Ning Cheng was no idiot. Since he couldn’t find Han Yunxi, he’d definitely track down Long Feiye after cooling his head. After all, some guards had spotted him diving into the abyss too. The shadow guard’s report turned Long Feiye’s gentle gaze cold and unhappy. Leaving aside the enmity between East and West Qin, he still had to get back at him for tearing Han Yunxi’s clothes to spy on her phoenix birthmark!

If not for the threat of the Wind Clan and Han Yunxi holding him back, Long Feiye would have long gone to duel Ning Cheng one on one. The man was simply looking for trouble by delivering himself here now.

“Tell him that the West Qin princess is currently in discussion with your lordship. It has nothing to do with him!” Long Feiye said coldly.

Han Yunxi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but she didn’t stop him, either. Just then, she suddenly recalled something that needed discussion with Long Feiye. She trusted that his shadow guards were still capable of holding back Ning Cheng.

“What are you smiling about?” Long Feiye demanded unhappily.

“Didn’t you say it was impossible? And weren’t you the one who wanted me to go? Perfect, I can leave with Ning Cheng. Then you’ll be the East Qin crown prince and me the West Qin princess; we’ll meet on the battlefield instead!” As Han Yunxi spoke, she rose to leave, but Long Feiye hauled her back into his arms for a firm kiss. Rather, it was more like gnawing on her lips.

“Han Yunxi, you treat words from my fits of temper as the truth? You’ve forgotten my real words instead!” Long Feiye laughed helplessly.

Real words.

Were they the ones that said he’d wouldn’t trade her for a country/

Han Yunxi clearly remembered Long Feiye saying such things to Jun Yixie. Back then, she didn’t even realize the high and mighty Duke of Qin would be interested in the base and petty daughter of the Han Clan.

“Fine then, let’s leave right now. We’ll hide both of our identities and get away from all of this,” Han Yunxi declared seriously.

“I’ll take you to Celestial Mountain. If we rush there now, we’ll make it before the snows block the pathways. Then we won’t be able to leave,” Long Feiye was also serious as he made to take her off the carriage. Yet Han Yunxi stopped him away. She knew that even if he was willing, he wouldn’t find peace there.

Either they kept apart, or stayed together while being natural and unrestrained, happy and loving, on a grand and spectacular style! She tugged on his hand and entwined their fingers together. “Ye, there’s something I want to ask you. Something very important.”

“Speak,” he didn’t let go.

“Ye, you once said that the floods from the Sandy River in the past caused East and West Qin to cooperate and fight against them. But it was also the cause of their civil war?” Han Yunxi asked.

She was really out of options now. Without a way to dispel the hatred between the two nations, she could only start searching for all possibilities from the start. She remembered how Ning An’s account had been vastly different from that of Long Feiye’s. Because of that, she now harbored a wild hope to dissolve East and West Qin’s differences from the beginning. Perhaps the fact that each side stuck to their version of the argument had led to some real misunderstandings.

After all these years, no one had the skills to earn the trust of both East and West Qin to make each side speak the truth. Han Yunxi was now the first.

“Yes,” Long Feiye replied.

“Did you lie to me? Ye, I want to know the truth!” Han Yunxi looked intently into Long Feiye’s eyes.

“I didn’t lie to you about that!” Long Feiye answered. Back then, after East and West Qin joined hands, the West Qin Empire spread rumors that the East Qin crown prince was a star of disaster reincarnated on Earth that would bring endless catastrophes to Cloud Realm Continent. Because the East Qin emperor was sickly and the crown prince’s ascension to the throne all but imminent, the West Qin rumors were used by the other East Qin imperial princes to their advantage. After the emperor died, a struggle broke out for the throne and left the dynasty unstable. Seizing their chance, West Qin started a war…

“Really?” Han Yunxi asked again.

Long Feiye immediately knit his brows as she hastily explained. “I...I want to make sure. Because I heard another version of the story.”

“Ning Cheng’s version of the truth?” Long Feiye asked coldly.

“Not Ning Cheng, Ning An,” Han Yunxi knew that Long Feiye was full of hostility for the Di Clan, but quickly went onto elaborate. “Ye, do you think they’d lie to me?”

Han Yunxi had already told Long Feiye about the situation with the Di Clan clan. At the very least, Ning Cheng and Ning An trusted her greatly up to this point.

“What did Ning An say?” Long Feiye finally relented.

Han Yunxi was probably the only person that could get him to yield when it came to this topic. No one else would ever get a chance.

“Did you know that there was an iron ore mine in the middle reaches of the Sandy River back then?” Han Yunxi asked.

“I do. That mine belonged to East Qin and all of Crown Prince Wu,” Long Feiye thought back, then added. “If he wanted to preserve the mine, then he’d have to destroy the dam and sacrifice the people downriver. Back then, it was the Black Clan’s armed forces who were in charge of the dam. Crown Prince Wu ordered the Black Clan to take as much of the iron ore as they could before the river overflowed.”

Han Yunxi’s heart gave a lurch at his words, but she didn’t interrupt him. Long Feiye continued to narrate. “While the Black Clan was rushing to transport the ore, the Wind Clan loyal to Wst Qin suddenly made a surprise attack on their forces to steal the ore from them. Naturally, the Black Clan resisted. Since East and West Qin were in a fierce tussle at the time, West Qin used the chance to declare war.”

