#701 - The grass is ruthless, even beyond the setting sun

An hour later.

Escorted by dozens of riders, a carriage sped past the snow-covered mountains on either side, its hooves kicking up patches of snow from the ground.

Since discovering the teleportation array, Liang Zhen had ordered the official road to be extended all the way to the Mountain God Temple, so now the carriage could go directly to Liangzhou City.

"Young Master."

Sitting in the bumpy carriage, Chu Xianping asked with a serious expression, "What exactly has been happening these past few days? And who is Miss Li waiting for?"

"Oh, that matter..."

Wei Changtian nodded, not hiding anything.

Anyway, it couldn't be hidden, so he briefly explained Li Zimu's attempt to "seduce" Tang Chen.

Of course, his knowledge of the situation wasn't comprehensive; at least, he hadn't inquired about what happened in the days after Tang Chen came to him.

But he figured it was just the usual "flirting" routine.

"...That's pretty much it."

"You should have seen Tang Chen at the Zishan Hall. Did you happen to notice the handkerchief he was holding?"

"I saw it, but I didn't clearly see the embroidery on it."

Chu Xianping nodded, "No wonder Tang Chen's expression seemed strange to me. So, there was such a thing involved."

"Exactly."

Wei Changtian curled his lips, "She went to so much trouble for so long, but in the end, she still didn't succeed. She probably isn't willing to give up."

"But she isn't completely without gain. At least Tang Chen revealed how he discovered the spies in the army."

"Is that so? That's good..."

Chu Xianping replied, but his expression was clearly distracted.

"Brother Chu, are you perhaps jealous?"

Wei Changtian glanced at him, teasing with a smile, "Alright, Tang Chen has already left anyway, and no one will be competing with you in the future."

"Besides, Li Zimu is only putting on an act for Tang Chen, you know that."

"Oh, Tang Chen even used mind-reading to test her, and said that Li Zimu's affection for you couldn't be more genuine."

"How about it? Are you relieved now?"

"Cough, Young Master, I... I'm not..."

Chu Xianping's face flushed red, and he started to stammer a few words in defense.

However, he was interrupted by Wei Changtian's feigned surprise after only saying half a sentence:

"Brother Chu, don't tell me you don't like Li Zimu?!"

"I, this..."

Chu Xianping became even more embarrassed, stammering for a long time without saying anything coherent.

"Hahahaha!"

"Brother Chu, your current appearance couldn't be clearer."

Seeing this, Wei Changtian finally stopped teasing him, waved his hand with a smile, and changed the subject.

"By the way, have you encountered anything special in Dajue these past few days?"

"There is one thing."

Hearing this, Chu Xianping instantly performed a "face change," becoming extremely serious.

He leaned forward slightly, replying with a serious tone:

"Young Master, Yan Huaiqing sent someone to find me, wanting me to secretly help them a little, and even offered me generous terms..."

"..."

Soon, Chu Xianping recounted his experiences in Dajue, especially the deal he made with Yan Huaiqing, from beginning to end.

After listening, Wei Changtian snorted coldly, disdainfully saying:

"Hmph, I knew Yan Huaiqing would definitely make some small moves."

"He's afraid of me, so he wants to find a way to guard against me."

"Forget it. The Dajue army has only just withdrawn from the Tianshan Mountains. As long as he doesn't go too far, let him be."

"As for what he promised you – Dajue providing money and manpower to help us build another force – that's a good thing."

"One day, I will make him understand what it means to lose both the lady and the army!"

"..."

Clearly, Wei Changtian strongly supported Chu Xianping's decision to "pretend to betray."

After all, this would not only allow them to obtain a force for free, but also allow them to use Chu Xianping to send false information to Dajue, thereby achieving some of their own goals.

Of course, these things were all somewhat distant, and at least not something to consider right now.

So, after chatting for a while, the two of them started talking about the recent situation in Liangzhou and the situation in Xinfeng...

The soft voices echoed in the carriage, while outside, there were vast snow-covered mountains bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun.

At this time, the carriage had traveled far from the Mountain God Temple and reached the periphery of the Tianshan mountain range.

Ahead, there were a few isolated wooden houses, and further ahead was the vaguely visible Liangzhou City.

Snowy mountains, carriages, wooden houses, city...

In the oblique light of the setting sun, all the scenes were clearly distinguished by their different heights and levels, yet they were vaguely connected, forming a bright red mass.

At nightfall, Wei Changtian and Chu Xianping returned to Liangzhou City.

Liang Qin and Yang Liushi had already instructed people to prepare a banquet to welcome Chu Xianping, and they had also invited Liang Zhen, Han Zhao, Du Chang, as well as the main generals of the three armies and the high officials of Liangzhou City.

In fact, tonight was not so much a welcome reception for Chu Xianping as it was an opportunity to celebrate the successful end of the Liangzhou war.

A major war was avoided.

Liangzhou and Daning were preserved.

Qian Huijueji's four-nation alliance was broken.

