ATLAS TRANSLATES

The next day, the Northern Princess mustered great determination before finally agreeing to go out.

Despite her inner turmoil and self-loathing when alone, the Northern Princess maintained her proud and cold demeanor in front of others, befitting her royal status. The Princess and her retinue did not share meals with the soldiers in the camp, having their own separate kitchen.

Similarly, Luo Lingyu, not being part of the military, also had her own dining arrangements.

When the Northern Princess went to have her meal, she happened to encounter Miss Luo walking with her maid near the dusty training grounds.

The maid carried a food box while Miss Luo wore flowing sleeves and a long gauze dress, with ribbons fluttering in the wind — she appeared graceful and ethereal. With her brows slightly furrowed and eyes filled with a misty haze, her delicate expression made her look incredibly pitiful and beautiful.

Upon seeing this lady, the Northern Princess wanted to turn and leave, but Luo Lingyu’s beautiful eyes had already spotted her, and she called out a greeting from over ten yards away.

As Luo Lingyu approached, she maintained her sorrowful expression and spoke languidly: “…I made this lunch myself, to bring to Brother Xuechen.”

The Northern Princess couldn’t help but blurt out: “…Aren’t you two fighting?”

She had vaguely heard them arguing terribly outside last night.

Luo Lingyu gave a weak smile.

Behind her, her maid Lingyu’s eyelid twitched, knowing her mistress was about to start again: she had been wondering why her young mistress suddenly changed her expression while walking, becoming as pitiful as a rain-drenched flower. So this was what she had been waiting for.

The Northern Princess naturally didn’t know this. She only saw the lady before her heave a deep sigh and say softly: “How could I blame Brother Xuechen? I was too impulsive last night. He is like the heavens above, and I am just a mere woman — what right do I have to criticize him? He can do whatever he wishes. As long as Brother Xuechen isn’t angry with me and still wants me, that’s enough. I only wish to serve Brother Xuechen well, even as a servant or slave, I would be willing.”

The Northern Princess felt somewhat uncomfortable, her contemptuous words held back by this display. Aristocratic women of this era were typically bold in their actions, rarely showing such weakness.

With Luo Lingyu acting this way… the Northern Princess tried to provoke her: “I don’t know what he told you, but he surely didn’t tell you that he spent the night with me?”

Luo Lingyu clutched her heart, her profile shrouded in melancholy. She sighed even more pitifully: “If you were intimate, then so be it. I don’t mind. I am dependent on others, alone and helpless, with only Brother Xuechen. Even if he wants to marry you as his wife and take me as a concubine, I would be willing. I made food for Brother Xuechen, hoping he won’t be angry with me anymore and won’t beat or scold me because I can still be virtuous. Oh…”

The lady covered her mouth and wept, tears falling like pearls.

Her maid Lingyu was stunned watching this: …her mistress was truly pitiful.

The Northern Princess was equally dumbfounded. She had never seen such a weak woman before – her provocations couldn’t even land. Her malicious intentions were subdued by Luo Lingyu’s self-deprecating display of not caring about her lord’s philandering ways. With anger caught in her throat, the Northern Princess had to listen to Luo Lingyu continue sobbing:

“He’s right to hit me, right to scold me. Following him, I have no complaints or regrets. How could I be angry? As long as he isn’t angry with me, I am content.”

The Northern Princess’s expression turned ugly — she had never seen such an unambitious woman.

As Luo Lingyu was about to provoke the princess further, Lu Yun’s faint voice came from afar: “Lingyu, what are you doing?”

Turning her face, she saw Lu Yun standing expressionlessly at the entrance of the military tent, with drilling soldiers as his backdrop. He looked as pure as the wind and moon as he gazed over. The Northern Princess awkwardly avoided his gaze, but soon realized he wasn’t even looking at her, making her indignant again.

Meanwhile, Luo Lingyu only paused briefly before running over joyfully, clinging to his arm and leaning against him weakly: “Brother Xuechen, please don’t send me away. I won’t yell at you again. I’ll follow you without any status or position.”

Lu Yun: “…”

He raised an eyebrow, originally indifferent, but her presence stirred his interest.

However, Lu Yun’s face remained neutral: “Without status? Surely not…” He was still busy arranging to break off her engagement.

Luo Lingyu held his arm tighter and shook it coquettishly: “No, I insist on having no status.”

Lu Yun’s arm had gone numb from her shaking. He glanced at her: “…Whatever makes Sister Yu happy.”

Lu Yun’s eyes grew more amused as he reached out to pinch her face. This earned him a glare from Luo Lingyu: What are you doing? Can’t you cooperate? Can’t you be fierce with me?

