He replied calmly, “He is the Regent of Eastern Liao. It is only natural for him to want to see the Chancellor at the conclusion of this war.”
“If we can persuade him to formally surrender, the other nobles will follow suit. It will save us from wasting more time in these lands.”
Pei Jingyi understood the logic. He took Gu Huaiyu’s hand in his own large palm, leading him down the Imperial Street. “I’m coming with you.”
Gu Huaiyu let him lead the way. The two of them were intimate, making no effort to hide their relationship.
The palace towers, once bristling with wolf flags, now flew only the banners of Great Chen. A few soldiers were using buckets of water to wash the blood from the stone steps. They scrambled to salute as the pair arrived.
Pei Jingyi gave a light chuckle and jerked his chin. “Go. Bring the Regent here.”
The title “Regent” felt especially mocking now. He was the Regent of Eastern Liao, and Eastern Liao no longer existed.
Gu Huaiyu stood by the battlements, looking down at the imperial city. The streets were filled with Great Chen soldiers. The setting sun bathed the city—scarred by fire and war—in a layer of gold, giving it a tragic, magnificent beauty.
A sense of pride swelled in his chest. Looking at the coming era of peace, the landscape felt like a masterpiece painted just for him.
Yelü Chi was not as hulking as the typical men of the grasslands, but his strength was formidable. It took four robust soldiers to hold him, his arms bound behind his back. Even so, he refused to submit, thrashing so violently that the soldiers stumbled. It took their combined effort to force him up onto the tower.
When he saw Gu Huaiyu’s back, he suddenly went still.
His python robes were in tatters, and his handsome face was covered in blood and grime. Only his grey-blue eyes remained unchanged, flickering with a strange light like a dying predator.
Gu Huaiyu turned around. He gestured for the soldiers to step back. Even though they were enemies, he would grant the man a final shred of dignity.
A small smile touched Gu’s lips. “Didn’t you hope that I would put a bridle around your neck? Now, I have done it.”
Yelü Chi suddenly burst into laughter. The sound echoed across the tower.
The burden that had weighed on his shoulders for months—the corrupt court, the feuding tribes, the endless defeats—seemed to vanish in this moment. Only when facing Gu Huaiyu could he finally laugh with such abandon.
Gu Huaiyu didn’t rush him; he simply watched.
When the laughter finally died down, the man who once held the power of Eastern Liao suddenly dropped to his knees with a heavy thud. Yelü Chi looked up in a posture of complete submission. “If I die at your hands… then this life was worth living.”
Pei Jingyi clicked his tongue in annoyance. What a nuisance.
Gu Huaiyu frowned slightly, looking down at the kneeling man. “Why?”
Yelü Chi didn’t answer. Instead, he looked at Pei Jingyi and then at their intertwined hands. His gaze flickered. “You are a very lucky man.”
Pei Jingyi deliberately raised their joined hands, giving Gu’s fair fingers a possessive squeeze. His lips curled—You don’t need to tell me that.
Yelü Chi said no more. He had gambled and lost. He bared his neck, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on Gu Huaiyu. “Do it.”
Seeing that he sought death and insisted it come from him, Gu Huaiyu showed a rare mercy and nodded. “Very well.”
He understood Yelü Chi’s nature. Once the man had decided to die, no one could talk him out of it. He looked at the guards. “On my authority—send the Regent on his way.”
The soldier he looked at felt a jolt of electricity. He immediately drew his blade with a sharp shing.
Yelü Chi’s grey-blue eyes never left Gu Huaiyu. There was no regret in them. He was like the wildest horse on the plains, finally choosing to submit to his only master.
A flash of cold steel, and silence fell over the tower.
Gu Huaiyu looked down at Yelü Chi as he fell into a pool of blood, only to be pulled around by Pei Jingyi.
The setting sun stretched their overlapping shadows. The sight of the crimson-robed official standing side-by-side with the armored general was captured by the thousands of soldiers below.
Someone in the ranks let out a thunderous shout.
“Long live the Chancellor!”
“Glory to the Marshal!”
Then, a particularly bold soldier yelled, “Eternal union to the Chancellor and the Marshal!”
That single shout sent the entire army into a frenzy.
The sound of clashing armor, cheers, and whistles became a deafening roar. A few old veterans even tossed their helmets into the air.
Gu Huaiyu felt his ears turn hot from the commotion. He shot Pei Jingyi a sideways glare. Look at the soldiers you’ve trained.
Pei Jingyi, however, wanted nothing more than to announce his status as the “Chancellor’s Consort” to the entire world. He wrapped an arm around Gu’s waist and, before the eyes of thirty thousand men, leaned down and kissed him.
Caught off guard, Gu Huaiyu felt that hot, fierce tongue invade his mouth. Just as he was about to bite the man, Pei Jingyi raised their locked hands high.
The sunlight filtered through their interlaced fingers, casting a lingering, romantic shadow against the blood-red war banner. The cheers of thirty thousand soldiers shook the very stones of the wall, and even the ancient tower—a witness to a thousand wars—seemed to stand as a resounding witness to this union.
