Peace Order

Chapter 1889: Chapter 11: Chaos of the World, Matters of the Heart

Silence, sounds of conversation, footsteps, and laughter.

All sounds seemed to freeze in an instant.

It was unknown how long this sudden silence lasted.

In perception, it seemed like a very long time.

Yet paradoxically, it also felt like a mere fleeting moment.

The scout on the cavalry took a deep breath and shouted: "Emperor Qin, the army is returning to the capital!!!"

The voice was like a sharp sword, piercing through the quiet atmosphere. In an instant, cheers and laughter erupted. Song Changgeng thought to himself, being a disciple of the Mo School, he wouldn’t react greatly to the return of a monarch.

But then, he found himself caught up in the fervor of the crowd.

He realized he stood up and, like the other townspeople, looked outside, found himself cheering, his heart pounding, noticing everyone was just as excited as he was physically in that moment.

Then he saw the crimson battle flags of the Qilin Army in the distance.

His mind went blank, leaving only joy.

Perhaps, in the past, and from now on.

There would never be another monarch with such renown.

In Jiangnan, the clamor of the people was deafening; they were ecstatic at the Emperor’s return after years on the battlefield. The nineteen-year-old Xue Changqing, holding his Battle Halberd, stood on a small hill outside the city, looking down in admiration:

"Ah, Emperor Qin’s reputation is truly unparalleled."

"A true man should aspire to be like this."

The young historian next to him remarked: "When His Majesty was young, he stepped onto the battlefield, braving arrows, enduring a hundred battles to gain this land, yet he governs diligently and loves his people, ensuring they are warm and well-fed. There has never been a monarch so aligned with the people."

"His gaining of the people’s heart seems only natural."

Xue Changqing laughed: "Indeed."

"But..."

He looked into the distance, watching Emperor Qin riding into the city on horseback, the crimson qilin-patterned battle flag fluttering. Being at the Fourth Layer Heaven, with excellent eyesight, he could see the majestic and imposing Emperor Qin still wearing that simple, ancient jade hairpin.

He seemed relieved or perhaps comforted, exhaling a long breath.

Yet he softly said: "But... sister has also waited for him for a very, very long time."

"Emperor Qin, Brother Li."

"When he was about thirteen or fourteen, he knew my sister. They grew up together, innocent and naive, shared life and death, and over the years, while my sister’s Long Wind Tower couldn’t accompany Brother Li to wage battles like Duke Li, it also helped a lot."

"Why aren’t they together yet then?"

"Could it truly be as storytellers say, the falling flower has affections, yet the flowing water is heartless, and it’s just my sister’s one-sided love not coming to fruition?"

"After Brother Li has achieved fame and imperial accomplishments, should he let my sister’s black hair turn grey? Is that what they say about the heartless of emperors, ah, how painful."

Xue Changqing called out in pain, looking up to see the young historian Saatanati lifting the book in her hand to hit him.

Saatanati said: "You and that Divine General Xue have certainly learned to be chatterboxes."

Xue Changqing scratched his head.

"But he is my ancestor after all."

"Isn’t it normal for me to resemble my ancestor?"

"Isn’t it a matter of pride to take after my ancestor!"

Xue Changqing was not convincing but sounded vigorous.

The young woman sighed: "Why not learn the martial skills and military strategies of General Xue instead of his chatter?"

"Don’t speculate randomly about the relationship between Emperor Qin and Long Wind Tower Master."

The young historian, in the Western Regions at that time, was on good terms with the Marquis Qin Wu, and when Qin Wu took on the alias Tian Ge’er, they fought and explored the vast Western Regions together. She knew about the ’Miss’ that Emperor Qin once mentioned, and just said:

"They have endured peaceful times, chaotic eras, pioneering of new times, and now with the world firmly at peace, a division of the world into two, their feelings are deep and not something you or I can comprehend."

Xue Changqing sighed, scratching his head: "But why..."

The young historian said: "His Majesty’s eyes are set on the world."

"With the world divided into two, the common people and warriors hold in a fierce spirit, resounding courage and pride. If His Majesty were to marry now, even without saying anything, it would send a signal that His Majesty is starting to indulge."

"It would dampen that fierce spirit."

"When a task is begun, one’s spirit is high. To continue, it wanes. Such matters, elusive as they seem, are oft dismissed as mere common talk, but reviewing the length of history, similar incidents have persisted through every era, too much to ignore."

"Indulging in pleasure before the great task is done, this is the demeanor of a foolish ruler."

Xue Changqing, dissatisfied, said: "Simply indulging makes one a foolish ruler?"

The historian replied: "Indulgence is just the surface."

"He who walks a hundred miles should consider it half done at ninety, such matters at this time."

"It would be a betrayal of confidants and comrades who traveled along the way."

"Eternal history, iron pens dictate, only eight words for such conduct."

"Heroism falters, sentimentality intensifies."

Those eight words, like a derogatory term for a person commanding a faction, left Xue Changqing unable to refute, with no temper, only to sigh, resting his chin on his hands, murmuring: "Four years, ah, four years."

"You and I quarreled back then, yet now we are to get engaged..."

"My family is too concerned about trajectories."

"If Brother Li and sister’s matters don’t happen, how can I marry?"

Saatanati blushed with embarrassment.

She swung the history book and smacked it down on him.

Xue Changqing intercepted it with one hand, then grasped the young woman’s wrist, bursting into laughter, and again sighed: "Establishing a new order in a chaotic world, forging a new era, such rank and status truly is lonely, it’s something we can never truly understand."