Chapter 24

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He took a step back, leaned against the wall, closed his eyes slightly, and seemed to be struggling hard, his expression was extremely complex and painful for a moment. Zhu Yan couldn’t help but feel very nervous. If this illusion can’t completely confuse the other person, will it cause any damage to him? And what damage will it cause to herself?

As she watched Yuan struggle, the more she thought about it, the more frightened she became, the more she released her fingers holding the spell.

“Yes, I’m sorry,” she said, trembling. “I…”

But before she could say anything, he shook his body and opened his eyes wide. He raised his arm and suddenly slapped her in the face with the back of his hand. At that moment, Yuan’s eyes were so fierce like she never seen them before, no longer possessing the usual gentleness, sharp like an unsheathed blade.

“You are not Yao Yi!” He snapped, “Who on earth are you? Why are you pretending to be her?”

His hand was so heavy that covered her entire face with that single slap; she staggered against the wall and stared at him blankly, wondering for a moment what was going on.

Just now Yuan unexpectedly broke through her own magic spell and forcibly woke up from the illusion of the mind deception! He… Where did he get this power? Even a cultivated wizard can’t get rid of Jiuyi’s magic so quickly!

“Who on earth are you?” Yuan looked at her, his pupils slowly gathered anger, suddenly grabbed her by the neck, pressed her against the wall, and snapped, “How dare you pretend to be Yao Yi!”

“Let go, let go!” In pain and shock, she was speechless for a moment. “I am…”

The fear of the heart gave way to the illusion, and began to collapse little by little. At that moment, as if a mask had been lifted, the illusory appearance was shattered and fell from her face like ashes. After the mask had been removed, all that remained was a girl’s face full of shame and anger.

“Ah-Yan? How could it be you?” Yuan, who was already sober, recognized her at a glance, took a step back like he has just received an electric shock, and looked at her firmly, “Are you crazy! What do you want to do? Was it… Did someone instructed you to do that? Who was it?”

She was frozen there, and for a moment she felt her whole body trembling. At that moment, even if she had never been in love, she knew the answer in an instant: because the moment he woke up from the spell and saw her, he felt nothing but shock, incredible anger and uncontrollable suspicion. He even thought she was ordered to frame him!

“Nobody instructed me!” She stomped her foot and cried out suddenly, “I… I wanted to do it!”

Yuan took a breath and looked at her in disbelief, looking pale for a moment.

“You… What did you…”? He tried his best to break the deadlock, but he didn’t know what to do; Yes, the innocent child in his memory has grown up and turned into a slim girl in front of him, like a bud waiting to be released, with the same brilliance and beauty of a desert red thorn flower. It really resembles the Yao Yi of that year.

It’s a pity that time is a river that never flows back, those things that have passed, it will never be possible to be pursued again by the people in the future.

“All right, all right, don’t cry.” He was a little confused for a moment, and only said, “Don’t cry! Did I hurt you just now?”

“Uh hu hu…” She couldn’t bear it anymore, she threw herself into his arms, crying more and more sadly.

However, she did not know that her personal maid servant, afraid of an accident, had already secretly run to the mother Imperial Concubine and reported everything she saw of that night incidents quickly. When her father the King and the Queen rushed over to see what was happening, they were taken by surprise to find that she was crying in Yuan’s arms, trembling all over, she didn’t even care about tidying up her clothes, full of grievance and anger.

In front of such a scene, her father immediately roared like thunder, and the Imperial Concubine immediately rushed to hold her in her arms and shouted her name repeatedly, asking her if she had been bullied by the shark slave. She refused to say a word, she just cried dimly, with shame, shame and anger.

She wasted so many years of selfish admiration, did not hesitate to put down her dignity, tried every means, and even unscrupulously used the spells she had learned. In the end, it was only for such a result!

In the roar of the father, the guards came up and grabbed Yuan. He didn’t try to resist, but silently took out a golden medal from his sleeve and placed it in front of everyone; That was the death-free iron token given to him by the previous Red King a hundred years ago, the inscription states that this man has made great achievements for the country, and none of the descendants of the Red Clan can ever sentence this person to death.

However the father was so angry that he roared like thunder, he couldn’t care less about his death-free token, he just shouted: “A lowly slave, how dare you insult my daughter! It doesn’t matter to me if you have a golden token, it’s useless! Men! Get him out of here right away, have him split up by five horses!”

“Stop it!” At that moment, she suddenly pushed away her mother and shouted, “If anyone dares to touch him, I will die here in front of you to see!”

Everyone immediately quieted down and turned to look at her.

She cried awkwardly, with tears all over her face, but raised her face, looked at the father, and said loudly: “This has nothing to see with Yuan! It’s… I seduce him! But unfortunately, I… did not succeed. So… So, you actually didn’t have much to lose, so naturally you don’t have to embarrass him.”

