The layers of gauze curtains obscured the view, and the lingering scent of borneol incense in the air made one feel drowsy. Yu Qianqian was familiar with this scent. Her entire back felt as if it had been split open, and she lay motionless on the soft bed, her eyes half-closed with lowered lashes, appearing to still be unconscious.
A cold, low voice in the room reached her ears: “The person was taken by Xie Zheng?”
The shadow guard kneeling before the table, drenched in cold sweat, clasped his hands and replied, “The Marquis of Wu’an’s men took advantage of our engagement with Wei Yan’s trained henchmen to rescue the former Meng family subordinate. I await Your Highness’s punishment.”
“Crack—”
A faint sound of something breaking was heard. It was Qi Min crushing the white jade thumb ring in his hand.
Half of his face was backlit, his chiseled features appearing even more sinister in the shadows. He slowly raised his head and spoke languidly, “You failed? Then why are you still alive and coming to see me?”
The air in the room became thin. A drop of sweat fell from the shadow guard’s forehead to the ground. He hurriedly took something out from his bosom and handed it to Qi Min. “When this subordinate rescued the former Meng family member from Wei Yan’s private prison and revealed my identity, he gave me this.”
Another shadow guard hidden in a dark corner of the room came forward, took the object held high above the kneeling guard’s head, and presented it to Qi Min.
The object was about an inch high and three inches long, completely black, shaped like a tiger or leopard, with ancient inscriptions carved on it. It was half of a tiger tally.
Qi Min recognized the origin of the tiger tally from its inscriptions, his long eyes narrowing slightly. “This is the Changzhou tiger tally from seventeen years ago.”
According to the Great Yin law, each region had one tally. Only by obtaining the other half of the tiger tally from the imperial court could one mobilize the local troops.
He looked at the shadow guard kneeling on the ground. “What did the former Meng family subordinate say?”
Knowing his life was spared, the shadow guard quickly replied, “He begged Your Highness to clear General Meng’s name!”
Qi Min’s eyebrows raised slightly.
Yu Qianqian, lying on the bed, also tensed up and listened carefully, but suddenly no more conversation could be heard from outside.
Qi Min raised his hand to signal the shadow guard to be silent, listening to the trembling breath coming from behind the layers of curtains on the bed. The corner of his lips curled slightly, and he suddenly said, “You may go. That arm of Xuanjian’s, you go and cut it off. Those who have hurt my people should learn a lesson.”
Yu Qianqian listened with fear, her instincts telling her that the Xuanjian Qi Min mentioned was the shadow guard who was to kill Bao’er.
The kneeling shadow guard outside didn’t ask anything more, only responded with a “Yes” before leaving.
Yu Qianqian heard the sound of the door closing. She didn’t know why Qi Min had stopped the shadow guard from continuing to talk about the truth of the Jinzhou battle, feeling anxious but helpless.
When she heard the low footsteps approaching the bed, Yu Qianqian quickly pretended to be asleep.
The layers of gauze curtains were lifted and hooked onto the golden hooks on the side.
Even with her eyes closed, Yu Qianqian could sense that the light around the bed had suddenly become much brighter.
The bed sank slightly on one side, and she guessed that Qi Min had sat down on the edge.
Even without opening her eyes, she could imagine his snake-like gaze scanning over her body. Her whole body instinctively tensed up, her fingertips hidden under the covers almost turning white from clenching.
She tried hard to feign sleep, unaware that the person sitting on the edge of the bed was watching her black eyelashes tremble uncontrollably, a mocking smile curling at the corners of his lips.
Her back was injured. After applying medicine, Qi Min didn’t even allow the maids to change her clothes. In the silver-red soft silk bedding, her bare half-back was smooth and delicate. The hideous knife wound added a sense of violated beauty, like a delicate orchid crushed by someone.
Qi Min looked at the person trying hard to pretend to be asleep, the curve of his lips growing larger. He reached out with his pale, cool hand and stroked her back.
Sure enough, the next moment, goosebumps appeared all over Yu Qianqian’s arm.
Yu Qianqian knew she couldn’t pretend anymore. She opened her watery eyes and coldly glanced at Qi Min. “Take your hand off me!”
Not only did Qi Min not withdraw his hand, but he also gripped her chin, asking leisurely, “Not pretending to sleep anymore?”
Yu Qianqian felt as if she had been bitten by a poisonous snake. She said with disgust, “If I didn’t pretend, how could I hear your secret plans? Even tigers don’t eat their cubs, yet you want to kill your son. I don’t know why those people are loyal to you. Aren’t they afraid that you’ll take their lives one day too?”
Qi Min released her chin, indifferently curling the corner of his lips. “Are you angry that I want to kill that little bastard?”
Anger flashed in Yu Qianqian’s eyes, but he suddenly leaned close to her, speaking coldly and mockingly, “If you and he had obediently stayed by my side, wouldn’t I have left him alone? You ran away with him and fell into Xie Zheng’s hands. You’re so clever, surely you know that Xie Zheng can use him to command the feudal lords?”
Yu Qianqian didn’t speak, but her face paled a few shades. She still glared at Qi Min.
Qi Min’s pupils were cool and cold, like those of a snake. His thin lips almost touched Yu Qianqian’s ear as he said maliciously, “It’s not that I want to kill him, it’s you who’s forcing me to kill him.”
He pulled back slightly, admiring Yu Qianqian’s trembling, whether from fear or anger, and spoke with pity, “Qianqian, the one who almost got that child killed was you.”
