Chapter 458 - 380: Big Brother, Tell Me, Did I Win This Time?
Chapter 458: Chapter 380: Big Brother, Tell Me, Did I Win This Time?
When Qin Jingsu arrived, the Medical Cultivators all stood up, sighed, and shook their heads at him.
Qin Jingsu clenched his fists, the corners of his mouth trembling uncontrollably. It felt as though a great stone was pressing on his chest, suffocating him.
"I understand..." Though Qin Jingsu’s voice trembled, it carried an unusual calm. "Go and treat the other wounded soldiers."
"Yes, Crown Prince."
The Medical Cultivators bowed, cast one last glance at the Second Prince, and departed with heavy hearts.
The only person left standing beside Qin Jingyuan was his older brother.
Qin Jingsu began to walk, step by step, toward his younger brother. He sat down beside him, and they leaned against the same tree, just as they had in their childhood.
"How goes the battle?"
Qin Jingyuan turned his head to look at his older brother. His face was completely drained of color, his Life Fire growing ever weaker, as if it could be extinguished at any moment.
"Yan Liuyun is dead. Of the Jin Kingdom’s seven hundred thousand troops in the Black Beast Forest, more than half are dead or wounded. Of the three hundred fifty thousand who remained, about one hundred thirty thousand have surrendered, and the rest have fled.
As for the two hundred thousand troops Yan Liuyun left outside the Black Beast Forest, about half of them have fled as well.
But I had General Yang lead the Qin Kingdom’s army in pursuit. We should be able to expand our gains."
"Mm, I see. That’s good. It’s about what I expected..."
Qin Jingyuan nodded, as if he were just having a normal chat with his brother.
"This army of a million was the main force of the Jin Kingdom. After this one battle, Jin has been grievously wounded.
When they learn of Jin’s defeat, the morale of the Chu and Yan Kingdoms will surely be affected.
If all goes well, our brother-in-law can conquer the Chu Kingdom.
Prince Zhenbei has also dealt with the remnants of the Wei Kingdom. Once he joins forces with Prince Zhenxi, they can conquer the Yan Kingdom as well.
As for the Jin Kingdom, that will be up to you, big brother.
If the three kingdoms of Chu, Yan, and Jin are taken...
...our Qin Kingdom...
...can achieve supremacy!
COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH..."
As he spoke that last sentence, Qin Jingyuan coughed uncontrollably, but now, he couldn’t even cough up blood.
Qin Jingsu clenched his fists, looking at his younger brother. "Why did you hide this from me!"
From beginning to end, Qin Jingsu had known nothing of his younger brother’s plan.
But Qin Jingsu believed his brother would never betray their kingdom; he must have had his reasons.
Then, just five days ago, a letter had arrived from the Imperial City—from the Sovereign of Qin—telling Qin Jingsu everything.
After learning the truth, Qin Jingsu was overcome with a strange fury.
He knew this plan was practically a suicide mission! His brother was very likely to die here!
But Qin Jingsu had been left with no choice.
His Imperial Father and his younger brother had stripped him of all other options.
He had to do as his younger brother instructed.
Otherwise, everything his younger brother had planned would turn to dust.
Moreover, if Huai Mountain Pass fell, the Qin Kingdom would truly face a crisis of survival.
"Of course I had to hide it from you, big brother."
Qin Jingyuan let out a small laugh.
"If I hadn’t hidden it, how would you have ever let me go through with it? You wouldn’t have just tried to talk me out of it yourself; you would have even sent our little sister to persuade me.
You know how it is, big brother.
The one person we brothers can never say no to is our little sister...
If that happened, my resolve might have truly wavered..."
"There were other ways!" Qin Jingsu’s fingers dug into his palm. "We could have taken our time! We brothers had time, and so did our brother-in-law! The three of us could have achieved supremacy for the Qin Kingdom in the future!"
"Could we really have taken our time?"
Qin Jingyuan smiled faintly.
"Big brother, don’t lie to yourself. This age of chaos has lasted for thousands of years; you know that as well as I do. If we could really afford to take our time, this turmoil would have ended long ago.
Some opportunities, if you don’t seize them, are gone forever. They might never come again.
And I had to seize this chance for the Qin Kingdom!"
The more he spoke, the more ragged his breathing became, but it soon settled again.
"Big brother... did you know?"
Qin Jingyuan raised his head, gazing at the azure sky through the dappled shadows of the leaves.
"Growing up, I never beat you. Not even once.
I really, really...
...wanted to beat you just once..."
As he spoke, Qin Jingyuan’s voice grew weaker.
His pupils gradually dilated and his vision blurred, but a faint smile remained on his lips.
