My Senior Sister Says She Will Marry No One But Me - Chapter 49

“Please, Sect Leader, help me.” Qin Shanshan knew that what she was doing was indeed a bit underhanded, but if she could really bring Du Yunge back, it would secure peace along the border for at least three to five years:

“Young Sect Leader, if you can come back with me and pacify those warmongers, I guarantee the Wuzhaka tribe won’t even think of crossing the Great Wall’s perilous pass.”

The Great Wall was called a perilous pass for good reason. Since the First Emperor of antiquity mobilized the entire nation’s resources to construct this colossal structure along the frontier, it had laid an unshakable foundation for the peace and stability of future generations. Over countless dynasties, successive emperors used the Qin Great Wall as a foundation, reinforcing it with earth and stone to create a towering, continuous barrier at the border between the Hu and Han peoples.

For many years, the Hu people could only gaze at the Central Plains with a sigh, all because of this impregnable wall. It wasn’t that they had no way to cross they could either take a long detour through the rugged mountains where the wall had not yet been fully connected, or sacrifice countless lives to breach the defenses. Both methods required immense time, manpower, and resources. Over the years, no one had ever attempted to cross the Great Wall and threaten the Central Plains, especially since there were annual horse markets and Han merchants and caravans coming through. They simply made do with what they had.

That was, until the year an unprecedented blizzard struck beyond the frontier. Countless elderly, weak, sick, and young among the tribes died of starvation, cold, or illness. Even the young and strong struggled to survive under such harsh conditions. Just on the other side of the wall, the Han people were warm and well-fed, while the Hu people suffered in tattered clothes and hunger. The stark contrast drove the Hu tribes to unite as never before, launching their elite cavalry in a desperate, final assault on the Great Wall.

And they broke through.

But breaking through came at a devastating cost. The Great Wall inflicted catastrophic losses on the Hu people’s hard-won elite forces. No wonder those who lived through that period warned their children:

“Do not lightly cross the Great Wall. It’s too difficult, truly too difficult!”

In recent years, however, exchanges between the Hu and Han had grown increasingly frequent. Now, the Hu tribes seemed ready to rally under the leadership of the Wuzhaka tribe and attempt to cross the Great Wall once more. This time, their motivation was entirely different from the life-or-death struggle of years past.

The treasures hidden by the Miaoyin Sect were known even to non-martial artists in the Central Plains, how could such rumors not reach the ears of the Hu people?

“The Miaoyin Sect holds peerless treasures; even a crumb from their fingertips could turn a beggar into a wealthy man.” This was simply too enticing. It stirred the ambitions of idle Hu tribesmen, prone to their old habits of raiding and plundering, as well as the restless youth eager for adventure.

In other words, what Qin Shanshan needed to bring back was not just “Du Yunge,” but the person who was the Sect Leader of the Miaoyin Sect.

Du Yunge thought that if what she said was true, then making a trip wouldn’t be a bad idea, it would be a good opportunity to see if that qin beyond the Great Wall was truly the Ninefold Heaven’s Embrace. During her time at Tian Zaishui, she had studied the qin score extensively. Though she was not skilled in martial arts, she excelled in refined pursuits like music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. No wonder Qin Shanshan had assumed she was a well-bred young lady from a prosperous family. Yet even someone as accomplished as Du Yunge felt a faint sense of bewilderment while reading the score:

Can this note really be played like this? It doesn’t connect with what comes before or after wouldn’t it sound jarring?

Why pause here, and for so long? If this were on a battlefield or in a duel, wouldn’t it give the opponent an opening?

The leap between these notes is so wide wouldn’t playing them risk snapping the strings?

These doubts swirled in her mind, making her increasingly intrigued as she read. Apart from the occasional abrupt passages, the rest of the score was sheer brilliance just reading it evoked the sensation of exquisite melodies flowing gently in her ears. If not for the fact that this was the score of the Heavenly Demon’s Enchanting Melody and not some ordinary composition, she would have eagerly sought out a qin to practice.

Before Du Yunge could agree to Qin Shanshan’s proposal, Xue Shuyan spoke up:

“If Yunge is going, then I must accompany her.”

Her words nearly made Qin Shanshan, who had been mesmerized by Du Yunge’s beauty, drop her jaw in shock. Instinctively, she blurted out a torrent of Hu-language before remembering that Du Yunge wouldn’t understand and quickly switching to the Central Plains dialect:

“Are you insane?! Do you even remember you’re of mixed heritage? If you step into Hu territory, no one will be able to help you if you face trouble. It doesn’t matter if you’re the deputy sect leader of Miaoyin Sect even the Jade Emperor himself wouldn’t be able to intervene!”

“A powerful dragon is no match for a local serpent, let alone a mere deputy sect leader!”

Xue Shuyan didn’t even spare her cousin a glance, her expression as cold and sharp as icicles hanging from eaves in the depths of winter. Yet when she turned to face Du Yunge, her demeanor softened instantly, as if the oppressive aura she had just directed at Qin Shanshan had never existed:

“Yunge has lived on Mount Wangyou since childhood and has never traveled so far alone.”

