ATLAS TRANSLATES

The snow’s glow shone through the window. A milky light floated around the young nobleman who had risen — his handsome and elegant features were rarely seen even by the Governor of Luoyang. He had the kind of face that would make young ladies unable to look away if they encountered him on the street.

His clothes were disheveled, presenting an enchanting kind of messy beauty.

After the governor stumbled into the room, he saw the man pull up his outer robe that had been resting on his shoulders, covering the plain undergarments beneath. When he looked over, there was a hint of playfulness and languor in his expression, carrying an incredibly elegant bearing. Without any lanterns lit in the room, the governor could only judge by the faint snowy light from the window. His heart skipped a beat when he saw what appeared to be red and blue women’s silk garments scattered at the nobleman’s feet, along with jade hairpins, ornaments, and bracelets that gave off a phosphorescent glow.

Those… were clearly Chen Xue’s belongings!

An affair!

The governor’s face turned pale: Chen Xue had always been mysterious and elusive, making her hard to figure out. Though she had a difficult past, even when the governor had doubts and sent people to investigate her background, they couldn’t uncover much due to her complicated history. Chen Xue had always kept him at arm’s length, with every smile and frown filled with melancholy. This nobleman before him… this nobleman…

Such refined features!

As the governor approached, in his daze, he felt this man somehow overlapped with his beloved… but the governor immediately shook his head, thinking he must be too drunk. How could they overlap? His Xue Xue would never betray him, she must have been taken advantage of by this man…

The governor’s mind was in chaos, feeling his thoughts weren’t clear. But he had only drunk a few cups of wine… The Luoyang governor could barely stand, leaning back and supporting himself on a table to keep from falling. He struggled to maintain composure: “Where is Xue Xue? Hand her over, and for breaking into the governor’s mansion at night, I could…”

Lu Yun walked toward him. Now back in his male form, he was as pure as snow, his face as white as jade. He walked toward the governor in the darkness, wearing ordinary gray robes suitable for moving at night, yet his tall, slender frame gave them the elegant bearing of a noble. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, walking slowly. Hearing the governor’s words, he remained unmoved, only slightly raising his brow.

The governor became hysterical: “Where is my Xue Xue?!”

Though he spoke these words, his hand was frantically feeling around the table he was leaning on for support. He finally found a candlestick, and as Lu Yun came closer, the governor suddenly used all his strength to throw it at him. At the same time, not wanting to engage in battle, the governor hoped the candlestick would delay this person momentarily while he stumbled toward the exit, shouting loudly: “Assassin! Someone come, assassin—”

At the governor’s warning cry, the governor’s mansion, which was guarded like a military stronghold, burst into action. As soon as the shout rang out, the door was pushed open and three or four soldiers rushed in. These men, whatever they had been doing before, hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol tonight. With grim expressions, they immediately drew their swords and slashed at the man who had suddenly appeared in the room.

The governor felt a swift breeze pursuing him from behind. As he tried to crawl out of the room, his shoulder was grabbed from behind.

Lu Yun laughed lightly: “Why are you running?”

As the soldiers attacked him, he went after the stumbling governor, firmly grabbing him. Even though the governor wasn’t a warrior, being from a noble family meant he knew some martial arts. He turned to exchange a palm strike with Lu Yun, trying to slip away from his grasp. However, firstly, his movements were sluggish from the alcohol, and secondly, Lu Yun’s martial techniques were excellent and his target clear. One palm strike to the governor’s chest left him weak in the legs.

The soldiers: “Villain, don’t be reckless!”

Lu Yun didn’t respond, only staring at the governor.

The soldiers couldn’t stop Lu Yun. With nowhere to run, when Lu Yun attacked again, his robes flew like a crane skimming water as he engaged in close combat. His cold, proud features were like an eternal ink painting of mountains and water. A faint, lingering fragrance wafted from him. This scent had intoxicated the governor many times over the past few days—

His mind exploded, and this time the governor truly went mad: “What exactly is your relationship with Chen Xue? Why do you have her scent? Where is she? You…”

“Pah!” While the governor was distracted, Lu Yun had no patience for romantic sentiments. As the governor grabbed his wrist questioning him, Lu Yun’s eyes flashed with disgust. He reversed his grip on the governor’s arm and pressed upward. Cold wind whistled behind him as the soldiers’ attack arrived, but Lu Yun held onto the governor and spun around, using him as a shield against the attack from behind.

