sovbooks Chapter 331 Could it be that they are on the same wavelength?
Chapter 331 Could it be that they are on the same wavelength?
at the same time,
After Xu Longxiang climbed out of the window of the side hall, his feet landed almost without making a sound.
The moonlight was obscured by the clouds, and the locust trees outside the palace rustled in the night wind, casting blurry, gray shadows on the ground.
He stood in the shadows and glanced back at the half-open window.
He suddenly wanted to go back, to say a few more words to her, to ask her if she was eating and sleeping well here, to ask if she had suffered any grievances while she was with Zhao Qingxue, and to tell her to be patient a little longer, that everything would be alright once the big event was accomplished.
But his foot only moved half an inch in that direction before it stopped.
"Your Highness."
Mo Ya's voice emerged from the shadows beside him, hoarse and deep.
"It's time to go."
Xu Longxiang did not move.
His gaze remained fixed on the window, on the motionless silhouette reflected in the paper window.
He knew he had to go.
Liu Hongyan said that the sword fanatic Liu Bai is in this palace.
A half-step terrestrial immortal realm.
Under Qin Mu's command.
These words were like needles, pricking his heart, not deep, but causing a subtle, persistent pain.
He gritted his teeth.
"Let's go."
He turned around and followed behind Mo Ya, the two figures silently disappearing into the night.
Mo Ya continued to walk in front.
His route was more remote and dangerous than when he came. Sometimes he would hug the wall and pass under a bush, sometimes he would climb over one palace roof after another, and sometimes he would squeeze through the narrow gap between two palaces that was only wide enough for one person to pass sideways.
His pace was faster than when he arrived, each step carrying an undeniable urgency.
Xu Longxiang followed behind him, displaying his movement techniques to the fullest extent.
His gaze swept over every eaves corner where someone might be hiding, over every dark window, and over every clump of bushes swaying slightly in the night breeze.
Right now,
His heart was racing; he was very excited.
The excitement began the moment I stepped out of the side hall, like a fire suppressed under ashes, burning brighter and brighter.
He recalled what Liu Hongyan had just said.
Qin Mu originally intended to kill me, but Zhao Qingxue pleaded for my life.
She said she needed someone to do her bidding.
He remembered her kneeling before him, her voice hoarse yet clear: "Your subordinate has failed to complete the task you assigned."
All the spies that the Northern Territory had been cultivating in Liyang for many years have been eliminated.
Those brothers, those brothers who have followed us for so many years—
Her voice choked, and she didn't finish her sentence.
But he knew what she wanted to say.
She wanted to say sorry.
She wanted to say that she didn't mean it.
She wanted to say that she did it to survive, to wait for this day, to wait for him to come to her.
A slow, gentle smile curved the corners of Xu Longxiang's lips.
The red smoke is still there; she is still by Zhao Qingxue's side.
Zhao Qingxue pleaded for her and allowed her to stay by her side as a maid.
What does this mean?
This means that Zhao Qingxue does not want to become enemies with the Northern Border completely.
Therefore, Zhao Qingxue chose to save Liu Hongyan.
Xu Longxiang's eyes flickered slightly.
There is also clear snow.
He remembered the girl quietly reading in the Listening Snow Pavilion in the Northern Border, her eyes curving into two crescent moons when she smiled, and her standing under the plum tree, head tilted back, snowflakes falling into her hair, saying, "Brother Dragon Elephant, will you wait for me?"
it is good.
He said at the time.
Wait for me, wait for me to come back.
She is in this palace now.
He was only a few miles away.
And my older sister.
His older sister, Xu Fenghua.
Xu Fenghua, the proudest young lady of the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, gallops across the snowy plains of the North, and is the young mistress of the Zhao family who secretly controls the trade routes in Jiangnan.
She was forcibly taken as a concubine by that tyrannical emperor and imprisoned in this magnificent cage, facing the man she hated to the core day and night.
Xu Longxiang's fingers slowly tightened inside his sleeve.
There are three of them. All three of them are here.
Hongyan was by Zhao Qingxue's side. Qingxue was Qin Mu's concubine, and her sister was also Qin Mu's concubine.
They were all his people, his spies planted deep within this palace.
Qin Mu knew nothing.
He didn't know that Hongyan was still serving the Northern Border, he didn't know that Qingxue's heart was still with the Northern Border, and he didn't know what kind of hatred was hidden beneath his sister's every smile and every gentle word.
