Senior brother is so awesome!

“You’re wrong.” Zhong Zhichen gazed at the distant, towering mountains. “How could an emperor not have his own subordinates? Even though I hold military power in Xuanyuan, there are bound to be people with ulterior motives in a large forest. Besides, he has announced the regent’s rebellion to the world. If the army still follows me, wouldn’t they also be branded as traitors?”

Hearing his nonchalant explanation, a huge storm raged in her heart. Her fair hand gripped his sleeve tightly. "Then aren't you a wanted criminal now?"

A large hand touched her nose, his unfathomable eagle eyes held an unreadable smile, and his deep voice resounded: "Yes, now that I no longer wield overwhelming power, does Chan'er despise me?"

"You're just talking nonsense!" Qin Yuechan scolded anxiously. "What kind of time is this to be joking around!"

Zhong Zhichen smiled calmly, his presence exuding an air of strategic brilliance. "The world, after a long period of division, will inevitably unite. Three hundred years have passed; it's time to recreate the glorious era of yesteryear!"

She looked up at the man with a profound and mysterious expression, as if he were destined to be the ruler of the world, and all the turbulent events were just a prelude to his appearance, waiting for the man who would unify the world to emerge.

Her stunningly beautiful eyes remained fixed, yet strangely familiar images flashed through her mind. It was as if someone had once told her something, as if on the summit of a majestic mountain, that person had embraced her, declaring that only he could control the fate of the world!

She felt dizzy and lightheaded, about to faint, when a large hand around her waist caught her and supported her steadily.

"How did you suddenly faint?"

His deep, urgent voice rang in her ears. She rubbed her forehead, then leaned weakly into his arms. After a while, she felt a little better.

Looking up into his anxious, fiery eyes, she smiled beautifully, "Don't worry, it's been like this a lot lately, it'll be fine in a bit."

"Often?" Zhong Zhichen repeated in a deep voice, then asked, "Anything else unusual besides that?"

Qin Yuechan thought for a moment before frowning and saying, "Also, some unfamiliar scenes will appear before my eyes. They are very familiar, but I have never seen them before."

This situation was rare before, and she had never paid attention to it. But recently, the number of hallucinations has been increasing. She thought it was just her overthinking because of the many things that had happened in the past few days. Seeing Zhong Zhichen's serious expression, she began to wonder in her heart what was going on.

There were still some things he wanted to tell her, but he couldn't worry about them now. He picked her up and mounted the horse. The speed was not as fast as when they came, but rather steady. She leaned against his chest, feeling drowsy, and soon fell asleep.

When she woke up again, it was already afternoon. The sun shone in at an angle, casting its light on the white robes sitting at the head of the bed. She smiled and softly called out, "Second Senior Brother."

Zhu Mingquan nodded, put her hand under the blanket, and then got up.

"Second Senior Brother...where are you going?"

Her eager question brought him to a halt. His figure, dressed in pristine white, stood out awkwardly in the old house, yet it did not diminish his radiance.

"Cicada..." Before she could finish speaking, she fell silent. "You should rest well."

After saying that, he turned and left, not giving her any chance to stop him.

She propped herself up from the bed and walked barefoot on the cold floor to the door. Just then, the figure in white entered the east wing, and the two wooden doors closed with a bang. Her heart skipped a beat.

She lowered her eyes sadly, like a fallen flower. Suddenly, she raised her head and looked at the closed door, her eyes firm and urgent. Since this morning, her second senior brother had been ignoring her for no reason. There must be a reason!

In a fit of anger, she didn't even bother to put on her shoes. Barefoot, she rushed into the east wing like a ball of fire, her beautiful eyes filled with rage and her pretty face frosty.

Inside the room, Situ Ze was still lying on the bed. Zhu Mingquan sat listlessly on the couch. Looking up, she saw the dilapidated door hanging precariously on the wall after she kicked it. A stunning woman in a light red dress pursed her lips and stared at her, full of resentment.

Confused, Situ Ze struggled to lift his head to look at her and asked anxiously, "What happened?"

