"When have I ever been scolded by someone?" sighed the Emperor of Xiyun. "At that moment I was dumbfounded for quite a while before regaining my senses. And when I did, right before me, Yi Er was like the War God himself, dispatching one enemy after another."
"Hundreds of men," the Emperor of Xiyun lamented, "all attacking Yi Er alone. The air was thick with the smell of blood, and Yi Er was covered in it too – his own blood, the enemies’ blood. Blood coated his body, dripped from his arms, and from his red tassel spear – not even having time to fall before his next movement caused blood to rain down again."
"Even I got splattered with the blood of the enemies he killed – on my body, my face, my hands. I too became a person drenched in blood."
"But I wasn’t afraid. Instead, hope rose in my heart. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could be saved by this soldier."
As he spoke, the Emperor of Xiyun seemed to return to that day, standing behind Xiao Changyi, who in turn was in front of him, killing each enemy that came their way.
"Back then, he was fearless, invincible. Watching him fight off enemies alone, his silhouette was lonely yet as majestic as a mountain. You say he’s a War God, but he also gave off the impression that he hoped, in defeating all the enemies, he himself would be slain."
At this point, the Emperor of Xiyun’s voice choked up, he swallowed with difficulty: "Jingjing, although in the end he wasn’t killed, he was badly wounded. The moment he got me to safety, he collapsed, remaining unconscious for seven days before finally awakening."
"I asked him why he never spoke, even though he could. He didn’t answer me, just looked as if he was ready to face death, indifferent to whether he’d be killed or sliced apart... Jingjing," the Emperor of Xiyun suddenly sighed again, his voice cracking even more, "I’ve never met anyone like him – not afraid of death, not afraid of me, not afraid of anyone. He’s not afraid of anything; he just fears he won’t die."
"Back then, I didn’t quite understand why he was like that, why anyone would be like that. But after the spy went to his hometown and reported back to me about his situation, I began to understand his feelings – to him, living was worse than dying."
An Jing remained silent, but her heart ached.
Back then, her husband had no one to care for him or worry about him, just a lonely One Person. He even thought that he was responsible for Uncle Liu’s death and was deeply guilt-ridden, everyone else seemed to wish he were dead, so he didn’t see the point in living. Naturally, to him, living felt worse than dying.
The Emperor of Xiyun continued: "With his extraordinary skills and having saved me, I naturally couldn’t let him remain a mere soldier. Thus, after his wounds healed, I kept him by my side to protect me."
"I didn’t blame him for his silence; I was, in fact, filled with curiosity about him. He was the first person to dare scold me, and to be honest, I wanted him to speak again. His silence was so strange that later on, whenever I had some free time, I liked to talk to him, tease him, trying to make him open his mouth to speak. I once had a parrot that would speak only after much coaxing from me. I thought that one day, he too could be coaxed into talking by me."
"Half a month later, I finally teased him into speaking. The first thing he said was, ’If you annoy me again, I’ll kill you!’"
An Jing: "..." How annoying must you have been to have driven my husband to say that to you?
...Crown Prince, you’re definitely your father’s son!