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The palace servants of Crescent Moon Cottage received a letter from Qingshan early in the morning. When they saw Muer being carried back by Qingshan, they hurriedly cleared the way and escorted Muer to the main hall of Crescent Moon Cottage.
Everything here remained unchanged; after half a year, all the furnishings were exactly as they had been when he left. Yet, despite the familiarity of his surroundings, he himself was no longer the same.
As Muer entered Crescent Moon Cottage, he momentarily forgot to hit Qingshan. Although striking his solid chest wouldn’t cause much harm, he felt a deep dissatisfaction in his heart. How could his brother betroth him to someone else?
Qingshan set him down, and Muer stood there dazedly surveying his surroundings until he noticed Zhen Duo kneeling before him, softly sobbing. Only then did his attention shift.
Muer stepped forward and helped each of the kneeling servants to their feet. “Zhen Duo, are you… are you alright?”
With red-rimmed eyes, Zhen Duo tightly grasped Muer's arm and choked out, “Your Highness, everything is well at Crescent Moon Cottage, but you… you’ve lost so much weight. Your arms are a whole circle thinner than when you left the palace.”
“It’s fine, as long as you’re all well. I hope my brother hasn’t blamed you.”
Muer smiled and then turned to the standing Qingshan, saying coolly, “You should leave. As for our engagement, I will have my brother annul it. The current Zuo Mo Lun Grand General cannot marry a second Kun Ze who has already been marked.”
“No, Your Highness, I am willing! Please don’t say that…” Before he could say more, Muer turned away. “I’m tired; just leave this place quickly.”
Qingshan gazed at Muer’s slender back for a long while before finally turning to leave.
Once Qingshan was gone, Zhen Duo dared to ask what Muer meant by a second marked Kun Ze. After Muer revealed everything, she couldn’t help but cover her mouth and weep as she embraced him. “It’s all my fault! If I had gone with you back then, you wouldn’t have suffered such humiliation. Those damned Heavenly Enlightenment People, how dare they insult our Wolf Tribe’s prince! Tengri will make them pay for this.”
Muer gently patted Zhen Duo’s head, tears brimming in his eyes. If she had gone with him, she might have been given to those soldiers by He Mu Ming, facing an even more tragic fate than his own.
Muer instructed Zhen Duo to fetch a secret medicine to cleanse his mark.
This significant matter naturally alarmed his brother’s queen, Atirya. She was a princess from a branch of the Wolf Tribe, having married Mu Heze over ten years ago. Since the late king’s passing, she had watched over Muer. As soon as he returned to the palace, she came to visit him immediately, holding him tightly and comforting him for a long time before watching him drink the bowl of dark secret medicine.
This was the secret potion brewed by the Wolf Tribe's priests. Centuries ago, it was developed for Kun Ze, to ensure that the family could bear more offspring for the Tian Qian brothers without being affected by the conflicts caused by the Xin Xiang marking, which could lead to death. Now, however, it had become a remedy for him to wash away the mark.
After drinking this potion, he would only be marked by blood relatives of Tian Qian, and the Xin Xiang would no longer linger on him. The cost of this was that his Rain Dew Period would become more frequent. This low-grade medicine, created for the sake of reproduction, would turn him into the most despised shared husband among the nobles of the Wolf Tribe.
Shared husbands were a long-standing vice within the Wolf Tribe.
In one family, all Tian Qian brothers shared a single Kun Ze.
At the Cangzhou border.
Mu Le Sun gazed into the distance, towards the direction of Wolf Court. Muer should have returned to Wolf Court by now. Looking at the secret letter from Shilemod, Mu Le Sun felt a sharp pain in his heart.
Muer was the person he cherished most. He had always wanted to wait until he achieved success before marrying him, but unexpectedly, Muer had come to the front lines alone and hidden in the Military Camp. By the time Mu Le Sun learned of this, Muer's life or death was already uncertain. After he and the Wolf King checked all the corpses and confirmed Muer was not among them, he turned his gaze to those Wolf Tribe soldiers captured by the Heavenly Enlightenment People.
They were constantly worried that his Kun Ze identity would be discovered. It took a long time before they learned that he had been captured by He Mu Ming. By then, Muer had already been marked by He Mu Ming. The entire Tianqi Military Camp was difficult for dark guards to infiltrate, and due to the differences in appearance between the Wolf Tribe and Central Plains people, this task ultimately fell into Qing Shan's hands. If it had been him taking on this task, then perhaps he would have become the other party in the king's promised marriage instead of Zhuo Fan.
