Chapter 127: You will always be this minister's sovereign

After she'd been chased out of the Regent's resident that day, Qin Zhixun didn't see Song Juguang again. At this moment, the difference in status between the two of them was massive; as long as Song Juguang wished to avoid her, regardless of how much Qin Zhixun waited, she'd never see her. No matter how dissatisfied Qin Zhixun was, when the day came, she still had to depart.

The day's sun had just climbed above the city walls' outside the city, and the newly-sprouted, tender shoots on the tree branches still carried a fine layer of frost; more than forty carriages were arranged after each other on the official road, and the small, triangular flags atop their roofs made flapping sounds as they were blown in the wind.

When Qin Zhixun had arrived, there had been only about twenty carriages, but now that she was about to leave, things had flipped.

Actually, Qin Zhixun wasn't cold at all, but in order to not seem to strange, she had wrapped herself in a cloak. She stood by the roadside, a whip clutched tightly in her hand, the joints of her fingers faintly white. Her head was turned to gaze at the capital, and her eyes were filled with dissatisfaction.

Suddenly, the sound of hoofbeats came from the city gates, and a pale grey horse darted out from the city wall. The horse was quite tall, a half a head taller than the horse by Qin Zhixun's side, even though it had been brought from Shejin, and Shejin had, from ancient times, been the origin point of the horse trade.

Jiang Changbai, wearing dark blue civilian attire, rode upon a bay horse, and behind her followed eight or nine similarly attired guards. The group's figures were quite visible in the early morning light, and Qin Zhixun saw Song Juguang urging her horse on close behind, the ribbons on her embroidered belt flapping in the breeze that followed.

"May Bixia be blessed."

Even if she was utterly unwilling to accept things, when she saw Jiang Changbai, Qin Zhixun could only properly bow and give obeisance. The obeisance was made in Jiang Changbai's direction, but Qin Zhixun's gaze remained on Song Juguang the entire time.

When she came close, Jiang Changbai tugged on the reins. The horse's hooves made a sharp sound as they met the compacted road. "Be at ease. Isn't it a bit early to leave now, Envoy?"

As she spoke, she swept a glance over the convoy, and, playing at unwillingness, said, "We have been busy with official matters lately, and have neglected you."

Qin Zhixun scoffed to herself, but her face remained respectful and reverent. "Many thanks for Bixia's empathy. But with so many people, leaving a bit early will allow us to make it to the relay station before nightfall; spending the night outside would probably not be too secure."

"That is true," Jiang Changbai nodded faintly, and said, "your departure today has reminded Us of when Jiwen left the capital. That day, We were busy with government matters and weren't able to come see her off, but We hadn't imagined that that parting would mean we wouldn't see each other again for so many years."

Jiang Changbai's expression shifted slightly as she spoke, as if she truly were thinking of Liang Jiwen. Seeing Jiang Changbai was about to bring up matters of the past, Song Juguang hurriedly spoke. "Bixia, the winds are severe outside the city; take care, or you might catch a cold."

As she spoke, she dismounted from the horse and helped tighten the cloak over Jiang Changbai in an intimate motion. The sight was rather garish to Qin Zhixun when she saw it, and she couldn't help but cast her gaze at the guards who'd followed behind Jiang Changbai, whose expressions didn't show the faintest hint of surprise.

It was as if they ought to be like this.

Resentment rose in her heart, and a degree of viciousness flashed in Qin Zhixun's gaze. She lowered her voice and approached Jiang Changbai a few steps. "Dare I ask Bixia whether I can speak with you in private?"

Actually, before Qin Zhixun could even finish speaking, Song Juguang had already taken a step and stood between the two of them. But despite that, Jiang Changbai smiled and nodded, and replied, "Alright."

"Bixia!" Song Juguang didn't even need to guess to know what Qin Zhixun wanted to say, and agitation flashed on her face.

"Just follow after us." As she spoke, Jiang Changbai reached out and patted Song Juguang's shoulder, and then immediately followed after Qin Zhixun to a secluded area without looking back.

Song Juguang hurried after, nearly coming between Jiang Changbai and Qin Zhixun, but Jiang Changbai avoided her with ease.

"Alright," Jiang Changbai said, suddenly stopping, "go ahead and say whatever you have to say.

