Reign of the Phoenix

Murong Zhining turned back at once and flashed Chiyun Yuexuan a mischievous look. “Let General Chiyun marry Princess Jingrong himself.”

Chiyun Yuexuan tightened his arms around her waist and warned, “Naughty girl, not afraid of being punished again? Your husband only needs you! In the three thousand rivers, I take only a ladle of Ning’er water.”

Murong Zhining leaned on his chest. “But… I…”

Chiyun Yuexuan blew into her ear. “No buts. Don’t even dream of leaving me without my consent.”

Murong Zhining hit him in the chest with the back of her head. “I mean General Wu doesn’t want to be a princess’ husband, so I only helped him come up with an idea.”

Chiyun Yuexuan bent over and nibbled on her ear. “You dare? You are pushing your husband into the fire pit! Be a good girl and don’t add to the fuss. It’s his fortune to marry the princess.”

Wu Siyuan sighed with feeling. “If I don’t enter the fire pit, who will…”

As the group chatted and laughed on the way, time soon trickled towards noon. Chiyun Yuexuan leaned over and asked Murong Zhining, “Is my lady hungry yet? Tired?”

Murong Zhining, who was riding side saddle, put her arms around his waist.”Not tired, just a little hungry.”

Chiyun Yuexuan shouted to Wu Siyuan, “Send someone to speed ahead to the nearest inn and have the food prepared. There must be hot food ready when Princess arrives.”

Wu Siyuan dared not neglect and immediately sent a soldier.

In the carriage, Cai Sang frowned and shook her head. “Has this beast lost a soul or something? How did he become like this?”

Luo Siyao sneered, “I have never seen a servant like you. Are you hoping your master to be well or unwell? Also, don’t always beast beast beast, where do you place Princess here? A servant must have the fear and respect due their masters.”

Murong Zhining hugged Chiyun Yuexuan, leaning on his arms asleep. Chiyun Yuexuan careful embraced her like he was holding a porcelain doll that’d fall to pieces if he just neglected it for but a second, his heart bittersweet. When he had learned that Murong Zhining remembered her nanny, he had been a little panicked. It scared him that Murong Zhining would shun him again after recovering her memories.

Chiyun Yuexuan recalled the night the bandits captured them, when Murong Zhining had abandoned him. He feared that feeling of heart-broken, that suffocating despair.

As his arms around her tightened a bit too much, Murong Zhining twisted her body. She mumbled in her sleep inaudibly, “The emperor plays the song ‘Drifting Smoke in Han Palace’ very well. Only a good qin like Sonorous can convey the artistic conception of this piece so well.”

Chiyun Yuexuan leaned close to her. When he heard her mumbling, a sharp pain ran through his heart felt as if a needle pricked it.

Murong Zhining felt the clasped arms around her waist getting tighter and tighter. She cracked her eyes open and felt an inexplicable peace of mind when she saw Chiyun Yuexuan. “Husband, you are holding too tight, Ning’er can’t breath.”

Angry, Chiyun Yuexuan exerted more force in his arms. “You called out someone else’s name in your dream. I didn’t think you still needed your husband.”

Murong Zhining sat up straight. “Ning’er had a dream just now, of Sonorous. That qin doesn’t exist at all, it’s said to have been smashed by King Zhuang of Chu, but it appeared in my dream. Ning’er also dreamed of a person, but Ning’er doesn’t know him.”

Chiyun Yuexuan had this inkling that her memory was slowly recovering. He tried to feel out, “Do you still remember Green Damask?”

Murong Zhining’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “How can Sima Xiangru’s Green Damask something any ordinary people can see? It’s only possible to see such a great qin in your dream.”

Chiyun Yuexuan was depressed and angry. “Looks like the emperor’s position in your heart far exceeds that of mine, huh?”

Murong Zhining dejectedly hung her head. “Ning’er only had a dream yet it made you unhappy. Ning’er will never dream again.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into his chest. Chiyun Yuexuan responded to her with indifference.