But what use was there in saying all this now? It was too late; it was always too late.
Opening the second secret letter, Mu Le Sun continued reading. It detailed Muer's daily life at Crescent Moon Pavilion today, and he read it very carefully.
Until he reached the line about Muer taking the secret potion; his pupils constricted as he stared at those words for a long time before finally managing a faint smile.
When their Wolf Tribe evolved from nomadic people into what is now known as Wolf Court over countless years, they changed countless rules, yet one rule remained unchanged.
That is, brothers could share wives but could also marry a Kun Ze who had taken the secret potion.
Even though the noble youths of the Wolf Tribe are now capable of marrying multiple Kun Ze, this rule has been upheld throughout their centuries-old traditions.
It seems necessary for him to write a letter to the king as well.
However, whatever he can think of, his half-brother Shilemod can probably think of too. His proposal for marriage has likely already made its way to the desk of the Wolf King, Mu Heze.
The border between Lan Prefecture and the Wolf Tribe is a point of intersection.
Mu Heze stared at the opened proposal on his desk, taking a long time to refrain from throwing it away.
Shilemod's proposal stated that he and Zhuo Fan are half-brothers. According to the customs of the Wolf Tribe, a Kun Ze who has taken the secret potion can marry a blood-related brother from Tian Qian.
This rule has always existed but hasn't appeared in royal matters for a long time. Even though those nobles might indulge in such antics privately, he never took it seriously. However, if this were to involve his full-blooded brother Muer, he would find it hard to accept. If he refused, Shilemod might use the excuse of violating ancestral customs and possibly create trouble for him under Tengri's scrutiny.
Shilemod grew up alongside Muer, but for some reason, they never got along. Mu Heze had privately asked Muer several times about it, only to receive the answer that he was unwilling to marry Shilemod. No matter how much Shilemod had tried to win Muer over in the past, Muer remained unresponsive.
Now, however, he had bestowed Muer in marriage to Qingshan. He valued Qingshan's loyalty and bravery towards Muer; after all, he had safely brought Muer out from Tianqi's Military Camp. That alone earned him the title of warrior.
Bestowing Muer upon him was also for Muer's own good. After all, a Kun Ze who has already been marked would not be treated kindly by those Wolf Tribe nobles even if he arranged a marriage with them after his death. Thus, marrying Muer to someone who truly loves him like Qingshan seemed like the best choice.
Yet he hadn't expected Shilemod to submit his proposal at this moment, putting him in a difficult position.
He had considered marrying Shilemod to Muer as well, but Muer does not like him. If he did that, his brother would surely be upset and might refuse to see him again.
In light of this, Mu Heze reluctantly replied to Shilemod that as long as Muer agrees, he would allow it.
In the distant Wolf Court, Muer sat on the swing of the Crescent Pavilion, a swing crafted by his brother and father during his childhood. Such affection was rare in the history of the Wolf Tribe, yet he had been fortunate enough to receive it in abundance.
Growing up pampered by his family, his spoiled and willful nature led him to quietly enter the Military Camp, where he was captured by Tianqi soldiers and used as leverage against his brother, ultimately becoming a disgrace to the Wolf Tribe. Even though this incident was kept under wraps, it wouldn't be long before news from the front lines reached the Wolf Court, and soon the entire Wolf Tribe would know of his shameful existence—an existence that should never have been.
But could he truly face death with generosity?
Muer looked up, lost in thought as he gazed at the sky. The soaring eagles flew freely, yet he wondered why he could never attain even a fraction of that freedom.
He couldn't help but think about Mu Le Shun.
No one knew of his feelings for Mu Le Shun; two years ago, during a spring hunt, he had secretly admired the warrior who single-handedly tamed the fierce horses sent from Dayuan for the Wolf Tribe.
It was only after he was injured in battle against Tianqi that he had sneaked to the front lines, leading to the calamity that followed.
Now, in his broken state, he no longer qualified to be the matriarch of the Saqiya Tribe, and naturally, he had lost any chance of marrying Mu Le Shun.
He couldn't help but wonder what kind of Kun Ze would become his wife in the future. No matter what happened, it could never be him.
Muer lowered his head and let out a self-deprecating laugh.
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