Drive A Wedge

Empress Chen fiddled with her nails and stared at Zhou Tongxing before her. “The man who sold me out earlier. He did that at your command?”

She really wanted to know the answer to this question herself.

Zhou Tongxing’s hands were tied behind his back and he did not struggle but continued to look confused. “Your Majesty, what are you talking about? I don’t understand at all.”

Empress Chen couldn’t be bothered to beat around the bush, so she glared at him and questioned him, “One of my eunuchs, Li Qi. You killed him, didn’t you? Not just Li Qi, but my maid, Zhangzhu, and another eunuch, Zhenzi, were all killed by you, correct?”

Zhou Tongxing frowned as though he had been terribly humiliated. “Why do you accuse me falsely like that! Why would I want to kill anybody for no reason? Is it because you know you’re definitely going to die for what you’ve done today, and you want to drag an innocent man down with you?!”

He denied everything.

“Mr. Zhou, that’s not how things work,” Empress Chen narrowed her eyes. “You’ve been loyal to me for more than a decade, but just because I’ve betrayed the emperor, you’ve forgotten everything I’ve done for you?”
She was rather surprised to find out that the traitor in her team turned out to be Zhou Tongxing. She had never suspected him. After all, she had been the one who groomed him and pushed him up the career ladder. He did not come from a powerful family and had no powerful connections. Everything he had, all the successes he achieved, was all thanks to her. She couldn’t think of why he would betray her.

But now, Zhou Tongxing was refusing to admit it.

He remained calm and could even attack her, saying that she was willing to make false accusations because she had betrayed the emperor.

Empress Chen was very angry and even Wen Yuansi felt that this was not going well.

He needed a good reason to capture Zhou Tongxing, after all…

Because of that whooshing arrow earlier, Zhao Zhi knew that Wen Yuansi’s side was going smoothly, so he was finally able to stop suppressing himself. He immediately unleashed his full capabilities and turned the tables on them within moments!

Empress Chen immediately started to panic.

She had been right earlier. Zhao Zhi was a sly fox that was difficult to deal with!

This would not do…

She had to get more help in order to guarantee her success!

Empress Chen turned her attention from Zhou Tongxing to Wen Yuansi and said loudly, “Mr. Wen, you’re a clever and well-mannered gentleman. You’ve done so much for others, yet they don’t seem appreciative. Don’t you feel aggrieved?”

Wen Yuansi just looked back at her and did not speak.

This woman was up to no good!

As expected, Empress Chen wasn’t bothered by his silence, or perhaps she didn’t expect him to answer at all. “You are in love with Song Caitang, am I right?”

Wen Yuansi’s pupils constricted.

“And this Miss Song…is now in my hands,” said Empress Chen slowly with a faint smile. “I suppose your team has guessed as much?”

Wen Yuansi’s brows tensed up and he looked angry. “Where is she!”

“Haha!” Empress Chen was very pleased to have agitated Wen Yuansi. “Mr. Wen is a clever man, so I’m sure you know that it’s difficult for one to find true love. It’s so hard to find a woman you really like. If you let her go, you might never find another one. The most difficult things about romance are timing and reciprocating of feelings. Even if you make a mistake, the anger felt at that moment would fade with time, but the feelings you have for each other remain… Miss Song doesn’t like you now, but that doesn’t matter. As long as you can get her, you’d have the rest of your life to work on your relationship. She will be yours sooner or later.”

Empress Chen said these words slowly and deliberately, giving Wen Yuansi plenty of time to hesitate. “If you’re willing to help me, I’ll give Song Caitang to you and you can do whatever you want…”

“Mr. Wen, think about it a little more. Are you really willing to give away the woman you love to someone else, to watch her become someone else’s wife and spend her most intimate moments with another man?”

“Doesn’t your heart hurt? Just imagining it makes me feel so upset,” Empress Chen pretended to clutch her chest in pain. She kept her eyes on Wen Yuansi and continued, “Mr. Wen is such a gentle person, so life ought to treat you kindly.”

“You just have to come to me and help me. I can satisfy all your desires.”

Her voice was low and hypnotic, like a demon from hell.

They stared at each other silently for a long time.

This time, Empress Chen did not press him for a response and did not say anymore. She remained in her high chair and waited for the results of Wen Yuansi’s inner turmoil.

Since time immemorial, men had failed to stand up against the temptation of women. This time would be no different!

After a long time, Wen Yuansi finally broke his silence.

“You’re right. I am in love with Song Caitang, and I may never forget her for the rest of my life.”

“But you forget, I am a man.” He took a step forward, his hands folded behind his back. His robe flapped in the wind by his side and he looked extremely elegant. “It is hard to find true love, but it fades easily too. Perhaps I may think of her forever, or perhaps, I might find someone else and forget her quickly. Nobody knows what will happen in the future. A man ought to stand tall and stand up for what is right. I, Wen Yuansi, will only do what I think is right, and take on the responsibilities I believe I must!”

“If she chooses me, it is my honor. But if she doesn’t, I will not force her to. I still have that much pride left.”

He already could not compare to Zhao Zhi when Zhao Zhi was alive. If something happened to Zhao Zhi today… No living person could ever replace a lost loved one.

He loved Song Caitang, so he wanted her to live a blissful and fulfilled life. He wanted to see her smile and be full of life and energy every day. If she was sad and upset every day, he didn’t think he would be happy either.

