Song Chaoyu watched Tiele before her, her heart a mix of emotions. It was clear her heart belonged only to Qianshan.
Many things, once tangled, could never be undone.
Tiele stared intently at the person before her, then seemed to understand something. "Tiele, we both know it's not about Qianshan. You know better than anyone what Qianshan truly felt for you. Everything you're doing now is just a pretense, using Qianshan as a shield! You desire too much, and even if Qianshan were still here, he couldn't withstand these inner desires of yours, could he?"
Tiele froze for a moment, then, with a "snap," she flung the whip onto the ground.
Tiele seemed to want to intimidate Song Chaoyu with this action.
But Song Chaoyu was not afraid. She simply looked at Tiele and said, "I don't know what happened between you and Qianshan in the Southern Kingdom, but I believe if you truly loved Qianshan for so long, you should respect his final choice. You should also understand what Qianshan truly wanted in his life. If he was destined to leave, then you, Tiele, should have given him blessings, not burdened him with increasingly heavy shackles!"
"Snap!"
Tiele's whip cracked against the ground once more, forcefully.
She sneered at Song Chaoyu, "Song Chaoyu, what do you understand? You are so fortunate, so blessed! You have Mu Changxi's love, a love without reservation. Naturally, you wouldn't understand what we feel. Qianshan and I, we have faced life and death together. Do you think I truly don't know if he had me in his heart?!"
Song Chaoyu shook her head slightly, "It's not just the two of you who have faced life and death."
"Shut up!"
Tiele refused to let Song Chaoyu speak, becoming even more enraged. "Song Chaoyu, I can't argue with you! It seems in your words, there are always so many sensible things to say! But I don't care what you say now. It seems you already know about my and Mu Hansu's intentions and ambitions, don't you?"
Song Chaoyu curled her lips. "Jackals, tigers, and leopards, all birds of a feather. Do you prefer one of those terms, Your Highness?"
"Heh—"
Tiele let out another cold laugh. "Say whatever you wish. One of the conditions I set for Mu Hansu to help me was that I would personally deal with you! Now, nothing you say matters. Song Chaoyu, you will die here, today, before my eyes."
As Tiele spoke, she lightly swung her long whip.
But in Song Chaoyu's eyes, there was not a trace of fear.
She merely looked at Tiele, a hint of amusement appearing in her eyes. "Then Tiele, before I 'die,' I have a question about Qianshan that I wish to ask you. I doubt you would refuse, would you?"
About Qianshan?
Tiele faltered for a moment, her grip on the whip tightening. But ultimately, she couldn't refuse Song Chaoyu's request.
She narrowed her eyes. "Ask. I will ensure you die peacefully, you who are about to die!"
Song Chaoyu raised her gaze, looking at the square sky, her expression becoming more relaxed. "Tiele, if I told you that if you stop now and cease interfering with the Great Yue Dynasty, I will bring Qianshan before you once more and let you both escape together, would you agree?"
"What do you mean?!"
Tiele's heart felt as if it were suddenly clutched by a hand.
She stood rooted to the spot, staring at Song Chaoyu for a long time before frowning. "Do you know... what you are saying?"
"You are unwilling, aren't you?"
Song Chaoyu's attitude remained indifferent, her eyes even carrying a hint of a smile. "You are unwilling to do all this for Qianshan. It's not for any other reason, but because from the very beginning, you weren't doing this for Qianshan. He was merely a reason for you to do all this. Even without Qianshan today, there would be someone else tomorrow. Tiele, Qianshan is just an excuse you found for your ambition. Why can't you admit it?"
In fact, before today, Tiele had never considered that Qianshan meant such a thing to her!
The whip in her hand tightened even further.
"Admit it, Tiele."
Song Chaoyu shrugged, her demeanor becoming even more relaxed. "To you, Qianshan is not important at all. What matters most is what you are doing now. You could be more straightforward!"
"Shut up, shut up!"
Tiele finally understood why she disliked Song Chaoyu so much.
Perhaps even she herself hadn't realized it before, but Song Chaoyu's words were true.
She couldn't refute them, because Song Chaoyu was right.
Thus, Tiele could only raise her whip high, as if having made a decision, and swing it towards Song Chaoyu. "Song Chaoyu, as long as you die, no one will know my thoughts anymore! Song Chaoyu, go to hell—"
"Snap!"
The whip whistled through the air, slashing fiercely towards Song Chaoyu's face!
Song Chaoyu involuntarily retreated further, her back pressed tightly against the door behind her.
However, the next moment, before the whip could touch Song Chaoyu's face, it stopped in mid-air—
"Ugh!"
Tiele's hand was pierced by a dart that flew through the air!
Her arm lost its strength instantly, and at the same time, the whip in her hand fell to the ground.
"Who?!"
Tiele couldn't believe that in the palace, which was now under her and Mu Hansu's control, someone could still do such a thing!
Before Tiele could even react, her hand dropped due to the pain.
Blood slowly dripped from the back of her hand, pooling into a patch of red on the ground.
Saved!
Song Chaoyu breathed a slight sigh of relief, then looked up at Tiele seriously. "Tiele, did you really think Mu Changxi and I would enter the palace unprepared? We didn't come here to die!"
"This... how is this possible!?"
Tiele looked up incredulously, glancing at the sky. "Who?! How did you do it?"
Song Chaoyu straightened her body. The door behind her was also pried open with a "click."
Song Chaoyu opened the door, and two people walked in from behind her.
One of them was Qiu Qing.
The other was from the Cong family, and the dart had been thrown by someone from the Cong family.
Song Chaoyu gave Tiele a faint smile. "What, as a person from the Southern Kingdom, don't you know that the Cong family has many experts? It's not difficult to mobilize these experts. Did you and Mu Hansu underestimate Mu Changxi and me too much?"
Their journey back wasn't a leisurely stroll!