Chapter 120 The Great Fire

Chapter 120: The Great Fire

The flames lighting up the night sky were like molten lava pouring over her, searing her very core.

Qiu Heng's panic in front of Xue Han during the day had been an act, but now, a terror of monumental proportions pressed down upon her, a suffocating sense of impending death washing over her.

How could she have misremembered the timing of such a major event. Why had the great fire started a day early!

Qiu Heng whirled around and ran outside.

"Miss—" Fang Zhou rushed out only to see a figure vanished from sight in an instant.

Though it was late at night, the fire had broken out in the direction of the imperial lodge, startling many people in Prince Kang's estate.

Prince Kang hurried out, while Princess Kang, fighting down her panic, hurried after him.

"Your Highness, has something happened?"

"I'm going to see. You keep things steady here." Prince Kang threw the words over his shoulder and quickened his pace.

"Your Highness—"

Ling Yun came hurrying up, his tone gentle yet steady. "Mother, I'll go with Father. Please don't worry. Take good care of my sisters."

Princess Kang caught Ling Yun's arm, urgently instructing him, "Yun'er, be safe."

Qiu Heng, holding up the hem of her skirt, ran past the mother and son.

Princess Kang's eyes widened in shock, her worry giving way to astonishment. "Who—who just ran past?"

"It seemed to be A Heng—" Ling Yun's expression shifted slightly. "I'll go see."

Watching Ling Yun hurry away, Princess Kang stood frozen in place.

"Mother, what's happening outside?"

Princess Kang turned to see County Princess Jiayi approaching and couldn't help but frown. "Why aren't you sleeping properly? What are you doing out here?"

"I heard noise outside and Fang Zhou calling for A Heng. I was worried and came out to check."

"That A Heng, she's never given anyone a moment's peace!" Princess Kang's words had barely left her lips when another figure rushed past them.

"Who was that?"

County Princess Jiayi made to follow. "It was Fang Zhou."

Princess Kang seized her daughter's hand tightly. "Jia Yi, you are not to go anywhere. With all this foliage, a fire is no ordinary mishap. If it gets out of control, it would be catastrophic!"

"But Father and the others—"

"Your father and brother are men, after all. They can't just ignore a fire at the imperial lodge." As she spoke, Princess Kang tightened her grip on her daughter's hand, her palm slick with cold sweat.

She didn't want her husband and son to risk danger either, but this concerned the imperial lodge; they couldn't afford to give anyone grounds for criticism.

"But A Heng—"

Princess Kang's mouth twisted fiercely. "That girl is wilder than any man, daring to lure a bear alone. Don't you learn from her."

Outside, chaos reigned. Imperial kin, nobles, and officials, both civil and military, poured out of their residences one after another, rushing towards the source of the fire.

Consequently, Qiu Heng, running amidst the chaos, did not stand out.

She ran all the way to the front, staring up at the towering flames and the people rushing in and out carrying basins and buckets to fight the fire, feeling as if she'd been plunged into an ice-cold abyss.

It was the Star-Gazing Tower that was burning, only the timing was a day earlier.

What about the Crown Prince? What about Xue Han?

She bit down hard on her lip, Qiu Heng charged towards the sea of fire.

"A Heng!"

Ling Yun's anxious shout rang out from behind her, but it wasn't his call that stopped Qiu Heng. It was the person who appeared ahead.

Illuminated by the firelight, the young man in black clothes looked disheveled, yet his eyes were clear and bright.

Xue Han also saw Qiu Heng.

The girl, mid-stride, came to an abrupt halt, her ink-black hair disheveled, her face pale as snow, like fragile glass that might shatter into a thousand pieces at any moment.

After giving a few instructions to his subordinates, Xue Han strode towards Qiu Heng.

Qiu Heng stood motionless, watching the young man approach, unable to control the trembling that seized her entire body.

His approaching footsteps didn't seem to tread on the muddy ground but rather upon her heart.