Qin Zhixun had wanted to go further, but when she turned her head, she saw that neither of the other two had the intention to walk any further, and so she reluctantly stopped. Seeing Song Juguang and Jiang Changbai standing shoulder to shoulder, she felt countless emotions roil in her heart.

"Does Bixia know what the origins of minister and the Regent?"

The words were spoken suddenly, and in an instant, Song Juguang's brows furrowed, her hand pressing against the folding fan at her waist. She was just about to speak when Jiang Changbai raised a hand to stop her.

"You're merely martial siblings," Jiang Changbai said, a smile at the corners of her lips, and she raised her hand to smooth the hair that had been blown astray by the wind. "A Guang told Us."

Hearing this, Qin Zhixun's pupils suddenly shrank, and her tightly clenched joints let out sound after sound. When she spoke, her tone was filled with disbelief. "She told you even that?"

Of course Qin Zhixun didn't believe it. She knew clearly that, in this world, they couldn't speak about their past, and if they did, then the consequences would be too awful to imagine. In all the past hundreds of thousands of years, she'd never heard of any shijie or shimei or shigu^[1] telling someone from a lower world about their past, but now, Song Juguang had really done it.

Song Juguang, brows furrowed, took a few steps forward, shielding Jiang Changbai behind her, her posture utterly guarded. "Before Bixia, you must retain propriety."

"It's no matter," Jiang Changbai, on the contrary, smiled, and reached out to tug Song Juguang back by her collar; when her fingers brushed against her nape, gooseflesh rose. "The Envoy must not understand; between Us and A Guang, there's never been anything that can't be spoken of."

As she spoke, she reached out to tenderly brush away nonexistent dust from Song Juguang's shoulder, the motion so deft it seemed as if she'd done it countless times before. In this instant, the two of them lost their auras of nobility, and seemed, rather, like a pair of loving, commoner wives.

Seeing Jiang Changbai's palm stroking Song Juguang's clothes, a series of unstoppable thoughts rose in Qin Zhixun's mind. A sickly sweet taste rose in her throat, and she couldn't help but grit her teeth and scoff, "Does Bixia know there are some things which absolutely cannot be spoken of?"

"Such as?" Jiang Changbai raised a brow.

"For example…" Qin Zhixun had just begun speaking when she saw a cold light flash in Song Juguang's gaze. She was intimately familiar with that expression; while at the sect, every time such an expression showed on Song Juguang's face, someone would certainly be about to meet calamity.

The sound of the hour being announced came from the city walls, and a few of the cold-hardy birds sunning perching on the dry tree branches startled, flapping their wings and flying into the distance. Qin Zhixun turned her head, and saw the agitation on her adjutant's face.

If they didn't leave now, then they would likely not be able to make it to the relay station by nightfall.

Qin Zhixun wanted to say more, but she saw Song Juguang suddenly take Jiang Changbai's hand, utterly disregarding taboo, lacing their fingers together with natural ease.

"There is nothing that can't be said," Song Juguang's voice was magnanimous, "shimei must know that, between lovers, the important things must be laid bare."

The single, simple sentence, when heard by Qin Zhixun, raised billowing waves in an instant. She suddenly saw the bloodshot corners of Jiang Changbai's eyes, and the faint, indistinct purple tooth marks on Song Juguang's neck.

So, what the two had done in the night, while the moon had been high in the sky, was no longer a secret in Qin Zhixun's eyes.

"How lovely, that the most important thing is honesty. Shijie, in the short years we haven't seen each other, you truly have changed a lot," Qin Zhixun said with a scoff, her joints cracking with how tightly they were clenched. "Could it be that you've forgotten what Shizun said? When the will of the Heavens is divulged, it will most certainly rebound upon you."

Hearing this, though, Jiang Changbai tossed off Song Juguang's hand and came a step closer, grabbing Qin Zhixun's collar. When she raised her head to look at her, her gaze came down directly, making Qin Zhixun sway, unable to help but narrow her eyes.

"Qin Zhixun," Jiang Changbai said, coldly and harshly, her tone brooking no argument, "We care not for what the rules of your sect are, but you must know that the one who stands before you right now is the Regent of the Great Li. Do you understand?"

Her words carried a self-evident metaphor; Qin Zhixun wasn't a fool, and of course she heard the warning in Jiang Changbai's words. Song Juguang was the Regent of the Great Li now, and now her shijie.

