She thought he was called along with her cousin Wang Yulou, unaware that from that moment on, something different was destined to begin. 

Yu Zhao silently gazed at him in the darkness. 

Speaking of Xie Qi, they had only been apart for five years. 

But these five years, in her limited lifespan, seemed like a very long time. 

Five years had already passed. And five years was enough to change many things. 

He probably didn’t remember her anymore.  

Capture 

Because he was a good friend of her cousin Wang Yulou, Xie Qi often visited the Wang family. 

Xie Qi’s status was noble, and each time he visited, Wang Qingjia and Madam Sun did their utmost to be hospitable, just to gain a bit of favor in the eyes of the Old Marquis Xie. Wang Ruzhi and Wang Yilan also liked to gather around him. 

Except for Yu Zhao. 

Perhaps it was a case of extremes meeting, Xie Qi didn’t pay much attention to the others, his attitude was indifferent, but he was interested in Yu Zhao, who never gave him a pleasant look, and often teased her. 

Yu Zhao was still afraid, but helpless against this great Buddha, she could only appease him silently and hide further away next time. 

However, the further she hid, the closer he would get next time. 

He always seemed to have opportunities to appear in front of her. 

Making it difficult for her to resist. 

Xie Qi had an overbearing and nasty personality, and always took pleasure in teasing her. 

So when he later left Chang’an and swore to her that he would return to propose marriage, Yu Zhao didn’t take it to heart. 

After he went to the battlefield, she married a poor scholar not long after. 

That person was a student of her uncle. 

One was a cousin who came to sponge off the family, and the other was a poor scholar, the two were well-matched. 

There was nothing to praise, and after much thought, people could only give this marriage the reputation of a talented scholar and a beautiful woman. 

But this was fine, for Yu Zhao, whether it was a false reputation or ridicule, it was at least better than a dream of becoming a phoenix on a high branch. 

After that, she occasionally heard in Chang’an that Xie Qi had fought countless victories in the Western Region and became a prestigious and triumphant general, while she became the most insignificant new bride in Chang’an, silently making a living in the back house. 

His glorious and extraordinary deeds became the topic of conversation for the women in the back house, and she became a silent listener, piecing together his legendary story from every enthusiastic mouth. 

Someone who was once close at hand had now become a distant figure, high and unattainable. 

Three years after her marriage, Meng Wenying moved his entire family away from Chang’an to his old home in Youzhou, thousands of miles away, and Yu Zhao completely severed ties with Chang’an. 

Youzhou City was far away from Chang’an, and she no longer had to hear the praises of the young Marquis Xie’s great achievements, nor did she have to worry about how he would treat her when he returned in triumph. 

Xie Qi, such a favored son of heaven, could get anything he wanted, and being treated like this by Yu Zhao was probably a first for him. 

Based on Yu Zhao’s half-year acquaintance with him, this person was eccentric and vindictive. If she had offended him so much, she didn’t know how he would take revenge when he returned to Chang’an in the future. 

It was good to hide far away like this. 

However, this good time did not last long. Soon after, the country was in turmoil, and the world was completely chaotic. 

The former prosperity of Chang’an was gone, and overnight, the situation turned into a battlefield of power. 

Lives here were harvested like grass, and warlords sprang up like mushrooms after rain. Everyone wanted to defy fate and become the last laughing victor in the chaotic world. 

The aristocratic families suffered a devastating disaster in this catastrophe, and the centuries-old prosperous families were reduced to ashes in the flames of war. 

Yu Zhao was worried that the Wang family would also be affected by the war, but now that she was married to someone else and was in Youzhou, thousands of miles away, she was powerless to help and could only pray every day, hoping that the Wang family would be safe in this catastrophe. 

She thought that her relationship with Xie Qi would end with this chaotic world, and they would never meet again in this life. 

Yu Zhao silently gazed at Xie Qi’s back in the moonlight through the broken walls. 

After five years, she seemed to have forgotten what he looked like. 

The cold moonlight poured down on his tall figure, making his back even more lonely and desolate, as if just one glance would make people want to lower their heads and submit at his feet. 

He had grown from a young man into a real man. 

Like a towering mountain, with countless ghosts and wailing shadows behind him, and he was the master who controlled them, carrying a heavy, city-destroying pressure. 

The first thought in Yu Zhao’s mind when she saw Xie Qi again was. 

He must have killed many people in these five years. 

Many, many people. 

Yu Zhao’s eyes did not move, and her jade face gradually became stiff. 

Qiu Long’s situation was no better, her face was pale, and she stared blankly ahead. 