“You’re talking nonsense!” Yu Qianqian said angrily. Due to her emotional state, the wound on her back was affected, causing her face to show signs of pain and turning even paler.
Qi Min frowned slightly, retracting his mocking demeanor, and held her shoulders. “Don’t move, be careful not to reopen the wound.”
Yu Qianqian’s forehead was covered in cold sweat from the pain, but she suddenly sneered, “Qi Min, you might as well kill me too.”
Qi Min’s fingers on her shoulders suddenly tightened, almost digging into her flesh. He stared at Yu Qianqian darkly for a few breaths and said, “I won’t kill you, and you don’t want to die either.”
He released Yu Qianqian, paused, and then softened his tone: “If you like children, we can have more in the future. You can have as many as you want. That child… he came at the wrong time from the beginning.”
Yu Bao’er was born as his substitute.
He couldn’t love a child who could replace him at any time. Even not killing Yu Bao’er was already the greatest mercy he could show.
He would have an heir, but it should be a child born after he had reclaimed everything that belonged to him and held absolute power.
He despised anything that threatened him.
Tears were forced from the corners of Yu Qianqian’s eyes. Enduring the severe pain in her back, she spat at him fiercely, closing her eyes and saying, “If I had known it would come to this, I should have let you die by the lake back then!”
As soon as these words left her mouth, the air around Qi Min suddenly became oppressive.
In the end, he only looked at Yu Qianqian with a cold smile: “It’s too late to regret now. You were the one who pulled this evil spirit back into the human world. Everything now is what you deserve to suffer!”
He strode away, leaving only the pearl curtains on the bed swaying gently from being touched.
Yu Qianqian hugged the quilt, her face still pale from the severe injury, but her gaze towards the door was clear and cold, calm to the point of indifference-
As soon as Qi Min left the room, the shadow guard waiting outside bowed and called out, “Your Highness.”
Qi Min said grimly, “Watch her closely.”
The shadow guard respectfully complied. After Qi Min had walked away, he glanced at the tightly closed door.
His Highness had always been suspicious. Even Lan Shi, after proposing to bear His Highness an heir, had lost his trust. Only the woman inside seemed to have cast some spell on His Highness, as he had always treated her, especially over the years.
After Qi Min had walked a few steps, the shadow guard who had reported to him earlier in the room followed him again, with a few spots of blood on his collar. “Your Highness, I have carried out your order and cut off Xuanjian’s arm.”
Qi Min, still playing with the half-tiger tally behind his back, showed no interest in what the shadow guard was reporting and only asked, “What’s the story with that half-tiger tally?”-
An autumn rain brings a chill.
The rainwater cascading from the eaves splashed into small puddles under the corridor. The cold wind carried moisture to the base of the wall, where the redwood, having stood for many years, was darkened by the rain. The hem of the young man leaning against the wall was similarly marked with faint water stains.
The copper wind chimes hanging in the corridor swayed wildly in the wind, clashing together to produce a desolate and broken sound.
Occasionally, heart-wrenching cries of pain could be heard from inside the room. Xie Zheng seemed oblivious, simply leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, lost in thought as he watched the sudden autumn rain.
The cold wind ruffled the loose strands of hair at his temples. On his jade-like face, a thin blood mark stung in the wind. His lowered eyes were as cold as the blood mark on his face.
After a while, the doctor who had been treating the patient inside came out carrying his medicine box. Xie Zhong, who had also been waiting in the corridor, immediately stepped forward to ask, “How is General Zhu?”
Xie Zheng’s gaze also turned slightly towards them.
The court physician shook his head silently and sighed, “The tendons and bones in his legs have been broken for over a decade. They’re long dead. There’s no possibility of him standing up again.”
Xie Zhong, who had lost a leg and an arm himself, knew the pain involved. After a moment of silence, he only said, “Do your best to treat him.”
The physician nodded and left to prepare the medicine.
A servant who had been attending inside hurriedly came out to call, “My Lord, General Zhu says he wants to see you!”
The truth he had been seeking for so long was right before his eyes, yet Xie Zheng hesitated for a moment before stepping into the room.
The physician had scraped away the rotting flesh and re-treated the wounds, making the smell of blood in the room particularly pungent.
The man lying on the bed was covered in facial hair, his head a mess of dry grass-like hair with lice crawling through it. Except for a pair of sharp, spirited eyes, his features were barely distinguishable.
Both his legs were broken, and he had been confined in a dark dungeon for seventeen years. His legs were so thin they were almost just skin and bone.
Xie Zheng looked at this old general who had once served under Meng Shuyuan and his father, and only said, “General Zhu, you’re home.”
Zhu Youchang stared fixedly at Xie Zheng, suddenly letting out a sorrowful cry: “Seventeen years… it’s been seventeen years! The descendant of General Xie has grown into such a fine, upstanding man! I, old Zhu, in my lifetime… can see the descendant of the General again!”
When he reached the most sorrowful part, this man who had once been on the battlefield could only pound the edge of the bed forcefully, weeping and wailing.
Xie Zhong limped forward to support Zhu Youchang, his eyes red as he asked, “General Zhu, please compose yourself first. Why were you imprisoned by Wei Yan for seventeen years? Was there some hidden truth behind the delayed grain transport back then?”
At the mention of the grain transport failure from years ago, Zhu Youchang became even more agitated. He choked out, “That Wei Yan is worse than a beast! General Meng suffered a great injustice that will go down in history! Poor old General died with resentment, and the loyal Meng family was wiped out without even leaving a single descendant!”