149. Obtaining the Tally

Why must it be so unfair?

Yu Zhiyang asked himself why he had never done the slightest harm to her. Yet she chose to throw herself into Zhan Lianjing's arms.

The one thing he could not bear to see above all else was Le Qianxue marrying Zhan Lianjing.

"Say something!" Yu Zhiyang lost control for the very first time. He stared fixedly at Le Qianxue, his gaze carrying a somewhat terrifying intensity. "Le Qianxue, in your eyes, is Zhan Lianjing always right in everything he says and does? Must your boundless tolerance be reserved for him alone? My own hands did not kill your father, yet Zhan Lianjing nearly took Yuan Tianci's life with his own hands!"

A tightness gripped Le Qianxue's chest, almost making it impossible for her to breathe properly.

She shifted her hand slightly, causing the iron chains to rattle and clink.

Le Qianxue fell into a momentary daze as she thought carefully. "Perhaps, when it comes to him, I truly can never find it in my heart to hate him."

Yu Zhiyang's composure shattered in an instant. He grabbed Le Qianxue's hand and found it shockingly cold.

He demanded, "I don't understand. What is it that you love about him?"

Le Qianxue looked right back at him, speaking every single word with deliberate clarity: "If you love someone, can you ever explain it clearly?"

Yu Zhiyang froze. Indeed, he could not.

He had asked himself the same question before, but there was truly no answer.

He stood up, no longer wishing to force Le Qianxue. Trapped as she was, leaving was simply out of the question.

Right now, the entire world believed Le Qianxue to be dead, and Zhan Lianjing would never be able to find this place.

Imprisoned within this tiny room, she could neither leave nor ever lay eyes upon the outside world again.

Yet Yu Zhiyang would come to visit every few days. At first, Le Qianxue would spare him a few glances, but later on she simply went about her own business, ignoring him entirely.

Yu Zhiyang found it unbearable at first, but eventually, he made peace with it. As long as Le Qianxue remained here, she was at least not in Zhan Lianjing's arms—what else was there for him to be unhappy about?

Things were already acceptable as they were; why demand anything more?

With nothing to occupy her time, Le Qianxue simply read medical texts. Yu Zhiyang would order people to deliver numerous medical books to her, and she could finish an entire volume in a single day, diligently taking notes of her own. She approached it with absolute seriousness.

From Yu Zhiyang's perspective, Le Qianxue seemed completely unconcerned about the prospect of being locked away for life, nor did she ever harbor any thoughts of escape.

Gradually growing suspicious, Yu Zhiyang assigned several more guards to watch over her.

Half a month drifted by in this manner, yet Le Qianxue remained unchanged, showing no unusual behavior whatsoever.

Only then did Yu Zhiyang set his mind at ease. Having recently lost her father, she was probably still recovering from the blow and lacked the energy to ponder such things.

On this particular day, Yu Zhiyang came to visit once again and noticed her practicing calligraphy. Her handwriting was exceptionally delicate and refined.

He remarked, "In the past, when you pretended you didn't know how to write, His Imperial Majesty had me tutor you, and you deliberately wrote poorly."

Normally, Le Qianxue would not have bothered to respond to him, but today she unexpectedly spoke in a pleasant mood: "Writing poorly requires a certain level of skill, otherwise you wouldn't think it's so easy to achieve a look like this."

A wave of joy washed over Yu Zhiyang. Seeing that she was willing to converse made him immensely happy.

His maidservant had already reported that Le Qianxue hardly spoke a single word all day long, sometimes going two or three days without uttering a sound, which had worried him sick.

He pulled up a chair and sat down. "You're finally speaking. It seems your spirits are quite good today."

Le Qianxue laid down her brush, glanced over at a medical text, and said, "Actually, my spirits are fine most days. It's just that you suddenly sent a bunch of guards here for no reason. With so many people around, it was noisy enough to drive someone crazy, and naturally, my mood soured."

Yu Zhiyang asked, "So it was just the crowd that bothered you? Why didn't you say anything to me?"

Le Qianxue continued, "You were afraid I would run away, which is why you posted so many guards. If I had complained, you probably would have sent even more."

Yu Zhiyang laughed in spite of himself. "I wouldn't have gone that far. Very well, I'll have some of the guards withdrawn later so you can have some peace and quiet."

Le Qianxue nodded and said nothing more on the subject.

Yu Zhiyang didn't mind. After all, Le Qianxue used to say absolutely nothing at all; now that she was willing to exchange a few words with him, things would surely improve gradually over time.

For the entire afternoon, Le Qianxue spent her time writing notes to pass the hours. When she ran out of ink, the maidservant wanted to step forward and grind it, but Yu Zhiyang volunteered to do it himself.

Le Qianxue glanced over and smiled, the curve of her lips just right, carrying a peculiar warmth.

Seeing this, Yu Zhiyang naturally felt elated, his mood brightening considerably.

When it was time for him to leave, he withdrew half of the guards. Still habitually cautious, however, he left people behind to keep an eye on Le Qianxue's every move.

Over the next few days, Le Qianxue remained the same, exhibiting no strange actions whatsoever.

Yu Zhiyang's heart settled completely. He knew that Le Qianxue spent some time every day reciting scriptures as a way to mourn Le Yongcheng.

It appeared she had still not recovered from the devastating blow, so he stopped worrying.

Meanwhile, over the past few days, the aged Emperor had fallen into frequent, prolonged stupors. Empress Yang, eager to seize power, was conspiring with Yu Hanxiang to stir up trouble, plunging the imperial court into utter chaos.

