Chapter 192: Deception

Lieyin immediately stepped in front of Ru Yi. "Stop looking at her with that creepy look in your eyes. And what Shadow are you talking about?"

General Sheng’s face remained calm even as he shook his head. "You really don’t know the treasure you’ve had beside you all this while. Move aside princess, I’m not here for you."

Lieyin’s voice was firm. "No."

"Then you will die protecting her," General Sheng said, completely unfazed when Lieyin pulled out her sword.

"We’re not letting you near here," Qingyue said, already gripping her sword hard.

His gaze was still glued on Ru Yi. "You still don’t understand. I’ve spent years searching for what your mother concealed beneath the fortress. I followed rumors, recovered fragments of forbidden records, and buried men who knew more than they were willing to tell me."

His fingers tightened around the black relic. "And now...I finally found it, all thanks to the three of you."

Han Shuying’s face darkened. "The Eclipse relic."

All three sisters snapped their heads towards her. Their hearts simultaneously dropped to their stomach.

The moment Han Shuying spoke the name, the black object in General Sheng’s hand gave a faint pulse.

Ru Yi’s shadow moved, only slightly...a ripple under her feet. But Kael saw it.

"There..." For the first time since entering the fortress, General Sheng truly smiled. "I wasn’t wrong after all."

Yexue was the first to reach for Ru Yi. "Stay behind me."

But...Ru Yi couldn’t tear her eyes away from the relic. Something inside her was responding to it. It wasn’t fear or recognition.

Instead, it was a cold sensation that crawled along her spine. For one impossible moment, she heard a whisper inside her head.

Run.

Ru Yi’s breath caught.

General Sheng lowered his hand. The movement was small, almost casual, but the army beyond the walls responded immediately.

Hundreds of weapons outside the castle were raised.

The soldiers surrounding Ashen Fortress shifted into formation, their spearheads gleaming beneath the dim sky. The remaining defenders tightened their grips on their weapons, though everyone knew the truth. They were exhausted, wounded, and badly outnumbered.

Qingyue stepped forward. "You will not touch her."

General Sheng looked almost amused. "I admire your loyalty, Princess." His gaze shifted toward Ru Yi. "But loyalty is a poor substitute for reason."

The soldiers began advancing.

Yexue immediately drew her sword. Lieyin moved to Qingyue’s other side, her expression hardening as she summoned what little spiritual energy remained within her meridians.

Ru Yi felt her heart sink. "Qingyue, don’t."

Qingyue didn’t even glance at her. "Stay behind me."

Ru Yi was panicking. "There’s too many of them."

"I know."

"You’ll die."

Qingyue’s fingers tightened around her sword. "Then I’ll die standing between you and them."

Ru Yi’s throat tightened. The first line of Sheng’s soldiers crossed the broken courtyard. Then another. The ground trembled beneath their boots.

Kael stood several steps away, watching. His face had become frighteningly still.

Ru Yi looked at him. There was something in his eyes that made her chest tighten. He wasn’t looking at General Sheng or the approaching soldiers. He was looking at her.

And she suddenly understood what he was about to do. Perhaps everything he had been observing since the battle began had finally led him to the truth.

"Kael," she whispered.

But he didn’t answer.

Qingyue raised her sword. "Prepare yourselves."

Yexue stepped beside her. Lieyin summoned the last of her spiritual energy. The soldiers were almost upon them.

Then Kael spoke. "Stop."

His voice wasn’t loud yet everyone heard it.

Qingyue turned. "What?"

Kael walked forward. His eyes never left Ru Yi. "There is no reason for us all to die for her." The words seemed to freeze the entire courtyard.

Qingyue stared at him. "What did you say?"

Kael stopped several feet away. His expression was cold, but there was something beneath it. Disappointment. Perhaps even anger.

"You heard me."

Ru Yi’s blood ran cold. "Kael, don’t. This is not the time or place."

He finally looked at her. "You should have told them when I gave you the chance to."

Her lips parted. "Believe me...I was going to."

"When?"

She had no answer.

Kael turned toward Qingyue. "You deserve to know why you were exiled."

Qingyue’s expression changed at the same time Yexue lowered her eyes. She already knew what was coming.

Kael continued. "You were not exiled because the Empress suddenly feared your strength. And it wasn’t because the court wanted to weaken the three princesses."