Qin Yuechan shook her head at him, her gaze fixed on that figure in white since she entered the room. "I have something to discuss with my second senior brother!"

As he spoke, he stepped forward and grabbed Zhu Mingquan's wide sleeve, saying without a doubt, "If Second Senior Brother is alright, may we speak in private?"

It was clearly a question, but it was stated in a declarative tone.

Zhu Mingquan's lowered eyes noticed her bare, jade-like feet on the ground. His flat brows furrowed suddenly, and he stretched out his long arm to pick her up and place her on the bed. He said coldly, "Why are you walking on the ground without shoes? Haven't you drunk enough bitter medicine?"

Hearing that he still cared about her, Qin Yuechan's lips curved into a happy smile, and she tugged at his sleeve, saying coquettishly, "I knew it, Second Senior Brother loves me the most!"

Zhu Mingquan seemed disgusted, brushing her hand away and getting up to tidy up the medicine bottles on the table. His voice was cold and indifferent. "If there's nothing else, I'll have Qing'er bring you your shoes. I have other things to do and it's inconvenient for me to entertain you."

Her radiant smile froze on her face, and she couldn't react for a long time. Her lips trembled as she asked, "Why are we so cold to each other?"

The voice was more desolate than ever before, the tip of the nose was slightly sore, but there was not a trace of tears in the eyes, like a dried-up riverbed.

Situ Ze observed from the side, initially thinking it was a misunderstanding between his junior sister and second senior brother and not wanting to get involved. However, seeing how his second senior brother's coldness hurt his junior sister, he couldn't help but intervene.

Why must you hurt your junior sister's heart, senior brother?

Zhu Mingquan paused in his work, his long hair, which was casually tied up, slipped down to his shoulder, revealing a gentle profile. Just when Qin Yuechan thought he was about to turn around, he resumed his busy work, ignoring their conversation.

"Cicada".

A gloomy voice suddenly rang out at the door. She stiffly looked away, only to find that Zhong Zhichen was already standing there looking at her, his face ashen.

Qin Yuechan didn't know what to say. As soon as she opened her mouth, tears suddenly welled up, stinging her eyes.

Her vision blurred with tears, and she could no longer see clearly. A dark purple figure strode over, swept her up in his arms, and left without looking back. She tried to turn around to look for her second senior brother, but all she could see was a faint white figure.

Zhong Zhichen carried her back to the dormitory, his large hands holding her small feet and stroking them gently. The warm touch triggered her tears.

She struggled to throw herself into his arms, bursting into tears and crying out, "Why is Second Brother suddenly ignoring me? Why?"

He gently patted her back with his large hands, without saying a word, until she cried herself to sleep, and the python robe with its exquisite embroidery on her chest was soaked through.

She raised her head and cupped his face in her small hands. The raw stubble was a little prickly, but it made her look even more real. Her sore eyes stared straight into his eyes, which held a hint of pity, and she said in a hoarse voice, "You must know, right? You know why Second Senior Brother suddenly changed, right?"

She stared at his face hopefully, and after a long while, her thin lips finally parted: "The second brother is going back to the Azure Dragon Kingdom to get reinforcements. Perhaps he did this to you because he was afraid you would be hurt."

"He's going back to the Azure Dragon Kingdom?" His unfocused gaze suddenly sharpened. "Will he... will he come back?"

Zhong Zhichen sighed silently, swallowing back the words that were about to come out. He smiled and hugged her tightly, "Silly girl, of course I'll come back. Even for you, he won't let go."

She finally turned her tears into laughter, put her arm around his lean waist and said, "Then I'm going to teach Second Senior Brother a lesson. Going back to the Azure Dragon Kingdom isn't a big deal, why make such a big fuss!"

He silently patted the back of her hand, his gaze instantly sharpening, revealing a chilling coldness she couldn't see.

"Master, your medicine has arrived." Qing'er's voice rang out from outside the door.

Qin Yuechan wiped the tears from her face in a disheveled manner and straightened up: "Come in."