The governor’s mouth filled with blood from the fierce palm strike, causing him to cough repeatedly.

Without a word, Lu Yun grabbed the dazed governor and leaped out of the building. As his feet crossed the threshold into the falling snow, he put his hand to his lips and let out a clear whistle to signal his companions. In an instant, dozens of people emerged from the pitch-black night in the quiet rear courtyard of the governor’s mansion.

Iron horses clashed, tall steeds neighed!

Shadows swayed on horseback.

Someone shouted fiercely: “Go—”

The whistle continued intermittently, and someone in the darkness called: “Young master, we’ve rescued the people!”

Lu Yun: “Those with the rescued ones go first, the rest stay with me to cover the retreat.”

“Yes.”

The poor drunken governor was held in Lu Yun’s grasp. Lu Yun used him as a shield against swords, his fingers constantly pressed against the governor’s neck. Lu Yun raised an eyebrow and said coldly: “Take one more step, and I’ll snap his neck. Surely Luoyang’s highest official shouldn’t die tonight?”

“Don’t touch the governor!”

“Villain, don’t kill the governor!” The Northern soldiers and governor’s mansion servants who rushed out from all directions were hampered by the hostage situation when they saw the governor captured. At the same time, they were also stumbling in their steps, many times reacting slowly and falling victim to the Southern soldiers’ tactics during the fighting.

Continuously, people began to realize: “Was there poison in the wine? Why is my head so foggy…”

The Southern soldiers stayed close to Lu Yun. While ensuring the rescue team led the way, those covering the retreat didn’t plan to stay long either. Although Luoyang wasn’t a Northern military stronghold, due to the presence of a gunpowder master, there were still many troops stationed here. They needed to escape to Southern territory as quickly as possible. They didn’t bother answering the Northern soldiers’ suspicions.

In fact, there was no poison in the wine. If there had been poison, with all the inspections at the governor’s mansion, how could poisoned wine have made it to the banquet? Following Lu Yun’s arrangements, the Southern soldiers had simply added some secret ingredients to make the wine more mellow and intoxicating. The South excelled at tea and wine, and they had many methods to enhance wine’s flavor and make it more addictive.

After drinking too much, these Northerners would fall behind in pursuit and combat.

At the same time, because Lu Yun’s disguise as Chen Xue had been celebrated as Luoyang’s famous beauty and her becoming the governor’s concubine was a moderately significant event, the preparations at the governor’s mansion inevitably required extra arrangements and manpower, increasing opportunities for infiltration. Under Chen Xue’s cover, Southern soldiers had quietly replaced people who were supposed to enter the mansion, sneaking in for tonight’s operation.

Enduring for days, all for this moment!

The governor was held in Lu Yun’s grasp, his mind like a jar of wine being shaken. Just as some thoughts would start to form, they would turn to mush again. Snow had dusted the lake with a frost-white color. Lu Yun coordinated with his companions, fighting their way toward the mansion’s exit. As they stepped onto the lake’s surface, the governor was shaken dizzy. When he happened to look toward the small pavilion by the lake, he saw snow dancing like willow catkins, screens blown open by the wind, and white paper floating gracefully with shadowy beauties upon it. Some paper cutouts near the candles were blown upward.

The governor raged: “The scholars… the scholars… they’re all gone! When did they disappear? When I came out during the drinking, I still saw them painting!”

Lu Yun smiled mockingly.

Busy with fighting, Lu Yun had never planned to explain anything to the governor. But even in his drunken state, seeing the paper cutouts floating out from the open doors and windows, the Luoyang governor finally understood: “You used pre-cut figures near the candles, their shadows cast on the closed doors and windows. This is how you switched people… Why, why…”

His face turned blue: “You’re Southern spies! You came to rescue those scholars! The gunpowder master, the master…”

The Luoyang governor belatedly realized, perhaps still in a fog, that Chen Xue was fake, that this lady was a Southern spy sent to deceive him. The lady had caused such a stir in Luoyang, keeping him at arm’s length, all to gather information about where the scholars and gunpowder master were being held.

The governor was devastated, feeling all his emotions had been fed to dogs. He roared: “Chen Xue! You’ve ruined me terribly— We are now mortal enemies—”

While fighting and holding him, Lu Yun suddenly stumbled, his expression becoming somewhat strange and awkward—

This person still hadn’t figured out who Chen Xue was? Could he have actually fallen in love with Chen Xue?