Furthermore, the remaining 500,000 troops of Daning and Dashu were retained.

Such a result was undoubtedly worth celebrating.

Moreover, the war reparations promised by Yan Huaiqing would soon be successively sent over via the teleportation array, which would definitely be a well-timed "windfall" for the Ning and Shu countries, which had just recovered from internal strife.

Without using a single soldier, all strategic objectives were achieved "beyond expectations."

Presumably, when setting off from Shuzhou, neither Wei Changtian nor Liang Zhen and the others would have foreseen that the final result would be like this.

Even Ning Wenjun and Ning Yu'ke, far away in the capitals of the two countries, were overjoyed and had already personally written a decree this morning, spreading the good news throughout the world.

So, barring any accidents, tonight should be considered a time of "universal celebration."

"Hahaha!"

"Young Master Chu, Han raises a toast to you! If it weren't for you, this Liangzhou City would definitely be a scene of smoke and fire now..."

"Changtian, come! Let's, uncle and nephew, have a drink! I've already thought about it! In the future, we'll each call each other what we want! I'll call you virtuous nephew, and you'll call me Dad..."

"General Du! The might of the Tiangou Army is simply unprecedented! The Battle of Xianchi will definitely be recorded in history in the future..."

"It's rare to be so happy! Drink, drink!"

"..."

The lights were bright, and there was plenty of wine and meat.

Although most of those present were martial artists, it was undoubtedly extremely difficult to get drunk.

But everyone was in high spirits tonight, and after drinking an unknown amount of wine, they all became somewhat intoxicated.

Looking around the entire room, the only two who hadn't drunk much were Liang Qin and Yang Liushi.

And they were also the only ones who still remembered Li Zimu.

"Sister Liushi, why didn't Miss Li come?"

In the noisy environment, Liang Qin leaned close to Yang Liushi's ear and asked loudly, "Didn't she go to the Mountain God Temple with my husband?"

"I don't know, let me ask!"

Yang Liushi also replied loudly, then took a teapot from a maid and, taking advantage of the moment when Wei Changtian had just finished drinking with Liang Zhen, walked over to pour a cup of tea for the former.

"Husband, have some tea."

"Okay, if you find it too noisy, go back to the room with Qin'er first!"

Wei Changtian took the teacup with a smile and loudly instructed, "Especially Qin'er, she's pregnant and can't drink, so she'll always find it boring here!"

"Yes, I understand."

In front of outsiders, Yang Liushi still knew her manners very well and always referred to herself as "this concubine."

She first nodded, then bent down and asked:

"By the way, husband, where's Miss Li? Why haven't I seen her?"

"Oh, she's still at the Mountain God Temple!"

"Hmm? What is she doing at the Mountain God Temple? Why didn't she come back with you?"

"Hey, isn't it just to wait for..."

"Young Master Wei! This, this official raises a toast to you!"

Suddenly, a drunken voice interrupted Wei Changtian's words. The speaker was an old man with a flushed face, clearly drunk.

Wei Changtian recognized him as the governor of Liangzhou. Because he had never cultivated, he was definitely drunk at this moment and didn't care about the timing of the toast.

"Hahaha! Lord Dong! It should be me toasting you!"

Smiling and raising his wine cup, Wei Changtian instantly forgot about Li Zimu and got up to drink with the old man.

Yang Liushi, on the other hand, smiled helplessly and then walked back to Liang Qin and sat down again.

"Sister Liushi, did you find out?"

"No, my husband only said that Miss Li is still at the Mountain God Temple."

"Ah? What is she doing there?"

"Who knows? She must be doing something."

"Oh..."

"..."

With the end of Yang Liushi and Liang Qin's conversation, no one in the entire room cared about what happened to Li Zimu, completely immersed in a lively and festive atmosphere.

The Li Zimu herself, temporarily forgotten by everyone, was sitting alone on a small wooden chair, staring blankly at the black mist not far away.

From noon to late at night, she had been waiting by the teleportation array for four hours, but she still hadn't waited for anything.

Could it be that Tang Chen really wouldn't come back?

Pinching her fingers, a strange emotion welled up in Li Zimu's heart.

There was unwillingness and pain, and she didn't even know which of the two was more.

Therefore, she didn't know whether she was waiting here because she was "unwilling to accept the failure of her plan" or for another reason.

But now it seemed that the reason no longer mattered.

Anyway...

Suddenly, Li Zimu's eyes froze, and she stood up with a "whoosh."

She stared blankly as the black mist in front of her began to ripple, and then...

"Young, Young Master Tang..."

Suddenly covering her mouth, Li Zimu's voice choked, and tears welled up in an instant.

Bean-sized teardrops streaked across her cheeks, flowed through her fingers, and finally fell to the ground one by one.

This scene was undoubtedly very touching, but no one knew whether these tears were real or fake.

Oh, no.

At least in the eyes of Tang Chen, who had gone and returned, it couldn't be more real.