Chapter 217 -

Chapter 217: Chapter

"We were just kids... There was nothing we could have done to win against the Empress. She was smart and powerful. I owe you no apology, Xiao Chen. You did everything you had to do because you wanted revenge. you want to avenge your mother and take over the throne."

Wenzhe looked at Xiao Chen.

"Even if we could turn back time, there is nothing the two of us could have done. I don’t want to side with anyone. I am a general, not political leverage for either of you to cling to. My only goal in this life is to protect the empire with everything in me. Who becomes Emperor is none of my business."

Wenzhe reached out and held Su Yueqing’s hands tightly. "Stop this already... It isn’t worth it."

"What are you talking about, Wenzhe?!" Yueqing said in a high-pitched, frustrated voice, pulling her hands back. "The Empress is evil! She doesn’t care who she hurts, all she wants is for her son to take the throne! You call yourself a general, but some battles aren’t fought with swords! Are you even aware of what your father is doing with the Empress?! He is working side-by-side with her! Every terrible deed she plans, he gets done! And that will be your future too, once the Crown Prince takes the throne!"

"Stop it!" Wenzhe shouted, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Stop talking, Yueqing! Just stop it... You don’t know what you are saying!"

Before Yueqing could shout back, a cold, dry laugh broke through the tense silence.

Xiao Chen stepped forward, pulling his arms behind his back. The bitter, hurt look on his face slowly hardened into something far deeper and colder.

"I don’t need anyone’s help," Xiao Chen said quietly, his dark eyes sweeping over both Wenzhe and Yueqing. "Neither of you needs to pity me or fight over my cause."

He paused, looking down at his own hands before lifting his head.

"When my mother died, I didn’t care about the kingdom," Xiao Chen continued, his voice dropping into a harsh whisper. "I only wanted to start a rebellion. I wanted to burn the imperial palace to the ground. I wanted to make the Empress pay for her cruelty, and I wanted the Emperor to bleed for his absolute stupidity and ignorance."

Yueqing kept her mouth shut, watching the prince closely.

"For years, that hatred was the only thing keeping me alive," Xiao Chen said, a faint, bitter smile touching his lips. "But then the Emperor exiled me to the borders. He sent me to the battlefield. I spent years living among the commoners and the frontline soldiers. I ate the same stale bread, slept on the same cold dirt, and watched families starve while the nobles in the capital drank sweet wine."

Xiao Chen looked straight into Wenzhe’s eyes.

"I saw how those poor people truly lived," Xiao Chen added, his voice firm and unwavering. "Their lives were miserable. They suffer every single day while the court plays dirty political games. That was when I realized my revenge was too small. I don’t just want to kill the Empress anymore. I want to sit on that throne so I can tear down this rotten system and give those people a real life."

He turned toward the heavy wooden door, his posture straight and proud.

"So do not worry, General Xi," Xiao Chen said coldly, glancing over his shoulder. "I will not beg for your army. I will fight this war my own way."

As Xiao Chen pulled open the heavy wooden door and left.

The room fell into a dead, uncomfortable silence.

Yueqing stood frozen, her heart thumping against her ribs. She looked down at Wenzhe’s hands, which were still gripping her shoulders. The heat of his palms burned through the fine fabric of her silk dress.

Slowly, Wenzhe lowered his arms. As he was field with guilt and anger.

[Oh, Nine,] Yueqing groaned in her mind, her shoulders sagging. [I really poked a sore spot, didn’t I? I mentioned his father...]

[Yeah, Host,] Nine snickered softly from his invisible spot near the ceiling. [You basically pointed out that Duke Xi is the Empress’s errand boy. That is like telling a proud general his spotless armor is actually covered in mud.]

Yueqing took a deep breath. She knew Wenzhe was fiercely loyal to his family, but he wasn’t blind. He knew his father was making dirty deals with the Empress to keep the Xi family safe. He just hated hearing the ugly truth stated so clearly out loud.

"Wenzhe..." Yueqing started softly, her usual chaotic tone disappearing.