“Miss… that’s… that’s…” 

The tall and stern man was riding on a war horse, the red tassel of the spear behind him fluttering in the wind. The red tassel became the only bright color under the cold moonlight. The horse’s hooves stepped on the broken wood and tiles on the ground. The tiles could not bear such thunderous weight, and burst into pieces, instantly turning into dust. Each sound echoed in Yu Zhao’s ears, making her shudder. 

As if sensing something, the man suddenly reined in his horse, turned around, and his gaze swept indifferently in the direction of Yu Zhao. 

His gaze was very faint, and he swept over here calmly, but it brought Yu Zhao a heavy blow. 

Yu Zhao immediately reached out and quickly grabbed Qiu Long. 

She grabbed Qiu Long and quickly lowered her body, and the two of them instantly fell into a dead silence. 

In the dark, Yu Zhao desperately covered Qiu Long’s mouth. 

At this moment, she heard the sound of her own heartbeat, one after another, as if it was about to jump out in the next moment. Her face was pale, and her back was covered in cold sweat, but her ears became unusually sensitive, carefully listening to the movement outside. 

At this moment, the distance between her and him was only a hair’s breadth. 

It was also the closest distance between the two of them in so many years. 

In that prosperous Chang’an 

Five years ago, she once thought that she would never see him again in this life. 

Yu Zhao closed her eyes in shock and waited silently in her uneasy heartbeat. 

Time became extraordinarily long, second by second. 

Finally, after a long time, she heard the sound of horses’ hooves moving again outside. 

The army continued to move forward. 

Each and every iron hoof stepped on the ground, each one as powerful as her heartbeat. When the army finally left, Yu Zhao released Qiu Long’s mouth, as if she had finally run out of strength, and fell softly on the wooden edge behind her. 

Qiu Long was quick to catch her and hurriedly supported her, “Miss!” 

When she raised her eyes and saw Yu Zhao’s face as white as paper, Qiu Long’s heart sank. She also knew that something was wrong. She helped Yu Zhao sit up and looked at the empty outside with lingering fear. She still held the last glimmer of hope in her heart and said with a fluke, “Miss, based on your past relationship with young Master Xie, General Xie, he must be willing to disregard the past and take care of us…” 

It seemed that even she herself could not listen to it, and her voice became smaller and smaller with increasing timidity. 

Yu Zhao was silent. 

She knew that Qiu Long was comforting her. Her fear was no less than hers, otherwise why was her voice always trembling? 

She really wanted to tell Qiu Long that this was absolutely impossible. Neither the vindictive young Marquis Xie of the past nor the General Xie who was now like a reincarnation of a killing god would show mercy to her. 

It was she who rejected him back then and turned around to marry someone else. 

He, such an arrogant person, must hate her to the extreme in his heart. 

The look in his eyes just now, calm with a bottomless deep pool, the kind of chilling pressure emanating from every move, I am afraid that even the demons in hell would have to give way when they saw it. 

Without years of cruel fighting, such a Shura-like aura could not be tempered. 

How could he be soft-hearted towards her? 

At this moment, Yu Zhao had already thought of a hundred ways she could die if she fell into Xie Qi’s hands. 

But she couldn’t bear to shatter Qiu Long’s only hope, so she held her hand, opened and closed her lips for a long time, and finally regained her voice, “Qiu Long, don’t be afraid.” 

“We have to escape.” Yu Zhao stared blankly at the dark night in front of her, her voice trembling unconsciously, and her entire palm was icy cold, “… We must not let him find us.” 

Fear had already overwhelmed Yu Zhao’s entire heart, and she didn’t even dare to say Xie Qi’s full name. 

Qiu Long was also so frightened that she kept shivering and nodded desperately, “Miss! I’ll listen to you! I’ll listen to you!” 

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound from the firewood room next door. A skinny woman was 趴 on the edge of the crack, looking at Yu Zhao expressionlessly. 

Perhaps hearing the word “escape” that Yu Zhao had just said, a faint light flashed in the woman’s turbid eyes. 

The woman’s voice was hoarse and had a long, deep rhythm, “You… want to escape?” 

Qiu Long looked at the woman, hesitated for a moment, and nodded slowly. 

Qiu Long looked at the skinny woman in front of her and couldn’t help but feel a little soft-hearted. She extended an invitation to her, “How long have you been locked up here? Do you want to come with us?” 

In fact, she had selfish motives. More people would make a good company, and with more people, she would have a better chance to take the young lady away while things were chaotic. If they were discovered… they would just die together. 

The woman’s expression was calm, like a pale mask under the moonlight, a dead thing opening and closing her lips. Her voice was hoarse and slow, “Here… is Youzhou, Prince Yan… occupied this place. Before the enemy troops broke the city, he… ordered the city to be massacred for three days, setting fires and killing people, blood… everywhere is blood…” 

Yu Zhao’s face changed drastically. The city was massacred for three days? Then wouldn’t the Meng family be…