A Lonesome Fragrance Waiting to be Appreciated 1

65

Pingting closed her eyes and whipped the horse again. The wind blew hard against her pale white cheeks.

Don't chase me; it's too late. There's nothing between us anyway. Bai Pingting has long lost her soul since she can't return to her old home in the Jing-An Ducal Residence nor your Zhen-Bei Ducal Residence.

Let's swear to the moon, never turn against each other.

Her tears blurred her vision, but she could clearly remember his comforting smirk from that time.

Never, ever coming true.

Tears blurred her eyes and she remembered his gentle smile from that day.

Whip, whip again!

She couldn't care less about the cold wind slapping against her face. Escaping from his field of vision, from the world he breathed air from, was the only thing she wanted to be at this moment.

But she could still hear the gallops of another horse – Chu Beijie was still chasing.

Pingting felt crazed and all she cared was galloping forward, even aimlessly.

Two people on two horses as the sunset dyed the sky light-yellow, through the forest, towards Mount Dianqing's summit.

The once crazed horse gradually got tired. When Pingting brought down the whip once more, the horse bellowed loudly and threw her off. She fell.

"Watch out!" Chu Beijie yelled.

Pingting slammed heavily into the ground, dazed for a brief moment. She gritted her teeth as she got up and finally realised why the horse had stopped. Not far, was an impossibly steep cliff.

She hadn't realised that Ze Yin had left such a clever horse for her, but she knew that she had to do something soon. She could never return to Chu Beijie's side with the status of an imprisoned enemy advisor.

Facing the steep cliff, Pingting calmed down. Standing close to the edge, she secretly looked back at Chu Beijie and smiled.

"This place is really pretty and Pingting is greatly inspired to sing. May Pingting sing a song for Chu Beijie?" She looked friendly enough, her eyes were bright as they followed Chu Beijie's movements.

Chu Beijie realised that she was acting too calmly and knew that something was wrong. He knew that the things he wanted to say were not appropriate at such a critical moment and if he did, this wonderful woman who was even harder to catch than wisps of smoke wouldn't hesitate to jump. His mind churned at the thought. He smiled back and softened his voice too.

"Gui Le's five year treaty is an agreement between Pingting and me. If Pingting jumps, the treaty will no longer be valid and I will lead the Dong Lin army to attack Gui Le immediately. Please reconsider."

The moment he said this, Pingting's fake grin disappeared and she froze.

Chu Beijie took this moment to approach her and stopped in front.

The tears in Pingting's eyes moved but did not fall.

In a quiet voice, she whispered, "Why did Duke come?"

"For you." Chu Beijie replied. Once he had secured himself onto the horse he reached out a hand and eyed Pingting.

"Get on this horse with me. If you do, you will no longer be a Bai but a Chu."

Pingting shook as if she had been struck by lightning.

She raised her head and cried, "Beijie!" Despite the feelings of anger, she felt those sweet, salty, spicy, and bitter emotions that she had guarded so carefully, her uncontrollable tears were only ones of happiness.

His strong love only belonged to Bai Pingting after all.

Chu Beijie was quiet for some time before he sighed. "With you calling me Beijie, what's the point of continuing to attack Bei Mo?" He laughed, delighted.

He looked back at Pingting and warmth filled his eyes. He reached out. "Pingting, come here."

Pingting studied the lines in his huge hand. Did she remember their warmth? They had once stroked across her hair, her cheeks, her tears, and smile...all from this very hand.

Her hand seemed to stabilize her world, as if her soul had returned and she was free to forget the King, Jing-An Ducal Residence, Gui Le, Bei Mo, and Yangfeng.

Can I really choose not to be a Bai?

She knew the answer as she looked at his hand.

Little by little she came towards him, through the countless mountains of their countries, through the fiery battles of their armies, and by forgetting her past.

From then on, Bai Pingting was no longer a Bai.

The danger in Bei Mo was solved and one day, Yangfeng would probably forget about Pingting and her child would probably never realise that his or her mother once had such a good friend.

Little by little she had gotten closer until finally she had touched those loving hands.

"Ah!" Pingting found herself being hoisted up from the waist the moment her hand tightened around his. In seconds her feet were in the air, but she was on the horse in his arms.

Chu Beijie's familiar smile entered her field of vision.

"Hey Pingting, the moon's out."

She raised her head. It was true, the moon had risen. It was bright and curved, like a silver bowl that had laughed so much until it was permanently ruined its back.

"Let's swear to the moon to never betray each other." He spoke each word earnestly.

She studied his solemn expression and replied, "I swear to the moon to never betray each other."

Under the cold moonlight, the leader of the winning Dong Lin army crossed the Cloud Valley route, carried his one and only woman back to the campsite.

"Why frown?" Chu Beijie looked down at the treasure in his arms that he had spent so much time trying to get.

Pingting's frown loosened as she replied, puzzled, "A weird feeling I can't really describe; it feels a bit like frustration."

"Why's that?" Chu Beijie softly kissed the top of her hair. "Losing and winning is common in fighting; it's not embarrassing to lose against your husband you know."

The Cloud Valley route lay ahead.

"Can...I ask you something about the battle though?" She was still his enemy's main advisor up until a few moments ago. Even now, she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

Chu Beijie's expression didn't change as he replied, "Sure."

"How is Duke going to punish Ze Yin? He's Yangfeng's husband and I..."

"I don't plan to punish him at all. That's why I chose the Cloud Valley route." Chu Beijie chuckled, "I knew that you would poison the water source and then attack our quarters, so I decided to act first and attack your campsite. As for Ze Yin, let him muck around in my campsite of empty tents and fake soldiers."

Pingting stopped breathing as she realised why she had lost.

Her guesses were completely right, but she had forgotten one thing — that his soldiers moved at an unusually fast pace.