The Path

"Li Junqing said he has already set out." "I know." "Oh? And how do you know?" "The soldiers at his disposal were lent to him by me free of charge. Where do you think I know it from?" "Hah, those crypt remnants are already capable of forming an army?" "No. I am the crown prince of the Prime Minister's Manor now, aren't I? Could the soldiers I lent him not be the Black Qilin Army?" "Look at you... Not drinking this time?" "I've quit for now." "What kind of quitting is 'for now'?" "I'm troubled. The more I drink, the more troubled I get, so I quit." "Looking at you, it certainly seems so. Being the heir isn't easy, especially in the Chancellor's Manor built by your father." High officials and noblemen never lack splendid mountain villas. Perched upon a precipitous cliff where no birds flew, an imposing manor was embedded into the rock, overlooking an endless sea of forest. Within it, two figures sat facing each other on a red sandalwood terrace. The woman was clad in red, her martial elegance captivating enough to overturn nations. The man wore a black robe, looking indolent and handsome. Xu Yuan glanced at the flock of cranes soaring between the mist and the forest sea. Smacking his lips, he retorted with mild irritation, "Originally, you were supposed to be in the same position as me. My father told me that during the Northern Hunt, your father confided in him that he had initially planned to pass the throne to you." Li Qingyan rolled her eyes at the man opposite her, remarking lazily, "Yet he changed his mind in the end, which is why this princess is so at leisure now." Xu Yuan gave a cold snort. "As long as your father hasn't drawn his final breath, that seat of the crown prince will always remain uncertain." Hearing this, Li Qingyan narrowed her slender phoenix eyes slightly, curving them like crescent moons. "So you truly intend to assassinate Li Zhaoyuan?" "..." Xu Yuan did not respond. Li Qingyan fell quiet for a moment before speaking wistfully: "Being with you now, I always feel as though there's a barrier standing between us." Xu Yuan remained silent. The bleak wind blew cold as mist drifted by. After only exchanging a few words, half of their conversation had already been dominated by overt and veiled probing. Even if unintentional, one couldn't help but steer one's thoughts in that direction. Before long, however, Xu Yuan smiled. "Isn't that obvious? What status did I have at the Northern Border, and what status do I have now?" "That sharp tongue of yours certainly hasn't changed." Li Qingyan raised a slender hand to brush back a stray strand of black hair at her temple, offering an amused smile. "Still asking for a beating as ever." "Annoying?" "No, I quite like it." "Then you'd better take a few more good looks while you still can." A profound weariness flitted through the depths of Xu Yuan's eyes, though his expression remained gentle. "Perhaps in the future, you'll never see this sharp-tongued Xu Changtian again." Li Qingyan went silent for a moment. Without a word, she produced a jar of fine wine, tore off the red cloth seal, and tilted it straight into her mouth, drinking in hearty gulps. Watching the chest-bound princess's display, Xu Yuan made no move to stop her. Instead, he smiled from the side. "What, are there words you can't bring yourself to say sober?" Her movements halted. A trickle of clear wine ran down her jaw and slender white neck, disappearing into the collar of her red silk robe. Li Qingyan cast a sidelong glance at him as if looking at an idiot. "Do you think this princess is that kind of pretentious woman? I'm simply troubled and wish to drink." Xu Yuan found it amusing. "I'm the one in the middle of it all, yet I haven't said a thing. Why are you the one getting troubled first?" "Has it occurred to you..." Li Qingyan set down the wine jar, staring straight into his eyes, her voice crisp and resolute, "...that it is precisely because I know how troubled you are that my own heart feels so heavy?" "..." A mountain breeze swept past, making their long hair dance lightly. Xu Yuan's eyes widened slightly, but then he replied, at a loss for words, "Why must you be like this?" Li Qingyan raised her hand to wipe the wine from the corner of her lips. "Xu Changtian, do you still remember the question this princess asked you at the Northern Border?" "You asked far too many things. Could you give me a hint?" "Hmph, is that so?" Li Qingyan let out a soft huff and curved her eyes, her smile blossoming like a flower. "Then this princess will ask you once more right now. "The First Disciple of the Sword Sect, the Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion... Third Young Master Xu's confidantes truly