Chapter 200: Chapter 200: At the End of the Road

The night was deep, the torches bright on the people below. The city gates, which should have been sealed shut, were ajar, allowing grain carts to slip quietly inside.

"Quick, lend a hand!"

The deliberately hushed voice couldn’t hide the joy within.

Amidst the scuffling of feet were sounds of laughter, and even jokes about when the next grain delivery would be.

It wasn’t much grain. But for the soldiers of Pingzhou City, who had been cut off from supplies for so long, this delivery was more than just a few carts of food. It gave people in a desperate situation something to look forward to, rekindling their will to live.

The grain shipments had been delayed time and time again. They once believed the very people they laid their lives down to protect didn’t care if they lived or died. These people had coaxed them into fighting the enemy with their flesh and blood time and again, yet wouldn’t even provide them with supplies.

They’d been given one empty promise after another and had nearly given up hope... But now, when they least expected it, they had truly received it. They could see it with their own eyes.

So, they hadn’t been abandoned after all. They hadn’t been left to fend for themselves.

The firelight danced in their eyes, igniting warm little flames within.

Xiao Wu couldn’t stay still and bustled about, helping out.

Liang Wan watched from the side, a warmth spreading through her heart at the lively scene.

’It’s a shame—’

She sighed silently, her gaze shifting away to the soft darkness of the night.

Beneath her sleeve, Lu Xiu took her hand.

Their eyes met. In that single instant, he understood. ’It’s good to let them be happy for a while.’

Lu Xiu led her by the hand back toward their quarters. "When did you prepare this?"

Liang Wan looked at him and smiled faintly. "At the start of the year in Jinye, I made an arrangement with Song Tan to open a few new shops in the prefectures near the front lines, just in case. Unfortunately, it’s just a drop in the bucket. Grain has been especially scarce these past two years."

Lu Xiu turned his head to glance at her. "Is there nothing you want to ask me?"

In the darkness, his gaze was gentle—not like starlight, but like the halo of the moon.

Liang Wan answered honestly, "I did at first, but not anymore."

Lu Xiu stopped. "Why?"

Liang Wan faced him, thought for a moment, and said earnestly, "Before I came to Pingzhou City, I only heard that rumors were running rampant and that morale was unstable. But from the moment I arrived until just now, I haven’t seen a single soldier act disrespectfully toward you. On the contrary, they seem to hold you in high esteem and are protective of you."

"You have to understand, this isn’t Jinye. These men aren’t the flatterers and sycophants of the court; they’re men who put their lives on the line on the battlefield. Pingzhou City is on the brink of life and death right now. With the grain shortage and the demoralizing rumors, why would they be so loyal and obedient to you just because of your noble birth?"

Lu Xiu didn’t speak, merely watching and listening quietly. In the past, her words to him were always half-truths, half-lies. It was rare for her to speak so candidly, without any ulterior motive.

Meeting his direct gaze, Liang Wan continued, "For them to listen to your commands without panic or disorder in such a desperate situation shows they genuinely accept and support you. But to earn such heartfelt devotion from so many men must have come at an unimaginable cost."

"In normal times, a person can put on a facade. But on the battlefield, where real blades are drawn, there’s no faking it. You’ve eaten and lived with them, gone through life and death with them. In the end, time reveals a person’s true heart."

She sighed softly. "They trust you, they listen to you, and they haven’t betrayed you. So how could you possibly abandon them?"

The moonlight was hazy. Her eyes, like autumn waters, were breathtakingly beautiful.

Lu Xiu raised his hand, the pad of his thumb gently tracing her brow bone. ’She doesn’t know. It’s these eyes that move me the most.’

He lowered his head and placed a kiss on her eyelid.

Liang Wan’s eyes stung.

On the way here, she hadn’t understood why he insisted on holding out. She couldn’t see the point. But now—

She took a slow breath, forcing back the tears.

More than half a year of fighting across the land had only hardened his features.

’Lu Xiu shouldn’t be like this.’

Liang Wan gritted her teeth. "Do you have any idea—"

Before she could finish, he sealed her lips with a kiss.