Lu Yun immediately coldened his expression and sneered: “A cheap woman like you only deserves to have no status. How dare you argue with me last night? Who gave you such courage?”

Luo Lingyu became even more pitiful, whimpering sadly and appearing increasingly helpless.

The Northern Princess was speechless, feeling very strange. On one hand, she was disgusted by Luo Lingyu’s pure white lotus act, but on the other hand, she was shocked that someone like Lu Yun would say such humiliating things to a lady. Yet that Luo Lingyu wasn’t even angered enough to leave, instead continuing to whimper and cling to Lu Yun.

Northern Princess: …I give up.

She left with an ugly expression while Lu Yun led Luo Lingyu into the tent. Once the curtain fell, she finally dropped her act. Luo Lingyu coldly snorted at Lu Yun, her eyes sharp as knives. Not wanting to stay longer, she perfunctorily had her maid set down the food box and prepared to leave.

Lu Yun let out a low laugh.

He embraced her from behind.

Lingyu expressionlessly lowered her eyes, intently studying the patterns on the carpet.

Lu Yun held Luo Lingyu from behind and laughed: “What’s wrong, still angry? Don’t you know nothing happened? Only you make my heart race. Last night when she did that, my heartbeat didn’t even quicken once.”

Luo Lingyu actually believed nothing had happened, because she knew how high Lu Yun’s standards were. She had worked hard to win his favor, and now she was tasting the sweetness of success: precisely because he wasn’t easily moved, women’s seductions were ordinary to him, and almost no one could break through his psychological defenses.

But in the game between men and women, how could she let him always take the lead?

Luo Lingyu struggled free from his embrace, jumping three steps away. Lu Yun’s expression changed slightly as he saw her stand by the tent entrance, casting a sidelong glance that wasn’t angry but rather coquettish and teasing: “Sweet words, who would believe your lies? Meeting a lady in the dead of night, letting her into your tent – I won’t pay attention to you anymore!”

Though she said “I won’t pay attention to you anymore,” her glances were alluring, her words contradicting her heart, seemingly teasing him.

Many times his heart was hard as iron, knowing her tactics, he wouldn’t fall for them. But increasingly often, though he knew she was doing it on purpose, knew she was leading him on, his heart couldn’t help but race wildly with her. When she smiled once, his heart moved a bit. When she played hard to get, his heart moved uncontrollably…

Lu Yun stepped forward, the dark change in his eyes noticed by Luo Lingyu.

She didn’t want to give him satisfaction so quickly – she was already standing by the curtain, and just as Lu Yun’s expression changed, she lifted the curtain and left.

Luo Lingyu and her maid came and went like the wind, giving Lu Yun no satisfaction at all. Standing in the middle of the tent, Lu Yun felt a certain part of him growing uncomfortably hard, yet the beauty who could comfort him wouldn’t let him have his way easily.

Lu Yun’s face showed some embarrassment: when had he ever been in such a state?

Lu Yun’s expression was poor as he sat back down. He opened the food box she brought and seeing the delicate snacks inside, his expression softened slightly. After eating a piece, Lu Yun composed himself and returned to official business. Of course he would make up with Luo Lingyu, but he had an idea… the time wasn’t right yet, no need to rush.

General Wei Cong was completely unaware of the romance drama between them. He came to find Lu Yun with deeply furrowed brows, having discovered something. Wei Cong paced in Lu Yun’s tent with a grim expression: “We got those Northern envoys drunk, but their mouths were tight, refusing to say anything. However, an attendant accidentally let slip — I suspect these Northern envoys didn’t come for negotiations at all, but to stall our Southern Kingdom. They must be preparing for a major battle… but the timing isn’t right yet, they need time.”

Lu Yun pondered: “What better time than during envoy visits when both countries aren’t at war?”

But he added another thought: “However, these are just the general’s suspicions, we can’t be certain. We still need to investigate… How about this, I’ll discuss with the new general from Yingchuan Prefecture and King Xiangyang to exchange opinions.”

In Lu Xian’s dream, King Xiangyang hadn’t come to the border, and the connection between border prefectures wasn’t close. But in reality, King Xiangyang had come. And coincidentally, Lu Yun and King Xiangyang Liu Mu were old acquaintances. Even if their relationship wasn’t particularly good, they could at least talk to each other. Nanyang and Yingchuan were very close, so mutual support was natural.

Lu Yun continued: “Have spies cross the mountains to investigate the Northern army’s situation… hmm, there should be many scholars staying in Luoyang, I can write to ask them to keep an eye on Northern troop movements.”

