diymy Chapter 306 Liu Hongyan's last bit of luck was completely shattered!
Chapter 306 Liu Hongyan's last bit of luck was completely shattered!
Tears slid silently down her pale cheeks, dripping onto the clouds at her feet, leaving a small, transparent trail.
She didn't cry out loud, but just knelt there, her shoulders trembling violently.
The wind blew, drying her tear stains, only to bring forth new ones.
Qin Mu did not turn around.
He simply stood with his hands behind his back on the clouds, gazing into the distance.
That's the direction of the North.
He suddenly spoke, his voice very soft, yet it pierced through the wind and clearly reached the ears of the two of them.
"arrive."
Liu Hongyan suddenly raised her head.
Beneath my feet, the clouds gradually dispersed.
The outline of the land emerged from the clouds.
Mountains, rivers, fields, villages.
There is also a winding official road, like a thin ribbon, extending from the southern horizon, passing through a stone bridge, through a forest, through several villages, and stretching all the way to the vast mountains in the north.
She recognized that road.
That was the only way from the Imperial City of Liyang to the Northern Border.
She traveled along this road for eight whole days to get here.
And now, it's only been the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
Liu Hongyan's heart sank completely.
It didn't sink to the bottom of the valley, but rather to a deeper, colder, and darker place.
That place had no bottom and no light.
Qin Mu led them down slowly.
The clouds gathered and dispersed around them, the wind whistled in their ears, and the outline of the earth became clearer and clearer.
The official road grew wider and wider, transforming from a ribbon into a silk ribbon, and from a silk ribbon into a long, winding, gray-white snake.
The stone bridge, the woods, and the village gradually came into focus.
Finally, their feet touched the ground.
It was a fork in the road, where the main road split into two.
One road leads northeast, towards the northern border.
One road leads northwest, towards Xiliang.
At the crossroads stands a stone tablet with two large characters engraved on it: "Looking North".
Liu Hongyan stood beside the stone tablet, gazing at the road leading to the northern border.
The road was narrow, only wide enough for one horse-drawn carriage to pass at a time.
The trees on both sides had lost all their leaves, and their bare branches trembled in the wind, like rows of withered hands reaching towards the sky.
In the distance, the outline of a village can be vaguely seen.
A few wisps of smoke rose from the rooftops, appearing particularly lonely against the hazy sky.
This is the only route Zhao Laosi can take back to the northern border.
She passed through here when she came.
Qin Mu stood with his hands behind his back beside the stone tablet, his gaze fixed on the winding road leading north.
His face was expressionless, except for the faint, ambiguous smile at the corner of his mouth, which was particularly clear in the afternoon sunlight.
He turned his head and looked at Zhao Qingxue.
Zhao Qingxue nodded slightly.
She turned around and walked towards the grove of trees beside the official road.
Her moon-white dress trailed among the withered grass, making a soft rustling sound.
She walked to the edge of the woods, took out a copper whistle from her sleeve, and gently blew it to her lips.
The whistle was soft and sharp, like the cry of some kind of bird.
A moment later, a rustling sound came from deep within the woods.
A group of soldiers emerged from the shadows of the trees, about thirty men in total, all wearing light armor and carrying short blades, their steps were neat and their training was excellent.
The leader was a young captain who strode up to Zhao Qingxue and knelt on one knee: "Your Majesty."
Zhao Qingxue nodded without saying anything more.
She turned around, walked back to Qin Mu's side, and stood by the stone tablet.
Those deep purple phoenix eyes fell on Liu Hongyan's face.
"This squad of soldiers," she said softly and calmly, "is now in your command."
Liu Hongyan's body trembled slightly.
Her gaze passed over Zhao Qingxue and landed on the group of soldiers.
Thirty men, each one valiant and skilled, their swords already drawn.
They stood amidst the withered grass, like a silent sickle awaiting harvest.
Her gaze shifted from the soldiers to Zhao Qingxue's face, then to Qin Mu's face, and finally to the road leading to the northern border.
