Raising a wife? The mistress of the Hou family divorced and remarried her younger uncle

Chapter 255: War
Su Qingwan was extremely anxious and nimbly dismounted.

Xilin Yongxuan was already exhausted and knelt heavily on one knee. The long sword in his hand fell to the ground with a clang.

Su Qingwan quickly stepped forward, firmly took his arm, and anxiously asked, "Second Prince, how are you?" Xilin Yongxuan's face was ashen, he was spitting blood, and his consciousness was gradually fading on this bloody battlefield.

Amidst the fierce and intense battle between the two sides, a strange sense of calm welled up within him.

Was this a final burst of energy before death? He felt the pain throughout his body lessen, as if he were being embraced in a warm hug—something he had longed for deep in his heart all along. "Princess, I'm sorry, I have to break my promise!"

His breath was weak, and his voice was barely audible.

"No, you'll be alright!" Su Qingwan said anxiously, reaching out to touch her hand, which was covered in warm blood.

A sharp blade pierced Xilin Yongxuan's abdomen, and blood gushed from the wound. Upon seeing this, Lüzhu immediately stepped forward to take his pulse and carefully examined the wound before shaking her head helplessly.

Su Qingwan's heart sank to the bottom. She understood what Green Bamboo's silent action meant—Xilin Yongxuan was beyond saving. Xilin Yongxuan seemed to have expected this. He forced a bitter smile and said, "I've been running around for half a year, and finally, I've lived up to everyone's expectations and signed a ceasefire treaty with Dayuan."

He had been looking forward to returning to Xilin and making great strides, bringing decades of peace and stability to the people, but unexpectedly... everything was in vain! As he spoke, he slowly looked in the direction of the Lanning River, his eyes filled with longing and resentment.

Once he crossed the Lanning River, he would be home, but now he was cruelly blocked on this side of the river. Moreover, he had been stabbed in the back by his own people, and his life was hanging by a thread.

Looking back on the past six months, he had traveled extensively in foreign lands, experiencing numerous setbacks. During this time, internal strife broke out in Dayuan, and he had his own thoughts, attempting to fish in troubled waters, hoping that the internal conflict in Dayuan would last longer, so as to buy Xilin some breathing room. He mediated and stirred up trouble among various forces, deliberately creating chaos, all in order to secure more lenient terms for Xilin in the ceasefire negotiations.

He knew better than anyone that Xilin was a defeated nation, with little room for negotiation at the negotiating table; victory could only be achieved through cunning. Yet now, the fruits of his painstaking efforts were cruelly intercepted and killed the moment he embarked on his journey home.

The pinnacle of power is always accompanied by fratricide, a life-or-death struggle. This time, he lost, lost completely, and didn't even have the chance to return to his hometown.

"Second Prince, do you still have any wishes?" Su Qingwan looked at Xilin Yongxuan, who was barely breathing, and didn't know how to comfort him. She could only ask softly.

"A wish?" Xilin Yongxuan murmured to himself. What wishes could a dying man possibly have? His unfulfilled wish was to bring peace and prosperity to the people of Xilin, but now, with his passing, this wish would not only vanish, but worse still, his death might reignite the war between the two nations. The war that had just been quelled would reignite, and it would be the ordinary people of both countries who would suffer. "Princess... I have lived a life of mediocrity, unable to be a wise ruler who defends the city, nor a valiant general who conquers the battlefield. Now, even when I am sent as an envoy for peace talks, I am used as a pawn to start a war."

I only ask to die with some dignity. After I die, cremate me. On a day with a southerly wind, scatter my ashes in the Lanning River. Perhaps, with the southerly wind, I can drift back to my homeland along the river.

Su Qingwan's eyes instantly reddened as she listened. She and Xilin Yongxuan had known each other for many years. Although they were enemies due to their different stances, they had also developed a friendship over time. At this moment, she could truly feel Xilin Yongxuan's life slipping away bit by bit, and her heart was filled with pain and sorrow. A bittersweet feeling of shared grief spread through her.

"Okay!" Su Qingwan said firmly, fighting back her tears, "I promise you!"

She knew in her heart that if Xilin Yongxuan's body was left on this battlefield, he would either be trampled into mud by the hooves of both sides, or he would be taken back to Xilin and become a pawn for some people to start a war. This was something Xilin Yongxuan would not want to see.

"Thank you, Princess!" Xilin Yongxuan's breath grew weaker and weaker, but his thoughts drifted back to the first time he saw Su Qingwan. At that time, Su Qingwan was still young and wore the mask of the Grand Princess of the Southwest.

A scout reported that a princess from the southwest had come to Xilin City to do business. Xilin Yongxuan was sitting under the shade of a tree by the roadside when he saw a father and son begging on the street. The father, seeing Su Qingwan passing by, pleaded with her for a meal. Xilin Yongxuan had a younger sister, about the same age as Su Qingwan, who was gentle and kind. He instinctively assumed that all girls were like his sister, living comfortably, and that seeing such a pitiful sight would surely move him to give them a meal, and if he was lucky, perhaps even some silver to help the father and son survive for a while. But Su Qingwan coldly replied, "I can give you a silver ingot, but what about the next meal? You are able-bodied and healthy; even if you work as a laborer at the docks, you can support yourself and your family. Why beg on the street? My silver will not be given to useless people."

Xi Lin Yongxuan immediately took an interest in this extraordinary girl, and from then on, he was responsible for coordinating with Su Qingwan whenever she came to Xi Lin. During their time together, he gradually fell in love with Su Qingwan, but he also knew that due to their different positions, they were ultimately destined to be apart. "Princess... I wish you all the best."

After Xilin Yongxuan finished speaking, the scene before him began to blur and become indistinct, gradually losing focus, and then he completely stopped breathing.

"Princess, we should return to the city. The Xilin border is constantly reinforcing its troops; they're attacking!" Green Bamboo whispered a reminder from the side.

Su Qingwan nodded slowly, her gaze falling on Chen Feng. Chen Feng understood immediately, carefully lifting Xi Lin Yongxuan's body and mounting his horse. Su Qingwan's expression was stern as she loudly ordered, "Send word to General Xiao Ning: retreat back into the city, defend the city gates to the death, light the beacon fires, and request reinforcements from Zhongzhou!"

"Yes, sir!" The messenger accepted the order, immediately spurred his horse, and galloped off in the direction of General Xiao Ning. Thus, using the death of Xilin Yongxuan as a pretext, the 50,000-strong Xilin border army once again brazenly launched a war against Dayuan.

Su Qingwan stood at the city gate, watching the dark mass of Xilin soldiers sweep in, chanting slogans for revenge for the Second Prince of Xilin. The death of Xilin Yongxuan was thus pinned on Huainan.

Nishibayashi Ei-hsuan, in the end, became a pawn in the war.