Villain: Fairy, please offer your loyalty

On the streets of Luoyang, two figures walked quickly.

"Zizhong, Celestial Realm, Celestial Realm!"

Liu Bei had not yet recovered from his earlier euphoria.

"With this method, the restoration of our Han Dynasty is hopeful! Our great undertaking finally has a foundation!"

Mi Zhu followed beside him, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a forced smile.

"Congratulations, my lord! Congratulations! Once you achieve great mastery of your divine skills, which of the feudal lords in the world will dare to look down on us?"

Liu Bei nodded repeatedly.

But as he walked, Mi Zhu slowed down and looked troubled.

"My lord... we've obtained the cultivation technique, but... what about Zhen'er..."

Liu Bei paused for half a second, his ecstatic expression quickly vanishing, replaced by a somber look.

He sighed and looked up at the gray sky over Luoyang.

"When faced with a greater cause, how can one be concerned with personal feelings?"

Liu Bei's voice turned low, "What does it matter if I suffer some grievances for the sake of the people? Go and tell her that I... have no face to see her."

After saying that, he stuffed the manual into his robes and walked toward the post station without looking back.

Inside the inn's rooms, a warm fragrance wafted through the air.

Mi Zhen was sitting by the window, holding a needle and thread, carefully sewing a white fox fur cloak.

She was born with a dignified and beautiful appearance, with the gentle grace of a woman from Jiangnan in her brows, and every stitch she made showed great patience.

"Madam, you've been working on this cloak for three nights now."

The maid Xiao Huan poked at the charcoal fire beside her, muttering softly, "Uncle Liu is always on the move, and he doesn't even have a word of concern for you. Why do you have to work so hard?"

Mi Zhen stopped what she was doing and gave Xiao Huan a reproachful look.

"Don't talk nonsense. Liu Lang has the world in his heart and is doing the great thing of restoring the Han Dynasty. How could he be so sentimental as an ordinary man?"

Mi Zhen touched the soft fabric of the cloak, a gentle smile appearing on her lips. "The autumn wind in Luoyang gets cold early. His old cloth coat is already worn out. This cloak needs to be mended quickly so he doesn't get cold."

Just then, the door was pushed open.

Mi Zhu strode in, closed the door behind him, and looked rather grim.

"Brother." Mi Zhen put down her needlework, stood up, and went to greet him. She looked behind him and asked, "Where's Liu Lang? Didn't he go with you to visit the Immortal Master? Why didn't he come back with you?"

Mi Zhu looked at his younger sister, then at the nearly finished cloak on the table, hesitated for a moment, and didn't know how to start.

"Xiao Huan, you go out first and stand guard outside the door." Mi Zhu waved his hand.

After the maid left, Mi Zhu walked to the table, poured himself a cup of cold tea, and gulped it down.

"Zhen'er, stop sewing."

Mi Zhu pointed to the cloak, his voice dry, "He doesn't need it anymore."

Mi Zhen, looking puzzled, stepped forward and tugged at Mi Zhu's sleeve: "Brother, what do you mean? Did Liu Lang suffer some injustice at the Immortal Master's place? Or has something unexpected happened?"

Mi Zhu gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and laid everything out on the table.

"For the sake of all the people and to restore the Han Dynasty, our lord has already... has already betrothed you to Master Gu."

The room was eerily quiet.

Mi Zhen's fingers were still holding an embroidery needle. The needle tip pricked her fingertip, and a drop of bright red blood oozed out, dripping onto the snow-white fox fur, which was particularly conspicuous.

"Brother...you must be joking?"

"Liu Lang promised to marry me at the end of the year, how could he...?"

"This is our lord's decision!"

Mi Zhu raised his voice, trying to use his imposing manner to suppress the guilt in his heart.

"The Immortal Master's power is boundless. If you go to the palace to serve him tonight, our lord will receive his protection. Our lord said this is for the sake of the Han Dynasty and the future of our Mi family!"

Mi Zhen felt her legs go weak and slumped into the chair.

She looked at the cloak on the table and suddenly found it funny.

