"Nothing seemed wrong, did it?" Zichuan Xiu nudged Sterling in the waist.
"Ah, oh, what?" Sterling stammered. "What was wrong?"
Zichuan Xiu shot him a strange glance but said nothing.
Sterling immediately regained his composure and strode into the sitting room.
Watching his back, Zichuan Xiu's eyes filled with worry. "I hope it isn't what I think it is..."
Roger, Shirakawa, and Changchuan immediately rose to salute him. With his extraordinary talent, captivating bearing, and personal charisma, Sterling had become the idol of the younger generation of soldiers in the family. People like Shirakawa and the others might not recognize the Family Head or the President Commander, but they would never fail to recognize Sterling. Roger and the others had admired him for a long time.
Yet although this was their first meeting, they all shared the same impression: Sterling was not acting normally today...
Excerpt from Commander Shirakawa's private memoir, "Days at My Lord's Side":
"...He, Sterling, returned our salutes properly and greeted us with impeccable courtesy. He even sat down to share a frozen watermelon with us, kindly answering our questions about martial arts... Everything seemed normal, but for some reason, I kept feeling that he was slightly distracted... It was very unusual. I told myself that perhaps this was what they called a woman's intuition?"
Another person present, Military Affairs Commander Roger, later said, "Don't listen to that old hag Shirakawa spouting nonsense about 'woman's intuition' again—her memoir was ghostwritten purely to swindle money. She doesn't even know what 'HOW ARE YOU?' means. At the time, even an idiot could tell that Lord Sterling was mentally unsettled! Otherwise, how could a master like Lord Sterling nearly chop off half his own hand while cutting a watermelon? And why did he ask us five times in a row, 'When did you return to the Imperial Capital?', 'When did you get back to the Imperial Capital?', 'When did you return to the Imperial Capital, Roger?'... Every time, we answered him clearly, but less than three minutes later, he would ask again: 'When...'"
Chief of Staff Commander Changchuan added, "And Lord Xiuchuan stood there the whole time without saying a word, grinning wickedly like two Yang Minghuas plus one Lei Xun. You could tell from that rotten smile that something had definitely happened!"
After taking his leave from Zichuan Ning's home, Zichuan Xiu escorted Sterling home.
"The stars are very bright tonight!" Sterling said solemnly, as though delivering a weighty conclusion.
Zichuan Xiu looked up at the sky, thick with dark clouds, and raised his brows. "That's right!"
"The moon is very round too!"
"Yes." There was actually no moon that night.
"The streets of our Imperial Capital are so clean!"
"Correct." Zichuan Xiu accidentally stepped on a dead cat.
"Actually, you didn't need to come out and see me off. You still have so much to do..."
"Nonsense."
"..."
"..."
"Thank you so much for your gift. Li Qing will be very happy."
"I appreciate the thought."
"How is Miss Zichuan Ning? I didn't see her tonight."
"She's fine."
"What's her name?"
"Kadan."
The two stopped walking. Zichuan Xiu stared straight into Sterling's eyes, while Sterling avoided his gaze.
Silence.
Zichuan Xiu spoke slowly, one word at a time. "Her full title is Princess Kadan, the third daughter of the current Demon God King. I captured her during the Fifth Hengchuan Battle. The Commanders' Office has ordered me to keep her under supervision."
Sterling's lips trembled, and none of his usual calm, unshakable bearing remained.
"You noticed long ago?"
"I'm not blind."
"You think I'm shameless, don't you?"
"No." Zichuan Xiu tilted his head and thought for a moment. "Just ordinarily shameless."
"I have a fiancée, and she loves me very much."
"I know. Li Qing is a very good girl."
"She's the daughter of the Great Demon God King, one of the Demon Race."
"And Demon Race royalty at that!"
The two stopped again and looked at each other for a moment.
"What should I do?"