…

When trouble broke out in Luoyang city in the middle of the night, the banquet guests were drunk senseless. The governor’s chief secretary led servants to wake these guests one by one, but it was useless. The wine was too intoxicating, and with the rare occasion of the governor taking a concubine, everyone had drunk heavily. Those Southern soldiers had mixed in among the guests, servants, and wine-serving commoners. Half the governor’s mansion’s soldiers were drunk, and the sober minority couldn’t stop the Southern soldiers. They could only watch helplessly as their leader held their governor hostage and fled south.

The chief secretary interrogated his subordinates: “Who exactly was that person?! How could he appear in our governor’s mansion without anyone knowing?”

“Don’t tell me none of you ever saw someone with such a bewitching face!”

The subordinates were also bitter: “As you say, sir, this young man was indeed extremely handsome. If we had ever seen him before, we surely wouldn’t have forgotten. Since we don’t remember, we must never have seen him.”

“We don’t know when he entered the mansion.”

“Also, Miss Chen Xue… has also disappeared. When rescuing the governor earlier, we seemed to hear something about an ‘affair’…”

The chief secretary shot them a fierce look, his gaze sharp as frost, and the talkative one naturally shut up, not daring to say more. The governor’s mansion mobilized troops in the middle of the night, and the general stationed in Luoyang was woken at the dead of night. Upon learning that both the governor and the gunpowder master were missing, his face changed dramatically, and he slapped the chief secretary across the face.

The chief secretary dared not say much in response.

Seeing the general gather troops and pursue out of Luoyang— “Pass the order! Light the beacon fires! Concentrate all nearby troops and chase south!”

“We can’t let the Southern spies return to the South! We can’t let our master fall into their hands.”

“Notify our main forces to pressure those counties around Nanyang, increase the offensive! It’s reached a critical moment, don’t hold back any tactics. If we don’t use full force now, we’re going to lose!”

For the North to win this war, they faced an awkward problem: they weren’t as financially strong as the South. They needed to take advantage of winter, when Southern forces were weak and Northern forces strong, to break through the enemy’s defenses in one stroke, seize the opportunity to negotiate with the South, and grab territory from them. The North couldn’t afford to drag out this war… if the gunpowder master disappeared, this would be their second major defeat!

His Majesty would surely be furious.

Quick, quick, quick! Race against time to seize the initiative!

…

The Northern army’s offensive suddenly increased dramatically, with several major counties requesting aid, claiming Northern troops were frantically attacking their cities. From the snowy night onward, they became incredibly fierce.

Battle reports sent to General Wei all sought his help, requesting troops and supplies. With various voices clamoring, the counties needed to resist but lacked reserve resources. They could only squeeze the noble families, but even they didn’t have much grain stored, still needing to feed their own clan members. Friction between the military and nobility continued to grow.

At the same time, commoners also began running out of food.

All resources were prioritized for the military, but as time dragged on and county cities were trapped in heavy snow for days, resources everywhere slowly began to pose problems.

General Wei had a splitting headache, not knowing how to handle the crises erupting everywhere. At this time, Luo Yan, who had returned to the South, and his cousin Luo Lingyu traveled back and forth, explaining and mediating everywhere, helping General Wei ease conflicts. They were of great help to General Wei, and Luo Lingyu especially encouraged him multiple times, hoping the army could hold on a bit longer.

General Wei gritted his teeth: “Damn it, those Northerners are crazy, not afraid of being buried in snow this heavy, still wanting to fight. You think I’m afraid of you? Bring it on, let’s fight!”

“Stop asking me for troops and supplies… Can you fight or not! I’m asking if you can get to the battlefield! As long as you have one breath left, you’d better crawl over there and bite the enemy’s ass, understand?”

“Everyone buck up! The enemy suddenly intensifying their attacks means something must have happened to them, Commander Lu’s plan must have succeeded! Commander Lu will be back soon, we will win!”

The situation was tense, with encouragement from all sides trying to hide their anxiety.

Luo Lingyu was still helping in the army’s rear, treating wounded soldiers alongside other noble ladies. Several ladies working in the same tent with her had grown pale after days of labor, their hands trembling slightly as they held scissors. They worked in shifts and were already this exhausted; but Luo Lingyu, wanting to receive frontline news as soon as possible, spent ten out of twelve hours each day living in the military camp.