A thought suddenly flashed through Liu Hongyan's mind.
this road.
This road leads to the North.
This road is marked "Top Secret" in the secret files of the North.
No more than ten people know about this road.
She is one, Zhao Laosi is one, the Crown Prince is one, and several of the highest-ranking officials in the Northern Territory each know a part of it.
She personally drew this road onto the map and handed it over to Zhao Laosi.
Apart from her and Zhao Laosi, everyone in the Northern Territory who knew about this route was thousands of miles away at this moment.
How did Qin Mu know about this road?
This thought, like a bolt of lightning, cleaved through the chaos in her mind.
Then, she suddenly understood.
She understood why Qin Mu insisted she intercept and kill Zhao Laosi here, why he wanted her to "let him go again," and why he wanted her to personally command this group of soldiers.
It wasn't to hunt down Zhao Laosi.
This was to let Zhao Laosi know that it was Liu Hongyan who leaked this top-secret route.
Liu Hongyan's pupils slowly contracted.
She looked at the road, at the gray village at the end of the road, and at the vast, unseen mountains in the distance.
In his heart, that last glimmer of hope, that last sliver of illusion, that last hope that "perhaps His Highness the Crown Prince will still believe in me,"
They were all like the smoke rising from the chimneys at the end of the road, blown away by the wind and disappearing without a trace.
Zhao Laosi will walk back along this road.
He will see her, the soldiers behind her, and the knife in her hand.
He would escape again, covered in wounds, filled with hatred for her, and bearing the irrefutable conclusion that "Liu Hongyan is a traitor."
He will tell His Highness that it was Liu Hongyan who leaked the top-secret route.
It was Liu Hongyan who personally intercepted and killed him.
It was Liu Hongyan who wanted him dead.
No one would believe she was forced.
No one would believe that she was enduring humiliation and hardship.
No one would believe that she had a hidden reason.
Because a person forced to betray will not hunt down their comrades, will not reveal top-secret routes, and will not hold a knife to their comrade's neck before cutting them down.
A slow smile curved the corners of Liu Hongyan's lips.
She finally understood.
From the very beginning, Qin Mu had no intention of letting her return to the Northern Territory alive.
It's not about taking her life, it's about taking her soul.
She had to cut off all her escape routes, destroy all her hopes, and nail herself to the label of "traitor."
From this day forward, she would never dare to dream of the snow in the North.
Liu Hongyan closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
When she opened her eyes again, tears were still in them, but the light in them had been completely extinguished.
She turned around and faced Qin Mu.
Slowly, heavily, he knelt down.
His knee slammed into the withered grass with a dull thud.
Forehead, touching the ground deeply.
The withered grass prickled her forehead, itching and tickling, like the wind of the North.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Her voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, yet every word was clear, as if squeezed from the deepest part of her heart.
Then, she stood up.
She turned around and faced the road leading to the North.
Her back was straight and upright, like a sword that had been broken and then glued back together.
In the distance, wisps of smoke are still rising.
The wind is still blowing.
The sky was still overcast.
Qin Mu stood with his hands behind his back beside the stone tablet, his gaze fixed on the winding road leading north.
His face still held that lazy and composed look, with a half-smile playing on his lips.
The wind blew, lifting the hem of his moon-white robe and the stray hairs at his temples.
He stood there like a god looking down upon all living beings.
Waiting for the person who will soon return from this path.
In the distance, at the end of the official road, a black dot slowly emerged.
Liu Hongyan's pupils contracted slightly.
Her hands slowly tightened inside her sleeves, her nails digging deep into her palms, sending sharp pain through her.
The pain kept her conscious until the very end.
She didn't move; she just stood there, watching the black dot get closer, bigger, and clearer.
Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something.
But it felt like something was blocking my throat, and I couldn't squeeze out a single word.
Only those eyes were fixed intently on that direction.
She stared at the person she had personally let in, the one she was now going to personally kill.
The wind blew by.
The withered grass trembled in the wind.
The sky grew even grayer.
........