After hearing Li Er’s words, Li Chengqian and Yun Ye’s faces changed from waxen yellow to leaden gray. Neither dared raise any objection to Li Er’s words, so together they glared viciously at Duan Hong. The meaning in their eyes was very clear—they were telling Duan Hong: if you want to die, just say the word.

No matter who was threatened by a crown prince and a marquis, it wouldn’t be pleasant. No matter how skilled Duan Hong was in martial arts, he couldn’t help but tremble before these two, because he knew very clearly that both were petty men who would repay the smallest slight. Right now, he had His Majesty’s orders backing him up, so he could make these two suffer miserably. But after the matter passed, his future fate definitely wouldn’t be good—especially with Yun Ye. What if he made him serve as a human target again?

Just as Duan Hong was caught in a dilemma, Li Er spoke again: “Yan Song, you go with them. Bind the Crown Prince and Marquis Lantian to chairs and ensure they watch the entire execution. Naturally, they must also finish eating the lamb shanks.”

Yun Ye had never seen this Yan Song, had never even heard of him. But seeing Li Chengqian’s face full of despair, he knew this fellow definitely wasn’t someone who could be threatened like Duan Hong.

Sure enough, from the corner of the tent came the clattering sound of a bearded giant in armor walking out. He stood before Li Chengqian and Yun Ye without saying a word. Yun Ye noticed that this fellow’s eyeballs were that pale gray color that only dead people had.

“Duan Hong, roast my lamb shank to medium-well and add plenty of chili peppers.” With all paths blocked, Yun Ye could only make one final request for his own welfare.

As soon as they left the emperor’s tent, they saw Cheng Yaojin tearing at a lamb shank as he walked over, wanting to greet the Crown Prince and Yun Ye. But upon seeing Yan Song following behind, he reacted as if he’d seen a ghost, made a ninety-degree turn, and headed straight out of the encampment.

“Chengqian, what’s this guy’s background? Why does everyone who sees him react like they’ve seen a ghost?” Yun Ye pointed backward with his thumb and asked Li Chengqian. He’s just a household servant—Chengqian is the future master no matter what. Would he dare commit insubordination?

“Stop asking. This fellow has sworn to live and die together with my father the emperor. We two brothers can’t afford to provoke him. Settle down for a bit and think about how to get through this ordeal.” Li Chengqian was constantly trembling—not from fear, but because he clearly knew he definitely had no way to endure it.

At the edge of the pit, soldiers were enthusiastically filling it with earth. Some peculiar Mohe rebel soldiers actually opened their mouths to catch the dirt and would swallow it down. This wasn’t going to work—there was plenty of dirt, more than they could eat.

Yan Song was indeed a good dog. He executed Li Er’s orders meticulously, personally taking rope to bind Li Chengqian and Yun Ye to chairs, their hands also bound securely.

“Old Yan, if you do this, how am I supposed to eat later? Untie my hands and I’ll eat myself.”

Perhaps no one had ever addressed him this way before. Yan Song paused for a moment, then said coldly: “I’ll have brothers from the Xuanjia Army feed you. Binding your hands is for your own good.”

Facing the chaotic scene before him, Li Chengqian very much wanted to close his eyes. But that damned Yan Song rubbed Li Chengqian’s eyes at the corners a few times, and Li Chengqian involuntarily opened his eyes wide. The horrific scene of people being buried alive fell completely into his field of vision, not missing a single detail.

Yun Ye was different—he kept shouting and yelling: “Idiot, hurry up! He’s about to climb out! Right, right, one spear thrust to push him back down! Aiya, the position wasn’t right—killing him in one blow is no fun at all. Kill slowly. I’ve heard of a fellow who took a full three months to kill someone.”

Yan Song paid no attention to how uncomfortable Li Chengqian was. A soldier in black armor expressionlessly stuffed a large piece of mutton into Li Chengqian’s mouth. Yun Ye had it much better—he tore at the mutton in big bites while constantly critiquing the spear techniques of the Xuanjia Army soldiers.

“Old Yan, is this all you’ve got? Back in the day on the grasslands, I kicked people’s heads around like balls. In Liaodong I also saw cannibals, and traveled all the way to camp with a cannibal. These are all small scenes.”

Li Chengqian was about to choke to death. He ate and vomited, vomited and ate again. Tears and snot covered his face. Dimly he could hear Yun Ye’s nonsensical ravings and only wanted to firmly cover that crow’s mouth of his. This was purely the rhythm of courting death.

Yan Song gave a cold laugh, reached out to grab a twelve-foot spear, casually thrust it into the pit, and with an upward flick, the spear point had a desperately struggling person skewered on it.

He pulled the spear back, and that prisoner of war knelt before Yun Ye. A cold light flashed at Yan Song’s waist, and the prisoner’s head flew into the air. Yan Song’s execution was very skillful—the blood from the neck cavity spurted up more than three feet high, all splashing onto the sand at Yun Ye’s feet. Not a drop touched Yun Ye’s body.

Yun Ye’s face turned yellow again. He forced out a fierce smile, took a big bite of the lamb shank, and swallowed it without even chewing. Smelling the strong bloody odor, he forcibly suppressed the urge to vomit, craned his neck and said to Yan Song: “What’s this supposed to be? I killed a full hundred thousand people in Goguryeo. It’s not like I haven’t chopped off heads before.”