The excessive propriety usually expected of noble ladies was now thrown to the back of their minds.

Their hearts gradually grew numb, only knowing to continuously stop bleeding, change bandages, apply medicine…

Luo Lingyu rubbed her eyes, red from lack of sleep, when she suddenly heard a lady beside her exclaim: “This is bad.”

The kneeling lady looked up, her beautiful eyes turning to see that lady’s hands covered in blood, then turned back in shock: “Sister Luo, we’re out of bandages and medicine paste. How can we treat more patients when they come?”

At these words, other ladies hurried to check the remaining medical supplies, then began to panic, saying they were running out of medicine.

Luo Lingyu’s mind went blank: “…The noble families…”

The ladies glanced at her: “Just because our families have some power and wealth doesn’t mean we’re medical halls. We’ve already contributed what medicine we could. Even if you push more, we can’t provide any more. Our families are out too.”

The ladies’ words carried clear resentment toward Luo Lingyu. Among women, there was much comparison. They hadn’t necessarily respected Luo Lingyu before, and when conflicts erupted, they only liked her less. Previously, Luo Lingyu would have tried to turn this situation around, but now she was like a broken pot beyond repair, letting them think what they would while doing what needed to be done.

Because the Nanyang noble families had been heavily exploited recently, the ladies who could read and write and came to bandage wounds in the military camp were all from noble backgrounds. Luo Lingyu sided with the army, which exploited their families – how could they be happy? They looked over and saw Luo Lingyu pressing her lips together, her heart heavily struck as if by an iron hammer. Even though Luo Lingyu was usually thick-skinned and cold-nerved, she couldn’t help but panic a little now. Just as Luo Lingyu was about to think of a solution, the tent flap was lifted.

The maid Lingyu ran in breathlessly, bending over with hands on her knees, her breath forming white mist in the cold wind: “My lady, you asked me to watch the King of Hengyang… This servant saw their main force leave the city, but not to support General Wei. As you predicted, they went toward Mount Funiu.”

Luo Lingyu stood up abruptly, her hands clenched inside her sleeves. Her sudden excitement made all the ladies in the tent look at her in surprise.

Luo Lingyu’s eyes flickered: It must be Lu Yun, there must be news from Lu Yun! The King of Hengyang went to provide support! Lu Yun was back, he was back…

Luo Lingyu took two steps toward the exit, eager to go out, but she stopped, remembering she was just a weak woman. Whether in the current Nanyang chaos or the battle at Mount Funiu, her rushing over would be useless. She might even become a burden to him…

Luo Lingyu bit her lip.

Another soldier lifted the curtain and ran in: “My lady, the front lines have run out of grain again! The noble families won’t provide grain, I couldn’t find Lu Xian, General Wei asked me to find you…”

Another servant followed, complaining bitterly: “That’s not true! How can you say we’re not giving? Miss Luo, we really can’t give anymore… Yesterday we went without food for a day, even our family’s young masters couldn’t eat. My lady, please be fair, what can we do? The army can’t force us to death, right?”

More people came from other tents, their expressions grave: “Do you have any medicine? We have a new wounded soldier, but we’re out of medicine.”

“None left…”

“All gone…”

“Empty…”

Various voices surrounded Luo Lingyu. Without realizing it, these people all wanted Luo Lingyu to make decisions. Since she had been giving suggestions, naturally she would have to make decisions too. Luo Lingyu stood tall but delicate, surrounded by people in the tent, and even her maid couldn’t rescue her. Luo Lingyu was sought after by everyone for help, but her mind wandered, because her heart was with Lu Yun. Knowing he might be at a crucial moment, knowing that deadly peril could come at any time, how could she focus on anything else?

She stood there pale-faced, trying several times to calm herself, yet failing each time. She knew she should find ways to solve these people’s problems, but deep down she just wanted to find Lu Yun…

The tent flap was lifted again, and the cold wind that entered made Luo Lingyu shiver among the crowd.

She looked up at the sky, seeing it was dim, and the snow had stopped some time ago. After the snowfall, a layer of mist spread along the ground – the closer to the ground, the thicker the mist. Luo Lingyu stared blankly at the snow-white landscape, watching the silver-gray mist drift open. The cold wind brushed her face, making her snow-white fox fur collar and sleeves and crimson cloak flutter.

Luo Lingyu’s heart suddenly felt empty.

