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A sinister whooshing sound cut through the air. The feathered arrows whistled like locusts swarming down, and half the sky was densely packed with black dots.
Arrows with gleaming light pierced through his breastplate, one after another, nailing his entire body.
He was knocked off his horse by a dozen spears, rolled, and regained his footing. Standing in front of the slope, his bloody hands once again raised the double hammers.
Yaoying pushed him, punched him, cried and scolded him.
Li Zhongqian stood motionless, covered in blood and his robe in tatters. The light in his phoenix eyes slowly dimmed.
The circling vultures dived down, their sharp dark brown beaks tearing into his body.
Yaoying threw herself forward and wildly drove the vultures away.
”Let go of my elder brother! Let go!”
The vultures flapped their wings and pecked fiercely at Yaoying, pecking her all over. She clung to Li Zhongqian, bruised and battered.
……
”Elder brother!”
Yaoying woke up from her dream and wiped the corners of her eyes with her clammy fingertips.
She had another nightmare.
The maid held a candle in one hand, lifted the gauze canopy, and shone the light on her face.
”Your Highness, did you have a nightmare?”
Yaoying had broken out in a cold sweat and her clothes were plastered to her skin. She let out a distracted hum of agreement, her hands still trembling.
She frequently had this dream, but no other nightmare had ever been more real and clear as this one, as if it truly happened.
The moonlight spilled through the window, and there was a quiet silence outside.
Yaoying fumbled around and found the jade incense box by her pillow. She opened the lid, and the pigeon egg sized bright moon pearl emitted a soft and pure glow.
She gripped the pearl. Remembering what she saw in her dream, her heart was in turmoil. She directly got up and draped some clothes on, left her courtyard and walked towards the north house where Li Zhongqian lived.
Li Zhongqian was very confident of his martial arts that his guards were driven to the outer courtyard to keep watch, leaving only two errand boys in the north house.
The whole way there, none of the guards dared to stop Yaoying.
The two servants were sitting back to back, dozing off. When they saw her coming, they went dumb for a moment, thinking she was a fairy from their dreams.
Yaoying made a shushing gesture towards them, tiptoed inside. She stood outside the screen, lifted the gauze canopy and looked inside.
She didn’t want to wake Li Zhongqian, just wanting to see him for a few moments and make sure he was still alive and well.
The bed was empty.
Yaoying was stunned.
A low laugh suddenly sounded in her ears: “In the dark, what is little seventh looking for?”
Yaoying shrieked in fright and subconsciously smashed over the object she was clutching in her hand.
Just after releasing her hand, she reacted and quickly threw herself forward. Her feet suddenly slipped, her whole body lost its center of gravity and plunged headfirst towards the screen.
”Watch out!”
Li Zhongqian was also startled and hooked Yaoying’s waist to help her stand firmly.
With a clatter, the bright moon pearl tumbled to the ground.
Yaoying was distressed and bent down to pick it up. Just after she took a step, a stab of pain shot through her ankle.
It seemed that she had sprained her foot when she had thrown herself forward.
She sucked in a painful breath.
Li Zhongqian frowned slightly, raising his voice to call a servant to enter the house to light the lantern. He picked up Yaoying and carried her to the couch in the east room.
He heard the commotion as soon as Yaoying entered the courtyard. It just so happened that he was not very sleepy, so he got up and waited for her to come over.
The house was not lit, she did not see him standing in the dark, immediately lifting the gauze canopy to look inside.
He had a moment of impulse and deliberately made a sound to scare her.
How could he have expected to scare her like this?
Yaoying looked straight at the faint light in the corner: “Wait, pick up the bright moon pearl first. Don’t drop and break it.”
Li Zhongqian frowned, his voice gloomy: “Let’s see if you’ve gotten a sprain first.”
Yaoying leaned into the couch, trying to rotate her right foot. She sighed in relief and said, “It’s fine, just twisted a little. It will be fine in a bit.”
Li Zhongqian didn’t say anything, but took the socks off her foot, took the lantern from the servant, and examined it carefully.