Though Luoyang was within Northern territory, scholars traveled freely across the realm without involving themselves in politics, having their own channels.

This reminded Wei Cong that although Lu Yun now spent his days sitting in the military camp, before this he was a scholar renowned throughout the land, holding high status in both Northern and Southern kingdoms. Seeing Lu Yun start writing letters again, General Wei slowly “hmmed”: “We must stay vigilant against these ambitious people… Enough talk, I need to hurry back to continue training troops. Whether it’s an obvious or hidden plot, only by improving our military strength can we respond to everything with steadiness.”

At this point, Wei Cong smiled bitterly: “It’s a pity our Southern people’s physique and strength can’t compare to the Northern army. It will take much longer for people from Jiangnan to train into iron-blooded brave soldiers like the Northern army.”

Lu Yun’s eyebrow twitched slightly: The South’s advantage lay in its prosperity, in the fertile lands of Jiangnan. Military weakness could be compensated with numbers and wealth… but if the whole chain broke, they would be somewhat passive.

Thinking this, Lu Yun wrote another letter to Jianye, asking Prince Chen if the Jianye court’s support behind the scenes was reliable.

…

For now, it seemed reliable.

Prince Chen replied thus.

The Emperor lived in debauchery, and after dispatching the generals and soldiers, he left war matters to the Grand Marshal to worry about, neither asking nor managing anything. Now Prince Chen was in the Marshal’s residence, and though he couldn’t control Jianye’s army, he could still maintain some control over Nanyang’s soldiers.

The money stored in the court treasury was far from enough for war consumption, but the noble families had plenty. Prince Chen visited various houses daily, speaking kindly to persuade them. With the help of gentlemen like Lu Xian’s family, the noble houses were still reluctantly providing financial support, transferring it to the state. The noble houses’ wish was for the war to end quickly – given enough time, they wouldn’t want to keep spending on it.

Prince Chen said: “…Common families have also donated money to the court to buy official positions. Several scholars have agreed.”

The distinction between scholars and commoners only referred to their status. In this era, there were impoverished ones among the scholar families, like the Luo family of Nanyang. Among commoner families there were also prestigious local wealthy ones, like the Yicheng forces represented by Zhou Tan, Zhou Yanglin’s father. Commoner families weren’t necessarily poorer than scholar families – even scholars of common birth like Zhou Tan could mobilize more assets than ordinary scholar families. When commoner families wanted to enter high society, some ordinary scholar families were already tempted by “wealth marriages,” willing to exchange their family’s status for commoner families’ money, benefiting both sides.

Given this, it was normal for commoner families to be willing to support the court in fighting the war.

Prince Chen said: “Master Zhou Tan truly deserves to be called a great scholar of our time, it’s a pity we couldn’t form a marriage alliance. I wonder what happened to that daughter of his who was originally coming to Jianye, why did she come and then leave? Could it be that Grand Scholar Zhou was disappointed with Jianye?”

Prince Chen had only heard about Zhou Yanglin’s existence from Lu Yun. He discussed marriage possibilities with a neutral attitude, treating it as an exchange of benefits. But he himself was no longer willing… Prince Chen thought of Zhou Zibo, letting out a light sigh.

A strange thought welled up in his heart: Both surnamed Zhou. If Young Master Zhou wasn’t male but female, or even that disappeared daughter of Zhou Tan… how wonderful that would be.

…

While Prince Chen Liu Shu and Lu Yun were corresponding, Lu Xian also wrote a long, flowing letter to his third brother, anxiously telling him about his dream. But Lu Xian was more careful this time – because he often didn’t receive replies from Lu Yun, he couldn’t help wondering if he wrote too many letters too frequently, and his third brother simply had no time to read them all. Just in case, when writing to Lu Yun, he sent an even more detailed letter to Luo Lingyu.

Surely his clever cousin Luo would seek out Third Brother after seeing this letter?

Lu Xian guessed he had such a dream because of the appearance of that Northern Princess who came for the marriage alliance. There was no news in Jianye, but the border should have received news by now. In the dream, that princess spoke deceptively, the Northern envoy group distorted right and wrong, forcibly making the Southern court hold back their troops, which led to Lu Yun’s death. If that Northern Princess didn’t enter the borders or enter Jianye, wouldn’t Third Brother not have to die?

So, how could they prevent a Northern Princess with clear objectives from entering Jianye?

Second Young Master Lu didn’t know, let the border generals worry about such matters.

…

Nanyang was hosting this princess from the North, while the Northern envoy group was being kept in Nanyang, still waiting for the Southern civil officials’ escort, in no hurry to head to Jianye yet.