"Sixth Miss Qiu, why are you—" Xue Han drew close and started to speak, but stopped short.

The girl's slender fingers touched his cheek, icy cold to the bone.

"Xue Han—" Qiu Heng called his name, her voice so low it was almost inaudible, tears falling silently.

Xue Han's face wasn't burned by the fire. Then what about the Crown Prince—

She didn't dare ask.

Yet, Xue Han's heart jolted at those two softly spoken words, "Xue Han." Without hesitation, he grasped the hand that had touched him.

That hand was so cold it filled him with an uncontrollable fear, as if the girl before him wasn't a living person but a lost ghost wandering the mortal world.

"Don't be afraid. I'm fine." Xue Han paused, his voice extremely low. "The Crown Prince is also fine."

Qiu Heng's heart suddenly relaxed.

Such an extreme shift in emotions left her limbs even colder and her mind in utter turmoil.

She desperately needed a quiet place to think things through properly.

"Then, you go ahead with your work." Qiu Heng withdrew her hand, turned, and ran away.

"A Heng, where are you going?"

Xue Han heard Ling Yun ask urgently.

Followed by Qiu Heng's reply: "Brother Ling, I'm going back first."

"Sir, Eunuch Xue is looking for you."

Xue Han glanced once more at the figure disappearing into the night, forcefully suppressing his worry to go see Xue Quan.

"Young Mistress!" Fang Zhou rushed over and saw Qiu Heng.

"Fang Zhou, I must go somewhere. Return to our quarters and cover for me."

Without stopping, Qiu Heng ran past Fang Zhou, into the depths of the mountain forest, all the way to the small lake.

The lakeside was cold and damp in the deep night, and birds and small animals scattered at Qiu Heng's approach.

Qiu Heng sat with her knees drawn to her chest, staring intently at the surface of the lake.

She had fallen into this lake and gone thirty years into the future, then returned through Que Lake. Now, on the verge of a complete emotional collapse, it was still this lakeside that gave her a sliver of security.

Xue Han was safe.

The Crown Prince was safe too.

How wonderful—Qiu Heng thought this, yet her tears fell even harder.

This wasn't right. It was written in black and white; she couldn't have misremembered the time.

And regarding this great fire, it was only this very morning that she had spoken to Xue Han about it. It wasn't because of her that the timeline had changed.

It wasn't a mistake in memory, nor was it a change she had caused. Then why?

A suspicion had already formed in Qiu Heng's heart.

Misremembering the time, even failing to save the Crown Prince—these were not the true reasons for her near collapse. It was this suspicion.

Her knowledge was taught by her mentor. The books she read were given by her mentor.

What if... what if some of the records in the books her mentor had her read were simply wrong?

But how could the records concerning the Crown Prince's death be wrong? How could they be allowed to be wrong?

Unless—Qiu Heng clenched her fist hard, nails digging deep into her palm.

Unless they were deliberately written wrong!

And the purpose wasn't hard to guess: to prevent her from interfering, from changing the Crown Prince's fate.

To stop her from saving the Crown Prince, to make her save Emperor Jingping instead, thereby ensuring a smooth transfer of imperial power into the hands of Emperor Longxing.

Her mentor's desire for a stable state was real. His hope for a long-lasting dynasty was real. His wish for the people to live in peace was real.

And his wish for the Crown Prince to die as in the original accident, for Emperor Longxing to become the ruler of Great Xia—that was also real!

"Mentor, is it really like this?" Qiu Heng murmured, biting her lip until it bled.

She had regarded the State Preceptor as a towering mountain—a peak to look up to, a path of virtue to follow.

If that day, realizing that merely eliminating the Five Traitors could not truly save Great Xia had caused a corner of this mountain to crumble, then now it was a complete and utter collapse.

The tumbling rubble buried her entirely, making her doubt everything, making her wish for death in her agony.