She didn’t know what made her space out, but seeing this snow, seeing this mist, she instinctively began to panic…

She didn’t know how long she had been lost in thought when suddenly someone pulled her: “Sister Luo, someone’s here to see you!”

The tent flap was lifted once again, this time by a soldier. Mist had risen in the world, making it hard to see clearly three zhang away. From the mist, a young nobleman slowly emerged, his features like a painting, gentle as jade. This nobleman looked somewhat pale and weak, but the warmth in his eyes and the gentle strength in his gaze made tears well up in Luo Lingyu’s eyes.

Under Luo Lingyu’s stunned gaze, he smiled slightly and first said to the excited soldier: “Grain and medical supplies have arrived at the south city entrance. There are no soldiers, but some civilian militia from Jiangnan volunteered to cross the river to help. I wonder if that would be acceptable? When might I be able to see General Wei?”

The soldier first expressed thanks, then turned to look at Luo Lingyu: “Lady Luo, this nobleman claims to be Zhou Zibo and says he’s come to assist our side. The enemy has spies, so we dare not be careless. Zhou says you know him – can he be trusted?”

Luo Lingyu said softly: “He can be trusted.”

The soldier felt relieved and, apologizing for his rudeness, dared to leave. The other ladies and servants curiously looked at this newly arrived Zhou, with the ladies’ eyes especially full of amazement. But Zhou focused intently on Luo Lingyu, making them uncomfortable: …Why did all these noblemen stare at Luo Lingyu? She wasn’t the only woman in the world.

Zhou Yangling looked tenderly at Luo Lingyu, sighing softly, and said gently: “Sister, don’t you recognize me? I’m a bit late, I was delayed by some matters…”

On the journey north, there had been many obstacles. Zhou Yangling had to deal with various people, and thinking that the North lacked not only food but probably medicine too, had taken a detour. With her weak constitution, she fell ill on the road but had to continue despite the pain. After several ordeals, she had only just arrived.

Seeing the tears on Luo Lingyu’s eyelashes, Zhou Yangling frowned, somewhat self-reproachful: “It’s my fault for coming so late, letting sister suffer grievances…”

Luo Lingyu choked up: “Zhou!”

All her heartache found some comfort in seeing this old friend. Zhou, who always stood by her side, had come. Her eyes turned red as she stepped forward, took Zhou Yangling’s arm, and buried her face in the other’s neck, crying.

Zhou Yangling stiffened but didn’t dodge away, instead patting her shoulder in comfort. Facing the various expressions around them, Zhou Yangling explained: “Luo and I share a sibling bond, please don’t misunderstand.”

The ladies hurriedly said they wouldn’t, but thought to themselves: Wasn’t Lu Yun her cousin too? Didn’t that “sibling relationship” still end up in a strange place?

…

On Mount Funiu, snow stretched endlessly, and mist gradually surrounded the area. Enemy forces pursued all the way, while the King of Hengyang’s army provided support, relieving the pressure on Lu Yun.

Holding the governor as they walked through the snow, Lu Yun looked toward the mountain mist, and like Luo Lingyu, inevitably thought of the timeline shown in Lu Xian’s dream.

The Luoyang governor, who had been used by Lu Yun as a shield against swords the whole way, had fainted many times. This time, cold wind in his ears woke him again. He found himself still held by that nobleman. But this time, in the snow-covered landscape’s clear cold, he looked at the nobleman who was gazing thoughtfully at the mountain mist, and was stunned for a moment.

The side profile was elegant, with red lips and a long neck.

The exceptionally handsome nobleman standing in the snow had a tall, slender, and straight figure. As his robes flew, he was as graceful as a startled swan.

The governor blurted out: “Xue Xue?!”

Lu Yun started, coming back to his senses: “…Shh, don’t call out so disgustingly. I don’t want my sister Yu’er to know about this.”

The governor hadn’t heard clearly what Lu Yun was saying, his face turning from green to white, on the verge of mental collapse. He grabbed Lu Yun’s hand in return, and when Lu Yun tried to shake him off, the governor suddenly used great force to grab his wrist, refusing to let go even after being thrown about badly. The governor even leaned in closer, staring intently at Lu Yun’s face: “You are Xue Xue? So that’s it, that’s it… How is it possible, where are your breasts… You and Xue Xue look exactly alike, are you male or female…”

Are you male or female?!

The one he fell in love with, was it a man or a woman?!