More seriously, the Kingdom of Liang suddenly launched an invasion, massing its troops along the borders of the Tianlong Kingdom and breaching several cities with unstoppable momentum, proving formidable indeed.

Panic instantly spread among the common people, not to mention the court officials, who all desperately hoped Zhan Lianjing would lead the army to repel the invaders.

Yet this presented a difficult dilemma. With Le Qianxue, Zhan Lianjing's fiancée, having recently died, he refused to grant an audience to anyone who came, regardless of who they were. Prime Minister Yang had visited several times only to return in anger.

As for the hundred thousand elite troops under Le Yongcheng's command, the situation was even worse. Even though Empress Yang ransacked the entire General's Estate, she failed to find the military tally.

Without the tally, those hundred thousand soldiers could not be mobilized. Furthermore, with the aged Emperor lying unconscious, there was no way to issue orders for troop deployment.

Yu Zhiyang knew the Kingdom of Liang was simply taking advantage of their vulnerability. Sparing no effort, he somehow managed to mobilize several tens of thousands of troops from elsewhere, dispatching them to the frontier under the command of a minor deputy general.

Only then was the invading Liang army temporarily halted, though the situation at the border remained critical. Yu Zhiyang was worked to the point of exhaustion, handling affairs non-stop.

Once he finally managed to sort through the chaos, he finally found the time to visit Le Qianxue.

Initially gripped by a lingering sense of apprehension, he breathed a profound sigh of relief upon arriving and seeing Le Qianxue still safe and sound.

Over a month had passed, and Le Qianxue seemed to have genuinely grown accustomed to this way of life.

Today, he even brought along a food box filled with the pastries she usually favored.

Observing his appearance, she remarked, "You seem to have lost a great deal of weight."

A warmth bloomed in Yu Zhiyang's chest. Yu Guohan was dead, and Yu Hanxiang continually coveted the position of Crown Prince, while his imperial father remained incapacitated.

With so many matters demanding his attention and only an hour or two of sleep each night, weight loss was inevitable.

Yet Le Qianxue's simple expression of concern made him genuinely happy.

"There are too many pressing matters at court," Yu Zhiyang said softly.

Gazing at Le Qianxue now, his fatigue seemed to dissipate significantly.

No one knew Le Qianxue was still alive, and no one came to disturb the two of them—that was the best outcome possible.

"What could possibly be so busy?" Le Qianxue asked. "Could it be that Yu Hanxiang is trying to seize supreme power? And what has happened to His Majesty?"

Reluctant to discuss such matters, Yu Zhiyang merely replied, "The Kingdom of Liang has invaded, but the imperial troops cannot be mobilized at present."

At that, Le Qianxue let out a light chuckle. "Naturally. My father's military tally is in my hands. With him having passed away only recently, wanting to mobilize those hundred thousand troops is exceedingly difficult."

Yu Zhiyang froze, never expecting that the military tally was actually in Le Qianxue's possession.

No wonder searching everywhere previously had yielded nothing.

In this realm, the most loyal army belonged to Zhan Lianjing; as long as Zhan Lianjing himself gave the order, they would do whatever was asked of them.

Next came Le Yongcheng's troops. Having spent a long time stationed at the Xishan Military Camp, he commanded immense prestige there.

When Le Yongcheng was branded a traitor this time, many in the Xishan camp were deeply dissatisfied, repeatedly submitting memorials demanding that the Emperor thoroughly investigate the matter, convinced there must have been a misunderstanding—yet things had somehow deteriorated to this point.

However, with Le Yongcheng dead and the aged Emperor gravely ill from overwhelming grief and rage, no one was about to concern themselves with this affair.

Yu Zhiyang asked, "Where have you hidden the military tally?"

Le Qianxue looked at him, took a bite of a pastry, and said, "You want this military tally, but I have no desire to hand it over. Besides, now that my father is dead, are there any capable officers left who would obey that tally?"

"The Kingdom of Liang is attacking right now. For the sake of the people of the Tianlong Kingdom, shouldn't you bring it out? Those soldiers might simply be using the lack of a tally as an excuse not to march. But once the tally is presented, if they still refuse to fight, they will be defying military orders, and I will find a way to deal with them," Yu Zhiyang argued.

Le Qianxue glanced at him sideways and remained silent.

Anxiety crept into Yu Zhiyang. With Zhan Lianjing refusing to send troops, were they truly expected to sit back and wait for the Kingdom of Liang to overrun them? The Ziye forces were not to be trifled with.

He pressed further: "Qianxue, I know there is still hatred in your heart. I am not asking you to save the Emperor right now—I only ask that you produce the military tally to save the common people."

Lowering her gaze, Le Qianxue said indifferently, "The tally is concealed behind the ancestral tablet in the ancestral hall of the General's Estate. Go search carefully."

Yu Zhiyang finally exhaled in relief. Le Qianxue was a physician, and she truly possessed a heart for the world.

He said, "Thank you, Qianxue."

Le Qianxue replied, "It is nothing of great consequence. Take it if you wish."

After all, with Le Yongcheng gone, keeping the tally served no further purpose for her; after all, which soldiers would ever obey the commands of a woman?

If Yu Zhiyang took the tally, it would come with plenty of benefits for him.

Thinking this, Le Qianxue smiled once more.

Naturally, to retrieve the tally, Yu Zhiyang could not openly walk into the General's Estate.

He slipped in under the cover of night and searched the designated spot, successfully finding it.

Inspecting it closely, he confirmed it was genuine. It seemed Le Qianxue had not deceived him.

Suddenly, Yu Zhiyang caught the sound of a faint noise. He whipped his head around. "Who's there?"

He chased after the sound, only to discover a stray cat leaping gracefully across the courtyard wall.