This damn Simurg leader deserved all the expletives she could think of, but she needed to stay calm. Don't trifle with him. She would play along with him to see what he wants. That's the only course of action since she couldn't move.
He threw her onto the inner side of the bed, discarding her like a piece of trash. She glanced at the man lying near her. His eyes closed and his lips drained of colour, but the pale face belonged to 01. He was still breathing, with his chest rising and falling, but unconscious.
No mistake. It was 01.
"01?" She blurted out.
No response. Only silent breathing.
"Don't bother, our healer sedated him," Ashina said.
She looked at Ashina, confused by the situation. What did he want? And why did he return 01?
"Don't let him enter the Black Mountains," Ashina said, sitting by the bed, leaning against the side, stroking 01's face.
"He's—"
"Death awaits him here," Ashina cut her off before she could complete her sentence.
She only wanted to ask if they were related through blood or even a crush. 01 only told her that the Simurg leader was some crazy man, highly skilled in martial arts. What she saw in his eyes wasn't craziness. Instead, it reminded her of Hushiyi's concerned look.
"What do you mean?" Yinyue narrowed her eyes. Now he sounded crazy.
Ashina removed his mask, revealing his face. Yinyue dropped her jaw at his face. He was a complete yet uncanny doppelgänger of 01.
"Dangerous for him," Ashina said. "Twins not good news to the Xirong ruling class."
The only reason for him to attack 01 was to drive him away before the other Simurg faction arrived. If they discovered 01's existence, they will kill 01. His only reason to die was because Ashina was his twin.
"Now you understand?" He asked.
She understood half of what he meant.
"You're his twin brother…," she trailed off.
What more could she say? Her eyebrows furrowed together, wondering what he wanted with 01. He didn't want to kill 01 — Yinyue was certain of that.
She can only guess his purpose - he wanted her to hide 01 in Dayan. The Xirong probably shared the same beliefs about twins with the ruling families of Dayan and certain Central Plains states.
The ruling families considered the younger of the identical twins born as inauspicious. Some ruling families sent them away from their capital, but some killed the younger one.
"Does he know?" She asked.
He shrugged. "Don't know, but he must never come back here. On your soil, he's safer…although…"
His eyes wandered on her half covered body. She bit her lips. Damn if he changed his mind.
"A woman…does he know you're a woman?"
She nodded. He chuckled and grinned with a lascivious look in his eye. Yinyue glared at him, helpless in her state, but she imagined throwing daggers at him in her mind.
"You and him?" Ashina glanced at the bed and then at her with his eyebrow raised. "Will I be an uncle soon?"
She reeled back at his tasteless words. What was he saying? Uncle? What kind of filthy thoughts ran through this Simurg leader's mind? Her frustration grew as her anger simmered at being unable to fight him.
"Not that type of relationship." She gnashed her teeth while replying in a monotone.
He lifted his hands in the air, appearing rather unconvinced by her answer. "Okay…nothing."
"And who are you, in case he wants to know…," she asked.
"Tell him crazy Simurg leader. He has been calling me that."
"Then if I want to know."
"Ashina means 'I am what I am'."
Yinyue froze at his answer. Not because he answered without a care. Ashina — in her first lifetime, she heard that name and she thought it was 01. She tilted her head at 01.
"And his?"
"Ashamani… means 'grand chariot'."
Yinyue frowned. Was her memories from the first life correct? But she heard his voice calling her 'master' and someone calling him 'Ashina'. What changed? Or was she confused? Back then, she couldn't see. Even if she could, both looked too alike for her to differentiate.
He got up and straightened his sleeves, careful to turn his face away from her sight. "You have people you want to protect. I have only him to protect."
Ashina thought back to the past, witnessing how his mother had died. He remembered her sacrifice. She took her own life to stop them from finding his twin, Ashamani. Ashina remembered promising her to protect Ashamani if they found him again.
He cannot let his mother's sacrifice go to waste. Damn the old ways. Ashina took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
The only reason he followed his father's wishes was to gain enough power within the Xirong Empire to force a change in the backward thinking of their older shamans. Yet as the head of the Simurg, the older shamans sent the assassins under his nose to kill his brother.
"Aren't you afraid I'll sent him to his death?" Yinyue asked.
He pursed his lips, struggling not to laugh at her veiled threat. From what he heard, she razed Huqi's ships to ashes in retaliation for the attack. How she did it - he didn't care to ask. It took guts and a lot of cunning to execute such a move. Ashina respected that.
Still, her actions didn't reflect her threatening words of sending his brother to his death. If he didn't know any better, he thought both looked close, like lovers.
"If you do, I'll appear in the Dayan Imperial Court, thanking you for your services in ensuring my survival and backing me as a Xirong Khagan," Ashina said. "I'm sure there's a word your enemies will be whispering. After all, I look almost the same as Ashamani."
His words and demeanor made her skin crawl. The scheming bastard wasn't joking with the threat.
And he isn't as crazy as Halun or 01 said. This much she knew.
"Or we could be silent allies. In return for his safety. Until it's time for him to return to us."
What did he mean by time for 01 to return? A thousand scenarios ran through her mind.
"And I will still go down as a traitor," she retorted.
"No. You'll…," he paused with his eyes lighting up at her words. He wanted to tell her not to overthink. Since she opened the door to her imagination, he might as well add a little fire to see how she reacted.
With a swirl of his finger around the air, he continued, "…will go down as a very sad Grand Prince who really didn't know."
"You want me to look like a fool?"
"Better than a traitor," he replied while walking towards the open window.
"Wait…did you drug my guards as well?"
"They should be awake soon," he replied nonchalantly as he leaped out of the window, leaving her on the bed with the unconscious 01.
Yinyue stared at 01. How was she going to explain to the guards if they rushed in to find her with 01 lying in bed? And when was his drug going to wear off on her?
"YOU BASTARD!" She yelled at the now empty room and then clammed up when she heard chuckling from a distance where the trees stood.