After making sure that her right foot was indeed only twisted and not an internal injury, he then helped her put her socks back on properly, got up and walked to the screen. He picked up the bright moon pearl and delivered it to her hand.
”It isn’t a rare treasure. If it’s broken, it’s broken. I’ll find a better one for you.”
Li Zhongqian’s tone was stern.
The screen in his room was a large floor-to-ceiling screen inlaid with mica stone. If she really fell down just now, she would have been bruised and bleeding. That was no exaggeration!
Yaoying held the bright moon pearl, blew away the dust, and said with a smile, “Elder brother, I only like this one.”
Completely not mentioning that he had frightened her with his mischief, acting lovable and pampered.
Li Zhongqian sighed exasperatedly. Seeing Yaoying’s forehead was covered in cold sweat, he asked softly, “Did you have a nightmare again?”
Thinking of those dreams, Yaoying felt a knot in the pit of her stomach. She nodded and lifted her face to look at Li Zhongqian unblinkingly.
Her expression was tense, as if afraid that he would be gone in the blink of an eye.
Li Zhongqian did not ask more questions and said gently, “It’s nothing. They’re nothing but dreams.”
Yaoying’s eyes were lowered and she let out a sound of agreement.
She had already said words of warning too many times, there was no need to repeat them.
Li Zhongqian sighed, the corner of his mouth quirked: “Little seventh, elder brother has promised you that I will surely come back alive. If elder brother loses in battle, then I’ll surrender to the other side. No matter how they humiliate me, even if I have to kneel and kowtow in front of my soldiers, it doesn’t matter. Elder brother will definitely come back alive.”
Yaoying tilted her face up, her eyes round and wide, staring at Li Zhongqian incredulously.
He was a son of the Li family, and his maternal family were the world-famous Xie clan. With Li Zhongqian’s pride, how could he say such unheroic words?
In the novel, he was surrounded by enemies and fought until the very end without showing fear, killing several cavalry before taking his last breath.
Elder brother must have been afraid she would worry, so he said such words to coax her.
Yaoying’s heart felt pained and the rim of her eyes turned slightly red.
Li Zhongqian raised his hand to scratch the tip of her nose and said with a smile, “Elder brother will honor his words.”
Yaoying always thought he still had some of the Xie family’s spirit in him, thinking he was straightforward and upright, conquering for the country, and would rather die than give in.
He dared not let Yaoying know that he had in fact changed long ago.
What did the Li family have to do with him?
What did Great Wei have to do with him?
What did the life and death of the people have to do with him?
What commoners, world in unrest, the overall grand plan, internal and external troubles…. he didn’t fucking care about any of it!
He just wanted little seventh to be safe and sound.
The moonlight was like water, clearly shining onto the screen.
Li Zhongqian carried Yaoying on his back and sent her back to her room.
Yaoying talked with him for a while, and her heart was a little more sound, so she honestly laid on his back, wrapped her arms around his neck, and said, “Elder brother, I’ll wait for you to come back.”
Li Zhongqian answered with a smile.
”It will be the end of summer when you come back.” Yaoying calculated the time, “I want to go hunting in the Western Park.”
Li Zhongqian smiled and said, “Okay.”
”There’s a dragon boat race in Dongdu every year. Let’s take Aniang to Dongdu to visit for a few days.”
”Okay.”
No matter what Yaoying requested, Li Zhongqian agreed.
Her voice was getting more and more indistinct as she spoke.
Li Zhongqian turned his head and found Yaoying sleeping on his back. Her glossy face rested on his shoulder, her right hand clenched in a fist, not forgetting to hold the bright moon pearl tightly even in her sleep.
He smiled.
She was busy these days, must be exhausted.
……
The next morning, Yaoying sent Li Zhongqian out on his military campaign.
She stood on the city wall without a curtain hat, her hands on the edge, and watched the army heading south.
Li Zhongqian, riding a steed, turned back in her direction and waved the pair of golden hammers in his hands. In golden armor and white robes, he appeared very heroic.
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