"Lin, you ungrateful woman!" was the furious roar from behind. Lin Yan didn't even turn her head, but instead focused on looking at Tuoba Hong, pleading: "Your Majesty, save your concubine, I'm really scared, I don't have the courage to leave. Up ahead is the Black Water River, if today I can't turn back, I'll have no choice but to drown myself."

  In the northern wilderness, a fierce gale howled through the night. The flames on the pine branches had all but died out, and the swirling snow showed no signs of letting up. Lin Yuan knelt firmly in the snow, her whole body trembling with cold, her heart even more tormented. Even if she managed to escape with her life this time, and return to Qin Guo, it was likely that her future would be forever changed. Ta Ba Hong was an emperor who ruled over all under heaven - how could he tolerate another man coveting her, even though she had done nothing wrong?

  She might be deposed, demoted, or confined for life, or taken advantage of by her former enemies like Empress Sheng to get rid of her. Life is bleak...

  "Get up." Amidst her daze, a calm male voice seemed to warm Lin Yuan's frozen body back to life. Lin Yuan lifted her head in surprise: "Your Majesty, concubine..." Before she could finish speaking, the servants beside her had already helped her up. Yao Fu Sheng lowered his head, but his tone was loud: "The young master is still ill, how can he come out of the city to ride horses and have fun? His Majesty is worried sick! His Majesty has ordered for the young master to return to the palace immediately to rest..."

  Yuan Lie was beside himself with rage, he rushed forward and grabbed Lin Wan's sleeve, pulling her down to the ground. Lin Wan let out a sharp cry: "Let go! You brutal king! Do you believe I'll die right here?!" One of her sleeves was being pulled by Yuan Lie, while she used her other hand to pull off the blue sapphire hairpin from her head and pointed it at her own neck: "I am the imperial consort of Great Qin, do you think I will yield to you?"

  It has been forced to this point, life and death are only a line away! Lin Yan understood that tonight, as long as he touched her hand in public, she would lose Tuoba Hong's face, and when she returned to the palace, all that awaited her was death!

  She tore her sleeve, and under her loud scolding, Yuan Lie's anger was like a lion. He rushed forward to grab her other hand again, but fortunately, the guards beside him stopped him and whispered something, and he finally restrained himself, clenching his fists and glaring at Tuoba Hong and the others. Lin Yan didn't dare face him anymore, quickly got up and followed the palace maid into the sedan chair they came in, hiding inside, her golden hairpin fell to the ground, but a faint bloodstain had already appeared on her neck.

  Surrounded by a large number of attendants from the palace of Qin, I feel at ease.

  Yuan Lie's expression was fierce and stern, his gaze seemed to be able to penetrate the curtain even after Lin Yuan hid in the sedan chair. He then turned to Tuoba Hong, and actually sneered: "The only thing that interests this king is her. As for your imperial princess, this king doesn't care." He ordered his attendants: "That woman in the red sedan chair, this king can't be bothered to look at, take her back and send her to the west wing as a concubine."

  Yuan Lie didn't dare to return the princess of Heqin, but after receiving her, what to do with her was none of Tuoba Hong's business. Yuan Lie had already lost Lin Wan, and his anger was not light, he directly saluted Tuoba Hong and turned around to leave. Behind him, the sedan chair of Wen Zhuang Emperor's daughter was left alone at the border between the two countries.

  Lin Wan did not know what kind of fate this poor princess would have, and she could not grasp her own fate either.

  According to Tuoba Hong's orders, Lin Wan was sent back to the palace first. The night in the northwest Gobi Desert was long and gloomy, with a bleak wind and snow when leaving the city, and the road ahead was dark and obscure. When returning to the city, it was still pitch black, without a single ray of light.

  ***

  The matter of the Great Qin Emperor's daughter and the Mongolian king's marriage alliance was made public to the world, and the Mongolian king also left the Luoying enclosure three days later to return to his country. As for Lin Wei, since she wasn't the one who had married into the royal family in the end, this matter naturally covered itself up, and no one would suspect anything.

  The people in the palace only knew that Lin Wan had mysteriously fallen ill, but didn't say what the illness was, and didn't connect it to the Mongolian king. In fact, such unexplained illnesses were all too common in the palace, where any concubine who angered the emperor would be allowed to fall ill without anyone saying anything. Even many times, the emperor's orders for a concubine to die were disguised as illness.

  Lin Wan's illness dragged on indefinitely. It wasn't until dozens of days later, when the emperor led a large group of princes and nobles back to the capital for the New Year's festivities, that she was still bedridden with illness.

  She rode in a small sedan chair, accompanied by four eunuchs and twelve palace maids, at the very end of the procession. Wen concubine and others saw clearly that the emperor had sent people from the imperial front to serve her, this momentum is simply imprisonment. It seems that this favored Hui Guifei really offended the emperor severely.

  The people serving in the sedan chair were still a few old acquaintances, including Chūxuě and Chūtáo. Chūtáo handed Lin Yuán a hot towel to wipe her face, and asked in a trembling voice, "Young mistress, when will this... be over?"

  Lin Yan kept her eyes closed and didn't say a word all the way, making Chun Tao suspect that she had been stunned by the blow. She grabbed the master's wrist and shook it twice, tears streaming down her face as she said: "Young Master, you must think of a way, if things go on like this, the Emperor will really abandon Young Master, what can we do?" As she spoke, she felt miserable and unlucky, and couldn't help but cry even harder: "Young Master didn't do anything wrong..."

