Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress-Chapter 761 - 758: Formidable Opponent_1

The elderly eunuch Feng Yao, who was attending to them, served tea and then stepped aside quietly to wait upon them.

Murong Yu looked at Bai Qingyan with a smile, her gallant and heroic demeanor like that of a man, and said, "This time, I must thank Miss Bai for extending my life."

"Emperor Yan is too kind..." Bai Qingyan took a sip of tea before asking, "I wonder what brings Emperor Yan to meet with me today?"

"Miss Bai claims to be ill but still comes to see me... It shows that you do not see me as an outsider. If Miss Bai doesn’t mind... you can call me Brother Yu. I will boldly regard Miss Bai as my own sister and call you A Yan. Is that all right?"

Murong Yu did not use "We" when speaking to Bai Qingyan but instead used "I," indicating that he did not wish Bai Qingyan to treat him as the emperor of another country.

Seeing Bai Qingyan’s slight astonishment, Murong Yu smiled and said, "I have a younger brother, named Yan... I call him A Yan. Since I regard Miss Bai as a sister, I thought of calling you A Yan. Is that offensive?"

Bai Qingyan did not pretend to be reserved. She shook her head, saying, "Brother Yu specially asked Yue Shi to invite me here. I assume it’s for another matter. Please go ahead."

"I have a reason for seeing A Yan!" Murong Yu’s slight smile revealed a gentleman’s demeanor. "My health cannot be hidden from A Yan. I am not long for this world. The Yan... my son Murong Li is intelligent but not enough to bear the burden of the Yan. Therefore, I wish to pass the throne to my younger brother Murong Yan. I hope A Yan... will not reject this and can marry my younger brother, becoming our Empress Yan."

As he spoke, Murong Yu straightened his back and bowed to Bai Qingyan with cupped hands.

His mother was long gone, and his elder brother was like a father. Before his departure, Murong Yu wanted to arrange a lifelong matter for A Yan.

Murong Yu firmly believed that only with Murong Yan on the throne could the Yan unify the world, fulfilling their mother’s dying wish, and bring peace to the people.

Murong Yu had learned that during the Jin Kingdom’s examination cheating scandal, someone had maligned Bai Qingyan, calling her a national traitor. Bai Qingyan’s mentor, Mr. Guan Yongchong, personally defended her, saying Bai Qingyan had described the battlefield as... mountains of bones exposed to the wilderness, graves scattered everywhere with no place to bury, thousands of acres of good farmland left untilled, and bodies strewn for miles with birds vanishing.

She vowed to dedicate her life to bringing peace to the land for the people’s sake.

Such magnanimity and such ambition were identical to his younger brother Murong Yan’s.

The rarest thing in life is to find someone who is both a lover and a confidant.

Bai Qingyan was both A Yan’s confidant and his beloved. Therefore, Murong Yu had to make this trip.

"To be honest, Brother Yu, Murong Yan and I have already made a lifelong pledge, but it is not for now." Bai Qingyan did not hide from Murong Yu and openly said, "Murong Yan and I wish to pursue our ambitions separately and rely on our own abilities to see who... can claim the Central Plains."

Murong Yu looked shocked. He had not expected Bai Qingyan to have such ambitions for the Central Plains, her aspirations... so grand.

After a while, Murong Yu said, "The path A Yan wishes to take will be more difficult than A Yan’s. Firstly... the Jin Kingdom still bears the surname Lin. Secondly... A Yan is a woman. Of course... I do not look down on women. My mother, Empress Ji, was also a woman, and the Yan prospered in her hands. But this world... lacks fairness to women. If the Emperor of Xiliang had been succeeded by a son, the chaos of Yunjing would not have occurred. A prince could have smoothly inherited the throne, but... the Empress of Xiliang faced extreme difficulty in becoming Emperor."

"But difficulty does not mean impossibility. What in this world is not difficult? Is unifying the world difficult? It is! But someone must accomplish it!" Bai Qingyan’s eyes were clear, and her gaze resolute. She knew well what lay ahead, yet she still had to move forward relentlessly.

Murong Yu had not seen such a woman in a long time. He had seen such expressions... in his mother’s eyes when he was young.

But later, as his father gradually woke, his mother became the submissive woman, thinking that when his father fully woke, she could hand over the heavy burden.

Murong Yu often reminisced about his mother these days. He always thought... A Yan was captivated by Bai Qingyan because she was a person with grand ambitions, similar in character to his mother.

But now, looking at Bai Qingyan, he realized... Bai Qingyan was different from his mother.

If it were his mother, she would have agreed to marry A Yan by now, to achieve the great cause of unifying the world together.

But Bai Qingyan knew very clearly what she wanted and did not seem to be weighed down by emotions.

"If you marry A Yan, join forces, what is there to fear about the great cause not succeeding?" Murong Yu smiled at Bai Qingyan, "And... if you finally get the Jin Kingdom, and only the Yan and Jin are left standing, will you and A Yan still fight? Should the people suffer from war because you both wish to unify the world?"

The question from Emperor Yan was cutting to the heart.

After all, whether for the Bai family or the Yan, unification of the world was all for the eternal peace of the people.

But if only the Yan and the Jin were left, should the people still suffer the hardships of war?

"Brother Yu is indeed bold. Last year, the Yan was still confined to a corner, having just recovered Nanyan. Yet now, you speak of ruling the world." Bai Qingyan’s tone was calm without any hint of contempt. Even so, it made the eunuch Feng Yao beside Murong Yu look at Bai Qingyan with a glance.

Murong Yu just smiled faintly.

"Has Brother Yu thought about asking Murong Yan?" Bai Qingyan lifted her teacup without any change in expression. "I think probably not. In Brother Yu’s eyes, this is a huge problem. Whether it’s me... or Murong Yan, we both seek to unify this world for peace. If only two countries remain, should it end the war and become one country, or continue to fight? If we continue to fight, it hurts the bond between me and Murong Yan and the people. If we unite, who should be the Emperor? Would the other person willingly accept?"

"Brother Yu says not to look down on women. Yet today... whether speaking of the Jin Kingdom’s Lin surname or questioning unification leading to war, all aim to persuade me to yield to the Yan, to make me bow under the guise of sentiment. Brother Yu wants me to fight for the Yan, doesn’t he?"

Bai Qingyan’s voice was calm, neither angry nor upset. "If it were Murong Yan, he would never ask me this! Because Murong Yan truly does not look down on women. He and I admire each other, see each other as friends and formidable foes! The Bai clan has assisted the Lin family for hundreds of years. When the Lin sovereign is virtuous, we are staunch ministers. When the sovereign is unprincipled, with our Bai family’s deep roots among the people and ambition to conquer the world, why can’t we seize it?"