Second Young Master Lu’s guess was indeed correct – Lu Yun had too many letters on his desk, too many important documents. Lu Yun obviously didn’t think his second brother’s daily questions about what he ate and drank were very important, so he would read Second Brother’s letters when he had time, not opening them immediately. Moreover these past two days, whenever he had a bit of free time, Lu Yun was busy with another matter: he had previously bought a lamp from the Northern Princess to give to Luo Lingyu. He was busy perfecting this lamp… having even less time to reply to letters.

Meanwhile, Luo Lingyu received the letter first.

Sitting in the courtyard at home, other ladies were playing double-six and laughing merrily. Luo Lingyu put down the letter in her hand, her beautiful eyes lowered in contemplation of the shocking secret Second Young Master Lu wrote about. She was worried sick – every mention of Lu Yun’s death made her heart twist into knots, unable to find strength anywhere.

Lu Yun would die!

The cause was precisely this Northern Princess!

The lady sitting quietly in the home garden lowered her eyes as fierce killing intent flashed through them. Her first thought was that they couldn’t let this Northern Princess enter Jianye. And the best way to prevent a princess who was determined to marry and harbored ill intentions from entering Jianye was to make her disappear. This princess couldn’t be allowed to live… While alive, she would always be a threat to Lu Yun.

But traditionally, envoys between countries were never executed. The Northern Princess was part of the envoy group – if she died, wouldn’t Lu Yun, as Nanyang’s highest official, be held responsible? Hmm, being held responsible wasn’t a problem… Lu Yun was from a noble family after all, as long as he wasn’t the one who killed her.

They couldn’t let the princess’s death be connected to Lu Yun… Though it could be remedied afterwards, the incident itself had to be handled cleanly.

The group of ladies playing in the Luo family courtyard didn’t know that while sitting in the same yard, their minds full of thoughts about marrying ideal husbands, Luo Lingyu’s gentle exterior masked thoughts of borrowing a blade to kill.

And currently in Nanyang, wasn’t the best blade the highest military commander — General Wei Cong?

…

Once her mind was made up, the next day, Luo Lingyu drove to the military camp and cheerfully invited the noble Northern Princess to play with Nanyang’s ladies. The Northern Princess, harboring her own motives, naturally didn’t want to associate much with these Nanyang people.

But Luo Lingyu smiled innocently: “Marriage connections between Southern noble families are numerous, pulling one affects all, it must be similar with the North? If the Princess has friendly ladies in Nanyang, won’t you have people looking after you when you marry to Jianye in the future?”

She then smiled pitifully: “Princess, let me make up for my previous wrongs? If you marry Brother Xuechen in the future, I’ll have to serve you anyway, right?”

Marry Lu Yun… the Northern Princess’s heart rippled, then sank as she told herself to stop dreaming.

But Luo Lingyu had a point. The Northern Princess set aside her embarrassment about the previous incident with Luo Lingyu and Lu Yun, her heart stirred – being in a foreign land, having noble families’ support would naturally be good.

By now she knew Lu Yun was hopeless, and she would probably really have to marry that old, muddleheaded Southern Emperor. Though feeling resentful and disdainful in her heart, she had to start making full preparations.

So Luo Lingyu led the Northern Princess around, introducing this princess to meet people. The Northern Princess had a strange fleeting thought, wondering how Luo Lingyu could have such wide connections in Nanyang if she was truly weak – it seemed everyone knew her, every lady could talk with her?

When she asked Luo Lingyu about this.

Luo Lingyu paused briefly, then her face reddened: “…Probably because I’m beautiful?”

The Northern Princess was speechless, unable to refute. Her tone turned slightly sour: “Good thing you’re not a princess. If you went to our North for a marriage alliance, our Emperor would probably pluck the stars from the sky for you.”

Luo Lingyu immediately made a refusing gesture, her eyes misty with tears: “I only have Brother Xuechen in my heart, I won’t marry anyone but him… Princess, please don’t marry me off to someone else.”

In her words and manner, she clearly treated the Northern Princess as a future mistress to curry favor with.

The Northern Princess was pleased inside but spoke coolly: “National interests come first, how can you be so delicate?”

Luo Lingyu’s bright eyes flickered, her smile ambiguous, but she didn’t say much — national interests came first, but for her, she herself was always most important.

Luo Lingyu, who wanted to kill this princess and was gradually leading her toward death, naturally wouldn’t waste words with the princess anymore. Instead she said: “Why only Brother Xuechen? For a marriage alliance, what about our General? He’s mighty and commands thousands of troops. Our General looks at the Princess quite differently.”

The Northern Princess recalled the mountain-like robust man: “…Does he?”

