“What day?” Yuan was a little confused, “I’ve never mentioned that name to anyone!”
“You know, it was… that day!” Zhu Yan wanted to say it was the day she bewitched him with her mind confusion spell, but her face blushed violently, and after stomping her foot, she said exasperated, “Anyway, I just know she is!”
Without further questioning, Yuan simply stared at her for a moment before turning his eyes to the approaching enemies, and spoke in an indifferent but firm tone, “Then you should also know that my life has been bound to her long before you were born into this world.”
“…” Zhu Yan shuddered violently, unable to speak, and only felt a sharp pain in her chest.
Indeed, that was not the first time he rejected her, she should not have been surprised… but why did she feel such a sharp pain in her heart this time? It was a desperate feeling of impotence, like a rock climber on a wall, after climbing a thousand feet, with no visible end in front of him and no earth below him, finally wanting to let go of his hand in exhaustion and let himself fall.
Yao Yi. Yao Yi… Who the hell was she?
Zhu Yan was aware that now was not the right time to talk about such things, yet as soon as the name was mentioned, there was an uncontrollable feeling of bitterness and loss into her heart, causing her voice to tremble slightly: “Is she… the one you love? Did you choose to become a man for her? Who is she?”
Yuan made no remark, nor did he answer her question.
“Who is she?” Zhu Yan nevertheless couldn’t resist pursuing the question, “Is she beautiful?”
“If I tell you who she is, will you be able to give up?” Yuan frowned slightly and turned his head to look at the army trailing behind them, “What time is this! Why are you still talking about this?”
“Even if we have to die, let’s die with a clear understanding!” Zhu Yan, was furious and jumped up, “I’ve never lost to anyone in my life! Yet, I lost in the most important matter of all, and I lost in an unclear manner, how can that be okay?”
“Huh…” Yuan couldn’t help but chuckle, turning his head to look at the irritated young girl, his tone suddenly softening as he said gently, “Ah-Yan, don’t be ridiculous. I’ve watched you grow up, it’s like watching…”
At this point, he paused briefly and shook his head.
“It’s like looking at her?” Zhu Yan abruptly understood and her face turned pale slightly, “Are you… being so nice to me because I look like her?”
Her voice trembled slightly, as if she had been stabbed in the heart with a knife.
“If it weren’t for her, we would have never met.” Yuan controlled the reins and sped across the battlefield, seeming to make up his mind about something, his tone muffled and clipped, “Because, without her, there would have been no you in this world.”
“What?” Zhu Yan stared blankly for a moment, having a hard time to process what he just said.
“She was born over a hundred years before you, Ah-Yan.” Yuan’s voice was soft and distant, and his eyes drifted into a momentary trance, “When I was a slave trying to escape my prison, it was she, who entered the Imperial Capital for an audience with the Emperor, that found me on my deathbed, bought me and brought me back with her to the Red King’s Mansion.”
“…” Zhu Yan’s heart jumped, and a strange feeling gripped inside her mind.
An audience in the Capital. The Residence of the Red King. This is…
“Do you still want to know who she is?” Yuan looked at her with a pensive expression and added, word for word, “Yao Yi is just her courtesy name, her real name, is Red Pearl Jade – Zhu Fei Li.”
“What?!” A shock struck Zhu Yan’s entire body in that moment, and she jumped up as if she had been stabbed, exclaiming uncontrollably, “You’re lying! How is that even possible? This… is clearly my great-grandmother’s name!”
However, Yuan smiled a little and spoke in a calm tone, “Yes, she was the greatest of all the Kings and Queens of the Red Clan in over three centuries, and she was also your ancestor, your great-grandmother.”
“What?” Zhu Yan was speechless, her mouth widened as she stared at him in bewilderment. Yes, how could it be possible? The woman he… said he loved was actually her great-grandmother?
In that case… her heart jumped suddenly, and she dared not think any further.
“From then on, I have been tied to the Red Clan.” Yuan’s voice was light as a whisper, “For centuries… the enmity has been entangled beyond recognition. Although the Kongsang are our enemies, I made a vow to her to guard her bloodline until the day my soul will return to the Blue Sea.”
She was listening to him in a daze, completely forgetting that she was on the warpath and simply dumbfounded.
It turns out… this is the answer she always wanted to find? That the woman who had been her lifelong enemy, the woman she could never surpass, was… her great-grandmother? This answer was too much…
Unable to stop himself from turning his head to look, Yuan had not heard a sound from her. The young girl of the Red Clan sat on the chariot, staring at him with her mouth wide open – although her face was covered by a cloth scarf and no expression could be seen, the frozen shock that appeared in those big eyes had revealed all her emotions in that moment.
Yuan couldn’t help but smile miserably, not knowing what to say to comfort her.
“That’s the answer you’ve always wanted to know.” He whispered, suddenly lifting the reins and spurring the horse into a sprint, “Now, Ah-Yan, are you satisfied?”
Zhu Yan sat on the chariot, unable to speak, appearing stunned by the unexpected answer. It was only after a long time that she raised her head, looked at him incredulously and whispered, “So the person… you love is actually my grandmother?”
“Great-Grandmother.” Yuan corrected her briefly.
“…” She went silent, wringing her hands together and shaking slightly, ” So… then, your swordsmanship, is it also…”
“It was her who taught me that.” Yuan said lightly, “You should also know that Yao Yi was not only the Red Queen, she was also the Kongsang Sword Saint over a hundred years ago.”