"Hahahaha," Qin Zhixun suddenly laughed, her gaze darting between Jiang Changbai and Song Juguang, "you aren't afraid of facing the wrath of the Heavens?"

The gaze she looked at Jiang Changbai with didn't carry even the slightest respect, but rather, loathing. It was as if the one on high was Qin Zhixun, and Jiang Changbai was merely an insect she could crush in her hand at will.

But Jiang Changbai wasn't afraid in the slightest, and the disdain she looked at Qin Zhixun with didn't weaken in the slightest. "The one thing We do not believe in is the Heavens."

"Good," Qin Zhixun raised her hands before her chest, the fingertips of her right hand striking her left palm lightly, "then I wish you both a long. happy. life."

The final word was grit out from between Qin Zhixun's teeth, the words spoken haltingly, as if she were irate. When she finished speaking, she headed back to her horse without looking back. When the convoy departed, it kicked up a field of dust, and once the dust settled, the convoy had already made it dozens of metres away.

Song Juguang watched the convoy grow distant, and let out a breath. Then, feeling her palm heat, she bowed her head, and saw that Jiang Changbai had taken her hand once more. The warmth of the touch slipped from her veins towards her heart, and Song Juguang suddenly felt her heart itch.

"Let's head back." Jiang Changbai had no intent to let go, and she let Song Juguang hold on, her ponytail brushing against the tip of Song Juguang's nose when she turned, carrying an aura exclusive to an emperor. "There's still all those memorials to read."

"Bixia," Song Juguang exerted herself to tug at her, "just now…"

"What about just now?" Jiang Changbai tilted her head to look at her, a smile in her eyes. "Don't worry; she said what she wished to, and We listened to what We wished to. Didn't We already say it long ago? We only trust you."

The words spilled into Song Juguang's heart like a warm current, and Song Juguang felt the chill around her dissipate in an instant.

But she'd just mounted her horse when she suddenly felt a sickly sweetness in her throat. The warm current carried the taste of rust, dispersing in her chest, and Song Juguang pursed her lips, not daring to say anything further.

Of course what Qin Zhixun had said was true; before she'd left, her Shizun had urged her countless times. The wrath of the Heavens fell not only on the physical body, but also impacted the soul. She suddenly recalled motion that Qin Zhixun had made before she'd left; at the time, she hadn't recognised it, but now, she suddenly understood.

What she'd said was, "I've already won against you".

Inexplicably, uneasiness rose in Song Juguang's mind, and she could only cast her gaze on Jiang Changbai's back. She suddenly recalled the countless days from the years before she'd left Prince Ling's residence—she'd always looked at Jiang Changbai's back like this. Then, Jiang Changbai had been a princess, and what was an impossible task to Song Juguang, to Jiang Changbai, was as easy as raising her hand.

Jiang Changbai said she didn't believe in fate, so then Song Juguang didn't need to believe in it either. Thinking this, a smile finally hung on Song Juguang's lips.

The sun rose higher and higher, and a number of commoners gathered at the previously bleak, desolate city gates. Seeing people of import entering the city, only a few children dared to raise their heads and look at them.

Jiang Changbai suddenly turned her head, and looked at Song Juguang, who had fallen far behind her. "Can you not bear to part?"

"This minister was thinking of government affairs," Song Juguang's hands, holding the reins, tightened, and she hurriedly looked for a reason to change the topic. "Recently, there's been news that the merchant association in Luyuan is causing trouble again."

"I was speaking of a person." Jiang Changbai slowed the pace of her horse, waiting for Song Juguang to catch up, the horse's hooves letting out a sharp, clear sound when they met the ground. "When that little shimei of yours left, she was practically weeping blood."

Song Juguang looked at the features, quite close to her, and felt untroubled and pleased. Her throat bobbed unconsciously, and she asked, "What do you want this minister to say?"

"The truth, of course. Didn't you say just now that the most important thing between lovers is honesty?"

Jiang Changbai emphasised the word "lovers" heavily, as if beating a drum with a mallet, and it fluttered and struck Song Juguang's heart softly. Song Juguang shifted closer, and said in a tone only the two of them could hear, "No matter what happens, you will always be this minister's sovereign."

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Translator's notes: 

[1]: 师姑, martial aunt.