Luo Lingyu replied without blushing: “Yes, he blushes when he sees Your Highness.”

The Northern Princess smiled reservedly, not taking it seriously. She certainly wouldn’t choose Wei Cong as a marriage partner – just a commoner-born general who climbed up, with no interest groups behind him, what would she gain? But Luo Lingyu’s words still created ripples in her heart, and beautiful women are naturally vain.

The Northern Princess, believing Wei Cong admired her, looked at the general differently from then on.

She became more confident when ordering people around.

Wei Cong was baffled, trying hard to suppress his anger: “…Can’t get angry, these are Northern envoys. Once I send these troublesome people out of Nanyang it’ll be fine. Can’t let anything happen to her under my watch!”

Meanwhile, Luo Lingyu continued taking the Northern Princess out to play daily with a smile. Once when they went to the outskirts, military horses stopped them from leaving the city. Luo Lingyu secretly pointed to a temporary shelter made of curtains and dried grass with no guards around, casually saying: “I heard Brother Xuechen say they seem to be developing some new weapon…”

Luo Lingyu suddenly covered her mouth, smiling embarrassedly.

The Northern Princess’s heart pounded heavily. When she questioned Luo Lingyu further, Luo Lingyu showed regret on her face but refused to say more, claiming she knew nothing.

But the Northern Princess took it to heart, having the Northern envoy group send people to inquire about what those shelters were for. With the Southern army watching the Northern envoys closely, the Northern Princess discussed with them and decided to use her advantage as a woman to investigate more herself.

Luo Lingyu hadn’t lied to the Northern Princess, it really was new weaponry, but this was Luo Lingyu’s own guess – Lu Yun hadn’t told her. Before Lu Yun came, Luo Lingyu had gotten information from General Wei. She had guessed some things but pretended not to know.

It was perfect to use now to trap the Northern Princess.

…

Step by step she laid out her plans, subtly pushing things forward, perfecting the whole story, perfecting the lie she had woven.

The Northern Princess harbored ulterior motives while believing Luo Lingyu to be weak and helpless. She didn’t take Luo Lingyu seriously, naturally not knowing how this gentle and beautiful young woman was harming her step by step, pushing her toward death.

If investigated afterwards, Luo Lingyu would appear completely innocent: Had she said anything? All her words were ambiguous, emotional talk that couldn’t be used as evidence.

Besides, with Lu Yun there, who would investigate her?

Once the Northern Princess died, everything would be over.

…

In early October, one night, a downpour descended, drenching the entire world.

Heavy rain knocked against windows with metallic force. Luo Lingyu sat inside practicing calligraphy. Suddenly, hearing commotion approaching from outside, her brush tip paused on the paper as she raised her head.

“Bang—” her door was pushed open, lightning flashed against the sky, the bright snowy light illuminating her lord’s tense, slightly angry face.

Lu Yun: “Luo Lingyu!”

The maids hurried after him, panting anxiously: “Third Young Master, Third Young Master…”

Lu Yun slammed the door shut, keeping the maids outside: “No one is allowed in!”

Turning to face the still-seated lady, his whole body trembled as he suppressed his anger: “…Do you know that tonight the Northern Princess almost died at General Wei’s hands?”

Luo Lingyu was startled.

Then murmured regretfully: “…She didn’t die?”

Lu Yun narrowed his eyes, strode over and gripped her wrist. His eyes were full of disappointment in her, though he controlled his emotions, he couldn’t understand: “…So it really was you?! Why did you do this, do you know what position this puts me in? Do you know what consequences this will have? The war and peace between two countries mean nothing to you?”

Luo Lingyu was burned by the disappointment in his eyes – her extremely strong pride before him couldn’t accept his disappointment. Everyone else could look down on her, but not him. Everyone else could think she was bad, but she was saving him.

She suddenly pushed him away, standing up angrily: “Lu Xuezhen! If I don’t do this, you will die!”

“And you dare lecture me, you know nothing! You fool!”

Lu Yun was stunned, seeing her reddened eyes filled with mist. His heart was instantly scalded – he couldn’t bear to see such an expression in her eyes.

Thunder crashed again outside the window, lightning flashed and thunder roared, the windows were pushed open by the wind, letting in a surge of heavy rain. Her sleeves were wet by the rain as Luo Lingyu pushed him away, a tear falling from her eye corner.

She quickly moved to leave, but her lord expressionlessly reached out and pulled her into his embrace.

Luo Lingyu choked back sobs as she struggled, but his eyes were black as pitch, deep as the sea.

Lu Yun held her and lowered his head to kiss her, swallowing the sobs emerging from her throat.