Li Chengqian was already lying limply in his chair, his consciousness somewhat blurred. Fortunately, he could still hear Yun Ye’s voice, which gave him some comfort. He was now already vomiting bile, but that damned Xuanjia soldier was still stuffing mutton into his mouth. He felt what he was eating wasn’t soft mutton but those cold corpses.

Yan Song gave Yun Ye a thumbs up and said: “Fine fellow!” After speaking, he kicked the headless corpse into the pit with one foot. The long spear probed into the pit again, and another person hung from the spear point. He grinned malevolently at Yun Ye and said: “Then try this one.” Before he’d even finished speaking, he disemboweled this prisoner with one slash. Colorful internal organs spilled out with a splash at Yun Ye’s feet. The prisoner hung powerlessly on the spear, only an empty shell remaining, his eyes still constantly blinking.

Yun Ye wore a smile, his eyes open wide, showing no reaction. Yan Song was quite surprised. He reached out to check Yun Ye’s pulse, then couldn’t help but laugh and say to the Xuanjia soldier beside him: “He’s passed out!”

Yun Ye wasn’t the only one who fainted. Li Chengqian had fainted even earlier. What was most outrageous were those Xuanjia soldiers—even though both men had fainted, they continued stuffing mutton into their mouths. After stuffing it in, they’d pull it out, then stuff it in again. It looked like even if Yun Ye and Li Chengqian died, they still planned to continue. Li Er’s decree was to finish the lamb shanks, and in their view, whether it was eating lamb shanks or eating stones, these two men must strictly comply with the emperor’s decree and finish eating.

Only when Yan Song placed two lamb bones without a shred of meat on them onto the plate did he have people carry Yun Ye and Li Chengqian to report completion of the task, no matter how improper their appearance.

Li Er personally checked Li Chengqian and Yun Ye’s pulses and sighed: “Not one of them can achieve great things. Their hearts are all so soft—what will become of them in the future?”

Yan Song spoke in a low voice: “Your Majesty, why not hand the Crown Prince and Marquis Lantian over to this subject? This subject firmly believes that in three months’ time, I will definitely return two men with hearts of iron and stone to Your Majesty. Good iron still requires forging to become strong.”

Li Er shook his head and said: “You don’t understand. There’s a world of difference between having a heart of iron and stone and having the essence of a tyrant. A heart of iron and stone can be cultivated through nurture, but the essence of a tyrant is different—that’s innate and cannot be cultivated later. Even if cultivated, it would be false.”

“In those years, King Wuling of Zhao had the same troubles as I do. Because his methods were wrong, this powerful emperor who promoted the ‘Hufu Qishe’ policy that allowed Zhao to become strong, who destroyed the state of Zhongshan, defeated the Linhu and Loufan tribes, opened up the three commanderies of Yunzhong, Yanmen, and Dai, and built the ‘Zhao Great Wall’—in the end he starved to death in the Qiugong Palace.”

“He cultivated his two sons’ ambitions but didn’t pay attention to their original natures. This was his path to death. Do you know what ‘Wu’ and ‘Ling’ mean in posthumous names? ‘Wu’ means one who quells disorder, and ‘Ling’ means one whose disorder causes no harm. His posthumous name contains both praise and criticism—truly something that makes one not know whether to laugh or cry.”

Li Er lowered his head to look at Li Chengqian and Yun Ye, who were still constantly convulsing and vomiting. He took out a handkerchief and helped the two wipe the bile from the corners of their mouths. Then he said to Yan Song: “These two children—one is my best son, the other is my best son-in-law. Both are good children who are loyal, filial, benevolent, and kind. Other emperors should feel fortunate to have one such child, yet I have three.”

“Your Majesty’s fortune reaches to the heavens. Naturally, you should receive Heaven’s protection. Having three good children is the favor you deserve!” Yan Song delivered this flattery with firm conviction.

Li Er didn’t doubt the sincerity of Yan Song’s words. He nodded and said: “Indeed, Heaven’s favor. Other emperors’ inner palaces are in complete chaos, but only my household affairs are orderly. My sons are loyal, filial, sincere, and respectful. My daughters are dignified and capable. The reason is that these three older children have set the best example. Each one is exceptionally capable in their own domain, and their virtue is without fault. Sometimes I even wonder if this is still an imperial family.”

“Chengqian’s actions in seeking power were all forced out of him by me. Even the Grand Emperor harbored ulterior motives in telling him about the Li family’s traditions. Now this child has nearly been driven to a dead end, yet unexpectedly he still chose to trust his own father—to trust his father who built his position through rebellion. These two children clearly knew they shouldn’t come to the military front—this was the worst choice for them—yet they still came, like two cubs roughly driven away by an old wolf, still whimpering as they return to the old wolf’s side.”

As Li Er spoke to this point, his eyes reddened somewhat. He waved his hand at Yan Song with emotion and said: “Send them back to their tents. Order the imperial physicians to care for them well. Their spirits have received a shock, and their bodies must certainly be severely depleted. If there’s the slightest mishap, have the imperial physicians bring their heads to see me.”

Under Li Er’s concerned gaze, Li Chengqian and Yun Ye were carefully carried away by the guards.

Li Er walked outside the tent. The sky, which had cleared for less than half a day, began raining again. However, this time the rain was mixed with large snowflakes. After a while, even the last traces of rain disappeared, and all that fell from the sky was boundless white snow. Landing on the ground, no white could be seen—in an instant it melted into snowmelt and mixed into this black earth.

The cold penetrated to the very heavens!