"Does the fate of the Han Dynasty depend on a mere woman like me?"

Mi Zhen's tears fell like a broken string of pearls. "Liu Bei, the Han emperor, is trying to restore the Han dynasty by giving away his own fiancée?"

"Zhen! You must not address our lord by his given name!"

Mi Zhu put on a stern face and recited his usual explanation.

"Our lord is also heartbroken! He wept bitterly before the Immortal Master, only to obtain this Celestial Realm cultivation technique. Our lord is driven by a great sense of righteousness; as a daughter of the Mi family, you should share the burdens of the family and the greater cause!"

"Cry? What else can he do besides cry?"

Mi Zhen let out a bitter laugh, gripping the armrests of the chair tightly with both hands.

"Brother, go and call him here. I want to ask him face to face what his sense of righteousness is! He keeps saying he loves me, so why doesn't he even have the courage to come and say a single word to me in person!"

In the shadows outside the door.

Liu Bei stood there, separated by only a wall, and could hear the cries and screams from inside clearly.

His face remained expressionless; the "Nine Revolutions Body Forging Technique" in his arms was the only shortcut to achieving great things.

"Liu Lang! If you're outside, come in and see me!"

Mi Zhen's voice came through the door, carrying her last hope, "Just say one word, just say that you had no choice, and Zhen'er will never blame you!"

Liu Bei closed his eyes.

For the sake of the greater cause, what does it matter if I suffer some grievances? My second and third brothers are still waiting for me.

Zhen'er, don't blame me. Blame this chaotic world.

Without even lifting a finger, he turned around, strode forward, and walked quickly toward his secluded chamber.

He didn't push open that door from beginning to end.

Inside the side room.

Mi Zhen struggled to her feet, rushed to the window, and peered out through the crack in the window.

The courtyard was empty except for that figure in faded white clothes, walking faster and faster without even turning his head back.

The man she longed for, the one who stayed up all night sewing winter clothes for her, wouldn't even open the door to look at her, only caring about practicing the martial arts manual.

At that moment, the light in Mi Zhen's eyes went out completely.

She stopped crying and talking.

Tears clung to her cheeks, and a gust of wind blew them down onto the table.

Mi Zhu was still giving instructions from the side.

"Zhen'er, your lord truly cannot bear to see you. Please bear with it tonight and go to the Immortal Master's place. Even a little something slipping through the Immortal Master's fingers is enough for the Mi family to live on for generations. This is for your own good..."

Mi Zhen turned around and walked to the brazier.

She bent down and picked up the white fox-fur cloak that had been sewn for half a month.

There were traces of her blood, the lamplight she slept under while staying up all night, and all her hopes for her future husband.

He casually tossed it into the brazier.

"Zhen'er! What are you doing!" Mi Zhu was startled and tried to save her, but was forced back by the flames.

Looking at the ashes in the brazier, Mi Zhen's gentle and delicate expression vanished completely.

"Since you say it's for the sake of the Mi family, then Zhen'er will go."

Mi Zhu breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's good that you understand. The immortal master has countless rare treasures; if you follow him, you'll be blessed."

Mi Zhen ignored him and turned to call out to the door, "Xiao Huan, come in."

The maid Xiao Huan pushed open the door and came in, looking tremblingly at the mess in the room.

"Go boil some water, I want to take a bath."

"Also, take out the thinnest gauze dress from the bottom of my trunk."

Xiao Huan was taken aback for a moment.

"Madam, that gauze dress is too sheer... Didn't you say you'd wear it on your wedding day?"

"Go get it," Mi Zhen interrupted her.

As night fell, Luoyang was bathed in a cool moonlight.

An inconspicuous sedan chair was carried out from the back door of the post station.

Inside the sedan chair, Mi Zhen sat upright.

She wore no jewelry, only a wooden hairpin to hold her long hair back, yet she was more breathtakingly beautiful than ever before.

The outline of the palace became clearer and clearer in the woman's eyes.

Mi Zhen leaned against the sedan chair, a cold smile appearing on her lips.

"Liu Lang, I will go now to plead for justice for you."