“…” Zhu Yan was speechless; yes, of course she knew that the Red King from more than a hundred years ago was a legendary female character, outstanding in civil and martial arts, and a hundred times more powerful than herself. She was in a state of emotional turmoil, and after a moment of silence, she suddenly remembered something and raised her head abruptly, exclaiming, “No! Red Pearl Fei Li, couldn’t be, my Great grandmother, she… had a husband, didn’t she? Her husband was clearly a Kongsang man!”
Yuan’s expression changed slightly as he sighed, “Yes. Before she met me, she had already been betrothed to the youngest son of the Black King’s favorite concubine.”
“Indeed I remember correctly!” Zhu Yan took a deep breath, “Then… did she also run away from the marriage?”
“She escaped, but came back when we were halfway there.” Yuan shook his head, “We were already at the Hanhai Post when she suddenly changed her mind – she was the Princess of the Red Clan, she couldn’t abandon the whole clan for her personal feelings, if she had escaped, the two Red and Black Clans might have gone to war over it.”
“Let’s go to war then!” Zhu Yan said with indignation, “Who’s afraid of who?”
“Childish words!” Yuan glanced at her, while his eyes rose sternly and scolded her, “As the Princess of the Red Clan and the future Red Queen, how can you shed the blood of thousands of people for your own selfish reasons?”
“…” She listened dumbfounded, unable to articulate any words in her defense.
The words that came out of Yuan’s mouth were surprisingly the exact same ones that Master told her back then! They were two very different people… But why did they say the same thing? Is it possible that men’s hearts always value their country and their people above everything else?
Zhu Yan was overwhelmed with mixed feelings for a moment, and could hardly utter a word. It turned out that the same choice and situation had been made over a hundred years ago – and the woman over a hundred years ago had ended up making a choice that was the complete opposite of the one she was making today!
She asked, baffled, “So… she just married the Black King’s son?”
“Yes.” Yuan spoke softly, no sorrow or joy could be perceived in his tone, “She went back and negotiated terms with her father, and for the sake of the face of both clans, she maintained a nominal marriage, living in separate rooms and not interfering with each other, until eleven years later when her husband died of a disease.”
Zhu Yan was stunned, “And you? What about you?”
Yuan said calmly, “I followed her back to Celestial Wind City, of course.”
He was speaking with detachment, but Zhu Yan’s heart shook violently, knowing how much forbearance and sacrifice was hidden in that one sentence: as a shark, he gave up the chance to gain freedom; as a lover, he gave up his dignity and followed her back to the Western Wilderness, spending his life in seclusion!
“I was fortunate enough to meet her and to be with her for the rest of her life.” Yuan’s voice was soft and deep, and even in such a murderous atmosphere, it felt like the night breeze was stroking the strings of a lute, “In this life, although I could not be her husband, loving her was enough for me.”
His voice was whispering faintly, but to her ears it sounded like a blade piercing, and in that instant, she just felt that a certain flame in her heart was silently extinguished… Yes, since her childhood, the little Princess of the Red Clan had always been such a brave and fearless maiden, full of confidence, bright as light and fiery as fire, never flinching in front of anything. Yet this time, she was suddenly discouraged.
She murmured subconsciously, “But… but she’s been dead for so many years.”
“Yes.” Yuan’s expression darkened slightly, “I will have to wait a long, long time before I see her reincarnation again. Hopefully I’ll still recognize her by then.”
Zhu Yan remained silent for a moment, her heart gradually cooling down as well, muttering, “You sharks, is it true that you can only love one person in your lifetime? But your lifetime will be someone else’s ten lifetimes! Do you… will you always be waiting for her in the cycle of reincarnation?”
“Mhm.” Yuan smiled a little, his tone being serene and gentle, “I don’t know if all sharks are like that – but at least for me it’s true. I will always wait for her.”
“…” The girl who sat on the chariot, holding the reins with a trembling hand, pondered for a moment then suddenly asked, “But… but still! That flower girl Ruyi, what is she to you again? She… seems to like you a lot too, doesn’t she? You care about her so much! You…”
“She?” As if he knew what she was going to say, Yuan chuckled and said, “She’s my little sister.”
Zhu Yan was stunned, “Your Sister?”
“We were separated as children and sold to different owners. It wasn’t until over a hundred years later that we reunited.” Yuan sighed quietly, “It was also because of her introduction that I joined the Restoration Army.”
Zhu Yan stared in shock: “What? She became a fighter before you?”
“Yes.” With a hint of appreciation in his eyes, Yuan whispered, “Ruyi is a remarkable woman… she led the sharks against slavery, and has been in charge of the Ocean Soul River since very early on, she’s way more qualified to be a warrior than I am.”
“The Ocean Soul River?” Zhu Yan was a little confused, “What is that?”
“It’s a secret passage that leads the land sharks to escape slavery and return to the sea, with a total of nine stations along the way.” Yuan shook his head and refrained from elaborating, saying only, “If Ruyi hadn’t introduced me to the Restoration Army, I really wouldn’t have known how I was going to spend the rest of my life for such a long time after Yao Yi’s death.”
It was the first time he ever spoke to her about such a topic, and it caused Zhu Yan to fall into a trance for a moment. Yes, this was another side of Yuan, lurking in the shadows, that she had actually known nothing about since her childhood.
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