Wenzhe did not answer right away. He turned his back to her, walking over to the wooden table where a quiet candle flickered.

"My father does what he must.. power and standing is something is what everyone want," Wenzhe said, his deep voice dangerously quiet. "You think I do not know what kind of woman the Empress is? You think I enjoy watching my father bow to her?"

He turned his head slightly, his sharp side profile lit by the dim candlelight.

"I fight on the borders so my hands stay clean of palace filth," he continued, each word heavy with quiet pain. "I thought if I won enough battles, the Emperor would respect the Xi family enough that we would not need the Empress’s protection. But the filth always finds a way to follow us."

Yueqing felt a sudden pang in her chest. For all his cold glares and stubborn block-of-wood behavior, Wenzhe was just a man trying to hold up a collapsing house with his bare hands.

She walked over to him, stopping just a step behind his tall frame.

"Fighting on the borders will not keep the mud off your boots forever, Wenzhe," Yueqing said gently, her voice clear and earnest. "The Crown Prince is already preparing to force your hand. If you stay silent and pretend you can stay neutral, your father’s choices will become your choices. Do you really want to become the Empress’s sword when the Crown Prince takes the throne?"

Wenzhe’s jaw tightened. He closed his eyes for a long moment, letting out a heavy, ragged breath.

When he opened his eyes, he turned around to face her. The cold anger was gone, replaced by a dark, intense focus as he looked down into her eyes.

"And you?" Wenzhe asked softly, stepping closer until there was barely any space left between them. "Why do you care so much, Yueqing? You used to ignore everything that happens. You only care about causing trouble and living your best life. Even if something wer ever to happen to the xi family one day.. you are the chancellor’s daughter.. you won’t be affected.. so why are you caring?"

He reached out, his warm fingers lightly brushing a stray lock of hair away from her cheek.

"What are you really trying to do?" he asked, his dark gaze locking onto hers with terrifying sharpness.

Yueqing’s breath hitched in her throat.

[Uhh...] she panicked internally, her cheeks warming up. [Because if you die, my whole life gets ruined, you big idiot! And because I actually don’t want to see you get turned into political meat!]

Nine snickered loudly in her head. [Go on, Host, tell him! Tell him you’re doing it all for his handsome face!]

[Shut up, Nine!] Yueqing snapped in her mind, forcing her brain to work fast.

She looked up into Wenzhe’s intense eyes and gave a small, confident smile.

"I told you," Yueqing said softly, her voice smooth and unwavering. "I am protecting my investment. And right now... my husband happens to be my biggest investment."

She grabbed his hands. "I don’t want you to one day die as a tyrant or a villain. B-because you aren’t one... and I don’t want you to become one. I don’t want you to work under those evil people and become something your father failed to stop himself from becoming... No, you don’t deserve that."

"Xiao Chen may have been fueled by revenge from the beginning, but he loves the empire just as much as you do. You say you don’t care who becomes Emperor, but I dare say this out loud: the future and lives of everyone in this empire will one day depend on their ruler. An evil ruler is the same as a destroyed kingdom. No one will survive or be happy."

Wenzhe went completely limp.

His rigid shoulders dropped, and the heavy, suffocating aura he always carried around him simply snapped. He stared at her, his dark eyes wide, utterly shattered by her words.

[Wait... DID I BROKE HIM?!] Yueqing shrieked in her head, her inner voice practically hitting a high C. [Nine! Nine, look at his arms! He looks like a deflated puppet! Did I give him a stroke with my speech?!]

[Host, you didn’t break him, you broke his entire life philosophy!] Nine yelled back, floating frantically in mid-air. [He’s having a full-blown existential crisis! Quick, say something before he turns into actual wood!]

Before Yueqing could scramble to fix it, Wenzhe leaned his heavy weight forward, resting his forehead straight onto her shoulder with a exhausted sigh.

Yueqing froze, her breath hitching as the scary, unyielding General Xi buried his face against her neck like a beaten dog.

"You..." Wenzhe rasped out, his voice dangerously low and dangerously close to her ear. "You really know how to wreck a man, Yueqing..."