Chapter 1: A Ding also likes my sister, very much…

On an early summer night, moonlight streamed through the gaps in the military tent.

Its soft glow echoed the oil lamp on the bed.

In the hazy light, two slender shadows were tightly entangled, swaying and dancing.

Ambiguous sounds rose, one wave after another…

“Jiejie,” Jiang Wenting knelt before Yi Lan, her hands braced on either side of Yi Lan’s shoulders.

Her alluring and affectionate peach blossom eyes stared directly into hers.

“Do you like A-Ting?” she asked.

The other woman didn’t answer, but the deep affection in her eyes said everything.

“Does Jiejie like A-Ting very much?” Jiang Wenting smiled, the mole at the corner of her right eye looking particularly poignant.

Her voice was low and gentle, “Like her so, so much, even if A-Ting does something to break Jiejie’s heart?”

“A-Ting…”

Before Yi Lan could speak, she kissed her lips again, a deep and somewhat unreasonable kiss.

Yi Lan wrapped her arms around her neck, eagerly meeting the kiss.

Between repeated kisses, their lips and tongues intertwined ever more tightly.

Jiang Wenting was like a little wolf cub, whimpering softly as she kissed, her soft tongue constantly seeking more.

Yi Lan went along with her completely.

For some reason, she felt that A-Ting was a little off tonight.

There was an indescribable passion to her, as if she wanted to release all the love and affection of their future in this single moment.

“Mmph—”

Lost in a daze of passion, Yi Lan found it a bit much to bear and patted her on the back.

Jiang Wenting quickly let go.

Yi Lan gasped for air, her cheeks flushed and her eyes misty.

Jiang Wenting lowered her head again and placed a comforting kiss between her brows.

“A-Ting likes Jiejie too,” she said, looking at her, tracing her features with a fingertip, studying them carefully.

“Likes her so, so much. A-Ting wants to be with Jiejie forever—”

As she spoke, she buried her head again, kissing her collarbone while her hands explored sensitive places.

Yi Lan let her.

Their breaths came in ragged gasps, the soft, rustling sounds amplified in the dim military tent…

“Report… The enemy has breached the western defenses and is charging towards the camp…”

The endlessly intimate atmosphere was shattered by the urgent report from outside the tent.

Yi Lan shot up with a start.

Biluo Peak had steep slopes on three sides and a cliff on the fourth, making it easy to defend and hard to attack.

The seventy thousand soldiers of the Southern Border Army had been stationed here for a long time since the “Battle of Anjiang” ended in a stalemate at the beginning of the year.

Beilin’s one hundred thousand troops watched them like a tiger eyeing its prey but had never dared to launch a frontal assault.

For the most heavily guarded western flank to be suddenly breached, there had to be something amiss.

She quickly got off the bed, picked up the undergarments scattered on the floor, and threw them on.

The ground was already trembling faintly with the sound of iron cavalry.

With no time to think, Yi Lan rushed to the armor rack in a few strides.

She donned her battle armor and tied up her hair in one smooth motion, then strode out of the tent with her long spear in hand.

Jiang Wenting was left on the bed.

Just as Yi Lan was leaving, she called out, “Jiejie.”

Yi Lan gave her a quick glance, hesitated for half a second, and then stepped out of the military tent.

Vice-General Xu, having heard the report, also rushed over from his own tent in a hurry.

While the two conferred, fifty thousand of Beilin’s cavalry charged towards the camp like an unstoppable force.

The shielded soldiers and archers quickly formed ranks under the two generals’ command.

But the enemy’s assault was ferocious.

The air was filled with the clash of weapons.

Yi Lan and her vice-general charged at the forefront, engaging the enemy in a bloody struggle.

The scene devolved into chaos.

“Yi Lan…”

Amid the chaos, a familiar voice called out from behind and to her side.

Yi Lan subconsciously turned her head, and just as she made out the stumbling figure, a sharp arrow was already closing in on them.

“Watch out!”

A sudden panic seized Yi Lan’s heart.

She thrust her spear out to intercept the arrow, then rushed over at once.

She gripped the person’s slender body tightly and scolded, “What are you doing following me out here? Get back to the tent, don’t cause trouble!”

Her worry, her anxiety, her fear, and the care that filled her eyes—Jiang Wenting saw it all.

But she had no choice.

The next second, she pulled out the dagger hidden in her sleeve and pressed it against Yi Lan’s side.

“Don’t move!”

Yi Lan froze.

“You…”

The corner of Jiang Wenting’s lips curved into a faint smile.

Ignoring the dagger at her side, Yi Lan’s fingertips dug deep into Jiang Wenting’s shoulders.

She shook her head, trembling, “Impossible… This is impossible…”

The betrayal was more sudden and startling than the war itself.

Yi Lan couldn’t bring herself to believe it.

The woman before her, the one she had spent every day with for half a year, the one she had pampered and loved, the one who had shone over her like the sun, was a spy.

‘Does Jiejie like A-Ting very much? Like her so, so much, even if A-Ting does something to break Jiejie’s heart…’

The memory from the bed just moments ago flooded her mind.

So that’s—

So that’s what it was!

The great general, always iron-willed and ruthless, suddenly found her eyes reddening.

“Why?”

“Jiang Wenting!” she screamed her name, repeating through gritted teeth, “Why? Tell this general, why did you do this?!”

Jiang Wenting didn’t answer, only smiled, her eyes filled with endless ridicule.

The brutal sounds of slaughter continued.

At this moment, Yi Lan felt like a complete fool.

From beginning to end, she had loved the other woman with all her heart and without reservation.

And now, all that devotion was being trampled and crushed underfoot.

