No Longer Escaping (ABO) - Chapter 60

Yan City, nearing winter, was exceptionally freezing. Located in the far north, it kept company with the cold year-round, and winter was even more severe.

It was now evening, and the sun had already half-sunk into the mountains, casting a weak, dim yellow light across the frozen earth. The stove inside the room puffed out steady streams of smoke and dust, which drifted impatiently toward the window.

Inside, Ren Xuemeng stood by the baby’s small bed, holding her daughter in her arms and coaxing her into fits of giggles. Having become a mother, Ren Xuemeng wore a gentle smile, her eyes filled with maternal love as she looked at her child.

With her attention entirely on the baby, she was completely unaware of the person approaching from behind. Suddenly, a hand rested on her shoulder, startling her slightly. She shivered, but quickly calmed down upon catching that familiar scent.

“Have you been a good girl lately?” Feng Aoshuang rested her chin on her wife’s shoulder, reaching out to poke the baby’s chubby little cheek.

For some reason, this child had been cold toward her mother since birth. At Feng Aoshuang’s poke, the little face that was just giggling immediately collapsed into a grumpy pout.

“Do you really dislike Mother that much?” The snubbed woman’s face fell too; these two miserable faces looked as if they were carved from the same mold.

Ren Xuemeng couldn’t help but snicker. She stroked the child’s face until the pout returned to normal, and once the baby was soothed, she turned her head to kiss Feng Aoshuang’s cheek in consolation.

“You’re back?” she asked softly.

“Mm…” Feng Aoshuang pressed against her back, wrapping her arms around her waist. “I have to head back again in two days.”

“How are things over there?”

“Alright. Those people are the same as ever—looking down on a ‘Grand Miss’ like me. But what they think is their business; I have my own work to do.”

Hearing that Feng Aoshuang was being treated poorly made Ren Xuemeng unhappy.

Since their return, Feng Mo’s severity hadn’t changed a bit. Feng Aoshuang, however, had matured quite a lot and lost her willful temper. Seeing this, Feng Mo immediately sent her back to the military camp to train. Because of her past reputation, Feng Aoshuang certainly didn’t have a good name in the camp. Those people both despised and feared her; everyone hated her, yet no one dared to do anything to her. Feng Aoshuang naturally didn’t care; the only one she cared about was Ren Xuemeng. Once in the camp, she wrote letters to her wife every single day.

Seeing her wife’s worried expression, Feng Aoshuang stroked her and comforted her: “Considering everything I did in the past, it’s only normal they act this way.”

Before Ren Xuemeng could worry for long, a pair of tiny, innocent hands tugged at the clothes on her chest. The baby began babbling in her own unique, invented language. Looking at the child, the smile returned to Ren Xuemeng’s face.

“What is she saying?” Feng Aoshuang looked bewildered.

Having been with the baby constantly, Ren Xuemeng obviously knew what her child meant. “She’s hungry.”

“Oh~” Feng Aoshuang looked incredulous.

“She is hungry,” Ren Xuemeng repeated, looking at her.

“Yeah, I heard you,” Feng Aoshuang said. Seeing the expectant look in her wife’s eyes, it took her a long moment to realize why Ren Xuemeng had said it a second time. She said sheepishly, “Then… I’ll go out and practice my sword first…” With that, she hurriedly left the room.

After she left, Ren Xuemeng untied her robe and began breastfeeding the child…

After some time, the courtyard was filled with the sharp sound of a sword cutting through the air.

Feng Aoshuang’s eyes were resolute as she seriously practiced her forms with the longsword in her hand. Ren Xuemeng came out of the room holding the now-full child, found a place to sit, and admired her wife’s heroic posture.

After watching for a while, Feng Aoshuang stopped and said to Ren Xuemeng, “Do you want to come try?”

The random suggestion left Ren Xuemeng a bit dazed. She looked in surprise at Feng Aoshuang, who was walking toward her. Before she could react, her hand was taken and she was led away, leaving Little Feng watching her mothers with a confused expression.

“I don’t know how…” Ren Xuemeng said bashfully, though she clearly enjoyed the feeling of being protected by Feng Aoshuang.

Feng Aoshuang held Ren Xuemeng’s hand, patiently teaching her the moves step by step. Initially, Ren Xuemeng was a bit resistant; the education she received since childhood told her that it was unseemly for a Kun Ze to do such things. Gradually, she became serious; she stopped treating it as play and began to memorize the forms with great focus.

“Try it once by yourself,” Feng Aoshuang let go to let her try.

Ren Xuemeng recalled the previous movements and performed the forms. Aside from the lack of strength, the movements were almost perfect.

Feng Aoshuang watched in stunned silence, then couldn’t help but clap and cheer.

Embarrassed by the praise, Ren Xuemeng quickly returned the sword to Feng Aoshuang.

“You really are so smart. It took me nearly a month to memorize this set. But then again, you were always impressive back then…” Thinking of their days in the academy, Feng Aoshuang’s happy expression dimmed. She looked at Ren Xuemeng, who had walked over to pick up Little Feng, and thought to herself that Ren Xuemeng was so talented—certainly much more so than a fool like herself—yet she was stuck here. Her family was a lineage of martial artists; there was simply no place here for her wife to utilize her true talents.

She lowered her head in thought, then suddenly had an idea. She walked back to Ren Xuemeng, pulled her up, and headed toward the study.

“What are we doing?” Ren Xuemeng was at a loss.

“Don’t you love reading books?”

