With the shackles removed, leaving this ship became easy. Tomorrow when the person delivering food came, they would knock him unconscious, steal his boat, and escape.
Xie Queshan and Nanyi agreed that after leaving here, they wouldn’t return to Li Du Mansion temporarily to avoid unnecessary trouble. They would wait until Song Muchuan’s plan was completed and everything settled before going back.
By then, Xie Queshan’s state of mind might be different again. Nanyi naturally hoped he could be understood by everyone and receive the glory he deserved, but these were still distant luxuries. Being able to stay alive now, being together, and taking things one step at a time were already very good results.
Tonight would be their last night on the ship.
Nanyi hadn’t been this happy in a long time. She felt the path ahead had become bright.
After drinking some wine, she began to feel euphoric. Other people’s alcohol went to their stomachs, but hers seemed to go to her eyes—watery, sparkling, crescent-shaped eyes overflowing with clear, fragrant intoxication. Just looking at her once, one seemed ready to become drunk in those eyes.
She gestured animatedly as she spoke.
“People say Jinling has no nights—the lanterns in the streets can dance until dawn! I’ve never been to such a prosperous place.”
Xie Queshan rested his chin on his hand, also somewhat intoxicated, his whole being impossibly gentle: “I haven’t been there either.”
Nanyi boldly slapped the table: “Then we must go to Jinling! We worked so hard to send Prince Ling’an into the city—we should at least get some soup from the victory feast!”
She waved her hand, unrealistically fantasizing: “In Jinling, let’s stay at inns every day, okay? I heard the banquet spreads in Jinling are different from the northern ones—such big plates with only this tiny, fist-sized portion of food, just enough for one person to take one bite, but that one bite is incredibly delicious! Wouldn’t I have to eat for ten days or so?”
“How would that be enough? You’d have to eat for two or three months.”
“Right, right, right, you have such grand vision, Master Xie—when the time comes, the new emperor must give you a high official position—your achievements… must all be carved on stone tablets… I’ll have to bask in your glory—forget inns, you’ll have to take me to eat at the imperial palace’s royal banquets! When you walk down the street in the future, everyone who sees you will say—this is that Master Xie who endured humiliation and hardship! Who slept on straw and tasted gall! Who achieved great military feats!”
Xie Queshan smiled and took a sip of wine: “Where did you learn so many idioms?”
Nanyi patted her chest: “Learning and using them immediately!”
As she spoke, she felt her body getting heavy and swayed, thinking she had drunk too much. She supported herself on the table to sit down and looked defiantly at Xie Queshan’s cup—his cup was also empty, but he still sat there immovably.
She rubbed her forehead: “Why is my alcohol tolerance so much worse than yours?”
Xie Queshan gently supported her arm: “If you’re tired, go sleep first.”
The double vision before her eyes became increasingly blurry. She could barely make out Xie Queshan’s face. Her whole body felt light and airy, unable to summon any strength.
Her last bit of consciousness supported her… How could Xie Queshan be so calm?
This wasn’t right.
“You…”
Nanyi gripped Xie Queshan’s sleeve tightly, using her last bit of strength to stare at him intently.
Only then did she see clearly—his eyes were so lonely.
He had accompanied her in drinking a farewell toast, and she had been so delighted about it.
Her heart immediately began to panic. What was he going to do? Hadn’t they agreed?
“You… you lied to me?”
Xie Queshan helped Nanyi up, saying gently: “You should sleep now.”
“Liar…” Each word consumed what little strength she had left. But she was still fighting against her impending unconsciousness—she couldn’t let him succeed.
She had to keep talking. As long as she kept talking, she wouldn’t fall unconscious.
“Why? Even if we escaped… and were hunted by the Qi people… it would only be our business… it wouldn’t affect Li Du Mansion or the Bingzhu Bureau… Why?”
Her arms struggled upward, cupping his face. She wanted to see clearly, to see even more clearly. Even though her vision was constantly blurred by rising tears, she still wanted to see him clearly.
The smile finally disappeared from Xie Queshan’s face, but his expression remained peaceful.
Everything was within his plan.
“Nanyi, you must be safe and sound.”
If he escaped, the Qi people’s pursuit would be overwhelming. He didn’t want to drag her down.
Things weren’t really that complicated. As long as he alone sacrificed himself, it could exchange for overall stability.
“I don’t want safety, Xie Queshan…” She was almost out of strength.
She was like someone hanging from a vine at a cliff’s edge until exhaustion—she knew the outcome could only be letting go powerlessly and falling into the abyss, but she still wasn’t resigned to it.
So everything she had done was useless. He was just acting with her.
He really was a bastard.
“I’ll hate you for a lifetime… no… hate you through all lifetimes… Even if you become a ghost, I’ll haunt you… We should… go to hell together. Don’t you dare, don’t you dare abandon me…”
Finally, Nanyi couldn’t hold on any longer. Her eyelids closed heavily and never opened again, her whole body falling limply into his embrace.
“Good. Hating me is better.”
He looked at her quietly, his face expressionless.
A barely perceptible sigh dropped into the rolling river waters—a ripple that was quickly smoothed away.