20demayo Chapter 498
Chapter 498
Darkness...
Before her eyes was an endless darkness.
Light filtered through the cracks in the stones, falling on Su Yanran's face, her body numb and devoid of sensation.
Blinking her eyes open in a haze, she found herself staring at a deathly pale face, half crushed, dead.
On her chest, her clothes were stained with rotten flesh and sticky blood.
She wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
A dull pain surged from her paralyzed lower body; looking down, she saw her legs crushed and bloody beneath a massive stone, her knees shattered and broken.
How could this be? How could this be?
Only then did she vaguely recognize from the clothing that the mangled mess pinned beneath a wooden plank was Helian Chi.
"Help... someone... help..."
The empty valley was desolate, her cries like a needle falling on cotton, unheard by anyone.
"Rumble... rumble..."
The sound of countless horse hooves thundered overhead!
The Great Yan Army...
The Great Yan Army was crossing Over the Valley of Silence to attack the Jin Kingdom!
Su Yanran's eyes filled with terror, for she and Black Cloud had been hypnotized, bringing disaster to the Jin Kingdom.
She had wanted to use the Jin Kingdom to avenge herself and her family. She had wanted to confront Jiang Xinyue face to face, to trample her beneath her feet and make her repent for her sins.
Yet... not only had she failed to compete with Jiang Xinyue, but with just a single encounter, she had led to the Jin Kingdom's destruction?
Hope faded from her eyes as vultures scavenging in the piles of corpses dove down, blocking out the only sliver of light above her.
Her life... was reaching its end.
In the eighteenth year of the Xuande reign of Great Yan, the Jin Kingdom fell, followed by Fusang, Goguryeo...
Later, when her elder sister Jiang Xinyue entered the palace and gained the emperor's favor, she'd dreamed of marrying a poor scholar as his chief wife, supporting him in his efforts to pass the exams and become a valuable ally for her sister. Even if he desired concubines, he'd have to seek her consent.
As her sister's favor grew to a point of unparalleled supremacy in the harem, she dared not dream anymore; yet, deep within, she still hoped to encounter a companion who could offer her a lifetime of love and loyalty, a spouse who would share her life equally.
Now, it seemed she had met such a person.
This man accepted her weaknesses, understood her lack of self-confidence, saw beyond her exterior to all her flaws, and yet he still rejected others of greater status to choose her.
Though Third Yan often remarked that he had merely done what any decent man should, and nothing worthy of boasting, this world was full of the cold-hearted and mercenary. The kind and faithful were rare indeed; what a common man could do, most could not manage.
The Cavalry General's Mansion already had a house rule: only after forty years of age, without male heirs, would a concubine be permitted. The Riding General, including Third Yan's elder brother, had never possessed even a concubine, let alone a personal maidservant for comfort.
She wondered if Third Yan's pledge of this life encompassing only her held genuine feeling?
Or... how long would such sincerity last?
But for now, she was willing to wholeheartedly trust Third Yan.
Spring's warm breeze caressed the capital city as Jiang Xinyan was guided from the bridal sedan, the officiant stepping forward to offer her back when a wedding-clad bridegroom brushed her aside: "I'll do it."
"This... this isn't according to tradition."
"In my case, she won't be bound by tradition."
Third Yan grinned rogueishly, crouching down: "Yan, come up."
His wife, for life, deserved only happiness, joy, and health; unnecessary customs need not bind her.
Jiang Xinyan's lips curled into a sweet smile as she slowly leaned onto his back, feeling each other's warmth; their earlobes flushed as crimson as the spring blossoms.
In the crowd, Jiang Xinyue held the emperor's arm, their attire simple, blending in with ordinary folk as they joined the staff gleefully scrambling for the candies scattered from rooftop deportments, losing themselves in the moment as any common couple might.
Yet, their refined looks and bearing, unmistakably elite, betrayed any hope of anonymity.
"Ah!"
A woman's startled cry rang out beside the emperor, his brain momentarily faltering before instinct kicked in, his arm elevating swiftly to steady the figure plummeting behind him.
His forearm braced the young woman's neck more than his palm.
"Cough... cough... Young... gallant gentleman, you're choking... me with your arm."