Chapter 665: I Can Fight for This Realm, or I Can Abandon It

"If you intend to abandon me alone, don't even think about it in this lifetime!"

His obsession and the cold aura radiating from his whole body made Li Qingluo's heart startle.

"Ashi, you misunderstand."

Li Qingluo struggled to find a gap in his embrace to catch her breath.

"What I'm afraid of is... I won't be a good empress for you."

Duan Rongshi's grip finally loosened, and the hostility in his aura receded.

A puzzled look flashed in his eyes: "What nonsense are you spouting?"

He even reached out to probe her forehead.

"My Luo'er, since when have you become so modest and self‑deprecating?"

Li Qingluo clutched his large hand, sighing helplessly: "Ashi, I'm just a wild girl who grew up in the mountains and fields."

"Although I have a grandmother who loves me and a veteran general with glorious battle achievements, in the end everyone knows exactly what my maternal clan is like."

"Even though I've left my sect and clan, I still bear the Li surname."

"My background won't bring you any benefit; on the contrary, it'll cause you more trouble and difficulty."

"Moreover, I lack the skills of a noble matriarch or a destined wife, and I can't be a virtuous wife and good mother—let alone a queen of a nation."

"I also dislike confining myself within a neat little courtyard; I still enjoy dancing with knives and swords."

"Being a princess consort was already enough of a challenge; an empress like this would only attract more criticism."

"So, Ashi, you want me to become a proper, obedient woman who sits within the courtyard walls to manage the harem for you?"

She was, of course, bewildered.

And she had been bewildered for several days.

Moreover, Li Qingluo was fully aware of herself.

She was not an ordinary noble lady of a great clan; her present self was forged solely by her own effort and struggle.

Because she knew her abilities so well, she realized she lacked the capacity to become a proper empress.

She had originally planned to retreat to the mountains and forests once everything ended, to live a carefree life wandering the rivers and peaks like idle clouds and wild cranes.

Now that dream was completely shattered.

The anxiety and worry in her eyes, along with the words in her heart, all spilled out at that moment.

Only then did Duan Rongshi understand exactly what she was fearing.

Immediately, he gently stroked her face with tenderness.

"It was my lack of foresight that caused Luo'er to worry about troubles that needn't be worried about."

"I can fight for this realm, or I can abandon it."

"But not now."

"Luo'er, what I desire is not some conventional, rule‑following empress; because you are my wife, I want to join hands with you and shoulder the governance of this family, nation, and world together."

"You don't have to linger in the harem; if you wish, you may continue doing whatever you desire."

"Including handling state affairs with me."

"Even if you are unwilling... I ask you to endure temporarily, okay? You don't need to change any aspect of yourself."

"Whatever you choose to do, I will still support you in continuing it."

"Even if it's what you truly desire... I promise you, in this life I will never break this word. But this will require a very long period for me."

"Wait for me."

"At least ten years, at most eighteen years."

"Your whole life will not be lived in vain."

He solemnly made that promise, and Li Qingluo only after many years understood why it was eighteen years.

It turned out he intended to personally raise Qingwu until she turned eighteen, waiting for her wings to fully mature, and once she could safely ascend the throne, he would make her the world's first female emperor.

But who could have known that Qingwu and her mother shared the same temperament.

They were uninterested in power or the world.

Their whole life only yearned for freedom beyond the heavens.

Therefore, Duan Rongshi had no choice but to turn to the secondary option of cultivating a son...

And he accelerated the process with great severity.

But at that moment, Li Qingluo still didn't understand his words.

She thought, what else can I do but refuse?

Could she truly abandon him, letting him finish the unfinished business alone, fleeing with the child?

How could Li Qingluo bear to let her own daughter be born without a father?

She was even less willing to leave Duan Rongshi alone on that icy high place.

In her attempt to be all‑encompassing, she only made one request: "The three of us must not be separated."

Pei Lao Furen successfully reclaimed Yuncheng.

And atop the city tower, she raised the Lan Navy's banner.

Thus, news that the once‑elegant general had returned, still as valiant as when she smoothly captured a city for the Lan Navy, spread throughout the realm.

After Duan Rongshi returned, he personally fought the remnants of the Western Regions' troops once more.

After he completely eradicated all Western Regions forces on the frontier, the Western Regions sent emissaries eager for peace.

They demanded that the Lan Navy release all Western Regions captives and the Wolf Three Kings.

And the Western Regions agreed not to send troops to invade the Central Plains for ten years.

Duan Rongshi sneered and personally beheaded the emissary.

"Ten years?"

"Do they think the imperial court is giving me charity?"

"I will make Lord Gudu never dare set foot in the Central Plains again in this lifetime!"

Duan Rongshi thought of the foolish Nanping; the anger and pain in his heart made him absolutely refuse to agree to peace talks with the Western Regions.

Even if I never set foot in the Western Regions in this life, I will still cause the interests between the Thirteen Kingdoms and the imperial court to crumble.

This is the price the imperial court should pay for trampling and humiliating the Central Plains princess!

"When the Western Regions' imperial court learned that the new Great Chu emperor Duan Rongshi had beheaded their envoy, chaos, panic and anger spread, and Lord Gudu could no longer sit idle, deciding to personally lead an expedition."

This time, the Western Regions dispatched a massive army of three hundred thousand.

