Jiapingguan Chronicle

Hongye glanced at Shen Cha, who seemed lost in thought, and raised an eyebrow at her.

Why do you have that expression? You don't believe me?

"I believe you, how could I not believe you? If you had any ulterior motives, you and I wouldn't be like this now, right?" Shen Cha patted Hongye's head. "Our little Yezi is so well-behaved."

"You're so kind," Hongye said, nuzzling Shen Cha's arm. "They have such good ideas, like working together from the inside and outside, but don't they even consider whether they're worthy? Are they worth my sacrifice?"

"Do you really hate him that much?"

"There was no hatred, just pure revenge."

"Revenge is also a form of hatred, isn't it?"

"What's completely different from yours is that your hatred stems from the fact that you still have a little bit of love for them, a little bit of expectation, and a hope that one day you can reconcile, right? But I don't. I have absolutely no expectation, and I haven't even thought about reconciliation, let alone any love or anything like that."

"I guess so!"

"Don't feel embarrassed, it's nothing, isn't this just human nature?" Hongye raised an eyebrow. "Over the years, you made a lot of excuses for them, didn't you? You thought they had their reasons for doing what they did, that they had no choice, right? It wasn't until you realized the truth—that they had no feelings for you and Xiaojiu, and didn't care about you at all—that you gave up your illusions and stopped hating them. Now they're in the prison of Linhuang Prefecture, their lives and deaths are none of your concern anymore. This is something you couldn't have imagined before, right?"

“Yes!” Shen Cha nodded. “Right now, we’ll just watch them atone for their sins from the sidelines, that’s all.”

"Your current situation is exactly the same as mine all along. I have the same thoughts about your so-called biological father and the family members who come to claim kinship but have ulterior motives. There is some connection, but not much, and there may even be some personal grudges. It is completely impossible for me to work for them. But they just don't understand and try to use the idea that the debt of birth is greater than the debt of raising to hold me hostage. It's really ridiculous!"

"Is there a personal grudge?"

“Yes, it’s related to my mother.” Hongye sighed, pulling Shen Cha away from the approaching, patrolling guards. She waited until they finished their greetings and had walked away before continuing, “Do you know why I was abandoned at Jiaping Pass when I was just born?”

"why?"

"Because my biological father thought I was not worthy of being his child, and because my biological mother was just an ordinary palace maid with no family background."

"How could that be? Didn't you say your mother was..."

"Is she the eldest daughter of Sang Ji, the Privy Councilor of the Southern Court?" Seeing Shen Cha nod, Hongye sneered. "That was just a ploy to force me to work for him, to coerce Privy Councilor Sang Ji into admitting it. Neither I nor Sang Ji acknowledge it." "Denying it or not, the news still got out, right?"

“Yes, that’s something we can’t control, but we’ve tacitly kept quiet about it.” Hongye raised an eyebrow. “His actions actually prove one thing: he looks down on my birth mother, and he looks down on me too. He doesn’t want to acknowledge me or my birth mother. If that’s the case, why should I do what he wants, right? Of course, he’s barely a qualified king, but he can only realize his ambitions on his own. Don’t bother me.” She looked at Shen Cha. “The time you encountered them was the second time they contacted me. They came to prove to me that I am the princess of Liao, and that I should devote myself to Liao.” So, I made a request to them.

"Posthumously honoring your mother?"

“No, it was about revealing my mother’s true parentage and the truth about why I was living in exile, but he refused. He said it would damage the reputation of the Yelü clan and couldn’t be done.” Hongye shrugged at Shen Cha. “He even refused such a simple request, so why should I cooperate with him? He only uses me and has no sincerity at all. Why should I let him manipulate me? On the other hand, the Duke of Zhenguo’s mansion and the Marquis of Wuding’s mansion raised me and taught me martial arts. You and the Duke and Marquis treated me like a younger sister. My childhood food, clothing, and daily necessities were exactly the same as yours. Comparing the two, you know who you should consider as your own, right?”

"So, you plan to play along and pretend to agree to their demands, but..."

“I’ve thought about it, but the cost is too high, it doesn’t fit my usual style, and it would only arouse suspicion.” Hongye raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled mischievously. “I’ll just give them the cold shoulder. If they want me to take action, they’ll have to reveal some information, or the current situation in Linhuang Prefecture, right?”

"No wonder you've been intentionally or unintentionally revealing information that wasn't in our intelligence for a while now!"

“They have to give something in return, don’t they? Of course, I can still refuse when they want something in return, after all, we didn’t force them to give us the information, right?” Hongye shrugged. “But this didn’t happen many times. My biological father passed away, Yelü Ertu became regent, and our contact was cut off. It was at the end of last year that they sent people again, and they were arrested.” She looked at Shen Cha. “But it doesn’t matter. Those with personal grudges are gone, and those two kids haven’t mentioned it, so it’s over. Besides, we’re allies now, and this relationship should last for quite a while, right?”

"Well, at least until our little prince and the people behind him are completely destroyed, we are allies."

"It's a real headache to talk about. His Highness Eagle King's two generals also mentioned that they went through what we went through when they were young. You tell me," Hongye sighed, "how can these scourges survive so long?"

“I didn’t say this before, but after thinking about it, I think we might have misunderstood.” Shen Cha raised an eyebrow. “They may not have lived that long, but rather they have passed down their traditions from generation to generation. My uncle and Elder Tantai have both mentioned their style of doing things before, which is completely different from now, so…” Before she could finish speaking, she could faintly hear voices coming from not far away.

Hongye heard it too, and she and Shen Cha stopped and looked in the direction the sound came from.

They saw Shen Haolin leading Jin Jing and Bai Meng, walking unsteadily in their direction as they talked. Even though it was dark, they could see that the three of them looked exhausted.

The two looked at each other, saw the helplessness in each other's eyes, and sighed in unison.

"Judging from their appearance, they seem more exhausted than if they'd been fighting all day." Hongye looked at Shen Cha. "Shall we greet them?"

Shen Cha didn't speak, but took Hongye's hand and quickly walked towards the person opposite. (End of Chapter)