possess grander statuses one after another. You must be quite pleased with yourself, aren't you?" "..." Xu Yuan fell abruptly silent. "Why aren't you speaking?" Li Qingyan lowered her head with a faint smile, gazing at the complicated emotions in his eyes. "It seems answering this question today, your answer is no longer what it once was." Toward this act of rubbing salt in his wounds, Xu Yuan showed neither anger nor indignation. Instead, his gaze grew softer. Seeing no reaction from him, Li Qingyan lightly ran the tip of her tongue over her wine-moistened red lips, pressing him step by step: "After all, the blood feud over a slain father between them cannot possibly be resolved." "Heh..." After a long silence, Xu Yuan still showed no anger. He let out a low chuckle, his voice quiet and soothing. "It seems you already know what transpired at the Tianyuan Grand Gathering. Still, you needn't use such a method to advise and counsel me. Long before this, I had already prepared myself for it." "..." Li Qingyan froze upon hearing his words. By the time she gathered her wits, the man had already shifted beside her in a flash. Reaching out, Xu Yuan took the wine jar from her hand and took a deep drink. Looking sideways at her flawless profile, he smiled. "Qingyan, tell me, among the vast sea of people, why did all of you happen to fall for me? Is it a coincidence, or an inevitability? I believe it was an inevitability." Smelling his breath so close at hand, Li Qingyan half-closed her eyes. "It seems you're still quite pleased with yourself after all." Xu Yuan reached out and pinched her spirited, unyielding cheek, smiling with curved eyes. "No. I no longer have that youthful vanity. I merely feel that destiny makes fools of us all." The mountain wind was piercingly cold, but the man's warmth seeped through his fingertips. Li Qingyan wanted to slap away his wandering hand, but unfortunately, the man before her no longer possessed his meager cultivation of the past. Having failed to break free, she simply allowed him to pinch her cheek, rolling her eyes as she said coolly, "Then by all means, explain why this princess falling for you was an inevitability." "Because of perspective, and because of status." Xu Yuan released her chin and instead wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his embrace. "Storybooks always love depicting love that crosses social divides—the cultured lady falling for an impoverished scholar, the celestial fairy descending to the mortal realm, or princes and generals falling for naive village girls. It’s a simple human longing, because humans are inherently drawn to the strong; they always seek to reach upward. But where in this world is there room for such compatibility? "Whether it's you, Qingyan, or Ran Qingmo, or Tianyan, where you stand is high above the clouds. Across the whole world, only two or three people could ever enter your sight, and this young master happens to be one of those atop the clouds. Once we came into contact, mutual attraction was almost inevitable. "So sometimes I think that throughout history, there must have been many people who went through what I am experiencing now." "..." Pondering his words carefully, Li Qingyan found that she could actually agree with him. As a woman raised in military camps, she had seen hundreds, thousands of different men—some humorous and witty, some weathered and mature, others handsome and carefree. Yet her royal bloodline and the lofty perspective she had held since childhood formed an invisible barrier between her and them. She might find them interesting, but only from the vantage point of looking down upon her subjects. She might be moved by their fearless valor, but only with the appreciation of a commander treasuring a prized asset. And so, she answered clearly, "There certainly were." "Right?" Xu Yuan chuckled softly. "That's why I won't torment myself over these things, nor do I want to. I choose to believe that the boat will right itself when it reaches the bridge..." As he said this, Li Qingyan suddenly noticed that the hand around her shoulder tightened, trembling slightly as though terrified she might slip through his fingers. Her phoenix eyes lowered slightly, her long eyelashes quivering like glistening crystal. Xu Yuan seemed to realize his lapse as well. The force in his hand eased slightly, and he whispered, "Sorry... Speaking so freely and easily, yet my hands betray such a lack of composure." Saying so, Xu Yuan lowered his gaze to his palm once more, murmuring in earnest sincerity, "Qingyan, I don't know where the future will lead, but I will do everything I can to find a path toward perfection—whether for you, for Qingmo, or for Tianyan."