Her words surprised Qin Jue. Didn’t she say it before that he shouldn’t take off the bindings no matter what happened?
Watching him standing still, Xie Lin Lang slightly furrowed her brows.
“Why aren’t you going?” She thought for a few seconds, then continued in a low voice, “I don’t mean anything else by it. I simply want you to prove it to me, that’s all.”
“Prove what?”
Hearing his question, her eyebrows furrowed deeper, “I want proof of whether what you said is right or not.”
She looked at Qin Jue with a firm resolution in her eyes.
“From the moment that I met you again, I felt that you had already changed.
At first, I couldn’t really accept that fact. You could even go as far as to say I wanted to change you back because the majority of your intentions seemed extremely dangerous to me.
But there’s never any principle in the world that defines what is right and what is wrong. So what gives me the right to criticize that you are wrong?
That’s why starting from the moment that you gave up poisoning WangJiang, I have decided that I will respect your choices from now on.
From now on, if we get into any disagreement in ideology, as long as you are able to persuade me, I am willing to believe in you. Just like now…”
As she said that, she kneeled down and extended her hand to him.
“…Just like now, you’re saying that hatred is the strongest force in the world, but I disagree.
For instance, consider this stone wall in front of you. You can’t climb it by yourself, but I only need to pull you up by a bit and you can easily climb up.
Who’s to say that this type of accompanying and caring relationship isn’t as strong as well?
Clearly, you currently put more faith into hatred, into believing that you won’t need to ask for help and that you can achieve anything as long as you have hatred. Then prove it to me!
If you can climb up on your own, I will believe that you are right.
But if you can only climb up after receiving my help, then you must believe that other than hatred, all the other emotions in this world are just as important, understand?”
She spoke these words as genuinely as she believed in them.
If reality proved that Qin Jue didn’t, in fact, require her help, then she will also learn to adjust her stance in all of this.
Qin Jue didn’t speak again for a long time after hearing this. He could sense Xie Lin Lang was wavering, unsure about the situation.
It was very rare to see her like this. Since she was young, she had always been the type of person who had a clear understanding of her beliefs. In the past, Qin Jue had once seen her in the middle of a disaster relief event. The look she held as she gave out orders was devoid of any hesitation and contained the level of confidence and resolution that normal people could only hope to achieve!
In the imperial court, if someone was to argue against her political views, she would argue strongly for what she believed in, doing her utmost to persuade her opponents otherwise.
But at this moment when confronting Qin Jue, Xie Lin Lang instead chose to respect and tolerate, to experiment and concede.
Not only was she willing to listen attentively to his opinions that are entirely different from hers, but she was also seriously reflecting on whether she could come to accept it or not. Could he consider this act as her kindness that solely belonged to him?
While having thought this, piece by piece, Qin Jue began taking off the black metal bindings from his body.
Having taken them off, his body instantly felt incomparably lighter than before.
Even though he was already very exhausted, he had a feeling that he will definitely be able to climb up the stone wall this time if he tried with all his might!
Xie Lin Lang looked at him somewhat nervously, both hoping that he makes it yet hoping that he doesn’t.
Her thoughts were very conflicted, just like the people who had become parents for the first time. Towards him, she had already used a hundred and twenty percent of her caution and patience…
Qin Jue warmed up his hands and feet, backing up for only two steps, and quickly charged towards her!
Xie Lin Lang’s body immediately tensed up; she could only watch helplessly as he approached her quickly!
He ran and leaped up. His two feet lightly tapped on the surface of the stone wall simultaneously lifting his left hand. Seeing that he was inches away from reaching the edges of the stone wall, Xie Lin Lang’s eyes became wide open!
But just when Qin Jue’s fingertips were about to touch the stony edge, whether it was because his body suddenly lost strength or for some other reason, his toes suddenly slipped at the last second and his whole body swiftly fell backward!
Xie Lin Lang immediately became alarmed! Without thinking, she held onto Qin Jue’s wrist and pulled it with full force, then Qin Jue was pulled up onto the stone!
(This translation was brought to you by LeafInBloom on Patreon and Sleepy Translations.)
So… how would this work?
Seeing his movements originally, he was perfectly capable of climbing up. Even if he had fallen this time, he could always try again. But wasn’t what she did just now going back against her own words?
Seeing that Xie Lin Lang’s brows had become wrinkled due to conflicting thoughts, Qin Jue, who had been at a loss for why he did this in the first place, suddenly smiled.
This time, his smile truly came from his heart. The twinkling starlight in the night sky gathered into his eyes, dispelling him of all the darkness and loneliness, leaving only the purest warmth.
Seeing him smile, Xie Lin Lang was somewhat perplexed, “Did that count just now? If you want to try again…I still won’t go against my word either.”
Qin Jue sat on the ground and laughed bitterly, “This was probably heaven’s will. I have already… completely run out of strength.”
In other words, no matter if he wanted to or not, he’s unable to try again.
He decided to accept heaven’s decision.
To accept all the emotions along with hatred.
As well as accepting all of which she gives him.
Xie Lin Lang’s mood was instantly relaxed.
Truthfully, she was really feeling like she had very heavy responsibilities resting on her shoulders right now.
In the past when they were little, she never had to consider how she treated Qin Jue. She was fine just taking him around to play and daring him to act mischievously on occasion.
That was because he didn’t lack anything during those times; he was a very obedient child and was very cute even after she teased him.
But in the present, since she’s here with him after deciding to take care of him in place of the Empress, then she must re-evaluate her mentality and learn how to become a proper mentor and guardian!
Especially now that Qin Jue’s temperament was unstable, she would need to treat him prudently now if not more than ever. But even a simple task like this was a challenging one!
The only thing she can do now is to trade sincerity for sincerity and prevent him from turning evil.
And as for what kind of road he will walk on in the future, it can only depend on what nature decides to bring out for him.
During the time Qin Jue rested, Xie Lin Lang jumped down, collecting all of the bracelets and whatnots off the ground and putting them on him one by one again.
“Let’s go!” Both of her eyes glowing and glistening, “I’ll take you to see the stars!”
While saying that, she helped Qin Jue stand up and walked in front of him.
For the remaining few steps, it was all Xie Lin Lang climbing up first and then pulling him up with her.
This kind of experience was novel to Qin Jue. Back when he was still a Crown Prince, he never needed help from anyone. In fact, it was other people that sometimes needed help from him.
After he became a prisoner, it was even more unlikely for him to accept help from others as he felt enmity toward everyone.
And now, amidst the night wind, Xie Lin Lang extended her hand to him with a mouth filled with smiles as she went to pull him up.
The instant their hands intertwined, he vaguely understood the notion that people called interdependence, as well as suddenly realizing just how lonely he had been before.
Finally, they reached the mountain peak.
The peak of the mountain was very bare and filled with rocks. One of the sides of the mountain extended towards the South, like a diving board on top of a cliff.
Xie Lin Lang waved him over and sat him down. Then from her clothing pocket, she fished out a packet of pastries that she bought while she was still in WoJiang City.
“Here, eat! I bet you’re hungry!” After all, he had been chipping away at the stone and then hiked up the mountain continuously. Even a robot wouldn’t be able to handle so much work.
Qin Jue accepted the pastries, lowered his head, and began to eat. Even though he was very hungry, his eating motion was still very delicate and refined. Xie Lin Lang sighed in admiration, as expected of someone that had been raised by Her Majesty!
As he was eating, Xie Lin Lang sat at the edge of the cliff and suddenly pointed to the North.
“Do you know what constellation* that is?”
*Xie Lin Lang is talking about the Greek Constellations/Astrological Signs.