"Do you want to hear me expound upon the noble spirit and heroic resolve expected of a senior family officer—self-restraint, selfless devotion, sacrificing the small self to fulfill the greater self?"
"Go fuck yourself! @#4#&&##!"
"..."
"Sorry. I got too worked up."
"It's all right. There are several ways to solve this—do you want a long-term solution, a medium-term solution, or a short-term solution?"
"Tell me the long-term one first."
"The long-term solution is also known as the 'once and for all' method. Method one: tie a knot in a rope from the ceiling, stand on a stool, put your neck through it, then kick the stool away. Method two: head alone to the Great Demon God Fortress and challenge the Demon God King to a duel by name. Method three: publicly kill Yang Minghua during the military parade every January first. Which do you prefer?"
"..."
"Don't like those? No matter, we still have medium-term solutions! For instance, take a razor and castrate yourself—though there are some technical difficulties involved, and it isn't as effective or safe as the methods I mentioned earlier..."
"Shut your filthy mouth!"
"Or perhaps you could act like one of those middle school boys whose feathers haven't even grown in yet. Tomorrow, buy eleven red roses and send them to Miss Kadan. Stand outside her window every night until dawn, sing her love songs, play the guitar, and let your heart race whenever you catch sight of her lovely figure—though your future father-in-law may turn out to be unexpectedly strict!"
"I told you to shut up!"
"You don't like that either? Then we'll have to use the final method—Kadan is under my supervision anyway. I'll lock her in some empty room and give you the key..."
Sterling punched Zichuan Xiu square in the face, sending him sprawling to the ground. Zichuan Xiu slowly climbed back up, accepted the handkerchief Sterling offered him, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and spoke slowly.
"As for me, I would rather you died than take this path—death only hurts once, after all." Zichuan Xiu's voice was low. "Give it up, brother. This is madness. Know that if there were even the slightest hope, I would help you without hesitation, even if it meant giving my life. But this... You're not fifteen anymore! This is only a momentary impulse! She doesn't even know who you are!"
Sterling said nothing. His eyes were vacant, as though he were listening intently, yet also as though his mind had drifted beyond the heavens...
"This is the first time I've ever felt this way." Sterling's voice was weak, but his tone was resolute. "I love her."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Zichuan Xiu muttered. "Then what about Li Qing? Do you love her too?"
"That's different! What I feel for Li Qing—that isn't love. We've just spent a lot of time together, and neither of us dislikes the other..."
"You've slept with her so many times and are practically about to marry her, yet only now you say 'that isn't love'—isn't that a little late?"
"It is too late—but it was only tonight that I learned what 'love' truly is!"
"To hell with you!" Zichuan Xiu finally lost his patience and flew into a rage. "I spent all this time trying to talk sense into you, and you want to talk to me about feelings? If you want to die so badly, wouldn't it be quicker to cut open an artery with a knife?"
"I know."
Sterling spotted a small tavern by the roadside and gave a bleak smile. "I've invented another solution: drown a thousand sorrows in drink. Come in, my treat."
"Oh, no, I can't! I still have to report to the Administration Office tomorrow! Yang Minghua assigned me there as deputy director. I can't drink tonight..."
Sterling ignored him and walked into the tavern first.
Zichuan Xiu came to a conclusion: This is bad. He's serious! Li Qing is such a good girl, but he doesn't love her and instead falls for the Demon God King's daughter—what kind of world is this? Love is obviously just a fevered brain!
The one making that lament never imagined that years later, he himself would throw everything aside and plunge into an even more tragic and moving entanglement of love, performing the Golden Age's most famous and most heartrending love tragedy. But that was many years in the future...
On this scorching day in August of Imperial Year 778, Sterling was twenty-three, Di Lin was twenty-four, and Zichuan Xiu was eighteen. The Zichuan Family's three great talents were still being swept along by the whirlpool of the era, struggling and floundering against their will, unable to determine the pace or direction of the times. Yet that day was drawing ever closer...
Before you continue