The cavalcade stopped in front of an inn with fluttering wine flags. Chiyun Yuexuan dismounted and lifted Murong Zhining off the horse, his face still frosty. Murong Zhining ran after him and pulled on his hand, but he shook her off gently.

Five tables full of food had been set up inside the inn. Wu Siyuan took Chiyun Yuexuan and Murong Zhining to the innermost table and especially asked the innkeeper to bring a screen to separate it. Then, he left to lead everyone else to the other four tables outside the screen. After days being on the move, the soldiers were quite happy to have a proper meal after a long time.

Chiyun Yuexuan sat opposite to Murong Zhining in a visibly low mood. Grabbing a pot of wine, he poured it down his throat.

Murong Zhining moved next to him and tugged at his clothes. “Are you still angry at Ning’er?”

Chiyun Yuexuan brushed her hand away and ignored her, only keeping on drinking his wine.

Murong Zhining lower her head and sat back on the seat opposite him, eating her meal sullenly. When Chiyun Yuexuan finished drinking the whole pot of wine, he called the server, “Bring another jar of wine. Also, serve wine for the tables out there.”

Wu Siyuan immediately ran in. “General Chiyun, what is going on? How are we going to set out later if those brats get all drunk?”

Chiyun Yuexuan coldly said, “What set out? This general is going back there to die? Rushing to send the princess to Huayan so she can return to her true love? ”

Wu Siyuan patted him on the shoulder. “General, what’s the fuss about? You’ve gone through great lengths to take Princess away, what’s the problem now?”

Chiyun Yuexuan shot Murong Zhining a fierce glare. “They all say I came to Shangxia to steal the princess, but who knows that I was only making the wedding clothes for someone else and welcoming the bride for our Emperor Yan Feng while I’m at it. ”

Wu Siyuan called Cai Sang in, “Cai Sang, take Princess outside for some air. I’ll accompany the general for a drink.”

Cai Sang rolled her eyes at Chiyun Yuexuan and took Murong Zhining outside.

Wu Siyuan snatched the wine cup from Chiyun Yuexuan’s hand. “General often teaches me to speak with discretion, to know my position, and I always keep this in mind. Whatever you’re angry about, let’s just let it out here and now. When you return to the capital, you cannot be acting temperamental like this in front of the emperor.”

Nursing a bitter heart, Chiyun Yuexuan soon got drunk and let the alcohol took over his head. He smashed a bowl, his voice terrifyingly furious, “I was f*cking stupid for thinking that that she lost her memory. It’s only me she forgot about.”

Seeing that it was impossible to calm Chiyun Yuexuan down, Wu Siyuan rented down the whole inn and ordered the soldiers to go rest. Then, he asked the server to send the food and drinks to a room and coaxed Chiyun Yuexuan into that room.

Cai Sang and Luo Siyao escorted Murong Zhining back to a room. The sudden change in Chiyun Yuexuan’s attitude frightened Murong Zhining. Helplessly hugging her shoulders as she sat on the bed, she wouldn’t let Cai Sang and Luo Siyao near her. “You guys just go, I want to be alone.”

After Luo Siyao pulled the reluctant Cai Sang to withdraw from the room, Murong Zhining rushed to the door and bolted it.

Curling up on the bed’s corner, her tears kept falling. In this world where she had forgotten everyone, it had taken her great effort to trust Chiyun Yuexuan and regard him as the only one she could rely on, but his actions just now dropped her into the midst of fear all over again.

Although Murong Zhining had forgotten everything, she hadn’t lost her ability to judge things. She once regarded Gao Chenghao as her only family, but Gao Chenghao used her as a hostage to exchange for the treasure at the most dangerous juncture with no concern for her life. Meanwhile, Chiyun Yuexuan who always looked cold had taken good care of her, treating her with tenderness and courtesy all the way through.