“You’ve misjudged Song Caitang too,” said Wen Yuansi as his lips curled upward. His eyes gleamed with pride. “She will never be a woman like you, who allows herself to belong to some other man. She will always be her own, she will only belong to herself. She will always be confident and bold, and she will shine brightly! She is this world’s one and only Song Caitang!”

Empress Chen was so furious, her expression darkened and she stood up with a start.

How could Song Caitang be worthy of such praise!

Wen Yuansi wasn’t done. “Everyone will face difficult times in their life, times when things don’t go their way. I’ve fallen for Miss Song, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Miss Song did not choose me, and there’s nothing wrong with that either. Prince Ping and Miss Song want to spend the rest of their lives together, and there’s definitely nothing wrong with that.”

Empress Chen gnashed her teeth loudly.

What! What was this!

She had done so much in her life, yet nobody had ever encouraged her or affirmed her. How could someone lowly like Song Caitang…

How had she never met such a good man in her life!

How could that Song Caitang cause others to…cause others to…

As the most important and dignified woman in the world, Empress Chen couldn’t bring herself to complete that sentence. And since she couldn’t convince Wen Yuansi, she decided to give up. She waved a hand and yelled, “Kill him!”

If he refused to join her, then he could go to hell!

Arrows from both sides were immediately shot.

Wen Yuansi got an aide to move Zhou Tongxing to safety while he picked up the bow by his side, set an arrow on it, then pulled the string back.

He was going to make the empress understand who he really was!

While he wasn’t skilled in martial arts, he had learned archery before. It was one of the six arts recommended for young noblemen after all.

He could be gentle and elegant, but when necessary, he could be decisive and aggressive too!

Whoosh!

His arrow reflected the sunshine as it flew straight for the empress and sent her crown flying.

“You aren’t fit to wear it,” said Wen Yuansi.

In that instant, everyone stared at Wen Yuansi in a completely different light.

This was a man famous for being gentle and always carried a warm smile on his face. Yet, his heart was able to harbor such harshness. Their impression of him was shattered.

As Empress Chen’s crown flew off her head, she fell to the ground helplessly because she was used to doing so to garner pity. A few strands of hair were pulled out along with the crown and the pain made her cry.

Intense hatred filled her heart as she leaped up again and pointed a finger at Wen Yuansi, “You’d better not die today! I’ll make you watch me kill Song Caitang! I’m going to torture her and kill her very, very slowly, and none of you will be able to do anything about it!”

Wen Yuansi narrowed his eyes nastily at her.

Empress Chen glared back aggressively. “You probably had no idea, but I’ve already sent someone to deal with her, someone who’s most suitable to do the job. If I lose even one strand of hair today, she’ll die and get thrown into the sea!”

With that, she walked away, surrounded by her subordinates.

Of course, she wasn’t really leaving. She was just moving further away from the battle.

Wen Yuansi did not know martial arts and his rational mind told him not to run after her. He had to leave such things to the pros. But he was still very worried inside.

Where in the world was Song Caitang being hidden!

And who did the empress send? He prayed hard that nothing bad would happen.

Empress Chen had failed to win Wen Yuansi over and her men were beginning to lose the battle, so she started getting anxious.

Seeing that Wen Yuansi remained far from the battle, another idea struck her.

She waved someone over and gave him some instructions. He then entered the battle zone and headed straight for Zhao Zhi.

Once he was close enough, he followed her instructions by saying to Zhao Zhi, “Wen Yuansi has already agreed to join Her Majesty’s team, so he’s on our side now. If you stop fighting now, you can reduce the casualties on your side!”

Zhao Zhi raised an eyebrow and threw the man a look of disdain. “Is that so?”

“You have to believe me! Her Majesty said that she’ll give him Song Caitang!”

That made Zhao Zhi narrow his eyes immediately.

Zhao Zhi rushed at the man and lopped his head off. “What an insult!”

He looked at Empress Chen in the distance, took a deep breath and yelled at her, “Trying to drive a wedge between us? That must be the worst attempt I’ve ever seen!”

Empress Chen nearly vomited blood in anger.

“I suppose you have no idea how to spell the word “trust”! I’ll teach you today!” Zhao Zhi’s voice was like a huge temple bell, ringing in every corner of the battle, wafting into every person’s ear like ripples on the surface of a lake. His voice was bold, rebellious, yet relaxed, “You’ve got to trust yourself, and you’ve got to trust that the people around you can do it too! The greatest sort of trust is not in a person who’s always by your side and ready to fight for you anytime. The greatest sort of trust is trusting another person to be able to fight for themselves and succeed! All of us have to be the best version of ourselves, the most outstanding version of ourselves, the most independent of ourselves, the most magnanimous version of ourselves! That’s the best gift we can give each other! We don’t have to talk about how we feel about each other! You know, I know, and she knows too!”

These words drove Empress Chen insane, and it drove the officials and soldiers insane too.

But it was for very different reasons.

Wen Yuansi lowered his gaze to hide the tears in his eyes.

These words and this reaction was basically Zhao Zhi’s reply to him.

They didn’t like each other and didn’t like losing to each other, and perhaps they might never really get along like best friends for the rest of their lives. But they admired each other greatly.

They knew what each other was truly like, so they knew what they would do and what decisions they would make in any given scenario. Trying to drive a wedge between them was impossible.

Zhao Zhi was willing to trust him, and Wen Yuansi was willing to trust Zhao Zhi too.

That was enough.

…

While a fierce battle was going on at the royal cemetery, the door to Song Caitang’s room was finally opened, and someone walked in.

“I’m here to send you to the other side.”

The person who came in placed a small, white, long necked porcelain bottle on the table.