“That was so long ago. Besides, this is Father-in-law’s study, it isn’t right…”

“…” Feng Aoshuang just remembered. That was true; her father was a notorious old traditionalist. He probably wouldn’t want Ren Xuemeng lingering in there either.

“Ahem…” A deep, resonant voice interrupted them.

Feng Mo was standing at the door, his broad shoulders blocking the setting sun from entering the room, looking majestic and full of pressure.

“Greetings, Father-in-law…” Ren Xuemeng greeted Feng Mo guiltily, like a child caught doing something wrong.

“Mm.” He strode inside.

“It’s getting late, Little Yu needs to sleep…” They found an excuse to quickly flee. As Feng Aoshuang was about to leave, Feng Mo called out to her: “You stay. I have words for you.”

Reluctant as she was, Feng Aoshuang did not dare to disobey.

“The situation at the border is getting more tense by the day. There have already been three instances of enemy harassment within this month alone.” His voice was low and powerful, and his tone was not that of a father to a daughter, but rather a superior to a subordinate. “This war is going to break out sooner or later.”

“But… didn’t the Imperial Palace say they were going to send someone for a marriage alliance?”

“What problem can a marriage alliance solve? At most, it delays the flames of war for a short while. The enemy nation’s mind is set on war; it is a certainty.”

“Father…” Feng Aoshuang frowned. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Yan City is the very front line of the border. If war truly breaks out, we will be the first to be hit. The days ahead can no longer be spent fooling around. I sent you to the camp for reasons I think I no longer need to explain.” He looked at Feng Aoshuang, his fierce, tiger-like eyes revealing a rare trace of tenderness. “You are my child. If I stand first, you must stand second. This is a responsibility you cannot avoid. No one can predict what happens in war; losing one’s life is a common occurrence. If I am not here, you are the first.”

Feng Aoshuang asked him, “The late Emperor clearly had the enemy nations under control. Why have they been invading time and again lately?”

“This isn’t something that can be explained in just a sentence or two.” Feng Mo frowned. When the late Emperor was alive, the nation’s martial spirit was at its peak; if an external enemy dared to invade, they would be fought all the way back to their own doorstep. But after the late Emperor passed away, everything changed. “There are some things it is indeed time to tell you…”

“Without the late Emperor, the rats hiding in the dark corners of the Palace have all come out. First, the Crown Prince who was supposed to succeed the throne died mysteriously, and then the Sixth Princess was forced onto the throne—the current Emperor… Heh…” A look of mockery appeared on his face. “Rather than calling her an Emperor, she is more of a string-controlled puppet. The real ‘Emperors’ are likely the pack of rats hiding behind her.”

Though Feng Aoshuang had heard rumors, hearing it from her father’s own mouth was still shocking. She had never seen the current Emperor; her memory of the throne remained fixed on a secret border inspection during her childhood—the late Emperor had been so majestic, and her father had been filled with adoration.

“I originally held hope for the Crown Princess, but unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one who saw her talent. Those rats likely set their sights on her as well.”

“The Crown Princess?” Feng Aoshuang was a bit confused. “The current Crown Princess?”

“Mm. I saw her a few times in the past; she did indeed have the late Emperor’s air. Unfortunately… she was born into a nest of rats… Her whereabouts have been unknown for nearly a year now…”

“Whereabouts unknown?” Feng Aoshuang suddenly remembered everything about her and Ren Xuemeng in that small village—the scent on Yang Lulong back then… Linking the two together felt absurd to Feng Aoshuang. She looked at her father, debating whether to tell him. But then, she had never asked where Yang Lulong was from, and relying on a feeling was too unreliable. Perhaps Yang Lulong just had an unusually strong aura among Qian Yuan.

Border tensions were high, and war was only a matter of time… This problem troubled not only Feng Mo; in the Imperial City, Zhao Ruoyong was similarly at her wit’s end.

She sat at her desk, staring at the open memorials. In this vast space, she was all alone, with no attendants by her side.

“Proposed marriage alliance with the State of Dian to resolve border issues.” She read those words over and over. A marriage alliance with Dian—who would go? She only had four children. Although they had all reached maturity, three were Qian Yuan and one was a Kun Ze. No matter how she looked at it, the heavy burden of the alliance would fall on her youngest daughter.

The disappearance of the Eldest Princess had already left her helpless; now she had to send the Fourth Princess away as well.

Her expression looked as if she had eaten something rotten. She did not have the right to say no; no matter what the memorials said, she had to agree. Every time she thought of this, she would give a self-deprecating laugh. Clearly, she wasn’t needed, yet she still had to go through the motions and put on an act.

She had delayed this memorial again and again, unable to sign it. This was her child’s lifelong happiness. She might not be a brilliant ruler, but in family matters at least, she didn’t want to be a failed mother. But she hadn’t even been able to protect her eldest daughter; what right did she have to be a mother?

“Reporting to the Emperor: please visit the Changqing Palace,” an attendant suddenly arrived to report.

“Why?” She was currently grieving.

“The Empress’s estrus period has arrived…”

“Did she ask for me?” she asked with sorrow in her voice.

“…” The attendant did not know how to answer.

“Sigh… forget it…” she said helplessly. She looked at the memorial one last time, closed it, and stood up to walk out of the hall.

The moment she stepped out, she was suddenly surrounded by seven or eight people. She didn’t feel like an Emperor surrounded by followers, but more like a prisoner being monitored. As she walked, she suddenly stopped and looked up at the sky, where a bright moon hung…