37: Chapter 37 I've Been Waiting for You

In the eyes of Zhuge Jinyu, those fox-like eyes that were usually filled with majesty in the imperial court, were now full of the most humble supplication.

"Good."

Su Chen's voice remained gentle.

"I am watching. My Xiao Yu will definitely be able to do it."

Zhuge Jinyu smiled.

She did not know if it was because she heard Su Chen's affirmation, or because she heard "My Xiao Yu."

She carefully hid the mirror close to her body and took a deep breath.

She withdrew all the fragility and the demeanor of a young girl from her face.

She turned back into that majestic Chancellor of the Great Qian.

She turned around.

Took a step.

And walked toward the thousands of troops and horses waiting outside the ancestral hall.

The Northern Expedition was far more difficult and tragic than expected.

Since ancient times, Qishan has been an important pass connecting the Qin and Shu regions.

It is no exaggeration to call it a place of strategic military importance.

Under the administration of Zhuge Jinyu, it was true that the Great Qian was strong and prosperous.

However, the Great Wei had managed the Qishan area for hundreds of years; the passes were steep, and the defending troops were elite.

Even though the Sima Family ancestor had been in seclusion for several years, lacking command and top-tier combat power, the Great Wei army was no longer as glorious as it once was when it could take on two opponents at once.

But after all, it had the foundation of a great power; how could it be a soft persimmon that could be easily squeezed?

Zhuge Jinyu visited the front line in person, her white clothes like snow, pointing out the landscape with her vermilion bird feather fan.

Her military tactics became increasingly unpredictable; sometimes she launched frontal assaults, sometimes surprise attacks with elite troops, and sometimes she prioritized psychological warfare.

Her cultivation in the Integration Realm was her greatest reliance for defeating the enemy.

One must know that in the entire Great Wei, apart from the Sima Family ancestor who was in seclusion and the Great Wei Emperor, no one's cultivation could reach the Integration Realm.

Her powerful cultivation allowed her to come and go freely amidst ten thousand armies.

But Su Chen could feel it.

She was in a hurry.

It was as if she were burning her last light and heat.

In less than half a month, beneath the main peak of Qishan.

Corpses were strewn everywhere, and the setting sun was like blood.

The flag symbolizing the Great Wei was cut down and trampled into the mud.

A tattered, stubbornly fluttering banner with the character "Qian" was planted on the beacon tower of Qishan's main peak.

The white-haired Young Prime Minister, covered in blood, stood on the edge of the beacon tower, gazing at the homeland beneath her feet that had just undergone a baptism of blood and fire.

The setting sun stretched her figure long, lonely and upright.

Behind her, countless surviving Great Qian soldiers gazed at this land they had dreamed of, first in deathly silence, then erupting into earth-shaking wails.

That was not sadness.

It was the catharsis of decades of humiliation and generations of expectation finally being fulfilled.

Once, all the beacon towers across the entire continent hung banners with yellow backgrounds and red characters of "Qian."

The Western and Eastern Qian lasted for over four thousand years, with ten thousand nations coming to pay tribute, and sealing the wolf at Juxu. How glorious it was.

But later, the Cao clan of the Wei Dynasty usurped the Qian, forcing a hasty retreat to the south, settling in the Shu region, with power falling into the hands of others. How stifling it was.

Now, under the leadership of Zhuge Jinyu, the Great Qian had finally recovered a small portion of its homeland.

It was no wonder all the soldiers knelt on the ground, grabbing the mud mixed with blood, pressing it to their hearts, and wailing loudly.

Zhuge Jinyu did not cry.

She just stood there quietly, letting the mountain wind blow her blood-stained white hair and sleeves.

Her hand gently pressed against her chest, feeling the temperature of the ancient mirror in her bosom.

Her lips moved, murmuring, "Sir, you are still there, right?"

"Qishan, we have recovered it."

"This is just a beginning. I will continue to march north, recover all the lost territories, and fight all the way to the gates of Luodu."

"I will take you to see the snow there..."

"Sir, we..."

Her words stopped abruptly. Su Chen, who always responded to her, was unusually silent this time. There was not a sound.

At this moment, Su Chen's consciousness was slowly sliding into darkness. The time for slumber was approaching.

This time, he had been awake for twenty-two days. He had finally kept his word and waited for this day when she recovered Qishan.

The color on Zhuge Jinyu's face faded away completely in an instant.

She suddenly pulled out the mirror, gripping it tightly with both hands.

"Sir?"

There was no response.

"Sir!"

Her voice carried a sob this time.

"Answer me! You promised you would watch me!"

"Qishan has been recovered! Did you see it?!"

"You cannot sleep."

"Please... look at me again."

"Look at this land and river I have recovered again..."

The crying behind her was still earth-shaking, celebrating the hard-won victory.

Yet their Chancellor, the pillar of the Great Qian, was now like a child abandoned by the whole world. Holding a cold ancient mirror, on this recovered homeland, in the blood-like setting sun. She cried heart-rendingly, trembling all over.

Su Chen in the mirror felt his consciousness sinking into the deep sea. Listening to her broken cries, looking at her paper-white face.

He wanted to say one more thing to her.

"Xiao Yu, don't cry, you have been amazing."

"Rest for a while."

But endless exhaustion was like a black tide, completely submerging him. Consciousness, sinking again.

This slumber was colder and longer than the last. It seemed as if there was no end.

Su Chen woke up again, having slept for a full six months.

At that time, Zhuge Jinyu was in the Long region, at the critical moment of capturing Wudu City.

In just six months, several passes from the Shu region to the Qin region had all been opened by Zhuge Jinyu.

Many cities in the Qin and Long regions had been captured by the Great Qian army.

When he woke up this time, Zhuge Jinyu was quite calm.

Su Chen, who had wanted to ask her about her recent situation, saw the dense bloodshot eyes in her fox-like eyes and could not bring himself to ask.

Upon this awakening, Zhuge Jinyu seemed like a different person. The battlefield and the slaughter had made her numb.

"Sir, I am fighting a war, accompanying you." Zhuge Jinyu seemed to understand what Su Chen was thinking, her voice calm.

"Uh... besides fighting the war?"

"I am accompanying you." Zhuge Jinyu's answer was still calm.

"Ever since you fell asleep, my life, besides marching and fighting, has been staring at your mirror."

"It was like this the day before yesterday, yesterday, and today."

"Finally, I... waited for your return."

The last sentence of the Young Prime Minister carried a sob. She suddenly held up Su Chen's mirror.

Her pretty face, tortured by slaughter and war until it was devoid of ripples, only melted its coldness after seeing the familiar blurry figure in the mirror, revealing a bit of the vitality that a young girl should have.

Su Chen was stunned.

"You actually... have been waiting for me all this time?"

She, who had read countless volumes of scriptures, chose the most simple way to express her heavy longing.

Countless lonely nights. The commander of the Great Qian army sat quietly in the brightly lit tent. Expressionless. Staring at the mirror. Waiting for a long-awaited reunion that might never happen again.