"Big brother...
...do you think this time...
...I won...?"
As Qin Jingyuan’s last words faded, his eyes stilled, fixed upon the sky.
The smile on his lips seemed frozen in that moment for all eternity.
"You won..."
Qin Jingsu also raised his head to look at the distant sky as tears slid silently down his cheeks.
"Jing Yuan, this time, your big brother really lost..."
...
An hour later, Qin Jingsu walked out of the Black Beast Forest, carrying his younger brother on his back.
The moment Qin Jingsu emerged from the Black Beast Forest, a woman came running toward him.
The woman saw her husband’s closed eyes.
She could feel no Life Fire from him.
A crystalline mist of tears veiled her eyes. She clenched the hem of her dress, walking forward one step at a time.
"Crown Prince, my husband, he..." Ji Yue asked, her voice trembling.
"Our younger brother was tired, so he fell asleep before us," Qin Jingsu said, his eyes bloodshot.
Ji Yue reached out, gently stroking her husband’s chilling lips. "When he fell asleep... he must have been happy, right?"
Qin Jingsu nodded. "When he fell asleep, I don’t think he felt any pain..."
"My husband left a letter for me before he departed," Ji Yue said, looking up. "Crown Prince, may I take my husband? I wish to handle his final arrangements."
"Mm..." Qin Jingsu slowly lowered Qin Jingyuan, as if afraid of waking his younger brother.
"My husband..."
Ji Yue gently caressed her husband’s cheek. A soft, sad smile touched her lips, and her voice trembled uncontrollably as tears streamed endlessly down her face.
"Let’s... go home now..."
She lifted her husband onto her back.
Step by step, Ji Yue walked in the direction of Luzhou.
To my wife, Ji Yue:
The alliance between Qin and Jin was never your concern. From the start of our political marriage, both our nations had their own schemes; the court was a web of intrigue. At first, I saw you as nothing more than the eyes and ears of the Jin Royal Family, and so I treated you with a hollow courtesy, always keeping my distance.
But after years under the same roof, I came to see that you too were a pawn in this game, a pearl gathering dust. All you ever wanted was the peace of an ordinary life, a simple, loving marriage. Yet fate played a cruel trick, bringing you into my Qin Kingdom and trapping you on its chessboard.
My heart was like cold iron, and I meant to use my aloofness as a shield. But for three years we lived together. Day and night, I saw you mending my clothes by lamplight, brewing tea, and preparing meals, tireless through spring dew and autumn frost. I do not know when the threads of love were secretly woven, but I, fool that I was, remained unaware.
Whenever I recall that summer day by the creek in Luzhou—when you lifted your skirts to wade in the water, your laughter rippling like the waves, your jade hairpin askew, your hair damp with dew—that vision is carved into my very bones, unforgettable in waking or in sleep.
But the great cause of the Qin Kingdom rests on my shoulders. How could I let personal love stand in its way? As a descendant of the Qin Royal Family, entrusted with the fate of the nation and the duty of defending its borders, how could I dare indulge my own feelings and forget the greater good?
My past cold words, the times I shut my door to you, all my unbearable actions—they were all deliberate. It was not because I disliked you, but because I feared that if my love took deep root, it would, in turn, waste the best years of your life.
Today, I lead a band of Death Warriors into a fatal assault. My survival is in the hands of heaven. I write this letter, first, to bid you farewell, and second, to grant you your freedom.
In the western outskirts of Luzhou, by a creek deep in the mountains, I have already built a small thatched cottage with a bamboo fence. I have planted red peonies in the yard, and its window looks out upon the mountain mists. If my body is recovered whole, I wish to be buried there.
In this life, I have failed your deep love. In the next, I will repay this debt with all my being. Even if I drink the waters of the River of Forgetfulness, I swear I will remember your smile by the creek. If there is a next life, I pray we can be intertwined branches or birds that fly wing to wing, and so fulfill the vows left unfinished in this one.
Your husband,
Jing Yuan.
...
「One month after the end of the battle at Huai Pass’s Black Beast Forest.」
The Eldest Prince, Qin Jingsu, had already retaken the two states of Jin and Lu.
And on the bank of a small creek in the western outskirts of the Luzhou State Capital,
a gravestone was erected.
The gravestone’s style was simple, like one belonging to a common family.
Not far from the gravestone stood a small farmhouse.
Within its walls lived a woman.
The woman’s beauty was known far and wide, but successive governors of Luzhou forbade anyone from disturbing her.
Years passed.
The woman kept a lonely vigil by her window, never remarrying.
Until her hair turned white.
And was laid to rest beside the stone.