Chapter 707 - 211: Hidden Within the Palace, Two Fires Unite

Chapter 707: Chapter 211: Hidden Within the Palace, Two Fires Unite

He inquired with Gu Yaojue and learned that the Barbarian Queen had given birth to a healthy baby boy a month ago, yet... she did so at the Zhenyan Clan and did not even consider visiting here.

Not only did she not visit, but she also did not invite them to the full moon celebration.

Neither Zhenyan Xue nor Li Ping’an, nor anyone else was invited.

Zhenyan Xue was utterly angry and had fallen ill, bedridden.

Li Yuan listened and slightly frowned before asking Gu Yaojue to lead him to Zhenyan Xue’s tent.

Inside, the woman lay amidst soft wolf skins, with heavy breaths hinting at her troubled breathing.

Her eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the lively flames on the thick leather of the tent, not turning at any sound.

Until Li Yuan gently called: "Xiao Xue."

Zhenyan Xue finally turned her head slightly, surprised, looking at Li Yuan.

Li Yuan approached.

Zhenyan Xue tenderly stroked his snowy white hair and spoke shakily: "The children... they’ve all grown up... we... we’ve grown old..."

Li Yuan replied: "When we first met, it was only twenty years ago. There’s still a long way to go in life, how come we’ve grown old?"

Zhenyan Xue said: "Zhenyan Huang has been bewitched by that demoness, having a child yet didn’t call us, it’s like he’s cut off all contact! He’s being toyed with by a woman, foolish, foolish indeed! Cough, cough, cough...

I used to often stew nourishing soups and send them to that demoness to replenish her body, yet she apparently never even considered us.

Perhaps she never wanted to keep us around, it’s only because we were well-behaved and caused her no trouble that she spared us."

Her words, though subtle, were increasingly filled with resentment and anger.

Li Yuan ruffled the hair of this former Queen Mother.

In his memory, Zhenyan Xue had been a silly girl, quick to say "Why spend money, just take what you need," but now she had long shed her childish appearance.

"Take care and live happily," Li Yuan said.

Zhenyan Xue replied: "I... I can’t swallow this anger!"

Li Yuan said: "Huang’Er’s woman alone can overturn the Barbarians, what good is not swallowing this anger?"

"You!"

Zhenyan Xue sat up in a huff, then turned her head, "Is this what you can actually say?"

Li Yuan hugged her tightly, gently patting her back, and laughed: "Children have their own blessings; moreover, aren’t I still watching?"

Zhenyan Xue asked: "Then... what is your plan?"

Li Yuan did not answer, but suddenly asked: "Why did we name our son with the character Huang?"

Zhenyan Xue replied: "A lifetime of glory."

Li Yuan said: "With the demoness’s assistance, can he truly have a lifetime of glory?"

Zhenyan Xue fell silent...

She suddenly realized.

The one obstructing the Barbarian King’s path wasn’t that demoness, but herself.

The demoness was capable of commanding numerous two-headed wolves and might even have three-headed wolves in the future; she seemed intent on accompanying Huang’Er in conquering the Central Plains, bringing the world’s territories under their realm...

Huang’Er had a lifespan of merely thirty or forty years, isn’t such a glorious life exactly what he desires?

If one were to say he was being toyed with by that demoness, yet clearly it was the Barbarian Army, even the Two-headed Wolf, that Huang’Er was commanding.

Thus, Huang’Er was exceedingly busy, busy enough to forget inviting his own parents...

Perhaps he thought Meng Xingxian would do so, but upon discovering it wasn’t done, he couldn’t blame Meng Xingxian much, promising only to return when he could, offering an apologetic smile to his old father and mother.

Meng Xingxian, meanwhile, evidently wanted to exclude these elders entirely from the center of power, their exclusion being a form of "sparing them"... one could imagine, if indeed there had been fierce conflict between Li Yuan and Meng Xingxian, they might not have just faced neglect but something else entirely.

"Xiao Xue, have you understood?"

Li Yuan asked.

He did not receive an answer, only a heavy sigh.

Zhenyan Xue sighed.

Li Yuan whispered in her ear: "Glory comes with sacrifices; heroes are often lonely.

Why?

Simply because heroes bear so much, they can only offer so little to those close to them...

We are the child’s parents, if we can’t understand him, who else can in this world?

Even if he returns so little to us, we should still be filled with love for him."

Zhenyan Xue was silent for a long time, softly agreeing: "You’re right..."

Li Yuan lifted his hand to gently play with the ends of her hair, and suddenly laughed: "Too empty."

"What?" Zhenyan Xue didn’t understand.

Li Yuan said: "Missing a branch of peach blossom.

At this time, the peach blossoms at the Imperial Capital Celestial Master’s Mansion are in full bloom, tomorrow... I’ll pick one for you."

...

...

The next day, Li Yuan went to the dilapidated Celestial Master’s Mansion, plucking the most brilliant peach blossom amidst its desolation.

As fate would have it, he did not encounter the drinking man he accidentally met that day.

After plucking the flower, he returned to the Western Pole Permafrost, gently placing the impossible-to-appear-in-Eternal-Night-Wind-Snow’s vibrant blossom onto Zhenyan Xue’s hair.

Zhenyan Xue slightly shook her head before the copper mirror.

A fresh peach fragrance lingered into her nose.

Suddenly her eyes reddened, followed by tears flowing down as she turned and buried herself in Li Yuan’s embrace, crying bitterly.

Li Yuan comforted her like a child, softly caressing her back, combing her long hair.

The woman’s life seemed to pass through his fingertips.

From innocence and purity to profound nobility, now everything settled, like a cycle returning to the beginning.

The Barbarians are mighty, yet they all don’t live long.

Zhenyan Xue is the same.

But ah...

He will continue to live for a long, long time.

An inexplicable, gentle loneliness surged within his heart.