The words stunned the whole audience until the Red King slapped his daughter in the face, knocked her to the ground and kicked her hard.

“Shameless!” The Red King gritted his teeth and his eyes become injected with blood, “Shut up!”

“I like Yuan!” Her head was twisted to one side and she turn it back stubbornly, with a trace of blood on the corner of her lips, staring at her father fiercely. “I won’t shut up! What’s so shameful about this? If you’re ashamed, I will leave with him at once!”

The Red King was trembling with anger: “Don’t you dare take one step out, I’ll break your legs!”

“Break my legs, I will still crawl!” She stood up from the ground, broke free from her mother’s arms and went out. The attendant next to her did not dare to stop her nor to let her go, he could only look at her awkwardly.

However, as soon as she walked to the door, she was held by a hand.

Yuan stood there looking at her, and shook his head slightly: “Don’t do stupid things.”

At that moment, as if she was hit hard, the tears in her eyes suddenly flow out again: “You… don’t you want me?”

“Thank you for liking me so much, Ah-Yan. But I don’t like you, and I don’t need you to go with me.” Yuan said in a calm tone, “You are too young, and the fate that belongs to you has not arrived yet… Keep your heart, and save it to those who will truly love you in the future.”

He took off her hand that was holding onto his sleeve, then turned and left.

“Yuan!” She shouted heartbreakingly, trying to get out, but was hugged tightly by her mother.

That night, Yuan was expelled from the Red King’s Mansion where he had lived for a hundred years. The Red King did not allow him to take anything away, and ordered that he would not be allowed to step into the Celestial Wind City for the rest of his life. He did not resist, but silently put down the death-free golden token and walked into the night alone. As he left, he looked back at her, but didn’t said a word.

That was the last time she ever seen him.

After that night, she fell ill and lay drowsy for two months, without water and rice, and refusing to say a word.

Granny Sheng came to spend the long summer with her, and watched her come back to life slowly in the fall, freshen up, drink, eat meat, dance before the campfire every night, and go hunting with friends during the day. During that time, she was partying almost day and night, and the whole city was filled with excitement.

After making such a fuss for a long year, the entire Western Wasteland was talking about her so much that her father finally couldn’t stand it anymore. He came forward and chose her a husband, and the next year he hastily married her into Susa Haru. Then came the thrilling accident of a few months ago.

After expelling Yuan from the country that night, fearing that the scandal of the palace might be revealed by accident, the attendants who knew what had happened that night had been secretly disposed of by her father one by one, leaving only this reliable confidant, the old Nanny. From then on, no one in the whole palace knew about it anymore…

It was as if the night’s commotion had consumed the little bit of light and warmth in the young girl’s heart. Sixteen-year-old Zhu Yan had remained silent for a long time, and had never spoken of the man who had disappeared, ever again.

It was the first love of her life, but it ended in such a mess.

Yuan… Where is he right now? Sitting in the swaying carriage, Zhu Yan gently stroked the pendant he gave her with her fingertips, and sighed as she looked at Yecheng getting closer and closer.

There was already a small gap in the jade ring that Yuan gave to her. It was during the chaos of that night that she accidentally cracked when she dropped it to the ground and could no longer repair it.

The ring, which was originally so round and full, has become a broken circle. *

Maybe when Yuan first gave her this pendant, he expected her to be happy all her life. But when she returned home from Jiuyi Mountain, he finally decided to leave. Two years passed in a flash, she was eighteen years old now, married and widowed already, her life had its ups and downs, drifting from one end of the Wasteland to another, but she still did not know what her fate was. And she still had no news about Yuan, just like a yellow crane gone forever, disappearing into her life.

Yao Yi… Yao Yi.

The name he blurted out was like a thorn in her heart. If there is a chance to see him again in this life, she must ask him in person, who this woman was?

At the beginning of twilight, their caravan finally reached the feet of Yecheng.

As the auxiliary city of the Imperial Capital of Jialan, Yecheng’s geographical location is extremely important. It is located at the mouth of Jinghu, with Mirror Lake on one side and Biluohai in the south on the other side. It is controlled by the Bai Clan who produced all the Queens of Kongsang in the previous dynasties. Since ancient times, it has been the most prosperous and affluent city on the entire land of Yunhuang.

It was getting dark. Seen from this side of the official road, this city with a history of thousands of years seems to be floating in the clouds, majestic and magnificent, with painted beams and buildings stacked one on top of each other. After nightfall, the city was brightly lit, like dots of dense stars, more like a city floating in the sky.

“Here we are!” She could no longer help cheering and sweeping away her depression.

However, the first scout rode back and knelt on one knee to announce a disappointing news: “Reporting to the Princess, we arrived late and the gate has been already closed for night.”

* Ring – Return – 环——还, Pendant – Decision – 玦——决

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