Li Chen nodded. Reached out to hold his eldest sister's hand.
Smiling, Li Yao wiped her tears. "Come. Follow me in."
They seemed just as they had been in the past, as if the years they had spent apart did not affect them at all. Li Yao brought Li Chen to sit by her side. Examined his face. It was like looking at his younger self, his gaze firm and persistent, expression calm. A soft sigh left her lips. "I always knew. I always knew you would succeed."
"I've promised you this," said Li Chen.
A trace of regret sat between Li Yao's brows. She looked at her younger brother with a gentle gaze. "I cannot return to Great Kang."
Li Chen's hold on her hand tightened. With her free hand, Li Yao patted the back of his. She smiled. "Don't be like this. You should understand that I've long since been unable to return. Ever since I agreed on the political marriage to the northwest, I have never thought of coming back."
Pain revealed itself on Li Chen's face. He said, "But grandmother has already come out of seclusion. I'll bring you back to see grandmother, alright?"
Bitter laughter spilled from Li Yao's lips. She reached out. Touched her younger brother's face. "Brother Chen, be very filial toward grandmother in my stead. Tell her Yao'er cannot return and will pray for grandmother."
The slaves started to serve the dishes one after the other. Li Chen and Li Yao did not speak any further. Wang'er stayed close by to attend to them, grateful to see a true smile finally appear on her master's face.
At this moment, Qi Yunruo was in the kitchen, waiting for the Qiang chefs to slice the barbecue. The chef was very meticulous, arranging the grilled lamb into the shape of a sheep on the plate.
Qi Yunruo listened to the noises outside the kitchen, paying less and less attention to what he was doing. A few new slave girls went to tidy up the room the prince would stay in. Qi Yunruo hated that he couldn't follow along for a look. But he also didn't know how he would explain himself otherwise. He could only bring the meat out with a gloomy face.
"...Bo Tu Ke never brought out the person the prince from Great Kang was looking for?"
"I heard that Second Prince never encountered this person."
"...Maybe he died?"
A sigh. "It's just a male pet. I heard that the princes of the Great State of Kang have these interests. Those male pets have very low statuses. I really can't understand. If they died, why not get another one?"
Bo Ge's people spoke in the Qiang tongue. Qi Yunruo, who was passing by with his head lowered, did not understand them. He seemed to be drawing closer and closer to the prince...
With his head still lowered, Qi Yunruo exposed his slender and white nape. Bo Ge's expression froze. He scrutinized him. All of a sudden, he grabbed Qi Yunruo's sleeve as he spoke to people around him in the Qiang tongue.
Qi Yunruo stood there in a daze, holding the plate of meat. His gaze revealed a trace of fear. What happened? Did they recognize him? How? They shouldn't have been able to.
He found the laughs of Bo Ge's people unsettling. Those people then said a few more words. Bo Ge nodded, before calling some other Qiang men over.
Qi Yunruo watched them, flustered. He wanted to walk past them to the drawing room. But just when he was able to take one step in that direction, a tall Qiang man obstructed his path. Another one took the large tray in his hands, and another two dragged him to another direction.
The moment Qi Yunruo wanted to scream, he was muffled. Then the tall Qiang man lifted him with one hand. Qi Yunruo struggled, but it was in vain, watching as the drawing room grew farther and farther away.
There, Li Yao picked up some food with her chopsticks and dropped it into Li Chen's bowl. "You haven't found the person you are looking for yet?"
Li Chen's expression grew gloomy. "Bo Tu Ke doesn't have him. And the people I've sent to Xinyuan Country still haven't returned any news... How could he survive by himself?"
Li Yao did not respond. Li Chen shook his head and smiled bitterly. "Perhaps I've made a mistake in bringing him to the northwest."
Li Yao said, "If I have a chance to meet him, I definitely have to thank him for saving you."
"...Right now I only hope that he is okay. Even if he's somewhere I don't know..."
In this long stretch of years apart, Li Chen had many things he wanted to say to his elder sister. However, in the evening, they ate as they casually chatted. They did not bring up many serious topics. Li Chen would stay in the Qiang people's royal capital for a while. After they had finished eating, he made for the tent Bo Ge had prepared for him.
Exhaustion seeped into his bones. He had spent a lot of energy during the peace talks with Bo Ge. Everything weighed on his shoulders. But no matter what, he could not fall apart.
