Naya'a could no longer afford to hold back. He reached out and covered Empress Hulan's mouth. "Have you lost your mind? How can you say such things so carelessly?"
Hulan forcefully broke free of his hand and sneered. "Are those words really so outrageous?"
Naya'a's expression shifted uncertainly. "What is wrong with you today?"
Hulan shook her head. "I don't know. So many years have passed. I thought I had already accepted my fate, but when I saw how you acted today, how desperately you avoided me, I felt so wronged."
Hearing the catch in her voice, Naya'a was somewhat moved as well. "Then what do you expect me to do? You are already the Great Khan's Khatun, one of the most powerful and highest-ranking women in the world..."
Before he could finish, Hulan interrupted him. "But this is not what I wanted."
"Then what do you want?" Naya'a was truly anxious now. The situation had stretched his nerves taut.
"You know what I want." Hulan gritted her teeth. "Back then, I asked you to take me away with you, but you refused. So if I asked you again now?"
Naya'a shook his head. "Over these years, you have followed the Great Khan through campaigns east and west. You should know how powerful the Mongol Empire has become. We could not escape back then, and we have even less chance of escaping now."
Empress Hulan gave a sorrowful smile. "I knew this would be the result, but you cannot even make the effort to lie to me."
Hidden in the shadows, Song Qingshu could not help feeling aggrieved on Naya'a's behalf. He had never understood why some women would rather hear sweet nothings they knew were false, yet became unhappy when someone told them the truth.
Naya'a said, "We both