Qing'er carried over a bowl of dark, murky medicine. Seeing Zhong Zhichen there, she curtsied and greeted him, "Your Highness."

The title was no longer appropriate, but he had no mind to say anything. He took the medicine bowl and said to Qin Yuechan, "Drink it quickly."

From the moment Qing'er appeared in the room, a bitter smell lingered in the air. She pinched her nose in disgust and shrank back at the foot of the bed. "I won't drink it. Why should I drink medicine if I'm not sick or injured!"

She always did this, leaving Qing'er both amused and exasperated, but she dared not show it in front of Zhong Zhichen, so she wisely withdrew.

He held the bowl of medicine and commanded in a low voice, "Come here."

"I won't go! I'd rather die than go!" she said with rare determination.

"Good cicada, once you drink the medicine, those hallucinations won't happen anymore." He coaxed her even more rarely, his face radiating a charming tenderness.

Qin Yuechan frowned. The thought of those scenes made her heart ache. So, between the two evils, drinking the medicine was simpler. Reluctantly, she crawled over, took the bowl of medicine from his hand, pinched her nose, and swallowed it all in one gulp!

"Bitter bitter bitter bitter bitter!" she uttered five bitter words in a row, then handed the bowl back to him in disgust.

Zhong Zhichen hugged her tightly, saying, "It won't be bitter for a while."

"Mmm," she responded softly, but her mind gradually became hazy.

"I'm so sleepy..."

He pulled her into his arms and lay her down on the bed, whispering, "You're tired from crying, go to sleep."

"Um……"

She slept soundly without any dreams, but when she woke up, she received news that caused her immense pain.

It was dinner time. She sat at the table, rubbing her eyes. Qing'er casually brought out plate after plate of exquisite, glossy dishes, their bright colors very tempting.

The junior brother proudly boasted from the side, "Junior sister, aren't I amazing! These are all wild game I hunted!"

"Hmm, impressive, really impressive." She said, looking towards the door, but couldn't see Zhong Zhichen and her second senior brother.

Except for the fourth senior brother who was lying in his room and couldn't come out, the fifth senior brother was also there, but where did the other two go?

"Do you know what the eldest and second senior brothers went to do?"

Lin Hongxuan, who was feeling smug, was slightly taken aback. "Junior Sister, don't you know? Second Senior Brother is leaving, and Eldest Senior Brother went to see him off!"

A sudden emptiness filled my heart, and I stood there stunned in surprise, muttering to myself, "They just left like that? Without even saying a word."

"You told us everything, Second Senior Brother is going back to the Azure Dragon Kingdom to get married..." Lin Hongxuan realized he had said the wrong thing, covered his mouth in regret, and looked at her with his big eyes.

Qin Yuechan stared at him with wide eyes, incredulously pondering his words. Getting married? No wonder her second senior brother had suddenly stopped talking to her; it turned out he was going back to get married…

She rose listlessly, like a soulless walking corpse, and slowly walked to the east wing. The quilt that her second senior brother had been using was neatly folded and placed at the head of the bed. Half of the bottles and jars on the table were missing, but other than that, nothing had changed, as if they had just taken refuge here, and she had seen his pale face from his injuries when she entered the room.

But he really left, leaving only the scent of medicine in the room.

Situ Ze noticed her presence and was about to ask her something when she left, looking lost and dejected.

Why, why didn't you tell her? Even if you were going home to get married, you could have told her... Don't worry about how heartbroken she is. She can bear and endure anything for his happiness, but why...?

Did they leave without saying a word?

Suddenly, the image of that bowl of pitch-black medicine flashed through his mind, and his expression turned slightly sorrowful. It was the medicine he had prepared, and he was sure to have added sleeping pills, otherwise, no matter how tired she was from crying, she wouldn't be sleeping so soundly. He figured he was afraid she would pester him...

"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!"

Qin Yuechan walked as if she had no soul, unable to hear any sound. The space was empty, yet the loudest bell tolled, drilling straight into her ears.