“Wind Clan...Black Clan…” Han Yunxi only shook her head. “Ye, what I heard was that East Qin ordered the Black Clan to destroy the dam in order to preserve the mine. West Qin sent out its Wind Clan troops to stop them, but war broke out after all. Then the Black Clan troops destroyed East Qin.”

Long Feiye laughed coldly. “Destroy the dam? Do you know how many members of the Mermaid Clan sacrificed their lives back then just to protect it? How could the East Qin have wanted to destroy it? It’s a joke!”

“But there’s no need for Ning An to lie to me,” Han Yunxi said seriously.

“It’s not impossible that the Di Clan was tricked!” Long Feiye said coldly. At this, both of them gave a start.

“The Wind Clan!” Han Yunxi exclaimed.

“The Wind Clan…” Long Feiye narrowed his eyes.

West Qin had left all the responsibility of fighting the flood in the Wind Clan’s hands. Whether or not the Black Clan was protecting the dam or destroying it all came from their accounts! Judging from how the Wind Clan had betrayed West Qin today, and Bai Yanqing’s own ambitions, it was possible the Wind Clan had tricked both imperial courts in the past!

Neither one of them needed an explanation for the suspicion shining in their eyes. Long Feiye thought it over before he said coldly, “Looks like we’ll need to have a good talk with Bai Yanqing!”

Between keeping Han Yunxi as a nameless nobody or make her his enemy for life, Long Feiye’s only choice was to pick the former. He couldn’t accept the thought of the latter. But if a third option was available, then even the smallest possibility could convince him to let go of his enmity to find a solution.

Bai Yanqing was the key!

Although she knew this was only a suspicion, Han Yunxi couldn’t help but feel happy. Finally, she could see hope. She even harbored a little selfish thought that if this wasn’t the truth, she’d rather it was real anyways! How many generations had the hatred lasted? How long were they supposed to be wrapped up in the conflict and keep hurting each other?

Why not give East and West Qin a chance to get rid of all this and have them be perfectly justified together?

“Ye, how about making a decision after we clarify the details?” Han Yunxi asked.

“Alright,” Long Feiye agreed without hesitation.

He, like Han Yunxi, had a sense of responsibility and a conscience. What she struggled with, he’d experienced himself. Because he understood everything, he had decided to hoodwink her in the past.

Bai Yanqing, since you exposed this crown prince’s lies, then you’ll have to take responsibility. Long Feiye silently vowed to make him pay!

With hope in the air, the aura between the two relaxed considerably. Han Yunxi personally poured Long Feiye a cup of tea and smiled at him. He saw her sweet expression and suddenly had the selfish desire to give them a backdoor out. That would be his greatest retreat for Han Yunxi’s sake.

No matter what I get from Bai Yanqing or what the truth could be, even if there was no misunderstanding at all and just hate, I’m willing to turn that hatred into a misunderstanding and dissolve all this enmity.

So whatever it took, he needed to capture Bai Yanqing before Ning Cheng first. At that, Long Feiye thought of Gu Beiyue!

Han Yunxi noticed him pull a long face and went to scratch him. “Smile a bit, won’t you? We have a solution now!”

Long Feiye couldn’t help but laugh as he stroked her hair. “Mm, I know.”

Very soon, Han Yunxi and Long Feiye began to discuss the particulars of the battlefield, including their reasons for a ceasefire. There were times and restrictions for both sides, as well as discussions on how they could cooperate to deal with Bai Yanqing.

As soon as they finished, a shadow guard came to report, “Your Highness, Ning Cheng has brought a few bodyguards to kill his way in.”

“Have Xu Donglin meet them,” Long Feiye said coldly.

Han Yunxi paused before she held him back. “Ye, let’s just meet again next time.” She had already dawdled far too long. If this dragged on, how was she supposed to convince Ning Cheng that Long Feiye had saved her to talk negotiations? Before they captured the Wind Clan and kept Jun Yixie’s battle horses in check, they had to maintain the status quo. Of course, Han Yunxi would never tell Ning Cheng that she had resolved all the details with one meeting. If that was the case, where would her reason to see Long Feiye again come from?

Naturally, Long Feiye understood what was at stake, but he was reluctant to let her go. In the end, it was Han Yunxi who broke free first and jumped off the carriage. As soon as she landed, Long Feiye pulled her back again. “Climb on, I’ll send you back.

“Don’t!” Han Yunxi rejected instantly. She was afraid that when the time came, she’d hesitate and reveal too much with her reluctance. “Ye, until next time.”

She marched resolutely forward, but it wasn’t a few steps before her pace grew slower and slower. In the end, she stopped and looked back. Long Feiye was standing right by the carriage as he stared at her. Their eyes met, both reluctant to part. After a long period of silence, it was him who spoke first.

“Han Yunxi, you’re still not leaving?”

Han Yunxi could hold herself back, but hearing this familiar line sent all of her strength falling apart. In the past, it was always him who left first before turning back to ask her this question. No matter how far he went, he would always stop and wait for her to run over and catch up to his side.

And now things were like this.

Looking at Long Feiye’s cold and chilly face, Han Yunxi’s eyes turned red. She suddenly ran right back towards him. A helpless Long Feiye embraced her in his arms.

“How about I just escort you back,” he said.

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