He thought he had won, that he had trampled the people of the North underfoot, and that he could rest easy as emperor, marry his queen, and enjoy his riches and glory.
He knows nothing.
The light in Xu Longxiang's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
He still has a chance, he definitely does.
There are still 300,000 iron cavalry in the North, as well as veteran generals who have fought alongside the Xu family for decades, and brothers who are willing to die for him.
Moreover, Zhao Qingxue was also there; she was in this palace, right beside that tyrannical emperor.
If only she could see Qin Mu's true colors, if only she could come to her senses, if only she could—
His breathing became rapid, and his chest heaved violently.
"Your Highness."
Mo Ya's voice suddenly came from ahead, hoarse, low, and with a hint of barely perceptible alertness.
Xu Longxiang suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He looked up and found himself standing beneath the outermost wall of the palace.
The wall was not high, only a little over two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters), and the top of the wall was covered with withered vines that swayed slightly in the night breeze.
Once you cross this wall, you'll find yourself in the streets and alleys of the imperial city.
It's about freedom.
"Once you get over this wall, you'll be out."
Mo Ya lowered his voice, his sharp eyes gleaming with a cold light in the darkness.
His gaze swept over the wall, across the dark streets and alleys outside, over every eave that might hide someone, and over every dark, empty window.
Then he turned his gaze back to Xu Longxiang.
"Your Highness, Liu Bai is very likely stationed in the palace. We cannot take any more risks."
Xu Longxiang stood at the base of the wall, looking up at it.
Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the clouds, spreading a thin layer of silver frost over the wall.
His Adam's apple bobbed.
"Qingxue—in which direction is Yuxiu Palace, where she lives?"
Mo Ya was silent for a moment.
"southwest."
Xu Longxiang turned his gaze to the southwest.
It was pitch black there, with no lights in sight. Only the outlines of the layered palace roofs undulated in the night, like giant beasts lying on the ground.
His sister was there too, in some corner he couldn't see, behind a lit window, on a bed he'd never seen before.
He suddenly longed to see them, to see if Qingxue had lost weight, and to see if his sister's eyes were still bright.
He wanted to tell them to be patient, to wait a little longer, that he would come soon and take them out of this magnificent cage.
Xu Longxiang's fingers clenched tightly inside his sleeve.
"Your Highness."
The Black Raven's voice rang out again.
He didn't say anything more; those two words were enough.
Xu Longxiang closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
The breath he inhaled carried the chill of early winter, making him feel several degrees colder.
He opened his eyes.
"Walk."
He turned around, his back to the southwest direction.
The movement was slow and heavy, like an old tree that had been blown by the wind for too long finally bending over.
He walked to the base of the wall, touched the ground with his toes, and his body floated up lightly.
He climbed over the wall and landed in the street outside.
The moonlight peeked out from behind the clouds, illuminating the narrow alleyway in a half-light, half-dark manner.
On both sides are high walls, with mottled plaster and covered with withered vines.
The ground was paved with bluestone slabs, and withered yellow grass grew in the cracks between the slabs, shivering in the night wind.
He stood there and glanced back.
You can't see anything on the other side of the wall.
There was only moonlight, a thin layer of silver frost on the wall, and a few withered vines hanging down from the wall, swaying slightly in the night breeze.
Like a thin, bony hand saying goodbye to him.
Xu Longxiang turned around, preparing to leave.
Then he saw her.
She stood at the entrance of the alley, the moonlight shining in from behind her, bathing her in a pale golden halo.
She wore a moon-white dress and had long, loose hair, which was loosely tied up with a single white jade hairpin.
She stood there quietly, her back to the moonlight, facing him.
Xu Longxiang's pupils suddenly contracted.
Her face was hidden in the shadows, and her expression was not visible.
But he recognized the figure, the moon-white dress, the long, flowing hair, and the white jade hairpin.
How could he not recognize him?
He had seen it countless times in his dreams. Every time he woke up, his pillow was empty, the palace was cold, and the sky outside the window was dark.
He thought he was dreaming.
"clear--".
His voice was stuck in his throat, hoarse and dry, like a piece of iron that had been sanded.
His hand rose and then fell again.
He took a step, then stopped in place.
His lips opened and then closed.
He stood there by the wall, in the dappled moonlight, watching the pale figure at the alley entrance.
A night breeze swept by, lifting the stray hairs at her temples and the hem of her moon-white dress.
Xu Longxiang stared at the figure, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of his chest.
Only one thought remained in his mind.
She is here.
Very close.
Could this be the unspoken understanding between them?