Murong Zhining still remembered his agonizing scream that night she fled, the despair in his voice tore at her heart. When Chiyun Yuexuan had drained the supposedly poisoned wine for her sake with no hesitation, she was convinced that he once existed in her life, and that she must be the person he loved the most.

Murong Zhining hugged her head. At the peak of her fear and confusion, scattered and chaotic memories flashed in her mind: Chiyun Yuexuan held a red-hot iron seal with an expressionless face while she was pinned to the ground like a lamb to be slaughtered. A sharp pain ran through her, and she could feel that the pain had come from her very heart. Accompanied by the smell of burnt flesh, she heard the sound of her heart withering and falling to the ground.

…

Chiyun Yuexuan chugged down cup after cup of wine until he fell unconscious. Wu Siyuan helped him to the bed and tucked him in under the blankets, then tiptoed out of the room and closed the door.

Cai Sang and Luo Siyao sat on the steps of the inn stairs, looking at each other without a word. Seeing them like this, Wu Siyuan asked, “Why are you two lazing out here instead of taking care of the princess?”

Luo Siyao sighed, “It’s servants like us who are blamed all the time for everything. We were thrown out.”

Wu Siyuan wryly shook his head. “I see. It’s a good thing to let them calm down separately. Go, go to my room. I’ll play with you guys.”

When it was dinner time, both Chiyun Yuexuan and Murong Zhining didn’t leave their rooms for dinner. Wu Siyuan arranged meals for the soldiers and said, “There is a small town nearby. You lot can go there for a stroll after dinner but must be back before Hog (9-11 pm). Whoever passes this curfew shall be punished by military law. And remember, do not cause any trouble. We still have to continue on our way tomorrow morning.”

The soldiers cheered at this rare opportunity to relax. Luo Siyao and Cai Sang also wanted to go, but Murong Zhining needed someone to attend to her.

The clever and sensible Luo Siyao looked at Cai Sang and said, “I often run around with the army and have seen a lot of things already. You go out with them, I’ll take care of Princess.”

Cai Sang nodded excitedly. “Thanks Siyao, please take good care of Princess. Don’t forget to have the kitchen cook some porridge for her later.”

Luo Siyao knocked on the door gently. “Princess, please don’t make it difficult for this servant, open the door. I have brought you some porridge. You didn’t eat lunch properly, so if you don’t have something for dinner, you’ll starve yourself.”

Murong Zhining answered, “Siyao, please go, I will ask you to deliver food when I want to eat.” Her voice was tired and weak.

Chiyun Yuexuan stood behind Luo Siyao. After the alcohol had passed, he just wanted to see Murong Zhining.

Luo Siyao turned around and bowed. “General, Princess has kept herself in her room since noon, and hasn’t let us send in any water either.”

Chiyun Yuexuan was already regretting throwing his temper with Murong Zhining. Luo Siyao’s words made him even more distressed. “Ning’er, open the door. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have been angry at you. I won’t dare again.”

Murong Zhining coldly replied, “General has the right to vent your emotions. Everyone has their own personality and there is no right or wrong. I only want to be alone and undisturbed.”

Chiyun Yuexuan sighed, “As long as you are willing to drink some porridge, no one will disturb you further. Be a good girl, open the door.”

Murong Zhining didn’t respond.

Luo Siyao tried to calm Chiyun Yuexuan who seemed like he was literally walking on pins and needles. “Please calm down, General. Princess is just throwing a little tantrum. Let’s let her be for now.”

However, Chiyun Yuexuan was so anxious that his heart and lungs felt like being scratched at. “Ning’er, be nice and open the door, let Siyao pass you the porridge. I promise that no one will disturb you after this.”

Luo Siyao implored, “Princess, please don’t make it hard on this servant. I won’t be able to afford it if your delicate and precious body collapse from hunger.”

Being nagged helpless, Murong Zhining unwillingly opened a crack in the door. In this instant, Chiyun Yuexuan seized this chance and flashed into the room.