Qingyue’s grip tightened around her sword. "It was Empress Lihua’s doing. She framed us." She looked at Ru Yi. "What does this have to do with her?"

Kael’s eyes moved briefly toward Ru Yi. "It was Ru Yi that planted the Empress’s seal in Yexue chamber to frame her."

Silence. The words seemed to strike harder than any blade.

Qingyue slowly turned toward Ru Yi, but Ru Yi couldn’t meet her eyes.

Lieyin stared at Kael. "What are you talking about? Who told you this?" She looked at Ru Yi. "Tell me this isn’t true." Lieyin’s face went pale when she got no response from Ru Yi.

For a moment, Ru Yi could hear nothing except the distant crackle of burning buildings.

Lieyin shook her head. "No. That’s impossible. There’s no way you would’ve worked with Empress Lihua. I mean...we were the ones that saved you from her."

Lieyin kept looking at Ru Yi. "Tell me he’s lying."

Ru Yi’s eyes filled with tears. She wanted to speak. She wanted to tell them that it wasn’t that simple, that she hadn’t known what she was doing. That she was only trying to protect herself...that she had never intended for any of this to happen.

But every explanation sounded pathetic now.

So she whispered the only truth she could manage. "He’s telling the truth."

Qingyue’s face went completely still.

Lieyin took a step backward.

Yexue closed her eyes. She had known all along, but had forgotten all about it. Wasn’t it all in the past? They could trust Ru Yi now.

Qingyue looked at Yexue. "You knew?"

Yexue’s lips parted. "Qingyue—"

"You knew?" The second question was quieter.

Yexue lowered her head. "Yes."

Qingyue stared at her for several seconds. Then she looked back at Ru Yi. "So it was you."

Ru Yi’s tears finally spilled. "I didn’t mean for you to be exiled."

"But we were." Qingyue’s voice remained painfully calm. "We were thrown out of the palace. We were stripped of our titles. Everyone made a laughing stock out of us."

Ru Yi shook her head. "I was afraid. The Empress forced me to drink—"

Qingyue laughed once, but it lacked every trace of humor. "Afraid." Her eyes dropped to the ring on her finger. "You let me believe we had lost everything because I was incompetent."

Ru Yi’s voice broke. "I thought I could fix it."

Qingyue finally raised her eyes. "You thought you could fix it?" There was pain in them now. Not rage. Pain. "Ru Yi, loyalty is the only thing I have ever asked from the people beside me."

Ru Yi covered her mouth to keep a sob from breaking out.

Qingyue continued. "I could forgive weakness. I could forgive fear. I could even forgive betrayal if you had looked me in the eye and told me the truth."

Her voice trembled. "But you let me swear my loyalty to you while hiding the truth that destroyed my life."

Ru Yi couldn’t breathe.

Lieyin suddenly laughed bitterly. "So that’s why." For the first time since their mother died—there were tears in her eyes. "Did you also laugh with them when we were thrown out of the palace? You must’ve thought we were pathetic. If you hadn’t done it, we would never have been exiled."

Ru Yi lowered her head. "I know."

"No." Lieyin’s voice cracked. "You don’t know." She stepped closer. "You don’t know what it was like watching the palace gates close."

Ru Yi flinched.

"You don’t know what it felt like knowing that we had done nothing to deserve it."

"I know I ruined your lives."

"You ruined ours because you decided yours was much more important." Lieyin’s tears fell freely now. "You decided that whatever you were hiding was more important than our right to know."

Qingyue reached for her sister’s arm, but Lieyin pulled away.

"I would have stayed." Lieyin’s voice broke. "I would have stayed even if you told me everything from the start."

Ru Yi’s chest hurt so badly she could barely breathe.

Yexue stepped forward. "Enough. We have bigger things to handle right now"

Lieyin turned toward her. "You knew what happened back then. Why didn’t you say anything?"

Yexue’s expression tightened. "Because I knew Empress Lihua threatened her life. Ru Yi is too simple minded to be playing palace politics. Besides, she had nothing to gain from it."

Qingyue’s eyes hardened. "You know what General Sheng? You want the lowly maid? You can have her." She reached over and grabbed Ru Yi by the collar of her robe. "Just make sure I never lay my eyes on her again.