Her dignity, the lives of her soldiers—all were lost because of her own careless trust and negligence.

Endless regret and self-blame surged through her.

The next second, she abruptly spun around, kicked up the long spear from the ground, and gripped its shaft.

She thrust the speartip straight at Jiang Wenting’s neck.

“Jiang Wenting, I should have never trusted you!”

The dagger slipped from Jiang Wenting’s hand.

She was held in place by the spear.

Their eyes met.

Yi Lan’s fingertips trembled, tears welling in her eyes, yet for a long moment, she couldn’t bring herself to take the head of the one who had betrayed her.

“Ah!” she let out a desperate, skyward cry, a roar that blended with the brutal sounds of war.

Behind her, the archers raised their longbows in unison.

Seeing the myriad arrows approach, in the moment of crisis, Jiang Wenting lunged forward, turned, and shielded Yi Lan with her entire body.

And in the next second, a volley of arrows was loosed.

The arrows meant for Yi Lan all struck Jiang Wenting’s back.

She was riddled with them, like a pincushion. A torrent of blood sprayed from her mouth, splashing onto Yi Lan’s face. It trickled slowly down past her temples, warm and thick with the stench of iron…

Yi Lan’s body and consciousness seemed to have been frozen in place, unable to react for a long moment.

The smile on Jiang Wenting’s lips began to soften.

Crimson blood gushed out like a fountain, wave after wave, the viscous fluid staining her lips red.

She looked at Yi Lan, and her shimmering, beautiful eyes finally held a few glittering tears.

Arrows from behind continued to strike her.

Just as her body was about to collapse, Yi Lan subconsciously stepped forward and pulled her into her arms.

The sharp arrows were blocked by the large shields of the shielded soldiers.

Jiang Wenting’s chest convulsed violently from the severe damage to her nervous system, and the blood spewing from her mouth became even more profuse.

“Jiang Wenting!”

General Yi was a veteran of a hundred battles, yet at this moment, she was at a complete loss, frantic with panic.

“Jie… Jiejie…” Jiang Wenting called out the name she had said countless times.

She tried to raise her arm, wanting to touch her cheek, but her wrist was already devoid of strength.

Yi Lan brought that hand to her own lips, kissing it, and commanded, “Jiang Wenting, you are not allowed to die!”

Her slender fingertips could no longer feel the warmth of Yi Lan’s lips.

With great mouthfuls of blood, Jiang Wenting gasped for breath, using every last ounce of her strength to speak.

“Break… break through. Live on. Don’t… don’t ever trust… anyone again!”

As she finished speaking, her wrist slipped from Yi Lan’s grasp and fell heavily, hanging limply in mid-air. Her body had no strength left at all.

“No!” A heart-wrenching roar erupted from the general’s throat.

In that moment, Yi Lan went mad.

She held her body and shook it endlessly. “No! This general does not permit it! This general does not permit it!”

At the same time, a voice flashed within Jiang Wenting’s gradually cooling soul:

[Congratulations, Host, for completing the blackening mission. In half a minute, the system will open the return channel for you…]

Her body could no longer feel any pain.

The memories of her half-year with Yi Lan replayed in her mind like a revolving lantern.

That’s right, she was never from this world to begin with.

Half a year ago, she had been accidentally injured during a film shoot and fell into a coma, her soul transmigrating into an ancient general’s BE script.

Moreover, she was forced to bind with a blackening system.

Her main mission was to use the identity of an enemy spy to get close to the female lead, make the female lead fall in love with her, and then betray her, causing the female lead to blacken and kill her with her own hands.

By doing so, she would complete the BE ending and be able to return to her own world.

When she first received this mission and learned of her fated death, Jiang Wenting was unwilling.

But after the system’s repeated coaxing, she eventually agreed.

She thought to herself that it was just sacrificing herself to complete the plot of the book.

It was just a fictional story, nothing to be too concerned about, as long as she could return to reality.

Later, through a series of coincidences and constant probing, she somehow found herself genuinely falling in love with Yi Lan.

She loved her so deeply, so fiercely, so unwilling to let go.

She even considered giving up on returning to her world countless times, but the system told her she couldn’t.

She had to follow the blackening instructions and complete every part of the plot.

Only then could the female lead break through the siege, fueled by hatred.

Otherwise, the story would collapse, and both she and the female lead would perish along with it.

She loved Yi Lan, she couldn’t bear to be separated from her, but she wanted even more for her to survive this war.

No matter what, as long as she lived, it would be enough!

But she had followed the system’s instructions every step of the way, and yet, in the very end, Yi Lan still couldn’t bear to take the head of the one who had betrayed her.

Even when cornered, even when her heart was filled with hatred and confusion, even when her life hung by a thread and she could be pierced by a thousand arrows the next second, Yi Lan couldn’t bring herself to kill her personally.

It was an instinct born from the depths of love.

Only at the instant the arrows pierced her heart did Jiang Wenting finally understand.

But it was too late.

She had chosen the most painful way to hurt her.

The general had a spine of steel; she never feared death.

On the contrary, what Jiang Wenting had left her now—the hatred, the betrayal, the self-blame, and the guilt over her soldiers—was a burden she could never bear.

She had loved for so long, yet not once had she truly considered things from Yi Lan’s perspective.

She had only ever forced her own ideas upon her under the banner of doing what she thought was best for her.

If the script could be reversed, she would rather have been the one who was deceived.

If there was a next life, she would use all her strength to love her, compensate her, and cherish her.

If only—

I’m sorry, Yi Lan!

Jiang Wenting used her fading consciousness to leave a final farewell.

The single, glittering tear in her eye traced a path past the mole at the corner of her right eye and slowly fell…