given him the chance to live.
"I know." Qingqing looked up at him. "But that's just a possibility, right? No one knows until the last moment."
"But I do know that you were going to go and die tomorrow!"
"Sister Caiyu still has a few months. As long as you kill Zhu Xiao and follow Lady Lü's orders, she may still get the antidote... Even if there isn't one, maybe Master Guangzhi and the prince will have a way."
This was better than him going to die right away!
Sheng Jiangli's tall body swayed. He stood there in a daze for a long time.
"...All of you just have to force me like this."
His adoptive father and elder brother forced him.
Qingqing was forcing him too.
Was he really doomed to never even be able to be a relative with Shu'er in this lifetime?
Qingqing sat in the snow. The blue - lotus - colored long dress under her spread out on the white snow like a snow lotus blooming on the plateau.
She didn't move at all, as if she couldn't feel the cold of the ice and snow. She just opened her eyes wide, and tears like crystals were condensed in her eye sockets.
After a long time, Sheng Jiangli slowly turned around. There was endless sadness in his eyes:
"Little girl, tell me... If I kill Zhu Xiao, even if I go to hell, Shu'er won't even burn paper money for me in this lifetime, right?"
Hearing this, another big tear welled up in Qingqing's eyes. She didn't answer his question.
Brother Sheng, after this, even if I go to hell, you won't even share paper money with me, right?
The sky in the distance was beginning to brighten. Under the western horizon, a hazy black shadow faintly appeared.
That black shadow changed from a long line to a large area, and finally covered the vast snowfield.
Thirty thousand warhorses galloped rapidly. In the blink of an eye, they were at the city walls.
Zhu Xiao stood on the city wall, his silence deafening.
There was still a white figure beside Sheng Jiangli. The white dress merged with the white snow.
Zhu Xiao's pupils shrank slightly. He blurted out, "Miss Caiyu?"
Caiyu looked up at him and showed a calm smile. "General Zhu, long time no see."
Zhu Xiao was stunned for a moment, then burst into a hearty laugh. "Hahaha! Are you here to be a persuader for Sheng Jiangli this time, or are you here to visit Old Zhu on behalf of the prince?"
"Both." Caiyu looked at him gently. "Brother A Li is my elder brother, and you're a rare friend of mine in Yanjing. I hope you two won't fight each other."
Zhu Xiao was silent for a moment. He looked at the evil - looking man beside her whose killing intent couldn't be hidden, and didn't say a word.
Yesterday, he couldn't see the overflowing killing intent on Sheng Jiangli. But today...
Zhu Xiao might look big and rough, but he was actually very meticulous.
Caiyu said, "I'll vouch for him. I'll definitely ensure that the generals in the city can go north to Yanjing. He definitely won't harm any of the common people in the city. General Zhu, Brother A Li has to take over Licheng. You... retreat back to Yanjing!"
Zhu Xiao looked at her with his calm and killing - intent eyes. A sense of helplessness welled up in his heart.
The prince had written a letter saying to handle things as appropriate, and Caiyu had also come to persuade him.
He believed that Sheng Jiangli would keep his promise, but the killing intent Sheng Jiangli had towards him...
He had spent his whole life on the battlefield and had long put life and death aside.
He just didn't expect that he wouldn't die on the grasslands of the Tartars, but on his homeland.
How could he be willing?
Caiyu's fingers moved slightly. She looked at Sheng Jiangli and suddenly felt a little uneasy. "Brother A Li, really, you just want to take over Licheng?"
"Will you really let them go north?"
Sheng Jiangli looked calm. "...Really."
Except for Zhu Xiao.
On the city wall of Licheng, several lieutenants were anxiously looking at Zhu Xiao.
The attack by the Hu cavalry yesterday had completely destroyed their confidence.
They had no intention of fighting anymore.
They just hoped that Zhu Xiao would open the city gate and let them go north.
"General, why don't we just open the city gate..." Someone hesitated and probed.
They weren't the Yan army trained by Song Yinghuai. In the end, they were the local official troops recruited by the court, the reserve troops of the Five - Province Army.
Although Xiao Rencheng had carried out a major rectification of military discipline in the two years since he took office, the time was too short and the results were not great.
They didn't have the determination to die.
Zhu Xiao's heart tightened. Finally, he said in a heavy voice, "Open the city gate!"
With a "rumbling" sound.
The city gate of Licheng made a dull opening sound.
Sheng Jiangli and the Hu cavalry stood still, watching the soldiers of Licheng filing out of the city gate.
It wasn't until all the soldiers had lined up on both sides that Sheng Jiangli said to Suobude:
"Enter the city!"
The horses' hooves thundered as they galloped into the city, like an endless red wave gradually being swallowed by the city walls.
Caiyu and Sheng Jiangli rode their horses towards Zhu Xiao at the city gate.
Caiyu dismounted and saluted Zhu Xiao. "General Zhu."
Zhu Xiao quickly supported her. "You can't do this. You're Miss Lan San now, not the little maid you used to be. Even the prince wouldn't dare to let you salute."
"I'm saluting General Zhu because I'm grateful that you chose to open the city gate to protect the lives of the military and civilians in Licheng."
Caiyu also knew that for a victorious general like him, it was harder for him to surrender than to die.
Zhu Xiao's eyes flashed slightly. He just laughed boldly. "A real man can bend and stretch. Old Zhu has never been a stubborn person... Miss Caiyu, it's cold. Let's go into the city and talk."
"Okay. I haven't seen you for two years. I have a lot to say to General Zhu!"
She really wanted to know how the old friends in Yanjing were doing.
Caiyu got on her horse. Sheng Jiangli patted her mount.
The fine horse trotted towards the city first.
Then, the garrison troops also gradually withdrew into the city.
Zhu Xiao stood there in a daze, looking at that beautiful figure. Behind him, the man was solemn. He slowly picked up the long spear on the side of his horse.
The silver tip of the spear glistened against the snow.
Sheng Jiangli's eyes turned cold. He gently parted his thin lips. "Old Zhu."
Zhu Xiao turned around.
A silver light flashed in front of his eyes. He only felt a coldness in his chest!