“Your senior sister will accompany you. Don’t be afraid.”

What a masterful change of expression! Even her voice had gentled!

Qin Shanshan thought her cousin was truly wasting her talent as the deputy sect leader of Miaoyin Sect. She ought to be sent to a Sichuan opera troupe to master the art of face-changing her innate skill would surely leave even seasoned performers in awe, humbled by her natural flair.

After a moment’s thought, Du Yunge decided this was a perfect solution and nodded. “That would be wonderful. Thank you for your trouble, Senior Sister.”

Xue Shuyan replied instantly, “There’s no need for such formalities between us, Yunge.”

Qin Shanshan suddenly felt her teeth ache from the overwhelming sweetness. To remind the two, who were completely absorbed in each other, that there was still a bound, living person in the room, she cleared her throat emphatically and with great determination.

“Ahem, ahem, ahem, ahem!”

This series of obviously fake coughs proved surprisingly effective, immediately forcing Xue Shuyan to turn her head and glare at her menacingly. Even her words seemed to be squeezed out from between clenched teeth, perfectly embodying the phrase “internal and external distinctions”:

“Take my advice, Mayila, if you’re sick, you should take your medicine promptly.”

Qin Shanshan: If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have reminded her about the awkwardness of her mixed heritage.

After some discussion, the three of them settled on a plan as follows: Qin Shanshan would pretend to take Du Yunge back, claiming to have discovered the location of the Miaoyin Sect’s treasure not in the Central Plains but beyond the frontier. She would use Du Yunge as a “hostage” to corroborate the story. Once the tribespeople were placated, they would proceed to deal with dissenters through alienation, assassination, or exile. After the core warmongering factions were largely subdued, Xue Shuyan who had been disguised as a foreigner accompanying them would step in to “rescue” Du Yunge. When emotions ran high, Qin Shanshan would reappear to redirect the conflict, pitting the warmongering factions of the Wuzaka tribe against those of other tribes, letting them fight among themselves first.

This way, not only would peace be secured for three to five years, but as long as Qin Shanshan, the leading figure of the peace faction, remained alive, the border between the foreigners and the Han Chinese would remain stable for another day.

Once the plan was finalized, the three of them descended the stairs together. Xue Shuyan wrapped her distinctly mixed-heritage black hair, a clear sign of her Central Plains ancestry in a brown scarf. With her face alone, she looked like a foreigner, making Du Yunge, sandwiched between her and Qin Shanshan, appear like a pitifully beautiful young girl about to be abducted beyond the frontier.

The inn’s waiter and proprietor had already received Qin Shanshan’s orders to hide, allowing the three to stride out side by side. However, once outside, a rather obvious problem presented itself:

The carriage Qin Shanshan had used earlier was far less spacious than the Miaoyin Sect’s carriage that Du Yunge and the others had brought. It could barely squeeze in three people if they crammed together, but for any semblance of comfort, it could only accommodate two. There was no room for even the slightest extra item.

Xue Shuyan and Qin Shanshan stood at a standoff at the carriage door, neither willing to yield. In the end, it was Du Yunge who considerately broke the silence, asking:

“I suppose Shijie hasn’t seen your cousin in a long time. Why don’t I take the reins, and let Shijie and Miss Qin catch up properly?”

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard Qin Shanshan and Xue Shuyan refute in unison:

“Absolutely not!” this from Xue Shuyan.

“Little Sect Master, how cruel! There’s nothing for me to catch up on with this person. Why don’t you come into the carriage with me instead, and we can have a good chat, heart to heart. Xue Shuyan! Stop threatening people with your damn sword at the drop of a hat!” this from Qin Shanshan, who had been threatened once again.

The foreigner who had previously driven Qin Shanshan’s carriage had been left behind at the inn, so at least one person had to take the reins. In the end, it was Qin Shanshan and Xue Shuyan who reluctantly sat side by side outside the carriage, driving together in mutual distaste, while Du Yunge enjoyed the entire carriage compartment alone.

The carriage’s soundproofing wasn’t very effective. When Qin Shanshan and Du Yunge were inside, they could hear the Hu driver outside cracking his whip and urging the horses. But when Qin Shanshan and Xue Shuyan sat outside together, the silence grew so profound that one could almost hear a needle drop inside the carriage. If not for the carriage continuing to move forward with unprecedented smoothness and speed, Du Yunge might have thought some tragic mutual destruction had occurred outside.

Perhaps sensing that the tense atmosphere might frighten Du Yunge, Qin Shanshan finally broke the silence. However, she didn’t address her cousin but rather Du Yunge, who was still inside the carriage:

“Yunge, would you like to know where my fine qin is now?”

Du Yunge, relieved that someone had finally broken the awkward silence, was nearly moved to tears:

“I’d love to hear about it.”

But it wasn’t Qin Shanshan who answered. Instead, Xue Shuyan, the enigmatic senior disciple of Miaoyin Sect—whose Han ancestry remained a mystery to all—let out a light, indifferent chuckle and cut straight to the point:

“Mayila, look into your heart and tell the truth to the Wolf King of the grasslands: Whose qin is that in your hands?”

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