At the same time, Duan Rongshi was also gathering and dispatching troops, a large force of Chu soldiers marching toward the border passes.

As for DaLiang, turmoil was naturally brewing.

Many people could no longer sit idle.

In the court, the Eldest Princess and the Crown Prince clashed again in a sharp argument, nearly coming to blows.

The reason was that the Eldest Princess knew that the Western Regions had never treated her daughter kindly, and that Princess Nanping might already have perished in Hala City.

She was heartbroken, almost frantic, demanding that DaLiang also send troops to join Great Chu in resisting the Western Regions.

But the Crown Prince and the majority of ministers disagreed.

First, they never imagined that Prince Su had originally faked his death!

Not only did he fake his death, but now he has gone to Great Chu to inherit his uncle's throne!

He is a prince of DaLiang!!

Now, as the emperor of Great Chu, he has led Great Chu's soldiers to retake every city the realm had lost, and moreover, he has established the Lan Navy!

Now the Lan Navy is unstoppable at the border passes, repeatedly routing the Western Regions' army into a disgraceful, dog‑like defeat, with rumors that they cannot even return home spreading ever more intensely throughout DaLiang.

Not only that, even the aged and elegant General Xiu Li has gone to the border passes to join the fray.

What does DaLiang count as now?

A clown?

Are they specifically sending the divine prince and the old general to rescue Great Chu?

Ah!?

Who isn't angry!?

Who can accept!

And who knows if he might turn around and attack DaLiang?

Don't even talk about joining forces against the Western Regions; it would be best if they fought the Western Regions themselves, ending in a mutual defeat, after which DaLiang could naturally reap the fisherman's profit.

Crown Prince Duan Rong not only opposed sending troops, but declared Duan Rongshi a treasonous traitor!

DaLiang people will never forgive the indulgence toward Prince Su who abandoned the army and civilians and pretended to die, and will even later campaign against him for the crime of feigning death!

Even though he is now the emperor of Great Chu, Great Chu has always been under DaLiang; DaLiang is the strongest nation in the Central Plains.

DaLiang adopts a stance of not wanting to intervene in the dispute between Great Chu and the Western Regions, yet this matter has not only caused a great uproar in the court but also the entire populace now knows the truth.

The common folk worship Prince Su as if a deity descended, not only beating the Western Regions' army into a head‑cowering retreat, but also reclaiming DaLiang's cities from the Western Regions' forces.

Although now they have raised another country's banner...

the city of Yun Cheng has not suffered any mistreatment from the Lan Navy!

It is said that the Lan Navy treats Yun Cheng's citizens like those of Manduo City, with mutual love between soldiers and civilians!

On one side, there is naturally regret that Prince Su originally faked his death and left DaLiang.

Otherwise, could the Western Regions' imperial court still humiliate DaLiang so today?

Of course, some also call him a treasonous traitor.

"As a DaLiang person, defecting to another country is a capital crime!"

"Loyalty to Great Chu is treason against DaLiang! All traitors, every DaLiang citizen should be executed for it—"

But that voice quickly vanished amid more supportive shouts: "Nonsense! Don't forget, His Highness Prince Su already has the blood of the Great Chu royal family!"

"His biological mother is Consort Yue, the elder sister of the former Great Chu emperor, Princess Qingyue! His status is far more noble than Princess Qinyu's."

"His return to Great Chu is also entirely justified."

"Moreover, it is said that the Chu emperor was originally an extremely tyrannical despot, but since our Prince Su returned to Great Chu, the emperor has gradually changed his temperament, and trusts Prince Su immensely, not only handing him the three armies but also clearing all obstacles for him."

"That Chu emperor originally had his own son, yet he stubbornly gave the throne to a more capable nephew. Ask any emperor of past or present, who could do such a thing?"

"It must be because Prince Su is sufficiently outstanding; otherwise the Chu emperor, not being a madman, would have no reason for such a shocking act. Moreover, it is heard that the entire Great Chu court did not oppose this."

"Now the people of Great Chu revere Prince Su even more than we do, and also support his succession to the great unification."

"How could one not support? Prince Su is like a divine weapon descending, leading Great Chu to beat the Western Regions' hundreds of thousands of troops into a complete rout. With such an emperor, the people are truly blessed!"

"This is also the realm forged by His Highness."

"Moreover, Prince Su has not forgotten us; he has vindicated the injustice against our allied Princess Nanping!"

"It is heard that the princess in the Western Regions is treated worse than pigs and dogs, living in a sheepfold, eating and sleeping with beasts, stripped of any human dignity, and now her fate is unknown. This plainly shows that the Western Regions are humiliating DaLiang as if we were livestock!"

"It is said that Prince Su angrily beheaded the Western Regions' envoy for this very reason, which indeed dealt a severe blow to the Western Regions' face."

"Look at the powerful nobles in the court; who still dares to champion this matter?"

"Peace talks between the two nations, no beheading of envoys. Unless one wishes to forge an eternal hatred!"

"His Highness would rather completely make an enemy of the Western Regions than bow down, which is clearly also for DaLiang!"

"Our true DaLiang court actually pretends to be deaf and mute, refusing to send troops; is this still the DaLiang that once had a steel‑strong spirit?"

"They are not even comparable to Prince Su; how can they criticize Prince Su?"