It was a very brief, light kiss, devoid of any desire, meant only to stop the words she was about to say.

Lu Xiu took her hand again and they began to walk slowly forward.

’Because of these vibrant lives, I didn’t follow Beizhou’s orders. What fate awaits a disobedient spy?’

’But Daqi has never truly accepted me either.’

His pace was steady. At his side, his voice was faint as he spoke. "Seven years ago, they came to me. That’s when I learned the truth of my birth."

’Seven years ago?’

’He was only thirteen then. That means he started working for Beizhou back then.’

"Why didn’t you tell the Grandmaster—"

Liang Wan stopped mid-question. ’Suddenly finding out the person who raised you is your enemy... your entire world turned upside down. Who could you trust?’

"You were going to say I should have asked them, or sought their help?" Lu Xiu smiled and shook his head. "I didn’t trust anyone. In order to find out the whole story, I agreed to their demands. Of course, it wasn’t as if I had a choice back then."

"In the course of my investigation, I alerted her. She—"

Lu Xiu paused. "The Empress Dowager."

He continued walking forward after he spoke.

"She knew that I had discovered my identity, so she confessed the truth to me as well."

’The woman he had called "sister" for over a decade suddenly became his mother, and the man he called "Father" became Awen...’

"As for the matter with Beizhou, although it was never explicitly stated, they weren’t entirely ignorant of it."

A dull ache spread through Liang Wan’s heart. ’They knew Beizhou had approached Lu Xiu, yet they didn’t stop it. They even tacitly approved. How could that not be a sign that they intended to use him?’

’After more than a decade of peace, why did Beizhou suddenly come knocking? And how did they even know Lu Xiu existed?’

She had always harbored a bold suspicion: what if someone from the Lu Family had deliberately leaked Lu Xiu’s identity?

The Lu Family had given him honor and status, which served to deceive Beizhou. In reality, they gave him no real power and were always on guard against him. ’What a selfish, brilliant scheme.’

But as the saying goes, walk by the river long enough and your shoes are bound to get wet. Once Beizhou discovered his loyalties weren’t with them, how could they possibly let him off the hook?

First, Zhang Yao denounced Lu Xiu. Then the Lou Family presented treasonous letters. After that came the forged blood letter from Lu Huai, and finally, the confirmation of Lu Xiu’s true parentage. On the surface, it looked like an internal power struggle within Daqi, but behind the scenes, Beizhou’s influence was undoubtedly at play in some of these events.

The day they verified the blood letter was a forgery, Wang Tingyue had asked her what she planned to do.

In truth, her plan had never changed.

’Even knowing the blood letter is fake is useless. The matters of his collusion with the enemy and his true identity are all real.’

’Besides, the purpose of Lu Huai’s death wasn’t about court politics; it was about the war.’

’After all, Qi not only lost a great general, but their commander-in-chief was implicated, and the rumors from the blood letter have destabilized the army’s morale.’

The soldiers under Lu Xiu’s direct command weren’t much affected, but that didn’t mean others weren’t.

’Just listen to what the refugees are saying, and then look at Lou Shixun, the man they sent.’

’One has to admit, it’s a good strategy.’

’What can Lu Xiu do?’

’Openly surrendering would make him a traitor to the nation, and given his past actions, Beizhou wouldn’t necessarily trust him. The Lu Family has abandoned him to save themselves. Leading his troops back to attack Jinye is also impossible. Leaving aside the issue of supplies, he wouldn’t even have the army’s unified support. Fighting Beizhou is defending against an enemy—it’s righteous and legitimate. But attacking Jinye is rebellion. He’d be branded a traitor, a villain for all to condemn. There’s no chance of victory.’

’Abandon the city and his soldiers to flee alone and live a life in hiding?’

’Lu Xiu isn’t capable of that. He would never do it.’

’What does it mean to be trapped with no way out, besieged on all sides?’

’It seems that besides death, there really is no other choice.’

’So, he has prepared himself to defend Pingzhou to the death and die with the city.’

Liang Wan turned her head to glance at him, tightening her grip on his hand.

’Even if he must die, he can only die by my hand.’

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