Chapter 685: Chapter 232: Old House_4
That was actually a very bloody night.
The rebound after years of lurking is always cruel and ruthless. Victory and defeat are common events in military affairs; however, for that position, the opportunity only comes once.
Men who once thought themselves invincible, who murdered their own fathers and brothers, can also be whittled down by comfort, becoming worthless. His panic and unwillingness to accept defeat made the final battle seem ludicrous, as the trapped beast died in its own prison.
Emperor Liang Ming leaned on the dragon throne of the Golden Luang Hall, his eyes angry and incredulous as he looked at them: "You, you, you actually betrayed me!"
Prince Ning smiled, Yan Xu was indifferent, and outside the hall the sounds of swords and soldiers clashed ceaselessly, while he wiped the blood from his face, a crazed malevolence in his eyes that he did not recognize himself.
"Your Majesty," he said calmly, "the debt of the sword you owe me from the royal feast five years ago, it’s time to repay it."
In this world, everyone has their own grudges and debts to settle.
Prince Ning carried the vengeance for his father and brothers’ murder, he carried the blood debt of his mother’s and maternal family’s murder, even Emperor Liang Ming himself, in the last moment before his death, believed that his previous act of patricide and fratricide was nothing more than a grudge stemming from the former emperor’s unjust ways.
Some avenge grudges, some repay kindness, and some fight for love.
Love.
In the room, the warm light illuminated the handsome face of the young man, whose dark brocaded clothes with silver embroidery shone dazzlingly under the light, but those gleaming reflections outlined his figure with a silent and desolate isolation.
Yan Xu fought for love, so Yan Xu died.
He died trying to save Xiao Zhufeng, and he did so purposefully.
The New Emperor ascended the throne. Given the past and current relations between the Palace Front Office and the Privy Council, it was inevitable that people would use them as fodder for gossip. Even if the New Emperor did not mention it, the rumors in the court would not cease, and they would make life difficult for him and Xiao Zhufeng at the Palace Front Office.
Yan Xu took a sword for Xiao Zhufeng.
"Teacher!" He turned and shielded Yan Xu, his eyes beginning to moisten.
The man who had never shown them a kind face lay in Xiao Zhufeng’s arms, the scars at the corner of his eyes seeming softened at the end. He reached out, trembling as he flicked their heads like he used to after training sessions when they were younger, signifying his displeasure.
"Don’t look like that, it’s hideous. Turn your face away," he scolded, his tone light and lacking his usual resonant vitality.
"Let me rest for a while, don’t disturb me."
"Teacher!" Xiao Zhufeng’s hands, smeared with blood, shook, "I’m going to find a doctor, hold on!"
But Yan Xu looked off into the distance.
"An old friend... enters my... dreams... reminds me... of past companionship... memories..."
He lay in Xiao Zhufeng’s arms, smiling as he lowered his head, gradually losing his breath.
Pei Yunmeng was momentarily stunned.
Yan Xu had no marriage and no children in his life, taking only two disciples. And since he broke off relations with the Pei Family as in the past, Yan Xu resembled more his own father.
The pain of losing a father, unbearable to live with.
Due to this pain, the extinction of the Pei Family did not affect him much, as if he was merely an outsider looking on dispassionately.
Perhaps, he had always been such a cold-hearted bastard.
"Pei Yunmeng?" Lu Tong suddenly spoke up.
She rarely saw Pei Yunmeng with that expression, which was entirely different from the Pei Yunmeng she knew, as if not awakening him would transform him into another person.
Pei Yunmeng came back to his senses.
The water in the pot was just beginning to simmer, with a slight froth. He used a plum branch to skim away a bit of the scum, and said, "Qi Qing is dead."
Lu Tong was slightly stunned.
"I told you," he said, "that I would kill him for you."
The sound of cold wind outside the door was loud, and the sound of branches snapping in the wind was like the sound of a knife tearing into flesh.
The Qi Family was raided, and he specifically requested from the New Emperor how Qi Qing would be dealt with.
The Interrogation Room of the Palace Front Office had never detained a man of the Grand Preceptor’s stature before. He sat in the chair, watching as the man who was always high and mighty shed his former arrogance, becoming a common person.
Without power or official position, the Grand Preceptor was just a common person.
"I’ve heard the Grand Preceptor’s favorite dish is called ’Golden Minced Jade Delicacy,’" he said nonchalantly as he wiped the Silver Knife in his hand, "You pick fresh and plump perch, debone it, peel it, dry the surface, and slice it into thin pieces."
"What are you going to do?" Qi Qing spoke hoarsely, as his Buddha Beads scattered on the ground.
"Actually, killing a man is just like killing a fish. You hold it down, one knife cut, and it’s done."
He bent down, picked up a dark Buddha bead from the ground, and examined it in his hand, smiling softly.
"The Grand Preceptor can taste it for himself."
That day, screams echoed throughout the Hall of Judicial Review of the Palace Front Office the entire night, and the next day, as he stepped outside, he looked at the desolate phoenix tree in the courtyard for a long time.
The Lu Family was destroyed because of the Qi Family; Lu Tong came to the capital to seek revenge and lived forever in regret and pain.
Now, the previous grudges were settled.
From henceforth, the dust had settled.
The light in the room was dim, and the wind and snow howled outside the window. Sitting there, the warmth cast shadows on his long eyelashes, like the sudden appearance of a butterfly’s shadow on a snowy night.
He moved the boiling kettle aside, and said, "You asked me so many questions, what about you?"
Lu Tong was caught off guard: "Me? What about me?"
Pei Yunmeng set down the kettle, looked at her, and smiled faintly.
He said, "Lu Tong, in the days you spent in Su Nan, haven’t you missed me?"