  "That's enough, don't bother Young Master anymore." Chu Xue's temper was also getting a bit worse. She sighed and attended to Lin Yu's hair washing, the hair in her hand was smooth like satin, only no one knew who would appreciate such beauty.

  The first snow was now also anxious, but couldn't think of any way to do it. After a while, she comforted Lin Wan and said: "Master, let's open our minds, at least we're back, much better than that poor Wen Zhuang Emperor's daughter."

  In the hearts of all Qin State women, the imperial princess married to a foreign country was the most pitiful. However, in reality, Wen Zhuang's fate had no need for worry - Kang Yi Wen Zhuang, the third daughter of Emperor Kang of Qin, at 16 years old married the Khan of Mongolia, at 19 years old became the Khong Tayiji, at 25 years old enthroned her young son Hutan as king, becoming the youngest regent empress dowager in Mongolian history. Of course, this is all a later story.

  Many years later, Lin Wan would often think that if she hadn't chosen to return to Qin Guo back then, whether there would be a broader world for her.

  Due to the snow and ice blocking the mountain, the speed of the imperial carriage's return was far slower than when it came. It wasn't until dusk that they arrived at the border of Youzhou, where Liu, the commander of the Imperial Guard, seeing that the sky was already dark, had the imperial carriage rest at a nearby relay station.

  Youzhou is a stronghold in the north of Qin State, it has always been a place where military strategists must contend for. The relay station here was also built into a magnificent mansion, specially prepared for great generals who go to battle and even emperors who personally go to war.

  Lin Wan's status was still there, and the four ayahs took her to the main house in the back hall to rest, neither freezing nor starving her. The servants all quietly went to bed, but were suddenly awakened by a knock on the door at midnight. When they opened the door, they saw two eunuchs from the imperial court. Chunxue and Chun Tao were both scared pale, thinking that since the emperor had sent people over at this time, it must be to bestow death upon them!

  The whole house was silent, and Lin Yuanyuan calmly put on a coat and came out. Two eunuchs expressionlessly said in low voices: "The Emperor has summoned the Honorable Young Mistress."

  Lin Wan was not afraid, and followed him. The candles in Tuoba Hong's house were still lit, and under the light and shadow, a man stood at the window with his hands behind his back, also unknown why he didn't sleep in the middle of the night.

  "You're just in time." Taoba Hong's voice was cold as he spoke the moment the door opened.

  "Even if Your Majesty has come to take the life of a concubine, the concubine will still come."

  Tuoba Hong seemed to smile, turned around and pinched Lin Yuan's chin with one hand, his expression was stern and intimidating: "Lin Yuan, I thought you were a good woman, but it turns out that you are used to enticing bees and butterflies!"

  "The concubine's crime deserves ten thousand deaths."

  "You should be dead! The Mongolian king is indeed deeply in love with you! And also owes you a life-saving favor? Ha!"

  "Your Majesty, the concubines are not to blame, it's all just the Mongolian king's one-sided desire..." Lin Yu's eyes were already misty with tears, and she had long since mastered the art of using her beauty to manipulate others, but she also knew that this tactic was unlikely to work at a time like this.

  "Even so, that's still your fault!" Tuoba Hong didn't allow her to explain. In this era, as long as a woman was tainted with an unclean reputation, no matter what she had done, people would think she was wrong, and even Buddhist scriptures had similar explanations. This was just a concept, and at this time, Tuoba Hong obviously thought so too.

  "Yes, a thousand mistakes and ten thousand mistakes are all the concubine's fault..." Lin Yu hung her head down, her chin already pinched painfully by the other person.

  Tuoba Hong sneered and shook off his hand, then strode out of the door with a flourish, leaving Lin Yuan behind without another glance.

  The cool night air was like water, and the chill on the emperor's body was even colder than a thousand-year-old icy pond. Lin Yu knew that if she let him go like this today, what awaited her would undoubtedly be a cold palace. She picked up her skirt and chased after him, not bothering with the etiquette of a concubine, running behind Tuoba Hong and saying pitifully: "Your Majesty has been angered by your concubine, so please give the order to execute me personally! It's better for me to die anyway, since living would also bring shame to Your Majesty's face..."

  The man in front of him had such big strides, his tall and majestic figure was resolute, Lin Yan couldn't help but run to keep up with him, her heart even more desperate. She gritted her teeth, stepped forward and grabbed the emperor's sleeve with one hand, not afraid of offending the monarch, secretly resenting in her heart: if she were abandoned by the emperor at this point, it would be a miserable life. Tuoba Hong, you stinky man, I am loyal to you with all my heart, without any improper thoughts towards the Mongolian king, what more do you want from me?!

  Tuoba Hong did not expect this woman to be so bold, he was the emperor, yet she forcibly pulled him... He turned his head and was about to brush off her hand, but in that instant, he heard a faint sound piercing through the air, carrying a chilling crisis. Then he felt scalding liquid splashing onto his cheek, and the woman in front of him had already collapsed onto him.

  "Yuan'er! There's an assassin, come quickly..."

  The silent night sky was left with only the man's astonished loud shout.